Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: A painful reflection

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 25 Sept 2018 09:16:25 +1200

The renowned deep thinker (and National shill) Mike Yardley weighs in:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/107321361/why-are-we-frittering-away-big-bucks-on-compensation

Roger M

Mon, 24 Sept 2018 12:06:34 +1200

Opposition leader Simon Bridges has hit out at the government on Twitter after Housing New Zealand said it would compensate people evicted from state houses after dodgy methamphetamine testing.

And Bridges also doubles down... appalling

linger

Fri, 21 Sept 2018 16:31:35 +1200

Nah, Collins and her ilk should be held politically accountable for such attitudes in this life; otherwise they just keep repeating the same damaging lies. Problem is a large chunk of our opinion-obsessed mainstream media has spent the past decade choosing to support rather than challenge the blood-sport of beneficiary-bashing.…

Katita

Fri, 21 Sept 2018 14:45:43 +1200

As someone whose grandparents always lived in State Housing (and other extended family too) I've found the shift from an agency for social good to a government revenue stream (by way of dividend) completely unfathomable. And just like the private sector, you get the behaviours you incentivise. Suddenly we found…

Katita

Fri, 21 Sept 2018 14:34:11 +1200

kiwiwolf

Fri, 21 Sept 2018 14:31:23 +1200

Unfortunately the "Government" of the time will learn nothing other than to ensure that in future they leave less evidence of their mishandling. The only benefit of the exercise went to the companies involved who were given a license to print money.

bob daktari

Fri, 21 Sept 2018 10:03:36 +1200

thank you Russell – you add so much needed context most outlets consistently ignore/miss

nzlemming

Fri, 21 Sept 2018 00:10:31 +1200

There have been, it's important to note, journalists who have done really important work in reporting this story in the past couple of year

Including your good self. Well done on seeing it through.

Ross Mason

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 23:26:56 +1200

Russell includes the build up of the bullshit.. Page 24 has the killer “experts” sorted:

There was no New Zealand standard or guideline for methamphetamine testing and decontamination during this period. Housing New Zealand relied on the expertise of companies that were qualified to test for contamination.

Russell Brown

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 18:32:40 +1200

Reading your criticism of the media reports, the term “churnalism” comes to mind. These meth-industry press releases provided pre-packaged content that can be cheaply produced by media organisations. And they created a public panic with the information.

Yep, that’s exactly what happened.

We complain about false balance in stories like…

Tom Johnson

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 17:18:43 +1200

Sheer incompetence from the then National Minister, an inability to comprehend basic science. That’s what lack of competence looks like folks.

Michael Meyers

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 16:28:55 +1200

Reading your criticism of the media reports, the term "churnalism" comes to mind. These meth-industry press releases provided pre-packaged content that can be cheaply produced by media organisations. And they created a public panic with the information.

We complain about false balance in stories like global warming where media will…

Worik Stanton

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 15:12:27 +1200

I cannot resist:

National's housing spokesperson Judith Collins wants Mr Twyford to explain why taxpayers are compensating people for breaking the law.

Housing NZ to reimburse hundreds evicted on flawed meth testing

Ross Bell

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 13:43:33 +1200

It’s a bloody interesting read. A forensic analysis/chronology/DNA of a drug crisis – and all the points where it could/should have been stopped. All the players, and how they all failed (even the Public Service Assn getting in on the action, then a medical doctor saying nothing to fear for…

Russell Brown

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 12:46:44 +1200

I should note this this post is based on a very rapid apprehension of a lengthy report. There's much more detail in it and I'd recommend anyone interested read it for themselves.

Public Address

Thu, 20 Sept 2018 12:46:44 +1200

Discussion from blog post.