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It’s sometimes sad to see the right wing’s response to anybody who speaks out against what is clearly a destructive agenda. Many of them are unrepentant bullies who will stop at nothing to destroy those they perceive to be enemies.
The latest exhibit of their nastiness occurred when singer songwriter Lizzie Marvelly asked for directions on twitter:
Okay, trying to get from Parnell to Grey Lynn and avoid the traffic disgustingness of the parade. How? Suggestions welcome!
The backlash was extraordinary, with a number of insults clearly being completely batshit crazy.
One of the unhinged protagonists is well-known Internet troll and former National party MP Tau Henare, who started insulting Marvelly’s latest performance of the National anthem.
What that had to do with the singer asking for directions is beyond me?
And all I said was you fucked the Nat anthem up which you did.
Basically what this comes down to is an ugly talentless former politician criticising a successful, gifted and beautiful woman because he’s jealous and spiteful.
Just to make that point a bit more clearly, here’s a video of Marvelly singing our anthem:
Let’s see the conceited Tau Henare get up and do that.
Normally I wouldn’t bother highlighting such incidents, because unfortunately they happen all the time, but Henare is a special case who on occasion deserves a bit more attention.
Just in case you thought Henare had any credibility to criticise other people, it shouldn't be forgotten that he's been appointed deputy chair of Housing New Zealand in order to enable the sale of the purposefully run down state housing stock.
Clearly the National led government wants a smooth and quiet transition from public to private hands and the dishonest Tau Henare is all too happy to facilitate the sale of our assets dirt-cheap to companies with highly questionable backgrounds.
Who are the bidders for 2,500 Christchurch state houses? Hold your noses…
Radio New Zealand revealed last week that Broadspectrum’s parent company in Australia was running the infamous Manus Island detention centre and alongside the Australian government agreed to pay $73 million in an out-of-court settlement for horrendous mistreatment of detainees.
Presumably Amy Adams sees this Manus Island experience as an advantage for Broadspectrum in its bid for Christchurch state houses. Mistreating vulnerable people and putting the boot into beneficiaries is a National government speciality.
And what about the other consortium fronted by the Christchurch City Council’s Otautahi Community Housing Trust? Who are the moneymen behind this? It’s New Zealand’s Morrison and Co who manage infrastructure investor Infratil.
They are no different to the Australian companies in their rapacious behaviour. They made their money from the privatisation of New Zealand state assets over the past 30 years and they aim to continue their role as one of the biggest parasites on the New Zealand taxpayer.
Well-said John Minto.
So when Tau Henare claims to have the moral high ground, while working to steal public assets from everyday hardworking New Zealanders, people should just laugh in his ugly face.
More than 100 former wards of the state gathered at Parliament on Wednesday calling for a full Government inquiry into the abuse they suffered whilst in state care. Mihingarangi Forbes was there.
Over the last five years, Forest and Bird as well as other like-minded organisations have been battling the Department of Conservation and the Hawke's Bay Regional Council over their plans to destroy conservation land.
Conservation land can't be destroyed for dam - Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled protected conservation land cannot be destroyed for the Ruataniwha Dam.
Forest & Bird challenged a deal between the Department of Conservation and Hawke's Bay Regional Council to acquire part of the protected Ruahine Forest Park so it could be flooded for the $900 million water storage and irrigation project.
The scheme would dam 22ha of formerly-protected land and give the Department of Conservation 170ha of nearby farmland in return.
The council's investment arm appealed to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal last year ruled the process of acquiring the land would be unlawful
In its decision, the Supreme court said the Conservation Act allowed the responsible minister to revoke protected status "only where its intrinsic conservation values no longer warrant such protection".
Despite the unequivocal clarity of the ruling it hasn’t taken the National led government long to react badly to the good news.
PM signals law change on land swaps after Supreme Court rules against Hawke's Bay dam
Minutes after the Supreme Court ruled against plans for a huge dam in the Hawke's Bay, Prime Minister Bill English said his Government would change the law to allow such projects to go ahead.
In a major victory for conservation group Forest & Bird, the court dismissed an appeal by the Department of Conservation to swap 22ha of conservation land for 170ha of private farmland.
The land swap would have allowed the Ruahine Forest Park land to be flooded to create the country's largest irrigation project.
English, speaking to NewstalkZB, immediately said Parliament would have to consider a law change.
How arrogant is that? Not only did the government waste an undisclosed amount of taxpayer’s money fighting against the law and good sense, they're now looking at just changing the rules to suit their environmentally destructive agenda.
Somehow I don't think English’s claims that they will simply amend the law will be that easy.
Chief executive Kevin Hague urged the Government to respect the Supreme Court's decision.
"Any attempt to change the law will be met with the same determination from Forest & Bird as the Minister of Conservation's illegal land-swap was."
The court's ruling set an important precedent, he said.
"Thanks to this ruling, all of New Zealand's forest parks are protected from development. That is up to one million hectares of conservation land that have been rescued from commercial interests by this precedent-setting decision."
This really is a major victory for our conservation estate.
New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries on earth and as Kiwi’s we have an obligation to protect this great country from big business interests and unscrupulous councils and governments. Thanks to this Supreme Court ruling, that task just got a bit easier.
The Drug Foundation has proposed a new legal framework to reduce harm around drugs, including removing criminal penalties for the possession, use and supply of all drugs. And as our reporter Eruera Rerekura found out one of the aims of the proposed legal model is making sure that Māori are not disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system.
It’s unfortunate when sports fans live up to their stereotypical selves and give rugby a bad name. It makes enjoying sport so much harder for the rest of us when drunken idiots are out and about actively wrecking events for other people.
HighJinx's next performance has been cancelled after its teenage members were sexually harassed by rugby fans in Auckland.
A young all-female dance group were sexually harassed by rugby fans before the weekend's Lions clash against the All Blacks.
HighJinx troupe director Carlene Newall de Jesus said her performers – girls aged between 13 and 16 – were subjected to lewd comments while performing before the test series opener at Eden Park on June 24.
Grown men asked the performers to give lap dances during the girls' 90-minute performance outside Kingsland train station, she said.
One 13-year-old girl was asked how much it was "to get a handjob", she said.
Rugby supporters also asked the girls to spread their legs wider during the performance.
Maybe it's time to segregate male rugby fans away from the general public? We could have male rugby fan only areas and transport services to ensure they didn’t ruin events for other people.
The troupe, a youth company specialising in aerial and acrobatic circus, had been invited to perform by the Kingsland Business Society as part of fan entertainment.
HighJinx were set to perform again this Saturday before the test series decider at Eden Park.
However, de Jesus received an email on Wednesday from the Kingsland Business Society stating due to health and safety regulations the performance would be cancelled.
De Jesus, who first wrote about the incident in a column for The Spinoff, said that no specific health and safety regulations were cited.
"The biggest risk for the girls is the things people are saying and not the fact that they're balancing on heads."
I guess the Kingsland Business Society couldn’t well say that the barrage of sexual innuendo by rugby fans meant the second performance couldn’t go ahead. After all that would make the game and it’s supporters look bad.
What about the young girls feelings though? They’ve been verbally abused and then had their event cancelled. In effect the Kingsland Business Society is punishing the victims in this situation.
Most of the harassment came from men wearing Lions garb, she said.
Perhaps we should have male only facilities and events for visiting British louts then? We could charge them more for everything and then donate the profits to organisations like HELP.
Kingsland Business Society chairman Steve Gillett said he was unaware of the incident and said the society's manager Christine Foley was in charge of the entertainment.
Foley was unable to be reached for comment.
I bet she wasn’t. Obviously the Kingsland Business Society was aware of the harassment and that’s why they cancelled the event. They simply wouldn’t have wanted any further bad press concerning such an important game.
Strangely the Police didn’t issue a statement about the fans misconduct at the Lions vs All Blacks Auckland match like they usually do. Perhaps they too don’t want to make rugby supporters feel bad. It would be good if they at least talked to the rugby fans who made lewd comments to underage girls.
I guess when sporting events are the only thing the National party has to keep it afloat in the polls, you can bet your bottom dollar that any bad press surrounding these showcase events is going to be quashed. I wonder what happened to not mixing sport with politics though?
