Sorry but to me you have a habit of being obtuse. In answer to your question, no, I have never imagined Luxon with anyone else's hair on his bald head.
Maybe this guy has more substance than the wokester thing suggests…
One of his flagship policies was the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, which he promised would streamline existing legislation as well as add additional protections to minorities while maintaining rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The bill has been criticised by the Catholic Church, the National Secular Society as well as writers, and in September 2020 it was amended to remove prosecution for cases of unintentionally stirring up hate, which could theoretically include libraries stocking contentious books.
Despite his initial promises, Yousaf in October 2020 said that the exception to the Public Order Act 1986 which allows people to use "otherwise illegal language" in their own homes should be abolished.
He's capable of learning from experience, in other words. His tight winning margin will reign in his innate wokesterism considerably, one would expect.
Both tv news channels led with the Costello story. One's reporter said she was dancing on the head of a pin, but 3's political editor seemed unable to grasp an obvious angle. Think the story will grow legs tomorrow when more capable analysts pitch in.
The problem with such people is they simply don't know how stupid they are so they are able to ride out the consequences of their behaviour without batting an eyelid.
I actually spot checked Slater's interview with Costello. Never again. Slater claimed this Coalition govt. is the first one to produce actual documents and everyone knows the agreement. Costello in her ignorance agreed.
1) We don't know because they have never been released – as far as I know.
2) I distinctly recall Ardern and Peters signing their coalition documents in front of the TV cameras in 2017.
Now, Assoc Health Minister Casey Costello tells the House, when grilled, that the notes she handed to officials on tobacco excise were a 5-page compilation of past NZ First policy positions by a variety of unknown authors.
Ah, the plausible deniability play. When producing party policy documents, initial suggestions have individual authors. Compilations may, but when accepted by the party via a formal decision as draft policy, they become group-authored so they show up as anonymous. No blame here…
Does the minister not know that when she hands over group-authored notes to health ministry officials in the form of past NZ First policy, those notes speak for her?
I mean, they’re already going for the Sergeant Schultz defence only three months in…
Public health Professor Janet Hoek, alongside co-authors from the University of Otago, released an article documenting possible channels of influence and similarities between the rhetoric used by the Coalition Government and the tobacco lobby.
They say it "makes it timely to remind politicians of their" obligations under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). FCTC includes clauses to protect policymaking from tobacco industry interference – which has been ratified by New Zealand – meaning it's critical the G free from interference. Article 5.3 of the FCTC requires governments to "interact with tobacco companies only as required for regulatory purposes", as acknowledged on the New Zealand Ministry of Health's website.
I expect the Green Left Network to put up an alternative candidate, if only to try & prove they ain't as pathetic as their misbehaviour in recent years suggests.
To provide evidence for why they'll be totally paranoid about her, one could best cite her greatest hits (an eclectic selection)…
She "graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. She says she did not want to be a lawyer but wanted to learn more about the Treaty of Waitangi and the legal system."
"In 2012, Swarbrick opened her first business, a New Zealand-made fashion label called The Lucid Collective"
"Around the same time, she began working in the newsroom at the student radio station 95bFM as a news writer and newsreader, before becoming a producer and eventually host of The Wire."
"In 2014, Swarbrick wrote her first piece for What's Good magazine. She became the editor, and an owner. Later that year, The Lucid Collective held a New Zealand Fashion Week side-show at the Gow Langsford Gallery and participated in the "Youthquake" exhibition at the New Zealand Fashion Museum. The label went on to be stocked across Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, before Swarbrick and Bartley Catt closed the business.
Swarbrick won a New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award. In 2016, Swarbrick and Bartley Catt started a digital consultancy and artist management agency called TIPS.
In May 2019, Swarbrick received the Jane Goodall Trailblazer Award.[which] recognises individuals who have demonstrated dedication to the prosperity of animals, people, or the planet through their work. In 2020, Swarbrick was named to Fortune magazine's '40 Under 40' listing under the "Government and Politics" category.
At age 23 she was the youngest politician to enter Parliament in New Zealand since Marilyn Waring in 1975.
It's partly that onward & upward trend that will spook the GLN, but mainly her proficiency in capitalist operating procedure, which will be beyond their cerebral capacity to integrate. Not so much that they will see her as inherently rightist – more that it gives her considerable influence amongst centrists & critical swing voters.
Rather than trying to predict their behaviour, best to wait & see what they do. If they fail to promote a leftist alternative, everyone will assume they're still just hot air.
there were a fair few lefties (including on TS) who believed CS was right wing when she first went into politics. Her background was hard for some people to parse. Likewise Shaw, some people still think he's a neoliberal shill. Bizarre.
I'm not sure if she is the best person for the job, depends on who else stands. Def a front runner, but I hope Teanau Tuiono puts his hand up, and Genter. I'd like to see some things hashed out, the candidates put through their paces, and the membership have the opportunity to learn more about them. The public too.
I'm not sure if she is the best person for the job
Likewise, but I cited her greatest hits when I saw them on Wikipedia, because it gave her more substance & credibility than I thought she actually had – I was impressed! Shame she can't grasp that minority rights isn't a doctrine to be used by parliamentarians to discriminate against free speech users, but maybe she'll get there eventually…
Yeah, the party problem. They're all guilty. They will eventually have to face up to admitting that censoring elderly members is a suppression of minority rights – until then they will seem clueless in public whenever they do it.
Of course they will whine & moan `we only did it once'. It's still wrong. They are insufficiently moral.
The censoring of the 80 year old feminist on the GP website that caused me to cease involvement with the party for the second time about 3 years ago, plus the editor's resignation, meaning two women were victimised.
We've discussed this previously, I think. They seem to feel they must privilege trans worries at the expense of the civil rights of others. I realise it may just be being obtuse rather than deliberate discrimination.
Playing the victim (also known as victim playing, victim card, or self-victimization) is the fabrication or exaggeration of victimhood for a variety of reasons such as to justify abuse to others, to manipulate others, a coping strategy, attention seeking or diffusion of responsibility.
To be honest, given your comment history I think it's a coping strategy, and attention seeking…actually, its all of them.
I strongly suggest that you stop with the personal insults because it's starting to look like a pattern of behaviour (and then I will put my mod hat on).
Cool, cool. In addition to you not knowing the first thing about press conferences, you also know nothing about business and entrepreneurship.
A question to the mods: What are the previous handles this ISP has commented under? It’s not breaking anonymity or pseudo-anonymity and I think users of this forum should know this stuff.
Pretty sure that CP tends to use the same handle most or all of the time.
This is an inexact science because of the way that dynamic IPs are allocated and reused by ISPs. It becomes a art of looking at frequencies.
select distinct comment_author, count(*), count(distinct(to_ip(comment_author_ip))) as ips from wp_comments where comment_author_ip in (
select distinct to_ip(comment_author_ip) from wp_comments where comment_author="Chess Player" ) group by comment_author;
CP has 426 comments under IPs associated with "Chess Player" across 65 IPs. Has only had one 'e-mail' since November 2008.
There are 43 other handles that have shared those same IPs. Now just to point out how complicated this gets. Two of the results are….
Muttonbird 6 comments on 2 IPs that Chess Player also used.
lprent 16 comments on 2 IPs that Chess Player also used.
Since I haven't made any comments as CP and I suspect you haven't either. I guess that is just the dynamic IPs inside a region or the IPs being shuffled by the ISPs.
I have the highest number of matches, which probably reflects the number of comments I have made on the site since 2007. Yours is the 6th equal most frequent match
Note that this looks at all stored comments including those that are not visible because they are in the trash or set to not visible.
What are the previous handles this ISP has commented under?
So short answer – and assuming you meant IP. Chess Player doesn't appear to use other handles. I'd have to do a lexical analysis to be more certain. But there probably aren't large enough sub-samples sizes…
Republicans are about to be blindsided by a pop culture tsunami called Taylor Swift. They are in no way ready for it.
Republicans have always been terrible at reaching younger voters, mostly because they don’t really try. When they put the Republican National Committee chairwoman on the Sunday morning shows, the only twenty-somethings that reaches are the ones who fell asleep with the TV on, and are now too hung over to crawl to the coffee table and grab the remote.
Democrats, on the other hand, have all the avenues of pop culture under their control. They police them, shunning and canceling anything not in keeping with progressive orthodoxy, so as to stifle dissent through the threat of lost work.
she has stood out as an intellectual and philosophical giant for the Left. Her ability to articulate and promote progressive ideas and values is a once in a generation talent. She’s the Jacinda we all wished Jacinda could have been.
Her power to persuade, her wit and her intelligence mark her out as the leader the NZ left have been begging for. And that could spell political doom for Labour. One of the take aways from the latest Roy Morgan Poll which saw the Right lose almost 7% was that barely any of that went to Labour.
His screwball fan club is all over the place as usual, but the news that Bibi threatened Jacinda on a phone call came from out of left field. A fantasy? If the RM is a precursor, the support for the right is already ebbing and next poll will illuminate the trend.
I did not know this. Dairy farms created from draining wetlands release historically bound carbon from the soil. Pakeha settler colonists raising wetlands has destroyed an important natural carbon sink:
A surprisingly high share of New Zealand's carbon dioxide emissions comes from a tiny proportion of soil – peat bogs that have been drained and are mainly used for dairying in Waikato, Southland, Northland and elsewhere.
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
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Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
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On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
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Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
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This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
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span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
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Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,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, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
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The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
Has anyone else now started imagining Luxon with the hair of the shadow standing beside him?
Hair of the shadow?
He is never interviewed alone and the shadow never has a bald head.
Sorry but to me you have a habit of being obtuse. In answer to your question, no, I have never imagined Luxon with anyone else's hair on his bald head.
Because of the camera focus it’s impossible to spot the hairy tail that wags the bald dog.
Do we know what the shadow's name is? He works very hard.
Brilliant move by Luxon to bring his bald man alter ego for the visit to the marae
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350163671/tama-potaka-rules-out-treaty-referendum-new-minister-prepares-waitangi.
Maybe this guy has more substance than the wokester thing suggests…
He's capable of learning from experience, in other words. His tight winning margin will reign in his innate wokesterism considerably, one would expect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humza_Yousaf
Both tv news channels led with the Costello story. One's reporter said she was dancing on the head of a pin, but 3's political editor seemed unable to grasp an obvious angle. Think the story will grow legs tomorrow when more capable analysts pitch in.
Ms Costello is a perfect example of the:
https://therapist.com/behaviors/dunning-kruger-effect/
The problem with such people is they simply don't know how stupid they are so they are able to ride out the consequences of their behaviour without batting an eyelid.
I actually spot checked Slater's interview with Costello. Never again. Slater claimed this Coalition govt. is the first one to produce actual documents and everyone knows the agreement. Costello in her ignorance agreed.
1) We don't know because they have never been released – as far as I know.
2) I distinctly recall Ardern and Peters signing their coalition documents in front of the TV cameras in 2017.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/342266/video-coalition-deals-signed
Also, there is a very close link between Costello/NZF and the anti-vax cookers at InsanityCheck Radio.
Another strong contender:
It makes him feel so speedy he imagines running rings around everyone all the time. Gets him right off.
I presume that's due to not asking Winston for it! Intrepid reporters should note this lapse & ask him for it themselves.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/02/labour-calls-for-minister-casey-costello-s-sacking-over-new-tobacco-revelation.html
That's a good summary actually – we've had a few PMs like that too
Casey dindu nuffin…
@tmurphyNZ
Now, Assoc Health Minister Casey Costello tells the House, when grilled, that the notes she handed to officials on tobacco excise were a 5-page compilation of past NZ First policy positions by a variety of unknown authors.
https://twitter.com/tmurphyNZ/status/1752868124469411911
Ah, the plausible deniability play. When producing party policy documents, initial suggestions have individual authors. Compilations may, but when accepted by the party via a formal decision as draft policy, they become group-authored so they show up as anonymous. No blame here…
Does the minister not know that when she hands over group-authored notes to health ministry officials in the form of past NZ First policy, those notes speak for her?
I mean, they’re already going for the Sergeant Schultz defence only three months in…
Complicity with tobacco companies is detailed here, providing names linking occupations to National & NZF: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/02/experts-detail-swathe-of-possible-connections-between-coalition-government-politicians-and-tobacco-industry-david-seymour-responds.html
There is a pun about smoke and mirrors, but for all the consternation about tobacco influence, y'all have short memories…
From less than a year ago, or is it only bad if they do it?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/486390/prime-minister-chris-hipkins-responds-to-revelations-chief-of-staff-led-lobbying-firm
So Chloe launches her bid 11am tomorrow: https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350164491/live-chloe-swarbrick-announce-co-leadership-bid
I expect the Green Left Network to put up an alternative candidate, if only to try & prove they ain't as pathetic as their misbehaviour in recent years suggests.
To provide evidence for why they'll be totally paranoid about her, one could best cite her greatest hits (an eclectic selection)…
It's partly that onward & upward trend that will spook the GLN, but mainly her proficiency in capitalist operating procedure, which will be beyond their cerebral capacity to integrate. Not so much that they will see her as inherently rightist – more that it gives her considerable influence amongst centrists & critical swing voters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chl%C3%B6e_Swarbrick
Dear oh dear. You do use a vast number of words to say nothing.
Chloe will get the job because she's the best candidate. It's that simple.
Who's paranoid? Any examples, anybody at all? In reality, not your imagination.
Thank you Observer – I'm always tempted to have a crack, but fear I would lose my cool.
Rather than trying to predict their behaviour, best to wait & see what they do. If they fail to promote a leftist alternative, everyone will assume they're still just hot air.
there were a fair few lefties (including on TS) who believed CS was right wing when she first went into politics. Her background was hard for some people to parse. Likewise Shaw, some people still think he's a neoliberal shill. Bizarre.
I'm not sure if she is the best person for the job, depends on who else stands. Def a front runner, but I hope Teanau Tuiono puts his hand up, and Genter. I'd like to see some things hashed out, the candidates put through their paces, and the membership have the opportunity to learn more about them. The public too.
I'm not sure if she is the best person for the job
Likewise, but I cited her greatest hits when I saw them on Wikipedia, because it gave her more substance & credibility than I thought she actually had – I was impressed! Shame she can't grasp that minority rights isn't a doctrine to be used by parliamentarians to discriminate against free speech users, but maybe she'll get there eventually…
what's that referring to specifically? Because isn't that a party problem?
Yeah, the party problem. They're all guilty. They will eventually have to face up to admitting that censoring elderly members is a suppression of minority rights – until then they will seem clueless in public whenever they do it.
Of course they will whine & moan `we only did it once'. It's still wrong. They are insufficiently moral.
can you please explain what you are referring to?
The censoring of the 80 year old feminist on the GP website that caused me to cease involvement with the party for the second time about 3 years ago, plus the editor's resignation, meaning two women were victimised.
We've discussed this previously, I think. They seem to feel they must privilege trans worries at the expense of the civil rights of others. I realise it may just be being obtuse rather than deliberate discrimination.
leaving aside the content of this speech, the style makes me uncomfortable. I'm not a fan of the bible thumping approach to politics.
Same, but her passion does seem to work for her audience as per tradition. She risks seeming shrill when she does that style though.
Beautiful. Marginalised boomer playing the victim there:
To be honest, given your comment history I think it's a coping strategy, and attention seeking…actually, its all of them.
I strongly suggest that you stop with the personal insults because it's starting to look like a pattern of behaviour (and then I will put my mod hat on).
Dunno what the hell you're on about. If you're trying to suggest that you don't comprehend the principle of minority rights, why not just say that??
At least I know what minority means.
Interested in whether any of the 'businesses' Swarbrick created are still in business, and if not, how long they lasted?
Starting's easy – finishing is hard.
Cool, cool. In addition to you not knowing the first thing about press conferences, you also know nothing about business and entrepreneurship.
A question to the mods: What are the previous handles this ISP has commented under? It’s not breaking anonymity or pseudo-anonymity and I think users of this forum should know this stuff.
Pretty sure that CP tends to use the same handle most or all of the time.
This is an inexact science because of the way that dynamic IPs are allocated and reused by ISPs. It becomes a art of looking at frequencies.
select distinct comment_author, count(*), count(distinct(to_ip(comment_author_ip))) as ips from wp_comments where comment_author_ip in (
select distinct to_ip(comment_author_ip) from wp_comments where comment_author="Chess Player" ) group by comment_author;
CP has 426 comments under IPs associated with "Chess Player" across 65 IPs. Has only had one 'e-mail' since November 2008.
There are 43 other handles that have shared those same IPs. Now just to point out how complicated this gets. Two of the results are….
Muttonbird 6 comments on 2 IPs that Chess Player also used.
lprent 16 comments on 2 IPs that Chess Player also used.
Since I haven't made any comments as CP and I suspect you haven't either. I guess that is just the dynamic IPs inside a region or the IPs being shuffled by the ISPs.
I have the highest number of matches, which probably reflects the number of comments I have made on the site since 2007. Yours is the 6th equal most frequent match
Note that this looks at all stored comments including those that are not visible because they are in the trash or set to not visible.
What are the previous handles this ISP has commented under?
So short answer – and assuming you meant IP. Chess Player doesn't appear to use other handles. I'd have to do a lexical analysis to be more certain. But there probably aren't large enough sub-samples sizes…
😈
Apologies, I'm sure you didn't need that distraction, but it was very informative!
So, IP doesn’t count and nothing to stop Chess Player commenting under a different handle with a different email address.
Taylor Swift tells her father that she's done with saying nothing.
https://youtu.be/BDMwCGdKeCQ
Republicans are about to be blindsided by a pop culture tsunami called Taylor Swift. They are in no way ready for it.
Republicans have always been terrible at reaching younger voters, mostly because they don’t really try. When they put the Republican National Committee chairwoman on the Sunday morning shows, the only twenty-somethings that reaches are the ones who fell asleep with the TV on, and are now too hung over to crawl to the coffee table and grab the remote.
Democrats, on the other hand, have all the avenues of pop culture under their control. They police them, shunning and canceling anything not in keeping with progressive orthodoxy, so as to stifle dissent through the threat of lost work.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-republicans-have-a-serious-taylor-swift-problem/ar-BB1hxVxh?
Bomber's view of Chloe:
His screwball fan club is all over the place as usual, but the news that Bibi threatened Jacinda on a phone call came from out of left field. A fantasy? If the RM is a precursor, the support for the right is already ebbing and next poll will illuminate the trend.
This is disgraceful. In-zone family tries to enrol child at a state school but is told no because they don't have a fixed term tenancy.
That is clearly not the rules and the school has been savaged by the ministry of education and now The Herald:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ministry-of-education-intervention-needed-after-school-refuses-to-enrol-child-because-family-didnt-have-fixed-tenancy-agreement-of-at-least-a-year/3XTNBV4AGBGNTMR2L5KO6H4AMI/
This is just another example of discriminatory action against renting families and to be honest the country should be ashamed.
Watch for much, much more of this type of behaviour under ACT’s profit seeking education sector model.
I did not know this. Dairy farms created from draining wetlands release historically bound carbon from the soil. Pakeha settler colonists raising wetlands has destroyed an important natural carbon sink:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/508011/tiny-portion-of-new-zealand-soil-making-twice-the-carbon-dioxide-previously-totalled
It's an issue for the EU – Denmark, Netherlands and Eire.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/eu-dairy-farms-on-peat-soil-may-face-serious-challenges-rabobank/
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/repeat-project-200-year-old-maps-helping-to-direct-our-climate-change-path/