Transtasman Political Letter – 13 September Digest

Thursday, 13 September 2007, 12:31 am
Column: Trans Tasman

Transtasman Political Letter – 13 September Digest

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The following is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Clark says APEC provided some positives
…but she was annoyed her success there was pushed off the news bulletins by Damien O’Connor’s misjudgement
…He is expected to pay for it at a Cabinet reshuffle later in the year
…A China FTA is looming closer, but despite more positive mutterings a US FTA could still be years away
…like the solution to the Doha trade round
…and who’s been hacking into the Govt’s computers?

Clark Comes Home Pleased With APEC Progress

Helen Clark went to the APEC summit in Sydney cautiously optimistic and returned this week pleased with progress on the key issues of climate change and world trade talks.

China FTA In Sight, But Greens Upset

After holding talks with President Hu Jintao at the APEC summit, Helen Clark says FTA negotiations with China could be concluded by April next year.

Plenty Of Partnership But No Promises At NZ/US Forum

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A much more elusive FTA was being talked about in Auckland this week at the US/NZ Partnership Forum, where there was an abundance of goodwill and good intentions but no indications NZ’s case is making headway.

O’Connor Expected To Lose Corrections In Reshuffle

Given the problems he’s had with the Department of Corrections during the last two years, (some of which may be down to its headstrong CEO Barry Matthews), Damien O’Connor might not be upset at losing the portfolio - and this seems to be what Helen Clark has in mind for him.

CAPITAL TALK

CT’s Heather Roy says guests at the launch of an international company’s NZ branch were “left openly bemused” after being addressed by Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Play Of The Week: Small Cabinet Reshuffle, Not Many Dead

Suddenly it’s Cabinet reshuffle time, and Wellington is alive with rumour. Well, even more rumour than usual. .

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The above is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

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COMMENT

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The beneficiaries in all of this are the noisy, bellicose members of the pro-Israel lobby, a divisive federal opposition keen to capitalise on hatreds it claims not to have, and the State of Israel itself.

Gordon Campbell: On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery

A whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need.

Keith Rankin: Judaism, Antisemitism, And Israel

Israel today has arisen as a consequence of two millenniums of antisemitism in its various Christian forms. Israel is a nation-state which must abide by the same rules as any other nation state. Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism; it's criticism of the way that nation-state projects itself across the wider world.

Ian Powell: Haka, Hikoi And The Empowerment Of The Kohanga Generation

Ian Powell discusses the recent massive unprecedented hikoi in New Zealand in its wider context including the relationship between struggle, consciousness and empowerment.

Binoy Kampmark: Feeding Chaos - Israel Cripples Syria’s Defence

Crippling the infrastructure of the state that awaits the fledgling ruling parties in Syria, who can only count themselves as a ragtag transitional entity at this point, stirs an already turbulent, precarious situation. The very scenario which Netanyahu and his planners wish to avoid, and Assad sought to prevent, may well be realised.