Wednesday, 17 July 2024 10:25

Under pressure

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: On top of the rural banking inquiry, several as-yet-unnamed banks are facing a complaint to the Financial Markets Authority over their role in a government bond sale.

A similar case is underway in Australia as its corporate regulator ASIC investigates alleged manipulation of Aussie government debt.

Like yours truly, readers probably won’t be able to squeeze out a tear for the banks.

One farmer sent the Hound his own rules for dealing with banks: “Rule no.1 – They are not our friends. Rule no.2 – Refer to rule no.1.”

As the banks prep for the coming inquiry, they may feel it’s unwarranted.

But the evidence, anecdotal and from recent surveys, show that our friends in finance have a real perception problem with farmers that they need to address.

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True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

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