That depends... can we borrow Jacinda Ardern for a few days?
I mean fuck I'll settle for 12 hours.
A single press conference, even.
I love you, Viv, but hands off! lol
As for a thread split I'd say it's probably not needed? If you want to talk about NZ politics, then make posts about it?
Yep! Thread's called Australian And New Zealand Politics, so the mods can't ping you for being off topic.
Plus, hearing about competent politicians who seem to be working towards general progress and improvements in quality of life for their citizenry is a refreshing change of pace!
Speaking of NZ politics. I had a good news/bad news post I was gonna make but i lost the draft and didnt have the heart to start again. But in the interest of more NZ content here it is.
I have been complaining about NZ politics being boring but i kinda want to take it back
now.
The Labour handling of a creep hasnt gone well. Previously it just seemed to be poorly handled but more recent reports paint a picture of deliberate covering for a sexual predator.
This and other stories from the other 11 accusers shift it from incompetence to deliberate mishandling.
Either the accusers are lying or the party is. Because the accusers claim that they shared their experience with and concerns about the accused with various Labour people (and have supplied the emails to the media) but the party claims it was never told (even ifthey weren't, it was in the news by that point, so you'd expect them to have at least heard about the problem right?).
And poor Jacinda. Her cult of personality isnt really helping right now, she keeps putting herself forward saying "i will fix this" about this or that but i really don't think that is a strategy that can last forever. Sooner or later, if she keeps taking responsibility for things that dont need to be her responsibility, it will come back to bite her. It pretty much already is if you look at the Ihumātao protests. They dont want to meet or negotiate with the government. They want to meet with Jacinda.
It seems that one victim was definitely lying. More than just "unsubstantiated facts", the complainant made several claims which were "incorrect". And the email they claimed they sent to Labour and showed to the media is apparently fabricated. Which is goooood? for Labour? But the whole thing is a mess and makes me sad. And who knows? Maybe it's just a cover up of the cover up by Labour?
And the bad news:
No more oil exploration in NZ! Yay! I was scratching my head for environmental things that the Greens have achieved in government and coming up blank until this happened. Great news for the climate, there's already enough oil in current worldwide oil fields to carry us through to the point of no longer needing oil, we don't need more oil than we currently have. So great. But...
We're still drilling new wells in 2019. I totally understand this was something already in motion and that these kind of things are hard to put the brakes on. But it is still a huge disappointment. Hopefully it's just a one off though I would not be surprised if more wells are drilled in future.
2019 was a depressing year, politically, the government was lame, lots of talk but very little action. Hopefully next election Labour gets a bigger majority and loses the NZF albatross. But I doubt it. I find myself unenthusiastic about the political parties.
When talk of "backing" is in the air, then it's on, since that means there's talk of not backing behind closed doors.
If we get another fucking Prime Minister that's unable to serve a full term before getting knifed by their own party, I stand by my statement on the previous page that we should turn over the reins of government to New Zealand. They may not be perfect, but they're better than this fuckknuckle factory.
John Howard remains the last PM to be elected to, and serve, an entire term. And did it for four terms.
That was more than TWELVE years ago. Gillard at 3 years and 3 days, over two governmental terms, is our longest serving PM in that time.
Scotty has only been in the job a little over 17 months. And was only elected to the current term 8 months ago.
Honestly, if the not-insane-but-selfish wing of the Libs spills Morrison to get someone capable of handling an effective national emergency fire response plan, then that would be a step forward.
I doubt the competing Dutton wing would get another of their's up considering the last spill's failure to launch.
Fuck it’s 49 degrees right now where I live. We don’t have aircon and the smoke is so thick on the air even being in the pool isn’t a relief. I’m not even that close to the fires (Penrith)
So fucking sick of this heat
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VivixenneRemember your training, and we'll get through this just fine.Registered Userregular
Not gonna lie, Australia getting dragged by the New York Times is extremely satisfying, even if it's "just" in the Opinion section.
VivixenneRemember your training, and we'll get through this just fine.Registered Userregular
I am simply astounded at just how terrible a job ScoMo is doing. Like, he literally couldn't do any worse if he tried, short of taking an actual shit on a firefighter's chest.
I am simply astounded at just how terrible a job ScoMo is doing. Like, he literally couldn't do any worse if he tried, short of taking an actual shit on a firefighter's chest.
I'm sure that'll happen in the next couple days. Doesn't look like he can help himself.
Seriously, he could have just stayed in Canberra, issued a statement that he wasn't going to the firezones because he didn't want to get in the way of operations, and that he was monitoring the situation nationally closely. Then closed the door, and bingewatched some Netflix.
That'd have been a better outcome than the stumbling clusterfuckery we've witnessed.
Well, I'm so glad they're treating Politics as a end in and of itself, rather than the means for governing the country. No, wait, the other one - sickened. That one.
Fucks sake, you guys are facing a crisis of actual, apocalyptic proportions, and they're desperately trying to find someone, anyone else to pin the blame on, rather than actually do anything to assist.
Fucks sake.
Well, I'm so glad they're treating Politics as a end in and of itself, rather than the means for governing the country. No, wait, the other one - sickened. That one.
Fucks sake, you guys are facing a crisis of actual, apocalyptic proportions, and they're desperately trying to find someone, anyone else to pin the blame on, rather than actually do anything to assist.
Fucks sake.
But hey, don't cheapen this by bringing up climate change. Wouldn't want to politicize this. Just need to make sure that the PM isn't to blame, cause it's bad optics.
I'm really hoping we don't get the same wankery they pull around the pond.
*event happens*
Immediately - "Now is not the time for politics."
Several weeks following - "Now is the time for rebuilding."
Several months following - "Now that it's over, we need to focus on X"
*event happens again*
"Now is not the time for politics."
They'll try.
But it's a bit harder to 'hopes and prayers' survivors when the tragedy is still ongoing.
I don't think you can easily shift the 'What are you doing to help, you useless gits?!' sentiment when people's homes are still burning.
I'd love to see what a Labour/Green coalition could do without NZF.
If there's one person over told to fuck off through the radio almost as much as Simon Bridges, it would be Winston Peters.
But honestly, some of the stuff coming out of National at the end of last year was just ugh. For real?
The fact that people still want to bite for national boggles me. Then again, I'm a beneficiary (due to chronic health issues) so from what I can tell the average national voter thinks I'm some kind of horrifying parasite living the high Life.
Still very sore about the fact the capital gains tax didn't go through, as well
lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Yeah I'm real not happy about that not going through.
I think the criminal reform stuff that National party announced end of last year was just so seemingly regressive and so punishment focused it felt completely out of character for what I expect from New Zealand. Just full on leaning in to the right wing American influence.
I'm not very optimistic about the upcoming election campaign.
The closest I've come to liking National was Bill English. I forget the snappy name his policy had but it was basically Labour style welfare. Turns out its fiscally responsible to invest in social services and costs less money to look after people before they hit rock bottom. Who knew? There was still other stuff that took them out of consideration for my vote but if he'd got in it wouldnt have been the worst.
I doubt we'd ever get anything like that under Simon. He's cruel and unimaginative. I'm taking comfort in the fact that he's just a seat warmer for the next National leader, though from the sound of it whoever it is will be even more pro-business and anti-worker.
+1
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FishmanPut your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain.Registered Userregular
Pretty much.
Bearing in mind that ACT's hard right crime-and-punishment swing was a result of getting their lunch eaten when Brash tried to increase the base of National and did so by cannibalising the voters of all the other rightwing alliance partners... it's like what? That election (and all other ones in the last 20-odd years) have shown that it's the middle you need to win to govern, not the extremes. But both big parties are guilty of moving against the minor parties at the expense of diversity of representation for the electorate.
I mean, I miss the 90's ACT party that were about fiscal responsibility and progressive social policies. Remember when ACT was the party of sustainable budgets, paying down the excessive deficit, pro-same-sex marriage and prostitution reform?
These days they are at least pro-abortion law reform, but ugh, some of their other shit. But that's what they need to do to stay alive. The gating that has been implemented into MMP - mainly fucking so-called waka-jumping restrictions - has been a net negative for the ability of diversity of representation in NZ.
Another big middle finger to NZ from Winston, that mummy fuck.
Honestly I find it comforting to know my homeland isn’t in such an absolute shit show as Australia is right now.
That's not really a comfort, at all. I mean, there is a lot of suffering in Aus right now, and despite the general level of ribbing between the two nations, let's not pretend that they're not significantly linked. I mean, ignoring everything else, I know a lot of people living in Aus, and consider many of them very good friends. The lack of leadership at the top level simply means things are unnecessarily harder for everyone.
So, this being said - what can we do to help them out seems to be the better question to ask. Near as I can tell, individual state Rural fire services have donations available, but the immediate humanitarian needs of the communities isolated and destroyed also need to be met - anyone have any ideas on where help can be directed?
The RFS has picked up a lot of traction internationally, so as you say, it might be most beneficial to look for more niche community support groups that are supplying other areas. I've been focussing on wildlife rescue orgs (wires is a good one, https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund); other groups are collecting breathing masks and food, though I think they're mostly taking in-kind donations. I'll have a dig around for additional easy donation links.
Honestly I find it comforting to know my homeland isn’t in such an absolute shit show as Australia is right now.
That's not really a comfort, at all. I mean, there is a lot of suffering in Aus right now, and despite the general level of ribbing between the two nations, let's not pretend that they're not significantly linked. I mean, ignoring everything else, I know a lot of people living in Aus, and consider many of them very good friends. The lack of leadership at the top level simply means things are unnecessarily harder for everyone.
I lived out in Thrumpster for a bit, which was notable in the news for having fires literally down the road and couldn’t return home for most of three days. It was a pretty terrible experience and it was obvious how not normal in any way those fires were. We donated a lot of water to the RFS during the crisis at the time.
My business is in a holiday town, so we’ve suffered a lot due to the fires and watching Morrison essentially turn it more into a disaster has been horrifying. I won’t put numbers to it, but people staying away or thinking it’s (justifiably!) unsafe to travel has cost me a lot. I would assume other businesses as well.
Noting that New Zealand is at least not a total shit show has at least reminded me there is some hope. I just hope this is the beginning of tossing the liberals out here or we are really fucked in future in Australia.
Plus I am really worried the fires start here again, considering watching the sky turn red with ash falling everywhere was like being in bad Silent Hill fan fiction. I have also developed a permanent respiratory cough from this too, which is having a lot of flow on effects (used to walk everywhere, now I can’t).
Basically I am very unhappy with the response to the fires and am contemplating if I should go home*.
*Lot of other circumstances involved in that too.
Edit: I do apologise if my comment came off as excessively harsh or insensitive.
It's possible that as the smog goes on, interior air quality is getting worse even while the exterior fluctuates. It's hard to get smoke out once it gets in, especially in older buidings.
Bearing in mind that ACT's hard right crime-and-punishment swing was a result of getting their lunch eaten when Brash tried to increase the base of National and did so by cannibalising the voters of all the other rightwing alliance partners... it's like what? That election (and all other ones in the last 20-odd years) have shown that it's the middle you need to win to govern, not the extremes. But both big parties are guilty of moving against the minor parties at the expense of diversity of representation for the electorate.
I mean, I miss the 90's ACT party that were about fiscal responsibility and progressive social policies. Remember when ACT was the party of sustainable budgets, paying down the excessive deficit, pro-same-sex marriage and prostitution reform?
These days they are at least pro-abortion law reform, but ugh, some of their other shit. But that's what they need to do to stay alive. The gating that has been implemented into MMP - mainly fucking so-called waka-jumping restrictions - has been a net negative for the ability of diversity of representation in NZ.
Another big middle finger to NZ from Winston, that mummy fuck.
Is it really possible to be fiscally conservative and socially progressive, though? Fiscal conservatism typically indicates policies that disproportionately affect the poor and the "alternative".
Posts
Yep! Thread's called Australian And New Zealand Politics, so the mods can't ping you for being off topic.
Plus, hearing about competent politicians who seem to be working towards general progress and improvements in quality of life for their citizenry is a refreshing change of pace!
Speaking of NZ politics. I had a good news/bad news post I was gonna make but i lost the draft and didnt have the heart to start again. But in the interest of more NZ content here it is.
It seems that one victim was definitely lying. More than just "unsubstantiated facts", the complainant made several claims which were "incorrect". And the email they claimed they sent to Labour and showed to the media is apparently fabricated. Which is goooood? for Labour? But the whole thing is a mess and makes me sad. And who knows? Maybe it's just a cover up of the cover up by Labour?
And the bad news:
No more oil exploration in NZ! Yay! I was scratching my head for environmental things that the Greens have achieved in government and coming up blank until this happened. Great news for the climate, there's already enough oil in current worldwide oil fields to carry us through to the point of no longer needing oil, we don't need more oil than we currently have. So great. But...
We're still drilling new wells in 2019. I totally understand this was something already in motion and that these kind of things are hard to put the brakes on. But it is still a huge disappointment. Hopefully it's just a one off though I would not be surprised if more wells are drilled in future.
2019 was a depressing year, politically, the government was lame, lots of talk but very little action. Hopefully next election Labour gets a bigger majority and loses the NZF albatross. But I doubt it. I find myself unenthusiastic about the political parties.
When talk of "backing" is in the air, then it's on, since that means there's talk of not backing behind closed doors.
On the other, i'm fucking terrified of the words "Prime Minister Peter Dutton".
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If we get another fucking Prime Minister that's unable to serve a full term before getting knifed by their own party, I stand by my statement on the previous page that we should turn over the reins of government to New Zealand. They may not be perfect, but they're better than this fuckknuckle factory.
John Howard remains the last PM to be elected to, and serve, an entire term. And did it for four terms.
That was more than TWELVE years ago. Gillard at 3 years and 3 days, over two governmental terms, is our longest serving PM in that time.
Scotty has only been in the job a little over 17 months. And was only elected to the current term 8 months ago.
Our government is pants-on-head stupid.
I doubt the competing Dutton wing would get another of their's up considering the last spill's failure to launch.
So fucking sick of this heat
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/opinion/australia-fires-climate-change.html?fbclid=IwAR2suGXe6N89Bk1cIWMuzHrrdREWmPKnAxFjHPMQGU2BxCvWJ6N_jm8ZHLU
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Never mind that it's highlighting all the things he ignored calls for for months and was dragged kicking and screaming to.
If there's one person over told to fuck off through the radio almost as much as Simon Bridges, it would be Winston Peters.
But honestly, some of the stuff coming out of National at the end of last year was just ugh. For real?
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I'm sure that'll happen in the next couple days. Doesn't look like he can help himself.
Seriously, he could have just stayed in Canberra, issued a statement that he wasn't going to the firezones because he didn't want to get in the way of operations, and that he was monitoring the situation nationally closely. Then closed the door, and bingewatched some Netflix.
That'd have been a better outcome than the stumbling clusterfuckery we've witnessed.
Well, I'm so glad they're treating Politics as a end in and of itself, rather than the means for governing the country. No, wait, the other one - sickened. That one.
Fucks sake, you guys are facing a crisis of actual, apocalyptic proportions, and they're desperately trying to find someone, anyone else to pin the blame on, rather than actually do anything to assist.
Fucks sake.
But hey, don't cheapen this by bringing up climate change. Wouldn't want to politicize this. Just need to make sure that the PM isn't to blame, cause it's bad optics.
I'm really hoping we don't get the same wankery they pull around the pond.
*event happens*
Immediately - "Now is not the time for politics."
Several weeks following - "Now is the time for rebuilding."
Several months following - "Now that it's over, we need to focus on X"
*event happens again*
"Now is not the time for politics."
But it's a bit harder to 'hopes and prayers' survivors when the tragedy is still ongoing.
I don't think you can easily shift the 'What are you doing to help, you useless gits?!' sentiment when people's homes are still burning.
Edit - they removed the link pretty quickly.
The fact that people still want to bite for national boggles me. Then again, I'm a beneficiary (due to chronic health issues) so from what I can tell the average national voter thinks I'm some kind of horrifying parasite living the high Life.
Still very sore about the fact the capital gains tax didn't go through, as well
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
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I think the criminal reform stuff that National party announced end of last year was just so seemingly regressive and so punishment focused it felt completely out of character for what I expect from New Zealand. Just full on leaning in to the right wing American influence.
I'm not very optimistic about the upcoming election campaign.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Although I'm going to have to quantify that I haven't had the stomach to vote for National in more than a decade.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
I doubt we'd ever get anything like that under Simon. He's cruel and unimaginative. I'm taking comfort in the fact that he's just a seat warmer for the next National leader, though from the sound of it whoever it is will be even more pro-business and anti-worker.
Bearing in mind that ACT's hard right crime-and-punishment swing was a result of getting their lunch eaten when Brash tried to increase the base of National and did so by cannibalising the voters of all the other rightwing alliance partners... it's like what? That election (and all other ones in the last 20-odd years) have shown that it's the middle you need to win to govern, not the extremes. But both big parties are guilty of moving against the minor parties at the expense of diversity of representation for the electorate.
I mean, I miss the 90's ACT party that were about fiscal responsibility and progressive social policies. Remember when ACT was the party of sustainable budgets, paying down the excessive deficit, pro-same-sex marriage and prostitution reform?
These days they are at least pro-abortion law reform, but ugh, some of their other shit. But that's what they need to do to stay alive. The gating that has been implemented into MMP - mainly fucking so-called waka-jumping restrictions - has been a net negative for the ability of diversity of representation in NZ.
Another big middle finger to NZ from Winston, that mummy fuck.
That's not really a comfort, at all. I mean, there is a lot of suffering in Aus right now, and despite the general level of ribbing between the two nations, let's not pretend that they're not significantly linked. I mean, ignoring everything else, I know a lot of people living in Aus, and consider many of them very good friends. The lack of leadership at the top level simply means things are unnecessarily harder for everyone.
So, this being said - what can we do to help them out seems to be the better question to ask. Near as I can tell, individual state Rural fire services have donations available, but the immediate humanitarian needs of the communities isolated and destroyed also need to be met - anyone have any ideas on where help can be directed?
https://help.givenow.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/360001315355-How-you-can-help-Donations-flow-for-bushfire-relief
The RFS has picked up a lot of traction internationally, so as you say, it might be most beneficial to look for more niche community support groups that are supplying other areas. I've been focussing on wildlife rescue orgs (wires is a good one, https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund); other groups are collecting breathing masks and food, though I think they're mostly taking in-kind donations. I'll have a dig around for additional easy donation links.
(edit): some links
I lived out in Thrumpster for a bit, which was notable in the news for having fires literally down the road and couldn’t return home for most of three days. It was a pretty terrible experience and it was obvious how not normal in any way those fires were. We donated a lot of water to the RFS during the crisis at the time.
My business is in a holiday town, so we’ve suffered a lot due to the fires and watching Morrison essentially turn it more into a disaster has been horrifying. I won’t put numbers to it, but people staying away or thinking it’s (justifiably!) unsafe to travel has cost me a lot. I would assume other businesses as well.
Noting that New Zealand is at least not a total shit show has at least reminded me there is some hope. I just hope this is the beginning of tossing the liberals out here or we are really fucked in future in Australia.
Plus I am really worried the fires start here again, considering watching the sky turn red with ash falling everywhere was like being in bad Silent Hill fan fiction. I have also developed a permanent respiratory cough from this too, which is having a lot of flow on effects (used to walk everywhere, now I can’t).
Basically I am very unhappy with the response to the fires and am contemplating if I should go home*.
*Lot of other circumstances involved in that too.
Edit: I do apologise if my comment came off as excessively harsh or insensitive.
It went dark and turned this sickly shade of yellow at about 2pm and stayed like the entire rest of the day.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/canberra-smoke-shuts-government-agency-responsible-for-emergency-management
Still saw a film crew at the building on 4 Chan Street
Sunday was the worst it's been here.
Orange skies all day, and low visibility.
yeah my family has been sending me daily photos. On sunday it looked like fucking soup out there.
Is it really possible to be fiscally conservative and socially progressive, though? Fiscal conservatism typically indicates policies that disproportionately affect the poor and the "alternative".