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SANTA CLAUS IS IN THE BASEMENT AND HE’S COMING FOR YOU!

The Daily Blog
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You’ve seen Dickens at The Basement, you’ve seen JC himself, you’ve even seen a Real Housewife, but now it’s time for the big man himself: Santa Claus! He’s made his list. He’s checked it twice. He knows if you’ve been naughty or nice.  And he’s coming through the chimney/trap door to the Basement stage to see what you’ve been up to, from November 30 – December 20.

In the little town of Auckland, naughtiness has taken over and Santa’s ready to take the law into his own hands. Which list are you on? Did you buy caged eggs? Park in a disabled parking spot? Vote for a party that got less than five percent in the general election? Then you better watch out. Because Santa Claus is coming to The Basement, and it’s either good tidings, or a total Christmassacre.

Award-winning theatre company A Slightly Isolated Dog (Don Juan, Jekyll and Hyde) with director Leo Gene Peters bring their raucous, sexy signature style to The Basement’s annual chaotic Christmas celebration this year. They’ve shaken up Don Juan, they’ve torn Jekyll and Hyde to shreds, now it’s the time to do the same to Santa Claus, with world-class clowning and twisted pop songs.

There’s the killer core cast of Hayley Sproull, Jack Buchanan, Andrew Paterson and Susie Berry, but in classic Basement tradition there’s going to be a secret celebrity guest each night, including Amanda Billing, Antonia Prebble, Chlöe Swarbrick, Claire Chitham, Dave Fane, Fasitua Amosa, Jaquie Brown, James Roque, Jarod Rawiri, Jennifer Ward Lealand, Jesse Griffin, Laura Daniel, Lily McManus, Madeleine Sami, Miriama Kamo, Oliver Driver, Te Radar, Tom Sainsbury, Urzila Carlson and more yet to be announced.

Irreverent and subversive, The Basement Christmas Show has evolved from a low-key fundraiser to one of Auckland’s must-do Christmas offerings, described in 2016 by the New Zealand Herald as “as much of an Auckland holiday season staple as Franklin Rd Lights and the Farmers Santa Parade”.

As a charitable organisation, the Christmas Show is the theatre’s only fundraiser, with all profits from the show going into development programmes for artists, so audience members get the warm Christmas fuzzies, as well as a bloody great night out! With upgrades that range from getting the best seats in the house and a free drink to giving a donation just to make you feel nice rather than naughty this Christmas, it’s a chance to have fun and feel like a good person at the same time.

It wouldn’t be the Auckland festive scene as we know it without the Annual Basement Theatre Christmas Show.

This show sells out every year – don’t miss it!

FEATURING A CELEBRITY GUEST ACTOR EACH NIGHT:
(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, ON NO PARTICULAR PERFORMANCE DATE): Amanda Billing, Antonia Prebble, Chlöe Swarbrick, Claire Chitham, Dave Fane, Fasitua Amosa, Jaquie Brown, James Roque, Jarod Rawiri, Jennifer Ward Lealand, Jesse Griffin, Laura Daniel, Lily McManus, Madeleine Sami, Miriama Kamo, Oliver Driver, Te Radar, Tom Sainsbury, Urzila Carlson and more yet to be announced.

SANTA CLAUS plays
Dates:   Thursday November 30 – Wednesday December 20
Times:   7:00pm, Tuesday – Saturday, Monday 11 & 18 December
Late Shows: 9:00pm Saturday 9 & 16; Thursday 14 December
Venue:   The Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland CBD
Tickets:  $32 – $35
SANTA UPGRADE (Guaranteed best seats in the house, a free drink and a donation towards the theatre): $50.00
ELF UPGRADE (A sweet treat at interval and a donation to the theatre): $45.00
REINDEER UPGRADE (Giving extra love to our theatre this festive season): $40.00
Bookings: www.iticket.co.nz // 0508 iTICKET (484 253)

Ummmm, let me get this straight, if there’s a fuel tax, you’ll stop driving in Auckland?

Martyn Bradbury
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It might take you 5 minutes to read, but it will be a wasted 5 minutes you never get back.

Herald readers are revolting over plans to raise a fuel tax in Auckland, and they are saying they will leave the city…

Comments flowing into the Herald newsdesk today are running heavily against the new tax, planned by the new Government to help fund light rail to the airport and other transport projects.

Gavin Logan of Avondale said: “No I will not be happy to pay this tax if it is introduced and will make sure that every time I am out of the Auckland Council area that I fill my car to the max to avoid as much of this tax as I can.”

…so let me, a person who only catches public transport and walks, get this straight. If there is a fuel tax for more public transport it will anger drivers so much they will leave the city, meaning less of them driving in their fucking cars making it slower for the rest of us who are doing the righting by catching public transport?

I SAY MORE FUEL TAXES! NOW!

MSD is treating loans as income in the courts – Child Poverty Action Group

The Daily Blog
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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.

CPAG hopes that under a new Minister for Social Development, there will be an end in sight for the systemic mistreatment of sole parents. For a more detailed overview of the case, click here to read “Ms X in the High Court”.

E tū Aviation welcomes new Government’s rejection of low wage economy

The Daily Blog
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E tū Aviation has welcomed the new Prime Minister’s call for productive relationships between business and workers, and an end to low pay and its negative economic effects.

In her speech to the Council of Trade Unions yesterday, Jacinda Ardern praised the High-Performance Engagement agreement which E tū and other unions have with Air New Zealand.

“That agreement means business and unions sit down together and help each other with their problems and the results speak for themselves,” says E tū’s Head of Aviation, Kelvin Ellis.

“Working together has saved jobs, ensured good pay and conditions and helped transform Air New Zealand into one of the world’s most successful and profitable airlines.

“The new Government has clearly drawn the lesson that working together benefits all parties, and we’re delighted with its support for this model.”

Kelvin has also welcomed Ms Ardern’s rejection of the low-wage approach of many employers which actually erodes productivity.

“Ms Ardern has correctly made the link between an engaged, well-paid workforce and Air New Zealand’s strong financial position.

“We fully support her message on this: that low wages aren’t simply a problem for low-wage workers, they are a problem for businesses and the economy as a whole.”

87% of doctors, “Reduce health costs, grow Cannabis” – The Hemp Foundation

The Daily Blog
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The Hemp Foundation is frustrated at the short sighted ignorance of  politics.

We are doctors, nutritionists, patients, parents, professionals, and we understand Cannabis. So we educated and then surveyed 280 medical professionals at two national GP Conferences this year. That data, and the science behind it, shows that our medical schools and governments remain blind to the science and the opportunities.

 

Cannabinoids are part of our Endogenous Cannabinoid System (ECS) and are as vital for life as our Respiratory or Circulatory Systems. Why are med students not taught that our physical health and mental well-being depends upon cannabinoids that we make within our bodies? These vital compounds are richly provided for us by nature in food plants that cannot get you high, unless you heat them. It’s about getting healthy, not high. We all need to learn that.

 

69% of doctors had never heard of their ECS, and 89% of doctors surveyed in Christchurch were unaware of its role in regulating pain, inflammation, anxiety, digestion, sleep, bone growth, our immune system, appetite, mood, and more (n=104).

89% of doctors in Rotorua thought Cannabis use was a health issue, and not a criminal matter (n=180). 96% thought plant cannabis should be used and researched in NZ,  and 93% were interested in developing Cannabis Programs as the Israelis have done with their Ministries of Health and Agriculture.  Politicians should take note.

67% felt cannabis should be removed immediately from the misuse of drugs act, and 53% wanted training in Cannabis medicine and to participate in clinical trials to advance Kiwi health care.

 

We are being denied opportunities for health and prosperity by laws that are not based on science. There is a knowledge gap that prevents us from innovating and prospering. With education, we can bridge this gap and innovate successfully, and as our survey shows the profession accepts the evidence when shown it. Accordingly, on November 18th, The Hemp Foundation will run New Zealand’s first official Hemp Medicine Course for Medical Professionals in Auckland. This is a Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (non endorsed) CME event, with 5 Professional Development Points for attendees.

 

In stark contrast to us, Israel has recognised Cannabis as a new farm sector, and their Ministers of Health and Finance have agreed to a global export plan. They are innovating, we are not.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israels-Agriculture-Ministry-recognizes-medicinal-cannabis-as-official-farming-sector-506115

http://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Finance-and-Health-ministries-jointly-to-approve-export-of-medical-marijuana-502345

 

Our new government says that it will provide access to Cannabis medicines for the terminally ill and those in chronic pain. These are currently prohibitively expensive. If the government is serious about improving things for Kiwis, then it needs to understand the science and the opportunities. 87% of informed doctors support reducing health costs and improve health outcomes by growing our own. Making unaffordable medicines available, or subsidising those unnecessarily expensive medicines with tax payer money, is not the answer. We believe in enabling new, sustainable, health, research, and manufacturing sectors for public and private profit; for regional development; for a cleaner environment; for better, more affordable, healthcare. Let us explore this generous crop, and see what we can do with it.

 

The medical profession supports industrial use, medicinal use, and responsible use. Big pharma know that the future of medicine involves our ECS – are we going to be customers, or providers of our own health care? The Hemp Foundation has a plan.

www.TheHempFoundation.org.nz

Bring Our Students Back – Migrant Lives Matter

Mike Treen
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This Sunday at 3pm at the Unitarian Church in Ponsonby Auckland there will be a rally to ask the new government to allow the Indian students who had been forced to leave by the previous government. A group of these students had sought sanctuary at the church earlier this year to protest against their deportations before going home.
These students had been accused by Immigration NZ of submitting fraudulent financial documents as part of their student visa application.
However, unscrupulous offshore ‘education/immigration agents’ were responsible for the fraud and victimisation of these students. These agents have been let off scot-free while the students have been punished for something they have not done.
At the time, the Labour party was supportive and promised to conduct a full investigation into the unfair deportations when in government. Winston Peters was also against the deportations and in favour of allowing the students to remain in New Zealand while their cases were investigated. However, the National-led government deported the students without a proper investigation.
Generally, migrants in New Zealand have had a rough deal at the hands of the previous National government in the last 9 years. Exploitation of migrant workers is rife in many workplaces. A week doesn’t go by when the media doesn’t report news of migrant exploitation in the form of unpaid wages, withheld entitlements of annual leave, sick leave, missed breaks, verbal and physical abuse, threats of deportation etc.
The previous government’s lack of will to genuinely fix this issue has led to a racist and xenophobic narrative causing a deepening division between workers of New Zealand.
Allowing migrant workers to be exploited not only hurts them but it also hurts Kiwi workers. The exploitation drives wages and working conditions down for all workers and not just migrant workers.
Let us unite in solidarity with our unfairly deported students to demand their return to New Zealand.
We also call upon the newly formed Labour and NZ First government to stamp out exploitation and to enforce better wages, better working conditions for migrant workers because MIGRANT LIVES MATTER.
Join us on Sunday 29 Oct 2017
3pm at Auckland Unitarian Church
1A Ponsonby Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland

The Minimum Wage decision is big win for workers and should be celebrated

Mike Treen
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It is a mistake to underestimate the importance of the decision to lift the minimum wage to $20 an hour by April 2021.

This will involve a significant real increase in wages for hundreds of thousands of workers in this country.

Employers will be screaming. Every time there is a bump in unemployment as a consequence of capitalism’s business cycles, the increase will be blamed on the minimum wage increase.

Minimum wages usually go up each April 1.

In the last four years to April 1, 2017, there has been an overall increase of $2 an hour from $13,75 to $15.75.

In percentage terms, this was faster than the average hourly wage increase from $27.48 to $29.90 in the four years to the end of the March quarter 2017.

This means that there was an increase in the minimum wage as a percentage of the average wage from 50% to almost 53%. Bosses were grumbling under the National government about this.

Internationally, minimum wages are usually between 30 and 50% of the average wage.

But in New Zealand the minimum wage have been up to 80% of the average wage just after World War II, and was two-thirds (for adult males at least) as late as the mid-1970s.

During the nine years of the previous National government from 1990 to 1999, there was only one increase in the adult minimum wage and the real value of the minimum wage dropped from about 50% to 40% of the average wage. No minimum wage applied to workers under 20 until 1994 when one was established for 16-19 year-olds at 60% of the adult rate.

Then Labour lifted the rates from 1999 to 2008 to restore the 50% level of the average wage before leaving office.

Just as importantly, the application of a youth rate of only 60% of the adult rate from aged under 20 was progressively eliminated by increasing the percentage and dropping the age, first to 18 and then 16.

This process was in part a product of the ongoing campaign by Unite Union others to lift wages and end youth rates in the fast food industry through the SupersizeMyPay.Com campaign.

National has maintained around the 50% percentage of the average wage for the adult rate and even increased it slightly since they returned to office. But they have restored a youth rate that is 80% of the adult rate that can apply for up to six months for new employees aged 16-18 or trainees.

Again, at least in part, this was pushed along by a massive campaign by Unite Union and others to push the minimum wage from $12 to $15 at that time  that involved collecting 200,000 names on a petition.

The average wage increased by 8.8% in the four years to March 2017.

If we apply a similar increase through to March 2021 then the average wage will reach $32.53.

With a minimum wage of $20 at that time it will be equal to 61.5% of the average wage.

This will be a significant step forward towards to goal of the Council of Trade Unions to make the minimum wage two-thirds of the average wage.

Currently, this percentage would equal today’s living wage number of $20.20 an hour.

Making the living wage the minimum wage is a realistic and achievable goal after stage one has been achieved when we reach $20 an hour on April 1, 2021.

Currently, most of the collective agreements that Unite has signed have been based on a “minimum wage plus” formula. That means as the minimum wage moves up all rates above the minimum move up as well.

In addition, in the last round of negotiations with fast food companies, we insisted that there needed to be at least a small increase above the minimum wage increase for workers when they started. McDonald’s and Restaurant  Brands agreed to at least ten cents increase each year of their agreements. So new McDonald’s workers will be on at least 30 cents an hour above the minimum wage in April 2020.

For more senior and supervisory staff that will mean that most will be on or above the equivalent of the living wage then as well.

As the minimum adult wage moves towards the Living Wage then workers will simply be able to make ends meet after a weeks work, according to a statement from Unite National Secretary Gerard Hehir.

“It will make a huge difference to hundreds of thousands who most desperately need help” said Gerard Hehir. “Over four years it is a 6.75% average increase per year. That is not excessive when we currently have full-time workers relying on welfare support, state subsidies and charity – and still struggling. Employers need to pay their workers enough to live – it really is that simple.

“There are almost 700,000 workers earning less than the Living Wage (currently $20.20) – over a third of all employees.  (see the CTU’s  Shrinking portions to low and middle‐income earners: Inequality in Wages & Self‐Employment 1998‐2015).

“Winston Peters was spot on when he said many who felt capitalism was working against them were ‘not wrong’. The starkest measure is the Labour share of GDP in New Zealand which has fallen from nearly 59% in 1980 to only 50% in 2015 – 5% below the OECD average. Where has it gone? Corporate profits as a share of GDP have gone from 10% in 1980 to almost 25% in 2015. We shouldn’t be afraid of asking businesses to start reversing that trend – it is well overdue and only fair.

“The scaremongering around loss of jobs is just that according to Unite: When Unite successfully campaigned to abolish youth rates in 2008 there were dire predictions of mass youth joblessness. Youth employment actually increased in the years that followed. Recent research has consistently shown that hysterical claims of minimum wage increases causing rampant inflation and unemployment are simply wrong (see Why Does the Minimum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment?  by John Schmitt ).

“Everyone will benefit from the increases. Those wages will be overwhelmingly spent in local communities – benefitting local businesses. That will particularly help regional economies. Low paid workers won’t be jetting off overseas or importing expensive cars and luxury goods – they will be looking after their families, paying down debt and maybe even saving some money. The biggest barrier to getting into KiwiSaver is actually not being able to afford the weekly contributions

“Employers who don’t think their workers are worth $20 an hour should look at their business model. New Zealand has a productivity problem. Rather than relying on low wages and low skills, they should be looking to make their employees more productive. Investing in skills, training and new technology is the answer – not paying your workers the least the law allows you and complaining that it is too much.

“Taxpayers will be better off as well. The huge rental and income subsidies to low paid workers will actually reduce. This exposes who these government payments are really subsidising – low wage employers rather than their low paid employees. It is absurd that the loudest voices against minimum wage increases are also often the loudest in demanding tax cuts and complaining about government subsidies.

“On behalf of our members, and all low paid workers in New Zealand, Unite congratulates the NZ First, Labour and the Greens for making a real difference. There is a lot more to do – but it is a great start” concluded Gerard Hehir.

Strategies Of Right-Wing Resistance: It Can Happen here

Chris Trotter
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CAN WE REALLY DO THIS? As the euphoria of victory wears off, and the sheer enormity of the challenge confronting progressive New Zealand reveals itself, it would be foolish not to feel just a little bit daunted. We face an economic system without the slightest idea how to solve the problems created by its discredited policies and practices. Nevertheless, the Neoliberal Establishment remains very strong, and just as soon as it settles upon an effective strategy of resistance, the fightback will begin.

Two principle lines of attack present themselves. The first, sketched out in this morning’s NZ Herald editorial, is to paint the new Labour-led coalition as little more than a pink-tinted continuation of Bill English’s National Government.

The Herald’s leader-writer dismisses any notion that the new regime represents some sort of sharp break with Neoliberalism. He is at pains to point out that all the key elements of the “Open Economy” remain firmly entrenched. All we are hearing from Labour, he says, is the rhetoric of change. But, even the most cursory examination of the Labour-NZ First-Green Government’s priorities, argues the Herald’s leader-writer, reveals them to be little changed from those of the Clark-Cullen years: priorities to which both John Key and Bill English were more than happy to subscribe for 9 years.

This is a subtle strategy, directed principally at the new government’s most ideologically-committed supporters. Its purpose is to demoralise, antagonise, and inflame suspicion. At its heart stands the figure of Grant Robertson: Finance Minister and close friend of Prime Minister Ardern. As the prime-mover of the Labour-Greens’ self-limiting “Budget Responsibility Rules”, Robertson has already positioned himself as New Zealand Capitalism’s first line of defence against left-wing fiscal recklessness. By praising Robertson’s political moderation and economic orthodoxy, the Herald’s mouthpiece intends to divide and conquer the Neoliberal Establishment’s most coherent progressive critics.

The most obvious deficiency with this “demoralisation” strategy is that it leaves the Opposition with very little room in which to manoeuvre politically. If the Labour-NZ First-Green Government is really just a slightly pinker version of its pale-blue predecessor, then how can National attack it with any credibility – or success? To raise a political storm violent enough to reclaim the Treasury Benches requires the red-hot passion of the fanatic – not the lofty sneers of the neoliberal intellectual who recognises kindred economic spirits when he sees them.

That Richard Prebble recognised this in an instant is unsurprising. Few living New Zealand politicians can claim a better rapport with the dark animal spirits needed to rouse this country’s right-wing voters. It was Prebble who recognised the futility of Act attempting to sell pure free-market policies to an electorate that wasn’t buying them. It was only when he identified the party with law and order, crime and punishment, environmental scepticism, and the deep anti-Maori prejudices of rural and provincial New Zealand that Act was able to lift itself up and over the 5 percent MMP threshold. Like Rob Muldoon before him, Prebble understands that to make right-wing Kiwis angry enough to destroy the Left, you first have to frighten them out of their wits.

Hence Prebble’s outrageous claim that Winston Peters is guilty of mounting a coup d’etat against Kiwi democracy. It is not his purpose, and neither, I suspect, does he believe it should be National’s, to convince New Zealanders that they have nothing to fear from what, in all likelihood, will prove to be a pretty mild and responsible Labour-led Government. His aim, and almost certainly the aim of most of the National Party caucus (and their surrogates in the mainstream news media) is to splash as much red paint over Jacinda Ardern, Winston Peters and James Shaw as is humanly possible.

The Labour-NZ First-Green Government will be presented by these hard-line rightists as an illegitimate and dangerously anti-capitalist regime. Its anti-business and anti-farming policies, they will argue, are not only incompatible with genuine Kiwi democracy, but also constitute a direct attack on the sanctity of private property. As such, it will not be enough to merely oppose this far-left government; it will be necessary to fight it head-on.

Interviewed on RNZ’s “morning Report” this morning, Ken Shirley, CEO of the Road Transport Forum (and former right-wing comrade-in-arms with Richard Prebble and Roger Douglas in both the Labour and Act parties) reminded listeners of the massive truck-owners protest in the dying days of Helen Clark’s government. If Jacinda’s government went ahead with its plans to use the Road User Charges collected from the RTF’s members for purposes other than the maintenance and construction of roads, then similar protests could be expected.

Prior to the coup that toppled the left-wing “Popular Unity” government of Salvador Allende in 1973, the country’s economy had been made to “scream” by a nationwide strike organised by the right-wing truckers’ union and supported by the bosses of Chile’s biggest trucking companies. The ensuing shortages brought thousands of angry, middle-class “housewives” onto the streets, banging their pots and pans in protest. The right-wing newspapers maintained a relentless barrage of criticism against the “anti-democratic” and “incompetent” government of Chile’s self-proclaimed Marxist president. Calls for Allende’s forcible removal grew louder and more frequent until, on 11 September 1973, General Pinochet was obliged to overthrow the “communist dictator”.

A very similar project of economic destabilisation and political mobilisation was set in train by the right-wing opponents of the left-wing Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, in 2002.

As a strategy of right-wing resistance, it has proved successful in a distressingly large number of countries. Progressive New Zealanders would be most unwise to believe, even for a moment, that it cannot happen here.

 

Malcolm Evans – Promise

Malcolm Evans
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Political Caption Competition

The Daily Blog
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The Daily Blog Open Mic – Thursday 26th October 2017

The Daily Blog
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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.  

WaateaNews: The sad joke of Labour Day

Martyn Bradbury
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Labour Day became a national holiday in New Zealand in 1899. It was to commemorate and celebrate the rise of worker powers and how the earliest Pakeha settlers coming to New Zealand fought to create a fair balance of power between the boss and the worker.

Samuel Duncan Parnell came to New Zealand on the ship Duke of Roxburgh in 1839. He was a carpenter who was deeply impacted by the arguments of the day that people should be allowed 8 hours sleep, 8 hours to live their lives and 8 hours to the boss to work. He refused to join his Union in England because they refused to make an 8 hour working day a priority.

Once in New Zealand, Parnell refused to work for anyone who wouldn’t accept his 8 hour working rule and actively went and met new workers coming off the ships arriving in NZ to tell them of the 8 hour working culture he was trying to create.

The bosses tried to resist and tried to force workers to work later, but it became standard working hours in NZ after workers began simply walking off the job if a boss tried to force longer hours.

Fast forward to the NZ working environment of today and we see that Parnell would weep at how workers have been beaten into neo-feudalism. Kiwi workers work an average of 43.5hours a week with no penal rates. Many workers are over worked and many others are under worked. Many have a precarious working arrangement and have zero job security while health and safety in this country remains one of the worst in the developed would.

There have already been almost 20 work deaths this year and the shadow of the Pike River Mine disaster hangs over industrial relations.

The Right wings war on Unions in NZ have successfully crushed most into irrelevance and this has happened while worker rights and safety has gone backwards.

When we ‘celebrated’ Labour Day weekend this week, there really wasn’t a hell of a lot to praise.

Samuel Duncan Parnell would be ashamed of how we’ve allowed the bosses to rule with such impunity.

If the new Government is to do anything to fix this current woeful situation, it should be to strengthen the Unions with real teeth.

Then we’d have something to really rejoice on Labour Day..

 

First published on Waatea News

Crazy shit the right wing are saying about the new Government

Martyn Bradbury
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One of the most unexpected delights about Labour winning has been the guttural screams of rage by right wingers across the country crying out that National have been cheated, that MMP is rigged and the new Government is a corrupt socialist coup led by a feminist witch who is going to personally wreck the entire economy for shits and giggles.

The sheer scale of desperation being voiced reach its crescendo early this week when National Party MP Matt King posted on Facebook a conspiracy that the result amounted to a coup. 20 minutes after The Daily Blog posted on his comments, he took the post down.

Those on the Right claiming we are now a communist state don’t understand the words ‘communist’, ‘state’, ‘we’, ‘now’, ‘are’ or ‘a’.

Being lectured on MMP math by a Party who argued there was an $11billion hole in the budget that no one else could see would be funny if the motives to delegitimise the Government weren’t so malicious.

When Patrick Gower of all people argues that the change vote has a mandate, you know how far off the spectrum the Right have become.

 

TwitterWatch: Greatest Political Burn of 2017

Martyn Bradbury
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In the wake of National’s ‘pretty legal’ defence in their copyright dispute, Andrew Little the new Minister of Justice hilariously added this to his Ministerial statement…

 

 

…greatest political burn of 2017.

I see Steven Joyce’s imaginary $11billion fiscal hole and raise it $600 000 in actual copyright damages.

So ‘pretty legal’ as a copyright defence by National didn’t quite have the same cut through they’d had hoped for then? I’m still laughing.

The Liberal Agenda – Jubilation – A CAPPELLA GOSPEL CHOIR

The Liberal Agenda
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Jubilation is a unique beast, an a cappella gospel choir with a rock & roll heart.

Born in Auckland in the year 2000, Jubilation is a virtual gospel supergroup including R & B legend Rick Bryant, entertainer extraordinaire Jackie Clarke and theatre supernova Jennifer Ward-Lealand.

Bound not by common belief but purely by the love of singing this diverse ensemble includes professional musicians, teachers, actors, a yacht maker, a master builder and a lecturer in Russian.

Their eclectic repertoire of gospel, soul and blues draws from the songbooks of such luminaries as Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Curtis Mayfield, Blind Willy Johnson and the Staples Singers and ranges from the 1800’s to the present day.

They’ve sung at the openings of the Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland’s Q Theatre with Dave Dobbyn and the Wynyard Quarter (as a flash-mob choir to startled passengers on the vintage trams).

Audiences have ranged from 60 at Arrowtown’s tiny Old Cheese Factory to 10,000 on WOMAD’s main stage.

At the Civic’s “Bare” fundraiser for Christchurch they magically recreated their stunning backing vocals on Don McGlashan’s epic ‘Bathe In The River’ with Hollie Smith.

Festival performances have included Nelson’s Opera in the Park, the Wellington ,Tauranga and Waiheke Jazz Festivals, Christchurch Arts Festival, New Plymouth’s Festival of Lights and Wanaka’s Festival of Colour.

Earlier this year the choir put on three very successful shows as part of the Auckland Fringe; returning once more to the Leigh Sawmill, and performing for the first time at the Pumphouse and TAPAC.

They are delighted to be returning to TAPAC on Sunday 29 October at 6.30pm…join us for a soulful, heartfelt and roof-raising evening.

WHEN: 6.30pm Sunday 29th October
WHERE: Tapac

Book tickets

BREAKING: National ordered to pay $600 000 after losing Eminem copyright case

Martyn Bradbury
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Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

National just lost their copyright case against Eminem…

…and they have been ordered to pay $600 000!

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Hahahahahahahahahahhahaha.

Fuck em!

What a wonderful day this is turning out to be.

Sucks to be National.

“Loser Yourself”
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize all the political power you ever wanted. One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
Yo
The farms are petty, foreign ownership steady,
There’s votes to be had, Cameron Slater’s ready
I’m nervous, but on the surface polls look calm and pretty, Max and me selfie
But I keeps on forgetting what GCSB wrote down,
The whole Press Gallery goes so loud
I opens my mouth, but Hager’s words come out
I’m choking how, everybody’s poking luck
The elections run out, time’s up, over, fuck!
Snap back to Press Gallery, Oh there goes Paddy
Oh, there goes Judith, she choked
I’m so mad, but I won’t give up that
Easy, no
I won’t have it, I know what’ll get me off the ropes
I know most NZers are stupid dopes
they didn’t blink over drone predator
they’ll let me kill the messenger
When Glenwald goes back to his mobile home, that’s when it’s
Back to the jib jab again, yo
This whole mass surveillance rap sheet
I’m gonna go capture this moment and hope it don’t pass me
[Hook:]
You’re a loser yourself in the spying, the moment
of truth, you better let it go
You only got one shot, you missed your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo
You’re a loser yourself in the spying, the moment
of truth, I’m the PM with all my comments
but you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo
(You better)

 

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