Author Archive
Shitting on the shoulders of giants
Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, November 20th, 2012 - 85 comments
Those who control Labour at any given time are on the shoulders of giants. For the 4 years, Labour has been controlled by a clique that led Labour to its worst defeat. A year later, with their second choice frontman as leader, they’re still in charge and Labour’s still below its 2008 result, on track for another defeat. The membership voted no confidence in the old guard on Saturday.
It’s not the growth that’s grumpy
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, November 9th, 2012 - 11 comments
The last time unemployment was this high, Bill English was Finance Minister and his government was facing electoral oblivion. I don’t remember his excuses last time but this time he’s taken a different excuse from Key and Joyce. English calls this ‘grumpy growth’. Of course, it’s not growth, it’s the exact opposite. If this is ‘grumpy growth’, I suppose Hurricane Sandy was ‘grumpy sunshine’.
All reward, no responsibility
Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, November 5th, 2012 - 37 comments
The bosses justify their huge pay packets by saying they’re the elite, the wealth creators. They get the money because their genius makes sure things work. But, when it all goes to hell it’s the minions who get blamed. While the CEO gets a $100K bonus when she quits after 11 months! Nice work if you can get it, which is why the bosses congratulated themselves with a 10% pay rise this year.
Nats get desperate on asset sales
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, October 24th, 2012 - 64 comments
The Nats have decided to try to lean on the judiciary to get asset sales handled the way they want. The Judge is ‘Red Ron’. The Court shouldn’t try to decide water rights at a level of general principle. The Maori Council mustn’t get legal aid. The case should be kicked straight up to the Supreme Court and settled before March. It’s not working. It’s not going to work. And the costs are mounting. Updated
The ‘there’s no class war in New Zealand’ monitor
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, October 18th, 2012 - 48 comments
There’s no class war in New Zealand. It’s not class war when the company that is laying off workers boosts its directors’ pay by 28%. It’s not class war when rich Tories who have given themselves massive tax cuts deny people on benefits are in poverty. It’s not class war when a rich Tory makes up numbers to oppose extending paid parental leave.
Not even trying any more
Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, October 18th, 2012 - 35 comments
Key’s just straight up lying to the media now on easily verifiable facts. A 3news poll shows 57% said Parliament got it wrong keeping the drinking age at 18%. Key says: “That’s one of the reasons I voted for it to go to 20 – in line with what the public thought – but Parliament didn’t vote that one.” In reality, he voted split age and, then, to keep it 18.
Granny hugs the corpse of neoliberalism
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, October 15th, 2012 - 59 comments
Here’s Granny Herald’s genius plan for economic development: if Meridian can get more money for its power elsewhere, it should let Tiwai Point close. 3,000 jobs would be lost. Invercargill and Bluff would effectively be killed. But, hey, market forces! Problem is, if Meridian only considers its narrow commercial interests, it ignores the cost to the country as a whole.
Does Key give a damn any more?
Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, October 10th, 2012 - 29 comments
My old man, a casual observer of politics, said the other day: “John boy doesn’t look like he wants to be there anymore”. I reckon he’s right. Except when he’s doing photo-ops, Key looks ever more grumpy and aloof. No wonder he’s spending so much time overseas. No wonder he’s making such bad decisions like betraying his promise to the Pike River families.
Lessons from abroad
Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, October 8th, 2012 - 12 comments
John Key likes to reference Singapore as a model for New Zealand. He’s meeting their PM today. Obviously, we can’t move New Zealand to the world’s busiest shipping route but what else can we do to emulate Singapore’s economic success? Singapore hasn’t sold its SOEs – it has built them into a massive investment fund. And it doesn’t let its currency raise to kill its exporters – it intervenes.
Nats: no plan, no hope to offer
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 pm, October 7th, 2012 - 8 comments
I turned on the news hoping to see the Nats’ rebuttal of the Greens’ detailed plan to protect Kiwi manufacturing like our competitors are doing. Instead, I saw a smirking fuck who has overseen the loss of 40,000 manufacturing jobs say ‘the high dollar’s good’. Joyce actually says a over-valued dollar is a good thing. ‘Flat-screen tellies are cheaper! Pity you don’t have a job to buy one!’
Planet Key receding from reality at light speed
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 3rd, 2012 - 37 comments
Law enforcement on Planet Key must be a strange business: “Mr Key says he called in the police on the teapot tapes because he wanted to find out if there had been an offence. He argues Dotcom is different, because his Government has already admitted what it did was unlawful.” So, what do the Planet Key Police do they do when they catch a crim? Tag him and let him go?
Update: Breaking news – we all expected this didn’t we – Key was briefed on the Dotcom case in February.
Key changes tune, orders GCSB review
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, October 2nd, 2012 - 71 comments
Last week, Key tried to tell us that the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom – which he, the minister, we’re supposed to believe wasn’t told about for 8 months – was down to one agent’s ‘brain fade’. Uh huh. So, why has he now appointed a senior public servant to review and reform GCSB? You don’t do that when the problem was one person’s human error.
[Update: Lol at Key. Police are launching a high powered inquiry after he said there was no need for one]
The cancer-mongers’ new ads
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, September 23rd, 2012 - 43 comments
I reckon my theory that the tobacco industry’s stupid ‘agree/disagree’ ad campaign is actually just a way of chucking millions at cash-strapped media outlets to buy their silence (and even backing from Granny) has been confirmed. By one simple fact. The new TV ad, which appeals to crass nationalism to argue that we shouldn’t adopt the Aussie plain-packaging law, is voiced by an Aussie.
Right wing bigot pines for days of right wing bigotry
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, September 22nd, 2012 - 180 comments
John Roughan has a whinge about Campbell Live’s coverage of the Christchurch school closures in today’s Herald.
Poor John pines for the days when Paul Holmes was broadcasting rightwing bullsh*t nationwide every evening.
Iwi want no part of sham talks
Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, September 19th, 2012 - 16 comments
Only 12 people turned up to Key’s first sham talks with iwi. He might have gotten a better turnout if he had come with cupcakes or, you know, a genuine intention to negotiate in good faith.
Sham consultation begins
Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, September 18th, 2012 - 13 comments
The Nats are beginning their sham consultation with a handful of tame ‘Iwi Leaders’ today. The hui will be by invitation and will not include the Maori Council, which iwi have appointed to lead for them on the water rights issue. Of course, National doesn’t want a real debate. It won’t genuinely discuss shares plus. This is a fake process. And it will all end up in court next year.
My 2 cents
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, September 17th, 2012 - 49 comments
It must be pretty sweet when your full-time job is to write 4 500-word columns of opinion a week. It’s even sweeter when you can use those 500 words to have a whinge at your critics rather than write about things that your audience, you know, gives a crap about. The weird thing about Armstrong’s article is it first attempts to refute the critics and then provides excuses. But, in truth, it’s a personal tirade. And the place for that isn’t a national newspaper column: it’s a blog.
Crackdown on Working for Families children
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, September 12th, 2012 - 13 comments
Families will lose half their Working for Families payments if they don’t put their kids in ECE or make sure they have the Well Child checks, under reforms to be announced by Paula Bennett the next time National needs a distraction from its failed economic management. ‘When you’re getting public money, the government can demand anything of you: even if it isn’t compulsory and even if you can’t afford it,’ said Bennett.
How long have they been sitting on that?
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 pm, September 10th, 2012 - 75 comments
Shearer gets some traction with a policy that neatly targets parents’ concerns about education, hits a link in the poverty cycle, and is third way enough that National can’t really object. And what happens? National runs a little beat up on how Shearer’s masters thesis says you can’t ignore Maori beliefs in taniwha when allocating water rights. Wonder how long they were sitting on that.
Who’s heading in the right direction?
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, September 10th, 2012 - 13 comments
While Labour and the Greens are laying out concrete policies to tackle poverty and its consequences that lead to life-long problems (child payment and home insulation from the Greens, food in schools and reading recovery from Labour), National MPs are acting as slum landlords, refusing to spend a few thousand dollars to bring their rentals up to standard.
Schadenfreude
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, September 3rd, 2012 - 21 comments
I hope you won’t think less of me when I say I’m enjoying Key’s angst over baby formula companies using him in their ads in China. Key says it wasn’t an endorsement when he went to the factory, signed a tin of formula, and smiled for the cameras holding it. That, we’re supposed to believe, isn’t a promotion. Actually, it’s meant to be a one-way promotion: of Key.
The conservative’s nightmare
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, August 31st, 2012 - 51 comments
Soon, a 18-year old gay man will be able to get married and, then, celebrate by having a drink. If Jacinda Ardern’s Bill passes, he’ll be able to adopt his husband’s child. And, if David Clark’s Bill passes – he can then earn $15 an hour at his minimum wage job! It really is the conservative’s nightmare at the moment. I’m loving it.
The drinking age
Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, August 30th, 2012 - 107 comments
The alcohol reforms miss the real issues and focuses on wowserism over teens drinking, instead. The Hospitality Association will be rubbing its hands at the split age suggestion. But there ins’t a growing problem with booze. Alcohol consumption is falling. 25 years ago, we consumed 140 litres of alcoholic beverages per person (including children!) per year. Today, that number is 105 litres.
Just another sell-out
Written By: - Date published: 6:45 am, August 27th, 2012 - 130 comments
The Maori Party is meeting with National to discuss the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on water and asset sales today. Notice how no-one’s saying ‘will they walk if the Nats ignore the Tribunal and proceed to breach the Treaty?’ That’s what happens when you cry wolf then sell out time after time. Everyone knows Turia wants her comfy limo seat more than anything else.
Can’t buy me love
Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, August 24th, 2012 - 16 comments
The Cancer-mongers’ ad campaign is complete crap. Ineffectual ads that won’t get anyone on side. Doesn’t matter though. They’re not aiming to convince you with the ads themselves. The actual aim’s to put a few hundred thousand dollars in media outlets’ pockets with the promise of more for favourable coverage. The Herald made it a bit blatant though – running a fawning editorial the day after the first full-page ad.
Feel the burn
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, August 23rd, 2012 - 82 comments
Crossing the line is an occupational hazard of public political comment. Especially when you set yourself up as an edgy persona. Fortunately, there’s a warning system. You think you’re being clever, but the animal part of your brain feels its wrong- it’s that burning feeling in the back of your neck. Next time, Trev, feel the burn.
Towards a metric for Prime Ministerial decision-making
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, August 21st, 2012 - 72 comments
So, a pre-planned trip to watch a son’s baseball and a week’s holiday in the States is more important than attending 2 soldiers’ funerals. But attending 3 soldiers’ funerals outranks attending the Pacific Island Forum attended by the region’s leaders. A question for the reader: how many Little League games beats a pull aside with Julia Gillard on boat people?
Another dark day for NZ in Afghanistan
Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, August 20th, 2012 - 220 comments
3 New Zealand soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. 5 dead in a fortnight. That’s a big cost. All in the same area of Bamiyan Province. John Key has used American chickenhawk language saying “we won’t cut and run”. Actually, we’re leaving in 2013 anyway. The question is whether its worth the cost of hanging around another year.
Replying to cancer-mongers
Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, August 16th, 2012 - 23 comments
The Australian Government has won a Supreme Court case on its plain packaging law. The tobacco companies are now planning to take it to the WTO. I hope Gillard responds to the law suit with a letter along the lines of: “Dear Cancer-mongers, Consider yourselves lucky we don’t nationalise your assets and pass a law to have you arrested for corporate homicide. Go fuck yourselves. Regards, Julia.”
- Dead on target
My targets for today are: 1 newsletter sent out by 4.30pm 800 words of copy delivered to a client by COB, as we say in the world of BAU1 dinner served by sunset GST returnSo far so good. Longer-term targets are: Get some website copy finished before I get on a plane on Saturday ...3 weeks ago - The PM sets nine policy targets- and in case you missed the truancy one, Seymour has provided some...
Buzz from the Beehive Targets and travel were a theme in the latest flow of ministerial announcements. The PM announced a raft of targets (“nine ambitious Government Targets to help improve the lives of New Zealanders”) along with plans to head for Singapore, Thailand, and Philippines. His Deputy and Foreign ...3 weeks ago - Climate Change: Unwelcome advice
Yesterday He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission released two key pieces of advice, on the 2036-40 emissions budget and the 2050 target. Both are statutorily required as part of the Zero Carbon Act budgeting / planning process, and both have a round of public consultation before being finalised and ...3 weeks ago - In a structural deficit, the only real tax cut is a spending cut
Eric Crampton writes – This week’s column in the Stuff papers. A snippet: Tabarrok warned that America had two political parties – “the Tax and Spenders and the No-Tax and Spenders” – and neither was fiscally conservative. In the two decades after Tabarrok’s warning, the federal government ...3 weeks ago - A Return to Kindness?
New Zealanders are a pretty fair minded bunch. By and large we like to give people a go.Ian Foster, for example, had a terrible record as a head rugby coach. Like not even good, and did we let that bother us? Yeah, but also Nah. Because we went ahead and ...3 weeks ago - Aukus or not, New Zealand’s foreign policy is being remadeGeoffrey Miller writes – This could be a watershed week for New Zealand’s international relations. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, is heading to Washington DC for a full week of meetings. The surprisingly lengthy trip just happens to coincide with a major trilateral summit of leaders from the United States, ...3 weeks ago
- Back to the future, with a 2032 deadline
Aiming to look visionary and focused, Luxon has announced nine targets to improve measures for education, health, crime and climate emissions - but the reality is only one target is well above pre-Covid levels. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items of note for me in Aotearoa-NZ’s ...3 weeks ago - Why Rod Carr is optimistic farmers can beat climate change
The future of farming went on the line yesterday when the Climate Change Commission presented its first review of New Zealand’s target of net zero emissions by 2050. The Commission said New Zealand’s target was unlikely to be consistent with the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of holding temperature rise to ...3 weeks ago - Grifters, Bigots & Booling With the Dawgs
3 weeks ago - Goldsmith spots a cost-saver in his Justice domain – let’s further erode our right (under Magna ...Bob Edlin writes – Chapter 39 of the Magna Carta (from memory) includes the guarantee that no free man may suffer punishment without “the lawful judgment of his peers.” This was a measure which the barons forced on England’s King John to delegate part of his judicial authority ...3 weeks ago
- Climate Adam: Is Global Warming Speeding Up?
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Thanks to climate change, 2023 has shattered heat records, and 2024 is continuing where last year left off. With this devastating ...3 weeks ago - Brooke is on the TV, being a Minister!
Brooke is on the TV, being a Minister! She is going to talk to Jack on the TV!It's hard to watch Jack on the TV without thinking to yourself:How can anyone be that good-looking,and also be even brainier than they are good-looking?Talk about lucky!But also, Jack works for the TV news. So ...3 weeks ago - There’s gold – or rather, energy without carbon – in that rock, but Jones reminds us of the Tr...Buzz from the Beehive Oh, dear. One News tells us an ownership spat is brewing between Māori and the Crown as New Zealand uses more renewable energy sources. No, not water or the shoreline. Ownership of another resource has come into the reckoning. The One News report explained that 99% of ...3 weeks ago
- Climate Change: Bad faith from NationalOne of the weird features of the Zero Carbon Act was its split-gas targets, which separated methane, produced overwhelmingly by farmers, from carbon dioxide produced by the rest of us. This lower target for methane was another effective subsidy to the dairy industry, and was the result of a compromise ...3 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell on Israel’s murderous use of AI in GazaThis may seem like a dumb question– but how come Israel has managed to kill at least 33,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including over 13,000 children? Of course, saturation aerial bombing and artillery shelling of densely populated civilian neighbourhoods will do that. So will the targeting of children by IDF ...3 weeks ago
- Total Eclipse of the Mind.
All that you touch And all that you seeAll that you taste All you feelAnd all that you love And all that you hateAll you distrust All you saveEarly tomorrow morning as the sun is rising in Aotearoa many people across North America, from Mexico to Canada, will be losing ...3 weeks ago - So why do that degree… here?A report – and discussion – from the university front line… Mike Grimshaw writes – I have been involved in numerous curriculum and degree reviews over the decades and in all of them the question always skirted around is: “If you had to leave now with ...3 weeks ago
- The hunt is on for an asterix for farm emissions3 weeks ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Aukus or not, New Zealand’s foreign policy is being remade
This could be a watershed week for New Zealand’s international relations. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, is heading to Washington DC for a full week of meetings. The surprisingly lengthy trip just happens to coincide with a major trilateral summit of leaders from the United States, Japan and the Philippines. ...3 weeks ago - The Kaka’s diary for the week to April 15 and beyond
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 15 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. The Climate Commission will publish advice to the Government this evening.Parliament is sitting from Question Time at 2pm ...3 weeks ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #14A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 31, 2024 thru Sat, April 6, 2024. Story of the week Proxy measurement via Facebook "engagement" suggests a widely welcoming audience for Prof. Andrew Dessler's The Climate ...3 weeks ago
- Their Money or Your Life.
Brooke van Velden appeared this morning on Q&A, presumably paying homage to Margaret Thatcher. The robotic one had come in an 80s pink, shoulder-padded jacket, much favoured by the likes of Thatcher or Hosking. She also brought the spirit of Margaret, seemingly occupying her previously vacant soul compartment.Jack asked for ...3 weeks ago - Truth pulls its boots on
It's a lot easier to pull off a lie if people don't know much about what you're lying about.Sometimes, watching Christopher Luxon, you get the impression he doesn't know all that much about it, either. That's the charitable interpretation. The other is that he knows full well.He was on the ...3 weeks ago
- More Frontline Cuts As Government Goes Soft On Organised Crime
The Government is putting at risk the defences of our land and sea borders against organised crime, and our online defences against child exploitation, terrorism and online crime with cuts to critical frontline roles at Customs and Internal Affairs. ...5 days ago - Supermarket facial recognition failure: why automated systems must put the human factor first
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Rickerby, Lecturer, School of Product Design, University of Canterbury Getty Images The incident of a woman misidentified by facial recognition technology at a Rotorua supermarket should have come as no surprise. When Foodstuffs North Island announced its intention to trial ...5 days ago - Job cuts: Proposal for 79 roles to go at airports, ports
Workers from teams such as boarder operations, intelligence and compliance service delivery are on the chopping block, PSA says. ...5 days ago - New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a good cry: All of Us Strangers (Disney+) It’s the dreamlike, emotional film that had viewers running from the cinema in floods of tears, and ...5 days ago - Foreign Minister Winston Peters defers recognition of PalestineThe foreign minister says diplomatic recognition of Palestine is a matter of "when not if", but doing so now could impede progress towards a two-state solution. ...5 days ago
- Watch live: Three strikes policy to return with changes, PM announcesThe coalition will reintroduce the sentencing law later this year - but it will be slightly different than last time. ...5 days ago
- Global Military Spending Increase Threatens Humanity And The PlanetSIPRI has estimated global military expenditure last year was at least $2,443 billion (USD, ±$4,150 billion NZD), an increase of 6.8% in real terms from 2022 and the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009. ...5 days ago
- Why the Waitangi Tribunal has summonsed a minister – and why the Crown is fighting itToday in the High Court, Crown lawyers will argue that the minister for children shouldn’t have to appear in front of the Waitangi Tribunal to answer questions about proposed changes to the Oranga Tamariki Act. Carwyn Jones explains. The past week has seen two cabinet ministers publicly criticise the actions ...5 days ago
- What do we make of The Tortured Poets Department?Our tortured critics department reviews the new Taylor Swift album. On Friday, Taylor Swift smashed records held by the likes of Taylor Swift and Taylor Swift, when her new album The Tortured Poets Department became the most streamed album on Spotify in a single day. Her 11th album had only ...5 days ago
- Labor maintains narrow Newspoll lead but drops in other pollsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted April 15–18 from a sample of 1,236, gave Labor a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the previous Newspoll in ...5 days ago
- More than half of Solomon Islands election results in as counting continuesBy Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara More than 60 percent of the national results of the Solomon Islands election are now in. So far, two female MPs have been elected and three former prime ministers may be in the running for the top job. Counting is still progressing ...5 days ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 22 April
The post Daily crossword, Monday 22 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago - How Popstars and TrueBliss changed reality television foreverThis week we’re celebrating 25 years since the first episode of Popstars, a series that cemented TrueBliss in our pop culture history and created a new genre of reality television. Today, Alex Casey looks back at the origin story of Popstars and its impact. It could have been our own ...5 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 22 AprilLoading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 22 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Health NZ denies it's ordered a hiring freezeThe agency says it is still recruiting to fill shortages after writing about a ban on double shifts and closing some vacant roles. ...5 days ago
- Government risks own goal in cutting funding for Growing up in New ZealandA study that tracks the life course of 6,000 kids provides crucial data for government decision making and spending, say those involved. Yet the axe hovers over Growing up in New Zealand, writes Max Rashbrooke. The government risks sabotaging its own targets – on school attendance, for instance – if ...5 days ago
- How will US foreign policy affect Joe Biden’s chances of re-election in November?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Shortis, Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University When big questions about American foreign policy collide with an election, it’s rarely good news for a sitting president. Like many leaders before him, US President Joe ...5 days ago
- Unstable employment while you’re young can set you up for a wage gap later in life – even if you...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Irma Mooi-Reci, Professor in Labour Sociology, The University of Melbourne The Conversation/Pexels/Unsplash, CC BY As they kick off their careers, young people often have to navigate a maze of short-term and casual jobs. In Australia, many of them also wish to ...5 days ago
- Lending rule changes a prelude to bigger overhaul of CCCFAThe government has announced tweaks to the much-maligned law, but isn’t scrapping the lending affordability regulations – at least, not yet, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The first stage of ...5 days ago
- Financial mentoring services sound warning over wind-back of lending regulationsThe government is reforming the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA), which it says has created unnecessary compliance costs, and blown out the timeframes for accessing a loan. ...5 days ago
- New Zealand Passport system upgrades lead to longer processing timesThe government target for processing passports is 10 days but the current wait-time guideline is much longer than that. ...5 days ago
- In demand but disempowered: why low-skilled migrant workers face even worse exploitation under NZ’...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francis L Collins, Professor of Sociology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Arkadiusz Warguła/Getty Images The New Zealand government claims its recently announced changes to visa rules will address exploitation and unsustainable migration. In reality, the new rules are likely to ...5 days ago
- Consultants are just the sound of cans being kicked down potholed roadsOpinion: We do not need to spend resources on identifying our problems because the big ones are already obvious The post Consultants are just the sound of cans being kicked down potholed roads appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- At least two businesses invited to apply for fast-track consents have donated to National, says Labo...Labour is warning that allowing just three ministers the last word on fast-tracking infrastructure projects opens them up to accusations of bias, especially when political donations might muddy the waters. ...5 days ago
- There’s no need to make emergency housing harder. It’s hard enough alreadyTrust me, I know: I’ve been living in a damp, violent hotel in central Auckland for six months and counting. I get it, Minister. I really do. You want us out of emergency housing. And believe me, so do we. I have been living in emergency accommodation in a hotel ...5 days ago
- A list of transport projects Wellington could actually deliver in the next 10-15 yearsMetlink is warning Wellington commuters to expect buses to replace trains on weekends for the next 10-15 years. But there are a few things to look forward to while we wait. Thomas Nash is a Greater Wellington Regional Councillor. Ten to fifteen years. Four little words that sparked a mini ...5 days ago
- The revolution will be memoired1967: I hadn’t heard from my family in Rotorua for months and months, not a letter or a phone call, nothing. One weekend I decided to go back on the Herald bus, along with bundles of newspapers tied up with rough twine that were stacked in the side compartments and ...5 days ago
- Maths education more than just test scoresOpinion: There has been a lot of talk of late about maths education due to New Zealand’s poor results in international testing. We can certainly improve maths learning experiences in our classrooms, and outcomes. However, I’m concerned that the desire to get better test results might lead to undesirable curriculum ...5 days ago
- Breaking barriers on sexual assault figuresAlison Mau had two choices when she was laid off from Stuff – carry on in journalism but not her specialist #MeToo reporting or quit the industry and try to make a meaningful difference in that area. She chose the latter and teamed up with another high-profile campaigner, barrister Zoe ...5 days ago
- Where is she now? Sonia WaddellIn a full circle moment, Olympic rower Sonia Waddell is back entrenched in the sport of athletics – the first of three codes in which she’s worn the silver fern. “Athletics will always be my passion, even though I ended up rowing at the Olympics,” laughs Waddell, at home ...5 days ago
- Taiwan wants NZ support to counter ‘expanding authoritarianism’Taiwan’s foreign minister says the territory can also expand ties with New Zealand in areas less likely to attract Chinese ire The post Taiwan wants NZ support to counter ‘expanding authoritarianism’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Markets at a tipping point as outlook darkensBusiness and investing: Half a year of stock market gains seem to be over as uncertainty starts to grow The post Markets at a tipping point as outlook darkens appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Iwi, business lay down the wero for climate ministerTangata whenua has laid down the wero for the climate minister, while business is urging the Government to go faster and further The post Iwi, business lay down the wero for climate minister appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- How NZ can truly be independent in foreign policyComment: This country talks up its independent foreign policy but in reality it is not much more than an aspiration, still wedded to western worldviews The post How NZ can truly be independent in foreign policy appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- View from The Hill: Albanese to walk Kokoda track and engage in some jungle diplomacySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese will trek the Kokoda track on Tuesday and Wednesday before attending the Anzac Day dawn service at the Isurava Memorial site that commemorates one of the toughest battles the Australians fought in the ...5 days ago
- Australian author leads silent protest over ‘blood debt’ owed to PapuansAsia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...5 days ago
- EDS Highlights Reputational Risks Of Fast-track Inclusion“Make no mistake: this proposed legislation, with its Ministerial overreach and capacity for environmental harm, is extremely radical and controversial,” said EDS CEO Gary Taylor. ...5 days ago
- Government agrees to raise concerns about forcible deportation of Afghans with PakistanThe government has promised to raise concerns about the forcible deportation of Afghans with Pakistan. ...5 days ago
- Australia’s social cohesion under strain, challenges and solutionsPacific Media Watch Australians are being urged to stay united following the horrific events in Sydney last week, reports the ABC’s Saturday Extra programme. Five women and one man were killed in a mass stabbing at Bondi Junction last Saturday by a man with a history of mental illness, and ...6 days ago
- Government announces lending changesThe government has announced it will reform financial services in a bid to make it easier to get home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections. ...6 days ago
- Who helps with the 'huge emotional toll' of being an MP?The House - MPs have some of the highest pressure jobs in New Zealand, and the stressors aren't always what you might think. ...6 days ago
- How to read a poem: All day on Ma’uke by Rob HackThe latest in a semi-regular series that breaks down a poem to analyse what it’s really trying to tell us. In this edition of How to Read a Poem, Vaughan Rapatahana reads All day on Ma’uke by Rob Hack, published in a new anthology called Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika poetry from ...6 days ago
- Hear me out: It’s embarrassing that Wellington doesn’t have an ice rink Wellington’s lack of ice rinks undermines our credibility as a ‘capital’, much less a ‘city’, writes ice enthusiast Fox Meyer. When I moved to Aotearoa to study, I had several universities to choose from. I ignored all their academic merit and simply googled “best ice rink in New Zealand”. Google ...6 days ago
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon returning from Southeast Asian tripPolitical issues such as the war in the Middle East had not overshadowed Southeast Asian mission, Christopher Luxon says. ...6 days ago
- Luxon pushes at an open door in Southeast AsiaAnalysis: Christopher Luxon’s first trip outside Australasia should be seen as a success. But the real test is whether he can translate his new friendships into a cohesive strategy for Asia, backed by the resources to see it through. During the Prime Minister’s five days travelling through Singapore, Bangkok and ...6 days ago
- Time to give your heart (and wallet) an oil changeOpinion: Extreme weather events in Europe, where most of our olive oil is imported from, have led to reduced olive harvests and higher prices for olive oil on our supermarket shelves. In March it was estimated to be the highest global price in 26 years. Only about 10 percent of ...6 days ago
- An Ode to .. Simeon BrownSimeon’s Hole The Profit Simeon walked upon The Concrete Overpasses of the Holey Land. “Cancel everything,” he told his followers. “Including the ferries …?” “Cancel.” “Auckland light rail … ?” “Cancel.” “The Mt Victoria double tunnels of prophecy …?” “Cancel.” His followers wondered aloud at this zealous fervour. But the ...6 days ago
- Lest we forget? The shame of our two-tier veteran’s systemOur laws are leaving many veterans who served after 1974 out in the cold. I know, because I’m one of them. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. As I write this story, I am in constant pain. My hands shake with adrenaline, and the ...6 days ago
- Five reasons why you should watch new reality series My Mum, Your Dad NZThree’s new dating show breaks all the reality rules, writes Tara Ward. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you think dating shows are only for the young, think again. From The Bachelor, to Too Hot to Handle, to Love Is Blind, there’s ...6 days ago
- Firms invited to apply for fast-track consents include 'environmental destroyers' – ...Environmentalists have slammed a list of organisations who have been invited to apply to the Government's proposed fast-track approvals scheme. ...6 days ago
- Solomon Islands political chess begins with Manasseh Sogavare re-elected in East ChoiseulBy Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara Solomon Islands’ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency. It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the country’s next government. Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after ...7 days ago
- The moment of friction.Headline: The moment of friction. – 36th Parallel Assessments In strategic studies “friction” is a term that it is used to describe the moment when military action encounters adversary resistance. “Friction” is one of four (along with an unofficial fifth) “F’s” in military strategy, which includes force (kinetic mass), ...7 days ago
- Fast-track Bill A Fraud Being Perpetrated On All Future GenerationsThe Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...7 days ago
- Focus on Politics: Luxon boosts defence amid rising global tensionsAs global tensions escalated this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was touring Southeast Asia, strengthening defence and security ties. ...7 days ago
- Why the pathology bulk-billing campaign is more about driving industry profits than saving you moneySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...7 days ago
- All about Emma: Three writers talk about the name they share in commonEmmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...7 days ago
- Restoring coastal habitat boosts wildlife numbers by 61% – but puzzling failures mean we can still...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...7 days ago
- Public sector job cuts: Affected staff criticise leaders' handling of announcementsStaff are shell shocked and frustrated, and say leaders handled the announcements poorly. ...7 days ago
- ‘The room went dead quiet’: Josh Thomson on his worst 7 Days momentJosh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...7 days ago
- Shadow-boxing turns real for Israel and IranIn apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...7 days ago
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets KPIs on Southeast Asia missionPower Play - Asked for his own assessment of the visit, the prime minister said he was returning home "excited and energised". ...7 days ago
- Embracing Māori Representation Enriches Democracy, Not Divides ItMāori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...7 days ago
- Thomas James is a master of inventionWhen Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...1 week ago
- Anne Salmond: My open submission on this radical, flawed fast-track billThis week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...1 week ago
- Short story: Finally, by Caoimhe McKeoghThe summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...1 week ago
- All 28 road tunnels in New Zealand ranked from worst to bestFrom the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...1 week ago
- How to make the most of your market haulLucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...1 week ago
- From a library basement comes a fashion historyZoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...1 week ago
- Rousing farewell for Kiwi doctors flying out to Gaza aid flotillaKia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...1 week ago
- Communities Against The Fast-track Heartened By ‘Overwhelming’ Public Response; Disgusted By ‘...With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...1 week ago
- Renters Rights To Drastically Reduce Under Landlord GovernmentThe Government’s announced changes around tenancy rules set renters’ rights back by nearly a decade. ...1 week ago
- NZPI Submission on Fast Track Approvals BillOur response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...1 week ago
- Fast Track Invite List Includes Most Destructive Industries In New ZealandThe new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...1 week ago
- Eugene Doyle: Helen Clark on why AUKUS isn’t in New Zealand’s national interestCOMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...1 week ago
- Government releases list of organisations shoulder-tapped for fast-track consentsThe government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...1 week ago
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