GOOD TEACHER, BAD TEACHER (THE PERSISTENT MYTH)
Dave’s students gain grades well above the national average. He focuses on the curriculum and how best to deliver the syllabus according to approved didactic theory. His eye is on assessment dates, the next ERO audit and his tracking milestones leading up to the end of year exams. He knows he can get the best grades out of his students by sticking to his plan, allowing minimum discussion outside of the main themes and by grooming his students for assessment. He feeds them a regular stream of past question papers with model answers. He gives his students feedback, rewarding them with praise when their answers align with conformity. His students know class-time with him is predictable, structured, and achievement orientated. Dave was pleased to receive a letter from the Ministry:
Dear David Jones
Congratulations on the excellent grades achieved by your NCEA students. You have demonstrated the high ideals demanded of your profession and it is our pleasure to inform you of a $20 000 bonus payable to you under our performance-based pay scales. Our assessors have identified you as an ‘expert teacher’ and would like to invite you to lead a series of seminars imparting tips and strategies to those struggling in the profession. We will be in touch with you early next year.
Yours sincerely
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
The grades of Sarah’s students approximate the national average. She focuses on the educational needs of young hearts and minds in her care and understands that the subject matter is not always of prime interest to a teenager. Accordingly she brings enrichment to her lessons and is delighted when greater numbers begin active participation. She encourages enquiry, independent thought and risk-taking. Her eye is not so much on grades in relation to national averages but on the number of shy, hesitant or poorly motivated students, who during the course of the year have ‘ah ha’ moments and begin to take ownership of their own education. Sarah’s students know class-time with her is an opportunity to explore thought processes, savour the subject matter and look more deeply into themselves as maturing human beings. Sarah received a letter from her school’s Board of Trustees.
Dear Sarah Thompson
Once again we note the grades attained by your NCEA students are barely above the national average. We would urge you to make a greater effort next year by embracing methods currently identified as best practice. We remind you too that the Ministry offers remunerative incentives for better performance. To this end we urge you to attend next year’s seminars conducted by an expert teacher from the Department.
Yours sincerely
CHAIRMAN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES)
Brilliant Ant. Yet that idiot Seymour cannot see that money damages authenticity.
A few years ago Auckland Grammar claimed a high pass rate based on exactly your David Jones. Practice exam passing and practice again. It is why AG want to stay with exams like Lauriette.
A few years ago the private college in Parnell had high fails in Cambridge. With no NCEA many of the students left and had to do 6 months foundation courses at Uni to get into Uni. But not made public cos they do not have to publish results. Needless to say many parents were ropable.
Seymour from memory said no other “business” when referring to paying teachers well… It was galling to watch a guy representing 0.4% of the electorate getting so much air time…
Excellent Ant – I was a couple of days ago trying to explain my wee rant on my Facebook page about David Seymours piece to my son, who incidentally went to Auckland Grammar, back in the day and his son also attends AG, not without more than a few problems at the beginning of the year. He cannot see the reasoning behind the collective agreement, and not simply applying performance pay for such teachers such as ‘Dave’, who fits the criteria of (only) results based teaching. I struggled to articulate my feelings about my misgivings about such methodology or pedagogy and like a lot of employers he sheets most of the blame to the unions, for simply doing their job.
national are just using there divided and conquer technic so they can force any policies on teachers Jolly bee these people are control freaks and Don’t like the teachers unity putting them in there places they just want to privatise our schools and give a shit service.
Performance Pay is based on the belief that if you give people more money they will perform better. For jobs that depend on colleagues to cooperate, extra pay for extra work doesn’t work.
How about Performance Pay for MPs? Someone would get to choose which MP is better than another and since a Party depends on a tight togetherness, there would be bad feelings among those who do not get chosen.
“I’m damned if I am going to let that bastard pinch my ideas so I will not share and my staff will be bound to silence.”
“And what if the Minister of Finance lets us all down with an idiotic lie about fiscal errors which don’t exist? Leaves all in our Party looking dishonest and stupid. Should his pay be docked by 50% like we would do to a common beneficiary? ”
And in the ACT Party who would decide on his competence? Seymour has a huge belief in himself so would award a huge bonus.
A huge number of workers work hard out of a belief and pleasure in what they do. Money is not the main driver and P Pay is an insult.
Well said Ianmac. But in my experience many people from the ‘world of business’ are devoted to their latest theory, and believe it will succeed everywhere if only people would apply their theory correctly. They do not countenance any basic flaw in their beloved theory. (Maybe because of self-interest?)
“A huge number of workers work hard out of a belief and pleasure in what they do. Money is not the main driver and P Pay is an insult.”
This performance pay malarkey has two main errors which people who come from outside the teaching/carer industries do not often understand. You are right, Ianmac in pointing out the tremendous cooperation and the reason why we teachers did as we did, to benefit kids.
It wasn’t the money. What I remember from my association with teaching over forty years are firstly the students, then the staff, then the good teaching and real changes to people that sometimes occurred.
Funnily I don’t remember the salary that well. But when I was a farm and industrial worker, wages and conditions were the main driver for my effort. I can still tell you the rates from forty to fifty years ago. $1 an hour plus overtime at time and a half for the first four hours and double time thereafter as a cleaner the Sixties and then $125 pw plus half a sheep, firewood and free accommodation as a farm worker in the late Seventies.
Hmmm.. perhaps.
I am unhappy largely because of poor pay.
I am in hospitality in a busy kitchen.
I have suggested a non taxable travel allowance, profit share and a simple pay increase.
All not doable.
I am merely seeking the living wage for a fully qualified, 20 years experience chef.
This is why I resent talk of ‘the average wage’. It is so far beyond me and my colleagues
I am not referring to those poorly paid and in low wage jobs. I am referring to the Seymour/National notion that more money makes everyone happier.
Research sjows when employees feel unvalued, bullied and/or mistrustful then paying them more makes them better paid under valued, bullied and mistrustful employees. Not more productive.
Pay rises are nice but almost never solve the underlying problem which is lack of respect and value.
+1 mac1.
But this is one of the reasons that teachers are underpaid. Despite the ranting of rightie rednecks about how powerful the teacher unions are, teachers will not actually do more than a token one-day strike during pay negotiations. They get exploited because right-wing greedies say that they enjoy their ‘vocation’ so much that they are not seeking high pay. And they are not ruthless enough to really strike.
Teachers by and large (me included) would accept current universal low pay before Seymore’s poisoned chalice of heaps of performance pay.
We need a new government with educational vision, or we need a more vicious way of striking that hurts the govt more than students and parents.
In the past, govt always caved in to teachers if the struggle went on a long time, and govt eventually realised that too many Boards of Trustees were starting to side with the teachers.
Instant general settlement at that point.
Another aspect totally ignored is the fact that many students in private or high performing secondary schools have been “privately coached” for the exams. This is typically ignored by those who promote results based performance pay.
This ability to ignore all the variables that cannot be controlled seems to be either irrational thinking or deliberate deceit which brings us to the real reason for performance pay- cost cutting and union busting.
Those who have achieved a position by climbing over the backs of others, instead of joining arms and supporting others along the journey are probably those who would be first into the life-raft ahead of others more needy. I guess I will never understand their view any more than they will understand mine.
So I haven’t commented for a long time so forgive me (life has been busy having babies, becoming self-employed etc). I’d also become so disillusioned with NZ politics. But my left-leaning views hadn’t changed in all that time, and finally I feel some hope for a Labour-Green government as a prospect in two weeks time.
Because of my passion, I started making comments on Facebook on Stuff and Spin-off articles again. Nothing rude, abusive or derogatory about the right. Just criticism of some of the dirty politics e.g. the made up “hole” this week. And I publicly gave Jacinda the win from the Town Hall debate because I think she wiped the floor with Bill and anyone who couldn’t see that was watching another debate!
Anyway, the point of my comment here is this. Suddenly, after making such public Facebook comments, Facebook suggests Wayne Eagleson to me as a friend. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’m a very sane person haha but I can’t help feeling creeped out that suddenly he pops up as a friend suggestion. We know NO ONE in common, I have nothing to do with him in my personal or professional life. As far as I understand how these “suggestions” work, he has popped up because he has been looking at my page?! And presumably because I criticised the Nats? Does anyone else find this creepy and insidiously Big Brother-like? I am furious.
Yes for sure, I’m under no illusions about Facebook! My fury arises from the fact that Wayne Eagleson is out there poking about on the pages of anyone who might be an “enemy” of the Nats! How dare he!?
Dollars to donuts it won’t be Wayne Eagleson out there poking about on the pages of anyone who might be an “enemy” of the Nats, it’ll be Facebook, operating as a hands-on partner in Nationals campaign.
Anyway, the point of my comment here is this. Suddenly, after making such public Facebook comments, Facebook suggests Wayne Eagleson to me as a friend.
At 2.30 in the video linked below, one of Trump’s digital managers explains how Google, Facebook and YouTube were the campaign’s hands-on partners, consulting directly with Cambridge Analytica to help get Donald Trump elected, because they were paid millions.
They are hacking our democracy as they hacked the British exciting I think that is a big mistake Britain leaving the European union British is held up as WORLD leaders and if they leave the union America will have a stronger influence on Britain and it won’t be good like I say I don’t believe in coincidence Britain needs to have a nother vote on that subject the European union needs to demand this to happen.
Facebook’s algorithms would have noticed your interest in NZ politics and have popped it up a a shared interest. If they don’t have much data on you then you can get some pretty wide choices.
Not dumb-enough machine issue to me. Get out of my face is the reaction I feel. I wondered why a well-known poster would show up as wanna-be-friend on my facebook other day. I didn’t know how it worked, and thought why would they want to friend me. So nosy machine is the answer, makes more sense.
The next NZ Govt may well be permitted to succeed.
BRICS reforming the UN,
US Fed reforming,
China flanking the slipping USD with moves in the cypto-currencies,
Scottish Govt investigating UBI,
lots of things adding up.
Joyce has always been the Master of Spin and the Dark Arts ?
Control of the media is a very powerful tool especially in political circles, Hitler & Goebbels did it very well in the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany prior to and during WW2 ?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Steve Braunias writes a charming piece with Jacinda on the Trail. Exhausting just reading about a long exciting day with Jacinda and reflects the amazing people response she gets.
eg: “The turnout for Jacinda Ardern at Waikato University was bigger than orientation day.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11919861
PS. Be interesting to contrast when Steve is to write about being with Bill.
Scotty Morrison is one of the good guys. Sadly a bit of an exception amongst the other Morrisons I have met (3l), who behave a little self entitled and” royal” .
Let me answer my own question. No, he should not. Gareth Morgan should have taken his place. The law was made with good intention, but on this occasion the law turned out once again to be an ass.
Not in this case, but otherwise I agree. (Gareth could not buy his way in here.)
However, it is not only Morgan’s wealth that gives him appeal – a number of naïve people are really impressed with his ideas. Whoops – did I say something bad then?
Interesting for those who love the mountains and bush and wonder what the political parties are saying
“Federated Mountain Clubs is the national association of tramping, climbing and outdoor clubs, with over 20000 members. We’ve been going (and growing) since 1931, and have always been politically neutral.
We’ve got a few questions for you, as conservation spokesperson for your party. We want to know if you have policies that will protect and enhance our Outdoors and if your party will speak up for an outdoor life worth living.”
The Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has called on Aung San Suu Kyi to end military-led operations against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, which have driven 270,000 refugees from the country in the past fortnight.
The 85-year old archbishop said the “unfolding horror” and “ethnic cleansing” in the country’s Rahkine region had forced him to speak out against the woman he admired and considered “a dearly beloved sister”.
Despite Aung San Suu Kyi defending her government’s handling of the growing crisis, Tutu urged his fellow Nobel peace price winner to intervene.
“I am now elderly, decrepit and formally retired, but breaking my vow to remain silent on public affairs out of profound sadness,” he wrote in a letter posted on social media.
and this which sums it up
“It is incongruous for a symbol of righteousness to lead such a country,” said the anti-apartheid activist. “If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep.”
Just speculation, but I should imagine the military in Myanmar, after God knows how many years as a military dictatorship, is still the most powerful force in the country – and may well be beyond Aung San Suu Kyi’s control.
and may well be beyond Aung San Suu Kyi’s control.
She’s a fucking cheer leader.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi left even her most ardent supporters shocked when she lost her composure after being challenged by BBC presenter Mishal Husain on the massacres of Muslims in Myanmar.
The Burmese politician was left ruffled as she was repeatedly asked by Husain to condemn anti-Islamic sentiment during an interview on the Today programme. “I think there are many, many Buddhists who have also left the country for various reasons,” she replied after being pressed for an answer. “This is a result of our sufferings under a dictatorial regime.”
She was later heard complaining off-air: “No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim.”
A little piece of trivia for the weekend, and for all cycling enthusiasts.
“Pod racing: human-powered speed
Like a scene from “Star Wars”, a sleek white capsule zips across the scorching Nevada desert. But there are no rocket boosters here. The bullet-like vessels that will hurtle down State Route 305 next week at velocities of up to 145km (90 miles) per hour are driven entirely by pumping legs and arms. This will be the 18th edition of the annual World Human-Powered Speed Challenge, a competition for bicycles, tricycles and tandems. Most riders pedal in a recumbent position, accelerating for 8km before reaching a speed trap of 200m. This is no contest for crackpot tinkerers. Graeme Obree, twice holder of cycling’s prestigious hour-distance record, competed in 2013. The current mark for the fastest human vehicle was set last year by Google-sponsored Todd Reichert, a speed skater with a PhD in aerospace engineering. If high-tech racing is your thing, then these are the ovoids you are looking for.”
I think these people must have been training on the shared footpath along Oriental Bay in Wellington. This is about the speed cyclists travel there.
It is actually out of an Economist prepared e-mail I get each day.
Unless you are registered for it I don’t know where you would be able to see it.
Anyway the source is The Economist. I meant to cite it at the end but I missed it out I’m afraid.
Citations don’t have to be linkable to on the internet. They just need to cite who the author is and where the quote is from. e.g. someone could type out a paragraph from a book, and provide the author and name of the book. Cite is a formal word, really I’m just saying to say where the quote came from, as respect for the person who wrote it and so readers have a bit of context.
Now these people harassing me just don’t get it. I take there attack on me and my credibility as a attack on my FAMILY one mite say your nest is empty and they be right.
The way I interact with my family is I give them the advice I think they need sometimes they take my advice most times they don’t and then most times they don’t take my advice the come to me and say I should have taken your advice so I let my children make there minor mistakes and I DON’T make a big deal of there choices as most people learn by there mistakes.
But when I see or hear that they are going to do STUPID SHIT I put my foot down and I make a big deal about a situation were they are going to make a big mistake and they listen to there dad.
So I’m the head of a my family of 20 my wife children there partners and children our moko.
Now as I have just seen on the Nation on the state cover up of child abuse while in the care of state was covered up.WTF.
That is mentality of western state civil servants it is to cover up all the fuck ups they make at all cost this behaviour was displayed on the Nation and this behaviour is not Acceptable behaviour for the people who actually run our country or our WORLD these people need to be held accountable for there bad behavior or that bad behavior will continue to rot OUR SOCIETY.
I have made challenges to these civil servants and the national party and the Intimidation stepped up more so I’m raffling a lot of big wig in our civil servants.
Now these people are saying you can’t let this criminal no that he has a big following and keep making bull shit up to support there claims Now I’m not criminal because you no if they had anything but gossip and lies with the attention the state is giving me I would be locked up quick smart to silence me.
They are saying we won’t let him no what he has achieved because he is going to hit us on the head with this power.
I say help me correct these people bad behavior because they are the people whom have our future in there hands and we can not afford to let them fuck up our children future.
A commission of inquiry is in my view lets stall this and when the waters are calm they will say no one is at fault.
The way National is behaving is a direct result of the civil servants bad culture of never admit liability to anything at all cost .
And this is the reason that I’m sceptical of Labour being able to change things because these civil servants will lie and cheat Jacainda to keep thing the same and our country World will never be able to right the wrongs if these people are not put in line.
This behavior of our civil servants is why some MPs think they are above the law because they witness this behaviour by civil servants all the time you see all behavior is learned off other people.
Pike River is a cover up of some ones fuck up they don’t give a shit who they hurt so long as there image is all nice and clean. The police force have the same cover there ass culture come on people’s we need to fight this shit.
I have just been reading, on the Liberation website, Bryce Edwards’ affidavit regarding TOP´s exclusion from the minor parties’ debate. I was impressed by the strength of his arguments, and was surprised that the court went the way it did. I know the court needed to take into account TVNZ´s right to decide its own criteria, and I realise that TOP did not meet those criteria, but I would have thought that the public interest in the election outcome would have overridden such narrow considerations.
They don’t want Gareth in government because he knows what is going on I seriously think of switching because of this farcical behavior from the courts Wtf
If TVNZ is legally entitled to its criteria and TOP dont meet that then everything else, however compelling is irrelevant. There is also the problem of polls not reflecting final result and 1+- 4.9% only electorally relevant if you win a seat, so how is TOP doing in electoral seat polls?
The polls are manipulate to suit the cause national mind set is if we lose this election we will rig things so whom gets in power won’t change things to much i.e. NXZZZZZFIrst Maori party. And national think they will win next election and THEY can carry on selling NZ to there M8s remember national are still pulling the strings.
And who has been in the beehive since 1984. Manipulating our politicians !!!!!!😊😊
Although TVNZ may be entitled to set its own criteria I think it has a legal duty, given that an election is a public institution, to ensure that the criteria it decides upon should be both reasonable and democratic. For three percent support to be required doesn´t seem reasonable for a new party, particularly given that many small parties, even those with seats in parliament rarely poll as much as two percent. Two percent is actually quite high for parties other than the big four.
“They continue to dismiss Maori issues as having no relevance or no importance – ‘Oh, it’s about the teachers Marama, we don’t have enough teachers.’ Well of course we have to make a plan but make a commitment first. If these people think having them MPs sitting in the Labour Party is the face they need to ensure they have better outcomes for Maori they are sadly mistaken,” Ms Fox says.
She says Kelvin Davis was made Labour’s deputy leader as a tokenistic gesture to capture the Maori vote, and she doubts he will stay in the role for long.
The Labour Māori MP’s must be wondering what is going to happen – best scenario for them – take all the seats then the MP can bugger off but Howie is in the lead and Hone may still come through. The mana of these MP’s is being tested and it is a fascinating contest.
“She says Kelvin Davis was made Labour’s deputy leader as a tokenistic gesture to capture the Maori vote, and she doubts he will stay in the role for long.”
I like Fox a lot, but I don’t find that credible tbh. As long as he does the job well, why would Labour replace him?
I’m not sure what’s at the bottom of the antagonism between the two parties (I can but guess).
But if the Mp had to choose between being in opposition to a N/Act/NZF govt and being in C and S with a L/G govt (or even in govt), why would they not choose the latter? And if Labour has to choose between being in govt with the Mp or not being able to form govt, why would they not choose the former?
I get disappointed when she does that stuff. I understand why, Labour have been stupid in all this too, but it’s still hard to see the point. The other night she had a poke at Shaw in the debate saying that at this rate they’re looking like they won’t make it back into parliament. Which was odd given her own position, and also just a stupid thing to say to a potential ally as an attack line. She’s been hanging out too long with Nact maybe.
Yep – she has a slightly heightened view of her own skills and abilities imo – and this is seen in her approach to Davis and Shaw and a few others. Very hard for Davis to shut her down – bit of auntie stuff and I’m not sure of their whakapapa but she may have better lines than him – I suspect so because of the way she is belittling him (undermining his mana). Will be up to Jacinda to sort out and she had better support her Labour MP’s (and I’m sure she will) because if not then it will get ugly imo.
Would that mean not giving Mp MPs ministerial roles at the expense of Labour MPs? Sounds fair enough in the first term, the Mp need to prove themselves good allies and the relationship needs time to be rebuilt.
I imagine if there is some arrangement with the MP and Labour then the MP are going to want something to show their supporters – ‘hey look we CAN work with both sides.’ Maybe associate this or that might work – if someone is in then someone is out and those equations are hard to calculate. Pleased it isn’t me doing it.
“she has a slightly heightened view of her own skills and abilities imo – and this is seen in her approach to Davis and Shaw and a few others. Very hard for Davis to shut her down – bit of auntie stuff and I’m not sure of their whakapapa but she may have better lines than him – I suspect so because of the way she is belittling him (undermining his mana). ”
Go read his comment at his first presser as Dep Leader about the MP. Substitue Auntie for whatever and change the pronouns.
This is a two way street and from where I sit Davis started it. Am sorry Fox has lowered herself.
That Davis started the fight with the MP. You seem to sheeting it to Fox with some borderline sexist rhetoric. I am reminding you that Davis was like a kid picking a fight cos he thought he was bigger at that first press conference. My thought at the time was “wtf would you do that for when it is about buikding bridges to bring down Nat/Act.
The fight was already going on before Davis did that. I agree it was an opportunity and I seem to remember Labour opening the door or at least unlocking it whereas Little had locked it and put a chair under the handle on their side.
I think both parties have handled it badly, but I don’t understand Māori politics very well so I am sure there things I am missing.
Well I’ve no idea where she said such a thing, but NZ Labour are currently barreling towards a F&S redux with their insistence that everyone (ie, the state) owns water.
The Green Party disagrees with them.
Mana disagrees with them.
TOPs disagrees with them.
The Maori Party disagrees with them.
They all agree that water belongs to Maori and that any process around water must be Maori led.
Depends how the legislation is couched. The proposed bill might assert ownership. Then again it might simply establish charges for commercial use and leave the question of ownership off the table.
Yes, and the state isn’t everyone, but I guess that takes us deeper into the question.
I don’t think NZ is able to have a conversation on this yet. The best we can do is try and protect water from neoliberalism, but let’s not pretend that making Māori use the Crown’s mechanisms in order to protect their rights is what should happen here. It’s a defensive action, not a proactive one, and it ignores nature rights and the possibility that we belong to the land rather than us owning it.
I would say we’re going to have a self-serving conversation (NZ). The fight is over resources and the only reason it’s being framed in terms of ‘ownership’ (as opposed to say kaitiakitanga) is because most NZers see the natural world as a bank of things to use. The Crown does too. We need to be careful in how we sure them, but ultimately nature is still a thing not a relation and therefore we are more comfortable exploiting it so long as we do so in ways that don’t make our own lives and ability to use the resources worse (would that we could even attain that standard).
Sure we can turn the question on its head, but socialism also tends to treat nature as a resource, which is why so many people just jumped from favouring voting Green to Labour (assuming the polls mean something).
We can protect water from neoliberalism to an extent which is exactly what Labour and even the Greens want to do. Or we can let water take neoliberalism down, but it’s a very rearguard action on nature’s part that will still result in a great deal of suffering and loss.
I don’t think it matters how the legislation is couched OAB. Whatever process or whatever legislation, actions or proposals around water should be informed by the Treaty and Maori led.
NZ Labour proposing or drafting legislation unilaterally, or with some token consultation thrown in as an afterthought, is pretty damned arrogant.
+ 100 one anonymous bloke that is a good view that we should all have we must not let the neo liberals banks influence the policy on water because if they do water will only benefit the 1 percent I seen that happen to our fisheries
Jacinda used the term Kaitiakitanga, Guardianship, as a concept of care.
I don’t know the details of Māoritanga well enough to comment on that, but this Pākehā rejects the notion that we are guardians of water.
We can guard our own livelihoods and preserve a future for our descendants by not destroying the world around us. The water will clean up after us regardless.
We don’t own the world. (To use a Capitalist metaphor) We aren’t its caregivers: we’re its property.
My (limited) understanding is that kaitiakitanga traditionally involved hapū responsibility for a rohe which included not over-using resources. But that this was relationships based and the relationship was not simply about resource management. It’s hard to talk about this without understanding other Māori concepts. Like that we belong to the land.
So we keep getting these translations of words (kaitiakitanga = guardianship) without adequately looking at the meaning in the wider understanding and cultural practices on all sides.
This is why I support compulsory te reo in schools. When we have a large number of NZers understanding the idea in language that they make sense in, then we might get somewhere.
In the meantime we will argue over ‘ownership’ because the selfish, greedy fucks got to set the agenda, for now anyway.
I would be surprised if Ardern was using the word kaitiakitanga outside of a Pākehā world view.
I don’t think that’s what Fox was referring to. Labour, including Davis, have already acknowledged that the deputy PM role might go to another party MP. That’s not the same as the second in command of the Labour Party though.
Fox was too aggressive, what I couldn’t believe, was what she said after saying the Greens might not make it, that if don’t think they’ll (Greens) make it, don’t waste your vote, vote for the Maori Party.
I don’t think that Fox would make a very good coalition partner after that performance.
Shaw was great, very positive summation at end, very polite, never butted in, unlike Seymore, who seems to think he’s the only politician there that matters, he’s so rude, and his opinions are so irrelevant, he’s talking to so few.
True, but Labour didn’t used to be good at relationship either, so there’s potential. I’ve seen Fox make good connections with the Greens and working with them, so I don’t know what was going on the other night. Daft.
Seymour is a disgrace and an embarrassment. In one of the earlier debates I thought he was quite good in terms of debating, but the other night he was rude, aggressive, and showed himself to be an arsehole (and that’s not even getting to his politics but I’m sure it’s related).
Peters’ no show was odd. Like he’s afraid of something (I’d guess Shaw pointing out the problem with NZF being a potential coalition partner for National. So glad that one is finally biting NZF on the bum).
@ NewsFlash (17.1.5) … I guess Peters doesn’t consider himself to be leader of a minor party! Not a good look and considering he does have a support base, he’s showing disrespect to them by not putting in an appearance. He was a no show at another debate, if my memory serves me right.
Marama Fox comes across to me as someone who has quite a nasty streak when she feels so inclined. Not sure I could trust her word in a coalition arrangement.
Odd comment there Anne, the Māori Party have no track record of not keeping their word. Indeed one of the few parties which have listened too, then followed the wishes of their constituents as well.
So I’m guessing your personal take is you dislike Marama Fox, which perfectly OK by the way. But odd, as you are one of the people pushing for a change of government are you not?
I neither like nor dislike her because I don’t know her. It is nothing more than an observation. Funnily enough I nearly added that Tariana Turia who felt deeply betrayed by Labour, never used spite as a weapon against them.
Dunno much about Fox, but Davis has made a few bad steps since becoming deputy leader. Not being on point with policy, being combative in interviews, that sort of thing. If he doesn’t play catch-up he might get kicked down a notch in a year or so.
I watched the Aljazeera doco on NZ water quality,and if only half of it was true it still marks our descent into some kind of banana republic state.It is well worth 25 minutes of your time and there is more to come in the second segment .I must admit that the general stupidity of the whole plan was made a pleasure to view by the main protagonist looking and behaving like Boss Hog from the Dukes of Hazzard!
“The Crown has corrected a historic wrong dating to 1916 by pardoning Rua Kenana, Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.
The Tuhoe prophet and leader, sometimes known as Ruatapunu, was arrested in 1916 during a raid in which his son was killed.
The agreement was signed by descendants of Kenana and representatives of the Crown at Maungapohatu Marae on Saturday morning.”
100 years – I hope some of the pain is now eased.
“The statutory pardon will not be official until Parliament passes specific legislation, at which point it will only be the fourth arising from Crown/Maori relations”
English: “”What they are doing there are building on their past to link the city to the future in a way that will be strongly symbolic for the whole country as well as the city of Christchurch.”
It sure is strongly symbolic. The National Government have denied Christchurch democracy and interfered in its decision making for years. They don’t want to move NZ or Christchurch into a future that offers a decent life for all people in Christchurch or anywhere , can spend vast millions on vanity projects around NZ now Christchurch, and now want to build another highway – to heaven.
If they think that will fast track them upwards to join the angelic chorus, think again the duplicitous oiks.
It’s the best that could be expected from a government that lacks the vision to create something of comparable cultural and aesthetic value for the space. The wisdom of rebuilding stone structures, however reinforced, in earthquake zones is fairly shaky – not nearly as shaky as Bill’s recipe for economic growth of course.
Hundertwasser would’ve solved the problem economically with a structure fit for the 21st century. The Gnats are simply too backward to even consider his kind of solution.
It turns out that this one is more symbolic than all the other “keystone projects” they’ve made such a shambles of. If they actually had had any vision this would’ve been the place to show it – the Church was by no means sure it wanted to rebuild.
it wasn’t their decision to make…..and there was further court action in the offing….Im actually surprised the Church didn’t offload the problem to the Gov by taking the gifting option.
What they were not committing to was cutting the National’s the punitive Beneficiary process. What the panel wanted was “demolish” the terrible means and manner of the system which intimidates and frightens those in need. But Labour wants to carefully assess just which bits to reform. A blanket promise would cause more harm that good.
Lord almighty… But maybe like Lockwood-Smith, Trevor will surprisingly surpass his previous efforts. ?
Both were questionable as Ministers of Education.
FFS. Natz released a video outlining the life of Bill English! Not only is his wife Mary seen ringing her husband’s praises, but also Bennett, the holy man Joyce and Nikki Kaye.
As to be expected, the Great Fraud himself has been rolled out to give his endorsement of his former deputy!
This sideshow puts me in mind of a poor infomercial praising the wonders of a cheap nasty bowel cleanse product!
With each passing day now, it seems to me Bennett is taking up more and more of the screen, horizontally that is! And this video is definitely demonstrating this point!
Natz getting really desperate now with this lot of old cobblers!
I tried to be openminded about Bill’s promotional video mary, but though it is smoothly produced it is full of platitudes which could apply to anyone. Hard to watch to the end and I couldn’t help remembering the blatant lies that English and Joyce and Bennett told re a certain hole. Why believe anything they say.
Now those civil servants would have shit there pants when they heard my humane ideas of using rewards instead of prison.
They say this Idiot wants to give gang money to stay out of jail or trouble .
Well no that is STUPID one does not reward bad behavior and being in a gang is bad behavior in my view. I Have seen what a jail does to someone he goes for the first time gets 18 months comes put of prison all pumped up because all they got to do in there is pump iron.
He gets out act like he is bulletproof and his behavior is 10x worst than he went in those old buggers in prison con them to join there gang and make them run for them when they get out.
Now the reward good behavior will kill 3 birds with one stone
1 no gangs qualifies so this will erode the gangs base.
2 this will stop people on minor charges will not go to jail and join a gang
3 this will lower our jail population and produce some good citizens and workers it could be training subsidies and employee incentive spend early to save common people
“You cannot take away someone’s story without giving them a new one. It is not enough to challenge an old narrative, however outdated and discredited it may be. Change happens only when you replace one story with another. When we develop the right story, and learn how to tell it, it will infect the minds of people across the political spectrum.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/09/george-monbiot-how-de-we-get-out-of-this-mess
it is worth noting that Monbiot uses the word ‘story’…..not ‘policy.’
For most people when they get a belief about something, it sticks even if contrary evidence should shift them. It takes a willingness to open the mind and look for adjustments. It is probably why intelligent well educated people are looking for solutions to problems where as those less educated tend to hang on to previous conceptions. Probably why people who support Greens and Labour are better educated but the others are conservative and narrow minded.
Fair enough and although I’ve been lambasted here for explaining my metaphors I will explain this one too.
Neoliberalism changed the thinking (attitudes) and actions of a whole generation and this is the “story” that Monbiot was referring to, which I labelled “climate”. Policies are the short-term manifestations of that overarching ‘story’, which I called “weather”. See https://thestandard.org.nz/labours-climate-change-policy-nuclear-free-moment/#comment-1380619 for the climate & weather metaphors.
To take the metaphors one step further, both neoliberalism and CC/AGC are caused by humans and have a ‘human’ solution, i.e. they can be stopped or changed and the outcome can be influenced or altered. This is the important message for both these problems.
“When we encounter a complex issue and try to understand it, what we look for is not consistent and reliable facts but a consistent and comprehensible story. When we ask ourselves whether something “makes sense”, the “sense” we seek is not rationality, as scientists and philosophers perceive it, but narrative fidelity. Does what we are hearing reflect the way we expect humans and the world to behave? Does it hang together? Does it progress as stories should progress?
A string of facts, however well attested, will not correct or dislodge a powerful story. The only response it is likely to provoke is indignation: people often angrily deny facts that clash with the narrative “truth” established in their minds. The only thing that can displace a story is a story. Those who tell the stories run the world.”
The one story flows into the next; there are connections (e.g. flash-backs) and repeated themes and characters. No story comes from absolutely nothing; they build on and with existing material.
We are the creators, story-tellers, and the readers/listeners all at the same time. We write these stories by and for ourselves, metaphorically speaking. Each individual has a role to play in the bigger story and ads his/her own unique part to the overall. For all and the one.
I Mac man +100 that is the reason why the neo liberals don’t want our people educate so our people won’t be able to challenge the neo liberals state.This is the reason they stopped free education for all.
Uneducated people are easier to lie to.!!!!!,
I believe that most of the civil servants that run our country and World are neo liberals who don’t no how to come out of there glass bubbles and see the our real world.!!!!
Not sure if this has been posted, but the nick smith sculpture drew a crowd next to nicks caravan at the nelson markets today, and it’s coming to Mot for our sunday market tomorrow. That should always happen. Massive thanks Sam Mahon, epic effort.
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
We get but one birthday a year – why not make it last as long as possible by scheduling as many meals with friends and family as you can? This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you celebrate at ...
A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
Hospitals around the country are not allowed to make a single hiring decision without the approval of Te Whatu Ora's head office, including for cleaners and administration staff. ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
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Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Guess who just sold his Parnell pile to a buyer in China for 20 million?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11919697
My guess was correct. Off to Hawaii , then?
And maybe why he had no desire to deflate the Auckland housing market through government policy?
He kept a part of the land and will have a new smaller house built.
@ ScottGN (1) … Yep, the great fraud still flaunting his obscene wealth!
It passed National’s ‘bright-line test’ then, didn’t it?
Why was it headline news in the Herald? Kind of a na-na-na-na at English?
GOOD TEACHER, BAD TEACHER (THE PERSISTENT MYTH)
Dave’s students gain grades well above the national average. He focuses on the curriculum and how best to deliver the syllabus according to approved didactic theory. His eye is on assessment dates, the next ERO audit and his tracking milestones leading up to the end of year exams. He knows he can get the best grades out of his students by sticking to his plan, allowing minimum discussion outside of the main themes and by grooming his students for assessment. He feeds them a regular stream of past question papers with model answers. He gives his students feedback, rewarding them with praise when their answers align with conformity. His students know class-time with him is predictable, structured, and achievement orientated. Dave was pleased to receive a letter from the Ministry:
Dear David Jones
Congratulations on the excellent grades achieved by your NCEA students. You have demonstrated the high ideals demanded of your profession and it is our pleasure to inform you of a $20 000 bonus payable to you under our performance-based pay scales. Our assessors have identified you as an ‘expert teacher’ and would like to invite you to lead a series of seminars imparting tips and strategies to those struggling in the profession. We will be in touch with you early next year.
Yours sincerely
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
The grades of Sarah’s students approximate the national average. She focuses on the educational needs of young hearts and minds in her care and understands that the subject matter is not always of prime interest to a teenager. Accordingly she brings enrichment to her lessons and is delighted when greater numbers begin active participation. She encourages enquiry, independent thought and risk-taking. Her eye is not so much on grades in relation to national averages but on the number of shy, hesitant or poorly motivated students, who during the course of the year have ‘ah ha’ moments and begin to take ownership of their own education. Sarah’s students know class-time with her is an opportunity to explore thought processes, savour the subject matter and look more deeply into themselves as maturing human beings. Sarah received a letter from her school’s Board of Trustees.
Dear Sarah Thompson
Once again we note the grades attained by your NCEA students are barely above the national average. We would urge you to make a greater effort next year by embracing methods currently identified as best practice. We remind you too that the Ministry offers remunerative incentives for better performance. To this end we urge you to attend next year’s seminars conducted by an expert teacher from the Department.
Yours sincerely
CHAIRMAN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES)
Brilliant Ant. Yet that idiot Seymour cannot see that money damages authenticity.
A few years ago Auckland Grammar claimed a high pass rate based on exactly your David Jones. Practice exam passing and practice again. It is why AG want to stay with exams like Lauriette.
A few years ago the private college in Parnell had high fails in Cambridge. With no NCEA many of the students left and had to do 6 months foundation courses at Uni to get into Uni. But not made public cos they do not have to publish results. Needless to say many parents were ropable.
Seymour from memory said no other “business” when referring to paying teachers well… It was galling to watch a guy representing 0.4% of the electorate getting so much air time…
0.3
The pressure to conform often masquerading as ‘well-meant’ professional advice.
Excellent Ant – I was a couple of days ago trying to explain my wee rant on my Facebook page about David Seymours piece to my son, who incidentally went to Auckland Grammar, back in the day and his son also attends AG, not without more than a few problems at the beginning of the year. He cannot see the reasoning behind the collective agreement, and not simply applying performance pay for such teachers such as ‘Dave’, who fits the criteria of (only) results based teaching. I struggled to articulate my feelings about my misgivings about such methodology or pedagogy and like a lot of employers he sheets most of the blame to the unions, for simply doing their job.
national are just using there divided and conquer technic so they can force any policies on teachers Jolly bee these people are control freaks and Don’t like the teachers unity putting them in there places they just want to privatise our schools and give a shit service.
Performance Pay is based on the belief that if you give people more money they will perform better. For jobs that depend on colleagues to cooperate, extra pay for extra work doesn’t work.
How about Performance Pay for MPs? Someone would get to choose which MP is better than another and since a Party depends on a tight togetherness, there would be bad feelings among those who do not get chosen.
“I’m damned if I am going to let that bastard pinch my ideas so I will not share and my staff will be bound to silence.”
“And what if the Minister of Finance lets us all down with an idiotic lie about fiscal errors which don’t exist? Leaves all in our Party looking dishonest and stupid. Should his pay be docked by 50% like we would do to a common beneficiary? ”
And in the ACT Party who would decide on his competence? Seymour has a huge belief in himself so would award a huge bonus.
A huge number of workers work hard out of a belief and pleasure in what they do. Money is not the main driver and P Pay is an insult.
Well said Ianmac. But in my experience many people from the ‘world of business’ are devoted to their latest theory, and believe it will succeed everywhere if only people would apply their theory correctly. They do not countenance any basic flaw in their beloved theory. (Maybe because of self-interest?)
“A huge number of workers work hard out of a belief and pleasure in what they do. Money is not the main driver and P Pay is an insult.”
This performance pay malarkey has two main errors which people who come from outside the teaching/carer industries do not often understand. You are right, Ianmac in pointing out the tremendous cooperation and the reason why we teachers did as we did, to benefit kids.
It wasn’t the money. What I remember from my association with teaching over forty years are firstly the students, then the staff, then the good teaching and real changes to people that sometimes occurred.
Funnily I don’t remember the salary that well. But when I was a farm and industrial worker, wages and conditions were the main driver for my effort. I can still tell you the rates from forty to fifty years ago. $1 an hour plus overtime at time and a half for the first four hours and double time thereafter as a cleaner the Sixties and then $125 pw plus half a sheep, firewood and free accommodation as a farm worker in the late Seventies.
If an employee is unhappy and you pay tgem more you get a better paid unhappy employee
Hmmm.. perhaps.
I am unhappy largely because of poor pay.
I am in hospitality in a busy kitchen.
I have suggested a non taxable travel allowance, profit share and a simple pay increase.
All not doable.
I am merely seeking the living wage for a fully qualified, 20 years experience chef.
This is why I resent talk of ‘the average wage’. It is so far beyond me and my colleagues
I am not referring to those poorly paid and in low wage jobs. I am referring to the Seymour/National notion that more money makes everyone happier.
Research sjows when employees feel unvalued, bullied and/or mistrustful then paying them more makes them better paid under valued, bullied and mistrustful employees. Not more productive.
Pay rises are nice but almost never solve the underlying problem which is lack of respect and value.
Hey fair call.
I have heard and have some empathy with: you can’t pay bad employees poorly enough,and you can’t pay good employees well enough.
+1 mac1.
But this is one of the reasons that teachers are underpaid. Despite the ranting of rightie rednecks about how powerful the teacher unions are, teachers will not actually do more than a token one-day strike during pay negotiations. They get exploited because right-wing greedies say that they enjoy their ‘vocation’ so much that they are not seeking high pay. And they are not ruthless enough to really strike.
Teachers by and large (me included) would accept current universal low pay before Seymore’s poisoned chalice of heaps of performance pay.
We need a new government with educational vision, or we need a more vicious way of striking that hurts the govt more than students and parents.
In the past, govt always caved in to teachers if the struggle went on a long time, and govt eventually realised that too many Boards of Trustees were starting to side with the teachers.
Instant general settlement at that point.
+100 imacmam
Performance pay only works for mechanical labour (physical work, basically), and is counterproductive for anything else – studies clearly show this.
Another aspect totally ignored is the fact that many students in private or high performing secondary schools have been “privately coached” for the exams. This is typically ignored by those who promote results based performance pay.
This ability to ignore all the variables that cannot be controlled seems to be either irrational thinking or deliberate deceit which brings us to the real reason for performance pay- cost cutting and union busting.
Those who have achieved a position by climbing over the backs of others, instead of joining arms and supporting others along the journey are probably those who would be first into the life-raft ahead of others more needy. I guess I will never understand their view any more than they will understand mine.
+1
Yes @ tutors
So I haven’t commented for a long time so forgive me (life has been busy having babies, becoming self-employed etc). I’d also become so disillusioned with NZ politics. But my left-leaning views hadn’t changed in all that time, and finally I feel some hope for a Labour-Green government as a prospect in two weeks time.
Because of my passion, I started making comments on Facebook on Stuff and Spin-off articles again. Nothing rude, abusive or derogatory about the right. Just criticism of some of the dirty politics e.g. the made up “hole” this week. And I publicly gave Jacinda the win from the Town Hall debate because I think she wiped the floor with Bill and anyone who couldn’t see that was watching another debate!
Anyway, the point of my comment here is this. Suddenly, after making such public Facebook comments, Facebook suggests Wayne Eagleson to me as a friend. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’m a very sane person haha but I can’t help feeling creeped out that suddenly he pops up as a friend suggestion. We know NO ONE in common, I have nothing to do with him in my personal or professional life. As far as I understand how these “suggestions” work, he has popped up because he has been looking at my page?! And presumably because I criticised the Nats? Does anyone else find this creepy and insidiously Big Brother-like? I am furious.
Hi frida, the important thing to remember about Facebook is;
you are not the customer, you are the product/commodity.
Yes for sure, I’m under no illusions about Facebook! My fury arises from the fact that Wayne Eagleson is out there poking about on the pages of anyone who might be an “enemy” of the Nats! How dare he!?
Dollars to donuts it won’t be Wayne Eagleson out there poking about on the pages of anyone who might be an “enemy” of the Nats, it’ll be Facebook, operating as a hands-on partner in Nationals campaign.
@joe90 – aha, got it, cheers. Well, I find that equally as abhorrent.
@ Frida (3) … That’s invasive as well as creepy! A form of subtle intimidation as well … ‘we are watching you’, sort of thing!
@mary_a – exactly!! That’s what I thought. and the sort of action that would be so easy to deny by him.
At 2.30 in the video linked below, one of Trump’s digital managers explains how Google, Facebook and YouTube were the campaign’s hands-on partners, consulting directly with Cambridge Analytica to help get Donald Trump elected, because they were paid millions.
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/905569823777796096
saw a good one the other day – someone posted
“Do you ever feel like your being watched” and then the next comment was
“It is you’re not your” from CIA (with logos and stuff) posted ‘just now’
could be fake and was funny.
I like that. I would almost be tempted to make up a CIA logo to be able to do it..
They are hacking our democracy as they hacked the British exciting I think that is a big mistake Britain leaving the European union British is held up as WORLD leaders and if they leave the union America will have a stronger influence on Britain and it won’t be good like I say I don’t believe in coincidence Britain needs to have a nother vote on that subject the European union needs to demand this to happen.
Facebook’s algorithms would have noticed your interest in NZ politics and have popped it up a a shared interest. If they don’t have much data on you then you can get some pretty wide choices.
Most likely a dumb machine issue.
Not dumb-enough machine issue to me. Get out of my face is the reaction I feel. I wondered why a well-known poster would show up as wanna-be-friend on my facebook other day. I didn’t know how it worked, and thought why would they want to friend me. So nosy machine is the answer, makes more sense.
Seems the world is turning the corner.
The next NZ Govt may well be permitted to succeed.
BRICS reforming the UN,
US Fed reforming,
China flanking the slipping USD with moves in the cypto-currencies,
Scottish Govt investigating UBI,
lots of things adding up.
Bring on the Spring.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/universal-basic-income-scotland-week-cash-payment-life-nicola-sturgeon-first-minister-snp-a7934131.html
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-06/fed-vice-chairman-stan-fischer-resigns-personal-reasons
http://us.pressfrom.com/news/world/-80485-brics-countries-urge-un-reform-cooperation-on-terrorism/
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/amp/english/opinion/John-Pilger-Discusses-US-Threats-Against-North-Korea-20170907-0007.html
http://theduran.com/oil-rich-venezuela-abandoning-us-petrodollar-plans-introduce-new-international-payment-system/
The Cryptocurrency Market https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q7NzgdEtvc
Joyce has always been the Master of Spin and the Dark Arts ?
Control of the media is a very powerful tool especially in political circles, Hitler & Goebbels did it very well in the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany prior to and during WW2 ?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
One comment and you’re invoking Godwin law?
Steve Braunias writes a charming piece with Jacinda on the Trail. Exhausting just reading about a long exciting day with Jacinda and reflects the amazing people response she gets.
eg: “The turnout for Jacinda Ardern at Waikato University was bigger than orientation day.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11919861
PS. Be interesting to contrast when Steve is to write about being with Bill.
Scotty Morrison gives the Green’s candidate Jack McDonald a good endorsement (from 25.30 in the clip linked below).
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/marae/episodes/s2017-e27
Scotty Morrison is one of the good guys. Sadly a bit of an exception amongst the other Morrisons I have met (3l), who behave a little self entitled and” royal” .
“Scotty Morrison is one of the good guys”
Yes, so is Jack McDonald.
Damien Light. Articulate fast speaking United Future spokesman.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/damian-light-speed-dating-new-face-united-future-unexpected-hit-1-news-minor-parties-debate
I thought he did darn well for a newbie on last nights debate.
But should he have even been there? UF is obviously gone.
Let me answer my own question. No, he should not. Gareth Morgan should have taken his place. The law was made with good intention, but on this occasion the law turned out once again to be an ass.
The law is also an ass in allowing rich men to try to buy political power.
Not in this case, but otherwise I agree. (Gareth could not buy his way in here.)
However, it is not only Morgan’s wealth that gives him appeal – a number of naïve people are really impressed with his ideas. Whoops – did I say something bad then?
Interesting for those who love the mountains and bush and wonder what the political parties are saying
“Federated Mountain Clubs is the national association of tramping, climbing and outdoor clubs, with over 20000 members. We’ve been going (and growing) since 1931, and have always been politically neutral.
We’ve got a few questions for you, as conservation spokesperson for your party. We want to know if you have policies that will protect and enhance our Outdoors and if your party will speak up for an outdoor life worth living.”
https://wilderlife.nz/2017/08/political-parties-say/
Well said Desmond Tutu
and this which sums it up
“It is incongruous for a symbol of righteousness to lead such a country,” said the anti-apartheid activist. “If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/08/desmond-tutu-condemns-aung-san-suu-kyi-price-of-your-silence-is-too-steep
Just speculation, but I should imagine the military in Myanmar, after God knows how many years as a military dictatorship, is still the most powerful force in the country – and may well be beyond Aung San Suu Kyi’s control.
yeah I’m sure there are many angles to it and it is not good enough for her to defend the atrocities cos they are ‘whatever’.
In 2017 this shit has to stop.
+100 Marty mars
She’s a fucking cheer leader.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi left even her most ardent supporters shocked when she lost her composure after being challenged by BBC presenter Mishal Husain on the massacres of Muslims in Myanmar.
The Burmese politician was left ruffled as she was repeatedly asked by Husain to condemn anti-Islamic sentiment during an interview on the Today programme. “I think there are many, many Buddhists who have also left the country for various reasons,” she replied after being pressed for an answer. “This is a result of our sufferings under a dictatorial regime.”
She was later heard complaining off-air: “No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim.”
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/aung-san-suu-kyi-no-one-told-me-i-was-going-be-interviewed-by-muslim-1551637
A little piece of trivia for the weekend, and for all cycling enthusiasts.
“Pod racing: human-powered speed
Like a scene from “Star Wars”, a sleek white capsule zips across the scorching Nevada desert. But there are no rocket boosters here. The bullet-like vessels that will hurtle down State Route 305 next week at velocities of up to 145km (90 miles) per hour are driven entirely by pumping legs and arms. This will be the 18th edition of the annual World Human-Powered Speed Challenge, a competition for bicycles, tricycles and tandems. Most riders pedal in a recumbent position, accelerating for 8km before reaching a speed trap of 200m. This is no contest for crackpot tinkerers. Graeme Obree, twice holder of cycling’s prestigious hour-distance record, competed in 2013. The current mark for the fastest human vehicle was set last year by Google-sponsored Todd Reichert, a speed skater with a PhD in aerospace engineering. If high-tech racing is your thing, then these are the ovoids you are looking for.”
I think these people must have been training on the shared footpath along Oriental Bay in Wellington. This is about the speed cyclists travel there.
If you’re going to quote someone, please cite.
It is actually out of an Economist prepared e-mail I get each day.
Unless you are registered for it I don’t know where you would be able to see it.
Anyway the source is The Economist. I meant to cite it at the end but I missed it out I’m afraid.
Citations don’t have to be linkable to on the internet. They just need to cite who the author is and where the quote is from. e.g. someone could type out a paragraph from a book, and provide the author and name of the book. Cite is a formal word, really I’m just saying to say where the quote came from, as respect for the person who wrote it and so readers have a bit of context.
I’d like to thank The Nation on TV3 for their effort in keeping poverty and institutional abuse front and centre.
Wow. I really trust you now.
lol
Now these people harassing me just don’t get it. I take there attack on me and my credibility as a attack on my FAMILY one mite say your nest is empty and they be right.
The way I interact with my family is I give them the advice I think they need sometimes they take my advice most times they don’t and then most times they don’t take my advice the come to me and say I should have taken your advice so I let my children make there minor mistakes and I DON’T make a big deal of there choices as most people learn by there mistakes.
But when I see or hear that they are going to do STUPID SHIT I put my foot down and I make a big deal about a situation were they are going to make a big mistake and they listen to there dad.
So I’m the head of a my family of 20 my wife children there partners and children our moko.
Now as I have just seen on the Nation on the state cover up of child abuse while in the care of state was covered up.WTF.
That is mentality of western state civil servants it is to cover up all the fuck ups they make at all cost this behaviour was displayed on the Nation and this behaviour is not Acceptable behaviour for the people who actually run our country or our WORLD these people need to be held accountable for there bad behavior or that bad behavior will continue to rot OUR SOCIETY.
I have made challenges to these civil servants and the national party and the Intimidation stepped up more so I’m raffling a lot of big wig in our civil servants.
Now these people are saying you can’t let this criminal no that he has a big following and keep making bull shit up to support there claims Now I’m not criminal because you no if they had anything but gossip and lies with the attention the state is giving me I would be locked up quick smart to silence me.
They are saying we won’t let him no what he has achieved because he is going to hit us on the head with this power.
I say help me correct these people bad behavior because they are the people whom have our future in there hands and we can not afford to let them fuck up our children future.
A commission of inquiry is in my view lets stall this and when the waters are calm they will say no one is at fault.
The way National is behaving is a direct result of the civil servants bad culture of never admit liability to anything at all cost .
And this is the reason that I’m sceptical of Labour being able to change things because these civil servants will lie and cheat Jacainda to keep thing the same and our country World will never be able to right the wrongs if these people are not put in line.
This behavior of our civil servants is why some MPs think they are above the law because they witness this behaviour by civil servants all the time you see all behavior is learned off other people.
Bulls eye.
https://twitter.com/SamyStClair/status/906181500860850176
Pike River is a cover up of some ones fuck up they don’t give a shit who they hurt so long as there image is all nice and clean. The police force have the same cover there ass culture come on people’s we need to fight this shit.
I have just been reading, on the Liberation website, Bryce Edwards’ affidavit regarding TOP´s exclusion from the minor parties’ debate. I was impressed by the strength of his arguments, and was surprised that the court went the way it did. I know the court needed to take into account TVNZ´s right to decide its own criteria, and I realise that TOP did not meet those criteria, but I would have thought that the public interest in the election outcome would have overridden such narrow considerations.
They don’t want Gareth in government because he knows what is going on I seriously think of switching because of this farcical behavior from the courts Wtf
If TVNZ is legally entitled to its criteria and TOP dont meet that then everything else, however compelling is irrelevant. There is also the problem of polls not reflecting final result and 1+- 4.9% only electorally relevant if you win a seat, so how is TOP doing in electoral seat polls?
The polls are manipulate to suit the cause national mind set is if we lose this election we will rig things so whom gets in power won’t change things to much i.e. NXZZZZZFIrst Maori party. And national think they will win next election and THEY can carry on selling NZ to there M8s remember national are still pulling the strings.
And who has been in the beehive since 1984. Manipulating our politicians !!!!!!😊😊
Although TVNZ may be entitled to set its own criteria I think it has a legal duty, given that an election is a public institution, to ensure that the criteria it decides upon should be both reasonable and democratic. For three percent support to be required doesn´t seem reasonable for a new party, particularly given that many small parties, even those with seats in parliament rarely poll as much as two percent. Two percent is actually quite high for parties other than the big four.
ummm Labour and Māori Party – yeah nah
http://www.waateanews.com/waateanews/x_story_id/MTcyNDQ=/Fox%20blast%20for%20Labour%20Maori%20MPs
Will be interesting indeed.
The Labour Māori MP’s must be wondering what is going to happen – best scenario for them – take all the seats then the MP can bugger off but Howie is in the lead and Hone may still come through. The mana of these MP’s is being tested and it is a fascinating contest.
“She says Kelvin Davis was made Labour’s deputy leader as a tokenistic gesture to capture the Maori vote, and she doubts he will stay in the role for long.”
I like Fox a lot, but I don’t find that credible tbh. As long as he does the job well, why would Labour replace him?
I’m not sure what’s at the bottom of the antagonism between the two parties (I can but guess).
But if the Mp had to choose between being in opposition to a N/Act/NZF govt and being in C and S with a L/G govt (or even in govt), why would they not choose the latter? And if Labour has to choose between being in govt with the Mp or not being able to form govt, why would they not choose the former?
It is all positioning at the moment – puffy chests and loud voices. When the votes are counted is when the real action starts imo.
Interesting watching fox though – she is playing a dangerous game – she just isn’t that good, not as good as she thinks she is anyway imo.
I get disappointed when she does that stuff. I understand why, Labour have been stupid in all this too, but it’s still hard to see the point. The other night she had a poke at Shaw in the debate saying that at this rate they’re looking like they won’t make it back into parliament. Which was odd given her own position, and also just a stupid thing to say to a potential ally as an attack line. She’s been hanging out too long with Nact maybe.
Yep – she has a slightly heightened view of her own skills and abilities imo – and this is seen in her approach to Davis and Shaw and a few others. Very hard for Davis to shut her down – bit of auntie stuff and I’m not sure of their whakapapa but she may have better lines than him – I suspect so because of the way she is belittling him (undermining his mana). Will be up to Jacinda to sort out and she had better support her Labour MP’s (and I’m sure she will) because if not then it will get ugly imo.
Would that mean not giving Mp MPs ministerial roles at the expense of Labour MPs? Sounds fair enough in the first term, the Mp need to prove themselves good allies and the relationship needs time to be rebuilt.
I imagine if there is some arrangement with the MP and Labour then the MP are going to want something to show their supporters – ‘hey look we CAN work with both sides.’ Maybe associate this or that might work – if someone is in then someone is out and those equations are hard to calculate. Pleased it isn’t me doing it.
Have you forgotten Davis’ confrontational about MP comment the first time he opened his mouth as Dep Leader? Macho peeing on his patch stuff.
Not sure what you are trying to say there.
“she has a slightly heightened view of her own skills and abilities imo – and this is seen in her approach to Davis and Shaw and a few others. Very hard for Davis to shut her down – bit of auntie stuff and I’m not sure of their whakapapa but she may have better lines than him – I suspect so because of the way she is belittling him (undermining his mana). ”
Go read his comment at his first presser as Dep Leader about the MP. Substitue Auntie for whatever and change the pronouns.
This is a two way street and from where I sit Davis started it. Am sorry Fox has lowered herself.
Deleted
I was offering a Māori lens in the specific situation.
That Davis started the fight with the MP. You seem to sheeting it to Fox with some borderline sexist rhetoric. I am reminding you that Davis was like a kid picking a fight cos he thought he was bigger at that first press conference. My thought at the time was “wtf would you do that for when it is about buikding bridges to bring down Nat/Act.
Yeah it’s obvious to me that you don’t get what I’m saying. All good – i’m not interested in continuing the discussion with you on this thanks.
The fight was already going on before Davis did that. I agree it was an opportunity and I seem to remember Labour opening the door or at least unlocking it whereas Little had locked it and put a chair under the handle on their side.
I think both parties have handled it badly, but I don’t understand Māori politics very well so I am sure there things I am missing.
Bad behaviour on both sides I think. It predates Davis too. Little’s thing about the Mp not being kaupapa Māori, that’s inexcusable.
I just had a WTF moment at that presser with Ardern when Davis’ first words were to goad the MP. A fresh leadership was a chance to build a bridge
+100 Weka well they are fight each other they should be fighting national in my view that is a better strategy to benefit our people
The antagonism was Helen Clark,and who is unrepentant for her racist response to orewa.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/330148/helen-clark-no-regrets-over-foreshore-and-seabed
Needs to be put back in the box with the lid firmly nailed down.
Sure, and when Turia was still leading the party it made sense. But this antagonism looks more recent (although I’m sure the history is part of it).
btw, Ardern said recently that she wouldn’t have done what Clark did re the F and S.
Well I’ve no idea where she said such a thing, but NZ Labour are currently barreling towards a F&S redux with their insistence that everyone (ie, the state) owns water.
The Green Party disagrees with them.
Mana disagrees with them.
TOPs disagrees with them.
The Maori Party disagrees with them.
They all agree that water belongs to Maori and that any process around water must be Maori led.
ie, the state
Depends how the legislation is couched. The proposed bill might assert ownership. Then again it might simply establish charges for commercial use and leave the question of ownership off the table.
Yes, and the state isn’t everyone, but I guess that takes us deeper into the question.
I don’t think NZ is able to have a conversation on this yet. The best we can do is try and protect water from neoliberalism, but let’s not pretend that making Māori use the Crown’s mechanisms in order to protect their rights is what should happen here. It’s a defensive action, not a proactive one, and it ignores nature rights and the possibility that we belong to the land rather than us owning it.
@Weka, we can’t protect water from Neoliberalism; water doesn’t need protection: we do.
Turn the question on it’s head: should we protect Neoliberalism from water, or does Houston (and by extension everywhere else) need Socialism?
The conversation is going to happen whether or not we’re ready for it.
I would say we’re going to have a self-serving conversation (NZ). The fight is over resources and the only reason it’s being framed in terms of ‘ownership’ (as opposed to say kaitiakitanga) is because most NZers see the natural world as a bank of things to use. The Crown does too. We need to be careful in how we sure them, but ultimately nature is still a thing not a relation and therefore we are more comfortable exploiting it so long as we do so in ways that don’t make our own lives and ability to use the resources worse (would that we could even attain that standard).
Sure we can turn the question on its head, but socialism also tends to treat nature as a resource, which is why so many people just jumped from favouring voting Green to Labour (assuming the polls mean something).
We can protect water from neoliberalism to an extent which is exactly what Labour and even the Greens want to do. Or we can let water take neoliberalism down, but it’s a very rearguard action on nature’s part that will still result in a great deal of suffering and loss.
Of course it’s a rearguard action: this is (slowly, casually, relentlessly) turning into a rout.
Useful philosophies will survive. Neoliberalism, not so much.
I don’t think it matters how the legislation is couched OAB. Whatever process or whatever legislation, actions or proposals around water should be informed by the Treaty and Maori led.
NZ Labour proposing or drafting legislation unilaterally, or with some token consultation thrown in as an afterthought, is pretty damned arrogant.
Nothing I said precludes any of that.
And yeah, one good reason for upholding te tiriti is the way it affects how legislation is couched, whether you think it matters or not.
Edit: my personal position is that water owns us: none of us would be here without it. That’s one reason we’re all “stakeholders”.
+ 100 one anonymous bloke that is a good view that we should all have we must not let the neo liberals banks influence the policy on water because if they do water will only benefit the 1 percent I seen that happen to our fisheries
Stewards billie, not owners.
Not even that: water created us. It won’t care one jot if we squander that gift. It’ll just go on creating, preserving and changing everything.
Jacinda used the term Kaitiakitanga, Guardianship, as a concept of care.
This was never advanced in the S/F debate sadly.
However, Jacinda and her younger members of Labour understand this term and the intent. Awa. Care.
Andrew Little’s comment was in regard to money held and work not done to assist the poorest.
Jacinda used the term Kaitiakitanga, Guardianship, as a concept of care.
I don’t know the details of Māoritanga well enough to comment on that, but this Pākehā rejects the notion that we are guardians of water.
We can guard our own livelihoods and preserve a future for our descendants by not destroying the world around us. The water will clean up after us regardless.
We don’t own the world. (To use a Capitalist metaphor) We aren’t its caregivers: we’re its property.
My (limited) understanding is that kaitiakitanga traditionally involved hapū responsibility for a rohe which included not over-using resources. But that this was relationships based and the relationship was not simply about resource management. It’s hard to talk about this without understanding other Māori concepts. Like that we belong to the land.
So we keep getting these translations of words (kaitiakitanga = guardianship) without adequately looking at the meaning in the wider understanding and cultural practices on all sides.
This is why I support compulsory te reo in schools. When we have a large number of NZers understanding the idea in language that they make sense in, then we might get somewhere.
In the meantime we will argue over ‘ownership’ because the selfish, greedy fucks got to set the agenda, for now anyway.
I would be surprised if Ardern was using the word kaitiakitanga outside of a Pākehā world view.
Then I hope her Pākehā world view is closer to mine than say, Shane Jones’.
Lol, so do I.
My guess is Labour remain too scared to upset the comfy white voters…. collectively do tgey represent more voters than those who get that;
1. Te Tiriti matters; and
2. Maori are in partnership with everything other New Zealander
Yeah, because women you disagree with conjour up visions of diabolism, eh.
//
http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0410/59e769dfa2e9e0a74875.jpeg
“As long as he does the job well, why would Labour replace him?”
Possibly, to accommodate for Winston.
I don’t think that’s what Fox was referring to. Labour, including Davis, have already acknowledged that the deputy PM role might go to another party MP. That’s not the same as the second in command of the Labour Party though.
Fox was reaching out when Davis made that odd and confrontational comment at Ardern’s first presser.
Weka
Fox was too aggressive, what I couldn’t believe, was what she said after saying the Greens might not make it, that if don’t think they’ll (Greens) make it, don’t waste your vote, vote for the Maori Party.
I don’t think that Fox would make a very good coalition partner after that performance.
Shaw was great, very positive summation at end, very polite, never butted in, unlike Seymore, who seems to think he’s the only politician there that matters, he’s so rude, and his opinions are so irrelevant, he’s talking to so few.
A few were annoyed Peters didn’t show.
True, but Labour didn’t used to be good at relationship either, so there’s potential. I’ve seen Fox make good connections with the Greens and working with them, so I don’t know what was going on the other night. Daft.
Seymour is a disgrace and an embarrassment. In one of the earlier debates I thought he was quite good in terms of debating, but the other night he was rude, aggressive, and showed himself to be an arsehole (and that’s not even getting to his politics but I’m sure it’s related).
Peters’ no show was odd. Like he’s afraid of something (I’d guess Shaw pointing out the problem with NZF being a potential coalition partner for National. So glad that one is finally biting NZF on the bum).
He was a buly. True colours and all that but his base seem to like that… Douglas, Prebble and Hide before him.
@ NewsFlash (17.1.5) … I guess Peters doesn’t consider himself to be leader of a minor party! Not a good look and considering he does have a support base, he’s showing disrespect to them by not putting in an appearance. He was a no show at another debate, if my memory serves me right.
Marama Fox comes across to me as someone who has quite a nasty streak when she feels so inclined. Not sure I could trust her word in a coalition arrangement.
Odd comment there Anne, the Māori Party have no track record of not keeping their word. Indeed one of the few parties which have listened too, then followed the wishes of their constituents as well.
So I’m guessing your personal take is you dislike Marama Fox, which perfectly OK by the way. But odd, as you are one of the people pushing for a change of government are you not?
I neither like nor dislike her because I don’t know her. It is nothing more than an observation. Funnily enough I nearly added that Tariana Turia who felt deeply betrayed by Labour, never used spite as a weapon against them.
Fox won’t get in but Howie Tamati will.
They are still good for 2 seats, and will be a valuable option.
Dunno much about Fox, but Davis has made a few bad steps since becoming deputy leader. Not being on point with policy, being combative in interviews, that sort of thing. If he doesn’t play catch-up he might get kicked down a notch in a year or so.
I watched the Aljazeera doco on NZ water quality,and if only half of it was true it still marks our descent into some kind of banana republic state.It is well worth 25 minutes of your time and there is more to come in the second segment .I must admit that the general stupidity of the whole plan was made a pleasure to view by the main protagonist looking and behaving like Boss Hog from the Dukes of Hazzard!
The part of the Leaders Debate we weren’t shown
True or sound dubbed. Each fart did coincide with a reaction from Bill and he would not have heard any one else’s.
Sound dubbed.
Dirty tricks eh? 🙂
So lovely. It seems that nobody liked what anyone else was saying.. I ignored the fart noises.
If you want sheer amusement without compromising elements, watch it with soundtrack muted. Or just don’t put on your headphones.
“The Crown has corrected a historic wrong dating to 1916 by pardoning Rua Kenana, Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.
The Tuhoe prophet and leader, sometimes known as Ruatapunu, was arrested in 1916 during a raid in which his son was killed.
The agreement was signed by descendants of Kenana and representatives of the Crown at Maungapohatu Marae on Saturday morning.”
100 years – I hope some of the pain is now eased.
“The statutory pardon will not be official until Parliament passes specific legislation, at which point it will only be the fourth arising from Crown/Maori relations”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/96677130/crown-rights-historic-wrong-in-urewera-arrest-of-rua-kenana
Only the fourth? – is that because only 4 injustices were done? Only 4 people wrongly imprisoned or demonised, only 4?
This prick headed the Maungapohatu travesty.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/black-sheep/story/201820359/bad-cop-the-story-of-john-cullen
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3c42/cullen-john
“The Anglican Synod has decided to reinstate Christ Church Cathedral.”
Story: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/339062/church-votes-to-rebuild-christchurch-cathedral
English: “”What they are doing there are building on their past to link the city to the future in a way that will be strongly symbolic for the whole country as well as the city of Christchurch.”
It sure is strongly symbolic. The National Government have denied Christchurch democracy and interfered in its decision making for years. They don’t want to move NZ or Christchurch into a future that offers a decent life for all people in Christchurch or anywhere , can spend vast millions on vanity projects around NZ now Christchurch, and now want to build another highway – to heaven.
If they think that will fast track them upwards to join the angelic chorus, think again the duplicitous oiks.
It’s the best that could be expected from a government that lacks the vision to create something of comparable cultural and aesthetic value for the space. The wisdom of rebuilding stone structures, however reinforced, in earthquake zones is fairly shaky – not nearly as shaky as Bill’s recipe for economic growth of course.
Hundertwasser would’ve solved the problem economically with a structure fit for the 21st century. The Gnats are simply too backward to even consider his kind of solution.
the Nats have plenty to answer for in the ChCh EQ response…but this one aint on them
It turns out that this one is more symbolic than all the other “keystone projects” they’ve made such a shambles of. If they actually had had any vision this would’ve been the place to show it – the Church was by no means sure it wanted to rebuild.
it wasn’t their decision to make…..and there was further court action in the offing….Im actually surprised the Church didn’t offload the problem to the Gov by taking the gifting option.
The Church have a corner to fight too – a deconsecrated shell maintained for selfies was a bit too much like a mockery.
has been happening for some time albeit on smaller scale
Labour under attack for falling short on welfare.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2017/09/panel-fran-o-sullivan-and-sue-bradford.html
What they were not committing to was cutting the National’s the punitive Beneficiary process. What the panel wanted was “demolish” the terrible means and manner of the system which intimidates and frightens those in need. But Labour wants to carefully assess just which bits to reform. A blanket promise would cause more harm that good.
Balls to the walls. Vicente Fox is a star.
His message to trump the other day was funny too.
What do you think of his baseball cap?
Which one?
What we knew already – good to see it in print.
BUT the response from Min. Tolley could have been better. Nobody cares how difficult your job is.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/election-2017/339064/winz-staff-accused-of-withholding-entitlements
That moving image of Slater/Cameron for OM 9/9/2014 is a real piece of resistance.
I take it when the government changes in a couple of weeks, there will also be a change of Speaker?
Trevor Mallard. 😉
The new Parliament will elect a Speaker – Labour’s preference is Mallard.
Lord almighty… But maybe like Lockwood-Smith, Trevor will surprisingly surpass his previous efforts. ?
Both were questionable as Ministers of Education.
FFS. Natz released a video outlining the life of Bill English! Not only is his wife Mary seen ringing her husband’s praises, but also Bennett, the holy man Joyce and Nikki Kaye.
As to be expected, the Great Fraud himself has been rolled out to give his endorsement of his former deputy!
This sideshow puts me in mind of a poor infomercial praising the wonders of a cheap nasty bowel cleanse product!
With each passing day now, it seems to me Bennett is taking up more and more of the screen, horizontally that is! And this video is definitely demonstrating this point!
Natz getting really desperate now with this lot of old cobblers!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11920321
I tried to be openminded about Bill’s promotional video mary, but though it is smoothly produced it is full of platitudes which could apply to anyone. Hard to watch to the end and I couldn’t help remembering the blatant lies that English and Joyce and Bennett told re a certain hole. Why believe anything they say.
speaking of desperate…
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96681064/bill-english-is-putting-everything-into-squeezing-every-last-vote-from-rural-nz
Now those civil servants would have shit there pants when they heard my humane ideas of using rewards instead of prison.
They say this Idiot wants to give gang money to stay out of jail or trouble .
Well no that is STUPID one does not reward bad behavior and being in a gang is bad behavior in my view. I Have seen what a jail does to someone he goes for the first time gets 18 months comes put of prison all pumped up because all they got to do in there is pump iron.
He gets out act like he is bulletproof and his behavior is 10x worst than he went in those old buggers in prison con them to join there gang and make them run for them when they get out.
Now the reward good behavior will kill 3 birds with one stone
1 no gangs qualifies so this will erode the gangs base.
2 this will stop people on minor charges will not go to jail and join a gang
3 this will lower our jail population and produce some good citizens and workers it could be training subsidies and employee incentive spend early to save common people
They say that the first 30 days is the greatest deterrent. After that a prisoner becomes institutionalised and of course brutalised.
“You cannot take away someone’s story without giving them a new one. It is not enough to challenge an old narrative, however outdated and discredited it may be. Change happens only when you replace one story with another. When we develop the right story, and learn how to tell it, it will infect the minds of people across the political spectrum.”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/09/george-monbiot-how-de-we-get-out-of-this-mess
it is worth noting that Monbiot uses the word ‘story’…..not ‘policy.’
For most people when they get a belief about something, it sticks even if contrary evidence should shift them. It takes a willingness to open the mind and look for adjustments. It is probably why intelligent well educated people are looking for solutions to problems where as those less educated tend to hang on to previous conceptions. Probably why people who support Greens and Labour are better educated but the others are conservative and narrow minded.
wasn’t exactly what I took from the article
Story=climate; policy=weather?
nothing so metaphorical….think Jacindamania.
Fair enough and although I’ve been lambasted here for explaining my metaphors I will explain this one too.
Neoliberalism changed the thinking (attitudes) and actions of a whole generation and this is the “story” that Monbiot was referring to, which I labelled “climate”. Policies are the short-term manifestations of that overarching ‘story’, which I called “weather”. See https://thestandard.org.nz/labours-climate-change-policy-nuclear-free-moment/#comment-1380619 for the climate & weather metaphors.
To take the metaphors one step further, both neoliberalism and CC/AGC are caused by humans and have a ‘human’ solution, i.e. they can be stopped or changed and the outcome can be influenced or altered. This is the important message for both these problems.
but not without a new story…says Monbiot…
“When we encounter a complex issue and try to understand it, what we look for is not consistent and reliable facts but a consistent and comprehensible story. When we ask ourselves whether something “makes sense”, the “sense” we seek is not rationality, as scientists and philosophers perceive it, but narrative fidelity. Does what we are hearing reflect the way we expect humans and the world to behave? Does it hang together? Does it progress as stories should progress?
A string of facts, however well attested, will not correct or dislodge a powerful story. The only response it is likely to provoke is indignation: people often angrily deny facts that clash with the narrative “truth” established in their minds. The only thing that can displace a story is a story. Those who tell the stories run the world.”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/09/george-monbiot-how-de-we-get-out-of-this-mess
So true!
The one story flows into the next; there are connections (e.g. flash-backs) and repeated themes and characters. No story comes from absolutely nothing; they build on and with existing material.
We are the creators, story-tellers, and the readers/listeners all at the same time. We write these stories by and for ourselves, metaphorically speaking. Each individual has a role to play in the bigger story and ads his/her own unique part to the overall. For all and the one.
I Mac man +100 that is the reason why the neo liberals don’t want our people educate so our people won’t be able to challenge the neo liberals state.This is the reason they stopped free education for all.
Uneducated people are easier to lie to.!!!!!,
I believe that most of the civil servants that run our country and World are neo liberals who don’t no how to come out of there glass bubbles and see the our real world.!!!!
Not sure if this has been posted, but the nick smith sculpture drew a crowd next to nicks caravan at the nelson markets today, and it’s coming to Mot for our sunday market tomorrow. That should always happen. Massive thanks Sam Mahon, epic effort.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/96674993/nick-smith-trouserless-sculpture-lands-in-mps-home-town