It is all about perceived conflict of interest. A minister of Transport making decisions that could potentially benefit his investment is a problem. In this case, it is unlikely because the holding is small. But, it is simply a bad look.
It is all about managing perceived conflicts of interest. I am on several boards for trusts, and we have to declare perceived conflicts of interest so it is transparent to all. And, if the conflict is significant enough, we may have to recluse ourselves from decision making in that area.
It isn't a problem if it is handled correctly. In this case it wasn't. And given Wood's experience and seniority, he should have known and handled this much better.
A minister of Transport making decisions that could potentially benefit his investment is a problem
I'm looking forward to every @nznationalparty MP who owns a rental property recusing themselves from a vote re tax breaks on the interest.
Each house alone could net them more than Wood's whole share parcel.
No media will pick that up.
Corrin Dann very weakly touched on this with Luxon on RNZ this morning. Luxon has 5 rentals I think, and stands to make tens of thousands annually by reinstating tax breaks on rentals.
What does having a mortgage got to do with Luxon’s profiteering from his Party’s bullet points policies on home ownership and rental properties? You seem to imply that because he has no mortgage on any of the many properties he owns and therefore pays no mortgage interest he does not stand to benefit at all!? For example, have you heard of the Bright Line test and that National will repeal its extension by the sitting Government from 2 to 10 years?
Either you’re incredibly ignorant or maliciously manipulative.
You do not make “tens of thousands annually” from the one off sale as a result of any gain from moving the bright line test.
You could potentially make “tens of thousands annually “ from the re-establishment of interest deductibility – but of course only if you have a mortgage against which to claim the interest.
The median profit on the 93.9 percent of resales that sold for a gain remained high at $305,000, though below its peak of $440,000 in the final quarter of 2021.
Having a much shorter Bright-Line test will make a difference of about $100,000 on a median profit of $305,000, depending on the top tax rate, which, coincidentally, National and Luxon also want to scrap. In my Maths textbook 100,000 is 10 times more than 10,000.
My son bought a house in 2017 lived in it for 4 years, till his marriage dissolved, sold for $400k more than he paid. That's $100,000 per year of tax free income
The realised gains from a house sale are taxed or non-taxed, depending on whether they pass the Bright Line test or not. This is irrespective of whether or how the money is spent/reinvested.
It was not the same rising market of 20201 in 2022 or 2023 or …
Having a half share of $400,000 CG – and having a share in the original equity, does not equate to immediately buying back into the market.
$300,000 of equity would still means a lot of mortgage to pay in some markets. And despite lower values now, there is the high cost of debt (on one income).
It does mean a capability to pair up again sometime – and if a lower property value than in 2021 and lower mortgage rates c2024-2025, someone will have timed the blended/reboot well.
I think a rich man who reportedly owns seven properties wanting a tax cut for high income earners looks worse than Woods' case but the media ignores that!
Again, as I pointed out above, the issue is managing conflicts of interest.
Wood would be in the clear if he had declared his potential conflict correctly. Given the fact it is only a small shareholding, then likely declaring that should be enough, even as Transport minister in my opinion. I don't actually think he should have to sell them if the conflict was properly managed, because any likely benefit he could get from his possible decisions would be trivial.
The same with investment housing etc. An MP owning say five houses may, in the scheme of things may not be consequential, whereas owning 100 houses may be a problem.
As I said above, this is the sort of thing that must be managed all the time when on a board of a trust etc. If the conflict is minor, having it declared is sufficient. If the conflict is considered too substantial, it is best to not be involved in related decisions at all.
A conflict I need to be aware of is that I am treasurer on two independent trusts, that compete for the same funding. I have this declared as a conflict, and is something I need to make sure I maintain confidentiality over.
So, for argument’s sake, the difference is between owning 5 and 100 houses?
Do you always tilt the field in your favour for you to score points easily & lazily?
Managing real and perceived conflicts of interest are the issue here, as you correctly stated.
Of course, Wood has to sell those AIA shares now, as he intended all along, because they’re tainted now. It is not a legal but a moral imperative aka the right thing to do, under the circumstances.
Do you always tilt the field in your favour for you to score points easily & lazily?
I didn't think I was. And, it is totally contingent on a variety of factors whether 5 houses would be a conflict or not.
For example, on one hand a decision maker may own 5 houses, so could benefit if a decision is made to drop interest rates. On the other hand, said person may have $10,000,000 in the bank, and may stand to lose income due to dropping interest rates.
It is all contingent, and has to be judged on a case by case basis. The key thing is to declare potential conflicts properly and have proper processes to manage conflicts.
For instance, on one of the trusts I am treasurer on the board was keen to know where the other trust had got funding for a new van. The way I handled that conflict was to ask the other board if it was OK to divulge that information. That meant having to ask the first board if it was OK to tell the other board that we were looking at purchasing a van.
I agree Wood probably has to sell the shares now. Though, he probably didn’t have to if the conflict was managed properly in the first place.
And, for the record, I don’t agree with opposition calls for Wood to be sacked.
Your idiosyncratic hypothetical examples rarely have any bearing on reality and are often bordering on being absurd.
How many New Zealanders own 100 houses? Of those, how many are MPs?
Owning 5 houses may (?) not be a problem but a 100 may (?) be.
Luxon owns 7 Real Properties, and this may or may not be a conflict of interest depending on how much he has in the bank, depending on which way the interest rates might go, and on position of Venus in the star sign of Sagittarius on Friday 30 February?? Or so does your typical ‘argument’ go.
The rules are clear: any perceived or real conflict of interest must be declared, with a low minimum threshold, of course, for practicality. End of.
And such declaration does not actually remove the conflict of interest, it merely declares it.
So, Luxon and many other MPs do have a declared conflict of interest when it comes to any decisions regarding to housing and landlording, for example. He’s a ‘good boy’ because he declared it and Wood is a ‘bad boy’ because he fucked up his declaration.
I can see Wood selling his AIA shares, as he’s intended all along, but I can’t see Luxon selling his properties. Can you?
Stop jumping up & down on the head of a pin and stop hiding behind absurd examples and start engaging in a mature conversation without deflecting, diverting, and dodging, thanks.
Your idiosyncratic hypothetical examples rarely have any bearing on reality and are often bordering on being absurd.
The point is not to show real life examples, but to point to the principle that the overall effect needs to be considered, balancing up what may be competing conflicts of interest.
The rules are clear: any perceived or real conflict of interest must be declared, with a low minimum threshold, of course, for practicality. End of.
Absolutely agree.
And such declaration does not actually remove the conflict of interest, it merely declares it.
Absolutely agree again. And I expect that advice would be sought on how the conflict should be managed, if it is viewed as something that should be. And I don't think this is something the individual with the conflict should make a decision about.
I can see Wood selling his AIA shares, as he’s intended all along, but I can’t see Luxon selling his properties. Can you?
I have no problems with the fact that owning property should be declared. And, if Luxon doesn’t want to sell his, then he needs to have the conflict managed in an appropriate way.
If the conflict is seen as material enough to affect decisions in a particular area of responsibility, then that conflict needs to be managed.
Likely, in that situation, one way to manage the conflict would be to have decisions reviewed by an appropriate independent person to ensure that the decision is correct and balanced.
Either that, or delegate that decision to another person not affected by that conflict.
I have said previously that I don’t think Wood should have to sell his shares. And I think pressure for him to sell previously was likely over the top, and there could have been a way forward that allowed him to keep them. But, I agree with you, that he probably will now given the politics at play.
And, if Luxon doesn’t want to sell his, then he needs to have the conflict managed in an appropriate way.
What do you suggest? There is no “if”, is there now?
Should he recuse himself from voting (abstain) for his own (Party’s) policies? If so, that would exclude many MPs, not just from National, from voting.
As to demonstrating the validity of a principle, it strengthens your argument if you’d indeed use real-life examples instead of absurd hypotheticals that are merely rhetorical tools that make you appear disingenuous.
I actually agree with you, that housing is a problematic area. Because, owning investment houses for rentals has been fairly pervasive with politicians
I am not sure what is in place now. But, I think politicians need to be discussing potential conflicts with an independent body such as Parliamentary services, for guidance on whether particular areas of conflict are material to certain areas, and what should be done to manage the conflict.
One way to do that is with a blind trust, where all a politicians relevant assets are placed in the trust, and and independent person makes decisions about the trust.
I think the Wood situation has shown why politicians need to be careful about conflicts of interest, and it may be necessary to tighten requirements in this area.
the NZ property market needs to devalue if we are to end poverty (or even reduce it to levels of 20 years ago). By quite a lot. Do you really trust MPs who are banking on personal capital gains to do that? It’s not the number of houses, it’s the number of MPs who are currently becoming quite wealthy. They’re the greater majority in parliament.
I stuffed up …my calculation above should have been made in relation to Auckland International Airport not AirNZ.
So I will make the same point with AIA.
Auckland International Airport (AIA) currently has a capital value of $12.8 billion.
Wood's $13,000 shares represent roughly ONE MILLIONTH of the value of AIA shares.
Wood owns a miniscule part of AIA. This could hardly be called a conflict of interest. There should be some recognition of the SCALE of ownership in the parliament rules in terms of conflict of interest.
Not much doubt that it was the Russians. As the video above points out, it was understood last year that the Russians had mined the damn, and had it prepared for demolition. And, it is the most simple answer when the two following questions were considered: Firstly, who controlled the damn, and secondly, what would be required to cause that sort of damage.
The answer to the first question is obviously Russia. The answer to the second question, according to most commentators, is that it is nigh on impossible to destroy that sort of structure with missiles or the like, and that it would require planned demolition. Thus, the answer is obviously Russia IMO.
So, what do the Russians get out of this? On one hand, they have cut their water supply to Crimea. But, on the other hand, they have shortened their front line, and are able to redeploy troops elsewhere.
It looks like it may have been a demolition that went out of hand.
According to this timeline and the contradictory and developing Russian messaging, it appears that the damn may have been blown at around 2am the preceding morning, with the goal of creating a small breach to flood Ukrainian positions on the other side of the Dnipro. But, the demo caused much more damage than intended.
" The Russians had raised the water level to maximum height etc Yeah right i guess they just wanted to flood all their fortifications an wash away their minefields ? Why wouldnt they just open the floodgates ?? .I guess for the same reason they blew up their own pipeline rather than simply turning off the tap !!! makes perfect sense lol .
Same thing as the Seppos got using white phosphorus on Fallujah – the chance to indulge their spite. They know they've lost – they just want to share the pain.
Certainly that. But, also some military defensive advantage as well. It makes it nigh on impossible for the Ukrainians to advance across the Dnipro now in that location. So, it simplifies things for the Russians, and allows them to redeploy their troops.
Though, I tend to buy into the theory that this was a demo that got out of hand.
It is, apparently, the source of Crimea's water, so that will complicate the defense.
I imagine it is part of a larger scheme to precipitate a failure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which requires the Khakhovka reservoir as a source of cooling water. Fixes involving extra pumping are surely possible, but Russia would like nothing better than to turn it into a second Chernobyl.
I'm inclined to think that any defensive advantage will be pretty temporary – especially given that any crossing of the Dnieper was going to be by boat in any case. But Russia is likely desperate enough to seize any momentary advantage – and a local Russian commander in the Kherson region wanting a few days to secure a retreat might have good selfish reasons to do it, together with the means.
" What do the Russians get out of this " ? Good question stuart !! You say " they know they've lost " etc Really ?? hmm Soledar has fallen Bakmut has fallen Marinka has a few days if its lucky, the great springsummer offensive has been for the most part repelled with heavy losses to the Ukranians …doesnt really seem like losing to me but you think it is Why ?
Their victories are at best Pyrrhic. They lose a lot of men and materiale. And the West is fed up with their bullshit and are, at last, supporting Ukraine properly.
For a supposedly crucial strategic point, Bakhmut has done nothing to swing the war in Russia's favour since its capture destruction. And, as Wagner withdraws, under friendly fire no less, it transpires that Russian regular forces struggle to maintain the positions they once held.
The scorched earth policy of an army looking down the barrel of an ignominious trouncing. The Ukrainian offensive to retake Crimea would make continued occupation untenable. Destroying the dam jiggers the water supply to large areas of south Ukraine and makes Crimea virtually uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
Are you serious joe ??!! Despite ' the west' dribbling in weapons to prolong the conflict as long as it can Ukraine remains outgunned in almost everyway .Judging by the increasing use of airpower by Russia Ukraines air defences are seriously depleted and its pretty obvious what aircraft they have left are living on borrowed time .Russia has hypersonic missiles and fearsome weapons like the thermobaric flamethrower systems Russia has industrial capacity such that it can bombard any area of Ukraine anytime it wants .
Seems to me its Ukraine " looking down the barrel of a gun " because everyday Russia grows stronger and Ukraine grows weaker .The idea that Russia is getting a "trouncing " is delusional .As for the water supply to Crimea it still functioned when the Ukrainians cut off the supply the first time so doubtless it will cope .Id be more worried about the supply to the power station .
I wouldn't be so quick to rush to judgement. Russia again had far more to lose than to gain from blowing up critical infrastructure in territory they seek long term control.
U.S. had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline
No, they had a lot more to gain than lose from a military perspective. Firstly it effectively reduced their front line so far as defence is concerned. Secondly, it frees up a lot of troops to defend in other areas.
The other thing is that the damage was done on the Russian side of the dam. And it had been known for months that they had pre-mined it. And, as Michael Clarke points out in the link I gave, missiles can't do that sort of damage to a large dam. It has to be a planned demo job.
The only downside for Russia is that it cuts the water supply to Crimea. But that was the situation for years when Ukraine had shut the canal. And a lot of people have been leaving Crimea anyway. And, Putin really doesn't care that much about his own people.
Inside the Ukrainian counteroffensive that shocked Putin and reshaped the war.
Dec 29th 2022.
Kovalchuk considered flooding the river. The Ukrainians, he said, even conducted a test strike with a HIMARS launcher on one of the floodgates at the Nova Kakhovka dam, making three holes in the metal to see if the Dnieper’s water could be raised enough to stymie Russian crossings but not flood nearby villages.
The test was a success, Kovalchuk said, but the step remained a last resort. He held off.
I agree that all war is shit for those caught up in it. This is a highly-reported and discussed conflict in Europe, unlike most of the miseries of recent semi-proxy wars, like the horror in Syria. So we can see much of the nuts and bolts of extended warfare play out daily.
The outcome of this conflict is critical to the future political shape of Europe and of political alliances on both sides of the conflict. I'm not a military buff at all, and can imagine only too well the suffering of soldiers and citizens. But I am interested in the decisions on both sides that affect the political future and also reframe conventional warfare. Bury your head in the sand if you want: this is a pivotal time in political history.
It is clear to me that the moral certitude of an anti-war position has been co-opted by Russian disinformation. Can you imagine even 10 years ago the most right-wing of the US Republican party supporting the Russian Federation over Ukraine and urging isolationism? Ukraine would have been swallowed up by Russia by now if Trump, an admirer of strongmen, had retained the US presidency.
Pretty sure many leftists went and fought in the Spanish Civil War – Orwell being one of them.
Appeasing Putin simply isn't going to work. This is the same person who was openly killing people in foreign countries while the capitalist elite made friendly with him.
I was surprised at the lack of kick back then. Eventually it bit everyone on the arse.
He is as much of an arsehole as Bush was. Both unjust invasions of other countries.
Not even close. Himars etc would only scratch the surface of that structure. It requires properly placed explosives to achieve that sort of damage. Watch that second video by Michael Clarke I linked to.
Did earlier damage weaken part of the dam – and I read somewhere the water levels were very high? This could could have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
It's what chekist thugs do. The human cost be buggered.
/
In 1941, as Nazi German troops swept through Soviet-era Ukraine, Josef Stalin's secret police blew up a hydroelectric dam in the southern city of Zaporizhzhya to slow the Nazi advance.
The explosion flooded villages along the banks of the Dnieper River, killing thousands of civilians.
As Europe marks its Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23, a handful of Zaporizhzhya residents are battling for the recognition of the little-known wartime tragedy.
[…]
The team successfully carried out its secret mission — which historians say was ordered by Stalin himself — tearing a hole in the dam and temporarily cutting off part of the city from the invaders.
But the explosion also flooded villages and settlements along the Dnieper River.
The tidal surge killed thousands of unsuspecting civilians, as well as Red Army officers who were crossing over the river.
Since no official death toll was released at the time, the estimated number of victims varies widely. Most historians put it at between 20,000 and 100,000, based on the number of people then living in the flooded areas.
Seems the Herald is keen to deflect from Wayne Brown's public relation disasters by fussing about what Wellington's mayor should or should not be doing. Normally Wellington's mayor would be ignored.
Whanau has faced scrutiny for her absence at civic events and meetings, including a meeting of the regional mayor’s forum. But the mayor thinks the focus on her attendance is undue, and largely because people don’t like what she represents as a young Māori woman in council.
And yet, it goes on to say:
Whanau has admitted it’s “not ideal” she has missed meetings recently and she “wouldn’t do that again.” “I should have been there.”
Seeing as Whanau has admitted it’s “not ideal” she has missed meetings recently, stating she should have been there and she wouldn’t do that again. Isn't the criticism valid?
With regard to the meetings she has missed, Whanau admitted "I should have been there. I gave an apology on the morning of.
"That's not ideal. Wouldn't do that again."
…
"I'm here to represent the next generation of leaders, the next generation that I'm trying to set up the city for and our most vulnerable. So I can't change who I am," she added. "I'm not going to change my values and I'm not going to change the policies that I campaigned on."
And Wayne Brown's thinks some of his critics are "drongos" – what say you?
She [Simpson] said Brown's behaviour – calling councillors "financially illiterate" and forwarding them copies of insulting emails – has not made the budget process smoother.
"It's not made easier," she admitted to Checkpoint's Lisa Owen.
…
Asked if Brown was acting in a manner befitting the office of Auckland mayor, Simpson paused, and said, "he could potentially at times use better language".
Maybe Mayor Brown can't change who he is – and his supporters wouldn't have it any other way. Let's hope the supercity doesn't face too many more major challenges over the next two and a half years – jeez, Wayne!
Seeing as Whanau has admitted she should have been there, coupled with there being no evidence of ageist or gendered language or racism, it seems the criticism is valid.
Furthermore, she lowered herself by pulling out the gendered, ageist and racism card.
Wait- that point where the Mayor has a busy schedule and has to choose meetings as opposed to the Mayor who does almost no media? Imagine if Tory Whanau had done that.
And to say the least..so he should ! In your link (thanks) I did also see this..
Council disowns report revealing consent breaches
Greenpeace Aotearoa says disowning the report is a “shocker” and the council is throwing its former staff member “under a bus”. “It’s evidence that ECan is failing to take its responsibilities seriously,” says Christine Rose, the environmental lobby group’s senior agricultural campaigner.
Many thanks for that Scotty…interesting that ECan seems to be trying to wriggle out of its role to protect the river despite the fact that it knows that the permitted "take' from the river is being exceeded.
Quite a court battle on the horizon. Well done David Parker indeed for wading in on this (no pun intended…though with the illegal low flows at the moment wading wouldn't be needed)
As for the pledge this film studies expert poses at the end of the article, Kathleen Stock would be the first to sign up
I'm all for trans rights, as long as they don't destroy womens rights to same sex assembly and protection .For a lot of women , gender , the way in which one expresses one's sex culturally, is just a fiction, subject to societal mores and ever changing cultural fashion Sex is the ground zero reality, gender the window dressing.
So hang me, send me off for conversion therapy, neuter my brain , sanitise my dictionary.
Shaw references this 2021 review of Stock's book on transgender by a Texas philosopher with a trans child. Also well worth the read – it is not a diatribe, but examines Stock’s main points in a reasoned way.
The reviewer discusses the crux of Stock's position, and mirrors what frustrates me most about the debate on this topic at The Standard:
'Stock is most concerned about a teeming horde of violent “transsexual pretenders” who might rush into the nihilistic void created by gender identity policies. Yet the book has no systematic scheme or scale for weighing different harms or assessing the likelihood of such a social collapse. Of course, any such scheme would be shot-through with judgment calls, but at least those could be made in the open. No, her utilitarianism is the invisible ghost in the machine.'
I have already said elsewhere…that I sure hope a lot of these..recipients…. might remember who gave them. For sure Nact…(charter schools, tax cuts for rich etc etc) do NOT have their best interests at heart (heart? Im being ironic)
Anway…I was wondering..did teachers ever strike under..the Nats? I cant remember many? If any? I found this…seems a bit…well, excuse making. IMO.
I am supportive of teachers and don't know that what they have just rejected is good but if they are not careful they are going to be negotiating their collective with an ACT minister….
100%. PLA, yes, Teachers were attending meetings to find out which schools would close, under National, and which Teacher conditions would be removed. Communities don't matter to National apparently… as they constantly talked up Individual Responsibility while Key swapped hats to suit his needs!!. Teachers know Labour tries to assist them and children, and not treat Education as a cash cow!!
'cos while I support selling the airport shares..'cos they don't make economic sense ..I do support us buying a cash cow like vodofone ..on both economic and ideological grounds..
An independent panel has recommended changes to the electoral law:
"There have been piecemeal changes to electoral law over many years, including some recently, but this review is an opportunity to step back and look at the bigger picture," panel chair Deborah Hart said.
The draft recommendations include:
Lowering the voting age for general elections to 16 and extend overseas voting rules
Extending voting rights to all prisoners, not just those sentenced to less than a three-year jail term
Holding a referendum on extending the Parliamentary term from three to four years
Lowering the party vote threshold from 5 to 3.5 per cent and abolishing the coat-tail rule
Restricting political donations to registered voters, rather than organisations, and capping them at $30,000 to each party and its candidates per electoral cycle while reducing the amount that can be anonymously donated
Rewriting the Electoral Act to modernise its language (e.g. eliminating references to faxes)
Requiring the Electoral Commission to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Because permanent residents shouldn't be disenfranchised because they aren't 'citizens'.
While we live under a representative democracy as opposed to a direct democracy the parties represent the will of the voters so there is no disenfranchisement there. The head of the panel makes a valid point on this issue in the article:
If some of the recommendations were to proceed, including lowering the voting age to 16, they would require a 75 percent majority in Parliament or a referendum.
Hart did not believe that was a problem.
"When you're talking about electoral reform you do want broad support. You don't want electoral reform to become a political football."
That’s an interesting position to take. If Parliament cannot determine electoral matters then who can (or should)?
I’ve had an (growing) unease about the power of political parties in democracy and the democratic processes and have been meaning to write a Post about this for quite some time. I recently read On the Abolition of All Political Parties by Simone Weil (see https://thestandard.org.nz/kerekere-quits-greens/#comment-1948834) and this almost made me write it but perhaps Election Year is not the most appropriate time to start kicking against the political establishment and parties
One would only have to note the USA practice as to what could go wrong if political parties (in government) had determination of electoral and election matters. Less of it, rather than more.
The rate of increase in theft is about the same as the supermarkets profit margin:
The highest supermarket margins Newshub found were in dairy products, fresh produce, and organics.
But there is a huge range – the lowest profit margin Newshub heard of was 20 percent. That particular supplier was selling a dry-packaged product with a very long shelf life.
The vast majority of these small to medium-sized suppliers were seeing a supermarket profit margin on their product of between 30 percent and 40 percent.
Wage theft is a much more significant issue, and is yet to be a crime:
In 2016 the Council of Trade Unions found workers had been repaid more than $35 million for payroll errors that year.
A 2017 audit of the forestry industry by labour inspectors form the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment found almost 90% were breaching basic employment law standards.
In certain trading situations – shortages, prices escalate to ration supply by price. The retailer will claim if there more tomatoes they could sell at a smaller mark-up and maintain the same sort of overall return for tomatoes.
The same retailers have their (negotiated as one of two – duopoly market) supply contracts to prevent growers doing to them, what they do to their own customers.
Governance includes the option of windfall profits taxation after national disasters/pandemic events (QE and increased supply of cheap money as per banks).
The government has aided independent chemists with the end of prescription charges – reducing the risk of a big chemist retail monopoly.
It needs to constantly work on measures in the food supply sector to maintain competition – other outlets for suppliers (online, local markets etc) as well as regulatory vigilance of monopolies in their management of their relations with suppliers (as they would employers as to employees – including contractors and migrants).
Someone needs to make a graph or a visual description comparing the scale of Wood’s shares and Luxon’s properties as Luxon has been making up policy on the fly which benefits home owners…
The relationships between plants and the fungi that colonise their roots are responsible for locking away a huge amount of carbon underground – maybe equivalent to more than one-third of global emissions from fossil fuels.
Almost all land plants on Earth have a symbiotic relationship with fungi that live in the soil around their roots, trading the carbon they draw from the air for nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.
These mycorrhizal fungi store the carbon they get from their plant partners in their tissues and the surrounding soil, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere. But despite the interest in nature-based solutions to climate change, mycorrhizal fungi have been largely overlooked, says Heidi-Jayne Hawkins at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. So, she and her colleagues set out to calculate just how much carbon plants might be transferring to these fungi.
By scouring data from dozens of scientific studies on the relationships between plants and fungi, the researchers estimated that between 3 and 13 per cent of the carbon dioxide that plants pull out of the atmosphere ends up in the fungal tissue.
The team then used global data on which plants live where, how productive they are and which fungi they are associated with to estimate that about 13.1 gigatonnes of CO2 is transferred to fungi each year – equivalent to around 36 per cent of annual emissions from fossil fuels around the world.
It's good to see our farmers looking to revitalise our soils:
Evans believes regenerative farming techniques can provide farmers with a practical solution for building long-term soil health.
On a smaller scale, it's the same as what many growers do in their home food gardens, he says.
"It is possible to scale it up, we have the technology, but there's not enough people doing it all at once to turn this big ship around, of losing topsoil at crazy rates."
There's a groundswell of fresh awareness amongst Australian farmers, Evans says.
"Farming for a long time was seeing soil as a way to grow plants and animals, but now there's a new breed of farmers who are saying hang on, how do we use plants and animals to build soil."
Wanting health soils structure is not new, we been talking about worms ,root depths and growing mor clover for years.
Of interest my work just got a paddock to farm next door that was in potatoes last year, lifeless with no soil structure at all, boss reckons it takes years to turn these type of paddocks around.
Absolutely but the evidence is stacking up that our current practices aren't helping, too much monoculture, too many chemical amendments, a more holistic approach is necessary as is more diversity, raising animal and plants in a more circular nature-replicating process.
It does take years to improve soils, so best we start now!
Follow potatoes with a crop of lupins dug back in, plus sea grass and bio chat and compost, for root veg, followed by brassicas. Cheers 1/3 each year on rotation.
NACT reveal their governing modus operandi – exploit migration worker numbers to place upward pressure on property values and downward pressure on wages (growing the gap between haves and have nots). And while low wage workers are struggling to afford rents let alone own their homes – divert attention from this with this sort of politics.
It's a sideshow of building more prisons to house those they would not employ into jobs.
It's the Americanisation of our society.
People under 25 on the benefit placed under the care of (faith based provider, fear and obey regime) overseers who decide whether they are deserving poor. The period of pre employment trial on the jobs (guess what happens to those who join unions).
Be nice if the current govt differed on this issue, sadly they also seek to supress wages by maintaining immigration levels which will exacerbate the number of crises which already have insufficient infrastructure spending:
While acknowledging a lot of uncertainty, the economists say the surge in migration “has the potential to disturb the grand plan” the Reserve Bank has for reining in inflation. Westpac economists are forecasting a net inflow of 100,000 people over 2023, adding almost 2% to New Zealand’s population. That would be the fastest rate of population growth New Zealand has seen in decades.
At the neo-liberal policy setting a bit of commonality.
But the divergence is in how the disparity is then managed. One mitigates it, the other places the jackboot on the neck of the poor.
A cost of living crisis is hitting New Zealanders hard, with grocery prices and inflation all spiking over the last 12 months.
But despite this, Quin said this has nothing to do with the rapid spike in crime and there are three factors driving retail crime at supermarkets.
"The first is organised activity, so it's organised crime activity, stealing to order, stealing to revenue or an ability to dispose of the product," he told AM.
He seems to fail to note a connection to there being an underclass (cannot afford stuff and or in motels etc) and those who organise to escape this, via crime.
As in the 1980's USA in Volcker's recession and subsequent family break-up, levels of crime rose as a last resort to fulfil the American dream
The second level, sadly and unfortunately, is it's feeding an addiction, habit, drugs or alcohol.
There is no evidence that any of these have suddenly got worse in recent months.
NACT and Seymour of course blame it on Labour for letting people out of prison and not puting them back (Seymour calls them "criminals as if they are a class branded") in there asap.
Is NACT proposing an end to parole? And then a return for any infringement upon release (thus a form of 2 tier legal system) as a crime prevention programme?
It pays to read any link before posting..'cos despite reading like a puff-piece for the flesh industries..your one is quite bullish on the red meat gives you cancer evidence..
And claims in it that 'fake meat' is 25 times more polluting than cow flesh …is just total horseshit…
Yet no refutal of the paper's assertion that the GWP of all purified scenarios ranged from 246 to 1,508 kg of CO2e per kilogram of ACBM which is 4 to 25 times greater than the median GWP of retail beef.
The Davis paper published recently in the journal Nature Geoscience found the warming effect of methane was 30% lower than previously thought because, in addition to the heat trapped in the earth’s atmosphere, methane also creates cooling clouds which partly offset the heating impact. This supports the argument from B+LNZ about the need to apply the GWP* measurement instead of GWP100 to arrive at a more accurate assessment of the warming of methane.
Maybe. But its no reason, for critics of farmers doiing anything, to pull out of agreements here that connect to our meeting international commitments.
There is somewhat of a play for time aspect to that, because of research to find a measure to reduce methane from livestock. If that does result in 50% reductions – based on a seasonal dose, then with this latest calculation that would significantly impact determination of the emissions from pastoral farming.
As some might point out, as to nutrition and meat alternative comparisons (including emissions), they object to the farming of animals on other grounds.
In the abstract of that UC Davis paper Barber refers to, the final sentence is spot on.
Despite our findings, methane remains a potent contributor to global warming, and efforts to reduce methane emissions are vital for keeping global warming well below 2 °C above preindustrial values.
Barber's comment about "unreasonable constraints" on agriculture is intriguing. I support his plea that "politicians need to follow the science" – now, if not sooner, imho.
The Green Party's Eugenie Sage said binning two old regulations for every new one "suggests that National is going to roll back a lot of our environmental regulations… All of those regulations are about ensuring that nature survives, thrives, and not is just exploited to maximise farm production".
Leader Christopher Luxon has revealed the party is pulling its support for He Waka Eke Noa – a group made up of industry leaders trying to put a price on agricultural emissions.
National has labelled the process as dead, accusing the Government of not listening to the primary sector.
Luxon said National wanted to go back to the drawing board.
He Waka Eke Noa? Not if Luxon can help it. Will he "follow the science", or feed us more repeal and delay ‘policy’? Time “to go back to the drawing board“? Time will tell.
"In June 2021, The Telegraph reported on an Oxfam staff training document called ‘Learning About Trans Rights and Inclusion’.
This manual claimed that “Mainstream feminism centres on privileged white women and demands that ‘bad men’ be fired or imprisoned”, which, it adds, “Legitimises criminal punishment, harming black and other marginalised people”. The text was accompanied by a cartoon of a weeping white woman.
The training manual was drawn up after the Oxfam’s LGBT+ network wrote to the leadership team, demanding that it must publicly support trans rights. The letter stated, “To argue that trans-inclusivity would undermine the vital work we do for women and girls is not only transphobic, but also perpetuates the white saviour complex that assumes that we know best for the people we work with”. It went on to claim that it is ‘transphobic’ to question whether men who identify as women could pose a threat to women and that discussions around identity within the charity exposed ‘queer’ employees to ‘harm’.
The training manual Oxfam subsequently produced told staff that protecting single-sex spaces for women “Contributed to transphobia and undermining of trans rights”. It added that “Oxfam stands actively against any implication that the realization of trans rights and inclusion poses a threat to creating a safe environment for all”."
We remember how Oxfam failed to protect women and girls from sexual exploitation from its own staff in Haiti – including the former Oxfam "Country director" and not only failed to investigate allegations about the sexual abuse of children, but repeatedly fell below expected standards of safeguarding and tried to cover up the Haiti scandal and failed to care for the victims.
Maybe they should be updating those manuals instead.
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 ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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 arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The 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. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
We get but one birthday a year – why not make it last as long as possible by scheduling as many meals with friends and family as you can? This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you celebrate at ...
A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
Hospitals around the country are not allowed to make a single hiring decision without the approval of Te Whatu Ora's head office, including for cleaners and administration staff. ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
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, Wednesday 1 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
So if the transport minister can't own airport shares.
Are housing minister s allowed to own a property especially an investment property ?
It’s fucking ridiculous making him sell his shares, making it public knowledge is enough
It is all about perceived conflict of interest. A minister of Transport making decisions that could potentially benefit his investment is a problem. In this case, it is unlikely because the holding is small. But, it is simply a bad look.
Maybe but surely a housing minister could benefit from policy they put forward.
So why os that different?
It is all about managing perceived conflicts of interest. I am on several boards for trusts, and we have to declare perceived conflicts of interest so it is transparent to all. And, if the conflict is significant enough, we may have to recluse ourselves from decision making in that area.
It isn't a problem if it is handled correctly. In this case it wasn't. And given Wood's experience and seniority, he should have known and handled this much better.
Your still dodging there me old mate, do you think the housing minister should be allowed to own rental properties?
That IS and interesting point. I say no. Why the hell should they?
Interesting point bw
Corrin Dann very weakly touched on this with Luxon on RNZ this morning. Luxon has 5 rentals I think, and stands to make tens of thousands annually by reinstating tax breaks on rentals.
https://twitter.com/GSilbery/status/1665995662310387714
Difference of course being, the houses have always been declared.
also, assuming when you assert he @ stands to make tens of thousands annually” you know for a fact he has a mortgage on those properties?
What does having a mortgage got to do with Luxon’s profiteering from his Party’s
bullet pointspolicies on home ownership and rental properties? You seem to imply that because he has no mortgage on any of the many properties he owns and therefore pays no mortgage interest he does not stand to benefit at all!? For example, have you heard of the Bright Line test and that National will repeal its extension by the sitting Government from 2 to 10 years?Either you’re incredibly ignorant or maliciously manipulative.
And FYI, Luxon hasn’t declared any mortgage or other debts owed by him (https://www.parliament.nz/media/10239/register-of-pecuniary-and-other-specified-interests-of-members-of-parliament-2023.pdf).
You do not make “tens of thousands annually” from the one off sale as a result of any gain from moving the bright line test.
You could potentially make “tens of thousands annually “ from the re-establishment of interest deductibility – but of course only if you have a mortgage against which to claim the interest.
Uhuh, so you’re maliciously manipulative.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/490518/loss-making-property-resales-at-seven-year-high-corelogic
Having a much shorter Bright-Line test will make a difference of about $100,000 on a median profit of $305,000, depending on the top tax rate, which, coincidentally, National and Luxon also want to scrap. In my Maths textbook 100,000 is 10 times more than 10,000.
Spot on Inco.
My son bought a house in 2017 lived in it for 4 years, till his marriage dissolved, sold for $400k more than he paid. That's $100,000 per year of tax free income
Only if he didn't buy another property.
The 'gain' from sale is entirely illusionary if you are buying in the same rising market.
No, your comment is irrelevant and misleading.
The realised gains from a house sale are taxed or non-taxed, depending on whether they pass the Bright Line test or not. This is irrespective of whether or how the money is spent/reinvested.
Not talking about tax – my comment was in relation to the claim of 'tax free income'
The fact that this is now taxed – doesn't change the fact that, if you are rebuying in the same market – your gains are illusionary.
It was two years in 2017 (when the property was bought). It was sold 4 years later. Not taxed.
It was not the same rising market of 20201 in 2022 or 2023 or …
Having a half share of $400,000 CG – and having a share in the original equity, does not equate to immediately buying back into the market.
$300,000 of equity would still means a lot of mortgage to pay in some markets. And despite lower values now, there is the high cost of debt (on one income).
It does mean a capability to pair up again sometime – and if a lower property value than in 2021 and lower mortgage rates c2024-2025, someone will have timed the blended/reboot well.
I think a rich man who reportedly owns seven properties wanting a tax cut for high income earners looks worse than Woods' case but the media ignores that!
I think property investment is totally impacting on the decisions successive governments make on housing policy.
Property investment is so common that if it ruled out being a housing or related Minister then we probably wouldn't have a Minister
Agreed. I think it's apparent that many MPs are beneficiaries of the inaction on housing affordability.
There are a number of MPs that do not own investment properties as the latest Register shows, including the Greens. The full list of declarations: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/revealed-how-many-properties-each-new-zealand-mp-owns.html
Again, as I pointed out above, the issue is managing conflicts of interest.
Wood would be in the clear if he had declared his potential conflict correctly. Given the fact it is only a small shareholding, then likely declaring that should be enough, even as Transport minister in my opinion. I don't actually think he should have to sell them if the conflict was properly managed, because any likely benefit he could get from his possible decisions would be trivial.
The same with investment housing etc. An MP owning say five houses may, in the scheme of things may not be consequential, whereas owning 100 houses may be a problem.
As I said above, this is the sort of thing that must be managed all the time when on a board of a trust etc. If the conflict is minor, having it declared is sufficient. If the conflict is considered too substantial, it is best to not be involved in related decisions at all.
A conflict I need to be aware of is that I am treasurer on two independent trusts, that compete for the same funding. I have this declared as a conflict, and is something I need to make sure I maintain confidentiality over.
So, for argument’s sake, the difference is between owning 5 and 100 houses?
Do you always tilt the field in your favour for you to score points easily & lazily?
Managing real and perceived conflicts of interest are the issue here, as you correctly stated.
Of course, Wood has to sell those AIA shares now, as he intended all along, because they’re tainted now. It is not a legal but a moral imperative aka the right thing to do, under the circumstances.
I didn't think I was. And, it is totally contingent on a variety of factors whether 5 houses would be a conflict or not.
For example, on one hand a decision maker may own 5 houses, so could benefit if a decision is made to drop interest rates. On the other hand, said person may have $10,000,000 in the bank, and may stand to lose income due to dropping interest rates.
It is all contingent, and has to be judged on a case by case basis. The key thing is to declare potential conflicts properly and have proper processes to manage conflicts.
For instance, on one of the trusts I am treasurer on the board was keen to know where the other trust had got funding for a new van. The way I handled that conflict was to ask the other board if it was OK to divulge that information. That meant having to ask the first board if it was OK to tell the other board that we were looking at purchasing a van.
I agree Wood probably has to sell the shares now. Though, he probably didn’t have to if the conflict was managed properly in the first place.
And, for the record, I don’t agree with opposition calls for Wood to be sacked.
You keep on deflecting, diverting, and dodging.
Your idiosyncratic hypothetical examples rarely have any bearing on reality and are often bordering on being absurd.
How many New Zealanders own 100 houses? Of those, how many are MPs?
Owning 5 houses may (?) not be a problem but a 100 may (?) be.
Luxon owns 7 Real Properties, and this may or may not be a conflict of interest depending on how much he has in the bank, depending on which way the interest rates might go, and on position of Venus in the star sign of Sagittarius on Friday 30 February?? Or so does your typical ‘argument’ go.
The rules are clear: any perceived or real conflict of interest must be declared, with a low minimum threshold, of course, for practicality. End of.
And such declaration does not actually remove the conflict of interest, it merely declares it.
So, Luxon and many other MPs do have a declared conflict of interest when it comes to any decisions regarding to housing and landlording, for example. He’s a ‘good boy’ because he declared it and Wood is a ‘bad boy’ because he fucked up his declaration.
I can see Wood selling his AIA shares, as he’s intended all along, but I can’t see Luxon selling his properties. Can you?
Stop jumping up & down on the head of a pin and stop hiding behind absurd examples and start engaging in a mature conversation without deflecting, diverting, and dodging, thanks.
The point is not to show real life examples, but to point to the principle that the overall effect needs to be considered, balancing up what may be competing conflicts of interest.
Absolutely agree.
Absolutely agree again. And I expect that advice would be sought on how the conflict should be managed, if it is viewed as something that should be. And I don't think this is something the individual with the conflict should make a decision about.
I have no problems with the fact that owning property should be declared. And, if Luxon doesn’t want to sell his, then he needs to have the conflict managed in an appropriate way.
If the conflict is seen as material enough to affect decisions in a particular area of responsibility, then that conflict needs to be managed.
Likely, in that situation, one way to manage the conflict would be to have decisions reviewed by an appropriate independent person to ensure that the decision is correct and balanced.
Either that, or delegate that decision to another person not affected by that conflict.
I have said previously that I don’t think Wood should have to sell his shares. And I think pressure for him to sell previously was likely over the top, and there could have been a way forward that allowed him to keep them. But, I agree with you, that he probably will now given the politics at play.
So, what are we actually disagreeing on?
What do you suggest? There is no “if”, is there now?
Should he recuse himself from voting (abstain) for his own (Party’s) policies? If so, that would exclude many MPs, not just from National, from voting.
As to demonstrating the validity of a principle, it strengthens your argument if you’d indeed use real-life examples instead of absurd hypotheticals that are merely rhetorical tools that make you appear disingenuous.
I actually agree with you, that housing is a problematic area. Because, owning investment houses for rentals has been fairly pervasive with politicians
I am not sure what is in place now. But, I think politicians need to be discussing potential conflicts with an independent body such as Parliamentary services, for guidance on whether particular areas of conflict are material to certain areas, and what should be done to manage the conflict.
One way to do that is with a blind trust, where all a politicians relevant assets are placed in the trust, and and independent person makes decisions about the trust.
I think the Wood situation has shown why politicians need to be careful about conflicts of interest, and it may be necessary to tighten requirements in this area.
the NZ property market needs to devalue if we are to end poverty (or even reduce it to levels of 20 years ago). By quite a lot. Do you really trust MPs who are banking on personal capital gains to do that? It’s not the number of houses, it’s the number of MPs who are currently becoming quite wealthy. They’re the greater majority in parliament.
it's not a perceived conflict of interest, it's an actual conflict of interest.
My pint exactly , so it's ridiculous that woods is forced to sell his shares.
he should sell his shares just to clear up the perceived mess. Election year and all that.
but I agree, the air shares are insignificant by comparison.
Wood owns one twenty thousandth of AirNZ-close to nothing. There is no conflict of interest here.
The rules should make allowance for the SCALE of ownership. There should not be a blanket rule.
Much easier to have a blanket rule, rather than litigating each and every asset ownership for 'significance'
All Wood had to do was declare them in the register of interests (as every other MP must do) – from 2016.
Every incoming MP gets chapter and verse on this as part of their induction into Parliament.
It's not whether he owns the shares that's the issue, it's his sloppy management of the possible conflict of interest.
AND follow through on his agreement with the Cabinet office to sell them when he agreed to do this in 2020.
Again, it's his poor ability to follow through that's the issue.
I stuffed up …my calculation above should have been made in relation to Auckland International Airport not AirNZ.
So I will make the same point with AIA.
Auckland International Airport (AIA) currently has a capital value of $12.8 billion.
Wood's $13,000 shares represent roughly ONE MILLIONTH of the value of AIA shares.
Wood owns a miniscule part of AIA. This could hardly be called a conflict of interest. There should be some recognition of the SCALE of ownership in the parliament rules in terms of conflict of interest.
I see the Russians have blown the Kakhovka damn causing a humanitarian disaster, and in doing so committed a major war crime.
Not much doubt that it was the Russians. As the video above points out, it was understood last year that the Russians had mined the damn, and had it prepared for demolition. And, it is the most simple answer when the two following questions were considered: Firstly, who controlled the damn, and secondly, what would be required to cause that sort of damage.
The answer to the first question is obviously Russia. The answer to the second question, according to most commentators, is that it is nigh on impossible to destroy that sort of structure with missiles or the like, and that it would require planned demolition. Thus, the answer is obviously Russia IMO.
So, what do the Russians get out of this? On one hand, they have cut their water supply to Crimea. But, on the other hand, they have shortened their front line, and are able to redeploy troops elsewhere.
It looks like it may have been a demolition that went out of hand.
According to this timeline and the contradictory and developing Russian messaging, it appears that the damn may have been blown at around 2am the preceding morning, with the goal of creating a small breach to flood Ukrainian positions on the other side of the Dnipro. But, the demo caused much more damage than intended.
And, the other thing is that the Russians had raised the water level to maximum height just prior to the explosion, thus maximising the flooding.
Note: should be “dam” not “damn” in my earlier post. Posting early in the morning lol.
" The Russians had raised the water level to maximum height etc Yeah right i guess they just wanted to flood all their fortifications an wash away their minefields ? Why wouldnt they just open the floodgates ?? .I guess for the same reason they blew up their own pipeline rather than simply turning off the tap !!! makes perfect sense lol .
So, what do the Russians get out of this?
Same thing as the Seppos got using white phosphorus on Fallujah – the chance to indulge their spite. They know they've lost – they just want to share the pain.
Certainly that. But, also some military defensive advantage as well. It makes it nigh on impossible for the Ukrainians to advance across the Dnipro now in that location. So, it simplifies things for the Russians, and allows them to redeploy their troops.
Though, I tend to buy into the theory that this was a demo that got out of hand.
It is, apparently, the source of Crimea's water, so that will complicate the defense.
I imagine it is part of a larger scheme to precipitate a failure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which requires the Khakhovka reservoir as a source of cooling water. Fixes involving extra pumping are surely possible, but Russia would like nothing better than to turn it into a second Chernobyl.
Here Michael Clarke gives a more indepth analysis. Quite interesting.
I'm inclined to think that any defensive advantage will be pretty temporary – especially given that any crossing of the Dnieper was going to be by boat in any case. But Russia is likely desperate enough to seize any momentary advantage – and a local Russian commander in the Kherson region wanting a few days to secure a retreat might have good selfish reasons to do it, together with the means.
Michael Clarke is always worth hearing too.
" What do the Russians get out of this " ? Good question stuart !! You say " they know they've lost " etc Really ?? hmm Soledar has fallen Bakmut has fallen Marinka has a few days if its lucky, the greatsummer offensive has been for the most part repelled with heavy losses to the Ukranians …doesnt really seem like losing to me but you think it is Why ?
springTheir victories are at best Pyrrhic. They lose a lot of men and materiale. And the West is fed up with their bullshit and are, at last, supporting Ukraine properly.
For a supposedly crucial strategic point, Bakhmut has done nothing to swing the war in Russia's favour since its
capturedestruction. And, as Wagner withdraws, under friendly fire no less, it transpires that Russian regular forces struggle to maintain the positions they once held.The scorched earth policy of an army looking down the barrel of an ignominious trouncing. The Ukrainian offensive to retake Crimea would make continued occupation untenable. Destroying the dam jiggers the water supply to large areas of south Ukraine and makes Crimea virtually uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
" Ignominious trouncing " etc
Are you serious joe ??!! Despite ' the west' dribbling in weapons to prolong the conflict as long as it can Ukraine remains outgunned in almost everyway .Judging by the increasing use of airpower by Russia Ukraines air defences are seriously depleted and its pretty obvious what aircraft they have left are living on borrowed time .Russia has hypersonic missiles and fearsome weapons like the thermobaric flamethrower systems Russia has industrial capacity such that it can bombard any area of Ukraine anytime it wants .
Seems to me its Ukraine " looking down the barrel of a gun " because everyday Russia grows stronger and Ukraine grows weaker .The idea that Russia is getting a "trouncing " is delusional .As for the water supply to Crimea it still functioned when the Ukrainians cut off the supply the first time so doubtless it will cope .Id be more worried about the supply to the power station .
I wouldn't be so quick to rush to judgement. Russia again had far more to lose than to gain from blowing up critical infrastructure in territory they seek long term control.
U.S. had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/nord-stream-pipeline-explosion-ukraine-russia/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
No, they had a lot more to gain than lose from a military perspective. Firstly it effectively reduced their front line so far as defence is concerned. Secondly, it frees up a lot of troops to defend in other areas.
The other thing is that the damage was done on the Russian side of the dam. And it had been known for months that they had pre-mined it. And, as Michael Clarke points out in the link I gave, missiles can't do that sort of damage to a large dam. It has to be a planned demo job.
The only downside for Russia is that it cuts the water supply to Crimea. But that was the situation for years when Ukraine had shut the canal. And a lot of people have been leaving Crimea anyway. And, Putin really doesn't care that much about his own people.
Inside the Ukrainian counteroffensive that shocked Putin and reshaped the war.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/29/ukraine-offensive-kharkiv-kherson-donetsk/
Let's see where Nordstream is.
1 – Russia did it, and Seymour Hersh is an old has been.
2 – 4 guys on a yacht did it.
Latest – Ukraine did it with advanced CIA knowledge.
There's also the possibility previous shelling with Himars back in October /November last year undermined the dam
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010815000740/Ukraine-Targes-Dam-in-Khersn-wih-US-Made-HIMARS-Missiles
Why have parts of the left become so pro-war and so pro establishment?
Once the left was anti-imperialist, anti war and anti nuclear.
Now some appear to want to want war with both China and Russia.
I agree that all war is shit for those caught up in it. This is a highly-reported and discussed conflict in Europe, unlike most of the miseries of recent semi-proxy wars, like the horror in Syria. So we can see much of the nuts and bolts of extended warfare play out daily.
The outcome of this conflict is critical to the future political shape of Europe and of political alliances on both sides of the conflict. I'm not a military buff at all, and can imagine only too well the suffering of soldiers and citizens. But I am interested in the decisions on both sides that affect the political future and also reframe conventional warfare. Bury your head in the sand if you want: this is a pivotal time in political history.
It is clear to me that the moral certitude of an anti-war position has been co-opted by Russian disinformation. Can you imagine even 10 years ago the most right-wing of the US Republican party supporting the Russian Federation over Ukraine and urging isolationism? Ukraine would have been swallowed up by Russia by now if Trump, an admirer of strongmen, had retained the US presidency.
Have you listened or read any of the above on the causes of this war?
It's a bit more nuanced than the propaganda pumped out by the New York Times and the Guardian.
We don't want war with Russia – nothing would please us more than Russia surrendering and delivering Putin to The Hague for trial.
Pretty sure many leftists went and fought in the Spanish Civil War – Orwell being one of them.
Appeasing Putin simply isn't going to work. This is the same person who was openly killing people in foreign countries while the capitalist elite made friendly with him.
I was surprised at the lack of kick back then. Eventually it bit everyone on the arse.
He is as much of an arsehole as Bush was. Both unjust invasions of other countries.
Not even close. Himars etc would only scratch the surface of that structure. It requires properly placed explosives to achieve that sort of damage. Watch that second video by Michael Clarke I linked to.
Did earlier damage weaken part of the dam – and I read somewhere the water levels were very high? This could could have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
It's what chekist thugs do. The human cost be buggered.
/
In 1941, as Nazi German troops swept through Soviet-era Ukraine, Josef Stalin's secret police blew up a hydroelectric dam in the southern city of Zaporizhzhya to slow the Nazi advance.
The explosion flooded villages along the banks of the Dnieper River, killing thousands of civilians.
As Europe marks its Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23, a handful of Zaporizhzhya residents are battling for the recognition of the little-known wartime tragedy.
[…]
The team successfully carried out its secret mission — which historians say was ordered by Stalin himself — tearing a hole in the dam and temporarily cutting off part of the city from the invaders.
But the explosion also flooded villages and settlements along the Dnieper River.
The tidal surge killed thousands of unsuspecting civilians, as well as Red Army officers who were crossing over the river.
Since no official death toll was released at the time, the estimated number of victims varies widely. Most historians put it at between 20,000 and 100,000, based on the number of people then living in the flooded areas.
https://www.rferl.org/a/european-remembrance-day-ukraine-little-known-ww2-tragedy/25083847.html
Seems the Herald is keen to deflect from Wayne Brown's public relation disasters by fussing about what Wellington's mayor should or should not be doing. Normally Wellington's mayor would be ignored.
Do you mean this:
And yet, it goes on to say:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-mayor-tory-whanau-says-attendance-criticism-is-gendered/ONOVVKY4XZAO7K7ZF36KVCIFWY/
So is the criticism valid or was it gendered?
The Herald attacking the performance of a young eloquent popular female Green Maori mayor. Surely not? (sarc).
Meanwhile Wayne Brown’s atrocious behaviour gets an easy ride.
Spot the difference.
Seeing as Whanau has admitted it’s “not ideal” she has missed meetings recently, stating she should have been there and she wouldn’t do that again. Isn't the criticism valid?
I'm not saying she is perfect….Wayne has been consistently awful.
What say you? Seems overblown to me, but then I'm "more left than most."
And Wayne Brown's thinks some of his critics are "drongos" – what say you?
Maybe Mayor Brown can't change who he is – and his supporters wouldn't have it any other way. Let's hope the supercity doesn't face too many more major challenges over the next two and a half years – jeez, Wayne!
Seeing as Whanau has admitted she should have been there, coupled with there being no evidence of ageist or gendered language or racism, it seems the criticism is valid.
Furthermore, she lowered herself by pulling out the gendered, ageist and racism card.
So it seems that you had a firm opinion as to the answers to your questions.
"The gendered, ageist and racism card" is a very heavy one to 'pull out'
Wait- that point where the Mayor has a busy schedule and has to choose meetings as opposed to the Mayor who does almost no media? Imagine if Tory Whanau had done that.
Good to see David Parker step up .
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/environment-minister-wades-into-river-battle
And to say the least..so he should ! In your link (thanks) I did also see this..
Ecan..what a mixed bag. A few standouts. One..Lan Pham..but now standing for Greens
Anway..re the above…very similar to Otago and its seriously fucked over Rivers and Streams. Dairy responsible for much of that….
And…Mr Parker…do your job. Protect our NZ Rivers and Streams.
Many thanks for that Scotty…interesting that ECan seems to be trying to wriggle out of its role to protect the river despite the fact that it knows that the permitted "take' from the river is being exceeded.
Quite a court battle on the horizon. Well done David Parker indeed for wading in on this (no pun intended…though with the illegal low flows at the moment wading wouldn't be needed)
Not sure if this has already been posted
Kathleen Stock at Oxford, covering and replying to the usual old chestnuts
Thanks, Francesca. I'll give it a look.
I viewed the movie What is a woman? the other day. That was interesting.
https://rumble.com/v2rj1jy-matt-walsh-what-is-a-woman-full-documentary.html
Deborah Shaw's article from Dec 2022 is excellent background reading.
A tale of two feminisms: gender critical feminism, trans inclusive feminism and the case of Kathleen Stock
A good read, but not really a lot about Stock
As for the pledge this film studies expert poses at the end of the article, Kathleen Stock would be the first to sign up
I'm all for trans rights, as long as they don't destroy womens rights to same sex assembly and protection .For a lot of women , gender , the way in which one expresses one's sex culturally, is just a fiction, subject to societal mores and ever changing cultural fashion Sex is the ground zero reality, gender the window dressing.
So hang me, send me off for conversion therapy, neuter my brain , sanitise my dictionary.
Shaw references this 2021 review of Stock's book on transgender by a Texas philosopher with a trans child. Also well worth the read – it is not a diatribe, but examines Stock’s main points in a reasoned way.
The reviewer discusses the crux of Stock's position, and mirrors what frustrates me most about the debate on this topic at The Standard:
'Stock is most concerned about a teeming horde of violent “transsexual pretenders” who might rush into the nihilistic void created by gender identity policies. Yet the book has no systematic scheme or scale for weighing different harms or assessing the likelihood of such a social collapse. Of course, any such scheme would be shot-through with judgment calls, but at least those could be made in the open. No, her utilitarianism is the invisible ghost in the machine.'
https://social-epistemology.com/2021/11/24/which-reality-whose-truth-a-review-kathleen-stocks-material-girls-why-reality-matters-for-feminism-adam-briggle/
"Trans children" are like "vegan cats". We know who is making the decisions.
Thanks
Will read when I get home
All good. And good on Labour. Actually..I have been thinking on this…and other recent Labour ups. Incl..
I have already said elsewhere…that I sure hope a lot of these..recipients…. might remember who gave them. For sure Nact…(charter schools, tax cuts for rich etc etc) do NOT have their best interests at heart (heart? Im being ironic)
Anway…I was wondering..did teachers ever strike under..the Nats? I cant remember many? If any? I found this…seems a bit…well, excuse making. IMO.
Yea of course Labour could and should do more. But dont forget who are looming in the corner. Nact.
All IMO of course. But..i think valid.
Tha chat in my PPTA staffroom is that Labour has lost votes over this. Probably to the Greens for want of a decent left alternative.
Hi, thanks for reply. And FYI.. I support NZ Teachers and Education.
I cant help how they see it? But please …must vote. Green..Labour ? The alternative… Nact..is just awful.
I am supportive of teachers and don't know that what they have just rejected is good but if they are not careful they are going to be negotiating their collective with an ACT minister….
Well I can only agree. And they dont want to go with that scenario! Wonder how Nact would respond to them… and strikes?
100%. PLA, yes, Teachers were attending meetings to find out which schools would close, under National, and which Teacher conditions would be removed. Communities don't matter to National apparently… as they constantly talked up Individual Responsibility while Key swapped hats to suit his needs!!. Teachers know Labour tries to assist them and children, and not treat Education as a cash cow!!
Infratil takes over full control of OneNZ previously Vodafone.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/infratil-taking-full-control-of-one-nz-in-18-billion-deal/OI5IEIFKY5EBDLIXCS2G66ORT4/
Infratil are essentially our government without any public accountability.
Well and truly more powerful than any government department other than MBIE and Treasury.
How can Infratil be government-controlled when NZ Super and ACC only own ~6% of shares?
https://m.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/INFRATIL-LIMITED-6494631/company/
Read Ad's comment again
Any evidence of malfeasance on their part…?
'cos while I support selling the airport shares..'cos they don't make economic sense ..I do support us buying a cash cow like vodofone ..on both economic and ideological grounds..
An independent panel has recommended changes to the electoral law:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/491390/electoral-system-review-recommends-voting-age-lowered-to-16-party-threshold-to-3-point-5-percent
These are sensible and have long been requested by numerous reviews and interest groups for many years. Time to take action one would think.
My question is why no restriction of the vote and or donations to citizens and putting all the recommendations to a referendum?
Allowing parties to veto change (the 75% criteria) just disenfranchises voters.
Because permanent residents shouldn't be disenfranchised because they aren't 'citizens'.
While we live under a representative democracy as opposed to a direct democracy the parties represent the will of the voters so there is no disenfranchisement there. The head of the panel makes a valid point on this issue in the article:
Allowing political parties to determine electoral matters is a conflict of interest.
That’s an interesting position to take. If Parliament cannot determine electoral matters then who can (or should)?
I’ve had an (growing) unease about the power of political parties in democracy and the democratic processes and have been meaning to write a Post about this for quite some time. I recently read On the Abolition of All Political Parties by Simone Weil (see https://thestandard.org.nz/kerekere-quits-greens/#comment-1948834) and this almost made me write it but perhaps Election Year is not the most appropriate time to start kicking against the political establishment and parties
One would only have to note the USA practice as to what could go wrong if political parties (in government) had determination of electoral and election matters. Less of it, rather than more.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/491476/retail-crime-worst-it-s-ever-been-with-dozens-of-incidents-daily-foodstuffs
In desperate times people get desperate. You'd expect right wingers to understand this.
The rate of increase in theft is about the same as the supermarkets profit margin:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/04/group-of-supermarket-suppliers-speak-out-as-it-s-revealed-how-much-kiwis-are-paying-for-their-goods.html
Wage theft is a much more significant issue, and is yet to be a crime:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132099945/wage-theft-its-widespread-its-ugly-its-a-bloodsport-in-our-country
Who would have thought supermarket retail crime increases when supermarkets price gouge the public.
Tomatoes $13.99/kg at New World yesterday.
One could argue that such profit gouging is a form of theft in itself.
In certain trading situations – shortages, prices escalate to ration supply by price. The retailer will claim if there more tomatoes they could sell at a smaller mark-up and maintain the same sort of overall return for tomatoes.
The same retailers have their (negotiated as one of two – duopoly market) supply contracts to prevent growers doing to them, what they do to their own customers.
Governance includes the option of windfall profits taxation after national disasters/pandemic events (QE and increased supply of cheap money as per banks).
The government has aided independent chemists with the end of prescription charges – reducing the risk of a big chemist retail monopoly.
It needs to constantly work on measures in the food supply sector to maintain competition – other outlets for suppliers (online, local markets etc) as well as regulatory vigilance of monopolies in their management of their relations with suppliers (as they would employers as to employees – including contractors and migrants).
I though that's what the story was going to be about when I saw the headline, tbh.
Out of season tomatoes are more expensive. Who would have guessed!
Totally! But if you really really want tomatoes out of season, they come in tins. $1.09 at our local Coundown last week.
Have you not heard of greenhouses?
You mean the ones heated by gas, oil or electricity to grow out of season produce?
And of course any of those are really cheap to create a temperate environment out of season.
Costs of greenhouse supply are going up.
https://www.grower2grower.co.nz/bali-and-jasse-sahota-tomato-and-cucumber-growers/
The consequence of closing the refinery.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129094501/tomato-grower-eyes-innovative-workaround-after-co2-shortage-cuts-production-20
Have you not heard of eating seasonally?
Wait- the Nats have looked at their success here and overseas (as in their absolute failure) and want more private- public partnerships here!
Someone needs to make a graph or a visual description comparing the scale of Wood’s shares and Luxon’s properties as Luxon has been making up policy on the fly which benefits home owners…
Soil health is important to sequestering carbon:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2376827-underground-fungi-absorb-up-to-a-third-of-our-fossil-fuel-emissions/
It's a complicated topic: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018891321/the-complexities-of-soil
It's good to see our farmers looking to revitalise our soils:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018890905/get-your-hands-dirty-says-soil-advocate-and-farmer
Wanting health soils structure is not new, we been talking about worms ,root depths and growing mor clover for years.
Of interest my work just got a paddock to farm next door that was in potatoes last year, lifeless with no soil structure at all, boss reckons it takes years to turn these type of paddocks around.
Absolutely but the evidence is stacking up that our current practices aren't helping, too much monoculture, too many chemical amendments, a more holistic approach is necessary as is more diversity, raising animal and plants in a more circular nature-replicating process.
It does take years to improve soils, so best we start now!
https://attra.ncat.org/publication/integrating-livestock-and-crops-improving-soil-solving-problems-increasing-income/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139316304954
https://phys.org/news/2023-05-key-future-soil-carbon-solutions.html
Follow potatoes with a crop of lupins dug back in, plus sea grass and bio chat and compost, for root veg, followed by brassicas. Cheers 1/3 each year on rotation.
I'll keep it in mind if I get to be boss
And so it begins.
NACT reveal their governing modus operandi – exploit migration worker numbers to place upward pressure on property values and downward pressure on wages (growing the gap between haves and have nots). And while low wage workers are struggling to afford rents let alone own their homes – divert attention from this with this sort of politics.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/richard-prebble-wholl-do-all-the-work-if-the-jobseekers-wont/QYRKRVJD3ZBO7JNBMNATUDGXVY/
It's a sideshow of building more prisons to house those they would not employ into jobs.
It's the Americanisation of our society.
People under 25 on the benefit placed under the care of (faith based provider, fear and obey regime) overseers who decide whether they are deserving poor. The period of pre employment trial on the jobs (guess what happens to those who join unions).
Be nice if the current govt differed on this issue, sadly they also seek to supress wages by maintaining immigration levels which will exacerbate the number of crises which already have insufficient infrastructure spending:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/23-05-2023/welcome-to-the-immigration-resurgence
At the neo-liberal policy setting a bit of commonality.
But the divergence is in how the disparity is then managed. One mitigates it, the other places the jackboot on the neck of the poor.
He seems to fail to note a connection to there being an underclass (cannot afford stuff and or in motels etc) and those who organise to escape this, via crime.
As in the 1980's USA in Volcker's recession and subsequent family break-up, levels of crime rose as a last resort to fulfil the American dream
There is no evidence that any of these have suddenly got worse in recent months.
NACT and Seymour of course blame it on Labour for letting people out of prison and not puting them back (Seymour calls them "criminals as if they are a class branded") in there asap.
Is NACT proposing an end to parole? And then a return for any infringement upon release (thus a form of 2 tier legal system) as a crime prevention programme?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/06/foodstuffs-boss-says-crime-hitting-supermarkets-is-not-acceptable-amid-spike-in-thefts.html
Even Muldoon
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2107/S00037/on-when-nationals-leaders-had-a-more-enlightened-approach-to-gangs.htm
But back then National was not seeking to Americanise our society.
https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/122389/allan-barber-reports-key-markets-demand-fake-meat-sharply-lower-while-demand-real
We've just had a 30% drop in the warming effect of methane!!!
It pays to read any link before posting..'cos despite reading like a puff-piece for the flesh industries..your one is quite bullish on the red meat gives you cancer evidence..
And claims in it that 'fake meat' is 25 times more polluting than cow flesh …is just total horseshit…
Here's the pre-print the figure was taken from. Refute away.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.21.537778v1.full
(from your link)
Didya read the bit where it said that due to environmental costs/pressures..that beef production should be eliminated…?
Didya read that bit…?
Yet no refutal of the paper's assertion that the GWP of all purified scenarios ranged from 246 to 1,508 kg of CO2e per kilogram of ACBM which is 4 to 25 times greater than the median GWP of retail beef.
Weak.
I'm well aware of your views Mr Ure and respect your right to air them.
Moderation is key to meat consumption, and at today's prices that's easy.
Maybe. But its no reason, for critics of farmers doiing anything, to pull out of agreements here that connect to our meeting international commitments.
There is somewhat of a play for time aspect to that, because of research to find a measure to reduce methane from livestock. If that does result in 50% reductions – based on a seasonal dose, then with this latest calculation that would significantly impact determination of the emissions from pastoral farming.
As some might point out, as to nutrition and meat alternative comparisons (including emissions), they object to the farming of animals on other grounds.
In the abstract of that UC Davis paper Barber refers to, the final sentence is spot on.
Barber's comment about "unreasonable constraints" on agriculture is intriguing. I support his plea that "politicians need to follow the science" – now, if not sooner, imho.
He Waka Eke Noa? Not if Luxon can help it. Will he "follow the science", or feed us more repeal and delay ‘policy’? Time “to go back to the drawing board“? Time will tell.
National has withdrawn from the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/national-says-he-waka-eke-noa-climate-change-farming-emissions-group-is-dead/CKQ3GCTSLZAO7MHRPEEHAE3ZUY/
In Oz, women noted that the Liberal caucus was misogynist and loved coal, so they formed the Teals, and the Alban elbowed his way into government.
Who here will note the
fart/frat boy boarding school pack nature of the National caucus and spare us their return to government.Another charity captured by Gender Ideology.
"In June 2021, The Telegraph reported on an Oxfam staff training document called ‘Learning About Trans Rights and Inclusion’.
This manual claimed that “Mainstream feminism centres on privileged white women and demands that ‘bad men’ be fired or imprisoned”, which, it adds, “Legitimises criminal punishment, harming black and other marginalised people”. The text was accompanied by a cartoon of a weeping white woman.
The training manual was drawn up after the Oxfam’s LGBT+ network wrote to the leadership team, demanding that it must publicly support trans rights. The letter stated, “To argue that trans-inclusivity would undermine the vital work we do for women and girls is not only transphobic, but also perpetuates the white saviour complex that assumes that we know best for the people we work with”. It went on to claim that it is ‘transphobic’ to question whether men who identify as women could pose a threat to women and that discussions around identity within the charity exposed ‘queer’ employees to ‘harm’.
The training manual Oxfam subsequently produced told staff that protecting single-sex spaces for women “Contributed to transphobia and undermining of trans rights”. It added that “Oxfam stands actively against any implication that the realization of trans rights and inclusion poses a threat to creating a safe environment for all”."
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/oxfam-when-misogyny-is-the-mission?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&fbclid=IwAR2BeTQKgsLTecEGo2DV4ZXw_6Ega4JCmrmoTR9psu0ih9fbwg0RjeKrikA
We remember how Oxfam failed to protect women and girls from sexual exploitation from its own staff in Haiti – including the former Oxfam "Country director" and not only failed to investigate allegations about the sexual abuse of children, but repeatedly fell below expected standards of safeguarding and tried to cover up the Haiti scandal and failed to care for the victims.
Maybe they should be updating those manuals instead.
Thanks for all the information Visubversa. I have a learnt a lot about this topic thanks to you and others about this concerning issue.
Turns out the gender critical characterisation of feminism is superfluous?
Austerity muppets
Closing child care facilities where the savings likely won’t even meet the costs of shuttering the centres. Heck of a job.