Garrick Tremain: Explains MSM

Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on the Government's funding of the mainstream media! 

Clive Bibby: Where to from here?

The latest nationwide political poll is beginning to show what we here in the provinces have known for some time - the tide is going out for Jacinda and her mob of sycophantic ‘partners in crime’. And it is unlikely that this trend will be arrested in time to save their precious necks at the next election.

All good news for those of us who have been demonised for having the temerity to speak out against what has been the most radical reformist government since the first years of Michael Joseph Savage’s transformational Labour Government in the 1930s.

That fact that the governments who have occupied the treasury benches in the 80 plus intervening years have all made some attempt to govern in the best interests of the majority (with varying degrees of success) and generally been rewarded for doing so, suggests that kiwis are a tolerant lot who tend to forgive minor indiscretions - but there are limits.

It has always been and, thank God, always will be about Trust.

Bryce Edwards: Labour’s sensible taihoa on hate speech law

The Government has delayed the introduction of its fraught hate speech law reforms, and there’s strong speculation they’ll remain on ice until after the next election. In fact, they may never see the light of day again.

This is a win for those who have argued that the reforms are likely to be counterproductive, impinging on human rights, including political freedoms and speech. Although the Government’s motivation might have been good in wanting to clamp down on what people can legally say, in practice the reforms were badly thought through and would have a chilling impact on political debate. 

Famously both the Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were unable to adequately defend or explain their new rules last year, which gave weight to the argument that they were dangerous and knee-jerk.

Michael Bassett: The sinister thing about co-governance

The term “co-governance” trips off ministerial tongues with ease but it’s clear most people don’t know what it means. Nanaia Mahuta would have us believe it simply means that Maori would be guaranteed some sort of undefined say in decision-making. Fair-minded Kiwis think that’s OK. When I was Minister of Local Government I urged local authorities to set up standing committees of local Maori which would be consulted on matters of special interest to Maori. Most complied. But that was nothing like enough for Maori radicals who pushed for Maori wards, and then convinced Mahuta to legislate over the top of local referenda where moves to introduce Maori wards had been voted down, usually by large margins. Now that Maori wards are mandatory for all local councils, the radicals have moved to the next stage. It isn’t enough for Maori who nearly all have majority Pakeha DNA in their bodies. They are smarting from the reality that they form only 17% of New Zealand’s population. They now want that 17% turned magically into majority status in all decision making. That’s what the current calls for “co-governance” are all about.

Kate Hawkesby: Surprising to see Simon Bridges leave politics

 

I must admit I haven’t actually read his book, but I am reliably informed that Simon Bridges said in it that he was staying in politics despite getting dumped as leader, to fight the good fight.  

Hence his announcement that he’s now quitting parliament, surprised me. Why now? Surely with a government on the ropes, a promising new opposition leader and potentially a bright future as a senior player within the National Party, there was good reason to stay. 

But I guess he worked out that long term, any return to leadership is now out. 

He says there’s no precipitating reason, that he just felt it was time. 

Jason Smith: Three Waters a Trojan Horse for Destroying Democracy

Office of the Mayor,
Kaipara District
9 March 2022 

Statement from Dr Jason Smith following release of the Recommendations Report of the Three Waters Working Group into Representation, Governance and Accountability 

Kia ora, 

It was an honour to represent all the people of Northland on this Three Waters Working Group. Gaining new insights into the proposed Three Waters Reforms was helpful to me, as Kaipara District Council had and still has many questions about the proposed reforms. The other two District Councils of the North had opted-out of the reforms last year, Auckland Council is also out. I was seeking greater understanding, in the hope that I would be able to then share that with others. Being on the Working Group I got many new understandings, but regrettably they sit uncomfortably with me. I now join my fellow Mayors of northern New Zealand in not supporting these reforms. 

Bryce Edwards: Behind Simon Bridges’ shock departure, and what comes next

Last week’s shock 1News opinion poll was the final indication, if Bridges needed it, that his chances of eventually taking back the leadership and becoming PM were slim to none. Any feeling that it was worth waiting around to see if Luxon might stumble over the next couple of years could be put to bed.

Bridges says he had been thinking of departing for some time, beginning with the coup against him prior to the 2020 election, when Todd Muller was installed with the help of Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis.

Despite that setback, Bridges managed to stay energised and clearly wanted to regain the top position. After all, prior to Covid hitting, National was on 46 per cent in the polls in an election year and he had been on track to become New Zealand’s first Māori prime minister.

Point of Order: Who said Shane Jones was all washed-up? Three Waters (and co-governance) have flushed him back into politicking

Shane Jones — remember him?- — has re-emerged into public life and thrown a hand grenade at the Labour government on its Three Waters policy. He has done so in a think-piece for the op-ed page in the NZ Herald at a time when the Ardern government thought it had recaptured the high ground in the nation’s politics, with its measures to take the sting out of inflation.

But Jones’ intervention has widened the battleground.

The implications, separately, are interesting. Does it foreshadow Jones, a close ally of NZ First leader Winston Peters, stepping back into politics? Could it be that Jones senses that here is the issue that could revive NZ First from its moribund state?

Derek Mackie: Star Trek - mission Aotearoa

The Starship Enterprise   <->    Star date 2222 

CK: Captain Kirk / Sc: Scotty / Sp: Mr Spock / McC: Dr McCoy / J: Jacinda Ardernia 

CK: How long until we reach Earth orbit, Scotty? 

Sc: As long as the warp drive holds and the di-lithium crystals dinnae disintegrate we should be there by dinner time. 

CK: No chance of arriving sooner? 

Sc: I cannae change the laws of physics, Captain! 

Sp: Why the rush, Jim? We’ve been away for 5 years. What’s a few hours more? 

CK: Just keen to get home, Mr Spock. 

Sorry, that’s insensitive of me. I realise Vulcan is your home planet. 

Sp: Indeed Captain. Although - suboptimal as Earth is - I have developed a certain attachment to this small, insignificant ball of rock. Humans are relatively primitive and barbaric but they do exhibit some endearing qualities occasionally. And it is a consolation to be the most advanced life-form on a planet. 

CK: Modest as ever, Spock. 

CK: There is another reason I’d like to get there promptly. StarFleet Command have sent through a last-minute final mission. 

We’re to pay a diplomatic visit to the Aotearoans who inhabit two small islands in the southern hemispheric quadrant. 

Sc: But that shouldna be a mission for a starship, surely. Can they no' send an ambassadorial delegation? 

CK: It’s somewhat of a hermit kingdom, apparently. Closed off from the rest of Earth and very secretive. In fact, we know more about the peoples of our own galaxy than we do about Aotearoa. 

All flights are banned and they have an anti-nuclear policy. We’ll just beam down so we don’t breach any of their entry conditions….which are extensive! 

Garrick Tremain: Christopher Luxon's leadership!

Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on Christopher Luxon's leadership! 

Ross Meurant: Time For Police Re Calibration

Problem with gangs these days – is quite different to Red Squad days.

Red Squad was not a weapon only for use against the 81 Protest movement.  It was a weapon, in the words of former Auckland police assistant commissioner Graham Perry, to:

“Make Auckland safe enough for my mother to walk down Queen Street at mid-night.”

This was the Graham Perry who was my commanding officer when I was a detective on Regional Crime Squad – which operated to a similar code.

Net Zero Watch: Boris Johnson sets up energy crisis task force

 

In this newsletter:

1) Now Boris maps his way OUT of Net Zero agenda: PM sets up oil and gas taskforce to plot a way out of the energy crisis 
Mail on Sunday, 13 March 2022
 
2) If Boris lifts the fracking ban UK could be pumping shale gas this year
Mail on Sunday, 13 March 2022

Bryce Edwards: Time for a 'save public broadcasting' campaign

There was a fair amount of enthusiasm and optimism several years ago when the Government announced a restructure designed to boost public broadcasting. Many hoped it might result in a BBC-like, non-commercial public media organisation that operated on multiple platforms.

Labour’s goals made a lot of sense, and the National Party complaints that Labour was trying to fix something that wasn’t broken didn’t resonate. After decades of RNZ being underfunded, with TVNZ and NZ On Air operating an experimental public broadcasting model that produced ever-worsening commercial television, Labour looked set to bolster democracy with this reform.

But that was 2017, when the idea of a transformational Labour Government still had currency. After years of corporate consultancy reports and working groups, the result of the public media investigations were announced last week and effectively killed off the dream of a cohesive and comprehensive non-commercial public broadcasting media organisation.

Bruce Moon: Stuff publishes Jade Kake’s historical nonsense: a response

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. –Shakespeare, “Macbeth”, Act 5, Scene 5.

A decimated Maori economic base?

An article in Stuff, 10 February 2022 by Jade Kake, an architectural designer in Whangarei of Dutch and Maori descent, purports to address “the tribal economic base that has been decimated through the widespread and large-scale theft of land.” She ignores, one notes, the fact that the “tribal economic base” — of $9 billion as at 7.2.2019 — has never been higher than it is today. Ngai Tahu, the richest tribe on the back of “Waitangi Tribunal” settlements described by several authors as “a swindle” and “a fraud” (for which references are available), possessed $1.5 billion at 4.10.2021.

Inaccurate sweeping statements on land ownership

NZCPR Newsletter: Governing by Deceit

Public opinion is turning against Jacinda Ardern and her Government. Recent polls show the trend is now for National to pull ahead of Labour, with the Prime Minister’s popularity continuing to decline.

National will be heartened by their progress. Labour will be looking for answers.

They don’t need to look far. Their unpopular Three Waters policy is back in the news as a result of the publication of a report from the Multi-Party Working Group that was set up by the Government in response to accusations that their consultation with councils was a sham.

While Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta appears resolutely determined to push her water policy through, opposition is growing, as New Zealanders recognise the real purpose of the reform is to gift control of water infrastructure and services to the tribal elite.

Henry Armstrong: Does Our Government Engage In Mis- And Disinformation?

In an interesting piece by Mitch McCann in Newshub (8^th March), our neo-Marxist Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (you know, she who has a degree in Communication) commenting on the Parliamentary sit-in, is quoted as saying: “One day it will be our job to try and understand how a group of people could succumb to such dangerous and wild mis- and disinformation”. 

But, does her government itself deliberately engage in using mis-and disinformation to promote itself and it’s policies, which it accuses others of doing?

McCann is one of those journalists invited to attend the daily 1pm TV Pantomime Covid briefings, sometimes being mistaken for Zane Small by Deputy PM Robertson when addressing journalists by their first names.

According to Kate McNamara, NZ Herald (10 March), in a series on the use of spin doctors by our New Zealand government (Ardern’s office has several), it  now transpires that the government “selected” a group of 21  Covid19  “commentators ”for “special briefings” earlier in the pandemic to ensure they could help get the “right message” out. I wonder who, how, and why they selected the gifted “21”?

Did you know that?

Clive Bibby: A betrayal of the worst kind

A key item of last night's TVNews put this whole horrible Ukrainian atrocity in perspective. 

It was the first time that the main protagonists have been shown in their true colours - one, the brave Ukrainians desperately calling for meaningful help from those supposed allies who have the capacity to give it in all its forms; the fair weather friends (Biden and his NATO mates) who could change the course of this war in an instant but steadfastly refuse to do so; and of course the aggressor Putin who has calculated that his plans for victory, based on his powerful opponents unwillingness to engage, will prove to be correct.

It is a sad commentary showing just how accurate Trump’s assessment of The Modern NATO really was. He is quoted some years ago saying that, in its current form, it was “obsolete”.

Kate Hawkesby: RNZ/TVNZ merger a disaster waiting to happen

 

Sadly, no detail on the Government's RNZ/TVNZ merger but let's start with the very brutal truth – it’s going to be about as exciting as watching paint dry.  

It’s going to apparently ‘better reach those groups who aren't currently well served; such as our various ethnic communities and cultures,’ Faafoi said, so in other words, kissing a mainstream audience goodbye. 

Here’s the first problem – it’s going to operate under a charter. That’s been tried before – and failed – it was disastrous because it was invented by boffins all based on theory and PC BS, with no regard for the realities of the real world and what audiences actually want to see and hear. 

Breaking Views Update: Week of 6.3.22

Saturday March 12, 2022 

News:
'Serious and confronting' allegations of systemic racism upheld at Otago University
Systemic racism, discrimination and bullying at the University of Otago will be addressed by senior leaders as a matter of urgency months after staff and students walked out on their school to maintain their mana.

In an email to staff on Thursday, vice-chancellor David Murdoch​ said previous attempts to address racism across the institution have been unsatisfactory and at times, ignored.

Mike Butler: Covid response a shambles or a coup?

Has the Ardern government’s response to Covid-19 been simply a shambles or is it a coup, a seizure of political power to establish a socialist dictatorship? Ron Asher’s new book A Jab in the Dark – Covid vaccines and the new health dictatorship presents evidence that a dictatorship has been established in New Zealand.

Authoritarian socialism is a political-economic system that can be generally described as socialist, but one that rejects the liberal-democratic concepts of multi-party politics, freedom of assembly, habeas corpus, and freedom of expression.

Since October 2017, when New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters anointed Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister, a heady mix of power, adoration, and opportunity to control presented by a fear-inducing pandemic, has enabled her to transform New Zealand from a free, open democracy to a police state in which “the unvaccinated” are denied basic rights.