Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Speaking freely

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  • Craig Ranapia,

    For sure. I just think it would have been more prudent to concede that National might have to talk with a range of parties, but simply decline to speculate on anything to do with the foreign affairs job.

    Not a bad call, Russell, but if my memory serves (and please correct me if I'm wrong) Paul Henry asked him a specific question and if he had "to speculate on anything to do with the foreign affairs job" the story would be 'Slippery John Key at it again'.

    I believe the technical term is 'damned if you do, damned if you don't, damned no matter WTF you do.'

    Meanwhile, Goff seems to be developing a rather bad case of sematic split ends of his own:

    Trade Negotiations Minister Phil Goff has denied reports he said it was "bullshit" that Foreign Minister Winston Peters could criticise the Government's free trade agreement with China.

    A spokesperson for Mr Goff said he had branded criticism of the China free trade deal as "bullshit", but his comments were not directed at New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

    I guess the Vatican already had dibs on 'love the sinner, but hate the sin'.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I guess the Vatican already had dibs on 'love the sinner, but hate the sin'.

    Burn!!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Curtis,

    Craig if you recall, The Greens , Maori party AND NZF all oppose the terms of the FTA with China.

    Goffs bullshit comment applies all three does it not!

    And look at Peters acual concerns about the terms.

    Dairying has a long wait for ..... quotas before the trade becomes free.
    That for the last 20 years or so the tariffs on most goods were cut for China without any reciprocal gestures.

    It seems that Peters echos the concerns of many that fair trade being the goal rather than the so called free trade we have been served up

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Craig if you recall, The Greens , Maori party AND NZF all oppose the terms of the FTA with China.

    I rather doubt Keith Locke or Hone Harawira give a rat's arse what Phil Goff has to say about them. Peters seems to, considering that Goff's office apparently issued a denial to Peters that could most charitably be called disingenuous.

    Hey, I'm not going to waste much time defending either of these three parties. But Goff and his spokesman are being too cute for words.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    I know what you mean about that feeling Russell. I was in the lab in Dunedin while the Aramoana shootings were going on and being broken on the radio. It was one of those oppressive overcast, norwesterly days too. My memory of the day is simply a sort of creeping horror. Not much science got done that day.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Meanwhile, Goff seems to be developing a rather bad case of sematic split ends of his own:
    Trade Negotiations Minister Phil Goff has denied reports he said it was "bullshit" that Foreign Minister Winston Peters could criticise the Government's free trade agreement with China.
    A spokesperson for Mr Goff said he had branded criticism of the China free trade deal as "bullshit", but his comments were not directed at New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

    Huh? How's that "semantics", Craig?
    Based even on what you wrote here, Goff’s making a perfectly reasonable distinction. From reading the Stuff article earlier today I got the impression (backed up by the first paragraph above) that they were saying Goff had said Winston should not have been able to criticise the Govt on this. From memory, that’s how the article portrayed it; Goff was purportedly saying the arrangement whereby Winston could criticise such a deal was bullshit. Whereas it appears Goff simply made a general statement that critics of the FTA were wrong. Those are two distinct things – it’s not just semantics.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Ah, just watch Media 7. Bloody good, Russell. I could see you were more relaxed than last week already. Good panel, nice to get a bit of clash - they all agreed with each other a bit too much last week.

    Got only one small criticism...the gesture of pointing at the finger! It's for when you are going to enumerate. Picky, I know, but I think that kind of message goes straight to the subconscious, and I kept expecting the 'and the second point/question is...'. But overall your body expression was really good.

    Cracked me up when you cut Hickey off for blabbing on when he was asked to give a number - well done, assert yourself. It's your show.

    There was one follow up question I really want to hear you give Ganesh. "OK, so reporting the good side of things is unfashionable. How about you tell us the good news.". Ah well. But certainly his position is an outlier at the moment and Bernard was quite rightly making the money points.

    The quote of the day had to be the strange redbeard lying on the side of the road smoking a j and saying with a straight face that the Gulf News had gone to pot. Was he for real? I've gone to Waiheke since I was 5 years old, and I don't recall ever seeing the guy. I feel sure I'd remember such a character.

    It equally cracks me up that Boag's rag gets such a big pickup rate. I'm sure few Waiheke folk would pay for it, on principle, but their inability to resist reading it, reminds me of my sick addiction to Kiwiblog.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Steve:

    I'd take a close look at the byline on the original _Herald__story. Both Fran O'Sullivan and Audrey Young have taken what we shall politely call 'severe exception' to being accused of making shit up by politicians in the past. We shall see whether they cast any light on precisely what "context" Goff was getting shitty.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    This just in......

    I didn't know you could set a firewall with a journalism filter...

    Made me and the very pregnant one laugh...

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Does anyone else find the ondemand versions just stop working halfway through the clip. Seems like it hasn't downloaded the last couple of minutes, so it just stops playing. No way to get it going again, you have to go back to the beginning.

    And the windows media one plays the ad at the beginning, but not the actual clips. Flash one seems to work better.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Richard C,

    It equally cracks me up that Boag's rag gets such a big pickup rate. I'm sure few Waiheke folk would pay for it, on principle, but their inability to resist reading it, reminds me of my sick addiction to Kiwiblog.

    Ben, from memory, the Gulf News is the only one of the three that has its circulation independently audited, so I'd be a little wary of the claims from the Waiheke Week...

    That said, I'll happily confess to picking it up on the ferry each Thursday morning, safe in the knowledge that Mr Bennett will provide me with a few minutes of (self?) righteous fury...

    Waiheke Island • Since Oct 2007 • 27 posts Report Reply

  • Kirsten Brethouwer,

    Ben, Eric the RED is a WAIHEKE LEGEND. come on.. you've never seen him? In summer barefeet? a turban around his head? He's always there. He even has his own article on waihekepedia: http://www.waihekepedia.com/index.php?title=Eric_The_Red
    short, i admit.

    gulf news: for the classifieds
    marketplace: most likely to feature a picture of yourself or a friend
    waiheke week: i agree with richard c! You just can't help yourself, how often i've flung it away with the words THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'VE READ THIS CRAP. most likely to feature pictures of somebodys 60th birthday party on the society page.

    but the real reason why all of those three get read is OF COURSE the ferry.. Instead of driving on the western motorway listening to tha radio, commuting waihitians actually have ample opportunity to read a paper, so 3 weeklies is not really enough. I"d say a dedicated daily is not unimaginable on Waiheke.

    Waiheke Island • Since Nov 2006 • 35 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Withers,

    Just watched the latest Media7 via OnDemand. I loved it. Good pace. Absolutely relevant. Not a boring or superfluous moment in it from one end to the other. Great body language from everyone - host and panelists. The Waiheke segment was great. Wonder why that sort of thing isn't possible in greater Auckland? There is a clear need for an alternative to the Herald....and it ain't the DomPost.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 312 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Wonder why that sort of thing isn't possible in greater Auckland? There is a clear need for an alternative to the Herald....and it ain't the DomPost.

    I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there chatter a few years back that Fairfax did some serious feasibility studies about either starting up a new broadsheet in Auckland or at least starting an Auckland edition of the DomPost?

    In the end, Steve, it's pure economics -- the start-up costs of a broadsheet newspaper are enormous (building printing and distribution infrastructure from scratch, wooing writers and editorial staff, etc.), and you simply don't attract readers and advertisers over night. So, you're not only got to have very deep pockets but be willing to (potentially) keep putting your hands in them for a long time.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Ben, Eric the RED is a WAIHEKE LEGEND. come on.. you've never seen him? In summer barefeet? a turban around his head?

    No, I really have never seen him. But I'd believe he's there, really fits the bill. I see the Wiki suggests there may be TWO of him, one is an imposter. Which did we see and how would I know?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    And the windows media one plays the ad at the beginning, but not the actual clips. Flash one seems to work better.

    I had the same issue last night. The first episode played in Media Player Classic just fine, so I suspect it's the 2nd episode may have some encoding issues.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Try the YouTube channel ...

    http://youtube.com/TVNZMedia7

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    The "recession is inevitable" line is false and that is what Ganesh was trying to say before Bernard cut him off.

    A lot of the economic woe stuff ash to do with it being election year, and Don Brash tried *exactly* the same line in 2005. The point I made then was that if Brash had still be Reserve Bank governor then I am sure recession would have been inevitable. Fortunately he wasn't.

    Talk to the people who are in work in 2008 that were not in 1998 and ask them whether the economy is failing.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Player Classic just fine, so I suspect it's the 2nd episode may have some encoding issues.

    I get that a lot with Windows media type sites. That's why I love the podcasts of Media7.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Talk to the people who are in work in 2008 that were not in 1998 and ask them whether the economy is failing.

    And tell the folks who've lost their jobs over the last couple of weeks to cheer up and stop whinging, and I'll have a nice ice pack waiting for your well-deserved black eye. God, pardon me for being an old fogey, but perhaps the media could stick to providing sound information and let us dumb plebs decide how to feel about it for ourselves. On that score, I enjoyed the discussion enormously but thought both men missed the point by a spectacular margin.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Re: the Wahine - happened to be re-reading Maurice Gee's Plumb trilogy. There's a bit about the Wahine storm in the third book, Sole Survivor. Gee is brilliant on Wellington weather - there's some great bits also in Going West on the way the northerlies gust and swirl violently around Tinakori Rd.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    The "recession is inevitable" line is false and that is what Ganesh was trying to say before Bernard cut him off.
    A lot of the economic woe stuff ash to do with it being election year, and Don Brash tried *exactly* the same line in 2005.

    The talk of recession, or even economic woe, has got bugger all to do with the election. AAnd I'm not sure anyone is saying a recession is inevitable - I talk to economists every week and no-one has said that.

    There is a slowdown under way, which had to happen simply because you can only boost consumption by borrowing for so long before you have to stop and pay back at least some of the debt. That has sweet FA to do with the electoral cycle.

    The most telling stat in last year's Budget papers - emphatically not referred to in any of the speeches or press releases - was Treasury's estimate of how much extra households would be paying out in interest payments over the next couple of years. Just short of $4 billion. That was (a) on top of existing interest payments and (b) based on calculations made before the US credit crunch hit and made finance for the banks even more expensive. It is also more than 2% of annual GDP.

    It is quite possible, as some are saying, that we are already hitting the bottom of the cycle, and things will pick up from heronin. I'm not so sure. There's one hell of a lot of debt people have taken on under the assumption property values would continue to rise in double figures.

    On the positive side: most NZ firms are not carrying high amounts of debt, and capital investment over the past five years has been quite high.

    Personally, I doubt we will see a full blown recession, but we're going to have an extended period - possibly 2-3 years - of slow growth.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    It is quite possible, as some are saying, that we are already hitting the bottom of the cycle, and things will pick up from heronin

    I'm not sure if injecting drugs is going to do it actually.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I'm not sure if injecting drugs is going to do it actually.

    Hah! I dunno...Quick fix.and anyway it's just a car,I'll bring it back tomorrow..promise.Let me help you find your wallet.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    I'd take a close look at the byline on the original _Herald__story. Both Fran O'Sullivan and Audrey Young have taken what we shall politely call 'severe exception' to being accused of making shit up by politicians in the past. We shall see whether they cast any light on precisely what "context" Goff was getting shitty.

    Sure, and I’m not sure whether to believe Goff’s explanation, but the distinction he’s making is in itself not just semantics. If his version (essentially that he spoke rudely of FTA criticism in general) is true, this is specious journalism. Where’s the news here? “Goff Gaff: Trade Minister reveals he disagrees with critics of FTA”. No, wait... we knew that already. Maybe: “Goff Shock: Minister occasionally swears in informal situations”.

    If the Herald wants to stand by its claim that Goff's criticism was directed at Peters, then they have a story. But I followed your link and, reading between the disclaimers, it doesn’t seem so.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

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