Today on TV 1 Q + A said” Police under section 116 (say’s Mathew Hooten today on TV1 Q+A) should be entering bee hive today to seize all computers and all records in Key’s offices, Collins, & Kaye and other minister’s implicated.
This is urgently needed, and this should check any further damage, and send a shiver down the spines of those who destroyed our clean Government and corrupted the whole system.
Then we THE VOTER AND CITIZEN can finally see justice being done.
1. IMPORTANT, – URGENT.
Today we call officially on all opposition parties.
They must join together and must meet in an emergency forum to set the discussion surrounding the whole matter of political corruption within the Hager book and the laying of the grounds for the public interest in a truly independent commission of enquiry into the whole Slater gate affair with Team Key and His “black ops” “Dirty Politics” scandal reaching right back to when the records start with the Key Government and before.
116 Conspiring to defeat justice
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who conspires to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice in New Zealand or the course of justice in an overseas jurisdiction.
Compare: 1908 No 32 s 137
Section 116: amended, on 18 June 2002, by section 6(1) of the Crimes Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 20).
In fact, the newspaper did not have that particular incriminating email, and the hacker known as Rawshark said yesterday he did not have it either. “That email wasn’t leaked by me, I had nothing to do with it,” said Rawshark, who was also the source for Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics.
But the newspaper did have a large tranche of emails that inform an in-depth investigation revealing Hotchin’s apparent backing for the smear campaign.
[…]
The new documents obtained by the Star-Times appear to show PR consultant Graham paid Slater and Odgers to write dozens of posts attacking regulators and a possible witness.
In one email, Odgers said: “Remind him [Hotchin] he pays cam n I to f— w FMA so he can focus on important things.”
Another email appears to discuss plans to undermine the credibility of a potential witness in the Hanover investigation, property developer Tony Gapes.
Graham wrote in one email: “Just off ph to MH . . . Seems our friend Tony Gapes is thinking he’s a bit of a star witness for the SFO against our man.”
He added that Gapes “should have some sunlight shone on him. Enough to raise questions of credibility with the SFO”.
I’m sort of thinking that none of this implicates Collins. Did Key and Collins do a deal on the resignation? Of all the things she might have done that are corrupt this is not one of them so an investigation will clear her and pave the way for the Crusher to return to cabinet? (note that I only have web access – maybe there’s more in the printed SST?)
Collins needs to be investigated for releasing a public servant’s information to a blog knowing he would be threatened. Plus her input into Slater’s ‘tip line’. Not to mention Oravida.
I think Key and Collins chose this for her to resign on exactly because it doesn’t implicate her. That way Key can run an inquiry with narrow terms of reference. This will be designed to clear Gusher, but maybe throw Blubber Boy, Carrick Graham (that apple didn’t fall far from the tree), and that Cactus thing to the wolves. This will be the first sinking ship that the rats actually have to be kicked off.
Key will then shout from the rooftops that Collins has been shown to be squeaky clean, and they’ll be back to business as usual, but with Farrar or someone else doing their dirty work. It’s as predictable as the day is long.
“They hate livestock almost as much as they hate people,” Mr English said of the Labour and Green parties – Wairararpa Times Age – Bill English sharing the hate at a public meeting in Masterton last Thursday.
Don’t worry yourself too much. The Internet Party campaigns for Hover boards, and none really believes that. There is no question that farming communities are often “tight-knit”, if you know what I mean. Of the “farmers” I’ve known, they have sometimes said some interesting things that would at face value appear to agree with English about this or that Eco-friendly policy. But I also knew them well enough to know that under the surface, you couldn’t sway them with basic unsupportable claims like “The Greens hate you and your cows”. Stuff at that level just will not penetrate the cranium with the desired effect. My guess is that more than a few eyebrows would have been raised.
“They hate livestock almost as much as they hate people,”
Hard now, all things considered, to not see this as part of more Dirty Politics. Thurs English says that, on Thurs night Key tried to hammer the message in the debate that Labour were responsible for crazy and dangerous GP policy. And voila, yesterday, billboards started appearing using Ansell-esque PR techniques to connect Labour with the GP, and smear the both of them with anti-environmental, anti-people lies. The billboard owners have connections with both ACT and Federated Farmers.
“They hate livestock almost as much as they hate people,”
Hard now, all things considered, to not see this as part of more Dirty Politics. Thurs English says that, on Thurs night Key tried to hammer the message in the debate that Labour were responsible for crazy and dangerous GP policy. And voila, yesterday, billboards started appearing using Ansell-esque PR techniques to connect Labour with the GP, and smear the both of them with anti-environmental, anti-people lies. The billboard owners have connections with both ACT and Federated Farmers.
Odgers was a figure in the Dirty Politics book and last week her Hong Kong-based employer Jeeves Group confirmed she was no longer a consultant for them “by mutual consent”.
It is understood that decision was linked to emails being released by the hacker today, which are expected to show the bloggers were being paid to discredit Feeley.
hotchins must have been paying her a fuck of alot given she would be on megabucks as a hong kong tax consultant. Lots is never enough to people like this.
Meanwhile colins party has some nutjobs who should worry us. SST reports one who is speechifying in south auckland about a link between removing s59 defence and youth suicide, despite all evidence to the contrary and south auckland kids are going on the game for pocket money and getting Std… All cos od decriminalisation of prostitution.
Fun as yesterday was, we still have an election to win. Today, I’m walking the streets of Patea and Waverley to help Labour and my mate Hamish McDouall. Less than 3 weeks to go, comrades, and there’s work to be done.
Booze is no laughing matter, it’s a killer and it’s amazing that weed is demonised from within a booze- soaked culture, but it is no way at all more dangerous than heroin. You are such a debatemonger, Phillip.
It’s sort of a mixed bag with heroin. Theoretically, if your Heroin is clean and you always practice proper hygiene, not sharing needles and being careful with the dosage Heroin is extremely well tolerated by the body and will cause no lasting damage. The danger with heroin is the dose to over-dose ratio which is extremely thin not to mention impurities in the cook and that junkies tend to practice dangerous habits like needle sharing etc.
I agree with you. The scenario was not defined, which is why the ambiguous “more dangerous than…” was so obviously a bit of exaggeration for debate’s sake. Right now Phillip is sitting back having a good old chuckle…
If you’ve got kidney problems, heroin can make them worse. I can’t see how the appropriate medical treatment for this is a prison sentence, but then I’m probably a bit slow.
LPrent .. looks like you have been working through the night resolving the issues for TS .. thank you for looking after us all as this history unravels. I would be lost without you.
San-serif fonts are also called “grotesque”, so you are not far wrong in a way, lol.
San-serif fonts are slightly harder to read in big blocks without proper kearning and line spacing (that’s one of the reasons serifs exist!) but as I said below, they are friendlier.
Some advice, if I may, to those writing large amounts is to paragraph diligently in order to avoid big blocks of text.
Open Sans. The main reason for going to it was that it is available across all devices (gets rid of nitpicky layout issues using a common font) and is very clear on small hires devices like tablets where the available serif fonts look clunky, dark, and unclear.
As usual it is a tradeoff. In this case lower res large screens look better in the times roman. But there are fewer of those around every year.
Sorry Lynn, but it is bloody terrible. I am a Typographer by trade and would rather crawl over broken glass than use Open Sans for comments on a website. But then, I am a purist.
There is a reason that serif fonts are used for this type of work and it is because they are easier on the eye and the kerning is optimised for reading rather than display.
According to Matthew Hooton, he was told (yesterday?) that the Prime Ministers office received the letter containing the email on WEDNESDAY. Therefore the PM knew about this on Wednesday (don’t try to tell me he didn’t). but chose not to do anything with it.
I wonder why? Surely he did’nt think it would affect the leaders debate? If he won the debate, which he clearly didn’t, he could have ignored it. Because he lost he now chooses to use it to show how Prime Ministerial he is?
Kenny-Don’t buy any gospel according to Matthew Hooten.
I’d bet Key has had the email since 2011-not Wednesday. But what else has he in his ‘top drawer’? He’s admitted he’s got a drawer full of useful incriminating stuff.
Hi Rodel – I buy into it precisely because it is from Hooton. If you saw him on Q & A this morning you would know that the shit is about to hit the fan. He’s in utu mood.
yes but thats his office. He didnt see it til friday night. I am not sure if by “I” he meant him. Wayne Eagleston would be out and about with Key wouldnt he, not in the office. SO wayne eagleston withheld it from key for two days…
Interesting. If that’s so, then Key would have known about it before the Leaders’ debate on Thursday night. Many people said he was off his gamer then. And Cunliffe did put some pressure on him re-Colllins.
Andrew Geddis essentialises perfectly in Blue on Blue at Pundit ( link on right hand side of this page):
“Just so we’re absolutely clear about this: Judith Collins didn’t resign because of anything Nicky Hager did. Rather, she resigned because Cathy Odgers gave the PM’s office an email that neither Nicky Hager nor the hacker who stole a bunch of other information had seen, in which a certain blogger whom we don’t name said some stuff about Judith Collins that she claims is absolutely false.
Is this is the best political scandal ever, or what?”
Further evidence of the corporates attacking Science ( as shown in Dirty Politics) to maximise their profits! Supported by Slater, his cabal, the media and members of our government.
It’ll be interesting to see Latta’s look at sugar in his excellent series this week.
“The NZ Food & Grocery Council has flown in British anti-tax campaigner Chris Snowdon to lobby against soft drink taxes, in a move described by health researchers as suspicious.
Following Dirty Politics’ allegations that the council ran sponsored posts on the Whale Oil blog, the industry group has drawn further controversy for inviting Snowdon to give a speech titled “growing calls for taxes on sugar and why such taxes do not work”.
The moderators over at the other place are going nuts. Sit there and watch the adverse comments coming up, then minutes later dissappear….they cant keep up though….so they sit there for a few minutes before they can get to them. Hilarious.
Lots of questions being asked by the “army”….but the high priest isnt answering them!
A liar. That is all he is. Problem being, I think he may well have to state that under oath sometime in the near future along with JC also under oath.
Truth always prevails Cam!
..parker said this the other day..and i said nothing..tongue bleeding from biting it..
..but here he is now repeating it..
..he seems determined to push this bullshit..that somehow labour last time promising to include welfare-families in working for familes..by fucken 2018..(!)..
..was the reason labour lost the last election..
..and he is arguing this is why he is giving his baby-bonus to people earning a hundred grand a year..
..so..summary:..
..labour are promising to do absolutely nothing for the childless poor..
..but are promising a $60 per wk ‘bonus’..for those earning $100,00..
..does any of this sound at all familiar..?
..clarks’ crocodile-tears over families ‘struggling’ on seventy grand a year..to justify giving them middle-class welfare..?
..all the while she resolutely ignored those families/children living in real poverty..?
Yep. It’s getting hard to be around the seemingly nice folks at the Labour stand at the local market without rushing over to… have a “robust discussion”. Do those volunteers know what they’re championing? Dispensing Slow Death, the cowards way. I have to keep telling myself they’re just plain ig’nant and to just ignore them. What makes me maddest is the total betrayal. National don’t care, that was always a given, but Labour lied and betrayed when they knew they were the only alternative. With about 20 days to go, I’ll have to stop going to get my noodles. There were four cops standing ten metres away from them this week. Not such a co-incidence.
Has Steven Joyce had a breakdown of some kind? It is not unheard of in the last weeks of a campaign when candidates disappear for a few days for a “rest”.
I think you will find he is staying right out of it, and when all is revealed and his Nat. Party opponents have one by one been exposed… he will reappear with his personal halo glowing like a newly minted golden orb.
Yes Come back Chooky. Just pick out the choice worms to feed us and get us interested and give us the links for further info. Some here seem to read everything but I am pleased to sample some of the linked item as chances are I won’t have seen it otherwise.
And put your thoughts beside link – they are informative as well.
John Key has raised the subject of the flag before, I think it is time again to raise this serious political issue, but this time as to where on our flag we put the Banana!
“However, with an orchestrated attack on John Key started by Crim Dotcon and with the compliant media, the only way John Key can survive is if people completely ignore the media and trust John Key.”
Hope Kathryn Ryan starts asking Hooton a lot tougher questions on 9 to Noon. Otherwise remove him from his privileged position on a public broadcaster to propagate his extreme viewpoints.
Hope Jim Mora also bothers to ask Jordan Williams and David Farrar a lot of difficult questions on the Panel in return for giving them free publicity to air their noxious views on the world.
Joyce controls our public broadcasting, as his distant relative William Joyce et al Lord Haw Haw did on NAZI Germany 1942 radio to demoralise the allied forces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce
We need a wide ranging immediate enquiry into right wing political use of our public broadcaster during this the most corrupted election in NZ history.
RNZ shouldn’t be using Hooton at all. He has a clear conflict of interest (between being involved both professionally and personally, and being asked to comment independently). RNZ also have a clear conflict of interest and their independent commentator spot is now compromised. If they want to talk to him, they should be interviewing him.
When asked if he had anything to do with dirty trick he kept shifting the subject!
and face kept getting redder!
Machiavellian Henchman is in on every level no way he isn’t !
Saying he got tipped off by low level staffer yeah right!
Defending Jason Ede yeah right
Every opportunity Hooton shifted the blame away from Key !
So Hooton knows how deep Keys is in this !
Key is in this right up to his eyeballs !
Even Hooton trying to inoculate Key!
By predicting Facebook may prove Collins was involved in undermining Feely!
Hootons blood pressure hit the roof as he spun himself out of I predict collusion with Slater!
Key is running out of friends rapidly!
National are in massive trouble the SFO has been compromised over Hotchin and possibly SCF as was alluded to in recent court case saying their is something dodgy about the govts rushing through the govt deposit guarantee scheme costing taxpayers $1.6 billion.
Because of the size and fraud around SCF ,plus now we know at the same time Collins and Slaters undermining of the SFO happened at the same time the SFO were looking into SCF an open inquiry is necessary!
The Blue stool got banned from a NZ design competition because it is ‘too similar’ to the older Red/Black ones.
After reading the first few paragraphs then looking at the pics I was like ‘yeah they are pretty similar’ but then I looked a bit closer and really they are very significantly different.
The structure & proportions of the blue one are fundamentally completely different to the red/black.
The blue one has a kinda similar seat with angled back but even that has at least 3 quite significant differences.
I’d argue that if the blue is infringing the IP of the red/black one, then the latter has at least as much IP conflict with the common wire dish drying rack.
Perhaps this unravelling of Collins might also see fresh sunshine in to the messes she made trying to dismantle ACC.
John Judge might be smiling this morning, along with the Canadian judge and Joe Karam, and who knows how many others she has quietly punched out along her bruising and bullying way.
Mr Key has a lot of questions to answer,clearly he has mismanaged this atrocious greedy government.His ability to hoodwink the MSM has been clearly established and surely it’s time for the MSM to call him and his shonkey team to account.Can’t wait to hear how his poodle Mike Hosking can find more wiggle room.
I can’t let that comment go by Tommo – Poodles all over the world will be HORRIFIED at being compared to Mike Hosking!! Everyone knows that a poodle would have a much classier haircut than Hosking and a greater amount of class and brains too! Hosking looks much more like Stan Laurel!!
Henchman Hooton is rapidly becoming a massive liability for National!
Given his close association with Key Odgers Slater .
Who he now claims he has virtually no connections with just shows how Team Key can LIE their way through anything!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce
See History of Steven Joyce’s relative who conspired against us and joined Germany to spread propaganda, so be warned you don’t want Joyce as Prime Minister, Read the link.,
Don’t want a liar called Steven Joyce anywhere near the prime ministerial job, he is behind the National dirt campaign entirely and needs investigating also under Crimes act 116.
Joyce used phoney taxpayer studies to kill BERL GDC studies proving Gisborne rail was viable.
He is like his distant relative William Joyce that switched to NAZI sympathiser by beaming NAZI radio propaganda to Britain and the allies during WW2.
This one is his copy, a NATIONAL propaganda minister.
Wallace Chapman’s simpering interview with Lee Child
Radio NZ National, Sunday 31 August 2014
A good deal of this morning’s programme has been taken up with analysis of the floundering National Party campaign, which is sinking after one of its dirty bombs backfired on it. But no doubt a lot of listeners would have been tuning in for the interview, after the ten o’clock news, with best-selling thriller writer Lee Child.
I’ve heard Child talking before, and I wasn’t exactly expecting a liberal or a deep thinker. But I didn’t think he’d be quite as depraved as he turned out to be. And true to form, Wallace Chapman acted like a slavering fanboy instead of a journalist. Following are some of the lowlights….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Born Jim Grant, he became Lee Child, best-selling author. His hero Jack Reacher travels light, armed with a toothbrush, a fierce sense of combat, and dishing rough justice, occasionally cropping up to help solve a crime. He is back, with a new book, called Personal. Reacher is on a mission to hunt down a sniper….
The first part of the interview concerns Child’s former job, working as a union organizer at Granada Television. According to Jim Grant himself, he was a real tough guy….
LEE CHILD: In a way we were like Reacher, you know, no holds barred, we did what we needed to do. WALLACE CHAPMAN: Hm hm hm hm hm!
Later…..
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Where does the character of Jack Reacher come from? LEE CHILD: I just closed my eyes and typed the story, and Reacher is what came out. On reflection, clearly, he’s an ancient character. This is the mysterious stranger, the knight errant who shows up in the nick of time, solves the problem and then rides off into the sunset. We’ve seen this story over and over again through the centuries and I think Reacher is just a modern version of one of those guys. WALLACE CHAPMAN: He’s a Robin Hood character, and obviously he must have some resonance. The people I’ve talked to here in New Zealand admire him. It’s almost like they KNOW Jack Reacher, including the CEO of this company, ha ha ha ha! He’s a —ha ha ha!—huge fan of the Jack Reacher character. People love it! I’m just wondering, is it also a little bit about the man against the world, or the person against the world? The fact that he is beholden to no one, kind of a warrior of justice, standing up for the little person. LEE CHILD: I think that’s exactly what it is, and I’ve noticed that too, I mean New Zealand is the absolute world capital of Reacher madness. WALLACE CHAPMAN: IS it? LEE CHILD: Yeah, I have more fans there per head of population than anywhere, I think. And I think that must be because New Zealanders see themselves the same way, you know, rough and tough, wanting to stay out of trouble, but if the chips are down, they will do the right thing. And I think that’s really what resonates around the world. We would all like to do the right thing, we would like to be brave, and of course most of the time we CAN’T be, because you know you see some injustice at work and you can’t really do anything about it otherwise you’ll get fired too. Everybody is a little inhibited, scared here and there, and so to read in a book, this character doing what you’d really like to do yourself I think is inspiring. WALLACE CHAPMAN: Hmmmm. But it’s also that type of character who not only has a sense of fair play but oh my God is he tough! I’m just reading Reacher’s Rules, including: “Use a switchblade to slice the web of a guy’s thumb”… phwoar…. LEE CHILD: Ha ha ha ha ha! WALLACE CHAPMAN: Ha ha! I mean: “Painful and real disincentive against holding pistols again until they have healed, which could be a long time depending on their approach to nutrition and antisepsis.” [nervously] Ha ha ha ha ha ha! LEE CHILD: Ha ha ha ha! Well, that’s the thing with Reacher. He’s got a heart of gold, but he’s not a goody-goody. You know, he will get the job done in the most brutal way imaginable. Which I think also resonates with people. WALLACE CHAPMAN: Ha ha ha! LEE CHILD: I mean, people are FED UP with all these rules— WALLACE CHAPMAN: Ha ha! LEE CHILD: I mean, if you want to do something, just DO it. WALLACE CHAPMAN:[laughing timidly] Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. …. Another thing is the finely honed information that you have in your books. For instance I learned a lot about AK-47s, just a quote here, it’s fascinating: “What does the panicky grunt do under fire? He grabs his rifle and pulls the trigger. Our guns go from Safe to Single Shot to Full Auto, which is nice and linear and logical, but they knew that 99 times in a hundred, their guys would panic and ram the selector all the way home and thereby empty a whole magazine in a single hasty shot. So the AK’s selector goes SAFE then FULL AUTO, then SINGLE SHOT. Not linear, not logical, but certainly practical. …..[Pause to convey wonderment]….Who would have known?
Later….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Tell me, Lee, why did you choose an American anti-hero?.. You’ve really taken America and American culture to heart, haven’t you! LEE CHILD: I like America and I like American people. ….
A little later….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Of all the fans the world over, Bill Clinton is a huge fan! LEE CHILD:[reverently] He’s a huge reader of all sorts of books, a man of big appetites…..
The fan interview continues for another fifteen minutes, but I’ll spare you the rest.
I just had to send Wallace Chapman the following email…..
Lee Child’s casual contempt for law and human rights
Dear Wallace,
After you quoted a nasty torture scene from one of his books, Lee Child chortled and replied: “Well, that’s the thing with Reacher: he’s got a heart of gold, but he’s no goody-good. He does whatever it takes to get the job done. People are tired of rules.”
That’s a casual endorsement of violent, lawless thuggery—and it’s especially ironic coming in the middle of a morning dominated by the revelations about the flagrant contempt for rules by our government and its henchmen.
I was concerned that you did not even so much as demur at what Lee Child said.
Live pregnant cow shipments to China by Fonterra … thousands of the poor beasties going to live in Chinese conditions .. story yesterday overlooked by many I suspect.
What a foul and awful trade to sell and ship pregnant cows into conditions that are illegal in this country. Bloody bloody awful,
Another thing that worries me is why the hell are we selling cows to foreign countries, instead of selling the dairy products? Stupid move! it is selling the goose that lays the golden eggs! Just sell the eggs and keep the geese! sell the wool and keep the sheep. Sell the kiwi fruit and keep the trees.
Despite there being a downward trend in youth suicide statistics since “anti-smacking” law change in 2007, Conservative Idiot Party candidate lies about increase in youth suicide due to law change
Note to “George”: She’s gone. She’s no longer “in the team”.
Who said Judith Collins has no friends left? The dear old bewildered regulars over at Blubber Blog are all dying to express their love for her. My favorite is this one by “George” (possibly Cameron Slater himself) which right now has garnered 52 Up votes:
“Judith we could fill Eden Park 50 times over with people who love you and your dynamic personality and gutsiness. You have taken one for the team. You’re on the bench but still in the squad. You’ll be back. Take a rest and then let us witness you in full flight soon. Thank goodness you’re in the team….”
Don’t worry, Paul, they’re here all right. They’re just regrouping. This has been a very bad two weeks for them, and it just keeps getting worse.
If Slater had any common sense, leave alone decency or ethics, he would slither away under a rock for a month or so, and refrain from commenting on politics. Since he has none of those traits, it’s worth keeping an eye on him, if only for the dubious pleasure of watching the most foul-mouthed suicide note in history.
I see what you’ve done there, Kiwiri, and I’m impressed. But I can’t understand why you’ve done it. Is there a problem with giving the Blubber Blog link direct?
Judith Collins has done good work-and this man likes nothing better that Women on the front foot for Freedom. Magnificent to watch at work are the Judith Collins of our day. Taking on the Socialist-Communist-Left establishment has its risks: Anna Stepanova Politkovskaya, born 30th August 1958, Moscow, was an outstanding writer, journalist, and lady of compassion and bravery…
Urge to repeatedly kick this moron in the nuts is high.
1) Suicide risk is linked to stress, particularly in low income situations or unemployment (NB: issues with LGBT individuals in pacifica community? Known driver of suicide), so yes, suicide rates would have climbed with rising unemployment etc. More so in maori and pacific island groups due to them being hit my unemployment far more significantly than europeans in NZ.
2) Other issues “cited” by Saafi are also linked to deprivation and poverty, resulting from stress driving people into short term, high gain activities, while discounting long term costs completely, or are so stressed out they are easily taken advantage of by shitlords.
3) ” “Once you pass it, children, rather than doing what mum and dad says, they go and commit suicide. It opens up another thing they could do,” Saafi, who holds a doctorate in biomedicine, said.”
= pure rage inducing stupidity, and for someone holding a university degree, a sign the individual might have the ability to pass, but that sure as hell haven’t learnt anything, making them a learned idiot, aka a morosoph. More so given there is a body of research on this subject said idiot is conveniently ignoring despite having a science degree…
4) Claiming smacking has been banned is fractally wrong. The changes to the legislation basically made it possible for the police to prosecute cases of violence against children that before were defended by claiming it was “discipline”. And I’m not talking about smacks, more hitting kids hard enough to leave bruises via cords, metal tubes, riding crops, sticks and fists, the sort of stuff that any person with normal empathy responses would look at in horror. Ye olde hand/hairbrush to the butt however is still legal, but hey, why bother with the legal reality when you can spin a disgusting lie instead?
So yeah, fuck Edward Saafi for this bullshit and fuck the conservatives for thinking this sort of mindless bullshit is even acceptable.
What you say is true, from your point of view, and I agree with you. The trouble is that it is also “racist”, in the way that any enforcement of a cultural view onto Tongan matters from outside of any variation of Tongan family culture might be. If he gets any traction for his ideas, it’ll be for reasons unknown to outsiders. Telling people that bashing their kids is wrong, is as good on as many levels as it is wrong. But don’t worry, I’m not calling you racist, that’s why it’s in inverted commas. It might be frustrating, but the world does not revolve around what the government of yesteryear or tomorrow thinks best.
Bonus dormitat Homerus
Taking an uncharacteristically thoughtless Gordon Campbell to task
The normally excellent Gordon Campbell let himself down earlier this year by foolishly repeating a key trope of the pathetic, confused, failed Gore presidential campaign. He did this while struggling to analyse the potential impact of Kim Dotcom’s new party. I wrote a reply on his blog, but he ignored it.
It seems to me, however, that the objection I raised still stands—now more than ever…..
CAMPBELL: “Dotcom has the potential to split the existing anti-Key, centre left vote – in much the same way that Ralph Nader did in the 2000 US election….”
BREEN: That statement concerns me very much. You seem to be buying into the Democratic Party line of blaming Nader for “spoiling” Al Gore’s chances in 2000. Of course, it was not Ralph Nader who told Gore to pointedly stay away from union meetings, to continue the anti-Cuban rhetoric and to express his endorsement of the regimes in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Israel (amongst others). As Nader himself pointed out, he gave Al Gore a program, and Gore and his ingenious “strategy” team were free to take as much of it into their own campaign as they liked.
Similarly, the Labour Party could take up Dotcom’s entirely mainstream views-–free and open internet, freedom from government and corporate snooping and censorship—and get all those Dotcom supporters voting Labour. It’s up to Labour, of course—but if they choose to ignore what Dotcom’s saying, they have only themselves to blame.
The fault for Gore’s defeat lies squarely with Gore and his fantastically weak-kneed advisers—in particular Warren Christopher, who decided not to demand a recount after the Bush team had stolen thousands of votes in Florida.
Nader, one of the few genuinely decent and intellectual people to have ever run for the Presidency, ran because Gore had ignored, indeed shunned, the traditional Democratic Party base.
If Gore and his high-powered advisers had possessed an ounce of common sense, they would have taken many, or indeed all, of Nader’s policies. They chose not to, and even tried to have Nader excluded from the ballot in many states.
What is it about Gore that leads you to believe he would have presided over a regime significantly better than the Bush regime? Has Obama done that?
“The campaign included attacks on the credibility of the Financial Markets Authority and the Serious Fraud Office, as well as attacks on Hanover critic and then-Shareholder’s Association head Bruce Sheppard. At the time of the campaign, Sheppard was a defendant in a now-settled defamation suit brought by Hotchin.”
“How much the trio were paid for their role in the campaign is not made clear in the documents, but in a 2012 email to Taxpayers Union head Jordan Williams discussing how much he charged for his services, Slater implied the sums involved would be substantial.”
“One piece of chaos and mayhem cooked up by Graham, Slater and Odgers involved the latter writing an op-ed for the New Zealand Herald in April 2012.”
Boag vs Hooton on Radio Live this morning on Mark Sainsbury’s show (Sunday)
Explosive 10.10 to 10.15 a.m. http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx
The National Party descending into Civil War
So many things mentioned here it’s worth a post on its own.
That was intense. Hooton is fired up. Boag doesn’t seem to care one jot about the direction Key’s office has taken the country.
Eagleson seems to have a lot to answer for. A lot.
Just can’t see how Boag and co can just sweep this under the carpet. Surely the dirty ops culture of this government is unprecedented in New Zealand’s modern history. The strategy of these enablers seems to be, “it’s minor, I don’t care, nobody cares”.
I read a comment on another forum from one of these #Teamkey apologists stating that the 95% of kiwis who have no interest in politics will not have the faintest idea what is going on and will not be swayed by this “left wing conspiracy”. It is beltway, that person said.
That’s the thing, the national party, and their supporters including Boag above have an agenda to not educate the 95% on what happens in parliament. They are most interested in keeping this explosive detail in the beltway thereby ensuring a culture of corruption in the New Zealand government is of no importance to anyone in the public at large.
I don’t believe it and think it is convenient myth-making propaganda for the right (and sometimes the left).
This from today’s Colmar Brunton suggests quite a high level of understanding the political issues (by high I mean for the general public, not the people that have been living on the internet since DP came out)
The latest poll also asked if people respondents believe John Key when he says he was not personally informed about the release of SIS information to blogger Cameron Slater.
While 41% said they do believe him, 44% say they don’t and 14% said they didn’t know.
And I agree a post of it’s own. Michelle asking Mathew what he is taking.
Mathew is going on about the beehive interfering in contracts awarded to him by government through the correct government procurement contract and then the experiences of others in the same area. So Michelle asks him to be more specific and he goes, oh that one was Steven Joyce’s office.
Coffee everywhere I’m afraid. Just how far does this extend.
“Prime Minister John Key has confirmed he has received a subpoena to appear before the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence for a closed hearing nine days before the election.”
Forgive my cynicism, but he is trying to do his laundry and get it dry before the election.
Behind closed doors, and no word as to whether evidence will be given under oath, or even the terms of it. smells bad to me; and run by a Key appointee. I feel a Tui ad coming on.
[The new Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
April 24th, 2014 at 11:00 am by David Farrar
The Herald report:
Experienced lawyer Cheryl Gwyn will be put in charge of monitoring New Zealand’s spying and intelligence activities, Prime Minister John Key revealed this morning.
Ms Gwyn will take over the job of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to replace Andrew McGechan QC, a former High Court Judge who was appointed on an interim basis in July.
She is the deputy Solicitor-General at Crown Law, and has previously been a partner at two legal firms, Deputy Secretary for Justice, Acting Solicitor General and chief executive at Crown Law.
Her office will have a larger, more proactive role as a result of Government Communications Security Bureau reforms which passed into law last year.
The reforms increased the scope and resourcing of the oversight regime, and widened the pool of candidates for the Inspector-General role beyond former High Court judges.]
———
David Farrar’s comment:
The combination of Kitteridge becoming SIS Head and Gwyn becoming Inspector-General is a clear sign that the Government is very focused on ensuring the intelligence agencies act within both the letter and spirit of the law, and that there are no more stuff ups such as occurred at the GCSB.
Retired judges have tended to be not particularly pro-active as Inspector-General. I think Ms Gwyn will be a very pro-active Inspector-General – in line with her new powers.
was she CEO or deputy Solicitor General at Crown Law when this happened ? With the greatest respect to Ms Gwyn, there are so many ways she is compromised. We had a post a week or so ago about it, but I can’t find it again. But look at her CV … she has worked in all of the offices of the people involved in this, except PM. I don’t have high hopes, unless she is the bravest and brightest woman possible !
She was recently appointed by the Prime Minister, is it not? That casts doubts and negates full confidence in this inquiry. I think an independent JUDICIAL inquiry by a high court or supreme court Judge is more appropriate!
Did she call for this inquiry on her own or did Key himself ask her to hold one? Who is she answerable to? Who can oversee or review the inquiry to make sure this isn’t all just a jack up?
Greatly needed: independence of the inquiry – a panel of people whose ongoing employment would not have been or would not be dependent on or related to the government who has been in deep shit over this.
A judge, a fiercely intelligent and independent legal and jurist, who has retired (retired, i.e. has security of pension and has had a career record that cannot or will not be under pressure or jeopardised by virtue of involvement in the inquiry) needs to lead this.
As this is a small country and given our closely interconnected professional, personal and political relationships, it would be very challenging to find such a person who would not be beholden or biased to the government that has been implicated. A legal mind from overseas may be required.
no word as to whether evidence will be given under oath
with the gang involved and what Dirty Politics reveal, would anyone who has been closely following the scandals actually believe those involved would tell the truth and provide full disclosure even if they give their evidence under oath??
the truth will be in the evidence that can be found and their digital footprints before those get destroyed.
No. Key is not down to appear. His office is but so far not including Key. In Paul’s link. Remember Key is Office but not really. Separate from Key. Weird.
I don’t think you’re being cynical, yeshe – I think you’re being realistic. I’m betting this closed doors hearing won’t have an outcome until after the election.
Another poll, another non event from mip, languishing on or around 2%.
What happened to the 10% some were talking up?
The reality is, that’s a bit sh!t.
So far it seems 3mil buys 1%. That’s not a good return, even colin has got better from his ‘investment’.
hone throwing a strop over policy announcements won’t be helping the unified mip message.
No agenda other than comment wryly about the non event that is the mip surge as predicted by some, but worry not weepus beard, it’s all fair in love and war and politics.
There’s plenty of thoroughbred horse bashing going on, so no worries if I have a little poke at the donkey and ass.
That’s fine if you want to talk in riddles. Some of the finest literary creative people spoke in riddles.
While I’m sure I will not be voting IMP party vote, I think they are a very important part of this election. They are energising the youth vote.
The traditional Mana vote may have suffered recently because Hone Harawira seems to have gone awol after his car accident but I still don’t see the point in attacking them.
I don’t think the numbers support the claim mip are energising the young voters, let alone mobilising them, but always happy to be corrected by data.
I’m not talking in riddles, but if you need clues, the thoroughbred stable mates are the greens and labour, the donkey and ass, well, you get the idea.
That’s a couple of outright lies, love, and if I may say, a little beneath you and the quality expected at ts.
I don’t hate anyone, including kim, and have never said or written that mana isn’t legitimate or of the left.
Shame on you for resorting to lying to do your bidding, but then that says more about you than I.
Your antipathy towards KDC is evidenced in many comments on ts over much time. You can say it’s not ‘hate’, so let’s call it something else then. Loathe? Detest? Abhor?
“and have never said or written that mana isn’t legitimate or of the left.”
Maybe, but you’re comment here supports what I said about who you consider IS the legitimate left,
I would happily have settled for ‘hostility, antagonism, animosity, aversion, opposition, enmity and distaste, but hatred oh no, that’s just a dreadfully incorrect assumption on your part. I also suggest loathe, detest and abhor, your second effort, are way of the mark too, so that’s a negative, metaphoric and literal.
“Maybe”
Well make quick with the sorry, and we’ll forget about the attempted character assassination, and even the p!ss poor attempt at trying to save face when caught cold.
That link says nothing about being legitimate or otherwise, just them not being very well supported given the money, the hype and the fanbois and girls who dish it but on here but can’t take a little push back.
Cry, rant, ignore or scheme harder if you want, but if you tell lies – You lose. The end.
Oh, and I’m proudly anti semantic. 😉
What about you?
“He feels hostility towards KDC and by extension the IMP”
Better?
“He seems to think that only Labour and the GP are legitimate left wing parties, and Mana would be one too if it wasn’t part of the IMP”
Better?
The difference between hate and feeling hostility towards someone obviously makes a difference to you, and fair enough, but the fact that it’s just semantics to me doesn’t make me a liar. My characterisation is still pretty close to reality.
Give it some context like given the shoddy shenanigans of kdc and because of hone’s dash for his cash, “he feels aversion and distaste for those involved” is close enough.
“He seems to think that Labour and the GP are legitimate left wing parties and would form a better government if Mana and the mip have nothing to do with it”
That’s sounds pretty consistent, credible and believable.
“My characterisation is still pretty close to reality.”
Nope, it’s not. It’s as off as your first smear attempt, just dressed in slightly less contemptuous words.
But still, your off target lies and my honest sensibilities aside, that 2%, it’s a shocker given the spend up.
Yeah, nah. Your behaviour isn’t that of someone who feels distaste. It’s the behaviour of someone who feels something much stronger.
You really dislike KDC and that affects everything you say about the IMP (or everything I’ve seen you say). And IMP have no left wing legitimacy in your view. Pretty much what I said at the start.
Behavioural analysis on the web to someone on the web you don’t agree with. That’s a shocker, call the Times of London and tell them to hold the front page.
I don’t care too much for the semantic argument, sweetheart, mainly ’cause it relies on your interpretation, which may or not be up to scratch, but bottom line, if you can’t post an “I hate” quote, you shouldn’t really be posting “he hates”.
Shame on you The Allen. If you are going to diss the parties in a confused rhetorical way, it isn’t helpful to the close election effort. You appear to be adopting the annoying mosquito persona. Have you a serious one for this important time?
You must have missed the other posts slagging the greens and the labour party recently, but that’s okay, maybe you missed them with your eyes open?
And my comment wasn’t even to balance for redress, it was just a laugh at 3 mil buying not a lot but a few die hards.
Poor point, piss poorly made – Are you – cnrjoe?
But really, let’s not get into criticising peoples language and culture, that smacks of all sorts of wrong, worse than dirty politics.
National the One Man Band!!! Where is Joyce?And the rest of the National rabble,what are they up to?
JK is looking more than a little bit CRUSHED.The boat is taking on water,the crew all looking at protecting their backs.
Are the chickens coming home to roost?
Joyce is generally immersed in Nova pay ….but now may be indulging in some quiet but serious zen meditation about the state of the unexpectedly opened pandora box of the National party stink affairs.
The One News Colmar Brunton poll mentioned above is a shocker for the Nats. It appears to be only the second time they’ve ever reported the Key Government below 50%. At the last election, they overestimated them by 2.5% and we know close the actual result was. Now, at 48%, they’re in deep shit.
Bonus result: The poll also asked if people believe Key when he says he was not personally informed about the release of SIS info to Slater.
Only 41% said they do believe him, 44% say they don’t (14% said they didn’t know).
Just had a skim through NZF’s policy manifesto. Nothing much in there the left would object to, that I can see. Or to put it another way, not much that would be deliverable inside a Tory Government.
One thing I noted – and it is only the Ipsos data, so not sure whether this is accurate enough to take seriously – is that there has been a huge jump in preference for JK over Cunliffe for those voting NZ First in the last poll
I agree re Peters getting to choose, and what I am implying is that if National voters are leaving National and going to NZ First, then there is more chance he will choose a right wing government.
Yes, I understood that, thanks. My position I guess is that it’s irrelevant who Peters might go with (although I agree your analysis is interesting), because he could go either way, so the message really needs to be pushed that voting for him is not a vote for change. I’m not sure if your analysis would help people vote left instead, because to be honest I don’t really understand what goes on in the minds of people that vote NZF 😉
The NZ First sample size is about 35 and, in the previous poll, about 27.
The shift in Key as preferred PM was from about 14.5% (4 people) in the previous poll to 33.2% (about 11 or 12 people) in the latest Ipsos poll.
The numbers are too small to draw any conclusions about changes in sentiment but the data points do make for a steep increase in the graph-line between polls.
It is always the same thing, isn’t it; we don’t actually have enough good information to work with 🙁
Still, I couldn’t help noticing that National had been the second-most preferred PM (Winston the most preferred) and then National and Labour became second equal – yet the last poll National rose to a clear second again. This probably does indicate that people were leaving National to vote for NZ First.
It gave me the idea that as NZ First rise (if they do) then there may be more likelihood that they go with National – because Winston would have to take the political persuasions of who is supporting him into account. I presume NZ First would have more accurate data on what type of voter is supporting them.
Yep. Plus he can pop in, say g’day, then shoot through. He’s not committed to actually try and do a deal with National. And given the stink around them, plus his ego driven need to be the one who finishes Key, why would he bother?
Nah, my gut feeling is Deputy PM (the Greens copping that sweet for the wider good). A 3 party coalition, maybe a minority or with C&S from AN Other.
“Nah, my gut feeling is Deputy PM (the Greens copping that sweet for the wider good). A 3 party coalition, maybe a minority or with C&S from AN Other.”
Didn’t follow that. Do you mean your gut feeling is that it’s either L/NZF/GP coalition with Peters as DPM, or L/GP minority govt, or L/GP govt with IMP?
The former (L/NZF/G). Winston has been repeatedly asked if he is ruling the Greens out this time and he refuses to answer. I’m optimistic about what that means.
Ok, so this is the hope that Peters chooses Labour, but it’s still hope. It’s not something reliable. Hence, a vote for NZF is not a vote to change the govt. He might, but for anyone wanting a left wing govt, or even wanting to get rid of Key and National, voting for NZF is at best a risk (significant IMO).
And vice versa at previous elections. I’m not saying that Peters will choose National. I’m saying that none of us know who he will choose, and our personal feelings aside about which is most likely, there is no evidence to support knowing anything other than that he is historically unpredictable.
This is why IMO the left outside of Labour and the GP, should be pushing hard the message that a vote for Peters is not a vote for a change in govt (Peters could for instance argue easily that National under a different PM is a different govt). Too many people who want change seem to think NZF is a viable vote for the left.
Put it this way, if Winston gets numbers that, in the circumstances, inclines him towards National Party, or would make it a bit challenging for him to go with Labour (or would not give him enough ‘incentives’ to do so), Winston will surely of course go with National.
There is a real opportunity coming up, almost 20 years since we adopted proportional representation, to evolve to Cabinet arrangements that would more truly reflect the MMP system that we operate and are continuing to develop.
It is for Labour, Greens, NZ First and IMP, collectively speaking, to encourage that to happen. Their leaders, members, and the wider public – all have the responsibility to foster this.
He has shown from time to time that he doesn’t believe in it. But he cannot repudiate his participation in the MMP system. If he does, then the other parties must go forward together and Peters should be left to his own ‘special speak’ and be left to play his kingmaker, tail-waving-the-dog routine.
Peters appears to believe that because he sits in the middle, he can reject the votes for people on the edges. That’s not what MMP should be about, but the system does allow that. If the threshhold lowers, it might take some of that power away from him, but at the moment, he gets to be kingmaker and respresentative democracy be damned. He thinks the mainstream should rule and that he gets to choose which side of the mainstream.
The poll was conducted from 23-27 August (27th was last Wednesday).
That means it did not include the debate or, of course, this weekend’s events. It was the period when the campaign was being claimed to be ‘getting back on track’ for National after their campaign launch on 24 August.
All in all, one of the better periods for National over the last few weeks.
The ‘median day’ was Monday (i.e., that’s when 50% of the sample was reached).
843 gave a party vote preference (c.f., 824 in last poll). Undecideds and refusers down to 12% (from 15%).
I can’t find pre-2011 (0r 2008) data or reporting which includes the undecideds from Colmar Brunton polls on the internet (I could request but might have to pay).
That looks very bad for National. Worse is that they have another two weeks and six days of what will be relentlessly negative publicity. I noticed that TV3 news is now openly using the term “corruption”, and the guilty parties have all turned on each other today.
Wonder what Ede will say, if he’s not already wearing a concrete overcoat.
For some time now I have been puzzled as to who Judith Collins reminds me of , especially when she puts on that rictus grin. So I have just googled Chucky, thinking it was him , and yes there is a resemblance but I was gobsmacked at the images of Bride of Chucky. An absolute dead spit of Judith! Hairstyle, eyebrows, eye makeup, EVERYTHING! So spooky.
Ms Gwyn Solicitor General to hold closed hearing with PM and staffers?
If it smells like a rat and acts like a rat, – it is a rat.
Government investigating Government well we all know the outcome right?
Well we know a Key jack up coming now with a closed hearing!
Another Key lie.
Remember he said;
“we will run an open, transparent Government”
We have been duped unless opposition files there own legal charges, to have a real hearing as we saw Nixon go through or just call this another banana republic.
Key: “It’s about accountability. I think if I’d said the Justice Minister’s resigned but I’m not going to give you the information why, we would have spent lots and lots of days talking about the rational for that. It’s much better to put it in the public domain, I’m confident we’ve taken the right steps,”
So why did Richard Worth lose his job again? Oh that’s right, we weren’t allowed to know.
Does Mr Key have to front up for questioning?
No according to the Herald
” She confirmed a letter was received in the prime minister’s office on Friday August 29.
“It advised the Prime Minister of the Inspector-General’s intention to interview a number of staff in connection with her inquiry into the release of information by the NZSIS to Cameron Slater.
“There was no indication in the letter that the Prime Minister would be called personally and the Prime Minister’s office is not aware that would be the case. In terms of Prime Minister’s office staff, no date was given in the letter for the interviews to take place.”
Seriously folks .. why would we expect anything to be different from Key ?? He is a joke isn’t he ? smile and wave, smile and wave, oh look, over there …..
Please, let this change for the sake of dear NZ.
He is making Nixon look good and us out to be fools.
Key has to go! His whole department is fatally compromised by the Dirty Politics book.
It reminds me of the final act of Der Rosenkavalier, when Baron Von Ochs has been caught at his dirty intentions and the Marshallin says:
MARSCHALLIN: Leave well alone, and ere I count to three, withdraw!
(The Baron turns round and stares at her.)
BARON: What mean you?
MARSCHALLIN: (gaily, sure of victory): Think of your dignity and take your leave.
BARON von OCHS How?
MARSCHALLIN: If you would still preserve your name
As gentleman, make virtue of necessity.
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Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
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test.
Today on TV 1 Q + A said” Police under section 116 (say’s Mathew Hooten today on TV1 Q+A) should be entering bee hive today to seize all computers and all records in Key’s offices, Collins, & Kaye and other minister’s implicated.
This is urgently needed, and this should check any further damage, and send a shiver down the spines of those who destroyed our clean Government and corrupted the whole system.
Then we THE VOTER AND CITIZEN can finally see justice being done.
1. IMPORTANT, – URGENT.
Today we call officially on all opposition parties.
They must join together and must meet in an emergency forum to set the discussion surrounding the whole matter of political corruption within the Hager book and the laying of the grounds for the public interest in a truly independent commission of enquiry into the whole Slater gate affair with Team Key and His “black ops” “Dirty Politics” scandal reaching right back to when the records start with the Key Government and before.
There will never be a more correct urgent time to jump on this issue and destroy the cancer before it destroys us all.
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM329005.html
116 Conspiring to defeat justice
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who conspires to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice in New Zealand or the course of justice in an overseas jurisdiction.
Compare: 1908 No 32 s 137
Section 116: amended, on 18 June 2002, by section 6(1) of the Crimes Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 20).
Dear gods!
So Odgers trawled through her email, and found what she thought was the smoking gun, because she knew Fairfax had something as a result of their investigation into the Hotchin issue and Slater being paid to run Hotchin’s lines.
The emails Sunday Star Times has are from whaledump/rawsark.
The “smoking gun” was provided by Odgers herself, who has now been sacked from her job.
Someone needs to get her disbarred.
That’s what I’ve been thinking for a couple of weeks now. I do hope the appropriate authority has that in motion.
Probably have to make a formal complaint.
Where does it say she was sacked?
Left by “mutual consent”.
Yeah, right.
Being here on this morning, our lives have become a sequel to Peter Sellars’ “Being There”.
And kudos to Ant yesterday spotting it was Hotchin very early in the day. Don’t we love the internet ?
Gonna win this one and get our country back.
Every week John Key had a private conversation with a man being paid to undermine a criminal investigation.
Good show, John.
Cunliffe needs to hammer him on this.
Good point Tom.
Yep, Odgers blinked first 😆
I wonder if she’s angling for a plea bargain.
did you mean flea bargain ? nom nom nom 😀
But I am wondering what they can be charged with ?
Fleas? Corrections mattresses might be too thin for KIm, I didn’t realise they were insect infested too 😀
I’m sort of thinking that none of this implicates Collins. Did Key and Collins do a deal on the resignation? Of all the things she might have done that are corrupt this is not one of them so an investigation will clear her and pave the way for the Crusher to return to cabinet? (note that I only have web access – maybe there’s more in the printed SST?)
Collins needs to be investigated for releasing a public servant’s information to a blog knowing he would be threatened. Plus her input into Slater’s ‘tip line’. Not to mention Oravida.
There must be something else.
There probably is which is why we need a full investigation, one that looks into all the connections.
South Canterbury Finance’s entry into the retail deposit guarantee scheme ….. the nations biggest ever fraud
+1000% vto
I think Key and Collins chose this for her to resign on exactly because it doesn’t implicate her. That way Key can run an inquiry with narrow terms of reference. This will be designed to clear Gusher, but maybe throw Blubber Boy, Carrick Graham (that apple didn’t fall far from the tree), and that Cactus thing to the wolves. This will be the first sinking ship that the rats actually have to be kicked off.
Key will then shout from the rooftops that Collins has been shown to be squeaky clean, and they’ll be back to business as usual, but with Farrar or someone else doing their dirty work. It’s as predictable as the day is long.
Yes that idea has passed across my mind too 🙁
Yeah, minimising the terms of inquiry around an email with no conclusive proof is how I read it too.
Btw, I wonder how proud Doug Graham is of his son in his chosen profession?
Labour and Greens need to win the election, and then they can set more suitable terms of reference for the Inquiry.
“They hate livestock almost as much as they hate people,” Mr English said of the Labour and Green parties – Wairararpa Times Age – Bill English sharing the hate at a public meeting in Masterton last Thursday.
http://apnregionalnz.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/iphone/showpage.aspx?issue=60722014083000000000001001&page=1&returnUrl=http%253a%252f%252fapnregionalnz.newspaperdirect.com%252fepaper%252fiphone%252fhomepage.aspx%2523_title60722014083000000000001001%252fwatitle60722014083000000000001001%252f6072%252f60722014083000000000001001%252f1%252ftrue&x=0.36774193548387096&y=0.6864988558352403
This is the link to thar article in the Wairapra Age Times. Bill English is a bigot.
http://apnregionalnz.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/iphone/showpage.aspx?issue=60722014083000000000001001&page=1&returnUrl=http%253a%252f%252fapnregionalnz.newspaperdirect.com%252fepaper%252fiphone%252fhomepage.aspx%2523_title60722014083000000000001001%252fwatitle60722014083000000000001001%252f6072%252f60722014083000000000001001%252f1%252ftrue&x=0.36774193548387096&y=0.6864988558352403
Bill English is a bigot.
Don’t worry yourself too much. The Internet Party campaigns for Hover boards, and none really believes that. There is no question that farming communities are often “tight-knit”, if you know what I mean. Of the “farmers” I’ve known, they have sometimes said some interesting things that would at face value appear to agree with English about this or that Eco-friendly policy. But I also knew them well enough to know that under the surface, you couldn’t sway them with basic unsupportable claims like “The Greens hate you and your cows”. Stuff at that level just will not penetrate the cranium with the desired effect. My guess is that more than a few eyebrows would have been raised.
“They hate livestock almost as much as they hate people,”
Hard now, all things considered, to not see this as part of more Dirty Politics. Thurs English says that, on Thurs night Key tried to hammer the message in the debate that Labour were responsible for crazy and dangerous GP policy. And voila, yesterday, billboards started appearing using Ansell-esque PR techniques to connect Labour with the GP, and smear the both of them with anti-environmental, anti-people lies. The billboard owners have connections with both ACT and Federated Farmers.
Trotter and co were on it,
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/30/breaking-update-on-dirt-alert/
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/30/exclusive-dirt-alert-are-the-greens-and-labour-about-to-become-the-targets-of-a-major-negative-advertising-campaign/
thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/31/third-party-propaganda-attacks-incoming-labour-led-government/
Looks like the dirty dozen (or two) got their timing wrong with Kategate though.
Ansell confirms his involvement (see comments)
bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/dirt-alert-are-greens-and-labour-about.html
“They hate livestock almost as much as they hate people,”
Hard now, all things considered, to not see this as part of more Dirty Politics. Thurs English says that, on Thurs night Key tried to hammer the message in the debate that Labour were responsible for crazy and dangerous GP policy. And voila, yesterday, billboards started appearing using Ansell-esque PR techniques to connect Labour with the GP, and smear the both of them with anti-environmental, anti-people lies. The billboard owners have connections with both ACT and Federated Farmers.
Trotter and co were on it,
thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/30/breaking-update-on-dirt-alert/
thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/30/exclusive-dirt-alert-are-the-greens-and-labour-about-to-become-the-targets-of-a-major-negative-advertising-campaign/
thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/31/third-party-propaganda-attacks-incoming-labour-led-government/
Looks like the dirty dozen (or two) got their timing wrong with Kategate though.
Yep, all part of the same Dirty Politics plan. Nasty and vindictive from National as per normal. They really are a nasty bunch.
How fantastic that yesterday’s email wasn’t part of the #whaledump haul. The VRWC is eating itself.
Nom nom nom Prime Minister. Jason (my office) Ede’s up next 😈
Let The Hunger Games begin….
more is promised today .. facebook twixt collins and slater. and there is a special edition of The Nation at 10 am TV3.
Ah, well, I’m working today. Will catch up on it later.
And it seems Odger lost her Hong Kong job as a result of the latest revelations.
All the financier’s men
Those emails I suspect.
hotchins must have been paying her a fuck of alot given she would be on megabucks as a hong kong tax consultant. Lots is never enough to people like this.
Meanwhile colins party has some nutjobs who should worry us. SST reports one who is speechifying in south auckland about a link between removing s59 defence and youth suicide, despite all evidence to the contrary and south auckland kids are going on the game for pocket money and getting Std… All cos od decriminalisation of prostitution.
God save NZ from the right wing christians
Getting paid while also getting to play at being powerful? I’d say that it’s got everything your average, run of the mill psychopath wants in a job.
Fun as yesterday was, we still have an election to win. Today, I’m walking the streets of Patea and Waverley to help Labour and my mate Hamish McDouall. Less than 3 weeks to go, comrades, and there’s work to be done.
+1
+1,000 so how do we do this
“..5 Reasons Booze Is Deadlier than Heroin and Other Drugs That’ll Land You in Jail.
No other drugs even come close..”
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/5-reasons-booze-deadlier-heroin-and-other-drugs-thatll-land-you-jail
U like lee childs on pot? I likE
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20147816
he talks about pot @ approx 21 mins in..
Booze is no laughing matter, it’s a killer and it’s amazing that weed is demonised from within a booze- soaked culture, but it is no way at all more dangerous than heroin. You are such a debatemonger, Phillip.
It’s sort of a mixed bag with heroin. Theoretically, if your Heroin is clean and you always practice proper hygiene, not sharing needles and being careful with the dosage Heroin is extremely well tolerated by the body and will cause no lasting damage. The danger with heroin is the dose to over-dose ratio which is extremely thin not to mention impurities in the cook and that junkies tend to practice dangerous habits like needle sharing etc.
I agree with you. The scenario was not defined, which is why the ambiguous “more dangerous than…” was so obviously a bit of exaggeration for debate’s sake. Right now Phillip is sitting back having a good old chuckle…
I wonder if Phil chuckles, or talks, the way he writes?
If you’ve got kidney problems, heroin can make them worse. I can’t see how the appropriate medical treatment for this is a prison sentence, but then I’m probably a bit slow.
Bryan Gould would be an ideal member of The radio New Zealand panel on Jim Mora’s Afternoon show.
Too informed and not right wing enough for Mora’s producers.
Yep
Agree with TRP there.
Entertaining yesterday but…
Focus on getting out the vote people.
LPrent .. looks like you have been working through the night resolving the issues for TS .. thank you for looking after us all as this history unravels. I would be lost without you.
Still can’t get the auto spam. Fixed some other niggly issues.
Yes good job but why the new font?
Liking the new font, Lprent, much easier on the eyes.
And here’s me thinking it was bloody horrible.
San-serif fonts are also called “grotesque”, so you are not far wrong in a way, lol.
San-serif fonts are slightly harder to read in big blocks without proper kearning and line spacing (that’s one of the reasons serifs exist!) but as I said below, they are friendlier.
Some advice, if I may, to those writing large amounts is to paragraph diligently in order to avoid big blocks of text.
looks all washed out and patchy to me. Sorry to say. But an adjustment of the Cleartype makes it a little better. my res is 1366×768 on an Asus Laptop
+1. It looks great.
Open Sans. The main reason for going to it was that it is available across all devices (gets rid of nitpicky layout issues using a common font) and is very clear on small hires devices like tablets where the available serif fonts look clunky, dark, and unclear.
As usual it is a tradeoff. In this case lower res large screens look better in the times roman. But there are fewer of those around every year.
“But there are fewer of those around every year.”
Do you know what the percentages are roughly?
Sorry Lynn, but it is bloody terrible. I am a Typographer by trade and would rather crawl over broken glass than use Open Sans for comments on a website. But then, I am a purist.
There is a reason that serif fonts are used for this type of work and it is because they are easier on the eye and the kerning is optimised for reading rather than display.
What were the serif options?
According to Matthew Hooton, he was told (yesterday?) that the Prime Ministers office received the letter containing the email on WEDNESDAY. Therefore the PM knew about this on Wednesday (don’t try to tell me he didn’t). but chose not to do anything with it.
I wonder why? Surely he did’nt think it would affect the leaders debate? If he won the debate, which he clearly didn’t, he could have ignored it. Because he lost he now chooses to use it to show how Prime Ministerial he is?
How cynical is he!
Just ’cause the PM’s office knows something, doesn’t mean the PM himself does…
Puleeeeze!
Kenny-Don’t buy any gospel according to Matthew Hooten.
I’d bet Key has had the email since 2011-not Wednesday. But what else has he in his ‘top drawer’? He’s admitted he’s got a drawer full of useful incriminating stuff.
Hi Rodel – I buy into it precisely because it is from Hooton. If you saw him on Q & A this morning you would know that the shit is about to hit the fan. He’s in utu mood.
yes but thats his office. He didnt see it til friday night. I am not sure if by “I” he meant him. Wayne Eagleston would be out and about with Key wouldnt he, not in the office. SO wayne eagleston withheld it from key for two days…
Interesting. If that’s so, then Key would have known about it before the Leaders’ debate on Thursday night. Many people said he was off his gamer then. And Cunliffe did put some pressure on him re-Colllins.
Andrew Geddis essentialises perfectly in Blue on Blue at Pundit ( link on right hand side of this page):
“Just so we’re absolutely clear about this: Judith Collins didn’t resign because of anything Nicky Hager did. Rather, she resigned because Cathy Odgers gave the PM’s office an email that neither Nicky Hager nor the hacker who stole a bunch of other information had seen, in which a certain blogger whom we don’t name said some stuff about Judith Collins that she claims is absolutely false.
Is this is the best political scandal ever, or what?”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31082014/#comment-876768
miravox has it in a nutshell
Camoron Slater will be rushing down to the police station to have Odgers and Key charged with stealing private emails!
Slater has already laid a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner about Key releasing his email.
Biggest joke of course is Collins was Minister charged with overseeing the Privacy Commission !
Further evidence of the corporates attacking Science ( as shown in Dirty Politics) to maximise their profits! Supported by Slater, his cabal, the media and members of our government.
It’ll be interesting to see Latta’s look at sugar in his excellent series this week.
“The NZ Food & Grocery Council has flown in British anti-tax campaigner Chris Snowdon to lobby against soft drink taxes, in a move described by health researchers as suspicious.
Following Dirty Politics’ allegations that the council ran sponsored posts on the Whale Oil blog, the industry group has drawn further controversy for inviting Snowdon to give a speech titled “growing calls for taxes on sugar and why such taxes do not work”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/10443122/Anti-sugar-campaigners-wowsers
@ paul..
..and the name behind this is ..ta-daa..!
..katherine rich..
She is mentioned in Dirty Politics book.
The moderators over at the other place are going nuts. Sit there and watch the adverse comments coming up, then minutes later dissappear….they cant keep up though….so they sit there for a few minutes before they can get to them. Hilarious.
Lots of questions being asked by the “army”….but the high priest isnt answering them!
A liar. That is all he is. Problem being, I think he may well have to state that under oath sometime in the near future along with JC also under oath.
Truth always prevails Cam!
exactly I made a quick post about the connection between Slater and Hotchin within 2 minutes it was gone ,the house of cards is falling down.
Nice new font. Very modern and much friendlier.
i am getting really interested in the second-tier players in this most-welcomed brouhaha..
..the edes/lusks/farrars/richs..
..and all of those craven media-trouts who have been doing the bidding of these grotesques..
parker hoisted on the petard of his own bullshit…
..parker said this the other day..and i said nothing..tongue bleeding from biting it..
..but here he is now repeating it..
..he seems determined to push this bullshit..that somehow labour last time promising to include welfare-families in working for familes..by fucken 2018..(!)..
..was the reason labour lost the last election..
..and he is arguing this is why he is giving his baby-bonus to people earning a hundred grand a year..
..so..summary:..
..labour are promising to do absolutely nothing for the childless poor..
..but are promising a $60 per wk ‘bonus’..for those earning $100,00..
..does any of this sound at all familiar..?
..clarks’ crocodile-tears over families ‘struggling’ on seventy grand a year..to justify giving them middle-class welfare..?
..all the while she resolutely ignored those families/children living in real poverty..?
..those really ‘struggling’..?
..i’m getting deja vu flashbacks here..
Yep. It’s getting hard to be around the seemingly nice folks at the Labour stand at the local market without rushing over to… have a “robust discussion”. Do those volunteers know what they’re championing? Dispensing Slow Death, the cowards way. I have to keep telling myself they’re just plain ig’nant and to just ignore them. What makes me maddest is the total betrayal. National don’t care, that was always a given, but Labour lied and betrayed when they knew they were the only alternative. With about 20 days to go, I’ll have to stop going to get my noodles. There were four cops standing ten metres away from them this week. Not such a co-incidence.
Susan Woods on Q and A. She looks like she has been crying…
So, anyone now think Trevor Mallard’s bike race stunt with Cameron Slater was a good idea? Did any sane person think so at the time?
No, and no.
Mallard can not now get the Speaker role. Nor a sweet ambassadorial role. Poor Trev. Talkback host maybe?
Or Clare Curran’s guest post up on Slater’s blog.
Well, he made Slater look like a numpty. That’s a good idea in my book. Can’t say I’m really too bothered what happens to Mallard.
Has Steven Joyce had a breakdown of some kind? It is not unheard of in the last weeks of a campaign when candidates disappear for a few days for a “rest”.
I think you will find he is staying right out of it, and when all is revealed and his Nat. Party opponents have one by one been exposed… he will reappear with his personal halo glowing like a newly minted golden orb.
a seagull called Rawshark might have some deposits to spoil that freshly minted golden orb … weeks to go …
Too early to Re-Joyce you think?
😀
( and greywarbler, I miss chooky ! Time to come back.)
what happened to the chook..?
..i am noticing the absence of the ‘bad’…
..he was a major contributor to any quality discourse..
(two comments in a row have ‘worked’..is it fixed..?..)
@phillip ure
Why don’t you and bad have some dingdongs on whoar eh! Or is bad too erratic to want something that would be beneficial to both of you?
Yes Come back Chooky. Just pick out the choice worms to feed us and get us interested and give us the links for further info. Some here seem to read everything but I am pleased to sample some of the linked item as chances are I won’t have seen it otherwise.
And put your thoughts beside link – they are informative as well.
the golden orb will contrast nicely with the novopay millstone around his neck
Joyce,Goebbels?
We don’t want that liar to come within earshot of the media.
He is a spin doctor of the highest order, that conspired by using taxpayers money to lie with phoney studies, when he destroyed Gisborne rail.
He needs to be investigated under Crimes act 116, as Hooten suggested be done to Collins, Kaye and PM.
He is resting in the large intestines of the large bureaucratic whale he created?
John Key has raised the subject of the flag before, I think it is time again to raise this serious political issue, but this time as to where on our flag we put the Banana!
😈
Ladies and gentlemen, i give you, blind faith:
“However, with an orchestrated attack on John Key started by Crim Dotcon and with the compliant media, the only way John Key can survive is if people completely ignore the media and trust John Key.”
(36 upticks at you know where)
Matthew Hootons face turned bright red when asked if he was involved .
Hope Kathryn Ryan starts asking Hooton a lot tougher questions on 9 to Noon. Otherwise remove him from his privileged position on a public broadcaster to propagate his extreme viewpoints.
Hope Jim Mora also bothers to ask Jordan Williams and David Farrar a lot of difficult questions on the Panel in return for giving them free publicity to air their noxious views on the world.
RNZ facing spotlight if this does not happen.
Joyce controls our public broadcasting, as his distant relative William Joyce et al Lord Haw Haw did on NAZI Germany 1942 radio to demoralise the allied forces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce
We need a wide ranging immediate enquiry into right wing political use of our public broadcaster during this the most corrupted election in NZ history.
RNZ shouldn’t be using Hooton at all. He has a clear conflict of interest (between being involved both professionally and personally, and being asked to comment independently). RNZ also have a clear conflict of interest and their independent commentator spot is now compromised. If they want to talk to him, they should be interviewing him.
Ditto DPF.
and twice when asked, he closed his eyes as he said: “No” .. classic ‘tell’ for lying.
When asked if he had anything to do with dirty trick he kept shifting the subject!
and face kept getting redder!
Machiavellian Henchman is in on every level no way he isn’t !
Saying he got tipped off by low level staffer yeah right!
Defending Jason Ede yeah right
Every opportunity Hooton shifted the blame away from Key !
So Hooton knows how deep Keys is in this !
Key is in this right up to his eyeballs !
Even Hooton trying to inoculate Key!
By predicting Facebook may prove Collins was involved in undermining Feely!
Hootons blood pressure hit the roof as he spun himself out of I predict collusion with Slater!
Key is running out of friends rapidly!
National are in massive trouble the SFO has been compromised over Hotchin and possibly SCF as was alluded to in recent court case saying their is something dodgy about the govts rushing through the govt deposit guarantee scheme costing taxpayers $1.6 billion.
Because of the size and fraud around SCF ,plus now we know at the same time Collins and Slaters undermining of the SFO happened at the same time the SFO were looking into SCF an open inquiry is necessary!
Hope something comes out about the lack of oversight of SCF and the rushed payments to SCF investors. What happened to buyer beware?
Hooton spinning himself into his own web!
Hooton on Q+A (ch501)
“Well he’s [Slator] threatened to burn my house down….”
And Slator is deemed to be a fit and proper person to own/use firearms?
awe but gee wizz, he was only joking eh?
Exactly. With the number of threats he has made and allowed to be made on his blog he simply must have any firearms licences revoked.
It will be very interesting to see where what the fat slug is in another couple of years.
Prison.
Israel. Unless something there drastically changes, they have the only government foul enough to want anything to do with him.
Is Brook Sabin just another example of a compromised member of the media?
Carrack Graham, Cameron Slater, Brook Sabin…all sons of National MPs.
Mmmmm
pushes away plate of schadenfreude
I can’t… I couldn’t possibly eat any more…
well maybe just a little bite..
pace yrslf..!
..there is still that assange/greenwald/dotcom spook-dump feast five days out from the election to be savoured..
..you wouldn’t want to be already over-fed when that rolls around..
An odd & frankly very troubling example of the extremes of Intellectual Property protectionism
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10443229/Stools-don-t-sit-comfortably-together
The Blue stool got banned from a NZ design competition because it is ‘too similar’ to the older Red/Black ones.
After reading the first few paragraphs then looking at the pics I was like ‘yeah they are pretty similar’ but then I looked a bit closer and really they are very significantly different.
The structure & proportions of the blue one are fundamentally completely different to the red/black.
The blue one has a kinda similar seat with angled back but even that has at least 3 quite significant differences.
I’d argue that if the blue is infringing the IP of the red/black one, then the latter has at least as much IP conflict with the common wire dish drying rack.
This is a good example of how intellectual property laws are preventing people from being creative and innovative.
Perhaps this unravelling of Collins might also see fresh sunshine in to the messes she made trying to dismantle ACC.
John Judge might be smiling this morning, along with the Canadian judge and Joe Karam, and who knows how many others she has quietly punched out along her bruising and bullying way.
Mr Key has a lot of questions to answer,clearly he has mismanaged this atrocious greedy government.His ability to hoodwink the MSM has been clearly established and surely it’s time for the MSM to call him and his shonkey team to account.Can’t wait to hear how his poodle Mike Hosking can find more wiggle room.
Hoskings will construct a sentence which includes the words conspiracy, left wing and john key I love.
I can’t let that comment go by Tommo – Poodles all over the world will be HORRIFIED at being compared to Mike Hosking!! Everyone knows that a poodle would have a much classier haircut than Hosking and a greater amount of class and brains too! Hosking looks much more like Stan Laurel!!
Henchman Hooton is rapidly becoming a massive liability for National!
Given his close association with Key Odgers Slater .
Who he now claims he has virtually no connections with just shows how Team Key can LIE their way through anything!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce
See History of Steven Joyce’s relative who conspired against us and joined Germany to spread propaganda, so be warned you don’t want Joyce as Prime Minister, Read the link.,
Don’t want a liar called Steven Joyce anywhere near the prime ministerial job, he is behind the National dirt campaign entirely and needs investigating also under Crimes act 116.
Joyce used phoney taxpayer studies to kill BERL GDC studies proving Gisborne rail was viable.
He is like his distant relative William Joyce that switched to NAZI sympathiser by beaming NAZI radio propaganda to Britain and the allies during WW2.
This one is his copy, a NATIONAL propaganda minister.
Wallace Chapman’s simpering interview with Lee Child
Radio NZ National, Sunday 31 August 2014
A good deal of this morning’s programme has been taken up with analysis of the floundering National Party campaign, which is sinking after one of its dirty bombs backfired on it. But no doubt a lot of listeners would have been tuning in for the interview, after the ten o’clock news, with best-selling thriller writer Lee Child.
I’ve heard Child talking before, and I wasn’t exactly expecting a liberal or a deep thinker. But I didn’t think he’d be quite as depraved as he turned out to be. And true to form, Wallace Chapman acted like a slavering fanboy instead of a journalist. Following are some of the lowlights….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Born Jim Grant, he became Lee Child, best-selling author. His hero Jack Reacher travels light, armed with a toothbrush, a fierce sense of combat, and dishing rough justice, occasionally cropping up to help solve a crime. He is back, with a new book, called Personal. Reacher is on a mission to hunt down a sniper….
The first part of the interview concerns Child’s former job, working as a union organizer at Granada Television. According to Jim Grant himself, he was a real tough guy….
LEE CHILD: In a way we were like Reacher, you know, no holds barred, we did what we needed to do.
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Hm hm hm hm hm!
Later…..
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Where does the character of Jack Reacher come from?
LEE CHILD: I just closed my eyes and typed the story, and Reacher is what came out. On reflection, clearly, he’s an ancient character. This is the mysterious stranger, the knight errant who shows up in the nick of time, solves the problem and then rides off into the sunset. We’ve seen this story over and over again through the centuries and I think Reacher is just a modern version of one of those guys.
WALLACE CHAPMAN: He’s a Robin Hood character, and obviously he must have some resonance. The people I’ve talked to here in New Zealand admire him. It’s almost like they KNOW Jack Reacher, including the CEO of this company, ha ha ha ha! He’s a —ha ha ha!—huge fan of the Jack Reacher character. People love it! I’m just wondering, is it also a little bit about the man against the world, or the person against the world? The fact that he is beholden to no one, kind of a warrior of justice, standing up for the little person.
LEE CHILD: I think that’s exactly what it is, and I’ve noticed that too, I mean New Zealand is the absolute world capital of Reacher madness.
WALLACE CHAPMAN: IS it?
LEE CHILD: Yeah, I have more fans there per head of population than anywhere, I think. And I think that must be because New Zealanders see themselves the same way, you know, rough and tough, wanting to stay out of trouble, but if the chips are down, they will do the right thing. And I think that’s really what resonates around the world. We would all like to do the right thing, we would like to be brave, and of course most of the time we CAN’T be, because you know you see some injustice at work and you can’t really do anything about it otherwise you’ll get fired too. Everybody is a little inhibited, scared here and there, and so to read in a book, this character doing what you’d really like to do yourself I think is inspiring.
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Hmmmm. But it’s also that type of character who not only has a sense of fair play but oh my God is he tough! I’m just reading Reacher’s Rules, including: “Use a switchblade to slice the web of a guy’s thumb”… phwoar….
LEE CHILD: Ha ha ha ha ha!
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Ha ha! I mean: “Painful and real disincentive against holding pistols again until they have healed, which could be a long time depending on their approach to nutrition and antisepsis.” [nervously] Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
LEE CHILD: Ha ha ha ha! Well, that’s the thing with Reacher. He’s got a heart of gold, but he’s not a goody-goody. You know, he will get the job done in the most brutal way imaginable. Which I think also resonates with people.
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Ha ha ha!
LEE CHILD: I mean, people are FED UP with all these rules—
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Ha ha!
LEE CHILD: I mean, if you want to do something, just DO it.
WALLACE CHAPMAN: [laughing timidly] Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. …. Another thing is the finely honed information that you have in your books. For instance I learned a lot about AK-47s, just a quote here, it’s fascinating: “What does the panicky grunt do under fire? He grabs his rifle and pulls the trigger. Our guns go from Safe to Single Shot to Full Auto, which is nice and linear and logical, but they knew that 99 times in a hundred, their guys would panic and ram the selector all the way home and thereby empty a whole magazine in a single hasty shot. So the AK’s selector goes SAFE then FULL AUTO, then SINGLE SHOT. Not linear, not logical, but certainly practical. …..[Pause to convey wonderment]….Who would have known?
Later….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Tell me, Lee, why did you choose an American anti-hero?.. You’ve really taken America and American culture to heart, haven’t you!
LEE CHILD: I like America and I like American people. ….
A little later….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Of all the fans the world over, Bill Clinton is a huge fan!
LEE CHILD: [reverently] He’s a huge reader of all sorts of books, a man of big appetites…..
The fan interview continues for another fifteen minutes, but I’ll spare you the rest.
I just had to send Wallace Chapman the following email…..
Lee Child’s casual contempt for law and human rights
Dear Wallace,
After you quoted a nasty torture scene from one of his books, Lee Child chortled and replied: “Well, that’s the thing with Reacher: he’s got a heart of gold, but he’s no goody-good. He does whatever it takes to get the job done. People are tired of rules.”
That’s a casual endorsement of violent, lawless thuggery—and it’s especially ironic coming in the middle of a morning dominated by the revelations about the flagrant contempt for rules by our government and its henchmen.
I was concerned that you did not even so much as demur at what Lee Child said.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
Whaledump is back. First twitter post for over a week (no releases as yet) but its funny as are the comments.
https://twitter.com/whaledump/status/505867707020226560
Live pregnant cow shipments to China by Fonterra … thousands of the poor beasties going to live in Chinese conditions .. story yesterday overlooked by many I suspect.
What a foul and awful trade to sell and ship pregnant cows into conditions that are illegal in this country. Bloody bloody awful,
http://m.tvnz.co.nz/news/business/6067933
Makes me sick to my stomach. Where are the SPCA on this issue? Nowhere to be seen as usual.
Another thing that worries me is why the hell are we selling cows to foreign countries, instead of selling the dairy products? Stupid move! it is selling the goose that lays the golden eggs! Just sell the eggs and keep the geese! sell the wool and keep the sheep. Sell the kiwi fruit and keep the trees.
Despite there being a downward trend in youth suicide statistics since “anti-smacking” law change in 2007,
ConservativeIdiot Party candidate lies about increase in youth suicide due to law changelink
More Dirty Politics from the right…….
John Ansell confirms his participation in anti-Green’s billboard campaign.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/31/exclusive-deja-vu-all-over-again-john-ansell-confirms-his-participation-in-anti-greens-billboard-campaign/
Note to “George”: She’s gone. She’s no longer “in the team”.
Who said Judith Collins has no friends left? The dear old bewildered regulars over at Blubber Blog are all dying to express their love for her. My favorite is this one by “George” (possibly Cameron Slater himself) which right now has garnered 52 Up votes:
“Judith we could fill Eden Park 50 times over with people who love you and your dynamic personality and gutsiness. You have taken one for the team. You’re on the bench but still in the squad. You’ll be back. Take a rest and then let us witness you in full flight soon. Thank goodness you’re in the team….”
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/face-day-352/
They are certainly not here today.
Don’t worry, Paul, they’re here all right. They’re just regrouping. This has been a very bad two weeks for them, and it just keeps getting worse.
If Slater had any common sense, leave alone decency or ethics, he would slither away under a rock for a month or so, and refrain from commenting on politics. Since he has none of those traits, it’s worth keeping an eye on him, if only for the dubious pleasure of watching the most foul-mouthed suicide note in history.
I thought he was the rock that they slithered under!!!
eeek … not that
use this? http://www.donotlink.com/bf80
I see what you’ve done there, Kiwiri, and I’m impressed. But I can’t understand why you’ve done it. Is there a problem with giving the Blubber Blog link direct?
The way it boosts his revenue stream. Also it feels dirty.
Hello Morrissey,
Some info at:
http://www.donotlink.com/dnl/faq
http://skeptools.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/do-not-link-donotlink-ethically-criticize-seo-nofollow/
Hope that helps.
Thanks very much Kiwiri. Very interesting indeed.
The effigy burns 4pm our time.
ustream.tv/burningman
Math according to Whaleoil regular: “Judith Collins = Anna Politkovskaya”
LOON WATCH No. 3: Wild Colonial Man
For sheer unhinged madness, the place to go is still the hilariously deranged Blubber Blog….
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Judith Collins has done good work-and this man likes nothing better that Women on the front foot for Freedom. Magnificent to watch at work are the Judith Collins of our day. Taking on the Socialist-Communist-Left establishment has its risks: Anna Stepanova Politkovskaya, born 30th August 1958, Moscow, was an outstanding writer, journalist, and lady of compassion and bravery…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/face-day-352/#comment-1566985584
More lunacy if you can bear it….
No. 2 Illegal “settlers” in the Occupied West Bank
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15122013/#comment-745176
No. 1 Philippe Karsenty
http://thestandard.org.nz/26052011/#comment-334310
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10443905/Smacking-bans-suicide-link
/facepalm
Urge to repeatedly kick this moron in the nuts is high.
1) Suicide risk is linked to stress, particularly in low income situations or unemployment (NB: issues with LGBT individuals in pacifica community? Known driver of suicide), so yes, suicide rates would have climbed with rising unemployment etc. More so in maori and pacific island groups due to them being hit my unemployment far more significantly than europeans in NZ.
2) Other issues “cited” by Saafi are also linked to deprivation and poverty, resulting from stress driving people into short term, high gain activities, while discounting long term costs completely, or are so stressed out they are easily taken advantage of by shitlords.
3) ” “Once you pass it, children, rather than doing what mum and dad says, they go and commit suicide. It opens up another thing they could do,” Saafi, who holds a doctorate in biomedicine, said.”
= pure rage inducing stupidity, and for someone holding a university degree, a sign the individual might have the ability to pass, but that sure as hell haven’t learnt anything, making them a learned idiot, aka a morosoph. More so given there is a body of research on this subject said idiot is conveniently ignoring despite having a science degree…
4) Claiming smacking has been banned is fractally wrong. The changes to the legislation basically made it possible for the police to prosecute cases of violence against children that before were defended by claiming it was “discipline”. And I’m not talking about smacks, more hitting kids hard enough to leave bruises via cords, metal tubes, riding crops, sticks and fists, the sort of stuff that any person with normal empathy responses would look at in horror. Ye olde hand/hairbrush to the butt however is still legal, but hey, why bother with the legal reality when you can spin a disgusting lie instead?
So yeah, fuck Edward Saafi for this bullshit and fuck the conservatives for thinking this sort of mindless bullshit is even acceptable.
What you say is true, from your point of view, and I agree with you. The trouble is that it is also “racist”, in the way that any enforcement of a cultural view onto Tongan matters from outside of any variation of Tongan family culture might be. If he gets any traction for his ideas, it’ll be for reasons unknown to outsiders. Telling people that bashing their kids is wrong, is as good on as many levels as it is wrong. But don’t worry, I’m not calling you racist, that’s why it’s in inverted commas. It might be frustrating, but the world does not revolve around what the government of yesteryear or tomorrow thinks best.
Bonus dormitat Homerus
Taking an uncharacteristically thoughtless Gordon Campbell to task
The normally excellent Gordon Campbell let himself down earlier this year by foolishly repeating a key trope of the pathetic, confused, failed Gore presidential campaign. He did this while struggling to analyse the potential impact of Kim Dotcom’s new party. I wrote a reply on his blog, but he ignored it.
It seems to me, however, that the objection I raised still stands—now more than ever…..
CAMPBELL: “Dotcom has the potential to split the existing anti-Key, centre left vote – in much the same way that Ralph Nader did in the 2000 US election….”
BREEN: That statement concerns me very much. You seem to be buying into the Democratic Party line of blaming Nader for “spoiling” Al Gore’s chances in 2000. Of course, it was not Ralph Nader who told Gore to pointedly stay away from union meetings, to continue the anti-Cuban rhetoric and to express his endorsement of the regimes in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Israel (amongst others). As Nader himself pointed out, he gave Al Gore a program, and Gore and his ingenious “strategy” team were free to take as much of it into their own campaign as they liked.
Similarly, the Labour Party could take up Dotcom’s entirely mainstream views-–free and open internet, freedom from government and corporate snooping and censorship—and get all those Dotcom supporters voting Labour. It’s up to Labour, of course—but if they choose to ignore what Dotcom’s saying, they have only themselves to blame.
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2014/01/16/gordon-campbell-on-dotcom-and-recent-events-at-scoop/
@morrissey..
..i wd question yr contention that nader didn’t give the world bush jnr..and the assorted clusterfucks that flowed from that..’serious’ clusterfucks..
..the election result numbers blow yr theory out of the water..
..tho’ i agree that many of the internet/mana policies are sensible/mainstream/logical..
..and yes..labour should have already gone with them..
..tho’ i don’t agree with campbells’ contention that int/mana will ‘split’ the left vote..(?!)..
..he is talking apples and oranges..’
..we have mmp..those votes are not lost to the progressive-camp..
..under f.p.p…as in america..nader split the vote..and gave us ‘the shrub’..
..the numbers don’t lie..
“tho’ i don’t agree with campbells’ contention that int/mana will ‘split’ the left vote..(?!).”
Agreed, at the moment they don’t poll enough to split a banana.
The fault for Gore’s defeat lies squarely with Gore and his fantastically weak-kneed advisers—in particular Warren Christopher, who decided not to demand a recount after the Bush team had stolen thousands of votes in Florida.
Nader, one of the few genuinely decent and intellectual people to have ever run for the Presidency, ran because Gore had ignored, indeed shunned, the traditional Democratic Party base.
If Gore and his high-powered advisers had possessed an ounce of common sense, they would have taken many, or indeed all, of Nader’s policies. They chose not to, and even tried to have Nader excluded from the ballot in many states.
What is it about Gore that leads you to believe he would have presided over a regime significantly better than the Bush regime? Has Obama done that?
i agree with all you say about nader/gore/failures of democrat party..
..and the post-election debacle/clusterfuck in florida..
..but the mathematical realities of first past the post electoral systems..
..mean that nader running gave us bush jnr..and all that he wrought..
..and you claim..that one of the first warners on global warming..
..would have been a worse president than one of the worst american presidents ever..?
.whoar..!
..that’s some serious disconnection/revisionism you’ve got going on there..!
Hearing on Dirty Politics to be held 9 days BEFORE the election.
Dynamite….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316940
All the financier’s men
Some excerpts…
“The campaign included attacks on the credibility of the Financial Markets Authority and the Serious Fraud Office, as well as attacks on Hanover critic and then-Shareholder’s Association head Bruce Sheppard. At the time of the campaign, Sheppard was a defendant in a now-settled defamation suit brought by Hotchin.”
“How much the trio were paid for their role in the campaign is not made clear in the documents, but in a 2012 email to Taxpayers Union head Jordan Williams discussing how much he charged for his services, Slater implied the sums involved would be substantial.”
“One piece of chaos and mayhem cooked up by Graham, Slater and Odgers involved the latter writing an op-ed for the New Zealand Herald in April 2012.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/10442831/All-the-financiers-men
Given Odgers Jeeves group has connection to huge money laundering and organized crime!
This whole right wing need investigating!
security watchdog is to hold a hearing nine days b4 the election..into the sis-file..
..slater has been subpoenaed today – to appear..
..and key says he has also been subpoenaed..
Whoever writes the new poll on Yahoo!NZ is at it again:
Today’s question.
“What do you think?
Can National win the election given Collins’ resignation?”
Yes
73%(1847)
No
22%(565)
I don’t know
5%(133)
Related Link
John Key hoping Dirty Politics saga has ended.
The results will not alter by more than 1 or 2 % points no matter how many votes are cast.
It poll HAS to be rigged. Yesterday’s question was: ‘Are prisoners in NZ prisons treated well enough? (OWTTE)
87% YES.
Anyone know how to get in touch with a human being involved with Yahoo?
Boag vs Hooton on Radio Live this morning on Mark Sainsbury’s show (Sunday)
Explosive 10.10 to 10.15 a.m.
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx
The National Party descending into Civil War
So many things mentioned here it’s worth a post on its own.
That was intense. Hooton is fired up. Boag doesn’t seem to care one jot about the direction Key’s office has taken the country.
Eagleson seems to have a lot to answer for. A lot.
Just can’t see how Boag and co can just sweep this under the carpet. Surely the dirty ops culture of this government is unprecedented in New Zealand’s modern history. The strategy of these enablers seems to be, “it’s minor, I don’t care, nobody cares”.
that is a must-listen..
..and make sure you skip thru the ads..
..radio live really soaks their listeners in ads..
..(which is why i never listen to it..’till now..)
..and hoots doing his nut/losing his rag at boag..
..really is a treat for sore ears..
I read a comment on another forum from one of these #Teamkey apologists stating that the 95% of kiwis who have no interest in politics will not have the faintest idea what is going on and will not be swayed by this “left wing conspiracy”. It is beltway, that person said.
That’s the thing, the national party, and their supporters including Boag above have an agenda to not educate the 95% on what happens in parliament. They are most interested in keeping this explosive detail in the beltway thereby ensuring a culture of corruption in the New Zealand government is of no importance to anyone in the public at large.
I don’t believe it and think it is convenient myth-making propaganda for the right (and sometimes the left).
This from today’s Colmar Brunton suggests quite a high level of understanding the political issues (by high I mean for the general public, not the people that have been living on the internet since DP came out)
The latest poll also asked if people respondents believe John Key when he says he was not personally informed about the release of SIS information to blogger Cameron Slater.
While 41% said they do believe him, 44% say they don’t and 14% said they didn’t know.
And I agree a post of it’s own. Michelle asking Mathew what he is taking.
Mathew is going on about the beehive interfering in contracts awarded to him by government through the correct government procurement contract and then the experiences of others in the same area. So Michelle asks him to be more specific and he goes, oh that one was Steven Joyce’s office.
Coffee everywhere I’m afraid. Just how far does this extend.
Yeah, I had to say I enjoyed that bit, and Hooton just dropping Joyce’s name in like that was a delight.
The rest of the time, it’s starting to make me feel sick.
And Duncan Garner being quite happy not to interrupt. Pam was amateur hour compared to this.
YAY! I’m no longer being spam-dunked. And for the record I like the look of the new font but find reading large blocks of print a bit hard.
+1. Let’s promote paragraphs 🙂
“Prime Minister John Key has confirmed he has received a subpoena to appear before the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence for a closed hearing nine days before the election.”
And so the focus turns to the PM…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11316940
Forgive my cynicism, but he is trying to do his laundry and get it dry before the election.
Behind closed doors, and no word as to whether evidence will be given under oath, or even the terms of it. smells bad to me; and run by a Key appointee. I feel a Tui ad coming on.
Definitely smells
Here is David Farrar’s endorsement of the Inspector General.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/tag/cheryl_gwyn.
[The new Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
April 24th, 2014 at 11:00 am by David Farrar
The Herald report:
Experienced lawyer Cheryl Gwyn will be put in charge of monitoring New Zealand’s spying and intelligence activities, Prime Minister John Key revealed this morning.
Ms Gwyn will take over the job of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to replace Andrew McGechan QC, a former High Court Judge who was appointed on an interim basis in July.
She is the deputy Solicitor-General at Crown Law, and has previously been a partner at two legal firms, Deputy Secretary for Justice, Acting Solicitor General and chief executive at Crown Law.
Her office will have a larger, more proactive role as a result of Government Communications Security Bureau reforms which passed into law last year.
The reforms increased the scope and resourcing of the oversight regime, and widened the pool of candidates for the Inspector-General role beyond former High Court judges.]
———
David Farrar’s comment:
The combination of Kitteridge becoming SIS Head and Gwyn becoming Inspector-General is a clear sign that the Government is very focused on ensuring the intelligence agencies act within both the letter and spirit of the law, and that there are no more stuff ups such as occurred at the GCSB.
Retired judges have tended to be not particularly pro-active as Inspector-General. I think Ms Gwyn will be a very pro-active Inspector-General – in line with her new powers.
So they are asking Kiwis to believe this secret hearing can do anything real?
Secret hearings, secret testimony, secret findings. What could possibly go wrong?
Secret hearings, secret testimony, secret findings – these are exceedingly conducive factors for dirty politics to thrive.
Secret hearings must be rejected.
Secret testimony must be rejected.
Secret findings must be rejected.
Greatly needed: independence of inquiry, full transparency and public hearings, as well as open disclosure and public scrutiny.
was she CEO or deputy Solicitor General at Crown Law when this happened ? With the greatest respect to Ms Gwyn, there are so many ways she is compromised. We had a post a week or so ago about it, but I can’t find it again. But look at her CV … she has worked in all of the offices of the people involved in this, except PM. I don’t have high hopes, unless she is the bravest and brightest woman possible !
She was recently appointed by the Prime Minister, is it not? That casts doubts and negates full confidence in this inquiry. I think an independent JUDICIAL inquiry by a high court or supreme court Judge is more appropriate!
Did she call for this inquiry on her own or did Key himself ask her to hold one? Who is she answerable to? Who can oversee or review the inquiry to make sure this isn’t all just a jack up?
Greatly needed: independence of the inquiry – a panel of people whose ongoing employment would not have been or would not be dependent on or related to the government who has been in deep shit over this.
A judge, a fiercely intelligent and independent legal and jurist, who has retired (retired, i.e. has security of pension and has had a career record that cannot or will not be under pressure or jeopardised by virtue of involvement in the inquiry) needs to lead this.
As this is a small country and given our closely interconnected professional, personal and political relationships, it would be very challenging to find such a person who would not be beholden or biased to the government that has been implicated. A legal mind from overseas may be required.
YesYeshe. I believe that the poachers are there to turn a blind eye to the other poachers.
no word as to whether evidence will be given under oath
with the gang involved and what Dirty Politics reveal, would anyone who has been closely following the scandals actually believe those involved would tell the truth and provide full disclosure even if they give their evidence under oath??
the truth will be in the evidence that can be found and their digital footprints before those get destroyed.
No. Key is not down to appear. His office is but so far not including Key. In Paul’s link. Remember Key is Office but not really. Separate from Key. Weird.
The picture grows.
https://twitter.com/architectus33/status/505942677868019712
I don’t think you’re being cynical, yeshe – I think you’re being realistic. I’m betting this closed doors hearing won’t have an outcome until after the election.
Slater’s colostomy bag appears to have burst. He’s now attacking the prime minister directly in defence of himself and his friend Judith.
quote of the day:
key:..’i’ve got standards to a certain level..’
..(i dunno about you..but i guffawed..)
“to a certain level”
That is the moot point!
He snarled that one. I’m pretty shocked at how often he snarls and yet can still get away with the ‘good man, John’ schtick.
Another poll, another non event from mip, languishing on or around 2%.
What happened to the 10% some were talking up?
The reality is, that’s a bit sh!t.
So far it seems 3mil buys 1%. That’s not a good return, even colin has got better from his ‘investment’.
hone throwing a strop over policy announcements won’t be helping the unified mip message.
Not sure what your agenda is but there’s not need to attack your stable mates, is there?
No agenda other than comment wryly about the non event that is the mip surge as predicted by some, but worry not weepus beard, it’s all fair in love and war and politics.
There’s plenty of thoroughbred horse bashing going on, so no worries if I have a little poke at the donkey and ass.
That’s fine if you want to talk in riddles. Some of the finest literary creative people spoke in riddles.
While I’m sure I will not be voting IMP party vote, I think they are a very important part of this election. They are energising the youth vote.
The traditional Mana vote may have suffered recently because Hone Harawira seems to have gone awol after his car accident but I still don’t see the point in attacking them.
I don’t think the numbers support the claim mip are energising the young voters, let alone mobilising them, but always happy to be corrected by data.
I’m not talking in riddles, but if you need clues, the thoroughbred stable mates are the greens and labour, the donkey and ass, well, you get the idea.
Golden rule don’t believe in polls.
It was always don’t trust the polls ’cause they’re just like the Russians.
“Not sure what your agenda is but there’s not need to attack your stable mates, is there?”
He hates KDC and by extension the IMP. He seems to think that only Labour and the GP are legitimate left wing parties.
That’s a couple of outright lies, love, and if I may say, a little beneath you and the quality expected at ts.
I don’t hate anyone, including kim, and have never said or written that mana isn’t legitimate or of the left.
Shame on you for resorting to lying to do your bidding, but then that says more about you than I.
Your antipathy towards KDC is evidenced in many comments on ts over much time. You can say it’s not ‘hate’, so let’s call it something else then. Loathe? Detest? Abhor?
“and have never said or written that mana isn’t legitimate or of the left.”
Maybe, but you’re comment here supports what I said about who you consider IS the legitimate left,
http://www.thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31082014/#comment-877195
As far as I can see your response to my comment is just semantics.
I would happily have settled for ‘hostility, antagonism, animosity, aversion, opposition, enmity and distaste, but hatred oh no, that’s just a dreadfully incorrect assumption on your part. I also suggest loathe, detest and abhor, your second effort, are way of the mark too, so that’s a negative, metaphoric and literal.
“Maybe”
Well make quick with the sorry, and we’ll forget about the attempted character assassination, and even the p!ss poor attempt at trying to save face when caught cold.
That link says nothing about being legitimate or otherwise, just them not being very well supported given the money, the hype and the fanbois and girls who dish it but on here but can’t take a little push back.
Cry, rant, ignore or scheme harder if you want, but if you tell lies – You lose. The end.
Oh, and I’m proudly anti semantic. 😉
What about you?
“He feels hostility towards KDC and by extension the IMP”
Better?
“He seems to think that only Labour and the GP are legitimate left wing parties, and Mana would be one too if it wasn’t part of the IMP”
Better?
The difference between hate and feeling hostility towards someone obviously makes a difference to you, and fair enough, but the fact that it’s just semantics to me doesn’t make me a liar. My characterisation is still pretty close to reality.
Give it some context like given the shoddy shenanigans of kdc and because of hone’s dash for his cash, “he feels aversion and distaste for those involved” is close enough.
“He seems to think that Labour and the GP are legitimate left wing parties and would form a better government if Mana and the mip have nothing to do with it”
That’s sounds pretty consistent, credible and believable.
“My characterisation is still pretty close to reality.”
Nope, it’s not. It’s as off as your first smear attempt, just dressed in slightly less contemptuous words.
But still, your off target lies and my honest sensibilities aside, that 2%, it’s a shocker given the spend up.
🙄
Yeah, nah. Your behaviour isn’t that of someone who feels distaste. It’s the behaviour of someone who feels something much stronger.
You really dislike KDC and that affects everything you say about the IMP (or everything I’ve seen you say). And IMP have no left wing legitimacy in your view. Pretty much what I said at the start.
Like I said, semantics.
Behavioural analysis on the web to someone on the web you don’t agree with. That’s a shocker, call the Times of London and tell them to hold the front page.
I don’t care too much for the semantic argument, sweetheart, mainly ’cause it relies on your interpretation, which may or not be up to scratch, but bottom line, if you can’t post an “I hate” quote, you shouldn’t really be posting “he hates”.
Shame on you The Allen. If you are going to diss the parties in a confused rhetorical way, it isn’t helpful to the close election effort. You appear to be adopting the annoying mosquito persona. Have you a serious one for this important time?
You must have missed the other posts slagging the greens and the labour party recently, but that’s okay, maybe you missed them with your eyes open?
And my comment wasn’t even to balance for redress, it was just a laugh at 3 mil buying not a lot but a few die hards.
Shame on me, don’t be an arse. That’d never work.
Sweetheart, lovey, are you – A1ien – Odgers?
No, isn’t she in prison or something?
Poor point, piss poorly made – Are you – cnrjoe?
But really, let’s not get into criticising peoples language and culture, that smacks of all sorts of wrong, worse than dirty politics.
National the One Man Band!!! Where is Joyce?And the rest of the National rabble,what are they up to?
JK is looking more than a little bit CRUSHED.The boat is taking on water,the crew all looking at protecting their backs.
Are the chickens coming home to roost?
Looking for an overseas job?
Tommo
Where is Joyce and the others?
It’s not about chickens coming home to roost.
It’s the ships leaving the sinking rat.
Joyce is generally immersed in Nova pay ….but now may be indulging in some quiet but serious zen meditation about the state of the unexpectedly opened pandora box of the National party stink affairs.
The One News Colmar Brunton poll mentioned above is a shocker for the Nats. It appears to be only the second time they’ve ever reported the Key Government below 50%. At the last election, they overestimated them by 2.5% and we know close the actual result was. Now, at 48%, they’re in deep shit.
Bonus result: The poll also asked if people believe Key when he says he was not personally informed about the release of SIS info to Slater.
Only 41% said they do believe him, 44% say they don’t (14% said they didn’t know).
http://tvnz.co.nz/vote-2014-news/national-slips-in-poll-before-latest-revelations-6068275
NZF cannabilising the left and the right vote. But who will they go with?
Just had a skim through NZF’s policy manifesto. Nothing much in there the left would object to, that I can see. Or to put it another way, not much that would be deliverable inside a Tory Government.
http://nzfirst.org.nz/sites/nzfirst/files/manifesto_2014_final_version_3.pdf
So you think despite Peters saying they will talk first to the party with the largest vote, it’s not going to work out because of policy differences?
One thing I noted – and it is only the Ipsos data, so not sure whether this is accurate enough to take seriously – is that there has been a huge jump in preference for JK over Cunliffe for those voting NZ First in the last poll
http://origin-interactives.stuff.co.nz/polling/
[You have to go to the preferred PM tag and then select NZ First]
I would guess Peters might take into account that type of information too i.e. whether his supporters are of the right or left persuasion (?)
Is there anyone else doing these types of breakdowns?
no, but I just did the one where the left could govern without Peters 😉
http://thestandard.org.nz/well-that-deteriorated-quickly/#comment-877231
A vote for NZF is a vote for letting Peters choose between left and right.
I agree re Peters getting to choose, and what I am implying is that if National voters are leaving National and going to NZ First, then there is more chance he will choose a right wing government.
+1
Presently too risky for voters wanting to see a change in government to trust Winston not to go with National.
Yes, I understood that, thanks. My position I guess is that it’s irrelevant who Peters might go with (although I agree your analysis is interesting), because he could go either way, so the message really needs to be pushed that voting for him is not a vote for change. I’m not sure if your analysis would help people vote left instead, because to be honest I don’t really understand what goes on in the minds of people that vote NZF 😉
The NZ First sample size is about 35 and, in the previous poll, about 27.
The shift in Key as preferred PM was from about 14.5% (4 people) in the previous poll to 33.2% (about 11 or 12 people) in the latest Ipsos poll.
The numbers are too small to draw any conclusions about changes in sentiment but the data points do make for a steep increase in the graph-line between polls.
Ah thanks Puddleglum!
It is always the same thing, isn’t it; we don’t actually have enough good information to work with 🙁
Still, I couldn’t help noticing that National had been the second-most preferred PM (Winston the most preferred) and then National and Labour became second equal – yet the last poll National rose to a clear second again. This probably does indicate that people were leaving National to vote for NZ First.
It gave me the idea that as NZ First rise (if they do) then there may be more likelihood that they go with National – because Winston would have to take the political persuasions of who is supporting him into account. I presume NZ First would have more accurate data on what type of voter is supporting them.
Yep. Plus he can pop in, say g’day, then shoot through. He’s not committed to actually try and do a deal with National. And given the stink around them, plus his ego driven need to be the one who finishes Key, why would he bother?
Nah, my gut feeling is Deputy PM (the Greens copping that sweet for the wider good). A 3 party coalition, maybe a minority or with C&S from AN Other.
In the absence of a straight Labour/Green government, that would be my next preferred choice.
“Nah, my gut feeling is Deputy PM (the Greens copping that sweet for the wider good). A 3 party coalition, maybe a minority or with C&S from AN Other.”
Didn’t follow that. Do you mean your gut feeling is that it’s either L/NZF/GP coalition with Peters as DPM, or L/GP minority govt, or L/GP govt with IMP?
The former (L/NZF/G). Winston has been repeatedly asked if he is ruling the Greens out this time and he refuses to answer. I’m optimistic about what that means.
Ok, so this is the hope that Peters chooses Labour, but it’s still hope. It’s not something reliable. Hence, a vote for NZF is not a vote to change the govt. He might, but for anyone wanting a left wing govt, or even wanting to get rid of Key and National, voting for NZF is at best a risk (significant IMO).
Dead right! I’m not suggesting anybody vote for NZF, but the last time Winston got to choose, he backed Labour. He could have gone with Brash.
And vice versa at previous elections. I’m not saying that Peters will choose National. I’m saying that none of us know who he will choose, and our personal feelings aside about which is most likely, there is no evidence to support knowing anything other than that he is historically unpredictable.
This is why IMO the left outside of Labour and the GP, should be pushing hard the message that a vote for Peters is not a vote for a change in govt (Peters could for instance argue easily that National under a different PM is a different govt). Too many people who want change seem to think NZF is a viable vote for the left.
Put it this way, if Winston gets numbers that, in the circumstances, inclines him towards National Party, or would make it a bit challenging for him to go with Labour (or would not give him enough ‘incentives’ to do so), Winston will surely of course go with National.
Duh.
which circumstances?
There is a real opportunity coming up, almost 20 years since we adopted proportional representation, to evolve to Cabinet arrangements that would more truly reflect the MMP system that we operate and are continuing to develop.
It is for Labour, Greens, NZ First and IMP, collectively speaking, to encourage that to happen. Their leaders, members, and the wider public – all have the responsibility to foster this.
I completely agree with this sentiment. The problem is that Peters doesn’t believe in it. So how would that work?
He has shown from time to time that he doesn’t believe in it. But he cannot repudiate his participation in the MMP system. If he does, then the other parties must go forward together and Peters should be left to his own ‘special speak’ and be left to play his kingmaker, tail-waving-the-dog routine.
Peters appears to believe that because he sits in the middle, he can reject the votes for people on the edges. That’s not what MMP should be about, but the system does allow that. If the threshhold lowers, it might take some of that power away from him, but at the moment, he gets to be kingmaker and respresentative democracy be damned. He thinks the mainstream should rule and that he gets to choose which side of the mainstream.
The poll was conducted from 23-27 August (27th was last Wednesday).
That means it did not include the debate or, of course, this weekend’s events. It was the period when the campaign was being claimed to be ‘getting back on track’ for National after their campaign launch on 24 August.
All in all, one of the better periods for National over the last few weeks.
The ‘median day’ was Monday (i.e., that’s when 50% of the sample was reached).
843 gave a party vote preference (c.f., 824 in last poll). Undecideds and refusers down to 12% (from 15%).
Pg, do you know if 12% is high or low compared to this time usually before an election?
Sadly, no.
I can’t find pre-2011 (0r 2008) data or reporting which includes the undecideds from Colmar Brunton polls on the internet (I could request but might have to pay).
Or you could just get the reports from the National Library.
That looks very bad for National. Worse is that they have another two weeks and six days of what will be relentlessly negative publicity. I noticed that TV3 news is now openly using the term “corruption”, and the guilty parties have all turned on each other today.
Wonder what Ede will say, if he’s not already wearing a concrete overcoat.
843 gave a party vote preference and were likely to vote.
For some time now I have been puzzled as to who Judith Collins reminds me of , especially when she puts on that rictus grin. So I have just googled Chucky, thinking it was him , and yes there is a resemblance but I was gobsmacked at the images of Bride of Chucky. An absolute dead spit of Judith! Hairstyle, eyebrows, eye makeup, EVERYTHING! So spooky.
Separated at Birth?
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/bride-of-chucky/images/29213993/title/bride-chucky-screencap
Aside from rankings for that film on Rotten Tomatoes,
Collins and Key should presently be stratospheric on the Rotten Politicians ratings.
She’s The Joker for me (probably more Nicholson than Ledger).
Ms Gwyn Solicitor General to hold closed hearing with PM and staffers?
If it smells like a rat and acts like a rat, – it is a rat.
Government investigating Government well we all know the outcome right?
Well we know a Key jack up coming now with a closed hearing!
Another Key lie.
Remember he said;
“we will run an open, transparent Government”
We have been duped unless opposition files there own legal charges, to have a real hearing as we saw Nixon go through or just call this another banana republic.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10443712/Judith-Collins-inquiry-details-due-Monday
Key: “It’s about accountability. I think if I’d said the Justice Minister’s resigned but I’m not going to give you the information why, we would have spent lots and lots of days talking about the rational for that. It’s much better to put it in the public domain, I’m confident we’ve taken the right steps,”
So why did Richard Worth lose his job again? Oh that’s right, we weren’t allowed to know.
Does Mr Key have to front up for questioning?
No according to the Herald
” She confirmed a letter was received in the prime minister’s office on Friday August 29.
“It advised the Prime Minister of the Inspector-General’s intention to interview a number of staff in connection with her inquiry into the release of information by the NZSIS to Cameron Slater.
“There was no indication in the letter that the Prime Minister would be called personally and the Prime Minister’s office is not aware that would be the case. In terms of Prime Minister’s office staff, no date was given in the letter for the interviews to take place.”
Senior staff in Key’s office are expected to be called including his chief of staff Wayne Eagleson and former aide Jason Ede. ”
Last updated 17:55
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10444294/PM-may-not-have-to-front-at-hearing
Seriously folks .. why would we expect anything to be different from Key ?? He is a joke isn’t he ? smile and wave, smile and wave, oh look, over there …..
Please, let this change for the sake of dear NZ.
He is making Nixon look good and us out to be fools.
Key has to go! His whole department is fatally compromised by the Dirty Politics book.
It reminds me of the final act of Der Rosenkavalier, when Baron Von Ochs has been caught at his dirty intentions and the Marshallin says:
MARSCHALLIN: Leave well alone, and ere I count to three, withdraw!
(The Baron turns round and stares at her.)
BARON: What mean you?
MARSCHALLIN: (gaily, sure of victory): Think of your dignity and take your leave.
BARON von OCHS How?
MARSCHALLIN: If you would still preserve your name
As gentleman, make virtue of necessity.
Key should take her advice!