Open mike 09/07/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 9th, 2020 - 200 comments
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200 comments on “Open mike 09/07/2020 ”

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  1. I Feel Love 1
    9 July 2020 at 6:49 am

    Everyone having a cuppa and lie down or just cancelling culture? I see latest Stuff headline that the bozo escaping the fence is waaaaaaaaaaaay worse than National leaking confidential patient details, unless they're that opinion writers own details no doubt.

    • I Feel Love 1.1
      9 July 2020 at 6:57 am

      Is "White Jesus" an example of "cancel culture"? White washing Jesus?

    • Ed 1.2
      9 July 2020 at 7:00 am

      Mosa posted this excellent al Jazeera article yesterday about how the New Zealand's media's endangered the country's health in conjunction with the Natz.

      The article is worthy of a post in its own right. Here Glen Johnson describes the far right posturing of the media.

      At the end of the article, he asks ‘Will the media hold the National Party to account?’
      Your observation of Stuff’s headlines provides the answer.

      "A case can be made that the nation's media, laundering many of the opposition's attack lines and big business talking points, have repeatedly endangered public health.

      This was driven not only by the country's clutch of prominent Fox News-style commentators – Mike Hosking, Heather du Plessis-Allan and Duncan Garner – each of whom hawks anger and division to drive ratings, but by senior reporters and editors."

      https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/zealand-media-endangered-public-health-200707103532946.html

      • Muttonbird 1.2.1
        9 July 2020 at 7:18 am

        Brutal. Enjoyed that, thanks.

      • tc 1.2.2
        9 July 2020 at 7:30 am

        This is exactly the type of piece parts of our MSM should be creating but it's all owned.

        Over to you labour, grow a pair and fix it !

        • Ed 1.2.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 9:21 am

          I would reform the media as a top priority.

          At present New Zealanders are subjected almost totally to the views of the billionaire class.

      • Wayne 1.2.3
        9 July 2020 at 8:05 am

        The Jazeera link (which I have read) is not remotely a news item. It is a partisan opinion article.

        The Herald always has opinion articles submitted by readers from right across the political spectrum. They are what they are and readers know that.

        • francesca 1.2.3.1
          9 July 2020 at 8:45 am

          It's a counter to the multitude of opinion articles masquerading as fact (homeless man bs etc) that do attempt to influence NZers attitudes . Those articles put immense political pressure on the govt.I'm pretty sure without them we would have moved to level 1 at the time Bloomfield recommended.If we'd done that there would have been time to get the new testing regime securely implemented .

        • Ed 1.2.3.2
          9 July 2020 at 8:54 am

          Pity the corporate media never airs that view.

          Instead it trots out the partisan view its sponsors want them to say.

          The view of the deathcult called neoliberalism.

          [Fixed error in user name]

        • mac1 1.2.3.3
          9 July 2020 at 9:14 am

          Wayne, of course it's an opinion piece. It said on the link supplied by Ed. It says on the article when opened as well.

          It's not a good line to take, to criticise something for being what it is plain it is.

          What critics should do, Wayne, is critique the opinion piece. Where is it deficient, partisan to the point of error and distortion?

          I read it and was quite taken with the quality of the writing- the developed argument, the use of examples as evidence, the conclusions.

          It's not enough to slag something for being partisan. By definition, in a binary political world, half of partisan writing should be OK.

          So, my question is, having given some reasons as to why the article should be read in terms of style and approach, what are your concerns with its content?

          • Dennis Frank 1.2.3.3.1
            9 July 2020 at 10:48 am

            "Clark, the country's most effective health minister in decades" – seems incontrovertial evidence that the thing was written by a Labour partisan out of touch with reality. Totally clueless about the functional role of the fourth estate in a democracy too. Note the binary framing.

            • Incognito 1.2.3.3.1.1
              9 July 2020 at 10:53 am

              Let’s have a look a the list, shall we?

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Health_(New_Zealand)

              • Stunned Mullet …
                9 July 2020 at 11:08 am

                Let's take decades to mean </= to 30 years in this instance.

                The statement that "Clark, the country's most effective health minister in decades" is risible.

              • mac1 …
                9 July 2020 at 12:31 pm

                Past three decades, since 1990.

                5 Ministers of Health over 30 months tenure- Coleman 36 months, Ryall 59 m., King 59 m., Shipley 36 m. David Clark 32 m.

                4 with 20-30 months tenure- Helen Clark 20 m., Hodgson 25 m., English 26 m., Upton 29 m.

                There's the field for thirty years. Who was the most effective Minister of Health?

                • Incognito …
                  9 July 2020 at 12:35 pm

                  Fine with me, but the original Q who was the country's most effective health minister in decades.

                  • Ed1 …
                    9 July 2020 at 12:54 pm

                    I must be nearly impossible to agree on a measure for "most effective" – no Minister works outside the context of the government of which they form part. David Clark has been part of a government that knew Health needed a lot of remedial work – and that became clearer after they were elected, but it is also clear that Clark achieved more than just the essential – see https://www.labour.org.nz/progress-list and click on Health.

                    To put it another way, I think it would be hard to put many ahead of Clark; King had similar challenges (Covid apart) and similar advances in the field.

        • Sacha 1.2.3.4
          9 July 2020 at 9:48 am

          The Herald always has opinion articles submitted by readers from right across the political spectrum.

          Never seen opinion pieces from marxists in the Herald. Plenty of shrieking libertarians. They even get regular columns.

          • Gabby 1.2.3.4.1
            9 July 2020 at 10:30 am

            …across the right of the political spectrum

          • aom 1.2.3.4.2
            9 July 2020 at 11:05 am

            Can't comment on the Herald but Stuff not only produces overtly partisan opinion pieces (not leftist!) and frequently presents news which is so slanted, it should carry an 'opinion' warning.

          • Wayne 1.2.3.4.3
            9 July 2020 at 11:55 am

            Marie Leadbeater has had recent opinion pieces on West Papua and I think Rimpac. The readers submitted items are on the editorial page below the cartoon, and cover a wide variety of opinion topics.

            They are well read, but everyone reading them knows they are that person's opinion. The readers will agree or not agree, and of course they articles often contain interesting factual information irrespective of the opinion within the item.

            As for the libertarians, I presume you are thinking of John Roughan, who is on the staff (or at least was). Probably the most significant feature opinion writer on staff is Simon Wilson. I would say he votes Green based on what he writes.

            No, there are probably not many Marxists writing in the paper, but would there even be 1000 Marxists in New Zealand as a whole?

        • Anker 1.2.3.5
          9 July 2020 at 10:02 am

          The Al Jazeera article is an important critique of the National party reaction to the pandemic, which has bff even to take any angle to attack the govt, including leaking confidential patient information. It has revealed National as having no coherent response to the health situation. Barking at every car I think it is called. The media, with one or two exceptions have been the same. This undoubtedly put pressure on the govt who had to make the most crucial decisions very rapidly. Fortunately the govt were able to hold their nerve.

          nzders appear to have seen through the hysterics of National and some media and labour led by Ardern are on course for a landslide victory. Well deserved and you must know this Wayne. Nothing National have done has earned the trust of nzders. We have all met people at parties who blow themselves up “we have the best summer house, wine, etc etc etc”. Or in Nationals case the best team. Boasting about being the best isn’t a policy it’s kinda pathetic. Nzders use to associate it with American show off. I am pleased that most of us see through that crap

        • RedBaronCV 1.2.3.6
          9 July 2020 at 11:48 am

          Wayne why not discuss the substance of the opinion piece instead of trying to deflect the discussion into "everyone does opinion pieces"? Classic diversion tactic.

          It's an opinion piece critiquing news reports. It has a point though- apart from politics we have seen in the business press numerous "News articles" which have largely been industry groups, demanding that the border be opened for their favoured group of employees or customers.

          The dairy industry is a good example – it has repeated employer views extensively about the lack of workers but with no push back about the terms and conditions of the jobs ( many are short duration), why the industry has previously failed to train locals, why they are so "specialised" that a short term visa worker can do it on a minimum wage , what steps they have taken to attract local labour etc. It's as if a lot of the employer and right wing are allowed to operate in a question free zone.

          • Chris 1.2.3.6.1
            9 July 2020 at 11:08 pm

            He doesn't have the guts to discuss the substance of the article or to respond to anything anyone says about his empty and senseless attempt at dismissing it. Spray and walk away Wayne. Total slime.

        • ianmac 1.2.3.7
          9 July 2020 at 12:08 pm

          Do you imagine Wayne, that the Herald would remotely consider publishing an opinion piece such as the excellent Eljazeera column? Really?

        • Morrissey 1.2.3.8
          9 July 2020 at 12:26 pm

          It is a partisan opinion article.

          Thus speaketh an ex-National Party minister. sad

          • Incognito 1.2.3.8.1
            9 July 2020 at 12:36 pm

            This is not robust debate, this is pathetic 🙁

            • Morrissey 1.2.3.8.1.1
              9 July 2020 at 12:40 pm

              I was pointing out the absurdity of an ex-National Party minister—a notorious one at that—hurling a loaded and demeaning epithet—"partisan"—at a serious and credible piece of journalistic analysis.

              • Incognito …
                9 July 2020 at 12:47 pm

                We could not have done without your help so a Bigly thanks to you 😉

              • Dennis Frank …
                9 July 2020 at 12:50 pm

                serious and credible

                Oh, I suspect the author was indeed serious about trying to con readers into believing it was a valid critique – but credible only to the credulous… 😉

        • woodart 1.2.3.9
          9 July 2020 at 1:39 pm

          "right across the political spectrum"..from light blue to dark blue?

        • OnceWasTim 1.2.3.10
          9 July 2020 at 4:57 pm

          I'd like to dedicate this to you and Mrs Wayne, Wayne. And tell her no need to pull out the Elna (oops the pedal powered Singer) just yet, and Mrs Wayne's tablecloths are safe SO FAR.

          Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag

          And smile, smile, smile,

          While you've a lucifer to light your fag,

          Smile, boys, that's the style.

          What's the use of worrying?

          It never was worth while

          So pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag

          And smile, smile, smile.

          And now that you're down with the kids running things these days, gimmee a hint, I need an exclusive. You were never 'on' with that old trout Michelle were ya? You know there's big talk of it and if the ragdoll media keep biting – you might have to front

          Whoar – tell me ya weren't tho' eh?. (And just btw – not only do I have a deal on Remdesivir for you, but there's a few of the blue left for you)

        • Chris 1.2.3.11
          9 July 2020 at 5:30 pm

          Ed said it was an excellent article. Then you come along trying to dismiss that by saying it's merely "a partisan opinion article." So what? Nobody's saying it isn't.

          If you don't agree with the contents of the article why don't you say why you don't agree? You're such a snake.

      • francesca 1.2.4
        9 July 2020 at 8:35 am

        Thanks for that

        Really good article

      • Morrissey 1.2.5
        9 July 2020 at 11:57 am

        … Fox News-style commentators – Mike Hosking, Heather du Plessis-Allan and Duncan Garner – each of whom hawks anger and division to drive ratings…

        Du Plessis-Allan and Garner were the Talentless Television Twosome from Tartarus in 2015…

        HEATHER DU PLESSIS-ALLAN: Bad news today Dunc—One Direction’s broken up!
        DUNCAN GARNER: I don’t CARE. I really don’t.
        HEATHER DU PLESSIS-ALLAN: [suddenly uneasy, isolated] Heh, heh….

        https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/campbell-lives-sorry-replacement-cannot.html

    • aom 1.3
      9 July 2020 at 7:38 am

      Trust Luke Malpass , the National shill for Stuff ("Coronavirus: How isolation breach trumps National's privacy botchup") to start the day with a WTF moment! Since when did a single wandering miscreant who immediately is fronting up to the Court attracted the opprobrium of most NZers trump the criminal acts of at least three political opportunists. As for Muller, how could he have acted in any other way, and why did he not act decisively 30 hours earlier, even if it might have been 'kinda legal? Why, even the announcement of a recycled RON took precedence over dealing with a miscreant MP when he was in front of the camera for his press presentation. If Stuff want to be paid for content – they will need to get their shit together, unless they intend to be a 'Trumpian' sponsored organ of the Party of Irrelevance.

      • I Feel Love 1.3.1
        9 July 2020 at 9:27 am

        Stuff have taken it off their front page, and I don't really mind them spouting RW garbage, if they spout LW garbage too. I pay a Stuff sub so keep an eye, they're fairly even. Great piece in Al Jazeera, "partisan", ha!!! Seems pretty factual to me.

      • observer 1.3.2
        9 July 2020 at 9:43 am

        A lot of comments on a headline, but no link to the piece under it. Do people actually read the content before sounding off?

        It is hardly an attack on the government. It provides context to the isolation problem.

        What Malpass says about the dilemma is true. In fact it's what people have been saying on The Standard for ages. The balance between legal authority and health protection is a real challenge.

  2. Dennis Frank 2
    9 July 2020 at 7:10 am

    We now have an inside psych diagnosis of the Donald, from within his family: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mary-trump-book-niece-summary-highlights-too-much-and-never-enough-a9606671.html

    One week from today, Dr Mary L Trump’s controversial book, Too Much and Never Enough, will hit store shelves. Dr Trump, a trained clinical psychologist who earned a master’s and a doctoral degree from Adelphi University, has authored a 211-page exposé of how the Trump family “created the world’s most dangerous man”…

    President Trump and his brother Robert Trump have been trying to stop the book’s publication since last month, by filing lawsuits to enforce a confidentiality agreement concerning a dispute over the estate of their father (and the author’s grandfather), Fred Trump Sr. But a New York State judge has so far refused to block the book’s publisher, Simon and Schuster, from releasing it to stores.

    Dr Trump has been estranged from Donald Trump for years, and is the first member of the president’s family to break ranks with him and the rest of her relatives by writing a book about them.

    Dr Trump, a trained clinical psychologist, says her uncle does meet all nine criteria needed to be diagnosed as a narcissist. But she writes that his mental problems are far more complicated than mere narcissism. “The fact is,” she explains, “Donald’s pathologies are so complex and his behaviors so often inexplicable that coming up with an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis would require a full battery of psychological and neuropsychological tests that he’ll never sit for.”

    The good news is that Americans touted their system of democracy as the best for most of the 20th century, claiming that `anyone can become president', and anyone eventually did. Donald proved them right. Mentally-ill folk have equal rights, and seeing one get the top job is a genuine thrill for all true believers in democracy! 🥳

  3. Ad 3
    9 July 2020 at 8:26 am

    Rio Tinto smelter in Bluff to go.

    1000 jobs on the line.

    Before we go all gleeful about rediverting the Manapouri generation, let's take a moment for the shock and devastation this will cause to those families putting dinner on the table.

    We are at our lowest economic ebb in a century, and this is simply a terrible blow for the people of Bluff, Invercargill, and Southland.

    • Sacha 3.1
      9 July 2020 at 8:41 am

      After that, a fantastic opportunity to put a seventh of our national electricity supply to better use.

      Bring on fully electrified public transport etc. If our govt finds a way past the last one's part-privatisation of the system.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300052786/tiwai-point-to-close-1000-jobs-to-go

      • Gabby 3.1.1
        9 July 2020 at 10:35 am

        Guarantee if the price of power shifts it will be upwards.

        • Sacha 3.1.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 11:08 am

          If we let our broken 'market' have its way, yes.

        • Andre 3.1.1.2
          9 July 2020 at 11:10 am

          That's the likely outcome, because Transpower will be able to increase their charges because of the extra investment they will have to make in the lines to move the power northwards.

          On the other hand, since Transpower is wholly owned by the government, I'm kinda OK with the money from increased energy costs going to the government. Kind of a wastrel tax. As long as provision is made for those at the bottom of the income scale to help them overcome the increased burden.

          • Gabby 3.1.1.2.1
            9 July 2020 at 11:40 am

            More of a kinda poor people tax. Bloody wastrels, heating their kids' rooms.

            • Andre 3.1.1.2.1.1
              9 July 2020 at 11:47 am

              Gotta harden 'em up for their walk to and from the mines. In the snow. Uphill both ways. With a howling gale right in their faces.

      • Chris T 3.1.2
        9 July 2020 at 6:26 pm

        They have already had 3 years.

        There is a limit on blaming not doing anything on the last lot.

        • Sacha 3.1.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 8:45 pm

          I'd welcome them announcing de-privatisation of our electricity system. That might be what it would take, as the Nats knew.

    • Andre 3.2
      9 July 2020 at 8:48 am

      Right, so let's take the opportunity to get serious about sustainable industry for Southland.

      I kinda like the idea of tasking Southland Institute of Technology with developing a range of electric vehicle conversion kits – preferably with a range extender option.

      In the immediate future, upgrading the transmission lines to get Manapouri's power to the Waitaki basin is going to provide a bit of a helping hand for employment and business activity in the region, if it's managed well with that as a specific goal.

      • Ad 3.2.1
        9 July 2020 at 8:56 am

        The Southland Regional Development Agency is the primary conduit for the concepts.

        They have representation from SRC, Invercargill Council, Gore, the two Trusts, Chamber of Commerce, the Polytech, and others.

        It's not like they haven't seen it coming

      • Sacha 3.2.2
        9 July 2020 at 9:02 am

        It would also be great to build a southern focus around Dunedin's engineering facilities like the Hillside rail workshop, set up fully carbon-free electric-powered factories, etc.

        Let's not waste the chance by just reducing the power costs for corporate dairying expanding in mismatching environments.

        • Just Is 3.2.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 4:13 pm

          Sacha, it takes people and Governments to have the "vision" to believe it's possible and then make it happen.

          The problem with today's world is that People with a vision are considered "Dreamers"

    • Ed 3.3
      9 July 2020 at 8:52 am

      And Corin Dann fails to ask any tough questions of their spokesperson.

      Predictable.

      [Fixed error in user name]

      • Sacha 3.3.1
        9 July 2020 at 9:03 am

        Please add a link for those of us who missed the interview.

        • Ed 3.3.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 9:14 am

          Link to the interview.

          https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018754179

          If ever this government needed a reminder about the parasitical nature of multinational corporations, this brutal action while our economy is weakened by the effects of COVID 19……

          If a decent interviewer like Pilger or Fisk had been asking the questions, this angle would have been the focus.

          • aj 3.3.1.1.1
            9 July 2020 at 10:10 am

            Gary Tong's interview was a measured and reasonable response, Shadbolt sounded like he'd had a very heavy night before, and managed to turn it into a Penny Simmons election advertisement. About what I'd expect out of him. If I have misinterpreted that, well I did have trouble following him and I was multitasking at the time.

    • Tricledrown 3.4
      9 July 2020 at 8:56 am

      Shortages of labour on dairy farms in Southland workers will have to find new jobs.

      Aluminium demand will stay depressed for many years the aircraft manufacturing industry will take years to recover.

      So no future for Tiwae but Rio Tinto are blaming electricity prices.

      • Halfcrown 3.4.1
        9 July 2020 at 9:56 am

        Very good opinion Trickle.

      • Bearded Git 3.4.2
        9 July 2020 at 10:55 am

        Agree trickle…..my understanding is that Rio Tinto have been given heavily discounted electricity…..but the deal is secret….now they are blaming electricity prices for shutting up shop I think the public is entitled to know exactly what they are paying

        • Sacha 3.4.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 11:10 am

          Not secret. Criminally low. No time to find links right now but easy enough to find.

    • Just Is 3.5
      9 July 2020 at 9:16 am

      Rio Tinto, Gina Reinhart, the woman who makes $2.5M every hour of every day and then suggested to the Australian Govt that she should be able to import workers from China who would work for $1 an hour, saving her company a fortune in labour costs

      Outright Greed.

    • Dennis Frank 3.6
      9 July 2020 at 9:17 am

      Rio Tinto smelter in Bluff to go… 1000 jobs

      Those thousand folks do at least have the assurance that the newly-elected National MP for Southland will be available to explain to them how National will get them new jobs via business as usual.

      So they just need to organise themselves into a queue at the door of his electorate office when it opens. Call the media to show the queue on the evening tv news, then interview them after they come out from getting the MP's explanation. The pertinent question would be what day they start their new job, so the media can report whatever common pattern emerges from the answers…

      • weka 3.6.1
        9 July 2020 at 11:04 am

        Most people directly affected will most likely live in the Invercargill electorate, not Clutha Southland. Last time Invercargill voted in a Labour MP was 2002, Mark Peck held the seat for the 1993 – 2002 terms (which is kind of remarkable, a big swing in 1993, I wonder if the boundaries were redrawn, or it was a rejection of Nats doubling down on neoliberalism).

        In 2017 there was only a few hundred votes between the Nat MP and the L/NZF/G ones. Will be interesting to see who Labour stands this time.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invercargill_(New_Zealand_electorate)#Election_results

        • Chris T 3.6.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 6:22 pm

          So the 1000 job loses and the rest directly working around the smelter aren't that big a deal?

          Cool.

          Great to see your priorities.

          • The Al1en 3.6.1.1.1
            9 July 2020 at 6:31 pm

            You weren't considerate to all the families directly/indirectly supported by a 5* hotel hosting returning kiwis in quarantine.

            Priorities, you say. Have you checked for yours behind your fake outrage?

            • Chris T 3.6.1.1.1.1
              9 July 2020 at 7:22 pm

              There's a thought.

              Maybe they can convert the smelter to a 5 star hotel.

              Heating wouldn't be an issue.

          • weka 3.6.1.1.2
            9 July 2020 at 6:52 pm

            You've been here long enough to know that I don't tolerate people making shit up about my views and politics. There is absolutely nothing in my comment about the Tiwai jobs, it's a comment about southern electorates and voting. I have even less time for this shit than normal because it's election year. How you respond to my comment now will determine how I moderate you in the future.

            • Chris T 3.6.1.1.2.1
              9 July 2020 at 6:58 pm

              I just find the shifting of 1000 people at the very least losing their jobs in a small region into election chances of a party a tad distasteful on the same day the the 1000 find out their life might be screwed

          • Muttonbird 3.6.1.1.3
            9 July 2020 at 6:58 pm

            Bro. I was about to say don't put your hand in the cage.

    • OnceWasTim 3.7
      9 July 2020 at 10:51 am

      Just shows @ Ad. The gNatz should have gone to Specsavers. Woodhouse might have got himself a Musk instead of a Thiel. At least he does stuff.

    • aom 3.8
      9 July 2020 at 11:14 am

      On the other hand, the quantity of cheap power that is about to be unleashed could power many thousands of jobs – ones that don't send the profits off-shore.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.9
      11 July 2020 at 7:15 pm

      Before we go all gleeful about rediverting the Manapouri generation, let's take a moment for the shock and devastation this will cause to those families putting dinner on the table.

      How about – NO!

      Redundancies happen all the time and I doubt that those thousand workers gave more than a moments thought to those who suffered them.

      And, yes, the freeing up of that amount of electricity and the removal of the vast subsidies to a bunch of foreign bludgers is probably going to be beneficial to NZ.

  4. Reality 4
    9 July 2020 at 8:44 am

    Wayne, the Al Jazeera article is pretty balanced, fair and based on facts. What is wrong with that? Refreshing to read something like that after all the trump like media stuff doing its best to discredit the government in every way possible.

    How do you feel about the sleaze permeating your party? Our PM has behaved with grace always. She has had every reason to go for Muller and co and the way they operate, but has not.

    If she wanted a cup of tea and a lie down, like Muller, Hosking and co would have slaughtered her if that happened but poor Toddy was feeling the strain after a torrid few days.

  5. Just Is 5
    9 July 2020 at 9:24 am

    This latest escapee from Isolation needs to be made an example of, bring the full force of the Law on him, 6 months in jail, no questions.

    Make an example of him so that others may be deterred from attempting the same thing.

    I'd like to say he was ignorant, but he new what he was doing. foreigners who simply don't give a shit.

    • Sacha 5.1
      9 July 2020 at 9:44 am

      If he was in managed isolation rather than quarantine, has to be an NZ citizen or resident rather than a foreigner.

      • Just Is 5.1.1
        9 July 2020 at 10:22 am

        Yes, but that doesn't mean he was born here.

        The reports I heard was that he was a new arrival from India.

        Remember, NZ imported nearly a million migrants over a decade, mostly to replace the massive migration out of NZ after 2011, around 400,000, at that time, nearl 10% of the population.

        • Enough is Enough 5.1.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 10:42 am

          What reports did you hear?

          Are you suggesting that only people born in New Zealand are New Zealanders?

          • Just Is 5.1.1.1.1
            9 July 2020 at 12:17 pm

            No, you've misunderstood, NZ citizens, today, aren't necessarily born in NZ, you know, migrants gaining citizenship after meeting the criteria.

            • Enough is Enough 5.1.1.1.1.1
              9 July 2020 at 1:10 pm

              Yep

              This person flew in from India. What report have you seen that suggest he is a migrant, and if he is what is your point?

              • Just Is …
                9 July 2020 at 1:31 pm

                The exact one you described, it was a news report on the radio.

                It's possible the person flying in from India was originally from Ubekistan or Florida or even NZ, but the assumption was that they were from India, given the population, of 2.2 Billion, say compared to NZ of 5 million

    • Janet 5.2
      9 July 2020 at 10:02 am

      Then 1 yrs community service in hospitals.

      • Just Is 5.2.1
        9 July 2020 at 10:24 am

        Yep, and his face displayed on massive billboards so Everyone knows who he is.

        • anker 5.2.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 11:09 am

          While I understand the face displayed on billboards Just is and it is tempting to want that, I think anyone breaking quarantine could be very vulnerable to vigilantism.

          No let him do some time in jail. And a fine.

    • aj 5.3
      9 July 2020 at 10:14 am

      latest escapee from Isolation

      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. ~~ Albert Einstein.

      • Just Is 5.3.1
        9 July 2020 at 10:27 am

        Well said

        • greywarshark 5.3.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 1:48 pm

          Ha ha this is funny but sad. 32 year old man not grown out of stupid childhood, or perhaps reached his peak already and on the way down.

          https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/man-escaped-auckland-isolation-says-hes-now-feeling-stressed-questions-positive-covid-19-test

          He also took selfies in the aisle and made phone calls using free wi-fi before returning to the hotel and waiting for police.

          He tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday morning and is now facing charges, while the supermarket has been closed for cleaning and several people, including staff, are in isolation.

          The man, speaking with the NZ Herald over the phone, reportedly said he felt "totally healthy and fine" and questioned his diagnosis, saying he had been given "no evidence" of actually having the virus…

          When asked why he thought it was OK to leave the hotel, he reportedly said "no one told me anything".

          He told the Herald that even people with Covid-19 are human, saying, "We are also people," but he didn't respond to questions about whether he thought he had put the public at risk by leaving the hotel.

          Self-pitying, self-centred juvenile twat.

          • Just Is 5.3.1.1.1
            9 July 2020 at 2:37 pm

            Much, but that's how I interpreted his actions in the first place.

            Before going into Isolation, the Govt officials make it Very Clear What the Responsibilities are, there is NO EXCUSE

          • Gabby 5.3.1.1.2
            9 July 2020 at 5:03 pm

            Well he might be mentally challenged.

          • RedBaronCV 5.3.1.1.3
            9 July 2020 at 7:08 pm

            Nobody told him anything?

            FFS what did he think was going on? That the NZ government picks up everybody from the airport complete with minders and trucks them all off to a downtown hotel and pays their accommodation bill while they trot round sightseeing? I mean really?

            If he's good enough to have a debit card and work a checkout then you think he'd be smart enough to work out that something was going on and he'd better pay attention.

            [Fixed error in e-mail address]

      • Peter 5.3.2
        9 July 2020 at 11:02 am

        People are dumb and shortsighted and stupid and devious and everything.

        Don't trust anyone, you don't know what their motivations are. Plan for the worst, expect even worse.

        Is this it? The organisation was such that an infected person walked out of quarantine/isolation? He could have gone to a couple of clubs, got into the spirit of things and over the next couple of weeks the virus could have started spreading over the Auckland area and Auckland could have been Melbourne?

        If that is the case some people are not taking things seriously. They are not taking things seriously because they are dumb or they are simply not capable.

        Am I over-dramatising it suggesting that some cock up of poor planning or poor carrying out of procedures could have ended up in lives being put at risk and millions and millions of dollars being the cost?

        • greywarshark 5.3.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 1:04 pm

          When you think about it – we are a bit of a wild west bunch quite often. It may seem refreshing and spontaneous and giving things a go to people, and yes sometimes. But a lot of it is rebellious, childish, self-centred, and lacking in self-discipline and not appreciating that there is a greater good out there. Everything can't revolve around self and immediate self-gratification – restraint is required from people old enough to be expected to be mature adults.

          But then we make little effort to help parents socialise their children, and this simplistic approach to life carries from one generation to the next. No wonder we find our country now in a mess in the natural environment and the social environment as well, and those of us who have acquired some objective view have an uphill battle showing how the problems are linked. Being thoughtful adults isn't in the experience of many family lines dating from colonial times.

    • Just Is 5.4
      9 July 2020 at 10:36 am

      Also, the escapee should be Billed for his Isolation, the estimated cost of $4000 plus the cost of Police time identifying potential victims

      Send them a message.

      • dv 5.4.1
        9 July 2020 at 10:42 am

        AND countdown should sue him for the cost of the cleaning and shut down.

        • Just Is 5.4.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 1:39 pm

          Yes, make them responsible for their actions, this applies to everything in life.

    • greywarshark 5.5
      9 July 2020 at 10:57 am

      Foreigners aren't necessarily the best at not giving a shit. We can do as well without even trying, often!

      • Just Is 5.5.1
        9 July 2020 at 11:41 am

        Yes, in fact, probably worse

      • Psych Nurse 5.5.2
        9 July 2020 at 1:21 pm

        What makes you think he's a foreigner, he knows how to use a self service checkout and obviously has a debit card, you won't find either in India.

        • Just Is 5.5.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 1:50 pm

          This person could have NZ citizenship and lived here for a number of years, so would be able to use all things you describe.

          Have you been to India in the last decade? I only ask that as you assume that cos he's arrived from India, he has no concept of modern life, ie, credit cards and using self service, I think you'll find India is not that antiquated, in fact they probably designed some of that equipment, certainly some areas and states aren't that sofisticated.

    • Patricia Bremner 5.6
      9 July 2020 at 2:25 pm

      A Kiwi mate. Makes it worse.

  6. Tiger Mountain 6
    9 July 2020 at 9:31 am

    Rio Tinto has bludged cheap power for decades, while thousands of our own people live in underheated, mouldy, dumps due to the high cost of electricity from the privatised power companies. Until such obvious inequities are seriously addressed they can sod off.

    • xanthe 6.1
      9 July 2020 at 9:48 am

      does the govt hold any sort of bond to sort out the toxic waste

      here is link from 2017.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/344491/toxic-smelter-waste-must-go-campaigner

    • Andre 6.2
      9 July 2020 at 9:50 am

      Just be aware that the actual energy cost is a bit under a third of a typical residential electricity bill. Transmission and lines charges are a bit over a third, retailer charges a sixth, GST a sixth, rats and mice the rest. So Meridian could give away the Manapouri power for free and it wouldn't reduce residential electricity bills much.

      https://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/your-home/pricing-and-rates/more-about-electricity-pricing

      • Graeme 6.2.1
        9 July 2020 at 10:33 am

        A broadly similar calculation would apply to Tiwai’s power bill. The costs of supplying the electricity are a major component, especially the costs involved in enabling some backup ability.

        Having an aluminium smelter at one end of a long skinny network may not be a good idea in a post electricity reform and privatisation era.

        • Andre 6.2.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 10:51 am

          No.

          Tiwai Point won't be paying any local distribution costs, they've got Transpower delivering right to their door. Their argument for getting reduced transmission charges from Transpower was basically that the spur line from Manapouri to Tiwai Point was just for them, so that was all they should pay for, and they didn't get much benefit from the rest of the grid so they shouldn't have to contribute to paying for it.

          Some time back I had a stab at comparing their transmission bill to their electricity bill, from memory and published speculation about the various components, it appeared their transmission charges were about a quarter their electricity charges. From memory, the numbers were around a quarter billion to Meridian for the juice and 65 million to Transpower to get it to them

          They also won't be paying retailer charges or GST or metering or any of the other rats and mice.

          One big effect of the electricity market jiggery-pokery is over the last twenty years, the price per kWhr went from being roughly the same for residential, commercial and industrial customers, to big industrial users now paying maybe a third of what residential users pay, with commercial users somewhere in between.

          • greywarshark 6.2.1.1.1
            9 July 2020 at 11:10 am

            edit
            What about conceding a lower cost for electricity but they must accept responsibility as a company, to remove and deal with safely the Mataura and elsewhere dump of leftover stuff that produces ammonia gas if wet. They are not to offsell it to any other company, they are not to contract with some other company to remove it, they are to meet with government scientists and have big full and frank talks about the way to do this, using all known scientific information on dealing with it to cause it to be inert. This must be done within two years after discussions and satisfactory solution decided. The discussions to start from six months from now. There may be some machinery required to process the stuff and we could look at offering some assistance to pay for this, no GST something, something. We should throw ourselves into getting this done, and done right at reasonable terms and proceed apace, as the saying goes.

            Get this done now while they are still here and operating, and left in a safe state. If they close down soon, it will be left sitting for us to deal with and we will never get these big boys back to the table. It is no use pontificating about what should happen, and that it isn't good environmentally.

            And perhaps design some state housing that uses aluminium which is strong and light, and is going cheap at the moment on world markets, and we buy it at those prices and it is right in the country so should save some carbon costs.

      • Tiger Mountain 6.2.2
        9 July 2020 at 11:52 am

        Andre@6.2…
        Power generation/supply/retail/wholesale is an artificial market created by National and unfortunately largely still supported by all parliamentary parties to satisfy the prevailing monetarist doctrine and structural neo liberalism NZ operates on. Meridian and the rest are creatures of legislation and prime examples of the penetration of state infrastructure by market forces and private capital.

        The power companies of all stripes are essentially parasites on previously publicly owned and developed, hydro, thermal and fossil fuelled systems.

        What has Rio Tinto contributed apart from environmental degradation, heavily subsidised jobs, and periodic blackmail?–even the Key Govt. gifted them further millions and Mr Key was meant to be a financial genius. Their last effort to get further concessions, despite employing a professional front organisation did not seem to get a lot of traction from locals anyway if meeting attendances and media impact are an indication.

  7. Andre 7
    9 July 2020 at 9:44 am

    @lprent – had a couple of comments just take a random walk into oblivion after hitting "submit comment". One just a few minutes ago in reply to Tiger Mountain just above, one last night. The one just now didn't have links or any even slightly controversial language.

    edit: the redo of the reply to Tiger Mountain went through normally.

  8. Andre 8
    9 July 2020 at 9:59 am

    The Lincoln Project are going hard after vulnerable senators, too.

    • greywarshark 8.1
      9 July 2020 at 10:44 am

      Lincoln Project: Slick about sick Trumpites and their doings and should rake in the shekels. Never ever trust them again, they say. Fair enough. But I don't trust anybody now. So what are they – hot air balloons with baskets touching the ground long enough to be filled with money which will rise and drift away for a distant destination?

      Headline in today's Nelson Mail – 'Niece paints acid portrait of President'. I thought what a good art work that would be – some material with his face marked out with the facial contours sort of etched into it. It would make a good wall hanging of this epic leader, monumental. Think Han Solo Star Wars.

      (https://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeego/11303417565

  10. dv 10
    9 July 2020 at 10:37 am

    See Winston is in hospital for emergency surgery.

    Too many dead rats?
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12346737

    • I Feel Love 11.1
      9 July 2020 at 5:44 pm

      "KPop Agents" hyuck!!!! I see a new character for Sacha Baron Cohen coming up…

    • Draco T Bastard 11.2
      11 July 2020 at 7:11 pm

      When the US stops interfering in other nations governance is when they can complain about other nations interfering in theirs.

  12. greywarshark 12
    9 July 2020 at 10:54 am

    I often have to edit away a couple of &nsp or something that produce double spacing each – lots of empty space at end. Why does it creep in so often?

    • Incognito 12.1
      9 July 2020 at 11:21 am

      I don’t know but in the comment above @ 11, there are 16 non-breaking spaces!!

  13. mosa 13
    9 July 2020 at 11:07 am

    Posted late last night so for those who missed reading this excellent story from Aljazeera.

    " How New Zealand's media endangered public health "

    This report from Glen Johnson of Aljazeera

    https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/zealand-media-endangered-public-health-200707103532946.html

    • Ed 13.1
      9 July 2020 at 1:01 pm

      Thank you mosa.

      Excellent article. I posted it earlier today and acknowledged your discovery of it the day before.

  14. Stephen D 14
    9 July 2020 at 11:15 am

    I'm the treasurer of the Whangaparaoa Labour Party LEC. A real battle in a blue electorate to drive up the party vote.

    We are having a campaign launch dinner and fundraiser on 1 August. Link below.

    https://tinyurl.com/y85txx9d

    If you would like to help us increase the % of the party vote which we have in the last 2 elections, we would love to see you.

    Mods, if this is inappropriate feel free to delete.

    • greywarshark 14.1
      9 July 2020 at 1:22 pm

      Sounds good. Not deletable surely, more delectable! Kia kaha.

    • Heather Grimwood 14.2
      9 July 2020 at 4:36 pm

      Go well Stephen D!…I was once in charge of Whangaparaoa/Orewa end of what was then Rodney electorate,and acknowledge your situation.

  15. Just Is 15
    9 July 2020 at 11:44 am

    Just found this interview with John Cambell, well worth the watch, relevent to the upcoming Cannabis Referendum.

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/nationals-paula-bennett-greens-chl-e-swarbrick-go-head-over-cannabis-referendum

  16. Just Is 16
    9 July 2020 at 11:53 am

    And here's another one on the same subject, but…

    A warning, it's a Hosking rant

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?objectid=12344874&&ref=recommended

    If that guy had a brain he'd be dangerous

    • Incognito 16.1
      9 July 2020 at 11:56 am

      Actually, he has a mouth and a megaphone, and he knows how to use these very well.

      • Just Is 16.1.1
        9 July 2020 at 12:25 pm

        Yep, but fortunately for us his listener base is relatively small, for obvious reasons, he's only talking to an echo chamber, noboby with an IQ above their age listens to the Hosk.

  17. Morrissey 17
    9 July 2020 at 12:43 pm

    Dirty Dairying is ruining this country

    “If this farmer is the best of the best, the reputation of the dairy industry and New Zealand are in serious trouble.”

    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2007/S00126/new-zealand-share-farmer-of-the-year-winner-a-profane-industry-poster-boy.htm

  18. weka 18
    9 July 2020 at 12:54 pm

    Paddy Gower was in isolation for a day or so after using the same supermarket as the quarantine wanderer. He's tested negative and is now out and about again. What day did the dude go walk about? It seems a very short period of time for covid to develop enough to return a positive test. I think the risk is very low, but am curious how that is being managed. Is the idea that a true negative will be available within a few days?

    • Adrian 18.1
      9 July 2020 at 1:09 pm

      It's a stunt caused by Gower's Loss of Relevance Condition or most likely he is even stupider than I ever thought as it's 3-4 days minimum for a conclusive test.

      • weka 18.1.1
        9 July 2020 at 1:44 pm

        lol. I haven't kept up on the testing regime, but there does seem to be a lot of confusion out there about it.

      • Just Is 18.1.2
        9 July 2020 at 1:56 pm

        Yep saw the article yesterday and wondered how Gower managed to get tested and recieve the results in the same day, how long was he in Isolation?

        I'd like to see him in isolation for the full 2 wks just to drive home it's not acceptable to flaunt the rules for a story

        • In Vino 18.1.2.1
          9 July 2020 at 2:58 pm

          Perhaps he is one of those exceptional accelerate students, and he achieved his 2 weeks' isolation in a matter of mere hours…

          • Chris T 18.1.2.1.1
            9 July 2020 at 8:51 pm

            Think the media are classed as essential workers, so presumably would have been fast tracked.

      • McFlock 18.1.3
        9 July 2020 at 9:15 pm

        probably found out he was in the supermarket before the iso-jumper even got there.

        Or the test came back "yeah, nah, you're just a bit of a drama queen".

  19. Dennis Frank 19
    9 July 2020 at 12:56 pm

    Anticipating the Exit, in which England declares independence from the UK… https://unherd.com/thepost/english-nationalism-the-dog-that-is-starting-to-bark/

    Recent polling underlines the fragility of the union in which we live, with 54% of Scottish voters and 25% of Welsh voters now backing independence, and 45% of Northern Irish voters backing union with the Republic.

    New Labour’s gamble that devolution would defang the independence movements in Britain’s Celtic nations seems to have dramatically backfired: instead, the result seems to be that London’s media pays far less attention to the currents threatening our union than they should. But more interesting than all of these poll results is the revelation that 27% of voters in England would back English independence from the United Kingdom.

    So more than a quarter of the English electorate seem to be separatist. As political minorities go, that's substantial!

  20. Incognito 20
    9 July 2020 at 12:59 pm

    An attempt at analysis, at least.

    All that, like EY’s figures, may be best regarded as just enormously speculative.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/122073190/fact-check-could-a-transtasman-bubble-really-raise-nzs-gdp-by-88b-by-christmas

    • weka 20.1
      9 July 2020 at 1:05 pm

      They're still counting the wrong things I see.

    • RedBaronCV 20.2
      9 July 2020 at 7:23 pm

      Quite apart from the defects already pointed out in the article – the only thing NZ has in quantity that Australia doesn't is snow. On the other hand they have more sun, more nightlife, more shopping , more….well everything. so why would they spend more here than we do there. Should reports like this even be issued. It doesn't reflect well on EY

      [Fixed error in e-mail address]

  21. Fireblade 21
    9 July 2020 at 2:32 pm

    • Drowsy M. Kram 21.1
      9 July 2020 at 2:42 pm

      Ha! Only Hooton, bailing frantically but in vain, is missing (in action.)

      • Anker 21.1.1
        9 July 2020 at 4:26 pm

        Maybe Hooten has jumped overboard and is swimming for his life Drowsy.

        rats leaving a sinking ship and all that

    • ianmac 21.2
      9 July 2020 at 2:46 pm

      Great! Cartoonists are better than journalists.

    • Just Is 21.3
      9 July 2020 at 2:50 pm

      Very apt, one of things I like about this cartoonist is that he has no political bias, he makes fun of whoever gives him the opportunity.

  22. mac1 22
    9 July 2020 at 2:38 pm

    Getting this ‘sponsored’ group on Facebook. Fairness in Focus.They are representing medical drug manufacturers. So why this name for a group of lobbyists?

    Today's headline was "New Zealand ranks last out of 20 OECD countries for access to modern medicines."

    So, how many OECD countries are there? 20? Are we bottom of the OECD countries for the number of modern medicines registered, the time it takes to access them and how many such medicines are publicly funded?

    That's what they imply.

    Well, folks, Colombia is number 37 to join, says Google.

    It seems there are lies, damned lies and pharmaceutical statistics! Do we have fairness in Fairness in Focus's advocacy for the pharmaceutical companies?

    For more information visit: https://www.fairnessinfocus.co.nz/…

  23. greywarshark 23
    9 July 2020 at 3:03 pm

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/420829/californian-family-s-bid-to-recover-son-s-body-from-nz-lake-rejected

    It is interesting that the police vetoed the request, Covid-19 reasons not referred to in this article, but because of their oft-heard wish not to allow any action that is not initiated by them, may have risk, and which does not assist them in some way.

    In the April email, the New Zealand police referred to other barriers: The cost "to bring yourself from the US" and deploying a team for an "unknown length of time" with "no possible guarantee of success".

    "Thank you for your kind offer, but unfortunately we cannot take you up on it," the police concluded…

    The response to that was: "We're the ones saying we'll pay for it. We're not asking them to do it. I don't think he even referenced Covid – they just don't want to do it."

    It is sad that these people have lost their son who is drowned at the bottom of a lake, and we are in a pandemic now, but it appears that the police are in charge of this matter and have refused the parents from ever having the right to conduct their own operation, which of course should be done in a professional manner. Something must be done further about this, rather than just an outright refusal, there should be a possibility to be reviewed every six months for three times and then finally in two years, say.

    We need a Risk and Recovery Unit outside the normal policing, and with more expertise and a wider framework. People in the field may be part-time employed by a few permanent and well-experienced operations managers (no generic employees). They would be trained in what to look for that might relate to legal proceedings, but they would go beyond the police yoke that seems bounded by demands from police management following best practice guidelines.

    Another thing is sad – that a number of things malfunctioned and caused this tourist's death.

    Tyler Nii, 27, a tennis coach, did not survive after a double parachute failure over Lake Wakatipu in January 2018.

    His lifevest also failed to inflate. The tandem-jump instructor survived…

    The Nii family still do not have a death certificate. It is unclear why.

    They did have a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) report, but they considered it so inept and incomplete they thought it did not deserve to be called an investigation.

    It had been a long fight just to be told anything by authorities, Kevin Nii said.

    Was it an avoidable disaster, and if not, why not? This is part of a line of injuries and deaths in our great outdoorsy, risky, physical-oriented tourist business. And one not set up properly and thoughtfully. It is disgraceful that we have the number of accidents and deaths that we do.

    When Labour wins the election and is back in power, then we should set up an agency as part of the ACC to check how things could be run better. And restore people's right to sue with a cap, for aspects that are beyond ACC's remit.

    This means that the loose way that geonet measurements of volcanic activity are graded, and that there will be controls on say the White Island tourist activities accordingly. We know that business has difficulty limiting itself and turning down the dollars in any sector. This one makes much money from taking people to a 'muttering' volcano and needs to be given definite limits.

    In the meantime it would be good if these people could be asked to stay in touch and first, that the police negative be replaced by a guarded positive if possible with an unconnected expert's opinion on whether it could be done safely whether it was likely to be successful or not, and second that the situation would be looked at by some authority, perhaps tourism who would check whether there was a Covid-19 window which facilitated it. We want our tourism to continue in a better form than previously, and we do not want to lose our better-paying people because of bad reports about our being casual and unreliable.

  24. Gareth 24
    9 July 2020 at 3:42 pm

    Australia is looking at capping arrivals and charging for quarantine stays.

    https://www.theguardian.com./australia-news/2020/jul/09/nsw-may-cap-numbers-of-people-arriving-in-australia-and-charge-for-hotel-quarantine

    This will provide cover for the same move here.

    • satty 24.1
      9 July 2020 at 3:56 pm

      Especially after we have to build high fences around all the facilities and have 24/7 police available to deal with those entitled individuals (luckily, there are not many yet, but surely the number is going to rise).
      If this is a longer term thing, we should set up camp on an island for the new arrivals.

      • I Feel Love 24.1.1
        9 July 2020 at 5:53 pm

        Now the police union are criticising the Govt because they have to guard these people in quarantine. They kinda have a point, why should the police guard these people? But maybe because all the fearmongering in the media the Govt has turned the level right up to 11?

        • RedBaronCV 24.1.1.1
          9 July 2020 at 7:43 pm

          NSW used the police and defence staff. Victoria used outsourced contractors. Look who has the massive outbreak and why.

          We are using a mix of outsourced, defence and police. Oh and IIRC there was a comment for a security company spokesperson complaining about those people being low paid. Maybe the industry could fix that themselves.

        • greywarshark 24.1.1.2
          9 July 2020 at 8:47 pm

          Why can't the police work with the community instead of deciding who they want to protect and who not? Should we call in the Army?

          I question why hospitals have to hire security guards? Protecting our public workers and places should be police work. Private people's cars and property should be protected but it seems that people anywhere generally seem to be down the list.

  26. Eco Maori 26
    10 July 2020 at 8:50 am

    Kia Ora

    The Am Show.

    There is no mystery its dirty politics the underbelly is shining in Aotearoa.

    Ka kite Ano

  27. Eco Maori 27
    10 July 2020 at 6:30 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    That's the way charge the fools who are putting the whole of Aotearoa at risk of the virus.

    That's good news people going on holiday in small towns in Aotearoa.

    Ka kite Ano.

  28. Eco Maori 28
    10 July 2020 at 6:56 pm

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    That's is good to see some putea going to Wahine who have been negatively affected by the virus.

    Ka kite Ano

  29. Eco Maori 29
    11 July 2020 at 6:52 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    That's is great heaps of mahi for tradies.

    A sugar tax is needed.

    Ka kite Ano.

  31. Eco Maori 31
    12 July 2020 at 6:52 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    Election time in Aotearoa.

    Racist attacks on people by idiotic fools.

    The Electric car market is going good.

    Ka kite Ano.

  32. Eco Maori 32
    13 July 2020 at 8:52 am

    Kia Ora

    The Am Show.

    It would be awesome to see Aotearoa stop burning coal and change to renewable energy.

    Solar power installation subsidies would be great to.

    Ka kite Ano.

  33. Eco Maori 33
    13 July 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    Yes vegetables are expensive.

    Mystery creek field days is online That's the way of the future the Internet.

    Ka kite Ano.

  34. Eco Maori 34
    13 July 2020 at 6:59 pm

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    Yes Maori need to train for high paying mahi in the system minority cultures will be last unless the employer is Maori or of minority culture Pukana.

    That's the way having cardiac arrests defibrillator on Te Marae.

    We must remember what our Tipuna has achieved.

    Ka kite Ano.

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    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    21 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Discontent and gloom dominate NZ’s political mood
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    21 hours ago

  • Taking Tea with 42 & 38.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    22 hours ago

  • Beware political propaganda: statistics are pointing to Grant Robertson never protecting “Lives an...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    22 hours ago

  • Winding back the hands of history’s clock
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
     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 ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    23 hours ago

  • Business confidence sliding into winter of discontent
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the coalition’s awful, not good, very bad poll results
    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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • New HOP readers for future payment options
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 day ago

  • 2024 Reading Summary: April (+ Writing Update)
    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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline'
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Road photos
    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 ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
    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, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • NZDF is still hostile to oversight
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • A clear warning
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    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 ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    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 ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    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 ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    3 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    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 ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    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”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    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 Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    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 ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    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 ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    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? ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    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 → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    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. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    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 ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    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 ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    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. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    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 ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Stronger oversight for our most vulnerable children
    The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    31 mins ago

  • Streamlining Building Consent Changes
    The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.      “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    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.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
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