Just when you didn’t think the Treasury incompetence could get any worse, the truth behind their manipulative deception is unacceptable…
it’s understood Treasury was advised by the National Cyber Security Centre – a branch of New Zealand’s cyber spooks – that what they were dealing with, was not a hack by any stretch of the imagination.
Treasury’s referral of the matter to police, after being advised of that, and its subsequent statement referring to the use of its website’s search bar as a “sustained and systematic hack” was a total waste of police resources and an example of extreme arse-covering.
It’s not even clear at this point, that Treasury’s claim it happened 2000 times is correct.
But its most egregious crime, for which Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf holds personal responsibility, is advising the offices of the Finance Minister and Prime Minister on Tuesday that it was a hack – knowing it wasn’t.
Makhlouf had already referred it to police at that point – removing the option of choice from Finance Minister Grant Robertson. But it also did him the favour of keeping him far enough away from the debacle that Opposition calls for his resignation are clearly a step too far.
Inexplicably, Makhlouf doubled down. He went on national airwaves the very next morning, with an overcooked metaphor likening the documents retrieval to entering a locked room and taking to a chest with a sledgehammer – completely false.
All signs suggest Makhlouf knew what had happened, and went ahead with his own version anyway.
…so let’s get this straight.
Housing NZ meth abortion that needlessly pissed away $100m on decontamination and threw thousands onto the streets and no one was punished.
Census meltdown of enormous propositions to push for an online cost cutting fantasy and no one was punished.
Treasury incompetence and manipulative duplicity and no one was punished???
If Labour looked after children in poverty with as much passion as they protect public servants we wouldn’t need a well being budget.
Labour are lucky that the Treasury mishandling of the budget has become the story rather than the fine print reading of the budget because the lack of anything remotely representing transformation would have killed voters who had put their hopes into Jacinda’s politics of kindness. The truth is this budget falls far short of anything meaningful.
Well I think progressives don’t agree with the budget so something needs to be done. Early childhood care is something that I think progressives and Labour can agree on. There’s plenty of studies out there that say if you get kids into the education system early the better. So yeah I’ll be looking for some action in this area.
I have mixed feelings about pre-schoolers being “schooled,” but Malcolm X
said that the first step in revolution is massive education of the people, and that without education nothing can change.
That someone like John Key had a big following, and media constantly licking his boots, suggests that our education system has room for improvement.
Current calls for Key to be dumped from his bank job is interesting as it is recognition from his own peer group that his competence- or something else – is questionable.
interesting!
I think one thing that anyone looking to make New Zealand into a great place to grow up in is to increase Childcare subsidies to underserved populations. Jacinda could come out hard for this next year as protecting mothers and protecting children and single mothers on welfare, y’know we care about you and I think that’s one tool Jacinda can use against National who repeatably say they don’t care.
This is a great way to go defensive. Even if GDP goes down this is not where people usually cut spending. Y’know I just think Childcare is something that all MPs and candidates are going to go in on next elections both Labour and National, Greens and ACT. If this Childcare thing goes through private Childcare firms could be up 20% on one headline on a sector that’s not very well covered and on revenue that’s not very liquid. I’m talking about early Childcare, it’s pretty fragmented around the nation and its a great way to get cash in and investors can cash out.
Calling in the police secured a quick independent straight answer to what happened. I think that was the best thing Gabriel Makhlouf did out of a bad selection.
D J S
I am sick of ‘Old Boys Clubs’ and ‘Gentlemen’s Agreements’ and the overlooking of other so-called ‘Gentlemen’s’ misdemeanors
…the guy needs to be sacked FAST
…in the meantime homeless New Zealand children and their families need State prefab housing FAST
…where are the 100,000 prefab State Houses?
‘5 things you didnt know about Prefabs’
https://heritagecalling.com/2018/07/24/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-prefabs/
https://theaccidentalphotographer.me/2018/08/24/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-prefabs-and-a-new-book/
Everything depends on stable housing for the kids and their families…education, health , opportunity
( drug addiction, education drop outs, family abuse and violence, poverty spring from lack of affordable housing)
Where are the 100,000 prefab State Houses for New Zealands’ homeless?!
Britain managed it after WW2 ….why cant we?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefabs_in_the_United_Kingdom
https://www.google.com/search?q=post+ww2+prefab+houses&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg56nkjcTiAhU88HMBHXoAAdQQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1523&bih=706&dpr=1.25
(John Key Nactional created the housing crisis with unrestricted immigration and overseas buying of New Zealand houses…the Labour coalition must fix it !)
John Key and Bob Jones both came out of State Houses…(not that we want more of them !)….but that it proves State Housing is essential for an egalitarian society
I’ve been saying it for ages. I have seen the Wellington trough of overpriced consultants sucking on the taxpayers nipple, of CEOs paid far more than private sector people who generate income, and legions of slack padded overpaid keyboard tappers. Go into the cafeteria at the Ministry of Health, or at DIA and observe the wealth of fine clothes, see the coffee slurped. Wander Wellington and wonder at the vast number of eateries that are supported by this parasite class.
Get rid of the lot of them, they are a drain on the welfare of the rest of us.
Cut MPs salaries too….they get way too much!
( plus the perks /bribes ?)
There must have been various different prefab designs built. My family was bombed out during the blitz on Bath in 1940? so we became refugees. The prefabs we were allocated were built about 1942 in a small town (Corsham) 9 miles from Bath and (because we were refugees) were occupied randomly. The design was quite primitive ( they froze in winter). Thick concrete slabs were poured on site and tipped on edge. The roof was also a concrete slab. Each building housed two families separated by a party wall. They were all knocked down about 1950 and replaced by State housing.
If this government were more imaginative they could improvise shipping containers as accommodation and join them Lego fashion quickly and cheaply.They would be much better than the prefab I lived in for 7 years. But I despair of this government.
Yes SAVENZ said this on 3 June
“Government needs to go back to square one, fund housing NZ and get rid of the 10,000 waiting list! Not get hung up on middle class ‘warm dry housing’ to reduce people to battery hens supposedly for their ‘well being’ because lobby groups say so…. if you insulate state houses, put in a heat pump, guess what a hell of a lot better than spending 3.3 million on ‘administration’ of bedsit new builds that are inferior and going to increase mental health issues by all the harassment and overcrowding and obesity by having no gardens!”
( her/his comments are always worth reading)
Re housing SAVENZ’s comments in full :
SAVENZ says:
JUNE 3, 2019 AT 9:40 AM
However people might be critical because Labour has fucked up with pathetic impractical and disgusting policies like Kiwibuild…. this has been a screw up for years and was clear even before the election with their Kiwibuild policy on housing that would not work… but the majority of lefties including all the housing support groups like renters unite went and supported it like zombies, without pointing out the obvious flaws of privatisation and how most of the poor are not on $120k so therefore does not really address what it is supposed to aka affordable housing.
Labour and Greens and NZ First and Natz too also fail to have any understanding of how dysfunctional the construction industry has become, requiring government support to wipe their arses and get them deregulated zoning and cheap unskilled workers so they can make more profit and walk away from yet another building in NZ needing remedial work post build or land turning to liquid faction or destruction post disaster.
The only reason that Labour limped in last election, was that the furore over the womb, took away the heat from Labour’s previously much talked about policy around Kiwibuild and housing in general (that the majority of home owning Kiwis knew was a crock) and Natz have no friends and screwed over NZ First last time and James Shaw & Greens allowed them to get in.
Somehow the hard left and unions and left commentators and probably even the Natz believe their own tripe too, and enabled Labour to get away with such an unworkable and destructive housing policy of Kiwibuild which they campaigned around for 9 years (losing every year apart from the thankful womb issue that overtook housing in the critical weeks before the election and their proposal to not bring in capital gains and a their claim they would reduce immigration and not sign the TPPA).
So criticism is good, and maybe Labour need to take criticism that makes sense on board. Yes there are whiners who nothing will ever make them happy (most of them never vote anyway) but then there are genuine people, and more and more of them, whose lives are being make more precarious from government policy and ideology.
The obsession with housing in NZ part stems from the precarious nature of paid work in NZ that the government bought in 30 years ago!
Being a cheerleader is not ok for bad policy even if you hate the Natz too. Too many yes and neoliberal manipulative people around the politicians, which is why politicians are so astonished these days where the elections don’t match the polls.
Aka maybe ditch the Mochaccino brigade and neoliberal lobby group attendance about the economy and get into the real world where people are working (or not working) and what they care about and more importantly workable policies to implement that.
Reply
SAVENZ says:
JUNE 3, 2019 AT 1:46 PM
Sadly people are also being less represented, not more in many cases by the rise of charities and organisations that ‘talk’ for vulnerable groups but often under the covers are more talking to getting more donations and support from government for themselves and pass on a percentage to the poor.
Maybe if there were less middle men and more straight out support (like there used to be) for people who go to a government organisation then there would be more money and more help for more people.
Aka Compass social housing that gets 3.3 million from taxpayers since 2016 as well as the rents who when analysing it, seem to be offering less service and less fairness for the homeless at a lot more money?
Government needs to go back to square one, fund housing NZ and get rid of the 10,000 waiting list! Not get hung up on middle class ‘warm dry housing’ to reduce people to battery hens supposedly for their ‘well being’ because lobby groups say so…. if you insulate state houses, put in a heat pump, guess what a hell of a lot better than spending 3.3 million on ‘administration’ of bedsit new builds that are inferior and going to increase mental health issues by all the harassment and overcrowding and obesity by having no gardens!
30 group committees are what what bought us the fake ‘Meth’ levels with no scientific evidence!
I recall that someone who was disabled being annoyed at all the abled bodies ‘support’ groups who seem to get the funding rather than directly to the disabled who need it!
Big issue of monetarisation (aka social bonds in disguise) of poverty. Most of the people involved probably lovely people, but there are often more efficient ways of solving the problems and the talkfests make the government think they are doing something, when they are not actually helping anyone by talking to third parties and thinking their views represent the vulnerable
( Labour Coalition should pay SAVENZ to design their policies)
Comments are closed.