Will Andrew Little be responsible if the Pike River mine gets hit by a meteor?

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, November 18th, 2018 - 102 comments
Categories: Andrew Little, disaster, Environment, health and safety, labour, Media, Mining, nz first, spin, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, workers' rights, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: ,

Of all of the atrocious things that Stacey Kirk has written her latest article about Pike River is a leading contender for the worst ever.

Here is how it starts:

It’s a big price to pay for political adulation – someone’s life.

And if anything goes wrong, Andrew Little’s signature is the only one on the cheque.

He will be praying absolutely nothing goes awry when he sends people back down the mine shaft of a gaseous grave, now almost euphemistically known as Pike River.

If anyone is hurt, the deal is that it’s entirely on him. Those terms were made very clear with the establishment of his role and the stipulation from the Prime Minister that the final decision would rest with the “Minister responsible for re-entry into Pike River”.

Get that? Andrew Little is willing for someone to die so he can get a bit of political adulation.

And the blood will be on his hands.

There are three basic problems with her article.

Firstly there is no reference in her article to the months of work that has gone into the plan and the conclusion by safety experts that the planed entry is technically feasible, achievable safely and consistent with the general requirements of the HSWA and the specific requirements of the HSWA mining operations regulations.  Completely ignoring the conclusions of experts is not something a reporter should normally do.

Secondly Little is being blasted for something that has not even happened.

And thirdly there is no appreciation that we are dealing with potentially the biggest crime scene in the country.  This of itself demands that the mine be investigated.

She has this doozie of a comment:

A mine filled with explosive gases, no matter how much are pumped out, surrounded by rock of variable stability and the simple fact it’s a coal mine – which in the best of situations are hazardous sites – there is no way it’s objectively safe.

This is why the the mine needs to be investigated.  That the mine owner and management allowed it to continue to operate with faulty methane sensors and with a number of breaches of basic safety requirements still stuns me.  Why there has not been more dramatic action taken against them still stuns me.

Fellow National cheerleader John Armstrong has written something similar, claiming that the decision is about shabby postering not truth and justice.  He thinks that the decision is because of some Winston Peters posturing in the run up to the last election.  He clearly has no idea at the depth of feeling caused by Pike River or the overwhelming support from within the Trade Union movement that Little’s action has.  And it is not about politics.  It is the right thing to do.

How about elements of the media criticise the Government for things that have actually happened.  Not things that in all likelihood will not happen.

102 comments on “Will Andrew Little be responsible if the Pike River mine gets hit by a meteor? ”

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  1. Sacha 1
    18 November 2018 at 10:24 am

    A far more basic problem is her personalising this as somehow being about Andrew Little.

    Kirk is a hack who needs to go work for the Nat party and at least get paid more for the services she already provides them.

  2. greywarshark 2
    18 November 2018 at 10:30 am

    Stacy Kirk should offer to be the brave, resourceful front-line reporter and go down herself. Try to be a pale shade of NZs Margaret Moth! Stacy is a wet, limp dilettante.

  3. Ed 3
    18 November 2018 at 10:32 am

    A repulsive article.
    Shame on Stuff’s editors for publishing and promoting it.
    She should work for the PR wing of Exxon Mobil.

  4. Ed 4
    18 November 2018 at 10:38 am

    This article serves as proof, if any more is needed, of this.
    It is time to reform the media.
    It is not fit for purpose in a democracy.
    Time to take back the commons.
    The airwaves belong to the people, not corporations and billionaires.

    • solkta 4.1
      18 November 2018 at 11:05 am

      The airwaves belong to the people”

      I thought it was on the interwebs and in print? Are you advocating making these things illegal?

      • joe90 4.1.1
        18 November 2018 at 11:19 am

        Ed advocates for the appropriation of things he disagrees with.

        • solkta 4.1.1.1
          18 November 2018 at 11:25 am

          So would The Standard survive?

          • joe90 4.1.1.1.1
            18 November 2018 at 11:30 am

            If he wore a mods cap, doubtful.

            • marty mars 4.1.1.1.1.1
              18 November 2018 at 2:56 pm

              Lol it would be mayhem of the first order.

              • Drowsy M. Kram …
                18 November 2018 at 4:04 pm

                Lol, on this occasion it’s not Ed who is putting ‘words’ in others’ mouths.

                “It is a curious fact that of all the illusions that beset mankind none is quite so curious as that tendency to suppose that we are mentally and morally superior to those who differ from us in opinion.” – Elbert Hubbard

                • McFlock …
                  18 November 2018 at 4:12 pm

                  Sometimes someone is right about it, though 🙂

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    18 November 2018 at 4:30 pm

                    “Sometimes”

                    Broadly agree with the sentiments expressed in Ed’s comments @3, 4, 1.1.1 and 1.2, not to mention later in this post, e.g. @21; nitpicking would be pointless.

                    “Don’t worry, I’m not nearly as smart as I think I am.”

                    • McFlock …
                      18 November 2018 at 4:47 pm

                      Thing is, Ed is almost always either 100% for or 100% against.

                      Doesn’t like an article? Proof that all media needs to be under control of the state. Likes an article? It’s a knowledgable article written by a profoundly intelligent person. Show a nuanced perspective on the Middle East? You’re a genocidal Zionist maniac – or a genocidal head-chopper fomenting rebellion against that innocent Mr Assad. Regard Putin as an amoral dictator who wants to destabilise global competitors and play to his domestic following? You’re a fossilised Cold War warrior who wants a nuclear war.

                      The articles referred to in the post are cynical setups for “I told you so” missives and scandal-mongering should someone actually be injured (or worse) in the recovery operation. They’re crap.

                      But that’s all they are.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      18 November 2018 at 6:33 pm

                      You’re not wrong – nevertheless, “almost”, so there is hope.

                      Have a few ‘black or white’ opinions myself, like most people.

                      Ed may feel more confident posting on issues that are 100% to him. Thing is, they are generally important current issues. I personally don’t get why some find him so objectionable, unless they are concerned that he is ‘taking over’ The Standard.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 November 2018 at 9:59 pm

                      Dunno about taking over.
                      He’s 100% about a wide range of topics, and tends to assume the worst about anyone who has a slightly more nuanced perspective, which tends to disrupt interesting discussions.

                      And some of the videos he puts up are just bunk that serves to muddy the waters with rubbish – e.g. 911 shit.

                  • gsays …
                    19 November 2018 at 9:10 am

                    So once again this has become about the messenger not the message.

                    I get involved when I see a pile on, dissing the messenger.
                    It’s called bullying and I am getting sick of it.

                    Almost like clockwork, Ed puts something up and there are the usual suspects chiding and asking stupid questions.
                    They are then aided and abetted by their cheerleaders, not having a go at subject, just a jokey quip to encourage the bullys.

                    Eds position is not unreasonable, the media owners (banks), have no interest tackling climate change, having the property market correct, meaningful change in water quality around dairying….

                    No, far easier to throw stones at someone who pricks your conscience.

                    • solkta …
                      19 November 2018 at 9:29 am

                      I thought my question was actually very reasonable. While it is very obvious to most of us that the MSM has a structural bias, Ed does not present any solution.

                    • gsays …
                      19 November 2018 at 9:45 am

                      Reply to solkta.
                      Hey fair enough solkta, do you have a solution?
                      Is it just Eds job to have the answers?

                      Throwing that question back: “I thought it was on the interwebs and in print? Are you advocating making these things illegal”, reeked of sarcasm.
                      While it probably wasn’t your intention, it opens the door for a ‘pile on’.

                    • solkta …
                      19 November 2018 at 10:06 am

                      I guess my question was should be taken as both reasonable and sarcastic. I really don’t know what Ed would do if he had power. He seems to be advocating for an authoritarian state. In the other thread he says he wants journos tried for treason. This would be unlikely to provide a more democratic media.

                      I support more funding for public broadcasting and better media studies in schools.

                    • McFlock …
                      19 November 2018 at 11:47 am

                      I support more funding for public broadcasting and better media studies in schools.

                      ^^ Much more sensible solutions.

  5. mary_a 5
    18 November 2018 at 10:57 am

    Kirk’s article is weak and shallow all the way though. Nothing of substance. According to her, there are no technical or safety plans whatsoever, just a case of people putting up their hands to volunteer to go into the mine shaft, have a look around, come out and tell the world what they thought they saw!

    If I hadn’t known otherwise, this is the impression I would have got from Kirk’s pathetic, ill considered piece today! Journalism at its worst!

    Of course Andrew Little realises the risks involved. He’s putting his whole career on the line. Unlike Kirk and her ilk, he’s no fool. Little has taken on board expert advice to put himself in the position to authorise the re-entry process. Also unlike Kirk and her ilk, he is respectful and cares.

  6. Incognito 6
    18 November 2018 at 10:58 am

    Sunday used to be day on which threats or warnings of fire and brimstone were flying thick and fast. This piece by Kirk is no different and it is fearmongering to gain the adulation of non-critical and/or partisan readers. It also detracts from the many unanswered questions of who is/are responsible for the death of 29 men. The answer is not AL or WP.

  7. mauī 7
    18 November 2018 at 11:12 am

    I heard on RNZ this week a brilliant commentator saying that to fit in NZs media environment you need to be right wing and redneck. What an insightful, honest comment. Paul Henry he gave as the classic example. Kirk would fit in seemlessly with the other lizards on newsquark!

  8. JustMe 8
    18 November 2018 at 11:13 am

    Lets be totally assured of one thing and that is not one cowardly National MP will go into the Pike River mine let alone any other mine(unless there is gold in it)in New Zealand.
    Reason being National is mostly a party of cowards and sycophants. Their whole existence depends upon wasting NZ taxpayers money on mostly their vanity projects.
    Lets see to date the amount of NZ taxpayers money National spent on various ego related matters and there was not even a peep of concern from Stacey Kirk:
    $26million on a flag referendum
    $64million spent on 34 BMWs with bum warming seats.
    $12million spent on bribing an already wealthy Saudi businessman
    $10million to the Clinton Foundation.
    Lets say a combined $13million(I am not too sure of the exact amount)on two properties i.e one in Hawaii and one in New York.
    $20billion that has been allocated to the NZ military.
    The list of the spending spree on Vanity Projects by National can go on and on and on. And throughout all that not a peep from Stacey Kirk.
    All of a sudden and of late it now looks like the mainstream and sub-main stream NZ journos that are in the National Party pocket have become mining experts. And because such journos are the font of all things knowledgeable indicates they are only parroting what their masters in the NZ National Party tell them.
    There comes a time when a person or a group of people must do the honourable thing and in this instance it to help put a conclusion to an event that has been left in the ‘too hard basket’ by the previous National government i.e from 2010 through to 2017.
    If these so-called journos are so expert on mining then perhaps they should go into a mine themselves instead of making their arguments and opinions made from an armchair.

    • greywarshark 8.1
      18 November 2018 at 12:05 pm

      National vanity projects should have commemoration of WW1 added to it.

      We have been commemorating this war every year since the end of it, and erected memorials like mushrooms. Other wars have followed and get a bit of a knee jerk curtsey but emotion swells our chests at our great effort in Gallipoli, and also in middle Europe. The position there for many was surviving in muddy trenches where you hung your hat on the boot sticking out which was of some decomposing soldier deep in mud you couldn’t and wouldn’t shift because you needed all your energy to carry on soldiering.

      About $136 million acquiring land and building the various parts of the Wellington memorial. A tribute to NZ’s finest, after which we have gone down and down in a declining trend line that shows brief rises, and frequent falls. Who’d have thought that NZ was going to settle into such a pathetic travesty of a modern country?

      We have Le Quesnoy thank goodness, to hang our hats on at the end and leave us with some positivity. We who had soldier relatives could have had tours to Le Quesnoy and Ypres where they knew the reality of war in their lives and homes. A lot of people could have travelled and formed great affinities and friendships over there, all paid by the government.

      It would have helped our tourism too, so could have been set off as an image and PR expenditure. A gift that would keep on giving, not like a park requiring maintenance with statues and stone to gather dust.

      National, just going through the motions of running the country and pretending they know how to do business.

      Sorry Micky off topic kick me out if you want.

    • Sam C 8.2
      19 November 2018 at 2:37 pm

      $64million spent on 34 BMWs with bum warming seats…

      So, $1.882 million for each BMW. Seems expensive…

  9. BM 9
    18 November 2018 at 11:17 am

    From what I’ve read there are only 400 meters of the access tunnel that hasn’t been looked at.

    Solid energy had a plan to survey that last 400m which involved drilling a hole and dropping a robot down into that part of the tunnel.

    The cost was apparently only 2 million dollars, compare that to the 30 + million Little is going to spend.

    Wouldn’t it make more sense to do this as an initial survey to see if there’s actually anything worth investigating further?

    A fraction of the cost with no lives put at risk.

    • Incognito 9.1
      18 November 2018 at 11:25 am

      Wouldn’t it make more sense to do this as an initial survey to see if there’s actually anything worth investigating further?

      Such as?

      • BM 9.1.1
        18 November 2018 at 11:35 am

        Apart from maybe finding some bones, I have no idea what they’re expecting to come across, all seems rather pointless, to be honest.

        • Incognito 9.1.1.1
          18 November 2018 at 12:10 pm

          Are you serious?

          When people disappear we try to find them. When people die we try to retrieve their bodies/remains (not just “some bones”) to give them a proper burial.

          When (major) accidents happen we try to find out what happened, the why and how, and how these can be avoided in future; we try to learn from (our) mistakes. And we try to bring those responsible of any gross or criminal negligence to justice.

          None of this can be (fully) achieved by sending an unmanned probe down.

          • marty mars 9.1.1.1.1
            18 November 2018 at 2:59 pm

            Yep BM is trolling like a loser. Not even he believes the “they’re just bones” rubbish.

            • McFlock 9.1.1.1.1.1
              18 November 2018 at 3:56 pm

              Remember when there wasn’t supposed to even be teeth remaining?

              A certain crowd seem desperate to make up reasons why there should never be a chance to find out what actually happened.

              • Psych nurse …
                18 November 2018 at 5:06 pm

                Thats because the best time to recover bodies and evidence after an explosion in a mine is straight away when the methane and other explosive gases have been exhausted but wait there were no mine inspectors or emergency recovery teams.

                • McFlock …
                  18 November 2018 at 5:40 pm

                  I thought they had mines rescue on site but the police in charge thought it was too risky?

                  • gsays …
                    19 November 2018 at 9:17 am

                    I do recall a comment from an Australian journo at the time,in a very complex situation, questioning ‘why is this being run by a small town cop?’

            • Tamati Tautuhi 9.1.1.1.1.2
              18 November 2018 at 9:24 pm

              BM doesn’t really understand why there is a need to go into the mine, it is not just about recovering the bodies.

          • Ken 9.1.1.1.2
            18 November 2018 at 5:45 pm

            But not if you’re trying to cover something up or dodge responsibility.

        • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.2
          18 November 2018 at 1:41 pm

          There’s still going to be evidence that can point to what went wrong. It would have been better to get in earlier but we had a lying National Party government who seemingly didn’t actually want to know what went wrong because that has a high probability of requiring murder charges on rich people.

          • Naki man 9.1.1.2.1
            18 November 2018 at 5:24 pm

            ” that has a high probability of requiring murder charges on rich people.”

            That is a stupid comment, obviously you don’t know what is required to convict someone of murder

        • Ed 9.1.1.3
          18 November 2018 at 3:16 pm

          A crime.

        • Mike Appleboy 9.1.1.4
          19 November 2018 at 4:05 am

          What a breathtaking response.

          You don’t give a toss about finding “some bones”?

          Those bones are the bodies of loved ones.

          There we have it, crystal clear – right wing nut jobs like BM are utterly devoid of an ounce of empathy or humanity for anything or anyone beyond money and their “I’m alright jack” view of the world.

          Stunning.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.2
      18 November 2018 at 11:28 am

      Wouldn’t it make more sense to do this as an initial survey to see if there’s actually anything worth investigating further?

      No.

      They’re going in anyway so why bother wasting the time and money to continue fucking around?

      Oh, wait, it’s because you don’t want them going in and figuring out the truth.

    • Gabby 9.3
      18 November 2018 at 5:03 pm

      Why didn’t they get on with it then BMmer? All mouth no trousers.

  10. Draco T Bastard 10
    18 November 2018 at 11:21 am

    Completely ignoring the conclusions of experts is not something a reporter should normally do.

    But doing so is what MSM reporters do almost all their time in their attacks against Labour and in their attempts to distract from what National have done.

    And thirdly there is no appreciation that we are dealing with potentially the biggest crime scene in the country.

    And those would be the facts that they’re trying to protect National and relevant business people from.

    That the mine owner and management allowed it to continue to operate with faulty methane sensors and with a number of breaches of basic safety requirements still stuns me. Why there has not been more dramatic action taken against them still stuns me.

    Doesn’t surprise me. In today’s world business people are sacrosanct and can do know wrong don’t ya know.

    He clearly has no idea at the depth of feeling caused by Pike River or the overwhelming support from within the Trade Union movement that Little’s action has.

    I’m pretty sure he does know actually. But he’s just another reporter protecting National and business people.

  11. Sanctuary 11
    18 November 2018 at 11:25 am

    Working class men died at Pike River. Working class families fought for this. Working class miners are volunteering for the job of recovering their mates. The working class has been opposed the whole way by the entire professional class, boss class and right wing political establishment.

    Now suddenly corporate media shill and right wing apologist Stacey Kirk discovers a concern for working class lives? Fuck off, just fuck off you nasty little right wing troll.

  12. Pete 12
    18 November 2018 at 12:12 pm

    It’s Kirk’s job to write stuff.

    What can I write this week to earn a crust? I know, Pike River’s topical!

    I’ll take the ‘it’s really dangerous’ angle. I’ll take the ‘no experts have been involved in assessing the situation’ angle. I’ll throw in “it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the venture is far from risk-free.” That’ll get people going.

    I see on her article she is their senior political reporter. More like senior shitical reporter.

  13. AB 13
    18 November 2018 at 12:32 pm

    1.) The optics of the re-entry is good for the Government. Nat acolytes are determined to rain on it even by constructing paper-thin hypotheses such as this joke of an article.
    2.) They thought they had finished Little off with their ridiculing of him while he was Labour leader. His resurrection as a government minister of some competence and principle (a sort of anti-Key in this respect) is leaving them right pissed.

  14. JustMe 14
    18 November 2018 at 12:36 pm

    https://thestandard.org.nz/stacey-kirks-stuff-up/?fbclid=IwAR3siaOJIywBbeVBhUzJx6L_QUh0Vv3opL2QRS9vpjdPmBRuieKY6KNgd7s

    Why is it that the likes of Stacey Kirk, Mike Hosking, Kate Hawkesby, John Roughan, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Sloper, John Armstrong, Audrey Young, Fran Sullivan and all the other closely linked to the NZ National Party ‘journalists’ have never ever been censured for writing mostly fake news and innuendos?

    Surely there must be a Board that censures journalists that write up lies instead of it appearing the afore-mentioned ‘journalists’ can get away with their comments with no recourse?

    Sure there is the Broadcashing Standards Association but it appears to exist in word only.

    Is the reason why such ‘journalists’ like the ones I mentioned have got to write up the articles of mis-truth etc because whilst he was prime minister of New Zealand John Key successfully over-satuated the mainstream NZ media with biased towards National people? And during that time Key weeded out those more intelligent and credit-worthy journalists like John Campbell and the Campbell Live team because they criticised National and we all know National MPs just don’t like being criticised even though they heap alot of such an action upon others?

    So whenever Stacey Kirk writes an article it’s because she thinks the sun shines out of the National Party rectum. She must obviously love the NZ National Party that much that she is so willing and eager to constantly kiss their rear ends.

  15. adam 15
    18 November 2018 at 12:46 pm

    Please don’t take this the wrong way Mickeysavage, but being stunned is not f^%king enough. These criminal bastards killed people, then got away with it.

    This is why some in the so corporate media are so desperate for the reentry not happen. They walked hand in hand protecting murdering scum.

    Now Stacey Kirk has sided with these murdering scum, people should remember that.

    • Ed 15.1
      18 November 2018 at 3:05 pm

      “Now Stacey Kirk has sided with these murdering scum, people should remember that.“

      This article should be recalled as a reminder of the gutter the msm goes to.

    • Bewildered 15.2
      18 November 2018 at 4:38 pm

      I hope you are including EPMU in the set of “those scum”

      • Naki man 15.2.1
        18 November 2018 at 5:27 pm

        “I hope you are including EPMU in the set of “those scum”

        Who was the leader again??

        • Ed 15.2.1.1
          18 November 2018 at 5:29 pm

          Have you read Rebecca MacFie’s book?
          Educate yourself before making ignorant statements.

        • Tamati Tautuhi 15.2.1.2
          18 November 2018 at 9:28 pm

          Can you educate me what a EPMU is ?

          • Muttonbird 15.2.1.2.1
            18 November 2018 at 9:45 pm

            Bewildered an Naki are admitting that unions didn’t and don’t have enough resources and power to keep workers safe. They are in their comments advocating for more union power.

            It’s a great thing they’ve finally come on board.

      • Ed 15.2.2
        18 November 2018 at 5:29 pm

        Have you read Rebecca MacFie’s book?

      • adam 15.2.3
        18 November 2018 at 8:10 pm

        What a stupid bloody comment Bewildered, are you always that dumb or have you been practicing being a right tosser?

  16. patricia bremner 16
    18 November 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Stacey Kirk’s writing is shallow and nasty. Not worth reading.

  17. Tiger Mountain 17
    18 November 2018 at 1:34 pm

    where were such Natpack writers when the Mining Inspectorate was reduced to ineffectiveness, when a Board inexperienced with underground mining charged on regardless with an unstable employer at the helm, when the anti union Pike employer refused to engage usefully with the EPMU and actively dissuaded new workers from joining the union–which sabotaged attempts to set up genuine Health and Safety measures? eh where were they…

    injecting health and safety into the Little smear, is plain evil, when it was a colossal Health and Safety disaster that necessitates the need for the Recovery Agency!

    • Tamati Tautuhi 17.1
      18 November 2018 at 9:30 pm

      There might be pieces of onion on the floor of the mine which the rescuers could slip over on, then it becomes a Health & Safety Issue ?

  18. Observer Tokoroa 18
    18 November 2018 at 3:25 pm

    Pike River Scandal

    The Auckland Press – what a ratbag cockroach outfit that is – has ignored the fact the Police have declared the Pike River tragedy a Crime Scene.

    It has wheeled out that famous “miner’? – Stacy Nobody – to spray her witless words – for her darling editor .

    Mostly – she is annoyed over the cost of the re-entry of the Pike River Mine. It seems expensive at 23$Million. Money which should have been spent into making the Mine methane safe 9 years ago before any person was sent down that terrible hole. It was criminal to not ensure the mine was monitored and methane free.

    It would be nice if Stacy – a known national party troll – would ask the extremely wealthy John Key for 23$Million to give to the families who lost their fathers and brothers. 29 such brave persons who trusted a shifty John Key.

    In the meantime, could I ask Aucklanders to turn out a few decent writers. Ones who understand the Truth. Ones who don’t suck. Ones who declare for all New Zealand. It is no wonder that the dirty Super City is despised by the vast Citizenry of Aotearoa.

    I note that Heather Du Plessis Allen is no longer one eyed. Deft with her words too. Congratulations to Her.

  19. Observer Tokoroa 19
    18 November 2018 at 3:58 pm

    Hi Just Me

    You rightly list the filth bank of seedy scum – that is the scribble shit of New Zealand.
    Note that it is headed by a particular turd known as Armstrong. Whose excrement runs freely into the shores of Auckland’s waters night and day.

    The man is filth. He and Hosking run along side that gutter snipe John Key who allowed any wrong to be undertaken by the Wealthy – while he was PM. Just as long as he could play salaciously with little blonde girls hair. Not a word said about that by Gutless scribblers.

    What filth he is. What filth he remains. Auckland will never recover from him.

    It matters not to those on the list you have given Just Me, that New Zealand has just about the weakest stand on the OECD lists – OWING to Auckland. SLUM ridden, Criminal – DRUG ridden – Brutal Auckland.

    Auckland has no intention of ever becoming normal and noble. Sadly the women of the City have no fibre – just a lust for money and cheapness. Swoons for Key and Billy English.

    • JustMe 19.1
      18 November 2018 at 4:35 pm

      Well said Observer Tokoroa but be aware of one thing. I live in Auckland but have every intention on getting out of what I call the most unliveable city in New Zealand.

      I am sure there are many who think the sun shines out of Aucklands sewerage ponds but I sure as hell don’t. And I have lived here well over 50 plus years. Probably more years than John Key has ever spent living in New Zealand.

      Auckland has major problems albeit in population, public transport, housing, homelessness etc. But please do not tarnish me or other Aucklanders(gawd I so hate using that word to be honest)as us females not having any fibre.

      If or when I can I give food to the homeless people even if it means I don’t have food for myself. Fortunately close to where I work is a cafe and the cafe owner lets me know when there is leftovers for the homeless.

      When one lack empathy one may as well become a National Party politician or one of its supporters.

    • greywarshark 19.2
      18 November 2018 at 10:21 pm

      Too much filth Observer Tokoroa.
      I feel it is up to my ankles. Send in the stepladders so I can get above it. Or better still cut down the flow to say half and you would still get your point over.
      We feel the pain too. And would you want all of the disaffected people in Awk moving to Tokoroa?

  20. Chris T 20
    18 November 2018 at 4:10 pm

    The article is stupid, but having said that I have never been totally comfortable with the lack of details of how much his union new before the first explosion. (Yes I know Nationals downsizing inspectors was stupid, before I get annihilated)

    Again having said that. What is done is done. So good luck with the entering the drift.

  22. Ross 22
    18 November 2018 at 4:34 pm

    I’m not sure what Kirk’s problem is. The former PM John Key said he would do absolutely everything he could to get the bodies out. I don’t recall Kirk criticising Key. All Little is doing is following through on Key’s promise, which to be fair was probably put in the too hard basket as soon as he made it.

    • Ed 22.1
      18 November 2018 at 4:49 pm

      Kirk is a neoliberal shill.
      That is her problem.

    • Incognito 22.2
      18 November 2018 at 7:48 pm

      Like it or not, Kirk is doing her job, which is to write pieces that get read and discussed by many, which directs traffic to the site she’s writing for. I’d say she’s pretty good at her job. What she’s not is an honest broker as so many seem to want her to be.

      • Tamati Tautuhi 22.2.1
        18 November 2018 at 9:34 pm

        Why would you waste your time reading her shit.

        • Rae 22.2.1.1
          19 November 2018 at 4:24 pm

          You do (ok maybe skim it) in order to get to the comments so you can TRY to put to bed the lies and half truths flung around by the angry antis that flock to that site.

  23. R.P Mcmurphy 23
    18 November 2018 at 5:07 pm

    stacey kirk is a tory stooge and a bloodsucking flea. she typifies the product being turned out by j-schools these days. no life experience but yet willing to do whatever her masters tell her.

  24. Ed 24
    18 November 2018 at 5:36 pm

    Little takes the offensive against the Kirks of this world.

    Government should apologise for failures at Pike River

    “The government’s independent adviser on the mine recovery operation, Rob Fyfe, has called for such an apology to the families of the 29 men who died in the mine explosions in 2010.

    Mr Little said there were a number of failures in the aftermath of the disaster, including by the Department of Labour which was responsible for overall health and safety.

    “It totally let down the families, the Pike River families, then in the aftermath of the tragedy, the failure to prosecute and the kind of dodgy buy-out that happened that the Supreme Court has now ruled that is unlawful.

    “The promise made to the families to do everything possible but then not fulfilling that promise.””

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/376213/government-should-apologise-for-failures-at-pike-river-little

  25. Muttonbird 25
    18 November 2018 at 5:40 pm

    Dear old Marion Curtin. Everyone grieves in different ways and it must be awful to have lost a son down that mine, but she says, “it’s like grave-robbing”.

    What the hell?

    She’s becoming the go to for Nat supporters including Stacey Kirk who pay lip-service to worker safety but I think they are taking advantage of her pretty strange and politicised comments.

    • greywarshark 25.1
      18 November 2018 at 10:13 pm

      Mrs Curtin is one of a number of families who have lost people, 29 in all. Why should she not consider the wishes of other families who do want to see if they can have the bodies or what is left returned to them. I find her very self-centred in pointing out her grief and disregarding what the other families are feeling.

      The families were willing to scope out the situation in the mine after the blast and were prevented. There must be a better protocol set up for these cases, where there is a collaborative meeting where plans would be drawn up and a rehearsal of what would be done and how. Everyone would enter at their own risk, and ACC would be available for any injured. Police could volunteer and have proper ongoing support by law if anything happened.

  26. Lettuce 26
    18 November 2018 at 5:40 pm

    Anyone know why there was complete silence from Stacey Kirk during the Jami-Lee Ross saga? Asking for a friend.

    • Muttonbird 26.1
      18 November 2018 at 5:57 pm

      It’s been a tough one for Nat journos for sure. They really have nothing positive to go on so they don’t say anything at all, hence the silence.

      I know what your friend is thinking. Kirk was overseas for much of it – I don’t know whether that was coincidental or deliberate though…you friend might like to mull on that.

  27. Ken 27
    18 November 2018 at 5:53 pm

    Those Nat stooges are hoping and praying that someone gets hurt, or better yet, killed during the reentry.

    • Ed 27.1
      18 November 2018 at 5:57 pm

      They are sick.

    • Chris T 27.2
      18 November 2018 at 7:21 pm

      What an incredibly arsehole thing to say.

      • Muttonbird 27.2.1
        18 November 2018 at 8:11 pm

        I don’t see this as different from Kirk’s statement that Andrew Little is doing this solely for self-aggrandisement. These are both evocative statements, the difference being that Ken is a member of the public commenting on a forum and Kirk is a handsomely paid senior political journalist.

        I mean the Nats and their journos and supporters actually believe the EPMU is responsible for this tragedy! More, by inference they are demanding stronger union representation in the work place.

        • Chris T 27.2.1.1
          18 November 2018 at 11:31 pm

          Kirk is an idiot, known biased reporter.

          Ken is a poster on here who I can comment to directly.

          What’s his excuse for saying such stupid statements?

  28. Fireblade 28
    18 November 2018 at 8:04 pm

    Duncan Garner

    Little a hero as Nats run for the hills and beyond

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/108668718/Little-a-hero-as-Nats-run-for-the-hills-and-beyond

    • opium 28.1
      19 November 2018 at 8:01 am

      Good article.Still can’t believe it is written by Duncan Garner.Did he get possessed by a good spirit or something?

  29. gsays 29
    19 November 2018 at 9:54 am

    I looked at the article link, 491 comments (now closed), and the anti ones are breath taking in the ignorance displayed.

    • Rae 29.1
      19 November 2018 at 4:27 pm

      I call them the “Angry Antis” a play on what the Nats called Little when he led Labour. Very, very fitting, I think.

  30. Philj 30
    19 November 2018 at 1:18 pm

    Kirk is a click bait, fear mongering non reporter. The MSM are becoming irrelevant if you want to be informed, that is.

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