The news fom the UK is not encouraging.Camerion is about to” Deal o the Workers ” It the same policy as the Nats have here.There is no doubt that all over the OECD countries the Right is organizing. Unions and workers are going to suffer .
“The great socialist dream has repeatedly failed but we can keep our jobs in parliament if enough people are stupid enough to believe it will work this time”
The great socialist dream has always been sabotaged by capitalists and then, when capitalism fails yet again, the capitalists go to the people to be bailed out.
It’s not socialism that’s the failure but capitalism.
Yes it gets sabotaged by capitalists… the bloody capitalists always rescue the economy from decades of deficit and perpetual debt…. Yes yes… we know – you socialists like it when the people are poor and the govt is rich but for some weird reason the voters turf the socialists out of office sabotaging the great dream of mediocrity.
Did you miss all the bailouts of the capitalists by the people over the last few years? Did you miss all the depressions and recessions that have occurred under capitalism? Or perhaps the increasing poverty that capitalism created and that socialism had started to correct – until the re-introduction of laissez faire capitalism in the 1980s?
History repeats because we keep failing to learn the lessons that it teaches.
1990 was a fuckup because the 4th Labour Government, aka, the first Act Government, followed the same policies that National and Act are now following. Of course, this was on the heels of the fuckup of Rob’s Mob in power.
But the bit you don’t want to admit is that the previous centuries of failure (recessions, depressions, increasing poverty and Climate Change) are down entirely to capitalism.
Michael savage rescued NZ from oblivion in the 30s
Muldoom stuffed the country
Now borrowing Bills English is stuffing it again 0.1% Growth per annum is bill Englishs record Over 5 years.
Michael Cullen got the economy growing 30 times more at3%+ per annum by spreading a bit of money around not just a few like the dipstick from dipton!
Burt stick with Ernie on sesame st kiddie stories are more believable than your lies
BBC world economics reporter research in the US shows high taxed socialist states are growing low taxed laissez fair states in recession or depression. Not one laissez fair state growing fact.
Have you forgotten Micheal Cullen’s miracle formula had us in recession at the start of 2008, having generally under performed our trading partners leading up to that point. Unemployment was rising and so was borrowing right through 2008. Are you incapable of understanding that National were handed a pup in 2008.
The dream is over, that’s all it was – a dream. Cullen buggered it up, that’s all there is too it. In hindsight wasn’t it a really stupid thing to fix thresholds for so long that 75% of high school teachers ended up classified as rich in the tax system? Simply plucking the goose with the least amount of hissing is convenient tax policy, but that doesn’t make it good tax policy. Your mans a muppet mik e.
1990? The BNZ was bankrupt, but the country wasn’t.
OK, we just had the mother of all budgets for fun then… Kiwi’s must have been nuts to vote in a National govt if the country was doing so well under Labour.
2008? Labour leaves National with a booming economy.
A booming economy…. Keep taking the pills… Let me guess the voters grew weary of the boom times under Labour and voted for some self flagellation as punishment for having a booming economy, just like the silly buggers did in 1990 when the silly old BNZ was having it’s meltdown in times of plenty.
It’s clear you can be convinced of anything said by a red flag waver, hows that working for you?
Key and English selling our country out. If we’d kept key assets like Telecom and Contact energy, we would be many billions of dollars richer, as a country.
NZ Post pre the sale of Telecom… you think that was working? Let me guess Railways was a model of efficiency and late model rolling stock when we sold it… As for power company profits – the state generators reported obscene profits while pensioners froze under Labour. Have you lost your mind! What possible good can using these examples do for the credibility of your argument.
Meh, any publicly owned operation can run just as fast and as sharp as a private one. And its good to have some fat in every business operation.
BTW the foreign owners ran down Telecom and Tranzrail. The money from cutting re-investment and general capital run down should not be considered real profits.
NZ Post pre the sale of Telecom… you think that was working?
What’s NZ Post got to do with the sale of Telecom?
BTW, NZ Post, C&M Branch (Telecom) was making multi-million dollar profits (even though it was NZ Post its books were separate) throughout the 1980s while upgrading most of the exchanges to digital, increasing bandwidth throughout the country and generally doing the best that could be done for NZ. Over $300m/year by the end of the decade and the sale of Telecom. Telecom was close to debt free.
7 years later, billions had been pulled out in “profits”, Telecom was in hock up to it’s neck (the profits were pretty much borrowing that we get to pay for) and work on the network had dropped down to maintenance level instead of continuous upgrading resulting in the government having to spend billions to get the network back up to standard.
The history of Telecom after the sale is a perfect proof that profit is a dead weight loss and privatisation is a failure.
Let me guess Railways was a model of efficiency and late model rolling stock when we sold it…
Rail could have been improved, and probably was being improved, without selling it. If we hadn’t sold it then we would have had to buy it back and start spending billions on fixing it up.
s for power company profits – the state generators reported obscene profits while pensioners froze under Labour.
Turning state infrastructure over to faux competition and a profiteering motive was a really bad move. Costs huge amounts and fails to achieve its purpose – supplying it’s service at cost.
What possible good can using these examples do for the credibility of your argument.
Well, it’s better than your total lack of argument.
jeez you talk a load of crap burt! you couldn’t have got your history more wrong if you tried…. “capitalists” , or more accurately termed “national party fascists” have consistently undermined the progress made by the only truly democratic governments new zealand has had… the lie that they had anything to do with new zealands emergence as a “wealthy” country in the second half of the twentieth century is no more than tory propaganda spread through the newspapers and radio on the orders of the owners of these organisations…..
the “truth” is actually the opposite of your fantasizing….. without the labour party, new zealand would be regarded as tasmania’s poor relation, and the aussies would be breathing a huge sigh of relief that we turned down the opportunity to amalgamate with them…
normally your posts provide me with at least a small amount of amusement, being as facile and obvious as they are, but this idiocy shows a streak of stupidity that has surprised me….. i really did think you were just being an arsehole just for your own amusement…maybe we are looking at another chauncey gardener……
8 weeks is all it took to divide the moment…. I think everyone should have an iPad2 – but this is my private property…. ha ha ha. Look how your glorious flat society divided and failed in just 8 weeks and you think that socialism is a valid long term option for government… Have you seen father xmas or the tooth fairly recently – you must believe in them as well….
THE right will have to stuff the economy more, so more people will feel the pain of a stagnant or recessionary downturn with policies like the right have it won’t take long!
Dunno what owning an ipad2 has to do with Socialism. Are you confusing the concepts behind the contradictory quote that “all property is theft” with buying a consumer good and Socialism on the whole? The quote doesn’t refer to the idea you can’t buy goods and say they are yours, it refers to the idea that capital resources cannot be used against the people of a nation. It doesn’t mean someone can come and drive your car, as of right, when you aren’t using it. There is Socialism, as in how the State allocates and manages resources and there is socialism as in the attitude and interactions of the people at a domestic level.
bort…. as a political analyst i think you would make an excellent grave digger….. as soon as you realise that they have to have “depth” you will be fine….. no more smelly workplace….
Viper said “Socialism (for the rich) works well for Fonterra and ….”
Well old bean, you are perfectly at liberty to find a product, refine the systems surrounding it’s production, suffer through bad times , surround yourself with like-minded producers and from a co-operative, invest millions in product research and development, marketing and factories, lose more than a few members through suicide when the market or the weather turn against you, and then when you manage to string three or four good years together have a bunch of envious weasels whinging loudly that they deserve for you to subsidise their consumption and take a piece of the success.
Never has the growing knowledge gap between town and country been more evident than that statement. Phew!
And guess what. A co-operative approach prevailed through all those hurdles (without even mentioning that the founding roots of Fonterra is as a government regulated board), so don’t talk down to socialism, co-operative enterprise and mutual institutions. They work.
“Okay, the evidence is in. Should have listened to those ‘pesky’ anti-parliamentarians. Seems this route wasn’t the way to usher in a new world after-all. We got co-opted goddammit!”
Micky (the real one!) would be shaking his head at the attack on the social weflare system, the bashing of beneficiaries for political gain when the fault lies with the system, not the individuals.
He would be appalled at the state of our streams and waterways and astounded that the biggest polluters are selling a basic food for hundreds of times it used to cost yet they pay little if any tax.
He would be dismayed at the way the trade union movement has been undermined and incredulous that people do not understand the correlative link between weak unions and low wages.
He would look at National wonder at the properties of modern spin. Whereas back in the 30s and 40s they used to say what they thought now their speech is so sampled and spun and polished and refined that the visciousness and beligerence is hidden. He would also look at a party that used to be made up of white men and see a party with some diversity but diversity only for PR purposes.
He would look at Key and see him as just the latest snake oil salesman that conservative politics throws up. All spin and no substance.
And he would look at New Zealand and despair that something so wonderful could have become debased so badly.
Probably wouldn’t have liked seeing this kind of converstation
“You had Bernie Monk representing the families the other day, saying, ‘It is shocking that one year on from Pike River, you still have only one underground mine inspector in New Zealand’.”
Key reponse: “….all I can say is there’s a Royal Commission of Inquiry. When that Royal Commission reports back, if we are the government, I’d give those miners and New Zealanders my word I’ll take that Royal Commission very seriously.”
I heard on RNZ today that Bernie Monk now only purports to speak for “some” of the miner’s families.
Whereas we have been led to believe that he speaks for all the families – no longer.
Pete,
I look at the policies that Labour has brought forward for this election, forward looking policies that focus on the economy in the future, that focus on children, that focus on Jo Average, and more, and think that Michael Joseph would be very happy with the gutsy performance by Phil, and would not be surprised at the swing in store for the 26th.
Grandmother, with a Gisborne/West Auckland background, had a photo of Michael Joseph on the wall. Grandfather, as a foreman in the MOW, always told the story of lawyers and doctors who were forced to work in employment camps until Michael Joseph’s Keynesian politics came to the fore.
I look at the fellow you follow, and wonder if Michael Joseph would congratulate him on the simularity of hairstyle but little else.
New Zealanders need someone to constantly remind them that people living in poverty or dying on the streets is actually bad thing. Otherwise they revert to the lizard brain that wants to see poor people sent to labour camps to ‘learn the value of hard work’.
In 1984, the Labour government abdicated their traditional role in this narrative. They regained it to a point in the 90s but then while in government, decided that it should all be about policy and that they didn’t really need to engage in the growing social narrative that the poor are just the result of their own bad choices and they should be made to suffer the consequences of that. Rather than publicly nipping this in the bud and publicly saying “what the fuck is wrong with you barbarians?” they let it fester and now we have people like Burt and Big Bruv and their compatriots on Stuff and talkback radio, who are currently one step off demanding that the poor should wind up in the colisium.
MJS would struggle to believe just how nasty our once egalitarian society has become.
He probably wouldn’t have struggled to realise the nastiness though. NZ has been screwing the poor since the English turned up here. In fact not just the poor, but anyone they could. If you think Key sells pipe dreams, you should read about the lies early developers sold. Fraud, greed, racism, and misogyny are old tricks
The basic rights and needs of people have been denigrated by successive national style of politics,
their core values dont change.
During the late clark years she deviated away from core values and supporters and that was the reason for the labours demise.
Key and his government are tearing away at the very fabric of society with a couldn’t care
less attitude,it’s my way or the highway with the door to openess firmly closed.
Capitalism is failing world -wide and people are waking up to wide spread greed and fraud and
signaling enough is enough,the younger generation are making the stand more so than the older
generation who have largely accepted their fate.
Many would not ‘be unhappy’ if this country turned back to a decent,inclusive society,instead
of the ‘dog eat dog’ society that eminates from the ‘capitalist’ shackles.
‘Mickey’ would be ‘unsettled’ and ‘concerned’ at the long and winding path that nz politics
has taken,when it draws a clear line in the sand between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’
“NZ has been screwing the poor since the English turned up here.”
Agreed that the whole claim to be an egalitarian society was always pretty dubious. I think what would surprise MJS would be the extent to which kiwis have now stopped bothering to even pretend.
When it comes to the economic reality that this current travesty of a government inherited from the last Labour Government in 2008, the Tories who write in this column are any one of the following:
– completely ignorant, and/or
– deceived by their own propaganda,and/or
– deliberately spreading lies and misinformation
Careful economic management by Michael Cullen meant this country had a healthy surplus but he was constantly criticised by the Tories that he wasn’t spending enough! The Tories take power, break numerous promises, give their rich mates undeserved and unaffordable tax cuts and ensure we’re in the economic doggie doos. Bereft of ideas Bill English reverts to the tried and true Tory formula – attack the public service and beneficiaries.
Unless we can reduce the right’s majority next Saturday, let’s wait for groundhog day and a reun of the morally bankrupt, vicious and ultimately useless policies of the 90’s and even more Kiwis deserting this country for Oz.
I think he would be surprised that the Reserve Bank, which he took the trouble to nationalize, had now been made independent. He would also be surprised to find that the BNZ, which he also nationalized, was now owned overseas.
MJS believed in hard work and the power of Christian living. Welfare in his frame was an ultimate backstop so yes, he would be gobsmacked at the extent that the population has been convinced that goodness comes from the state and you don’t really need to look after yourself for the bottomless purse of Government will provide.
These are aspects of the original MJS that the contributor who has adopted his name seems to have forgotten.
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Janet Stephenson, University of OtagoA proposed multibillion-dollar project to build a pumped hydro storage plant could make New Zealand’s electricity grid 100% renewable, but expensive new infrastructure may not be the best way to achieve this. New Zealand’s electricity generation is already around 80% renewable, with just over half ...
Truth In Advertising: Labour, it would seem, is the party that knows nothing about running the economy right up until the moment that it does. HOW DID LABOUR acquire its reputation for being a poor economic manager? As with most things political and historical, it’s a long story.In the beginning, the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Government rulemakers looking to decide how much money to spend to avoid adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere need a good estimate of what a warming climate will cost in social damages, for example through more extreme weather events. That point makes ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from October 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019. Rainbow Tick threatens to pull Massey’s tick if lesbians are allowed to speak Freer Lives – a gender-critical Marxist site Freer Lives on Violence, debate and Britain’s Gender Recognition Act British ...
Fact Check: New Zealand’s own relationship with China might, however, be salvageable if our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was willing to equip its minister, Winston Peters, with a few facts. Legislating for the protection of national security – the very action our Foreign Minister is decrying – ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
We've announced that we will expand the Flexi-wage programme to support up to 40,000 more people into work, or to help them start their own business. It's yet another way we're helping keep our economy moving by getting people into work and training. Read on to find out more ...
Business subsidy of on average $7500, and up to $22,000, to hire unemployed New ZealandersUp to 40,000 jobs to be supported by $311 million investment in keeping New Zealanders off the unemployment benefitRing-fenced fund to help unemployed start their own business ...
This week was the last of the 52nd Parliament: a major milestone for our Government and a great opportunity to look back at all the progress we've made for New Zealanders. This week, we increased support for businesses to take on apprentices, improved access to hospital care in Northland, and ...
Kia orana and kia ora koutou katoa. It is a privilege to be able to speak in this adjournment debate and to mark and acknowledge the fact that we are now two years and 10 months into the conclusion of a parliamentary term that has been extraordinary in so many ...
On 1 August, we marked the anniversary of Jacinda Ardern becoming the Leader of the Labour Party. On that day in 2017, Leader Andrew Little nominated Jacinda Ardern to succeed him and lead the party to victory.Now, three years on, we look back at some of the key moments ...
With the June 2020 quarter showing underemployment increasing, the Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income and an increase to the abatement threshold to ensure everyone has a dignified income. ...
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Government is stepping up action to deal with environmentally harmful products – including plastic packaging, tyres and e-waste – before they become waste. ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Law changes to end tenure review and provide for better management of Crown pastoral lands in the South Island high country were considered by Parliament today with the first reading of the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill says Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
A report undertaken by Ministerial Services into Iain Lees-Galloway’s ministerial expenditure has found no evidence of any inappropriate transactions or spending. Ministerial Services undertook a line by line review of all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020. “I commissioned ...
Managed isolation charges for returnees will come into force from 12.01am Tuesday 11th August, after they passed their last cabinet milestone today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. “The new charging system balances the rights of New Zealanders to return home and helps reduce pressure on the managed isolation and quarantine ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna have welcomed the completion of phase one in the establishment of a travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Island. Negotiations on the text of an ‘Arrangement to Facilitate Quarantine-Free Travel ...
The Government has launched a new online, phone and onsite service to help New Zealanders connect to a range of employment support and products for workers and businesses affected by COVID-19, announced Minister of Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. Connected.govt.nz is a one-stop-shop for jobseekers, ...
Security guards contracted to the Ministry of Social Development will be paid at least the Living Wage from next month supporting the Government’s commitment towards fair pay and employment conditions, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “MSD was among the first government agencies to pay its employees the living ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today launched Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy - a way forward that envisions Aotearoa New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. “Many of New Zealand’s plants and wildlife species ...
“Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa. The strength and resilience of Pacific Aotearoa is not only vital to their own prosperity but integral to the prosperity of all New Zealanders, and is particularly ...
· $38 million to help schools cover unexpected costs related to COVID-19 · $69 million upgrade for online learning · $107 million contingency funding to support school construction suppliers facing additional costs due to the lockdown. The Government is releasing $214 million from the COVID-19 response and recovery fund to ...
Despite the Government installing safety upgrades around the country, people should still take care around rail crossings, said Transport Minister Phil Twyford launching Rail Safety Week. Phil Twyford said installing safety infrastructure is crucial, but we are encouraging people to be more careful around trains too. “We’re making good progress ...
The Government is providing a cash injection to help Palmerston North City Council complete a programme to provide 78 social housing units for vulnerable tenants. The $4.7 million to build 28 units in the Papaioea Place redevelopment comes from the $3 billion set aside for infrastructure in the Government’s COVID-19 ...
A pest free Banks Peninsula/Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū is one step closer with a $5.11 million boost to accelerate this project and create jobs, announced Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage in Canterbury today. “This is a game changer for this ambitious project to restore the native wildlife and plants on Ōtautahi/Christchurch’s doorstep ...
A Government grant of $6.4 million will expand the Pettigrew Arena in Taradale with new indoor courts of national standard. “The project is likely to take 18 months with approximately 300 people employed through the process,” Grant Robertson said. “The expansion will increase the indoor court space up to 11 ...
The Far North tourist destination of Mangonui is to receive Government funding to improve waterfront infrastructure, open up access to the harbour and improve water quality, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. A total of $6.5 million from the $3 billion set aside in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund ...
The Government has re-affirmed its commitment to supporting the hosting of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which the ICC has delayed from 2021 to 2022. “This is obviously a disappointing decision for cricket players and fans around the world and for the White Ferns and their supporters here at ...
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...
Six major cycle routes will be completed in Christchurch thanks to funding from the Government’s investment in shovel-ready infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. $125 million will be invested to kick-start construction and fund the completion of the following cycleway ...
Plans are underway for a brand new state-of-the-art hub for Whanganui’s justice and social agencies, following confirmation the ageing Whanganui Central Police Station is to be replaced. Police Minister Stuart Nash has announced $25 million in new infrastructure spending to improve facilities for the wider community, and for staff who ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
A new trades training centre to upskill the local workforce will be built in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa through funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Government will contribute $10.84 million from ...
The Government has agreed to repeal part of the Oranga Tamariki Act subsequent children provisions, Minister for Children Tracey Martin announced today. “There are times when children need to go into care for their safety – the safety and care of children must always be paramount,” Minister Martin said. “But ...
A $1.5 million boost to grow primary mental health and addiction services for Pacific peoples in Auckland, Hamilton and Canterbury will lead to better outcomes for Pacific communities, Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa says. Pasifika Futures has received funding to expand services through The Fono, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest by ...
Twenty-two projects to boost the sustainability and climate resilience of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector have been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The $18m funding will deliver practical knowledge to help farmers and growers use their land more sustainably, meet environmental targets, remain prosperous, and better understand ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson welcomes an initiative that assists employers to get mature workers into New Zealand small businesses. The disadvantages that older people face in the workplace was highlighted in the whole of Government Employment Strategy. In order to address this, a Mature Workers Toolkit has been developed and ...
New Zealand and Australia reaffirmed today the need for the closest possible collaboration as they tackle a global environment shaped by COVID-19, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In these challenging times, our close collaboration with Australia is more vital than ever,” said Mr Peters. Mr Peters and his Australian ...
The recovery and forensic examination of the loader driven by survivor Russell Smith means the underground team are now moving into an area of the Pike River Mine that has not been seen since the explosion, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said. “The fifth and last robot ...
The Government has confirmed a community-wide trial of CovidCard technology as it explores options for COVID-19 contact tracing. “Effective contact tracing is a vital part of the COVID-19 response,” Minister of Health Chris Hipkins said. “While manual processes remain the critical component for contact tracing, we know digital solutions can ...
The government is proposing changes to aquaculture legislation to improve the process for allocating and transferring aquaculture assets to iwi. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has introduced the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill to Parliament. It proposes a limited new discretionary power for Te Ohu Kaimoana Trustee Limited (ToKM). ...
The Minister of Justice has today introduced the Family Court (Supporting Children in Court) Legislation Bill – the next step in the ongoing programme of work to fix the failed 2014 Family Court reforms led by then Justice Minister Judith Collins. The Bill arises from the report of the Independent ...
A new Department of Conservation (DOC) action plan tackles the impacts of climate change on New Zealand’s biodiversity and DOC managed infrastructure including tracks, huts and cultural heritage. Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage says extreme weather events around the country have really brought home our vulnerability to changing weather patterns. ...
A heavily scaled back international Antarctic season will commence this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods have confirmed. “Antarctica is the only continent that is COVID-19 free,” Mr Peters said. “Throughout the global pandemic, essential operations and long-term science have continued at ...
The Government is providing up to $30 million to help fund the NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt - an investment that will create 244 jobs. “The sports hub is designed to be a world-leading shared service for a range of sports, offering the level of facilities ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today transport projects currently in construction will continue at pace due to extra Government support for transport projects to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. To keep the $16.9 billion 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme going the Government has allocated funding from the COVID Response and ...
Tonight the National Party has selected Emma Mellow to stand in the Auckland Central electorate for the 2020 General Election. Emma Mellow replaces retiring MP Nikki Kaye who first won the seat from Labour in 2008. Emma leads a team of communications ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Radio 95bFM The Wire’s Zoë Larsen Cumming and Justin Wong talked to Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie today about a resurgence of coronavirus cases in Papua New Guinea and the impact of other Pacific cases on two very important upcoming votes in Bougainville and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Maylea, Senior Lecturer, Law and Social Work, RMIT University The second wave of the coronavirus and the resulting restrictions have impacted all Victorians. Many are struggling, but some are struggling more than others. In response to the increasing number of people ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Stone, General practitioner; Clinical Associate Professor, ANU Medical School, Australian National University Last week, the Australian government announced it will provide ten extra Medicare-subsidised psychological therapy sessions for Australians in lockdown areas due to COVID-19. In such a stressful time, many ...
It looks like science has come off second best in government considerations during the development of Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, which envisions New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. The press statement announcing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney US President Donald Trump’s recent moves against Tiktok, the popular video-sharing platform, have been widely seen as part of a new “tech Cold War” between the US and China. Trump ...
National leader Judith Collins has endorsed David Seymour in the Epsom seat and recent polls have put support for ACT anywhere between 3 and 5 percent - giving it up to six MPs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lily O’Neill, Research Fellow, Australian National University Huge clean energy projects, such as the Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the Pilbara, Western Australia, are set to produce gigawatts of electricity over vast expanses of land in the near future. The Asian Renewable ...
Remarks by new coach Nathan Brown and the closed-door discussions by the club around recruiting a man facing sexual assault charges undermines the rugby league club’s values, writes Tiffany Salmond.It’s been a hot topic in rugby league circles for well over a year – but not for the right reasons.Former ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Associate Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney The recent questioning of the heads of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple in the US Congress has highlighted the threat their practices pose to our privacy and democracy. However these big ...
Good habits start young, and with Money Week this week, now is a great time to look at how we can support and nourish our kids’ financial journeys writes Banqer’s Simon Brown. For some reason, a lot of people see money as a boring topic. But the fact is, it’s a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne This week’s federal Newspoll, conducted August 5-8 from a sample of 1,509, gave the Coalition a 52-48 lead, a one-point gain for Labor since the last Newspoll, three weeks ago. ...
A tender for underwater inspection services at the abandoned oil field off the coast of Taranaki has shed light on the dubious state of its subsea infrastructure. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Mathematics, University of Canterbury Our latest modelling shows New Zealanders need to redouble their efforts to keep track of people they meet, if we are to have a chance of controlling any re-emergence of COVID-19. The director general ...
Local Government New Zealand’s (LGNZ) Regional Sector has today welcomed the launch of Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, citing robust collaboration with iwi, regional councils and private landowners and leadership from ...
The High Court has ruled today that Greenpeace is entitled to register as a charity and that the Charities Registration Board was in error for declining the environmental campaigning organisation’s application. In a summary of the judgement posted online ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Dobson, Professor and Dean of Education, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The English language in education today is all-pervasive. “Hear more English, speak more English and become more successful” has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Some say it’s already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stuart Richards, Lecturer in Screen Studies, University of South Australia Review: Welcome to Chechnya, screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival Welcome to Chechnya, screening online as part of MIFF 68½, is a bracing documentary. This film is part of a queer ...
It’s become fashionable among some political circles to advocate for a laissez-faire approach to debt, on the basis that the government can issue as much debt as it likes – for as long as it likes. But there’s one big drawback to ‘just print more money’ argument, writes Pattrick Smellie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australia’s aged care sector was “underprepared” to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak and federal authorities had no specific plan for it, according to a stinging indictment from Peter Rozen QC, senior counsel assisting the royal ...
A Productivity Commission report finding was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of disease transmission dynamics, and now that error has itself been transmitted in the media and into the election campaign, write Nic Steyn, Mike Plank, Alex James, Rachelle Binny, Audrey Lustig and Shaun Hendy of Te ...
Latest from the Beehive Here’s hoping the hundreds of millions of dollars pumped into Northland from the Provincial Growth Fund and other government programmes do much more to promote the region’s economic and social wellbeing than they are doing to enhance Shane Jones’ election prospects. He is bound to be ...
The first Auckland Central debate took place last night, despite the lack of a National candidate. Josie Adams went along to watch Helen White, Chlöe Swarbrick and the rest.The Auckland Central electorate stretches from the depths of Grafton across the Hauraki Gulf to Aotea (Great Barrier). Its residents are Waiheke’s ...
Kiwibank was right to refuse the business of sex-trade operators exploiting women and children, says Wahine Toa Rising, a newly-formed organisation led by survivors of the trade in New Zealand. Spokeswoman Ally Marie Diamond said "we were gutted ...
During the worst days of the Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand, Matamata was right at the heart of it all. Alex Braae went to the Waikato town to ask people how they’re getting on now.On the signs heading out to the Hobbiton Movie Set about 10 minutes away from the ...
The government has announced a pay increase for security guards at the Ministry of Social Development as the Labour Party makes a commitment to government agency workers for fair pay and working conditions. ...
“As sure as God made little apples, she would have reinvented herself and she will be ripping someone off in England as we speak,” predicted a former colleague of Joanne Harrison. A new investigation reveals the charming fraudster, who stole ...
Lihir is the second mine in Papua New Guinea to report a confirmed covid-19 case as the national total of infections reached 214 at the weekend. Newcrest Mining Limited confirmed that a 30-year-old male, a mine employee who had flown in from the capital Port Moresby on July 30, had ...
E te rangatira, e te tohunga, e te Tiati, haere, haere, haere atu ra. Haere ki o tupuna, no ratou nga taonga i tuku iho ki a koe, hei whangai mai ki a matou. ...
Commitment from all political parties to implementing the new Te Mana o te Taiao - Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy is vital to protecting our future, says Forest & Bird. “The Strategy clearly says that New Zealand’s environment ...
The 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War will be acknowledged on 15 August, with a commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage Chief Executive Bernadette ...
New Zealand's total fertility rate has reached an all-time low, with an average of 1.71 children per woman in New Zealand, well below population replacement level. “ Families: Ever Fewer or No Children , How Worried Should We Be? “ - a report ...
Joint Press Release: NextElection, Scoop.co.nz, ScoopCitizen NextElection , a technology platform empowering democracy and Government accountability, and Scoop Independent News have partnered to strengthen citizen participation in the 2020 New Zealand General ...
Since March 15 2019, a string of lone actor, far-right copycat atrocities provide important clues to the kind of transnational, online movement we now confront, writes Emanuel Stoakes.Before storming the Al Noor Mosque, the would-be killer dressed in military fatigues, attempted a livestream and signalled his intent on an image ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cordelia Fine, Professor, History & Philosophy of Science program, School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne How useful are the well-known and hotly contested categories of “male brain” and “female brain”? Among experts, nobody really questions that anatomical sex differences ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Earlier this month, there were media reports that Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly had posted to Facebook advocating the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, as a treatment for COVID-19. Kelly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carissa Bonner, Research Fellow, University of Sydney If the media is anything to go by, you’d think people who believe coronavirus myths are white, middle-aged women called Karen. But our new study shows a different picture. We found men and people aged ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Pearman, Professorial Fellow, Australian-German Climate and Energy College, University of Melbourne There is global interest in the potential for a hydrogen economy, in part driven by a concern over climate change and the need to move away from fossil fuels. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Aslan, Honorary Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Australian universities are expected to lose billions of dollars in revenue due to the impacts of COVID-19. The estimated lost revenue from international students alone is A$18 billion by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Owain Emslie, Senior Associate, Grattan Institute Grattan Institute research published today shows the average 25-year-old woman who goes on to have a child can expect to earn A$2 million less by the time she is 70 than the average 25-year-old man who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beck Wise, Lecturer in Professional Writing, The University of Queensland You might have scrolled right by Annastacia Palaszczuk’s recent quote posts if you saw them on Instagram – just another lifestyle influencer posting a “deep” quote – but when she (or her ...
Welcome to Election Live for August 10, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other breaking news. For key dates in the election seasonclick here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Policy launches tomorrow. Get ...
New Zealand First and leader Winston Peters are up against it this year in the general elections if the polls are to be believed, but the political veteran shows no sign of giving up yet. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour launches campaign while National releases list, frantic final days at parliament wrapped, and new poll shows Shane Jones in trouble in Northland.Some would say the campaign has been underway for months in a proxy form, but officially, it’s now ...
The wife of a Chinese dissident killed in a recent car crash says she’s struggling to raise her children without the support of her husband - the family’s sole income earner Xi Weiguo (48) died in a car crash in Tokoroa on July 21, along with fellow pro-democracy campaigner Wang ...
Paula Morris on her former writing student, now the author of a worldwide smash, Auckland novelist Rose Carlyle On a mild Wednesday evening last week, I attended the launch for a debut novel. There were more than 100 guests crowding the ground floor of the National Library in Auckland. There ...
Let's not delude ourselves, temporary migrant workers are being exploited in this country - and it's nothing new, writes Christina Stringer The reality of slavery, human trafficking and the exploitation of temporary migrant workers in New Zealand was exposed last month with the successful conviction of a 66-year-old man in the Napier ...
Belinda Cordwell remains New Zealand's highest-ranked singles tennis player, having climbed to No.17 in the world. But today you'll find her chasing sheep rather than a fuzzy green ball. You may remember Belinda Cordwell came within two victories of being New Zealand’s only woman Grand Slam tennis champion. But you might ...
How far away are vaccines which could end the pandemic and how many doses can be made quickly? Finding a vaccine which protects against the coronavirus which causes Covid-19 is seen as the best way to stop the continued spread of the disease. It's estimated around 70 percent of the ...
Kiwibank's initial plans to blacklist the adult entertainment industry ran into opposition from the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, but the bank is being urged to stick to its guns by Wahine Toa Rising - a new trans-Tasman group set up by ex-sex workers. Yvonne van Dongen reports Last month Kiwibank rolled ...
The Ministry of Health; "The term unborn child is not a scientific term and does not have a commonly accepted definition." The Prime Minister said in September 2018, "If you ask me why I'm in politics, my answer will be simple: children." ...
We do not have to roll along with the status quo. We are asking New Zealanders to choose help over handcuffs, prevention over prisons, and healing over punishment, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira.It is said that the first Pacific voyagers to sail to these lands visualised this place before they reached ...
In the blur of the last week of this parliament, a law that discriminated against family disability carers was torn from the books. It’s one of those moments when we can see why political activism of all kinds actually matters, writes Andrew Geddis.Last week, on Wednesday evening (which in parliament’s ...
Binge-drinking in teenagers has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years - but the reasons for that are complex Teenage binge-drinking has "dropped off the cliff" in the last 20 years but until now, no one really knew why. A new paper, What explains the decline in adolescent binge-drinking in New ...
A senior journalism lecturer is urging the foreign media to respect New Zealand’s strict reporting restrictions for the sentencing of the gunman who carried out the Christchurch mosque attacks last year. Brenton Tarrant will be sentenced in the High Court in Christchurch beginning on Monday, August 24. Eighteen overseas and ...
What would he have thought? 
Campaigns. Culture. Character. And perhaps most of all, Covid. Now the House has risen and politicians are hitting the road to pitch their woo to voters, those will be front of mind for the candidates.They were also where the new season of politics podcast Caucus began on Thursday. This year ...46 mins ago
There are only a few days left to make a submission on Statistics New Zealand's consultation on sex and gender identity statistical standards. This represents a really important step for recognising the very real diversity of gender, including people with no gender, and ensuring everyone has the option to see ...1 hour ago
NewsHub Nation has launched a new podcast, "Supplementary Question". Their inaugural episode is about the OIA, and asks "is our most important transparency law fit for purpose?" While they interviewed Justice Minister Andrew Little and Ombudsman Peter Boshier for this, there's not actually a lot of them in there, and ...6 hours ago
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Drawdown Review 2020: How To Address Global Warming In A Responsible Manner Source: Project Drawdown Project Drawdown is a non-profit organization that relies ...14 hours ago
Dr Tim Chambers, Prof Nick Wilson, Jayne Richards, A/Prof Simon Hales, Dr Mike Joy, Prof Michael Baker (author affiliations*) Increasing water-related health threats, notably the waterborne campylobacter outbreak in Havelock North, have highlighted failings in NZ’s regulatory system for drinking water. In this blog we consider how the new Water ...14 hours ago
Yes, an election is in the offing – and we all know that elections can be polarising, as parties of the left and right square off against each other. But we should not allow our party and political allegiances to obscure the fact that, in a properly functioning democracy like ...14 hours ago
Today’s content Labour Party Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour launch an extremely centrist campaign Audrey Young (Herald) Labour launch is a deliberately understated affair from Jacinda Ardern (paywalled) Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s decision to ditch Labour manifesto carries risk (paywalled) Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Labour planning to revisit coalition Government policy casualties Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary: Happy ...15 hours ago
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“Time to put an end to neo-liberalism in NZ, forward with democratic socialism!”
The news fom the UK is not encouraging.Camerion is about to” Deal o the Workers ” It the same policy as the Nats have here.There is no doubt that all over the OECD countries the Right is organizing. Unions and workers are going to suffer .
“The great socialist dream has repeatedly failed but we can keep our jobs in parliament if enough people are stupid enough to believe it will work this time”
So this is capitalism at its best? shiiiiit.
The great socialist dream has always been sabotaged by capitalists and then, when capitalism fails yet again, the capitalists go to the people to be bailed out.
It’s not socialism that’s the failure but capitalism.
Yes it gets sabotaged by capitalists… the bloody capitalists always rescue the economy from decades of deficit and perpetual debt…. Yes yes… we know – you socialists like it when the people are poor and the govt is rich but for some weird reason the voters turf the socialists out of office sabotaging the great dream of mediocrity.
Did you miss all the bailouts of the capitalists by the people over the last few years? Did you miss all the depressions and recessions that have occurred under capitalism? Or perhaps the increasing poverty that capitalism created and that socialism had started to correct – until the re-introduction of laissez faire capitalism in the 1980s?
History repeats because we keep failing to learn the lessons that it teaches.
Indeed, we repeated 1990 again in 2008 by letting a Labour govt deliver a failed economy in recession to National…. Did you notice the similarities ?
1990 was a fuckup because the 4th Labour Government, aka, the first Act Government, followed the same policies that National and Act are now following. Of course, this was on the heels of the fuckup of Rob’s Mob in power.
But the bit you don’t want to admit is that the previous centuries of failure (recessions, depressions, increasing poverty and Climate Change) are down entirely to capitalism.
Michael savage rescued NZ from oblivion in the 30s
Muldoom stuffed the country
Now borrowing Bills English is stuffing it again 0.1% Growth per annum is bill Englishs record Over 5 years.
Michael Cullen got the economy growing 30 times more at3%+ per annum by spreading a bit of money around not just a few like the dipstick from dipton!
Burt stick with Ernie on sesame st kiddie stories are more believable than your lies
BBC world economics reporter research in the US shows high taxed socialist states are growing low taxed laissez fair states in recession or depression. Not one laissez fair state growing fact.
Have you forgotten Micheal Cullen’s miracle formula had us in recession at the start of 2008, having generally under performed our trading partners leading up to that point. Unemployment was rising and so was borrowing right through 2008. Are you incapable of understanding that National were handed a pup in 2008.
The dream is over, that’s all it was – a dream. Cullen buggered it up, that’s all there is too it. In hindsight wasn’t it a really stupid thing to fix thresholds for so long that 75% of high school teachers ended up classified as rich in the tax system? Simply plucking the goose with the least amount of hissing is convenient tax policy, but that doesn’t make it good tax policy. Your mans a muppet mik e.
1949? Labour leaves National with a booming economy.
1960? Labour, having corrected National’s Balance of Payment’s Crisis, leaves National with a booming economy.
1975? Labour gets overwhelmed by the international crisis, which National proceeds to make worse.
1990? The BNZ was bankrupt, but the country wasn’t.
2008? Labour leaves National with a booming economy.
Compare that with the messes Labour inherited whenever it gets its turn.
OK, we just had the mother of all budgets for fun then… Kiwi’s must have been nuts to vote in a National govt if the country was doing so well under Labour.
A booming economy…. Keep taking the pills… Let me guess the voters grew weary of the boom times under Labour and voted for some self flagellation as punishment for having a booming economy, just like the silly buggers did in 1990 when the silly old BNZ was having it’s meltdown in times of plenty.
It’s clear you can be convinced of anything said by a red flag waver, hows that working for you?
Key and English selling our country out. If we’d kept key assets like Telecom and Contact energy, we would be many billions of dollars richer, as a country.
NZ Post pre the sale of Telecom… you think that was working? Let me guess Railways was a model of efficiency and late model rolling stock when we sold it… As for power company profits – the state generators reported obscene profits while pensioners froze under Labour. Have you lost your mind! What possible good can using these examples do for the credibility of your argument.
Meh, any publicly owned operation can run just as fast and as sharp as a private one. And its good to have some fat in every business operation.
BTW the foreign owners ran down Telecom and Tranzrail. The money from cutting re-investment and general capital run down should not be considered real profits.
What’s NZ Post got to do with the sale of Telecom?
BTW, NZ Post, C&M Branch (Telecom) was making multi-million dollar profits (even though it was NZ Post its books were separate) throughout the 1980s while upgrading most of the exchanges to digital, increasing bandwidth throughout the country and generally doing the best that could be done for NZ. Over $300m/year by the end of the decade and the sale of Telecom. Telecom was close to debt free.
7 years later, billions had been pulled out in “profits”, Telecom was in hock up to it’s neck (the profits were pretty much borrowing that we get to pay for) and work on the network had dropped down to maintenance level instead of continuous upgrading resulting in the government having to spend billions to get the network back up to standard.
The history of Telecom after the sale is a perfect proof that profit is a dead weight loss and privatisation is a failure.
Rail could have been improved, and probably was being improved, without selling it. If we hadn’t sold it then we would have had to buy it back and start spending billions on fixing it up.
Turning state infrastructure over to faux competition and a profiteering motive was a really bad move. Costs huge amounts and fails to achieve its purpose – supplying it’s service at cost.
Well, it’s better than your total lack of argument.
Socialism (for the rich) works well for Fonterra and for the Business Roundtable.
This might help you understand socialism…
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-16-2011/occupy-wall-street-divided
jeez you talk a load of crap burt! you couldn’t have got your history more wrong if you tried…. “capitalists” , or more accurately termed “national party fascists” have consistently undermined the progress made by the only truly democratic governments new zealand has had… the lie that they had anything to do with new zealands emergence as a “wealthy” country in the second half of the twentieth century is no more than tory propaganda spread through the newspapers and radio on the orders of the owners of these organisations…..
the “truth” is actually the opposite of your fantasizing….. without the labour party, new zealand would be regarded as tasmania’s poor relation, and the aussies would be breathing a huge sigh of relief that we turned down the opportunity to amalgamate with them…
normally your posts provide me with at least a small amount of amusement, being as facile and obvious as they are, but this idiocy shows a streak of stupidity that has surprised me….. i really did think you were just being an arsehole just for your own amusement…maybe we are looking at another chauncey gardener……
8 weeks is all it took to divide the moment…. I think everyone should have an iPad2 – but this is my private property…. ha ha ha. Look how your glorious flat society divided and failed in just 8 weeks and you think that socialism is a valid long term option for government… Have you seen father xmas or the tooth fairly recently – you must believe in them as well….
Whatever it is that you think has failed has been trying to exist within a capitalist system.
THE right will have to stuff the economy more, so more people will feel the pain of a stagnant or recessionary downturn with policies like the right have it won’t take long!
Dunno what owning an ipad2 has to do with Socialism. Are you confusing the concepts behind the contradictory quote that “all property is theft” with buying a consumer good and Socialism on the whole? The quote doesn’t refer to the idea you can’t buy goods and say they are yours, it refers to the idea that capital resources cannot be used against the people of a nation. It doesn’t mean someone can come and drive your car, as of right, when you aren’t using it. There is Socialism, as in how the State allocates and manages resources and there is socialism as in the attitude and interactions of the people at a domestic level.
Aren’t iPad 2’s made in heavy handed state intervention Red China? Oh burt, how could you support such a thing!
bort…. as a political analyst i think you would make an excellent grave digger….. as soon as you realise that they have to have “depth” you will be fine….. no more smelly workplace….
Viper said “Socialism (for the rich) works well for Fonterra and ….”
Well old bean, you are perfectly at liberty to find a product, refine the systems surrounding it’s production, suffer through bad times , surround yourself with like-minded producers and from a co-operative, invest millions in product research and development, marketing and factories, lose more than a few members through suicide when the market or the weather turn against you, and then when you manage to string three or four good years together have a bunch of envious weasels whinging loudly that they deserve for you to subsidise their consumption and take a piece of the success.
Never has the growing knowledge gap between town and country been more evident than that statement. Phew!
And guess what. A co-operative approach prevailed through all those hurdles (without even mentioning that the founding roots of Fonterra is as a government regulated board), so don’t talk down to socialism, co-operative enterprise and mutual institutions. They work.
“Okay, the evidence is in. Should have listened to those ‘pesky’ anti-parliamentarians. Seems this route wasn’t the way to usher in a new world after-all. We got co-opted goddammit!”
Micky (the real one!) would be shaking his head at the attack on the social weflare system, the bashing of beneficiaries for political gain when the fault lies with the system, not the individuals.
He would be appalled at the state of our streams and waterways and astounded that the biggest polluters are selling a basic food for hundreds of times it used to cost yet they pay little if any tax.
He would be dismayed at the way the trade union movement has been undermined and incredulous that people do not understand the correlative link between weak unions and low wages.
He would look at National wonder at the properties of modern spin. Whereas back in the 30s and 40s they used to say what they thought now their speech is so sampled and spun and polished and refined that the visciousness and beligerence is hidden. He would also look at a party that used to be made up of white men and see a party with some diversity but diversity only for PR purposes.
He would look at Key and see him as just the latest snake oil salesman that conservative politics throws up. All spin and no substance.
And he would look at New Zealand and despair that something so wonderful could have become debased so badly.
Well put!
well said, as it would be from the horse’s mouth 😆
Gee’s man !
So glad the climate has warmed up some, it was so bloody cold back then !
hehehe . . . .
Probably wouldn’t have liked seeing this kind of converstation
“You had Bernie Monk representing the families the other day, saying, ‘It is shocking that one year on from Pike River, you still have only one underground mine inspector in New Zealand’.”
Key reponse: “….all I can say is there’s a Royal Commission of Inquiry. When that Royal Commission reports back, if we are the government, I’d give those miners and New Zealanders my word I’ll take that Royal Commission very seriously.”
I heard on RNZ today that Bernie Monk now only purports to speak for “some” of the miner’s families.
Whereas we have been led to believe that he speaks for all the families – no longer.
Reason because he was mine safety officer
Whereas John Key speaks for NONE of the miner’s families.
He’d be shaking his head thinking how did the welfare state end up the way it is (shaking his head at both parties)
He’d be aghast at his Labour party’s disarray, and how poorly it has modernised.
whereas the imminent demise of UF would niether surprise nor bother him
He would be spewing on how its been betrayed by the follicely challenged with out labour the hairpiece would’nt exist
Pete,
I look at the policies that Labour has brought forward for this election, forward looking policies that focus on the economy in the future, that focus on children, that focus on Jo Average, and more, and think that Michael Joseph would be very happy with the gutsy performance by Phil, and would not be surprised at the swing in store for the 26th.
Grandmother, with a Gisborne/West Auckland background, had a photo of Michael Joseph on the wall. Grandfather, as a foreman in the MOW, always told the story of lawyers and doctors who were forced to work in employment camps until Michael Joseph’s Keynesian politics came to the fore.
I look at the fellow you follow, and wonder if Michael Joseph would congratulate him on the simularity of hairstyle but little else.
+1.
New Zealanders need someone to constantly remind them that people living in poverty or dying on the streets is actually bad thing. Otherwise they revert to the lizard brain that wants to see poor people sent to labour camps to ‘learn the value of hard work’.
In 1984, the Labour government abdicated their traditional role in this narrative. They regained it to a point in the 90s but then while in government, decided that it should all be about policy and that they didn’t really need to engage in the growing social narrative that the poor are just the result of their own bad choices and they should be made to suffer the consequences of that. Rather than publicly nipping this in the bud and publicly saying “what the fuck is wrong with you barbarians?” they let it fester and now we have people like Burt and Big Bruv and their compatriots on Stuff and talkback radio, who are currently one step off demanding that the poor should wind up in the colisium.
MJS would struggle to believe just how nasty our once egalitarian society has become.
+1
He probably wouldn’t have struggled to realise the nastiness though. NZ has been screwing the poor since the English turned up here. In fact not just the poor, but anyone they could. If you think Key sells pipe dreams, you should read about the lies early developers sold. Fraud, greed, racism, and misogyny are old tricks
Point of order, it’s the Scottish who are to blame, not the English! 🙁
+1
+1
The basic rights and needs of people have been denigrated by successive national style of politics,
their core values dont change.
During the late clark years she deviated away from core values and supporters and that was the reason for the labours demise.
Key and his government are tearing away at the very fabric of society with a couldn’t care
less attitude,it’s my way or the highway with the door to openess firmly closed.
Capitalism is failing world -wide and people are waking up to wide spread greed and fraud and
signaling enough is enough,the younger generation are making the stand more so than the older
generation who have largely accepted their fate.
Many would not ‘be unhappy’ if this country turned back to a decent,inclusive society,instead
of the ‘dog eat dog’ society that eminates from the ‘capitalist’ shackles.
‘Mickey’ would be ‘unsettled’ and ‘concerned’ at the long and winding path that nz politics
has taken,when it draws a clear line in the sand between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’
“NZ has been screwing the poor since the English turned up here.”
Agreed that the whole claim to be an egalitarian society was always pretty dubious. I think what would surprise MJS would be the extent to which kiwis have now stopped bothering to even pretend.
I think he would be saying
“I’m going to vote for United Future. Their leader has a haircut just like mine.”
When it comes to the economic reality that this current travesty of a government inherited from the last Labour Government in 2008, the Tories who write in this column are any one of the following:
– completely ignorant, and/or
– deceived by their own propaganda,and/or
– deliberately spreading lies and misinformation
Careful economic management by Michael Cullen meant this country had a healthy surplus but he was constantly criticised by the Tories that he wasn’t spending enough! The Tories take power, break numerous promises, give their rich mates undeserved and unaffordable tax cuts and ensure we’re in the economic doggie doos. Bereft of ideas Bill English reverts to the tried and true Tory formula – attack the public service and beneficiaries.
Unless we can reduce the right’s majority next Saturday, let’s wait for groundhog day and a reun of the morally bankrupt, vicious and ultimately useless policies of the 90’s and even more Kiwis deserting this country for Oz.
“wtf”?
Is that in response to his beloved party polling in the mid 20’s 🙂
I think he would be surprised that the Reserve Bank, which he took the trouble to nationalize, had now been made independent. He would also be surprised to find that the BNZ, which he also nationalized, was now owned overseas.
Seems like we have to nationalise it again, then.
No-one likes giving their money to a Banker, so why would you give your Vote to one?
MJS believed in hard work and the power of Christian living. Welfare in his frame was an ultimate backstop so yes, he would be gobsmacked at the extent that the population has been convinced that goodness comes from the state and you don’t really need to look after yourself for the bottomless purse of Government will provide.
These are aspects of the original MJS that the contributor who has adopted his name seems to have forgotten.