Politics NZ Politics

[Inruin]

yeah man, i hear you.
i just meant if there’s nothing to gain from the store she stole from, then what’s the point other than a pile on. they’ll have a lot more shoplifters than just her.

people just love to see a celebrity or public figure hung out to dry.

Yeah, I understand your point. They probably do have more shoplifters than just her. But given her public profile and now previous position it is news worthy - Jenny, house wife from Mt Albert stealing a purse has little to no public interest. I wouldn't categories it as hung out to dry myself. Remember she is an elected politician, in a privileged position and was the parties justice spokesperson who has shop lifted from at least two different stores on at least three separate occasions. I think overall the response from politicians and commentators has been fairly measured, particularly when you compare it to some others.

 

[marv.]

Yeah, I understand your point. They probably do have more shoplifters than just her. But given her public profile and now previous position it is news worthy - Jenny, house wife from Mt Albert stealing a purse has little to no public interest. I wouldn't categories it as hung out to dry myself. Remember she is an elected politician, in a privileged position and was the parties justice spokesperson who has shop lifted from at least two different stores on at least three separate occasions. I think overall the response from politicians and commentators has been fairly measured, particularly when you compare it to some others.

who the fuck is jenny from mt albert?!

haha, yeah i agree dude.

 

[Inruin]

who the fuck is jenny from mt albert?!

Exactly! But she has an amazing wardrobe of high end clothing

 

[John Nick]

think overall the response from politicians and commentators has been fairly measured, particularly when you compare it to some other

Until posters (or poster)on here bobbed up accussing her of unknown, unreported, crimes that may in fact not been factual.
Get me right I don't actually like the person but surely she shouldn't be subjected to your unpleasant accusations.
Get a life.

 

[defensivebomb]

Get me right I don't actually like the person

thou doth protest too much, methinks

 

[marv.]

Exactly! But she has an amazing wardrobe of high end clothing

votes left by the sound of it.

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

who the fuck is jenny from mt albert?!

haha, yeah i agree dude.

Same electorate as Golriz from Grey Lynn

 

[John Nick]

thou doth protest too much, methinks

Exactly! But she has an amazing wardrobe of high end clothing

Anything to fit you or take your fancy?

 

[Juno]

Was wondering why you rightist guys and your posts have not been challenged as yet by the lefties here.
Just realized that they are still busy working and don't have time to spend all day trawling the internet for anti Labour propaganda. Apparently it's a productivity thing.

Nah, its a case of give enough rope to smug self-congratulating know-it-alls who don't have the capacity to go past their own rhetoric, and they'll hang themselves...

 

[Juno]

The Labour Government misused public money by instructing the Productivity Commission to pursue its own Social Agenda irrelevant to Productivity.

The Head of the Productivity Commission, Ganesh Nana writes, "As the year ends, I reflect on the work of the Commission and am proud of what we have achieved. The completion of the A Fair Chance for All inquiry was significant. We ... made insightful recommendations recognizing the strengths of communities already addressing & successfully alleviating persistent disadvantage". The Commission's job was to focus on efficiency - it focused on equity instead.

Therein lies the reason why the Commission was wound up by the new coalition. It wasted taxpayer money. Its mission (& own name) was never about increasing fairness & alleviating disadvantage - it was meant to be about increasing productivity. The Ministry of Social Development writes reports about fairness & disadvantage - it was not the Productivity Commission's business.

Another example of the economy and NZ being mismanaged and stuffed up in a death by 1000 ideological cuts.

First, what's your definition of a produvtivity commission?
Second, what was this productivity commission's full brief?
There you go spouting someone elses skewed opinion piece without actually understanding what productivity or the various elements that go into a country being productive are.
The subject matter to investigate and report on asked of this one was absolutely relevant to the country's productivity.

 

[Inruin]

Nah, its a case of give enough rope to smug self-congratulating know-it-alls who don't have the capacity to go past their own rhetoric, and they'll hang themselves...

Is it the so called 'right' posters making personal attacks and insults on other posters. Even after the warning was posted on here it continues. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with someone's opinion, rhetoric or ideas it actually says a lot about someone when they use personal attacks, insults, innuendo. Sometimes it's even to posts that haven't even been understood or read properly.

Note; not specifically aimed at you and certainly not everyone resorts to this style of posting either.

 

[John Nick]

First, what's your definition of a produvtivity commission?
Second, what was this productivity commission's full brief?
There you go spouting someone elses skewed opinion piece without actually understanding what productivity or the various elements that go into a country being productive are.
The subject matter to investigate and report on asked of this one was absolutely relevant to the country's productivity.

You will have to wait Juno.Wiz is googling & Inruin is trying to splutter some more BS

 

[John Nick]

Is it the so called 'right' posters making personal attacks and insults on other posters. Even after the warning was posted on here it continues. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with someone's opinion, rhetoric or ideas it actually says a lot about someone when they use personal attacks, insults, innuendo. Sometimes it's even to posts that haven't even been understood or read properly.

Note; not specifically aimed at you and certainly not everyone resorts to this style of posting either.

No insults from me. Just pointing out that accusing someone (whoever)of unproven unknown crimes is bad practice.
Sticking to the facts is a good idea

 

[Juno]

Is it the so called 'right' posters making personal attacks and insults on other posters. Even after the warning was posted on here it continues. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with someone's opinion, rhetoric or ideas it actually says a lot about someone when they use personal attacks, insults, innuendo. Sometimes it's even to posts that haven't even been understood or read properly.

Note; not specifically aimed at you and certainly not everyone resorts to this style of posting either.

Agree. Its a fine line.
Its also why its better to let it go. Sometimes.

 

[Juno]

You will have to wait Juno.Wiz is googling & Inruin is trying to splutter some more BS

Yes, I have to admit I like setting homework for Wiz sometimes.
He has his opinion and insight worth reading sometimes...when he uses his own whakaaro

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

First, what's your definition of a produvtivity commission?
Second, what was this productivity commission's full brief?
There you go spouting someone elses skewed opinion piece without actually understanding what productivity or the various elements that go into a country being productive are.
The subject matter to investigate and report on asked of this one was absolutely relevant to the country's productivity.

Productivity is the ratio of a measure of outputs to inputs used in the production of goods and services. GDP per worker. The commission should be investigating and reporting on ways to increase GDP and on what’s holding NZ back.

It should be focused on MAJOR contributors to GDP - industries, infrastructure, etc.

Some examples of productivity type issues at a governmental level:

1 - We have reportedly the most costly infrastructure costs in the world - why?
2 - Our infrastructure build is amongst the slowest in the world - why?
3 - are their opportunities in highly productive industries that we should be pursuing - IT, Resources, green tech, solar, etc
4 - how do we add value to our primary industries? (Secondary production, irrigation schemes, optimal land use, etc)
5 - research and development opportunities.
6 - opportunities for new technology within industries
7 - speaking up about barriers for industry - (eg reducing speed limits directly decreases productivity)

Disadvantage and inequity is for the ministry of social development and has micro rather than governmental macro level impacts on productivity.

 

[Juno]

Productivity is the ratio of a measure of outputs to inputs used in the production of goods and services. GDP per worker. The commission should be investigating and reporting on ways to increase GDP and on what’s holding NZ back.

It should be focused on MAJOR contributors to GDP - industries, infrastructure, etc.

Some examples of productivity type issues at a governmental level:

1 - We have reportedly the most costly infrastructure costs in the world - why?
2 - Our infrastructure build is amongst the slowest in the world - why?
3 - are their opportunities in highly productive industries that we should be pursuing - IT, Resources, green tech, solar, etc
4 - how do we add value to our primary industries? (Secondary production, irrigation schemes, optimal land use, etc)
5 - research and development opportunities.
6 - opportunities for new technology within industries
7 - speaking up about barriers for industry - (eg reducing speed limits directly decreases productivity)

Disadvantage and inequity is for the ministry of social development and has micro rather than governmental macro level impacts on productivity.

Good summation.
Still only half the equation. Leaving population wellbeing out of GDP and you come up with measurements and figures for sure but it is, and always has been, an incomplete snapshot and why more countries are also using GPI as well.

 

[Inruin]

Minister of Health Shane Reti confirms transfer of decision-making to regions is among health priorities​

RNZ
24 Jan, 2024 06:47 AM3 mins to read

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. Photo / Michael Craig

Health Minister Shane Reti says he’ll shift more health decision-making back to the regions - in a big change in direction from the previous government.

District health boards were scrapped 18 months ago to form Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority to end geographical differences in the care people were receiving.

But Reti said the reforms went too far.

“There are some parts that need to be owned by the centre, absolutely, but we need to be very careful because what has happened here is we’ve lost local accountability. We’ve lost local decision-making and it’s all owned by the centre.”

That applied to the Māori Health Authority too, which the Government will scrap, with Reti saying decisions were better in the hands of iwi and hapū.

Māori directorates

“The concept of all the decision-making and funding being held in Wellington, that Wellington will project out to the north Hokianga and tell Panguru what’s good for them, I don’t think so,” he said.

The authority would be replaced by Māori directorates within Health NZ and the Ministry of Health.

Reti stopped short of saying he would reintroduce district health boards and said IT systems and key services like radiotherapy machines were examples of what should remain centrally managed.

He made the comments in an interview with Nine to Noon about his priorities now he was Health Minister after years of raising problems with the system while in Opposition.

The health system was in “crisis”, he said.

“The previous government did not want to call it what it is, I have no issue doing that. That’s six letters but what it does is it sends a signal of urgency, that you understand the frontline.”

Some new targets

He would keep some hard targets, and add new ones for areas including reducing surgical waiting times, providing faster cancer treatment and cutting down on emergency department waits, he said.

He wanted to improve staffing through immigration, through encouraging people back into the health workforce and through better retention of current staff by improving conditions and pay, he said.

Reti would not be drawn on his personal views on the plans to scrap the radical anti-smoking legislation that would have cut nicotine rates and stopped anyone born from 2009 from every purchasing tobacco.

He continued to deflect questions by saying Associate Health Minister Casey Costello had responsibility for the changes and would be in charge of new policy.

Health Minister takes surgical approach to regional priorities

Shane Reti wants health decisions back to regions - not centralised bureaucracy.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Inruin]

Houthi Red Sea attacks: Green Party labels NZ sending troops to Middle East 'deeply disturbing'; Labour says it has 'shades of Iraq'
2 hours ago
RNZ
The Labour Party is condemning the Coalition Government's deployment of Defence Force troops to the Middle East, saying it has "shades of Iraq".

Following a request from the US, New Zealand is sending six personnel to the region to support future military action against Houthi targets.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, which they say are linked to Israel, since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict. In response, US and UK forces have been carrying out strikes at different locations in Yemen, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, according to a joint statement signed by the six countries.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described the Houthi strikes as "illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising".

"This deployment, as part of an international coalition, is a continuation of New Zealand's long history of defending freedom of navigation both in the Middle East and closer to home," Luxon said.

"Nearly 15 percent of global trade goes through the Red Sea and the Houthi attacks are driving costs higher for New Zealanders and causing delays to shipments."

Labour foreign affairs spokesperson David Parker made clear his party's opposition to the deployment.

"We don't think we should become embroiled in that conflict... which is part of a longer-term civil war in Yemen and we think that New Zealand should stay out of this, there's no UN resolution in favour of it," he said. "We don't think we should get involved in a conflict in the Middle East."

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's populated areas, have been fighting a civil war since 2014 against Yemen's government, which had the backing of a coalition of Arab countries. By the start of 2022, the war had caused an estimated 377,000 deaths and displaced four million people, according to the UN.

New Zealand's two major political parties have long taken a bipartisan approach to foreign affairs and Labour was briefed on the deployment by the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs before it was announced publicly.

"We let them know it has shades of Iraq," Parker told RNZ.

In the early 2000s, then Prime Minister Helen Clark resisted pressure from the US to join its invasion of Iraq, which had not been sanctioned by the United Nations.

"This Government doesn't trade the lives of young New Zealanders for a war it doesn't believe in," Clark said at the time.

She did, however, agree to send troops to help with reconstruction efforts in September 2003.

The Coalition Government's decision to deploy troops to the Middle East was a "break from recent traditions", Parker said.

"New Zealand, despite all the pressure from the United States, Australia and Great Britain at the time, stayed out of the conflict in Iraq, when Iraq was invaded... we think history shows that was a very wise decision of the then Labour Government.

"This is not identical, but it is similar and we don't think it will resolve the problems in the Middle East, which stem from civil war, other conflicts in the region, including in Gaza."

When asked by RNZ if the deployment could set a precedent, Parker replied, "it's easier to get into these things than get out of them".

The Green Party's co-leaders have also expressed their unhappiness with the deployment, describing it as "deeply disturbing".

In a statement, Marama Davidson and James Shaw said they were "horrified at this Government's decision to further inflame tensions in the Middle East".

"The international community has an obligation to protect peace and human rights. Right now, what we are witnessing in the Middle East is a regional power play between different state and non-state groups.

"This decision is only likely to inflame tensions

"When the US asks us to support their military operation, questions need to be asked about the strategic interests the US is prioritising and whether these align with the clear support of the New Zealand people for our Defence Force to be focused on peacebuilding and enduring justice."

Davidson and Shaw indicated they would call for an urgent debate on the deployment when Parliament resumes next week.

"The Houthi attacks are illegal, they are unacceptable and they are profoundly destabilising."
How NZ Defence Force will contribute in Middle East amid Houthi strikes
Houthi Red Sea attacks: Green Party labels NZ sending troops to Middle East 'deeply disturbing'; Labour says it has 'shades of Iraq'
'Collective self-defence': NZ sends Defence Force to Middle East amid Red Sea Houthi attacks
Defence experts warn deployment could be seen as backing Israel in the Gaza conflict
Security analyst Paul Buchanan told RNZ the US-requested deployment could be interpreted as New Zealand "planting its flag firmly on the side of the Western backers of Israel".

The US has backed Israel during the Gaza conflict, arguing Israel has the right to defend itself following Hamas' October attack.

"We've tried to play a neutral role, historically, and since this war started on October the 7th, and so we've shifted position by deploying these troops," Buchanan said.

"It was one thing to join the statement condemning the attacks on shipping and leaving it at that, but now with the deployment of even a small unit... we're clearly announcing to the world that we're on the side of the West."

New Zealand's deployment could cause reputational damage, Buchanan said.

"We've exposed at least these soldiers to risk and then to New Zealand, perhaps a measure of reputational risk, at least in those parts of the worlds that are opposed to Israel's actions in Gaza."

Otago University international relations professor Robert Patman also said the deployment could be interpreted as New Zealand shifting its weight behind the US.

It contradicts New Zealand's voting record in the UN general assembly, Patman said, having twice supported calls for an immediate humanitarian truce or ceasefire in Gaza.

"There is a bit of a tension here. We're saying there must be a ceasefire and yet we're... contributing to support a country which has exercised the veto three times in the UN Security Council," Patman said. "There seems to be a tension between our announcement today and our voting record [at the UN] and it may be construed, I think perhaps unfairly, as that we have basically decided to support the United States' position in relation to Gaza. That's how it could look."

Luxon was defensive when asked if the Middle East deployment was an extension of the Israel-Gaza conflict in Tuesday's post-Cabinet media conference.

"You are wrong to conflate those two issues. We are standing up for values very clearly... about freedom of navigation," Luxon said.

"These are long held beliefs of New Zealand for a long period of time."

Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters shared a similar sentiment in an earlier statement, saying "New Zealand's actions to uphold maritime security in the Red Sea should not be conflated with its position on the Israel-Gaza conflict".

"Any suggestion our ongoing support for maritime security in the Middle East is connected to recent developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip, is wrong.

"We are contributing to this military action for the same reason New Zealand has sent defence personnel to the Middle East for decades - we care deeply about regional security because our economic and strategic interests depend on it."

Houthi Red Sea attacks: Green Party labels NZ sending troops to Middle East 'deeply disturbing'; Labour says it has 'shades of Iraq'

The Greens are "horrified at this Government's decision to further inflame tensions in the Middle East", Marama Davidson and James Shaw say.

www.newshub.co.nz

 

[Rizzah]

Sending troops is a mistake here. The Houthi attack on Israeli shipping, causing all vessels to divert from the Red Sea is a direct result of the ongoing massacre in Gaza.
If we cared about regional stability and international law, we would be putting more pressure on the US and Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Signatory nations of the genocide convention, which we are, are obligated to prevent and punish acts of genocide.