The Daily Blog Open Mic – Sunday 29th October 2017
Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.
Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.
EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.
Balfour’s disastrous legacy
On 2 November 1917, at the height of the First World War, Britain’s imperial voice expressed itself in a statement of intent from its Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, to Lord Rothschild – for passing on to the Zionist Federation. The message is known as the Balfour Declaration. The 30-year-long British occupation of Palestine that followed the allied World War One victory led to the unilateral Zionist declaration of ‘independence’ in 1948 and the establishment of Israel in Palestine. The Palestinian people had been encouraged to understand that, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, they would be allowed self-determination in their homeland. They had been seriously misled. In 1919, Balfour admitted to the new Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon:
“The weak point of our position is of course that in the case of Palestine we deliberately and rightly decline to accept the principle of self-determination.”
That same year, Balfour also wrote to Lord Curzon:
“in Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country… the Four Great Powers are committed to Zionism. And Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land . . . In short, so far as Palestine is concerned, the Powers have made no statement of fact which is not admittedly wrong, and no declaration of policy which, at least in the letter, they have not always intended to violate.” Ingram p.73. See Nutting
For 69 years the Zionist enterprise, with the collusion of its powerful Western allies, has continued to demonstrate utter disregard for the Palestinian people, denying them their culture, their history and even their humanity.
The Palestinian-American academic, political activist and literary critic, Edward Said (1935-2003) eloquently evaluated the Declaration as follows:
“What is important about the Declaration is, first, that it has long formed the juridical basis of Zionist claims to Palestine, and second, more crucial for our purposes here, that it was a statement whose positional force can only be appreciated when the demographic, or human realities of Palestine are clearly understood. For the Declaration was made (a) by a European power (b) about a non-European territory (c) in a flat disregard of both the presences and the wishes of the native majority resident in that territory, and (d) it took the form of a promise about this same territory to another foreign group, that this foreign group might, quite literally, make this territory a national home for the Jewish people.”
The Jewish academic Ilan Pappe, director of the European Centre of Palestine Studies at the English University of Exeter, has made the following observation:
“The natural Palestinian rejection of the notion of dividing their homeland with settlers, the majority of whom had arrived only a few years earlier, fell on deaf Western ears. Locating the Jews in Palestine, without the need to come to terms with what Europe did to them in World War Two, became the easiest corridor out of Europe’s ugliest historical moment. As is clear today from the documents, the Zionist leadership regarded the partition resolution as both international legitimisation for a Jewish state in Palestine, and the Palestinian rejection of it as a valid pretext for the ethnic cleansing of the native population.”
Ideology is distinct from culture, race and nationhood. Political ideologies may seize the loyalty of any people at different periods of history but while the people continue, ideologies inevitably fall from fashion over time. No ideology can claim to speak for a whole people and most Jews, particularly those who are religious, opposed Zionism at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Balfour knew this very well. Bernard Regan, author of the book The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and resistance in Palestine. 1917 -1936 reminds us that one of the most “vociferous” opponents of the Balfour Declaration was actually the only Jewish member of the Cabinet, Sir Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State for India:
“He believed that support for the ‘principle’ of a ‘National Home for the Jewish people’ would legitimate the spread of anti-Semitism already rampant in parts of Eastern Europe.”
Montagu believed that at least half the Jews in Britain opposed Zionism and his was not the only Jewish voice raised against Balfour. Regan writes that Mr C. G. Montefiore, President of the Anglo-Jewish Association, was critical of political Zionism’s founder Theodor Herzl’s assertion that “anti-Semitism was eternal, and that it was hopeless to expect its removal”. The Zionist enterprise depends on anti-Semitism as a smokescreen to divert attention from the abuses of human rights committed by Israel’s leaders. Regan notes that “Mr L. L. Cohen, Chairman of the Jewish Board of Guardians thought that since a Jewish home in Palestine would in any case only be able to take a fraction of world Jewry it would not resolve the problem of anti-Semitism.”
Today, the news media and many of our politicians, influenced so powerfully by the Israel Lobby, continue to ignore Jewish and Palestinian voices that are united in legitimate and necessary protest against both Israel’s founding ideology and the human rights violations that it engenders. There is a universal right to freedom of expression and it is time for us to heed the voices of those Jews for whom Zionism is as far removed from Judaism as could possibly be conceived.
Many Jews deplore the Zionist ideology’s inhumanity. Here are just a handful: Anna Baltzer of Jewish Voice for Peace, Miko Peled, the son of a Zionist General, who also served in the Israeli Army. We ask people to read the works of Gideon Levy and the historian Ilan Pappe. There are many, many more – including celebrities from the worlds of science, art, music, drama and comedy. Jews and non-Jews alike have the right to individually and collectively protest in the name of justice and respect for international humanitarian law. There is nothing racist in that. In fact, these voices, reflecting the underlying humanity of Jews and Palestinians, offer the best hope of peace. All they ask is that we join them. Let us open our hearts and minds and put humanity before politics and ideology – it might catch on!
GUEST BLOG: Willie Jackson – FORESHORE AND SEABED
I was really pleased to see the response from all the Maori Party supporters over the last couple of days with my comments about the Foreshore and Seabed.
On The Hui show on Sunday, I said that most Maori don’t care about the Foreshore and Seabed issue anymore and care more about housing, education and health – this is an undeniable fact.
If you’re living in a car, can’t get access to a warm home and your kids are failing badly at school or have been thrown out of school, then whether we own the Foreshore or not is the last thing that our people are thinking about.
How do I know this? Because I’ve worked with thousands of our people over the last few years, I have seen first-hand their suffering – their shyness because they can’t talk Maori; their embarassment because they can’t look after their families ‘properly’, these people who condemn them for not caring about Maori rights don’t walk in their shoes, and don’t walk beside them.
So all those silly Maori Party people and their academic mates that love talking to themselves on Facebook need to wake up and realise what the real priorities are, and the real needs.
Do I think that our rights regarding the Foreshore and Seabed are important? Of course, absolutely without a doubt! I marched on the Foreshore and Seabed protest in Wellington and ran and lead the Radio Waatea coverage. Also, I was probably the most vocal Maori media commentator on this issue; and I would march again tomorrow, because Maori rights have been rights that I have fought for all my life.
However, I accept that my priorities are not the same as most Maori who are struggling. So many of our people have to get off their high horses and realise that before they scream their silly outrage and abuse at me on Facebook.
Sadly, 99% of Maori and Mana Party supporters don’t understand what I’m talking about – that’s why they lost the Election so badly.
However, I know that most of our Labour supporters understand completely what I’m saying, or have I got this wrong? What do you think?
The Daily Blog Open Mic – Saturday 28th October 2017
Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.
Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.
EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.
Socialism and Populism: The Party is Just Beginning!
ZACH CASTLES is sitting, gutted, in a café overlooking the Thames. The former “National ministerial adviser”, no longer having any National ministers to advise, has clearly relocated himself to a more promising political marketplace. Even so, our brave young capitalist has taken the time to share his thoughts with The Spinoff. (Who else!) And, oh, comrades, what thoughts they are!
He begins by imploring National to defend capitalism from “the coalition of socialists and populists” who are attempting (apparently Jacinda hasn’t quite got the hang of this yet) to unleash class war across New Zealand’s green and pleasant land. Poor Zach, it’s the sheer ingratitude of the Left that upsets him the most. Don’t these ingrates realise that “nearly one billion people over the last 20 years [have] been lifted out of poverty because of it.”
Really, Zach? The dragooning of millions of subsistence farmers and their children into the factories, warehouses and shops of China, India and Brazil. The super-exploitation perpetrated by the burgeoning bourgeoisie of these countries. The impossible working conditions. The relentless speed-ups. The graft and corruption upon which so much of their “economic growth” depends. The unbelievable environmental despoliation left in its wake. This is what you call being “lifted out of poverty”? This is what you are asking National to defend?
It sure is. In fact, according to Zach: “the very ‘neoliberalism’ the incoming prime minister criticises, and yet refuses to define [Oh, for God’s sake, just look it up on Wikipedia, man!] has helped many Kiwis out of a life of welfare dependence and into the dignity of a job.”
Ah, but there’s a big difference, isn’t there, Zach, between the sort of job you’re heading for in London and the jobs which beneficiaries are forced to accept, or face being sanctioned into abject poverty. Pumping gas for the minimum wage. Or being paid $17.00 an hour to stand all day behind a till while your feet swell and your calves cramp-up. That’s not the sort of job you’re about to take up – is it Zach? And those are most certainly not the sort of wages you’re anticipating from whatever right-wing political party or think-tank you’re about to be snapped-up by. It just wouldn’t be dignified. Not for a man of your talents. Would it Zach?
But, then, Zach isn’t accustomed to thinking about such matters. If he was, then he simply couldn’t write a paragraph like this:
“The return of the left to government now means everything that makes New Zealand such a role model, at a time of supposed global despair, now hangs in the balance. We were meant to be the poster child for globalism, free trade and ambition; now we are being set up as the test flight for a return to the 1970s. A world Jacinda Ardern’s own voters have never actually known.”
“Never actually known”? Really, Zach? I’m well aware that most Kiwis over 55 voted for your lot, but most is not the same thing as all. (Just as receiving most of the votes cast is not the same as receiving a majority of the votes cast!) I was very much alive and kicking in the 1970s, and let me tell you, those were great years to be young.
There were jobs for everyone – at good, union-negotiated, wages. The state loaned young couples money, at 3 percent interest, to buy their own home. All mothers received a generous Family Benefit. Tertiary education was as close to free as makes no difference. Ah, Zach, the manifold evils of socialism and populism!
Zach claims the National Party subscribes to the ideas of Edmund Burke, but this attempt to drape the clothing of a respectable political philosophy over National’s naked worship of power, simply will not wash. Burke understood the critical importance of tradition, and the wisdom it was able to impart to generations raised in its embrace. But National has never been a respecter of tradition – at least not of the core New Zealand traditions of fairness and decency. Indeed, the party was founded with the express purpose of thwarting the organised political expression of fairness and decency.
Presumably, that is why Zach can hail the “radicalism” of Ruth Richardson; and why he speaks glowingly of his party’s role in “leading transformative social and economic change”. Transformative, eh? Well, yes, as someone who remembers a New Zealand in which everyone worked, was comfortably housed, and could look forward with confidence to their children living in a happier more prosperous world than the one in which they’d been raised, I’d have to say that “transformation” is exactly the right word. What I’m much less certain about, however, is whether Kiwis sleeping in cars, while their children go hungry, was the change most New Zealanders were looking for.
So, you go on looking out over the Thames, Zach. And, by all means, urge your National Party comrades to seize this wonderful opportunity to “make capitalism cool again”. Back here in God’s Own Country, though, I’ll go on looking at the clips of Prime Minister Ardern being welcomed back from Government House by thousands of delighted New Zealanders. I’ll listen again, as she promises to lead “a government of kindness”, and I’ll wish her – and the 72-year-old patriot who gave progressive New Zealand the votes it needed to govern – all the success that “socialism and populism” can bring.
New Government must burn MSD scum to the ground
‘Carol’ from WINZ.
How fucking sickening is this…
MSD is treating loans as income in the courts – Child Poverty Action Group
Borrowed money should not count as income that can reduce benefit entitlements, saysChild Poverty Action Group (CPAG).
In a case being heard in the High Court, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is arguing that a sole mother who took out loans to pay for her home repairs and to support her children – because she could not otherwise afford to on the benefit – should have to repay more than $120,000 in so-called ‘over payments’.
This Friday, October 27 is the last day of the hearing. Ms X. has name suppression and is represented by Frances JoyChild QC.
No form Ms X. ever filled out for her benefit asked her to list loans as a form of income. The cost of the nearly eight years of reviews and appeal is huge, both financially and in terms of her health.
“It has created libraries of decisions, exhibits, letters, submissions and court time. To say nothing of the costs of Ms X’s time or her lawyers,” says Associate Professor Susan John, CPAG economics and welfare spokesperson.
“It is very worrying that mothers are treated this way and that MSD takes such a narrow view of the law,” says Associate Professor Susan St John, CPAG economics and welfare spokesperson.
New Zealand currently has a punitive welfare system that reduces support for sole parents who repartner, and applies sanctions to those who do not name a father on benefit applications. In finding loans as declarable income, it further reduces the ability of low-income families to support their children, resulting in deeper and longer term poverty and more unfair prosecutions.
…this isn’t an isolated case, when asked by the Judge why the MSD was chasing another beneficiary in another ‘fraud’ case, the fucking scum maggot from the Ministry said, ‘in case she wins lotto’!!!!!!!
FUCK THESE MAGGOTS! Damn what the bloody PSA says, purge these pricks from the face of NZ!
Labour’s greatest challenge in front of it right now is the ideological right wing arseholes who have taken up residence in our public service. Like cancerous tumours, they have spread their hateful right wing beliefs and infected every inch of what should be a welfare system designed to protect and help rather than punish.
We have seen example after example after example of how these smug vicious arseholes damage and kill the poor they are supposed to serve. Hounding a beneficiary into suicide for a debt that never existed should see those wealthy white Wellington bureaucrats strung up in the town square and lynched!
The new Government must use napalm as a disinfectant to cleanse our public service and damn the squeals from the PSA – it’s time to take back our welfare system from the neoliberal scum who with sadistic glee hurt the most poor amongst us. There can be no negotiation with cancer.
Filth only learn when they lose their jobs, let the purge begin!
Manus Island: Authorities must not use abuse to force refugees into transit facilities – Amnesty International
The Australian and Papua New Guinean authorities must ensure that a tense standoff with refugees on Manus Island does not descend into violence by security forces as the authorities try to move hundreds of people from the refugee detention centre to so-called transit facilities on Manus Island, Amnesty International said.
Tensions have grown on Manus Island in recent weeks, as the hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers living in the current refugee detention centre have said that they will resist any move because they fear for their safety if moved to new locations on the island.
“The looming move to so-called transit facilities on Manus Island cannot become an excuse to use violence against refugees and asylum seekers. The authorities have a duty to ensure that the PNG security forces, who already have a chequered history of abuse, refrain from using excessive force,” said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International’s Director of Global Issues.
The detention centre on Manus Island, where refugees and asylum seekers have suffered for four years as part of Australia’s cruel and illegal ‘offshore processing’ policies, will close on 31 October.
Australian government officials have said that water and electricity at the centre will be turned off after 31 October, and have refused to rule out forcibly transferring those who do not voluntarily leave the premises.
The closure of the detention centre does not mean the end of the ordeal for the refugees as they are being moved to other centres.
More than 600 people are due to be moved to transit facilities over the next few days, including to the East Lorengau Transit Accommodation Centre.
There are serious concerns that the various transit facilities are far too small to house the numbers of refugees, or are not yet completed.
The Lorengau Centre is also close to local communities which could make attacks on the refugees more likely. There have been several attacks by members of the local community – some wielding machetes – against refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island in recent months, which have left individuals badly injured. Neither the PNG nor the Australian authorities have acted to adequately protect the refugees from such violence.
“The closure of the current centre is not a solution if people are simply being moved from one abusive location to another. Reports that the new facilities are unfinished and leave refugees at risk of violence are extremely concerning. Authorities must ensure that the safety and well-being of refugees is given priority,” said Audrey Gaughran.
“The fact that the refugees – who the Australian government has trapped in a system amounting to torture for years – are resisting being moved because they fear for their safety in other locations on the island speaks volumes about the risks they feel they face.”
The closure of the detention centre was announced in 2016 following a ruling by the PNG Supreme Court that the Australian government’s detention of refugees and asylum seekers there is illegal and unconstitutional.
Amnesty International has documented a catalogue of serious human rights violations on Manus Island, including how people are kept in overcrowded compounds in stifling heat without access to adequate medical care, and has called for the centre’s closure, and for the refugees and asylum-seekers to be brought to safety.
“Shuttling refugees from one centre to another is simply papering over the cracks in an abusive system. It does nothing to address the central problem, and indeed may make it even worse. Authorities in Australia should do the only humane thing and immediately bring the refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island to safety in Australia,” said Audrey Gaughran.
“The Australian government must accept its responsibility to protect the human rights of all those who have come under its jurisdiction as people seeking refuge, and put an end to the use of offshore processing centres. The same violations will continue as long as the same cruel and inhuman refugee policies remain in place.”
Political Caption Competition
Hey Jacinda, yes, you fend off Trump with this hand like so…
The Daily Blog Open Mic – Friday 27th October 2017
Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.
Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.
EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.
Tracey Martin – The Children’s Champion
.
.
From a blogpost I wrote on 31 December 2013;
Tracey Martin – one of Parliament’s best kept “secrets”. One to watch out for as her career in politics is on the rise. Recently elevated to Deputy Leader of NZ First, she has the potential to increase her Party’s public approval
.
.
Nearly four years later, and my prediction has become reality. On 25 October, incoming Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that NZ First’s talented Tracey Martin would be appointed to the new Labour-NZF-Green cabinet as a full-ranking Minister;
Tracey Martin (NZ First): Minister for Children; Internal Affairs; Seniors; Associate Minister of Education
… Ms Ardern said New Zealand First’s Tracey Martin would be a strong advocate for children in her ministerial position, which also oversees Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Vulnerable Children.
I fully endorse Ms Martin’s appointment to this position. In this blogger’s own experience, Ms Martin should prove to be a dedicated champion to lift children out of the poverty-trap created after thirtythree years of the failed neo-liberal experiment.
In April 2012, Jazmine Heka took a petition to then Opposition MP and NZ First spokesperson for Children, Tracey Martin. The petitions called for;
- To provide free healthy school lunches to all children attending schools
- To provide free healthcare for all children including prescription costs
- To introduce warrant of fitness’s for all rental homes
.
.
There was wide-ranging discussion between Jazmine and Ms Martin with the MP treating her guest with respect. She listened to Jazmine for a full hour, discussing dental treatment in schools; food in schools; a warrant of fitness for all rental housing, and poverty in general.
As I reported at the time;
Ms Martin recalled when, in her youth, every school had a dental nurse and clinic-room on school-grounds, and children’s teeth were properly looked after,
“Our policy is that all children must have access to free dental healthcare for the period of their schooling.”
.
.
This blogger also reported Ms Martin’s willingness to draw from other political parties;
Ms Martin agreed and referred to a “brilliant speech” by Russell Norman (Green Co-Leader), where he revealed that government had lost $2 billion of of last year’s tax-take. She said, “three years of that and we wouldn’t have to sell any state assets“.
Had those tax cuts [2009 and 2010] not happened, we could afford free healthcare for all children.
Ms Martin referred to the Mana Party’s financial transactions tax, which she said Annette Sykes called “the Hone Heke” tax, and which “was worth looking at, and worth taking really seriously“. It was understood that such a FTT would have to be internationally implemented, as it might otherwise risk causing a capital-flight.
The strength of the Labour-NZF-Greens coalition are the core values which each constituent party has to offer. All three have constructive, forward-looking policies and dedicated, intelligent people willing to deliver them for a better future for our country.
If the willingness of a member of parliament to sit and listen to a sixteen year old is any indication, then our new Minister for Children has been an encouraging, positive first step for our new government.
Somewhat presciently, I wrote five years ago;
The discussion moved to a related issue, and Ms Heka asked about NZ First’s policy regarding having a high-ranking minister – or even the Prime Minister – as the Minister for Children. The premise being that if the Prime Minister was also the Minister for Children, then it would give extra impetus to policies as they might impact on his portfolio; the nations young people.
Ms Martin agreed saying,
“Well, to keep that in the view, I would have thought. To make sure that it’s part of every conversation; how will this, downstream, affect children.“
If the Prime Minister was Minister for children, it was suggested, then as with US President, Harry Truman, “The Buck Stops Here” on child poverty issues.
Jacinda Ardern has appointed herself Minister for Child Poverty Reduction. Hopefully, Ms Ardern and Ms Martin will create a powerful partnership with which to combat and eradicate the scourge of child poverty in this country.
Postscript: Meanwhile, back in Rabid Rightwing Ratbag Land…
Right-wing idiocy and mis-information has reached new depths in West Australia with the publication of a scurrilous piece of fake news/opinion, by conservative so-called journalist and former The West Australian editor, Paul Murray.
In an error-laden, ratbag opinion piece on 25 October, Murray suggested that homelessness and child poverty did not exist in New Zealand. He dismissed poverty and homelessness;
Well, I’d describe it as hyperbole. If they haven’t got enough to survive they would be dying.
[…]
An inquiry by the New Zealand Herald found Labour was using a very broad definition of homelessness by international standards and judged that claim “mostly fiction”.
While Labour used a university study showing 41,000 people were “severely housing deprived” — meaning sleeping rough, living in cars or garages, or in emergency or temporary shelters — official government figures for those “without habitable accommodation” was about 4000.
Which would be inexplicable, considering that Bill English promised to cut child poverty by 100,000 during the election campaign last month;
.
.
If poverty and homelessness was a “fiction” as Murray asserted, then the Leader of the National Party promised on 5 September, in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers, to raise 100,000 non-existent children out of poverty. And the mainstream media bought it.
Quite a ‘trick’.
He also derided Winston Peters’ decision for his choice in coalition partner;
These themes were echoed by Peters when justifying his decision to bypass the Nationals who won 44.45 per cent of the vote and to install Labour which polled just 36.89 and only 43.16 when combined with the supportive Greens.
Murray omitted to mention that a Labour-Green-NZ First bloc represented 50.4% of the popular vote. Obviously basic arithmetic is not his strong point because 50.4% beats 44.45% every time.
But his outright misrepresentation of facts reached it’s nadir when he shamelessly claimed;
The NZ Nationals got debt down to 38 per cent of GDP compared to Australia’s 47 per cent. Watch that figure skyrocket.
Either Murray is woefully ignorant of recent New Zealand history – or he is wilfully lying. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of facts should know that by 2008 Labour had paid down net debt to 5.4%;
.
.
National did not pay down debt. They grew it massively, fuelled by two unaffordable tax cuts (2009 and 2010) and shameless corporate welfare.
Never let facts get in the way of a right-wingers flight of fantasy.
This is the sort of rubbish that Labour, NZ First, and the Greens will have to deal with in the coming years.
.
.
.
References
Radio NZ: New government ministers revealed
The West Australian: Opinion – Why the New Zealand poll experiment matters to Australia
Mediaworks: English says new poverty reduction target was planned
Trading Economics: New Zealand Government Net Debt to GDP
Other blogs
The Standard: After nine long years National discovers there is child poverty in New Zealand
Previous related blogposts
.
.
.
.
.
= fs =
The Hobbit strikes back! Huge win for NZ Actors & workers
And it has come to pass…
…let’s remind ourselves what the hell happened 7 years ago because a vast majority of New Zealanders still don’t seem to appreciate how horrible this all was.
Confronted by actors who no longer wished to be taken advantage of, Peter Jackson co-ordinated with National to throw a tantrum over Union demands for better conditions. National saw this as a plum opportunity to turn public sentiment against the union movement as a whole and jumped in on Jackson’s side to whip up union hate.
The moment Key sided with Jackson, Warner Bros knew they had the NZ Government over a barrel and they strong armed Key into not only giving them more corporate welfare to film here, they also forced National into passing employment legislation that hurt NZ actors while helping a fucking multi-national corporation.
Let’s get this clear – there was NO risk to the Hobbit being filmed in NZ, that was a bullshit lie and National manipulated the situation for political capital. It cost us tens of millions in corporate welfare and we passed employment law that actually hurt NZ workers.
I don’t begrudge the cash stumped up to help make the Hobbit trilogy. It’s nice to have NZ actors on screen, the booootiful scenery and all those design geeks getting employment. Who doesn’t want that? Chuck in a few academy awards, Peter Jackson able to afford a private jet and Wellington feeling self important and the $200million in taxpayer subsidies seemed like a steal didn’t it?
What I did detest was the $32.5million we had to give Warner Bros while changing our employment law to give them that $200million. Allowing Key to manufacture a crisis with The Hobbit so he could bash the Unions and blame them seems like one hell of a cost for 3 mediocre films.
The irony was that the legislation they passed ended up making the process more difficult for actors and films being filmed here by demanding a judicial review of each case which left open production costs.
Labour’s changes will make the process more administrative than judicial and the quickness of that process will give film makers budget certainty while ensuring Actors get a fair wage and conditions.
This wasn’t going to make the list of things to do in the first 100 days but the symbolism of telling a multi-national corporation that we won’t write our laws for their benefit was too compelling for NZ First.
The Hobbit fight was nasty, needless and spiteful. Rectifying it isn’t just symbolic, it is righteous and will actually help the industry and strengthen it.
Helen Kelly who had to take so much shit for this will be smiling down from heaven that it will be wiped.
PS – It was a shit yawn fest of a trilogy Peter with too many stone giants.
Who is more irrelevant? Feminist icon Jordan Williams or Musical God Max Key?
So right wing hate merchant and feminist icon, Jordan Williams (a feminist icon because he stood up to that nasty Colin Craig by sleeping with Rachel MacGregor and getting information out of her that he promised he wouldn’t use to over throw Colin as leader of the Conservative Party despite telling Cameron Slater that’s exactly what he sleeps with women for) made a call before the election that if National didn’t win he would walk to work in his underpants…
The election gamble which exposed Jordan Williams – and his stroll to work in underwear
As the nation waited for Winston Peters to decide on a government, there was one brave man who had absolute certainty which way the NZ First leader was going to go.
Step forward Jordan Williams of the self-styled NZ Taxpayers’ Union, who tweeted a fortnight ago: “I’m calling it – Winston will go with the status quo. If I’m wrong I’ll walk to work in my undies.”
The specials were barely counted and it would be two weeks before Peters rejected the status quo.
And, at some stage in that period, Williams’ absolute certainty appears to have faded – the tweet was deleted from his Twitter account.
…Williams showed all the arrogance every other right wing prick showed by believing they could just bribe Winston when really Winston wanted to fundamentally change capitalism. He hasn’t had the spine to actually do what he promised unlike Keith Locke who made the same promise and had the courage to do it back in 2005.
Gutless by Williams.
Compare that cowardice with musical God Max Key who has decided he will do a diss rap against Eminem for the court action against daddy…
Max Key plans ‘diss’ track on Eminem after National loses copyright case
The son of former Prime Minister John Key is getting ready to seek musical vengeance after the National Party was found guilty of breaching copyright of rap star Eminem.
Max Key, a some-time DJ with two singles to his name, yesterday took to social media offering to produce original music to “avenge” the National Party’s loss after it used hit track Lose Yourself for a 2014 election ad.
The party was ordered to pay $600,000 in damages plus interest from June 2014.
The political party has lodged a claim against the suppliers and licensors of the controversial track.
Now Key junior, who has made no secret of following in his father’s political footsteps, said he would compose a “diss” track on Eminem.
…yeah, you go for it Maxy. I’m sure Eminem will be terrified that some tiny insignificant rich smug dickhead from Nu Zilind is gonna smack him down in a diss rap.
Knock yourself out Maxy, we all wait with baited breath to see you bash one of the planets leading rap artists and all hope that Last Week Tonight pick up on your rap feud.
Which shit stain is more irrelevant – Jordan or Max? I think this one could be a tie.
Why we need a change of Media as well as a change of Government
We don’t just need a change of Government, we desperately need a change of media as well.
Most mainstream media called the election wrong, they attempted to delegitimise MMP once it looked like National would lose and all tried to delegitimise the incoming Government.
The way the above rich white male broadcasters went after Metiria for her brave admission of how cruel our neoliberal welfare system really is was less journalism and more lynching.
Metiria’s crime wasn’t that she stole to feed her child 25 years ago, it is that she told her story with her chin up. White rich male broadcasters saw her defiance as a direct threat to their cultural hegemony and they tore her to shreds while turning a blind eye to claims a senior National MP is actually a Chinese spy.
Sickeningly Radio NZ and Newsnub were in a pissing competition to boast who had destroyed Metiria when she finally stood down.
Where’s John Campbell and Patrick Gower on a Chinese spy within the National Party? Are they saying what a solo mother did 25 years ago deserves more focus than a Chinese spy inside the National Party?
Really? That’s what John and Paddy are saying is it?
Look at the mind numbing sexism that Jacinda had to get through, it made global news.
Look at the way the NZ Herald loaded up right wing columnist after right wing columnist to attack and savage Labour and the Greens.
Look at how every media panel in NZ simply rotated the same right wing pundits, look at how the ‘balance’ of those panels see a rabid right wing attack dog paired with some polite liberal. Look at how the same voices are simply regurgitated from The Spinoff to RNZs panel. Note how many of these right wing pundits are paid lobbyists.
Look at how The Daily Blog was the only media outlet to interview all 16 political parties so you could see the actual full political spectrum, and look how we called it for the Left on election night when everyone else wanted to start mourning a loss that hadn’t happened.
Most importantly look at how the media framed National’s dead cat lies in the final 3 weeks of the campaign.
When Steven Joyce said there was an $11.7billion dollar hole that never existed, what did the media do? Rather than say, “That’s a lie Steven Joyce, you are desecrating the mana of your position with such naked sleazy lies”, they said, “What do you say to that criticism Jacinda”.
Rather than denounce the lie, the mainstream media fed it.
The other naked lies were that income tax would rise under Labour and that the reason there was poverty and inequality was because of the Christchurch earthquakes. Rather than attack those lies for the falsehoods they were, the media legitimised National Party propaganda and it showed in the final result.
Look at the utter bullshit most mainstream media outlets have spread creating the insinuation that National won the election, unless a new Government is prepared to invest in a far more critical media, these rich white wing male broadcasters and the cultural and economic hegemony that they endorse will continue to manipulate the voters of NZ.
Labour’s plan to give RNZ more money for a digital TV station is fine, but without an active plan to force broadcasters to take current affairs shows that actually critically analyse not only the rest of the media world but their own editorial bias, we are only going to get more of this one sided crap.
NZ on Air must have a more open mind to funding current affairs that are not locked into the old gatekeeper media of TVNZ and NewsHub if we are to actually have genuine plurality of voices.
Corporate and state media are currently the problem, not the solution and if Labour doesn’t make the investment to see an ideological spread of opinions, they will be roasted to death by that corporate media.
Why the new Government is far more revolutionary than many suspect
Bryce Edwards asked if there will be an actual radical reform under this new Government.
He’s collected together the same bullshit mainstream media pundits and journalists who all called the election wrong and has added a few jaded lefties who seem to think unless the Government legislates against binary gender norms then the whole adventure will be a terrible failure.
Apparently Wellington left wing bloggers who have burnt their bridges with every NGO or union forming their own consultancy is a thing now.
Knowing the thinking and tactics of those who actually negotiated this Government, I would argue that this is going to be far more radical than anyone is guessing.
The beauty of it all comes down to NZ First’s hatred of neoliberalism vs Labour Party Mandarins who slavishly worship the Free Market but who had no place to manoeuvre once the deal was cut.
I personally find it an enormous irony that the same narrow temple acolytes on the identity politics Left who screamed that Winston was a racist and gnashed their teeth over Willie Jackson and Greg O’Connor have those interests to thank for the change of Government and radical policy about to avalanche through Parliament.
With the looming global correction, Labour Party Mandarins have no choice but to accept a far more interventionist Government and the new generation of truly talented MPs won’t be held to the same unspoken rules that force Labour to hold to its neoliberal acquiescence.
The first hundred days is just a start, it won’t be revolution but it sure as hell will be a rapid evolution and those who put this Government together in the background understood the transformative possibility this all could bring about.
This is going to be a very Kiwi rebellion, a laid back insurrection over a BBQ if you will.
Time for food made domestically to be subsidised for New Zealanders?
The mantra from our agricultural sector is that NZ is the garden farm for the planat and that we feed 40 million people.
Lovely, but what about us domestic NZers?
The farmers and producers pat themselves on the back for their export smarts and clever marketing.
Lovely, but what about us as domestic NZers?
The quality of our food is considered some of the best on the planet.
Lovely, but what about us as domestic NZers?
Why is it that when I want to taste some of the fine produce created and made in this country I need to pay an arm and a leg for it? Why is dairy so bloody expensive? Why is meat so bloody expensive? Why are vegetables grown here in NZ so bloody expensive?
It’s because we 4 million NZers are competing with those 40 million others for food grown in our own country and they control the price, not us.
The punishment for our free market system is that we pay the price producers can obtain on the open global market which of course pushes the price up.
I say it’s time that we have a domestic subsidy for domestic consumers of produce created in this country.
Why? Because as consumers we’ve already paid a price for that product.
The Government structure many of our producers into monopolies for export advantage, an advantage that hurts the domestic market, but on top of the structurally un-competative models that push prices up for domestic consumers, we also pay a huge price in environmental damage and degradation of our water.
But what about the jobs dairy and meat and produce create for us the agricultural barons will claim?
What jobs? Most of the agricultural industry is built upon cheap migrant labour, it isn’t hiring the likes of you and me.
So let’s recap.
- Most of these industries have uncompetitive structures that hurt us the domestic consumer.
- Most of these industries rely on cheap migrant labour.
- Most of these industries damage the environment.
- AND we have to pay a global market price for the produce.
I say fuck that.
We pay a cost already for these producers so they can maximise their profit margins with the 40 million overseas consumers, it’s time that cost was factored into the domestic price that we pay so that we have a subsidised price for produce grown in our country.
The agricultural barons will splutter in rage that they should cut the price for domestic consumers when they can maximise it for their overseas markets.
They can splutter all they want, we have paid a price for decades and decades and decades in the environment and in allowing uncompetitive structures to inflate prices, we should now start getting ours.
I believe it’s time NZers should be able to buy their own produce grown in this country at a price cheaper than can be sold offshore because as domestic consumers we have already paid the environmental and monopoly costs of that produce.
We deserve nothing less.