The site was a victim of spring cleaning. Looks like we knocked the power off at the UPS while cleaning up cables and reorganising furniture late night at about 10pm.
Probably somewhere between law and order and climate change.
Wow! No kidding?
Winston Peters and Willie Jackson have helpfully laid out comprehensive Jack Tame manifesto positions by choosing, in conversations with Jack Tame, to talk a lot about Jack Tame.
Jackson is, of course, the current broadcasting minister (encompassing Jack Tame), and presumptive broadcasting minister under a Labour-Green-Te-Pāti-Māori coalition of chaos. Peters, meanwhile, revealed to Jack Tame yesterday that he would seek the ministerial warrant for broadcasting in a National-Act-NZ-First coalition of chaos.
So no matter the election outcome we get a coalition of chaos & interesting times. Cool.
Top of Peters’ list for Jack Tame reforms is stopping Jack Tame being “corrupt” and, as he put it, “trying to get rid of New Zealand First because your masters told you to”. It is unclear whether, under a change of government, Jack Tame would be permitted to try to get rid of New Zealand First if his masters did not tell him to.
Yeah, obviously the situation will require a certain amount of head-scratching. Could wheel out a few political scientists into the mix to pontificate on the health of democracy in this scenario. Get Jack Tame to rate their comparative credibility.
Jack Tame is going well into the Lindsay Perigo scale of political importance, but he probes largely on political tactics and dynamics rather than what actual government or – dare we expect it – what kind of New Zealand each kind of coalition would deliver.
He's hardly Ian Fraser in gravitas or actual use beyond the standard beltway echo-chamber.
He lacks media training. If he doesn't know the cost of something he should admit that, but then say the issue, whatever it is, is one that we should be considering, regardless of cost. That would stop Jack Tame’s silly nonsense in its tracks.
Now when I noticed this right wing puff piece by the toilet paper escaping NZ Herald I developed something of an itch in the back of my mind. The article lead with
"The wealthy businessman who gifted Act leader David Seymour his personal plane without cost to help his election campaign says he did so to allow Seymour to replicate the “whistle-stop” tours commonly seen in the United States."
Now that itch at the back of my mind was starting to piss me off and while I felt that excreable article was in the 'right' vein it wasn't what was pissing me off soo much.
My curse/blessing of a bloody good memory delivered with the association my subconscious was trying to propel me to. – and viola
"The Nazis adopted a populist sort of approach to politics, which no one had witnessed earlier in Germany. It was called a Deutschlandflug. Hitler took to the skies, flying from city to city in an airplane. He was a manvonvolk, a man from the people. They created an image of a peripatetic, all-powerful man who could be at all places at all times." (my bold)
David Seymour – perhaps the new 'Minister of Social Welfare Warfare' in a coming NACT Government
Business hotshots aren't keen on Willie but they rate the Maori radicals higher! Who don't they rate?? Failures that failed to make the list at all: Seymour & co, Winston & co. I'm intrigued Farrar didn't notice this significant failure!
Why not? Seems very significant that they rate leftist politicians highly. It breaks the mould that people carry around in their heads: capitalists = rightists. Shows they ain't as dumb as they seem.
Or, to put the point more elegantly, the extent to which they reward leftist politicians mentally for supporting the established economy.
Nats apart from #8 which I noted above was James. Too scared to go & see for yourself? Don't blame you. Spiritual pollution is real, and it does infect!
I zip in & out after a quick scan to avoid that – just to stay informed at this point in the campaign.
Strange, I saw it on Farrar's blog no problem, didn't encounter a paywall, but yeah, interesting that they don't rate Lux highly even though he was one of that elite group!!
NZHerald invents different Top 10 Power Brokers for this or that industry from horse racing to real estate.
What they never get to is the harder one: who are the top 20 most powerful people in New Zealand?
And what you would get to quickly is that politicians under the top 3 are now well down to the top families and billionaires, and those who Chair multiple listed companies. That is the real rank of power.
Ranking NZ power is very, very different to ranking Parliamentary power.
I take your point but hierarchical rankings always impress people en masse. Social darwinism effects in the psyche of voters.
I believe such listings work on a similar basis to imagery: they evoke feelings, form impressions. The interface tween political culture & people is at play…
Yep. These lists are useful only anthropologically: first you see which groups the Herald deems worthy of having their opinions published; second you see the prejudices of the selected group laid out. It's boring because it's quite easy to predict both these things fairly accurately without the Herald having to do the actual survey in the first place.
Yeah I didn't go into it earlier because I read it on his front page. Frank the tank wrote "Lot of corporate wokesters are CEOs now. Explains Shaw at above 3".
He was actually #8 which isn't above 3. That Frank seems to be using his inability to do simple arithmetic to demonstrate rightist solidarity.
Another, krazykiwi, notes that "the ‘result’ is a Bayesian data crime." Literary references to top 19th century mathematicians are unlikely to impress rightist readers due to them not having a clue what he's talking about.
Anyone get the irony of theNats complaining about how unfair life is because their Lead Sook is accused of running scared while they plan to slash the poorest’s income and sack up to 15,000 people before Christmas. Arseholes!.
God apparently is well on record to wipe people out through climatic events, written with Genesis in about 1400BC. So it's not some recent preserve of evangelicals.
There are plenty of telos-driven end-timers on many parts of the political spectrum. You can find them in their billionaire bunkers in Queenstown and Wanaka, in Far North communes, all across Southland from Tuatapere to Owaka, in parts of the Green Party, in the peace movement, all over the place.
National and Labour can be described as delaying our inevitable end.
Yeah. I'm optimistic enough to discount end-times as inevitable, yet realistic enough to acknowledge that addiction to neoliberalism keeps escalating their probability of happening.
Humanity evolves via catharsis experiences. System crash is a viable possibility at all times. Being locked into any particular mental state diminishes survival prospects and that logic applies to all of us. Hold your beliefs lightly to survive any testing times, shift and adapt when situations compel it.
The problem with Maori is they just won't accept that I know best. They don't even know Maori health outcomes did really well over the last National government.
This is another lie from Chris Hipkins. Robertson was never put forward as a stand-in. We offered the Deputies – Nicola v Kelvin. We’ve never had a response to that. Offer remains open.
Quote
Ben McKay
@benmackey
·1h
Hipkins tells AM Labour put forward Grant Robertson as a debate stand-in tonight. "Unfortunately the National party weren't happy with that" Still hopes it could happen next week "I understand Christopher Luxon is going to be in Christchurch on Monday so that would be a good day"
Should perhaps Labour offer to have the debate using only former Big Tobacco shills – oops dang thats right Labour, unlike National, is in a severe shortage of those sociopaths.
Carmel Sepuloni is deputy PM. Kelvin Davis is deputy leader.
But it should be leader versus leader. Hipkins has offered alternative dates. A woman spokesperson from The Press said that this was possible this morning on RadioNZ, but that the Chicken had refused to change his schedule. The Chicken has admitted this. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018909455
You are a bs artist Frank. If you are going to have a debate then you offer like with like. You have spent the past few weeks throwing rocks and Labour and "lefties" in general so don't try to fool me or most people here what you are up to.
I'm curious. Do you see all onsite commentators here who don't agree with you as such? If not, precisely what in my commentary makes you think like that??
Don’t think he is a troll, but he does come up with bullshit (I use the full word since he did) from time to time. I note that – like me – not too many people bother to respond to it. 🙂
That's a bit purist Dennis. Since elections are so much about economic policy, it would be silly and unfair to put a non-finance minister against a finance shadow minister – just because of the accident of how the deputy-leader roles have been assigned.
Yeah it's a valid point re parity, but the chicken thing side-steps the rules of the game: status parity. Debates must do that to seem fair to audience.
Wasn't clear to me what you meant then. I could comment better on your position if you clarified further how you see parity being provided by Labour in their debate stance…
They probably did Dennis Frank, or at least framed it in such a way they invited National to accordingly respond. They chose not to.
After 50 plus years of political experience as part of an inner circle and observing closely from the periphery, together with another experience not aligned to Labour, I easily detect lying, cheating and disingenuous behaviour. This is how the National Party under Luxon is operating. I would not believe anything that man says nor his deputy and certainly not his campaign manager. They are an extension of the dirty politics Nicky Hager wrote about nearly ten years ago. Nothing has changed.
Yep, same here. The insurance premium increased by 50% and 30% (Content and House) for us. For me the Climate Crises and Cost-of-Living Crises are closely interlinked.
Oh, the insurance company didn't mention another important factor… greed-flation.
So Luxon thinks he's "in the last week of a campaign" – but isn't this the second-to-last week? Has Lux been consulting his would-be finance minister about "technical numbers"?
Chippy has already offered to turn up on next Monday and do the Press Leaders debate, live with audience questions. Luxon is scheduled to be in Ch Ch that day and if he doesn't turn up to the debate that is going to be a very very very bad look……..
The lefties who wouldn't vote National if you paid them?
For the rest, Luxon has already done what he needs to in the debates (i.e. looked reasonably competent to the online/TV audience) [as judged by the commentators – of course he won't look competent in the eyes of the left wing]
There are no further wins for him to take out of debates with Hipkins. And this particular one wasn't even going to be televised – so an audience of max 2,000.
It's a piece of basic electioneering. And National have judged he can maximise his opportunities to convince wavering voters, elsewhere.
National have made the call that the 'undecideds' won't be materially affected by the Christchurch election debate.
And are more likely to be affected by alternative electioneering strategies. National candidates and supporters in ChCh have already made their minds up (and probably already voted) – no point in preaching to the choir.
TBH – I'd tend to agree – after the first one, and absent a major debating coup ("show me the money" "this glitter is going to settle") – which is not going to come from Mr Bland and Mr Blander – the debates don't change opinion.
And, yes, I do find political analysis interesting. Those who don't are doomed to fester in their own little corner of the internet echo chamber – and will find the real world rather a shock when it comes calling.
While I could make some response to your personalization of the discussion. I’ll leave it at the fact that those without a coherent argument, degenerate to name-calling.
And, that it takes someone with a rather tough self-concept to continue commenting as a Centrist on a left-leaning site like TS.
Ok, finding political analysis interesting is a long stretch from basing your thinking on said analysis. But hey, who am I to argue with such depth of awareness of someone so grounded in the real world…..phew! please send autograph to moderator……
Name calling….mmmmn….not that I mentioned anything but now that you have, Primadonna seems to fit……
Naming is a way of placing order on our world by helping us differentiate between things. It also helps others know what we are referring to when having a conversation…………..
If you struggle to differentiate between 'naming' (using the preferred name for a person or thing, or the commonly used term) and 'name calling' (using a pejorative term or phrase, designed to slur to denigrate) – then I'm sorry for you.
“Being forced into a room with men when unwell and vulnerable – often separated by only a curtain – may be traumatising to many women, even if the perception of threat or danger isn’t realised. It’s not surprising that the practice has been a frequent topic of complaint in feedback from patients, their families and the staff who care for them.
“Mixed-gender rooms breach the psychological safety of these patients, but this is avoidable by changing bed management practices,” Towns says.
…
“Male and female patients express a preference for single-gender rooms. For female patients, this preference is associated with fear of violence while for male patients it is expressed as general concern and discomfort.
“Respecting these preferences is essential to maintain patient dignity during their hospital stay.”
Gee why on earth would they do this (mixed rooms) Surely they they should be all gender specific ?
– Could it perhaps have something to do with maximising the use of available facilities to provide treatment? If you insist on gender specific rooms you are going to have more empty beds that won't be allowed to be used and you will have less health care delivered.
Where is the budget coming from to build more treatment facilities so that you can manage a lower utilisation rate? You may get more comfortable patients but you bloody well aren't going to be able to treat as many.
Grant Robertson – There is a formal Foreign Policy part of the manifesto. We’re sticking with the long standing Bi-Partisan approach to a 2 state solution in the Middle East and what we are doing is working with the Palestinian representative on closer discussions but that doesn’t make a change to a formal recognition. It just means that we open that dialogue up.
Q – So no formal recognition?
GR – Not until there is a state to recognise. But we have long stood for a 2 state solution and what we have said is that we want to have more open and regular dialogue with Palestinian Representatives.
Presumably GR is doing pr for Labour on the basis that finance ministers are the right people inform the public about foreign policy. A leftist thought process.
However I can't fault the excellent exposition of the Grant. I'm tempted to suggest that Minto is doing grumpy old man syndrome on the topic.
Yesterday Labour implied in their manifesto release that they would recognise the state of Palestine although the wording was unclear and ambiguous. What is clear now is that the slippery wording was deliberately meant to mean all things to all people.
They're establishment politicians, what do you expect?? A moon-walk?
138 other countries have recognised Palestine as a state and haven’t had the “problem” of recognition that Grant Robertson has manufactured for Labour.
Good point but it could be valid to dispose of them by assigning them to the category flakey. I'm inclined to be agnostic on this one. Wearing my Green hat I'd assert the relevant principle: any political group with a tradition of national identity in their collective reality – even if merely aspirational – has an inherent right to collective recognition of their common identity.
Meanwhile Israel is no longer recognising some of those converting to Judaism and becoming Rabbi's as eligible to for migration to Israel for this years sukkoth.
It appears to be the beginning of a gambit (with the change to the basic law) to question the eligibility of those with a Jewish grandfather to become citizens.
No, they got an offer of land for peace (most of the West Bank and Gaza) in 2000, with East Jerusalem as a capital. And Arafat rejected it because he also wanted right of return to Israel for the 1948 refugees.
A mistake.
Then his successor allowed Hamas to compete in PA elections, despite the fact they did not accept the Oslo Accords setting up the PA. Then Hamas won and there have been no elections since – soon to be a multiple decade thing.
What they were offered was one thing, but they definitely got KFC.
And when Israel and Saudi Arabia sign their full security and diplomatic pact, they both do a full end-run around Jordan's historic claims which could have supported Palestine.
House of Saud may as well be the Harkkonens for the play they are doing to bind US, Israel and Saudi Arabia together.
The mere suggestion of SA going with an alternative to the US dollar/swift axis towards China …. and a full guarantee of US security ... tied to a SA-Israel deal to ensure that the GOP is enraptured to full accord.
I doubt they will touch on the Jordan role as to Temple regime co-operation (remnant of the international city concept of 1947).
Nor on any peace outcome between Israelis and Palestinians, not when the Israeli right has eretz Israel (permanent occupation without West Bank Arab citizens) with a united Jerusalem capital aspiration and SA will still officially support a two state outcome with East Jerusalem as a capital for a new one.
So what is the Israeli-SA angle that would allow the GOP to accept this .(make it bi-partisan)?
First SA recognition of Israel. Second SA aid to the PA that comes with strings as to how the PA operates (no reward to families of those who do bad things, but welfare to all families in need)(end to anti Jewish Semite propaganda in education)(one control of the gun)(WB PA elections)(PA regards all 1948 refugees as Palestinian citizens and no longer refugees and gets the AL to go along with this and allow them rights of residency, allowed to leave the camps).
In return Israel will have to promise to play nice (…..
The consequences of this going wrong – Jordan left with the Palestinian baby – Hashemite dynasty and PLO 1970's state away from state discord. The Temple run by Zionists for Zionists and invasion plans from the east via Iraq.
New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party plans to recognize the State of Palestine if it is re-elected on October 14.
The Labour Party’s commitment entails extending an invitation to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine, allowing them to present their credentials as an Ambassador to New Zealand.
New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party plans to recognise the State of Palestine if it is re-elected on 14 October.
The Labour Party’s commitment entails extending an invitation to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine, allowing them to present their credentials as an Ambassador to New Zealand
The presumption is allowing the representative to present their credentials is formal recognition, Labour have managed to make it a process, showing all the innovation required to be seen as a sophisticated player in the international community.
His Excellency Izzat Salah Abdulhadi is the Head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
In 2018 and 2021 Labor’s national conference backed a resolution that “supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders” and “calls on the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a state”.
But those resolutions were passed when Labor was not in government, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has so far declined to commit to a timeframe for recognising a Palestinian state.
Good reporting as it provides essential context, thus meaning relevant to any observer. Wonder why Albo is so hesitant to proceed.
That bit at the end of the Guardian report about Israel's stance being peace will only come via agreement between Palestine & Israel is rather disingenuous. True on the face of it yet it masks the role of peacemakers as brokers of a deal.
Biden lacks the ambition to go down in history as the magical transformer of the status quo, seemingly. Same for the UN head. Sad.
In inventing and consolidating the Principles, advocates for a kinship-based political structure have used traditional ideology to provide a timeless, spiritually authorised quality to their very time-bound interests.
The erroneous partnership Principle is given the greatest weight, opening up a wide backdoor to power. Tribal corporations can now move beyond their economic interests to demand political power – to be entrenched first as co-governance, then as tribal sovereignty.
How do you get people to believe in an invention and then to agree to its consolidation in legislation? Retribalists simply used age-old strategies.
She presents a strategic triad used to drive novelty into our traditional stasis, then:
Embedding one of those partners in the status of indigeneity with the other partner an intruder into Arcadia expands the moral distinction into a timeless mythical realm. Romantic evocations of the evil coloniser and the indigenous colonised provide a more seductive narrative for the nation’s collective memory than the more prosaic fact that, from the thirteen century to the present, all New Zealanders are settlers. Our history is one of waves of settlers. It is a shared experience that trumps an arbitrary division into the indigenous on the one hand and all other settlers on the other, but language control is most successful when it evokes the sacred.
The interface between the sacred and politics is a mental shared space where politicos rarely go, yet salient to the issues. She extends triad to tetrad:
It is in the revelation of sacred meaning that the fourth strategy has proved to be most effective. Today’s secular priests – the activist judges, tribalist law professors, and lawyer-politicians – have claimed the authority to interpret the truth from the Treaty runes.
Ethos usually emerges from mythos, morality generates in consequences of like-minded ethos, then you get articulated laws. Co-governance as a principle is mired in deep context. No clear common ground in legislative application of the principle thus far!
The bold headline at the end stating "Labour needs honest soul-searching about its defeat" at this stage of the election cycle proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the fear mongering, manipulation and orchestration of disinformation, misinformation and general sycophantic editorials amount to nothing less than 'quid pro quo' by the big end of town.
If there is ever a bloody civil uprising in this country as many predict, I fear for the likes of Bryce Edwards head……..
Yes Ad. That was a quote from Trump outside the Court. And by the looks on the faces on faces of his team they were aghast. Sorry that I was ill informed.
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Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. 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 ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
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The site was a victim of spring cleaning. Looks like we knocked the power off at the UPS while cleaning up cables and reorganising furniture late night at about 10pm.
Fate often intervenes in life. Glad to see you on the ball in fix-it mode.
Yep. 11 hours is definitely on the ball 😈
Dashboard is looking pretty bloody weird.
I see Jack Tame has become an election issue. How much?
Yeah, but how much?
Wow! No kidding?
So no matter the election outcome we get a coalition of chaos & interesting times. Cool.
Yeah, obviously the situation will require a certain amount of head-scratching. Could wheel out a few political scientists into the mix to pontificate on the health of democracy in this scenario. Get Jack Tame to rate their comparative credibility.
Jack Tame is going well into the Lindsay Perigo scale of political importance, but he probes largely on political tactics and dynamics rather than what actual government or – dare we expect it – what kind of New Zealand each kind of coalition would deliver.
He's hardly Ian Fraser in gravitas or actual use beyond the standard beltway echo-chamber.
Ad, what is your considered opinion of Winston Peters’ behaviour during that interview?
He lacks media training. If he doesn't know the cost of something he should admit that, but then say the issue, whatever it is, is one that we should be considering, regardless of cost. That would stop Jack Tame’s silly nonsense in its tracks.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/revealed-how-acts-david-seymour-was-gifted-a-plane-for-the-election-campaign/
Now when I noticed this right wing puff piece by the toilet paper escaping NZ Herald I developed something of an itch in the back of my mind. The article lead with
"The wealthy businessman who gifted Act leader David Seymour his personal plane without cost to help his election campaign says he did so to allow Seymour to replicate the “whistle-stop” tours commonly seen in the United States."
Now that itch at the back of my mind was starting to piss me off and while I felt that excreable article was in the 'right' vein it wasn't what was pissing me off soo much.
My curse/blessing of a bloody good memory delivered with the association my subconscious was trying to propel me to. – and viola
https://www.wondriumdaily.com/hitlers-presidential-campaign-of-1932/
"The Nazis adopted a populist sort of approach to politics, which no one had witnessed earlier in Germany. It was called a Deutschlandflug. Hitler took to the skies, flying from city to city in an airplane. He was a manvonvolk, a man from the people. They created an image of a peripatetic, all-powerful man who could be at all places at all times." (my bold)
David Seymour – perhaps the new 'Minister of Social
WelfareWarfare' in a coming NACT GovernmentNice correlation. Check out 34 below for Seymour's relevance in the collective thinking of our business elite – a blend of Nat/Lab/Greens/TMP!
Sorry, typo, I meant #4…
Stops at which to dog whistle.
Farrar has an interesting take on our business elite here: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/
Here's the bottom 4 on that list:
33. Kelvin Davis 1.66
34. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer 1.65
35. Jan Tinetti 1.62
36. Rawiri Waititi 1.60
37. Willie Jackson 1.52
Business hotshots aren't keen on Willie but they rate the Maori radicals higher! Who don't they rate?? Failures that failed to make the list at all: Seymour & co, Winston & co. I'm intrigued Farrar didn't notice this significant failure!
Don't buy in to this bollocks Dennis.
Why not? Seems very significant that they rate leftist politicians highly. It breaks the mould that people carry around in their heads: capitalists = rightists. Shows they ain't as dumb as they seem.
Or, to put the point more elegantly, the extent to which they reward leftist politicians mentally for supporting the established economy.
Well who are numbers 1,2,3 4, 6 and 8?
Nats apart from #8 which I noted above was James. Too scared to go & see for yourself? Don't blame you. Spiritual pollution is real, and it does infect!
I zip in & out after a quick scan to avoid that – just to stay informed at this point in the campaign.
It's paywalled.
So the first 6 people with highest scores from CEO's are Nats. D'oh!
Strange, I saw it on Farrar's blog no problem, didn't encounter a paywall, but yeah, interesting that they don't rate Lux highly even though he was one of that elite group!!
Sage advice there BG. Farrar behind grannys paywall asking CEO'S was enough.
Another useful tool for the right Davey Boy.
It's not useful for anything.
NZHerald invents different Top 10 Power Brokers for this or that industry from horse racing to real estate.
What they never get to is the harder one: who are the top 20 most powerful people in New Zealand?
And what you would get to quickly is that politicians under the top 3 are now well down to the top families and billionaires, and those who Chair multiple listed companies. That is the real rank of power.
Ranking NZ power is very, very different to ranking Parliamentary power.
I take your point but hierarchical rankings always impress people en masse. Social darwinism effects in the psyche of voters.
I believe such listings work on a similar basis to imagery: they evoke feelings, form impressions. The interface tween political culture & people is at play…
Go and stretch your political mind and list the top 20 most powerful people in New Zealand.
Use every measure you can think of.
Yep. These lists are useful only anthropologically: first you see which groups the Herald deems worthy of having their opinions published; second you see the prejudices of the selected group laid out. It's boring because it's quite easy to predict both these things fairly accurately without the Herald having to do the actual survey in the first place.
please supply a direct link. Go to the post, click on the title, copy and paste from the address bar.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2023/09/mood_of_the_boardroom_ratings.html
Yeah I didn't go into it earlier because I read it on his front page. Frank the tank wrote "Lot of corporate wokesters are CEOs now. Explains Shaw at above 3".
He was actually #8 which isn't above 3. That Frank seems to be using his inability to do simple arithmetic to demonstrate rightist solidarity.
Another, krazykiwi, notes that "the ‘result’ is a Bayesian data crime." Literary references to top 19th century mathematicians are unlikely to impress rightist readers due to them not having a clue what he's talking about.
Anyone get the irony of theNats complaining about how unfair life is because their Lead Sook is accused of running scared while they plan to slash the poorest’s income and sack up to 15,000 people before Christmas. Arseholes!.
"sack up to 15,000 people before Christmas"
What evidence do you have for your claim that the National Party plan to do this? When have they said that they plan to do so?
Any thoughts on the courage (or lack of) in the rejected idea of the deputies filling in?
After all, that is what deputies are for.
Evangelists believe that their god is all powerful.
Therefore their god would not allow a disastrous Climate change to happen.
Thus for people like Luxon they can pat the believers of Climate change on the head and leave it all to their god.
Perhaps that is why National is not active climatically but delay delay delay.
Perhaps we should also get biblical
"To burn the earth is a great sin and the wages of sin is death Mr Luxon"
(I wrote that – just now)
You ever read the story of Noah?
It's a story …and even those who hold it to be true were told it would not happen again.
The real issue with them is their belief in end time God intervention to sort out the liberals and also fix all of the CC problem.
God apparently is well on record to wipe people out through climatic events, written with Genesis in about 1400BC. So it's not some recent preserve of evangelicals.
There are plenty of telos-driven end-timers on many parts of the political spectrum. You can find them in their billionaire bunkers in Queenstown and Wanaka, in Far North communes, all across Southland from Tuatapere to Owaka, in parts of the Green Party, in the peace movement, all over the place.
National and Labour can be described as delaying our inevitable end.
Yeah. I'm optimistic enough to discount end-times as inevitable, yet realistic enough to acknowledge that addiction to neoliberalism keeps escalating their probability of happening.
Humanity evolves via catharsis experiences. System crash is a viable possibility at all times. Being locked into any particular mental state diminishes survival prospects and that logic applies to all of us. Hold your beliefs lightly to survive any testing times, shift and adapt when situations compel it.
I would be lucky to withstand reading a few lines without losing it.
perhaps I should've said
"To drown or burn the earth is a great sin and…..et cetera
Oldie but a goodie (GOP Jesus)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ2L-R8NgrA
Well..thats a smiler for the morning : ) GOP and Evangelical Luxon Christian? Humour…does help in these (and other) times….
FYI..(just in case?) I say..Truth in Humour !
Chief Sook displaying his mendacious arrogance.
Christopher Luxon ChatGPT
@rugbyintel
The problem with Maori is they just won't accept that I know best. They don't even know Maori health outcomes did really well over the last National government.
https://twitter.com/rugbyintel/status/1708752874216493546
The Hui livestream: October 02, 2023 @5:40>
https://www.youtube.com/live/UP0hZ8vp1Nk?si=hKDNVKwRos8hjAcT&t=340
Projection again. It is not Hipkins playing dirty and lying.
Should perhaps Labour offer to have the debate using only former Big Tobacco shills – oops dang thats right Labour, unlike National, is in a severe shortage of those sociopaths.
Note: Kelvin Davis is not the Deputy PM. Grant Robertson is. His opposite no. is Nicola Willis who, in the event of a Nat win would become Deputy PM.
So there's dirty politics from C Bishop for starters.
Carmel Sepuloni is deputy PM. Kelvin Davis is deputy leader.
But it should be leader versus leader. Hipkins has offered alternative dates. A woman spokesperson from The Press said that this was possible this morning on RadioNZ, but that the Chicken had refused to change his schedule. The Chicken has admitted this.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018909455
Sepuloni is Deputy PM. I think Robertson was Deputy PM under Ardern. My bad. 😳
No he isn't.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/portfolio/labour-2020-2023/deputy-prime-minister
Thought so. Why, then, did Hipkins tell AM (as Anne cited above) that Labour offered Robertson instead. No faith in their deputy, obviously!
Quite right for the Nats to reject a fake leaders debate when Labour put forward a fake leader instead of a real leader! Goddam charade. Pathetic.
You are a bs artist Frank. If you are going to have a debate then you offer like with like. You have spent the past few weeks throwing rocks and Labour and "lefties" in general so don't try to fool me or most people here what you are up to.
Look Anne, there's no need to try offensive bullshit in order to avoid the reality that you don't want to face up to. Face the facts!
If you believe anything I wrote is wrong, prove it by quoting facts. If you can't, have the grace to apologise.
Speaking francisly Luxon said he was a bit pressed……….
Agree with that Anne. I think Dennis is a troll.
I'm curious. Do you see all onsite commentators here who don't agree with you as such? If not, precisely what in my commentary makes you think like that??
Don’t think he is a troll, but he does come up with bullshit (I use the full word since he did) from time to time. I note that – like me – not too many people bother to respond to it. 🙂
That's a bit purist Dennis. Since elections are so much about economic policy, it would be silly and unfair to put a non-finance minister against a finance shadow minister – just because of the accident of how the deputy-leader roles have been assigned.
Oops – sorry Dennis, my mistake. Should read: "put a non-finance minister (Sepuloni) against the leader of the opposition"
Yeah it's a valid point re parity, but the chicken thing side-steps the rules of the game: status parity. Debates must do that to seem fair to audience.
So you agreed with AB re the "parity" point but not my "like with like" @ 1132am which means exactly the same thing. Interesting.
Wasn't clear to me what you meant then. I could comment better on your position if you clarified further how you see parity being provided by Labour in their debate stance…
Debate twosomes.
Leaders Hipkin (PM) Luxon (would be PM)
Deputies Sepuloni (DPM) Willis (would be DPM)
Last but not least:
Finance Minister Robertson (former DPM) Willis (would be Finance Minister and DPM)
All of those pairs have acceptable parities or in my words 'like with like'.
Okay, I see your reasoning & have no disagreement with it. Not sure how it bears on what Labour actually did tho!
If they really did offer the debate to Robertson, why didn't they provide parity framing so the Nats could reciprocate??
They probably did Dennis Frank, or at least framed it in such a way they invited National to accordingly respond. They chose not to.
After 50 plus years of political experience as part of an inner circle and observing closely from the periphery, together with another experience not aligned to Labour, I easily detect lying, cheating and disingenuous behaviour. This is how the National Party under Luxon is operating. I would not believe anything that man says nor his deputy and certainly not his campaign manager. They are an extension of the dirty politics Nicky Hager wrote about nearly ten years ago. Nothing has changed.
Sure you do Anne
Letter from Insurance company today listing main factors for changes in house and contents policy with rise in premiums:
And here I was being made to think it was all due to Labour's 'wasteful spending'………
Yep, same here. The insurance premium increased by 50% and 30% (Content and House) for us. For me the Climate Crises and Cost-of-Living Crises are closely interlinked.
Oh, the insurance company didn't mention another important factor… greed-flation.
The 'cost of living crisis' has been leveraged to the max with price increases……..similar to throwing petrol on a fire…..
So Luxon thinks he's "in the last week of a campaign" – but isn't this the second-to-last week? Has Lux been consulting his would-be finance minister about "technical numbers"?
Chippy has already offered to turn up on next Monday and do the Press Leaders debate, live with audience questions. Luxon is scheduled to be in Ch Ch that day and if he doesn't turn up to the debate that is going to be a very very very bad look……..
Bad look in whose eyes?
The lefties who wouldn't vote National if you paid them?
For the rest, Luxon has already done what he needs to in the debates (i.e. looked reasonably competent to the online/TV audience) [as judged by the commentators – of course he won't look competent in the eyes of the left wing]
There are no further wins for him to take out of debates with Hipkins. And this particular one wasn't even going to be televised – so an audience of max 2,000.
It's a piece of basic electioneering. And National have judged he can maximise his opportunities to convince wavering voters, elsewhere.
Luxon……"looked reasonably competent to the online/TV audience…."
"…as judged by the commentators…."
Oh of course….the "commentators"…the ones that decide thinking……..
And the debate was to be livestreamed….meaning it can be watched on TV with the push of a button……
Well, who do you think does decide?
If you can't accept analysis by political commentators – then there really is little point in discussing anything with you.
It doesn't make your opinion wrong – just not widely shared….
What about the still undecideds…….the National candidates and supporters in Christchurch……
If you base your thinking on the analysis of current mainstream political commentators then no wonder you appear to have a fragile self concept.
National have made the call that the 'undecideds' won't be materially affected by the Christchurch election debate.
And are more likely to be affected by alternative electioneering strategies. National candidates and supporters in ChCh have already made their minds up (and probably already voted) – no point in preaching to the choir.
TBH – I'd tend to agree – after the first one, and absent a major debating coup ("show me the money" "this glitter is going to settle") – which is not going to come from Mr Bland and Mr Blander – the debates don't change opinion.
And, yes, I do find political analysis interesting. Those who don't are doomed to fester in their own little corner of the internet echo chamber – and will find the real world rather a shock when it comes calling.
While I could make some response to your personalization of the discussion. I’ll leave it at the fact that those without a coherent argument, degenerate to name-calling.
And, that it takes someone with a rather tough self-concept to continue commenting as a Centrist on a left-leaning site like TS.
Ok, finding political analysis interesting is a long stretch from basing your thinking on said analysis. But hey, who am I to argue with such depth of awareness of someone so grounded in the real world…..phew! please send autograph to moderator……
Name calling….mmmmn….not that I mentioned anything but now that you have, Primadonna seems to fit……
Naming is a way of placing order on our world by helping us differentiate between things. It also helps others know what we are referring to when having a conversation…………..
If you struggle to differentiate between 'naming' (using the preferred name for a person or thing, or the commonly used term) and 'name calling' (using a pejorative term or phrase, designed to slur to denigrate) – then I'm sorry for you.
Here's a song for you, I am sure you will enjoy it……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqlbn_nI2w8
Well, Lux was the guy who spells "Cat"…. : )
Maybe a sentence might have helped?
The fat cat sat, on the mat…….
Luxon is the man who opposes the clean-car discount but took it himself.
Clearly he is entirely trustworthy.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/call-for-single-gender-hospital-rooms-to-protect-human-rights-new-report/CFVSTEUIUZEADPOJ7LFASBD33A/
Gee why on earth would they do this (mixed rooms) Surely they they should be all gender specific ?
– Could it perhaps have something to do with maximising the use of available facilities to provide treatment? If you insist on gender specific rooms you are going to have more empty beds that won't be allowed to be used and you will have less health care delivered.
Where is the budget coming from to build more treatment facilities so that you can manage a lower utilisation rate? You may get more comfortable patients but you bloody well aren't going to be able to treat as many.
ED,s separated by curtains, Acute medicat assessment units separated by curtains, Recovery separated by curtains, whats the problem ?.
If they have separate areas for males and females in the UK, that would explain the concern about gender ID in their health system then …
Twyford announces foreign policy decision by Labour, Minto freaks out:
Presumably GR is doing pr for Labour on the basis that finance ministers are the right people inform the public about foreign policy. A leftist thought process.
However I can't fault the excellent exposition of the Grant. I'm tempted to suggest that Minto is doing grumpy old man syndrome on the topic.
They're establishment politicians, what do you expect?? A moon-walk?
Good point but it could be valid to dispose of them by assigning them to the category flakey. I'm inclined to be agnostic on this one. Wearing my Green hat I'd assert the relevant principle: any political group with a tradition of national identity in their collective reality – even if merely aspirational – has an inherent right to collective recognition of their common identity.
Meanwhile Israel is no longer recognising some of those converting to Judaism and becoming Rabbi's as eligible to for migration to Israel for this years sukkoth.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skieqtk16
It appears to be the beginning of a gambit (with the change to the basic law) to question the eligibility of those with a Jewish grandfather to become citizens.
All the Palestinians got from Oslo was KFC in Ramallah.
No, they got an offer of land for peace (most of the West Bank and Gaza) in 2000, with East Jerusalem as a capital. And Arafat rejected it because he also wanted right of return to Israel for the 1948 refugees.
A mistake.
Then his successor allowed Hamas to compete in PA elections, despite the fact they did not accept the Oslo Accords setting up the PA. Then Hamas won and there have been no elections since – soon to be a multiple decade thing.
What they were offered was one thing, but they definitely got KFC.
And when Israel and Saudi Arabia sign their full security and diplomatic pact, they both do a full end-run around Jordan's historic claims which could have supported Palestine.
House of Saud may as well be the Harkkonens for the play they are doing to bind US, Israel and Saudi Arabia together.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-saudi-defence-pact-tied-israel-deal-palestinian-demands-put-aside-2023-09-29/
The mere suggestion of SA going with an alternative to the US dollar/swift axis towards China …. and a full guarantee of US security ... tied to a SA-Israel deal to ensure that the GOP is enraptured to full accord.
I doubt they will touch on the Jordan role as to Temple regime co-operation (remnant of the international city concept of 1947).
Nor on any peace outcome between Israelis and Palestinians, not when the Israeli right has eretz Israel (permanent occupation without West Bank Arab citizens) with a united Jerusalem capital aspiration and SA will still officially support a two state outcome with East Jerusalem as a capital for a new one.
So what is the Israeli-SA angle that would allow the GOP to accept this .(make it bi-partisan)?
First SA recognition of Israel. Second SA aid to the PA that comes with strings as to how the PA operates (no reward to families of those who do bad things, but welfare to all families in need)(end to anti Jewish Semite propaganda in education)(one control of the gun)(WB PA elections)(PA regards all 1948 refugees as Palestinian citizens and no longer refugees and gets the AL to go along with this and allow them rights of residency, allowed to leave the camps).
In return Israel will have to promise to play nice (…..
The consequences of this going wrong – Jordan left with the Palestinian baby – Hashemite dynasty and PLO 1970's state away from state discord. The Temple run by Zionists for Zionists and invasion plans from the east via Iraq.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/its-official-new-zealands-ruling-party-commits-to-recognizing-palestine-if-re-elected/
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231002-new-zealands-labour-party-pledges-recognition-of-palestine-if-re-elected/
The presumption is allowing the representative to present their credentials is formal recognition, Labour have managed to make it a process, showing all the innovation required to be seen as a sophisticated player in the international community.
Fair point there. Funny how Minto doesn't see it eh? Doing the 2-step with Oz as interim measure is genuine lateral thinking.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/06/australia-should-recognise-state-of-palestine-as-part-of-fair-go-ethos-de-facto-ambassador-says
Good reporting as it provides essential context, thus meaning relevant to any observer. Wonder why Albo is so hesitant to proceed.
That bit at the end of the Guardian report about Israel's stance being peace will only come via agreement between Palestine & Israel is rather disingenuous. True on the face of it yet it masks the role of peacemakers as brokers of a deal.
Biden lacks the ambition to go down in history as the magical transformer of the status quo, seemingly. Same for the UN head. Sad.
Brilliant exposition on the meanings of Te Tiriti: https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2023/10/03/elizabeth-rata-two-treaties-of-waitangi-the-articles-treaty-and-the-principles-treaty/
She presents a strategic triad used to drive novelty into our traditional stasis, then:
The interface between the sacred and politics is a mental shared space where politicos rarely go, yet salient to the issues. She extends triad to tetrad:
Ethos usually emerges from mythos, morality generates in consequences of like-minded ethos, then you get articulated laws. Co-governance as a principle is mired in deep context. No clear common ground in legislative application of the principle thus far!
This in the Herald is not paywalled and a must read.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/political-roundup-ten-reasons-labours-support-has-halved/3I3F36OCRFFB3PPCIKZL2TH6VI/
The bold headline at the end stating "Labour needs honest soul-searching about its defeat" at this stage of the election cycle proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the fear mongering, manipulation and orchestration of disinformation, misinformation and general sycophantic editorials amount to nothing less than 'quid pro quo' by the big end of town.
If there is ever a bloody civil uprising in this country as many predict, I fear for the likes of Bryce Edwards head……..
It's on his own site.
Bracing but sound.
https://democracyproject.nz/2023/10/03/bryce-edwards-ten-reasons-labours-support-has-halved/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bryce-edwards-ten-reasons-labours-support-has-halved
Gee whiz, that sure as hell is a stunning indictment of Labour's track record in govt! I await various feeble attempts to prove it flawed!
I recommend you gush your praises of Bryce Edwards "honest" analysis and remarkable foresight on his Substack.
(https://democracyproject.substack.com/p/political-roundup-ten-reasons-labours)
He's more likely to see them that way.
https://democracyproject.nz/2023/09/26/bryce-edwards-the-vested-interests-shaping-national-party-policies/
A director ahead of his interesting times – doesn't get much clearer than this, imho.
The Judge of Trumps trial has declared that 80% of the charges are outside the Statute of Limitations. Therefore he will evade accountability.
I think you'll find it's Trump's team that have asserted that, not a ruling from the judge.
Yes Ad. That was a quote from Trump outside the Court. And by the looks on the faces on faces of his team they were aghast. Sorry that I was ill informed.
nationals are a gang of clowns just this side of the freak show and not up to government.