Gardner-Hopkins fought his suspension right the way through the Tribunal process – and IIRC only admitted his offending when he was forced to (in an attempt to bargain down the sentence with a show of remorse) [NB: that's my opinion]
He's still within the suspension period (3 years) – and I just think it's really tone-deaf for the Ngāti Paoa Trust Board to nominate him (as the sole choice) to sit on a resource consent hearing panel.
When his offending came from a position of power – as a senior figure in the law firm abusing young interns – I really don't think it's appropriate for him to be placed in a position of authority again, at this time.
The response from the Iwi representative, doesn't fill me with confidence that they perceive him as having done anything wrong, or that they are prepared to adequately supervise him in this role.
Asked why Gardner-Hopkins was chosen, Roebuck replied, “why not?”
“If you have done your time … it has nothing to do with this thing.”
Gardner-Hopkins was the only and best possible nominee for the iwi to put forward and had represented it before. His appointment was not as a lawyer, Roebuck said.
“I don’t have any opinion on his past indiscretion.”
The doctors I know are usually pretty happy to put you on statins, hypertension medicine etc without looking at the underlying causes.
For me, after giving up alcohol, refined sugar (mostly) and losing over 10kg weight and watching my diet and sleep, I have managed to wean myself off all meds after 10 years on them
I’d suggest that your assumptions about doctors prescribing statins is somewhat inaccurate or that you need better doctors.
IMHO, people ought to take more responsibility for their health and wellbeing rather than ignorantly criticising trained professional health workers and blaming or their ills on others and/or inadequate drugs & treatments.
Can we get this clear? I have just stated that I am taking control of my own health. Are you referring to me as ignorant? It's hard to read the room here,
I would have expected a little gratitude for me taking some pressure off public resources
I do need better doctors, yes, but many of them were sacked during you know what, so I am left with the "consensus" who just follow the pharma narrative.
I've had doctors personally speak to me about this
Look, first you insinuated that those doctors are careless and bordering on professionally negligent by prescribing statins without looking at underlying causes. Next, you claim special hero status for looking after yourself and taking responsibility for your health and wellbeing – you deserve a medal for that!
If your doctors were sacked then I’d repeat my earlier suggestion that you need to see better doctors.
It is lovely to hear that doctors spoke to you about that (??) but not about the underlying causes of your condition that justified prescribing statins to you.
As with almost anything medical you can find studies and papers both supporting and challenging almost any treatment. Statins are no exception.
The real problem for GPs is their business model. A 10 – 15 minute appointment, a short conversation, maybe a BP check, and maybe some blood tests or a referral to a specialist. Nowhere near time enough to understand, much less work with the whole patient.
And unlike Andy, most people are not going to stop the alcohol, sugar, refined carbs, and manage their sleep and stress better. So a prescription for some pills becomes the default expectation and setting.
I have no problem with my GP, he is a good guy and has been helpful to the degree he can be. But for results I work with a Functional Medicine specialist. A better doctor if you will.
Incidentally if weka reads this – I realised the other day that the first place I saw the term 'Functional Medicine' was in a comment you made maybe a year or so ago. That planted the seed in my mind and I followed it from there. Credit where it is due.
So are functional medicine specialists medical specialists (MBChB) with an extra specialty added? The link you had seemed to ally them with people who look at diet, exercise etc rather than the GP specialty.
My GP has two subspecialties – sports medicine and obstetrics – or are they alternate medicine practitioners like osteopaths? My GP refers on to people such as dieticians etc as well as to the hospital specialists and to specialists privately.
People are helped by many different people for their health and I am glad that you have found a person that helps you.
Just to add some more, as it has pelting down with rain just as I want to leave to do outside messages.
In my health conditions I have come across several health professionals (GPs) who say 'yep exercise and diet change and you won't need pharmaceutical input' Both good exercise and good food/diet/fodmapping are key parts of managing the risk of getting CVD and dealing with high cholesterol they are not the whole picture. The whole picture needs all of these plus pharma support and perhaps particular Vit B supplements. Perhaps counselling to deal with stress if that is part of the equation.
So having them all working with me and with each other has been ideal for me. They all feedback to my GP.
Functional medicine sits between alternative health and mainstream medicine. FM practitioners aren't medical doctors (although medical doctors can be FM practitioners). They are more science based than alt health, but they also extrapolate a fair bit rather than waiting for more definitive evidence.
They can be cutting edge, ahead of mainstream medicine, and they can also be dodgy. They're heavy on nutritional status (and thus supplementation).
I was thinking about the cutting edge stuff when I listened to this excellent interview on Saturday Morning recently.
Matthew Phillips is a neurologist and researcher whose focus is on ketogenic diets. He's doing mainstream research in an area that is not mainstream. The interview is worth listening to because he's socially intelligent as well as knowledgeable on the issues involved, but the point I want to make here is that alternative health (including functional medicine) has been experimenting with ketogenic and low carb diets for a long time. This includes people who have reversed their Type 2 diabetes for instance. many people use it for managing heart disease and other syndrome X conditions.
When I say experimenting, I mean they go and try it out and see if it works. For some people it really doesn't, others it does. The research in mainstream medicine follows the counter culture.
The problem here is that it's such a waste of time because mainstream medicine is just bad at picking up and exploring the cutting edge, emerging modalities. We could instead have a society that takes the best of both mainstream medicine and alt health and delivers holistic care.
The belief system of many science is god people is the main barrier. It's a major block to developing intregrated systems that are safer than what we have now and that offer a broader range of options. By safer I mean not only that we get the research much sooner and less people experimenting, but safe in that less people have to use interventions that are well studied but have serious side effects.
eg less people on statins, less side effects,, less cascading medical interventions, more people on diets that give better health across the board.
Sounds like I have got there through working with my open minded GP, listening/trying to all those I come into contact with for good ideas. My GP asks my beauty therapist to look for specific skin things and get back to him…..on the basis that I see her more often than I see him.
My condition cannot be managed without pharma support (50 years of many people, GPs included, saying oh we can do this with diet and exercise only') have proved this for me.
Always new things to learn.
I have had no side effects from statins in over 50 years. worked hard to get mine down to a medium high normal (over 5 less than 7)
My allergies are to pesky things like medical tape and the standard wash they use in operating theatres. I did have one years ago to dental sedation but they don't use this anymore! As an indication questions about skin type/hair colour are now routinely used by surgeons etc doing workups to trigger an enquiry about tape, washes and anaesthetics.
what do you think about the people who do get side effects from statins? Especially the people who are being overmedicalised?
No-one is challenging individual right or preference around health care here. The political point being made is that some people’s health is harmed by overmedicalisation. Citing person positive experiences in response to that doesn’t make sense to me, it comes across as dismissive even if that’s not what you intend.
So personal comments about bad things to do with statins are ok but personal comments are about good experiences are possibly 'dismissive' on my part and not part of the political point about over medicalisation.
Bearing in mind that the anti statins issue came about from a flip unreferenced comment from a poster that had no backing and that both Incognito and I have both put more balanced articles about the uses of statins, this approach is odd.
The political point I am making is that both sides of the statins case have valid points.
My personal views are:
a) for a brief moment in time Covid vaccinations replaced statins as the big 'medical' bogey du jour. Of course now that concerns about the vaccines have faded somewhat we now can let statins resume their place.
b) on over medicalisation is that for humans and for the future of easy and effective remedies the bigger concern above statins is the over use of antibiotics.
We now face a future where common illnesses are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. On a personal note again a family member is very allergic to penicillin. Managing illnesses, surgery both planned and unplanned without access to penicillin and penicillin based derivatives is very difficult as the substitutes are less effective. This is the future that we may all face.
Going to a Dr with a need for antibiotics & in the future finding that the infection is resistant to most antibiotics is much more likely to happen than possibly needing statins.
'Examples of services that could no longer be delivered safely without effective antibiotics are major surgery, cancer treatment, and prophylaxis in caesarean sections, not to mention the treatment of pneumonia. Through such mechanisms, antibiotic resistance has the potential to fundamentally change the functioning of health systems as we know them.'
On symptoms of statins the best case is to talk to the prescriber.
My point is that rather than possibly needing yet another specialist some GPs are melding in functional medicine into their practices even if their shingle does not say so…..
So personal comments about bad things to do with statins are ok but personal comments are about good experiences are possibly ‘dismissive’ on my part and not part of the political point about over medicalisation.
I wasn’t talking about people expressing personal opinions about statins (which seems to be what you are talking about there). I was referring to the difference between someone making a political point about statins, and someone else responding to that with an anecdote about personal use as if that was somehow a counter to the first point.
We know that statins work, in some cases very well. So it’s not a counter, it’s just a statement of the obvious. But it also diverts from the political point being made.
Bearing in mind that the anti statins issue came about from a flip unreferenced comment from a poster that had no backing and that both Incognito and I have both put more balanced articles about the uses of statins, this approach is odd.
Andy was asked to provide some evidence for his claims, which he did. I also referred to overprescribing and overmedicalisation, so if you thought his argument was too superficial you could have responded to my point. You didn’t put up more balanced arguments about the overprescribing/overmedicalisation issue. You’ve run lines that are basically implying that either it’s not really happening and/or it’s an issue for a patient and their doctor. This equates to saying it’s not a political issue.
The political point I am making is that both sides of the statins case have valid points.
What two sides? Either statins are being overprescribed and people are being overmedicalised, or that’s not happening.
a) for a brief moment in time Covid vaccinations replaced statins as the big ‘medical’ bogey du jour. Of course now that concerns about the vaccines have faded somewhat we now can let statins resume their place.
Again, denial that statin overuse is an issue. Statins aren’t a bogeyman, criticism of overuse is a normal response to overuse in the context of big pharma. You can’t solve that problem by leaving it to individuals to have conversations with their GP.
b) on over medicalisation is that for humans and for the future of easy and effective remedies the bigger concern above statins is the over use of antibiotics.
And? We should be concerned about antibiotic use and not statin use?
On symptoms of statins the best case is to talk to the prescriber.
In addition to that, where society allows commerce to push overmedicalisation, there is a political issue that needs wide discussion and debate.
My point is that rather than possibly needing yet another specialist some GPs are melding in functional medicine into their practices even if their shingle does not say so…..
That’s eliding two different conversations. From a political point of view, it’s problematic because while it’s true that some people can get good integrated medicine from their GPs, most can’t, and the reasons for that are political problems.
There seems to be a wider variety of medical practices here in Australia. Here is another example that I got in touch with, but they were too booked up to take new patients.
But the short answer to you question is the person I am working with is a fully qualified GP who has chosen Functional Medicine for a number of reasons; some personal, some professional.
Andy was asked to provide some evidence for his claims, which he did. I also referred to overprescribing and overmedicalisation, so if you thought his argument was too superficial you could have responded to my point
Andy has yet to provide anything about the so-called Reagan conflict of interest issue.
Thanks for your points.
The simple point is whether statins are being over prescribed or not and if so what to do.
The idea that this is a 'political' point is moot. I would have classed it as a medical issue myself with more traction being exerted by raising it as a public medical issue, encouraging complaints, education. There is already being work done, and this has been done at least since the 1990s into prescribing patterns as a clinical audit issue.
I have found a ref to a a study done using a programme attached to the Medtech programme used by Drs. It is from 2014. It shows that 16% of the population had been prescribed a statin. There is no indication whether this is too high or not high enough.
A point related to this and which is definitely political is that with the new health set-up that will work on populations, it will be much easier to work out if in fact there is an over prescription issue relating to statins.
This is because breaking down patients by populations/sample populations can mean that Drs are able to find if their patterns are too high based on the makeup of their patient population. So patient populations of largely older/sedentary people will be expected to have higher instances of high cholesterol & possible prescribing than a younger population.
Part of the reason that statins are prescribed and again this is political is that lifestyle changes are hard for patients. There is resistance and this is not always the fault of the patient. The healthy food needed to maintain a good diet for minimising cholesterol is expensive. Fresh vegetables are expensive, a modicum of good quality meat is expensive, some vegetarian options are expensive.
Many people on low incomes use food quality and lack, to balance budgets. Lifestyle exercise changes are often easier in a group or at public facilities. These cost money.
I don't believe in "big pharma conspiracies" but when corporate interests have control over testing their own products, and also have a large influence on the scientific literature, then regulatory capture and vested interests are of real concern.
Given that this is a side effect of neo-liberalism (and of deregulation of Pharma by Reagan, as I mentioned elsewhere), I'm surprised that more on the left don't raise concerns here. It appears to me to be a failure of the neo-liberal agenda
You could fool me with your comments when you now claim that you don’t believe (?) in “big pharma conspiracies”. Your history of comments in this area (incl. Covid-19) suggest differently. I’d suggest that you lift your game and avoid any ambiguities as to what you’re asserting in this space. I’m sure that everything is the fault of Reagan, Thatcher, and Roger Douglas and can be traced to their decisions but this hardly helps with present day issues such as using blood from NZBS to save the life of a NZ infant.
Stop being defensive and lift your game and I will release you from Pre-Mod, which is taking up my time.
Well conspiracies do exist. "Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice" is a criminal offense.
I can't comment on whether there was any collusion or otherwise by pharmaceutical companies in the recent times. There is ample evidence of corruption, as seen by the billions of dollars of fines against Pfizer and other companies over decades
I used to have a reasonable trust in the medical profession and pharma. For the latter at least, that has gone, without needing to lean on fruitbat theories about 5G or nanotech.
If seems "lifting my game" means unquestioning accepting the CV-19 response in NZ, then I'm unlikely to go there.
I will, however, try to reference my quotes and justify my position in a rational way, and ignore the usual commenters that taunt me
So does the Moon but this doesn’t mean you should bring it into the discussion unless it is pertinent. Unless you have a strong personal belief and/or an agenda. I judge your comments based on your past behaviour and record here.
If seems “lifting my game” means unquestioning accepting the CV-19 response in NZ, then I’m unlikely to go there.
Nope. You really do come across as absolutist and binary (i.e. B & W).
I will, however, try to reference my quotes and justify my position in a rational way …
Good, and I look forward to you showing this from now on.
I didn't bring any conspiracies into the discussion did I ?
I'm the one who keeps getting told that I am (a) defensive (b) a conspiracy theorist and (c) have a track record, with no evidence to back up, or any assistance on how to improve
I seem to recall that you mentioned all sorts of ‘conspiracy theories’ yesterday without making it clear where you draw the line and where your own personal beliefs start & stop. This is one reason why I put you in Pre-Mod; another Mod also had an issue with your commenting here.
Oh dear the reference to "conspiracy theory" was a joking reference to a poorly written Stuff piece about "cellphones emitting radiation" which the Stuff writer claimed was a "conspiracy theory" (It's a fact the last time I checked)
So my general comment was a somewhat flippant remark about how terms like this are weakened by misuse, like the ill-defined term "far right"
I did back up my comment by later quoting the piece.
Anyway it seems nuance is lost. Obviously my white and non-white binary way of thinking
Your flippant comment about cell phone emission conspiracy theories came in the middle of a discussion thread about donor blood. That triggered a Mod note but you keep digging in, litigating, and wasting my time.
You’re approaching the cliff’s edge where the ban hammer is waiting for you because we’re over it.
Start contributing to other comment threads or leave, voluntarily or otherwise.
It's actually quite simple. I'll use this comment as an example
I was watching a presentation yesterday about Statins and how pharma pushes them. Some were even advocating for putting Statins in the public water supply at one point.
Some day the public might actually thank these so-called "anti-vaxxers" for standing up to corporate tyranny.
Apparently, according to this presenter I refer to, this dates back to Reagan liberalising the pharma industry and letting them conduct their own clinical trials.
made several statements that on TS would be considered controversial
referred to a video without giving a reference
What that does is create bad debate culture. People react to #1 but have nothing to reference. They either try and argue against your point without knowing what it really means, or they have to spend time trying to get you to provide a reference.
From now on, you, Andy, will have to provide references everytime. and at the the time you make the comment. If you don't, you will get a short ban. Subsequent bans will increase exponentially until one of the mods gets sick of it and gives you a longer ban.
The reason for this is that the Mod notes in the back end are littered with mods having to get you inline with the debate culture here.
I'm also going to strongly suggest you stop making comments like this,
You don't get to decide where the boundaries are here, the mods do. You don't get to decide what is acceptable referencing, the mods to. Your referencing was fine in that comment, but the attitudinal stuff is grating. It won't take long to just ban you because I'm sick of the bullshit. Take moderation seriously and there won't be a problem.
"Agreement was reached that each councillor will have the opportunity on a rotating basis immediately prior to the opening of the ordinary Council Meeting to recite karakia, make statements of choice and forms of reflection.
Which was my core argument as well – that whatever they do in a spiritual or religious nature in the political context – it has to be a matter of choice.
Your view though RL was that by its very name, language and positioning at the start of a meeting that the karakia was an expression of a Maori religion.
This was despite the example provided by Sacha having no religious aspect to it. It had a reference to discussions being as smooth as a greenstone sea.
Posted for original discussion but TS was offline, so saved:
"I have no problem with the kariaka (as shown) becoming as familiar as a greeting such as:
"I want to welcome everyone who has come here today for…, I hope by the end of the session everyone will have had an opportunity to speak, and we will have achieved….".
Brief, appropriate and to the point.
This is not an unforeseen backlash though, in regards to the mayor's electoral campaign.
I'm just surprised it is not part of local government policy, and able to be removed so arbitrarily.
The issue should be addressed there if the karakia is considered to be an essential recognition of tangata whenua in local council meetings, as this one mayor is fundamentally an incident that has highlighted a procedural loophole.
In practice, there are some who don't provide such concise karakias. The list of karakias is a reference list, not a proscribed usage. Also, there are some with religious beliefs who insert references to their God/s in the karakia.
I want to say – on record – that if this was the case in terms of the English greeting, I would want the long-windedness and religious references to be addressed as well.
So, keep it short, relevant and secular. (The same criteria that applies to any English greetings.)
Address the procedural guidelines – by having a discussion on whether it is a requirement or a choice, and then making the guidelines reflect that decision."
From incognito's link:
"Jepson backed down on his controversial decision to ban karakia at council meetings following an "open and frank" meeting yesterday that resulted in a compromise where each councillor will take turns in opening and closing meetings with a karakia, affirmation, prayer or reflection of the day."
The inclusion of a prayer makes it non-secular, which is a problem.
Affirmation, or reflection of the day is so vague as to be meaningless.
Better off to: keep it short (under 1 min) – keep it secular.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
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 ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
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 ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
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 ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. 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 ...
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 ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
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 ...
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. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
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 ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
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 ...
We need bold solutions
https://twitter.com/jarrod__baker/status/1600717995609063424
You mean, instead of learning to play slide guitar and the blues, DADGAD and teaching hundreds of kids to play, I could have been a billionaire?
Well, billionaires might journey to experience weightlessness, but a poor blind black bluesman is on the way to the stars.
I know who I'd rather be……..
GEEZ boot camps
The basic assumption is that the kid will think
Oh I don't want to do that ram raid so I won't.
These kids just don't think that far ahead
AND mayor Brown wants to save money on child care centers
GEEZ
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300760303/call-for-time-out-as-auckland-mayor-proposes-scrapping-childcare-centres
A great 7-minute routine about how mass and social media manufacture outrage every day. Really well conveyed, including animation.
Yeah Sacha. So typical here too. Sickening.
Oh yes this has already been discussed on Open Mike earlier today. But nice try Sacha and Ianmac . Lol
Nice try at what? And I have nothing to do with Ian’s reply.
My apologies Sacha, probably a little unfair on my behalf. It might make some sense to you if you read the thread with DB Brown Open Mike the 08/12.
But hope you accept my apologies anyway
This just makes me really uncomfortable.
Gardner-Hopkins fought his suspension right the way through the Tribunal process – and IIRC only admitted his offending when he was forced to (in an attempt to bargain down the sentence with a show of remorse) [NB: that's my opinion]
He's still within the suspension period (3 years) – and I just think it's really tone-deaf for the Ngāti Paoa Trust Board to nominate him (as the sole choice) to sit on a resource consent hearing panel.
When his offending came from a position of power – as a senior figure in the law firm abusing young interns – I really don't think it's appropriate for him to be placed in a position of authority again, at this time.
The response from the Iwi representative, doesn't fill me with confidence that they perceive him as having done anything wrong, or that they are prepared to adequately supervise him in this role.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/130664232/metoo-lawyers-fight-to-represent-iwi-heads-to-high-court
Useful about positioning
https://twitter.com/MaxRashbrooke/status/1600586256869916672
Don’t read the following if you’re anti-statin and/or believe in Big Pharma conspiracies.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2022/12/statins-lower-the-risk-of-one-of-the-deadliest-types-of-strokes-study-finds.html
the conversation wasn't that statins don't work, it was about them being overprescribed.
The problem I have is that the medical industry seems to have a commercial interest in telling us that statins are the only thing that works.
Unless you have high cholesterol/CVD that is not able to be treated by other means why is publicity about statins of concern?
Surely it is something you would discuss with your Dr.
The doctors I know are usually pretty happy to put you on statins, hypertension medicine etc without looking at the underlying causes.
For me, after giving up alcohol, refined sugar (mostly) and losing over 10kg weight and watching my diet and sleep, I have managed to wean myself off all meds after 10 years on them
I’d suggest that your assumptions about doctors prescribing statins is somewhat inaccurate or that you need better doctors.
IMHO, people ought to take more responsibility for their health and wellbeing rather than ignorantly criticising trained professional health workers and blaming or their ills on others and/or inadequate drugs & treatments.
Can we get this clear? I have just stated that I am taking control of my own health. Are you referring to me as ignorant? It's hard to read the room here,
I would have expected a little gratitude for me taking some pressure off public resources
I do need better doctors, yes, but many of them were sacked during you know what, so I am left with the "consensus" who just follow the pharma narrative.
I've had doctors personally speak to me about this
Look, first you insinuated that those doctors are careless and bordering on professionally negligent by prescribing statins without looking at underlying causes. Next, you claim special hero status for looking after yourself and taking responsibility for your health and wellbeing – you deserve a medal for that!
If your doctors were sacked then I’d repeat my earlier suggestion that you need to see better doctors.
It is lovely to hear that doctors spoke to you about that (??) but not about the underlying causes of your condition that justified prescribing statins to you.
As with almost anything medical you can find studies and papers both supporting and challenging almost any treatment. Statins are no exception.
The real problem for GPs is their business model. A 10 – 15 minute appointment, a short conversation, maybe a BP check, and maybe some blood tests or a referral to a specialist. Nowhere near time enough to understand, much less work with the whole patient.
And unlike Andy, most people are not going to stop the alcohol, sugar, refined carbs, and manage their sleep and stress better. So a prescription for some pills becomes the default expectation and setting.
I have no problem with my GP, he is a good guy and has been helpful to the degree he can be. But for results I work with a Functional Medicine specialist. A better doctor if you will.
Incidentally if weka reads this – I realised the other day that the first place I saw the term 'Functional Medicine' was in a comment you made maybe a year or so ago. That planted the seed in my mind and I followed it from there. Credit where it is due.
So are functional medicine specialists medical specialists (MBChB) with an extra specialty added? The link you had seemed to ally them with people who look at diet, exercise etc rather than the GP specialty.
My GP has two subspecialties – sports medicine and obstetrics – or are they alternate medicine practitioners like osteopaths? My GP refers on to people such as dieticians etc as well as to the hospital specialists and to specialists privately.
People are helped by many different people for their health and I am glad that you have found a person that helps you.
Just to add some more, as it has pelting down with rain just as I want to leave to do outside messages.
In my health conditions I have come across several health professionals (GPs) who say 'yep exercise and diet change and you won't need pharmaceutical input' Both good exercise and good food/diet/fodmapping are key parts of managing the risk of getting CVD and dealing with high cholesterol they are not the whole picture. The whole picture needs all of these plus pharma support and perhaps particular Vit B supplements. Perhaps counselling to deal with stress if that is part of the equation.
So having them all working with me and with each other has been ideal for me. They all feedback to my GP.
Hope your health journey is successful.
Functional medicine sits between alternative health and mainstream medicine. FM practitioners aren't medical doctors (although medical doctors can be FM practitioners). They are more science based than alt health, but they also extrapolate a fair bit rather than waiting for more definitive evidence.
They can be cutting edge, ahead of mainstream medicine, and they can also be dodgy. They're heavy on nutritional status (and thus supplementation).
I was thinking about the cutting edge stuff when I listened to this excellent interview on Saturday Morning recently.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018868695/dr-matthew-phillips-could-fasting-and-keto-heal-brains
Matthew Phillips is a neurologist and researcher whose focus is on ketogenic diets. He's doing mainstream research in an area that is not mainstream. The interview is worth listening to because he's socially intelligent as well as knowledgeable on the issues involved, but the point I want to make here is that alternative health (including functional medicine) has been experimenting with ketogenic and low carb diets for a long time. This includes people who have reversed their Type 2 diabetes for instance. many people use it for managing heart disease and other syndrome X conditions.
When I say experimenting, I mean they go and try it out and see if it works. For some people it really doesn't, others it does. The research in mainstream medicine follows the counter culture.
The problem here is that it's such a waste of time because mainstream medicine is just bad at picking up and exploring the cutting edge, emerging modalities. We could instead have a society that takes the best of both mainstream medicine and alt health and delivers holistic care.
The belief system of many science is god people is the main barrier. It's a major block to developing intregrated systems that are safer than what we have now and that offer a broader range of options. By safer I mean not only that we get the research much sooner and less people experimenting, but safe in that less people have to use interventions that are well studied but have serious side effects.
eg less people on statins, less side effects,, less cascading medical interventions, more people on diets that give better health across the board.
Sounds like I have got there through working with my open minded GP, listening/trying to all those I come into contact with for good ideas. My GP asks my beauty therapist to look for specific skin things and get back to him…..on the basis that I see her more often than I see him.
My condition cannot be managed without pharma support (50 years of many people, GPs included, saying oh we can do this with diet and exercise only') have proved this for me.
Always new things to learn.
I have had no side effects from statins in over 50 years. worked hard to get mine down to a medium high normal (over 5 less than 7)
My allergies are to pesky things like medical tape and the standard wash they use in operating theatres. I did have one years ago to dental sedation but they don't use this anymore! As an indication questions about skin type/hair colour are now routinely used by surgeons etc doing workups to trigger an enquiry about tape, washes and anaesthetics.
what do you think about the people who do get side effects from statins? Especially the people who are being overmedicalised?
No-one is challenging individual right or preference around health care here. The political point being made is that some people’s health is harmed by overmedicalisation. Citing person positive experiences in response to that doesn’t make sense to me, it comes across as dismissive even if that’s not what you intend.
@ Weka 9 December 2022 at 12:08 pm
Thanks for your comment.
So personal comments about bad things to do with statins are ok but personal comments are about good experiences are possibly 'dismissive' on my part and not part of the political point about over medicalisation.
Bearing in mind that the anti statins issue came about from a flip unreferenced comment from a poster that had no backing and that both Incognito and I have both put more balanced articles about the uses of statins, this approach is odd.
The political point I am making is that both sides of the statins case have valid points.
My personal views are:
a) for a brief moment in time Covid vaccinations replaced statins as the big 'medical' bogey du jour. Of course now that concerns about the vaccines have faded somewhat we now can let statins resume their place.
b) on over medicalisation is that for humans and for the future of easy and effective remedies the bigger concern above statins is the over use of antibiotics.
We now face a future where common illnesses are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. On a personal note again a family member is very allergic to penicillin. Managing illnesses, surgery both planned and unplanned without access to penicillin and penicillin based derivatives is very difficult as the substitutes are less effective. This is the future that we may all face.
Going to a Dr with a need for antibiotics & in the future finding that the infection is resistant to most antibiotics is much more likely to happen than possibly needing statins.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378521/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/02813432.2010.487652
to quote from this link
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/03009734.2014.902879
'Examples of services that could no longer be delivered safely without effective antibiotics are major surgery, cancer treatment, and prophylaxis in caesarean sections, not to mention the treatment of pneumonia. Through such mechanisms, antibiotic resistance has the potential to fundamentally change the functioning of health systems as we know them.'
On symptoms of statins the best case is to talk to the prescriber.
My point is that rather than possibly needing yet another specialist some GPs are melding in functional medicine into their practices even if their shingle does not say so…..
I wasn’t talking about people expressing personal opinions about statins (which seems to be what you are talking about there). I was referring to the difference between someone making a political point about statins, and someone else responding to that with an anecdote about personal use as if that was somehow a counter to the first point.
We know that statins work, in some cases very well. So it’s not a counter, it’s just a statement of the obvious. But it also diverts from the political point being made.
Andy was asked to provide some evidence for his claims, which he did. I also referred to overprescribing and overmedicalisation, so if you thought his argument was too superficial you could have responded to my point. You didn’t put up more balanced arguments about the overprescribing/overmedicalisation issue. You’ve run lines that are basically implying that either it’s not really happening and/or it’s an issue for a patient and their doctor. This equates to saying it’s not a political issue.
What two sides? Either statins are being overprescribed and people are being overmedicalised, or that’s not happening.
Again, denial that statin overuse is an issue. Statins aren’t a bogeyman, criticism of overuse is a normal response to overuse in the context of big pharma. You can’t solve that problem by leaving it to individuals to have conversations with their GP.
And? We should be concerned about antibiotic use and not statin use?
In addition to that, where society allows commerce to push overmedicalisation, there is a political issue that needs wide discussion and debate.
That’s eliding two different conversations. From a political point of view, it’s problematic because while it’s true that some people can get good integrated medicine from their GPs, most can’t, and the reasons for that are political problems.
@Sahnreagh
There seems to be a wider variety of medical practices here in Australia. Here is another example that I got in touch with, but they were too booked up to take new patients.
But the short answer to you question is the person I am working with is a fully qualified GP who has chosen Functional Medicine for a number of reasons; some personal, some professional.
Sounds good. I will see if we have a GP/Functional medicine cross over.
NB Shanreagh – like shantung the fabric.
https://www.townlands.ie/londonderry/keenaght/tamlaght-finlagan/fruithill/shanreagh/
Apols for the typo – spotted it too late to fix.
Andy has yet to provide anything about the so-called Reagan conflict of interest issue.
Thanks for your points.
The simple point is whether statins are being over prescribed or not and if so what to do.
The idea that this is a 'political' point is moot. I would have classed it as a medical issue myself with more traction being exerted by raising it as a public medical issue, encouraging complaints, education. There is already being work done, and this has been done at least since the 1990s into prescribing patterns as a clinical audit issue.
I have found a ref to a a study done using a programme attached to the Medtech programme used by Drs. It is from 2014. It shows that 16% of the population had been prescribed a statin. There is no indication whether this is too high or not high enough.
https://bpac.org.nz/Report/2014/October/statins.aspx
A point related to this and which is definitely political is that with the new health set-up that will work on populations, it will be much easier to work out if in fact there is an over prescription issue relating to statins.
This is because breaking down patients by populations/sample populations can mean that Drs are able to find if their patterns are too high based on the makeup of their patient population. So patient populations of largely older/sedentary people will be expected to have higher instances of high cholesterol & possible prescribing than a younger population.
Part of the reason that statins are prescribed and again this is political is that lifestyle changes are hard for patients. There is resistance and this is not always the fault of the patient. The healthy food needed to maintain a good diet for minimising cholesterol is expensive. Fresh vegetables are expensive, a modicum of good quality meat is expensive, some vegetarian options are expensive.
Many people on low incomes use food quality and lack, to balance budgets. Lifestyle exercise changes are often easier in a group or at public facilities. These cost money.
I don't believe in "big pharma conspiracies" but when corporate interests have control over testing their own products, and also have a large influence on the scientific literature, then regulatory capture and vested interests are of real concern.
Given that this is a side effect of neo-liberalism (and of deregulation of Pharma by Reagan, as I mentioned elsewhere), I'm surprised that more on the left don't raise concerns here. It appears to me to be a failure of the neo-liberal agenda
You could fool me with your comments when you now claim that you don’t believe (?) in “big pharma conspiracies”. Your history of comments in this area (incl. Covid-19) suggest differently. I’d suggest that you lift your game and avoid any ambiguities as to what you’re asserting in this space. I’m sure that everything is the fault of Reagan, Thatcher, and Roger Douglas and can be traced to their decisions but this hardly helps with present day issues such as using blood from NZBS to save the life of a NZ infant.
Stop being defensive and lift your game and I will release you from Pre-Mod, which is taking up my time.
Well conspiracies do exist. "Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice" is a criminal offense.
I can't comment on whether there was any collusion or otherwise by pharmaceutical companies in the recent times. There is ample evidence of corruption, as seen by the billions of dollars of fines against Pfizer and other companies over decades
I used to have a reasonable trust in the medical profession and pharma. For the latter at least, that has gone, without needing to lean on fruitbat theories about 5G or nanotech.
If seems "lifting my game" means unquestioning accepting the CV-19 response in NZ, then I'm unlikely to go there.
I will, however, try to reference my quotes and justify my position in a rational way, and ignore the usual commenters that taunt me
So does the Moon but this doesn’t mean you should bring it into the discussion unless it is pertinent. Unless you have a strong personal belief and/or an agenda. I judge your comments based on your past behaviour and record here.
Nope. You really do come across as absolutist and binary (i.e. B & W).
Good, and I look forward to you showing this from now on.
Get on with it!
I didn't bring any conspiracies into the discussion did I ?
I'm the one who keeps getting told that I am (a) defensive (b) a conspiracy theorist and (c) have a track record, with no evidence to back up, or any assistance on how to improve
I guess I'm wasting my time here.
Have a nice day
Your resolve is weak, it appears.
I seem to recall that you mentioned all sorts of ‘conspiracy theories’ yesterday without making it clear where you draw the line and where your own personal beliefs start & stop. This is one reason why I put you in Pre-Mod; another Mod also had an issue with your commenting here.
TTFN
Oh dear the reference to "conspiracy theory" was a joking reference to a poorly written Stuff piece about "cellphones emitting radiation" which the Stuff writer claimed was a "conspiracy theory" (It's a fact the last time I checked)
So my general comment was a somewhat flippant remark about how terms like this are weakened by misuse, like the ill-defined term "far right"
I did back up my comment by later quoting the piece.
Anyway it seems nuance is lost. Obviously my white and non-white binary way of thinking
Your flippant comment about cell phone emission conspiracy theories came in the middle of a discussion thread about donor blood. That triggered a Mod note but you keep digging in, litigating, and wasting my time.
You’re approaching the cliff’s edge where the ban hammer is waiting for you because we’re over it.
Start contributing to other comment threads or leave, voluntarily or otherwise.
" and where your own personal beliefs start & stop."
Do you ask all your commenters here to divulge their personal beliefs?
Only some who are in Pre-Mod are asked to clarify their comments and to stop wasting Moderator time. You’re failing badly on the second issue.
I will leave volutarily while you nitpick over my personal style whilst you allow implied threats of violence like this one through:
.https://thestandard.org.nz/just-how-gross-can-a-anti-vaccine-enema-be/#comment-1883368
I will deal with that in my own way.
Have a nice life moderating your personal circle jerk.
It's actually quite simple. I'll use this comment as an example
.https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-07-12-2022/#comment-1924905
What you've done there is this,
What that does is create bad debate culture. People react to #1 but have nothing to reference. They either try and argue against your point without knowing what it really means, or they have to spend time trying to get you to provide a reference.
From now on, you, Andy, will have to provide references everytime. and at the the time you make the comment. If you don't, you will get a short ban. Subsequent bans will increase exponentially until one of the mods gets sick of it and gives you a longer ban.
The reason for this is that the Mod notes in the back end are littered with mods having to get you inline with the debate culture here.
I'm also going to strongly suggest you stop making comments like this,
.https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-07-12-2022/#comment-1925040
You don't get to decide where the boundaries are here, the mods do. You don't get to decide what is acceptable referencing, the mods to. Your referencing was fine in that comment, but the attitudinal stuff is grating. It won't take long to just ban you because I'm sick of the bullshit. Take moderation seriously and there won't be a problem.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300760449/kaipara-mayor-to-allow-karakia-a-week-after-banning-the-practice-from-council-meetings
It is good to see what can be achieved when people are prepared to listen with an open mind. Respect!
Which was my core argument as well – that whatever they do in a spiritual or religious nature in the political context – it has to be a matter of choice.
So yes a good outcome.
Good outcome.
Your view though RL was that by its very name, language and positioning at the start of a meeting that the karakia was an expression of a Maori religion.
This was despite the example provided by Sacha having no religious aspect to it. It had a reference to discussions being as smooth as a greenstone sea.
Posted for original discussion but TS was offline, so saved:
"I have no problem with the kariaka (as shown) becoming as familiar as a greeting such as:
"I want to welcome everyone who has come here today for…, I hope by the end of the session everyone will have had an opportunity to speak, and we will have achieved….".
Brief, appropriate and to the point.
This is not an unforeseen backlash though, in regards to the mayor's electoral campaign.
I'm just surprised it is not part of local government policy, and able to be removed so arbitrarily.
The issue should be addressed there if the karakia is considered to be an essential recognition of tangata whenua in local council meetings, as this one mayor is fundamentally an incident that has highlighted a procedural loophole.
In practice, there are some who don't provide such concise karakias. The list of karakias is a reference list, not a proscribed usage. Also, there are some with religious beliefs who insert references to their God/s in the karakia.
I want to say – on record – that if this was the case in terms of the English greeting, I would want the long-windedness and religious references to be addressed as well.
So, keep it short, relevant and secular. (The same criteria that applies to any English greetings.)
Address the procedural guidelines – by having a discussion on whether it is a requirement or a choice, and then making the guidelines reflect that decision."
From incognito's link:
"Jepson backed down on his controversial decision to ban karakia at council meetings following an "open and frank" meeting yesterday that resulted in a compromise where each councillor will take turns in opening and closing meetings with a karakia, affirmation, prayer or reflection of the day."
The inclusion of a prayer makes it non-secular, which is a problem.
Affirmation, or reflection of the day is so vague as to be meaningless.
Better off to: keep it short (under 1 min) – keep it secular.