Looks like the guy behind the "cash drop" has a bit of history behind him. Doesn't seem like the type of guy you want to go in to business with. I think the company will be receiving a fine of some sort.
He is only 28 that Thorn in our side! The image of him shows him to be a good looking, sleek, well dressed young man – looks self-possessed, and self-centred and apparently keen to push into profitable ventures.
Not much precautionary consideration for him I would say. His background indicates the recklessness and callousness that some business people adopt and succeed with. Sounds like Trump, looks like a Trumpian figure. There will be many decades of all sorts of clever moves to enrich himself; he might live as long as Trump.
“Silencing ‘disharmonious speech’ will not be golden” Paul Moon
One take on the issue of regulating hate speech, but I think a myopic one. Countries have usually managed to criminalize sedition without altogether outlawing dissent for example – imperfectly perhaps, but law is an imperfect instrument. It suffices to go after the frank instances of hate speech, the ones that have proven problematic – and some have.
Our country would not have been enriched by the contribution of the Southerns, and the sky did not fall, nor were many oppressed by discouraging them – their material being perfectly accessible online to anyone who cared. If that is what it takes to discourage Trumpism, it's a price I'm glad to pay.
But it isn't me that gets to decide – it's a judge.
I expect the use of the rule will be reasonably conservative – but if that cramps the style of US bought redneck gun nuts like Nicole McKee, so much the better – they contribute nothing of value to NZ.
The winds changed for ACT when David Seymour stood as the sole MP against legislation to outlaw military-style semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack…
New Zealand First, as well as New Conservatives, continue to court the gun vote (Ron Mark even went so far as to tell a Masterton audience his party didn’t agree with some of the law changes it recently signed off). But the support of the community looks set to go to ACT – a party that’s now polling consistently between 7 and 8 percent.
Given how much the party owes to its firearms family, it was no surprise to see Nicole McKee on the party’s list of candidates for this year’s election. What might have been surprising, was how much ACT has leaned into the gun vote. A June press release from ACT president Tim Jago, pointed out not once, but twice, that the party’s 2020 list included seven licensed firearms owners…
Over the past year, McKee has become synonymous with the pro-gun lobby. The prominent advocate also runs her own firearms safety training business and is a New Zealand shooting champion. She is a mother of four and until recently, was the spokesperson for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO).
“I believe that emotive and rushed legislation adversely affects those it is intended to support. The ACT Party principles not only promote freedom to live within the law but also efficient policies while treating everyone as equal. Our laws should be rooted in policies that recognise our democratic rights to think, to speak and to behave in a legal and unobstructed way.”
From the few media appearances that she has made, McCree has established herself as a ranting fool. And you would seem to be one of her disciples – it would be sad, if it weren't so funny.
And this is the party that pretends to libertarianism?
A shameless shill for a foreign gun lobby – her disgrace is bottomless.
Chris T Southern was one of the enablers of the ChCh terror attack
Modern technology has made it easier to radicalise fringe mentally inadequate loners.
There has to be a line drawn somewhere to minimise the spread of terrorism of any type.
To allow free reign would be to you let the Taliban radicalise yet every democratic govt is shutting down their free speech so no rules for white supremacists and a complete ban on all other races and religions.
If we had to always link to what someone else says when putting our opinion forward it would not be our opinion. Hopefully people would put views supported by something/someone that can be unpicked or acknowledge as justifying….
But then sometimes they don't quote chapter and verse and that is Ok too.
The points made by Stuart Munro are valid to my mind. Another point of view.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (Conventional translation)
The difference between the text, and the Folau meme version of the text, is that one is directed at the reader, and the other is directed at an audience the meme maker wishes to intimidate.
Intimidation is often accomplished by threats, or accompanied by implicit threats. The substitution of losing a desirable goal, for being consigned to punishment changes the focus of the text substantially.
It certainly is a threat – and encouragement to the kind of self-righteous morons that shoot up pizza parlours.
But whether it meets the standard a careful judge might rule actionable is something else again. As it stands, Folau's employer distanced themselves from his statements, which covered the matter amply.
A degree of deterrence to the sort of epic redneck stupidity that has done so much harm in the US is becoming necessary here. But one would have to be right out on the fringe to meet much more than a formal warning.
Chris T I find that your pseudonym is intimidating. It appears to be Christ but coming apart which worries me deeply. I also find your frequent comments are an attempt to dominate this blog with your peculiar pronouncements according to your vision of the world, and how it should be. It appears to me that you are attempting to interfere with free, reasoned thought and speech. Could you glance over Gloriavale and others, instead, they need your pastoral care.
Surely the fact that he was trying to stir up people's negative feelings towards some people who had done him no harm, or no great harm to him or anyone else, should be referred to. The desire to hurt people, to upset and harass them is an unpleasant thing when it only happens once in private. He disagrees with something himself, strongly and might feel he has to say so in church or in an interview.
But he announced his opinion loudly and defiantly at a sports meeting, where he was because of his sporting ability which was being paid for by his club. His words were conveyed to a great crowd, the private hurt he caused became multiplied by the number in the crowd and those who heard or read the words and understood their meaning at the time, and later. It was an offence in my opinion, and illegal and irresponsible when his club was considered. Its intention was to denounce people with different ideas to him, and to damn them to the world. I think the term hate speech is being thrown around as a generic term, and another word found to replace it.
Professor Ross says legitimate criticism, or punching up, is warranted to hold people in power accountable that aren’t accessible in everyday life.
“But I’m concerned with what I call the sideways punching,” she tells Jesse Mulligan. “Sideways punching is when people are relatively of the same status that you are, but you are busily criticising them because they don’t use the words you would use, or they use the wrong gender pronoun, or they didn’t have the latest woke language.
At times "the church" should be done for hate speech depending on their preachings. Being told on the phone, during Lockdown by a church group that people who aren't abominations, like me, will be saved. Would you call that love speech?
Just like the stupid people who told Rosa Parks she had to sit at the back of the bus, or the systemic racism or bigotry that has afflicted this country's history? (ie women or non-land owning Maori not being allowed to vote) I'm sure you will cry false equivalence, well I would disagree with you on that too. Sometimes it takes Laws to be brought in to stop bigotry or dominance of one group over another so while you may say you do not think laws should be brought in to protect citizens, I do. THAT is the beauty of free speech, not allowing "stupid selves" to preach Hate Speech. In my opinion.
A law topping people? We may yet see that for those who are always shooting their mouths off. That is why we try here to elucidate reasonable ways forward. Good if you could think out something in joined up sentences which would require at least 4-5 lines explaining the whys of your wisdom.
Chris, You can hardly be very serious in your opinion that the Falau quote is hate speech. (Noteing this has since been moderated away).
If you really believed that you wouldn't then say such a thing yourself.
The thing about regulating speech is its about what is being said and not what those who say such things believe. If you say it its equally as harmful as if Falau says it.
Folau had his arse and paycheck kicked to touch for being a dick anyway, after he compromised his employer and sports code in contravention of his agreements.
The more serious problem is the 'under the radar' bigots and self-entitled agitators of the unthinking followers (like Billy TK). Sometimes the State needs to provide guidelines with consequences for the recidivist recalcitrants in the hope they will begin to respect otherds, and to protect the many, not the few. To say there is a difference between that and driving offences as Moon posits, only proves that some academics and the legislative system lacks the ability to formulate sound law. What an indictment.
JK Rowling joins 150 public figures warning over free speech
Law lecturer at Open University – https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scottish-law-lecturer-hits-out-after-gagging-university-over-trans-comments-3059356 The academic, who has been studying English literature with the OU, was expressing his thoughts on planned hate crime laws in Scotland that would allow men to self-identify as women as well as the furore around author JK Rowling’s views on gender. He wrote the SNP’s new Bill “would make it a crime for anybody to deny that a ‘trans’ woman (i.e. a man) was a real woman”.
Where comes this hysteria about young people uncertain about who they are that has taken over our world? The young have always had to find their way in the world, try to understand their nature, their strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately the business world has interfered in the running of society. There is not the definite pathway to a job and adulthood that there once was. Once you left school, got a job and did that for a while, might have then gained more skills, found a life partner, saved and bought a house and that was a learning experience just getting that far.
What is the scene now, an imposition by government and authorities of disruption as a way of life; everything might change in a few years. How can you settle in and do something and build a life worth living? And the psychology broadcast by neolib – that people not in jobs are lacking in some way, NZrs are lazy, the constant chant about NZ's lack of productivity, the negative stuff is published and broadcast often. There is much of mealy-mouthed prejudices and conformist truths that speak the words of the anti-human cult; it talks about freedom and free speech, but what is it – the contents of an empty paper bag.
That emptiness is what drives the frantic uncertainty of young people searching for identity and reacting to attempts to reveal the reality of this climate of voyeurism about humanity. What are we, and where are we going? We had better not talk about it, it is too scary, and wouldn't show the authorities in a good light. Soon it will be illegal to discuss child poverty and the degradation of society.
The UK is trying to squash references to anti-capitalism in schools*; the Scots have a bill making it illegal to deny that a trans man is a woman. Our very bones and guts and minds are under attack from this mindless surge of disestablishment of society by the wealthy and predatory. Behind their facades they are valueless, and there are those who don't live by a concept of respect, kindness, and trying to be steadfast in values of fairness and honesty, in regard to themselves as well as the rest of the world, and the confused.
It's an interesting case – but I think it would be unwise to make the law a vehicle for Trans or Terf agitation. Anti racial and/or religious messages of the kind linked to criminal behaviours should be the priority – making the focus of the new law keeping the peace, not gagging inoffensive fools or encouraging skirmishing by fringe groups.
Chris Trotter, who lives in a fantasy New Zealand circa 1987, really does seem to like to spend his decline into irrelevance fretting about an imaginary mass movement of Trumpian rural gun owners, doesn't he?
I mean, they never seem to happen but he is convinced there is an army of good 'ol boy street thugs just waiting for the order from crusher to assemble for a torch lit parade and sweep to power….
Trotter's as relevant as a uni lecturer stuck in the 80's, waffling on forgetting the points then looking chuffed with themselves at the end with the verbosity they've unleashed.
That's why the msm keep going to him as their 'lefty' for the illusion of balance and not spooking the horses.
He isn't so narrow and blinkered as some of you commenters here and makes for interesting reading and an opportunity to create different scenarios and get more perspectives on whatever.
As a kid my mother made me stay at the table till I'd eaten my fish dinner, and I'd sit on and on with a ball of dry stuff in my mouth. I'd sucked out the sauce and now it was too hard to swallow. A certain amount of stuff here brings memory back to those good old days.
Think you're confusing the actual person with how they make a living in this media environment i.e. provide acceptable copy rather than express their true opinions which possibly wouldn’t be published.
That is a point tc – he does have to make a living and supplies comment to a number of outlets. One could say though that getting different ideas about politics and society into many people's heads in this country is doing god's work. And because he changes tack, people have to keep reading him to see what he says today. I don't know who you think he serves, but presume you think it isn't Labour. But which part of Labour is so wholly perfect that it shouldn't be tackled, have its jersey pulled, tripped over etc. as it makes its run for a try At The Wrong End of the field.
Ah yes, the NZ Initiative. Such lovely fellows, true heirs to the Business Round Table…
"…In posts on his personal blog, New Zealand Initiative chief editor Nathan Smith attacks Muslims and Jews and espouses incel ideology, Marc Daalder reports
The chief editor of the prominent New Zealand Initiative think tank runs a far-right blog on the side, where he bashes Muslims, says Jews invite anti-Semitism on themselves and falsely claims that the death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic has been artificially inflated…."
"espouses incel ideology" "means "involuntary celibates", are members of an onlinesubculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one." -Wikipedia
Perhaps part of what makes them unattractive in the first place is their barely concealed violence? The violence was in them before they were rejected.
I've met a few chaps like this…you can just about smell the aggression on them.
These right wing extremists have trouble forming relationships with women.So they blame women .
There are many of these men NZ.
I know of a least a dozen they all have no children all support conspiracy theories all believe in racial superiority all bar one haven't had any longterm relationships with women.
Most are trump supporters and antivaxxers.
They all vehemently hate strong women leaders.
David Seymour has been courting these extremists with subtle hints dog whistles ,ACT is a product of the business round table.The NZ initiative pushes ACT policy word for word.
edit
Cheapskates, those men could go to prostitutes and build a relationship with one they liked but they don't want to pay for it. So they whine and hate, which is their natural outlook. A saying is that you can't buy love. But it may be the only way they will ever get sex, and romance happens when people find each other lovable, so they will always have difficulty with that aspect. Get real, this is a society that monetises everything so go out and buy whatever you want. Don't expect to get something for nothing.
There is an interesting aspect though. What woman, or women did they get to know when they were growing up? Our childhood makes the man or woman. My contention once again is if society wants to be better, it needs to give parents the opportunity to show love to their children, and the authorities show love to the parents by helping them, with frequent workshops on parenting tied to weekly child allowance payments, goods when needed, a family holiday once a year with workshops for the parents on how to handle their problems and enjoy successful outcomes with their kids. Women being good mothers and happy in themselves would eventually see happy, capable young men go off into the world. Not these sad types who hate everyone because they dislike themselves, and no-one has ever shown them they are likable.
It would be justifiable common-sense to assume that the SIS has a bias in favour of surveilling people who present a credible threat to current accumulations of wealth/power or to the mechanisms for continuing that accumulation. Such as environmentalists, anti-free trade campaigners, anti-povery activists etc, – not racist nutters.
The SIS is an extension of the CIA and the NZ govt doesn't have much input into its operations.
That's why they are more interested in left wing greens and environmental activists .As opposed to right wing terrorists who they have deliberately overlooked.
[ Oh, please!
The SIS is an extension of the CIA and the NZ govt doesn’t have much input into its operations.
You assert that as matter of fact. I usually reply with [Link required] but you have completely ignored the last four ones 🙁
Political neutrality
The NZSIS is a politically neutral agency. The Intelligence and Security Act 2017, explicitly states that activities will not be carried out for the purpose of promoting or harming the interests of any political party or candidate. The Director-General of Security regularly meets with the Leader of the Opposition to keep them informed about matters of national security.
The Director-General reports to the Intelligence and Security Committee. Both Government and Opposition parties are represented on this body, whose membership is endorsed by Parliament.
If you want to know what really has been been occurring inside NZ's security intelligence network – particularly in relation to the Commission of Inquiry report just released – and Paul Buchanan's overall assessment, then this podcast is a must view:
I have enjoyed for a long time the flash mob in 2012 celebrating the city and the Banco Sabadell playing Ode to Joy. To hearten themselves during Covid and all the travails it has caused in 2020 they are promising another public performance.
It is an advertisement for the bank, for the city, and for their way of life which seems so much more gracious than ours. I am disturbed by the way our education is going, there seems less music, in the universities less Humanities, and in the streets less humanity and limited portions of joy.
And this is the former flashmob presentation, a great one and a great advertisement for the bank, well presented, great images and sound etc. and no-one had to cry 'Remember the children'!
Hi folks, I was talking to a mate yesty, he is an ambo. He is "not racist" but resents getting "Te Reo rammed down his throat". He was talking about getting a 'Not Guilty' t-shirt that seems to be popular in talk back circles.
There was a conversation round these parts, a few months back, along why it was inappropriate to be talking about All Lives Matter when The States was dealing with another cop that had murdered an unarmed black man.
There was a great link provided by a Standardista that summed it all up.
I am hoping someone can recall and point me in the right (no pun intended) direction.
gsays You could put the keywords in the search line at the top and see what comes up. Then under International in the Archives would be another place to search. Sometimes something is so apt that it should be framed!
Forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano called today's virtual summit, and said Pacific leaders had a duty to encourage the world into purposeful action. The region's low-lying islands are among the worst affected by the climate crisis with threats of rising seas and increasing cyclones.
Natano said with islands on the front-line of the climate emergency, the forum's global leadership and advocacy was critical. The forum also aimed to put pressure on world leaders.
It's public information. Of interest to thinkers about business in NZ. You people find fault about everything. A big tendency to nitpick. I don’t know what you think you achieve by it.
[Ignoring the obstinacy of your comment for the moment, posting e-mail addresses here lures bots that trawl through the internet and scrape sites for e-mail addresses. This is a problem because it slows down traffic to and from the site. So, please be a good member of the TS community and help keeping the place tidy and the site running smoothly, thanks – Incognito]
Naming the relevant people involved and posting their publicly available email addresses, along with a political objective (eg emailing the directors involved to lobby them to do right) is ok. Posting individual's personal addresses, and with no clear suggestion of intent, is not ok. Doubly so in situation like this where feelings are already high.
edited.
[seeing Incog’s mod note above, a better idea would be to link to email addresses for political action purposes rather than posting on site – weka]
I posted them because they were public information. I stated that I was looking at where the directors came from, two were from Bahrain, one from London, and the others all from Invercargill and involved in fertiliser and fishing. It would interest those who follow business behaviour in NZ. I guess that seeing it wan't involving close personal relationships it would fall outside the box for many. This is a strange situation where freedom of information is frowned on. What are feelings high about for goodness sake? I'm talking about ouvea, waste from aluminium manufacturing that is going to cost NZ money to dispose of, after a lot of expensive legal work which the companies involved will wiggle out of paying as with other matters. I'm not involved in the feelings about Trevor Mallard using words that have not been passed by society's censors.
[it’s up to you grey. You’ve got the attention of moderators, and you can either do the work to understand where the boundaries are, or you can ignore the boundaries and get escalating moderations. I’m happy to explain more why the boundaries are important, but I’m not going to engage with someone who is clearly wanting an argument with moderators about moderation. See this post for why https://thestandard.org.nz/a-bit-about-how-the-standard-works/ – weka]
Get lost McFlock and The Alien you must be running out of hot air and haughty self-righteousness now at the end of this busy year creating dominance over everybody writing here.
Less than two weeks before the start of Amazon's annual Prime Day sales promotion is set to start, protestors rallied outside CEO Jeff Bezos' Beverly Hills home to call for higher pay for Amazon warehouse workers and higher taxes on wealthy Americans.
Nearly a hundred protesters marched on Sunday, according to organizers of the rally. Former and current Amazon workers were joined by groups including United Teachers Los Angeles, Sunrise LA and Extinction Rebellion, which lobbies for action to combat climate change.
"The richest man in the world made $88 billion in the course of the pandemic. It's time to fight back," Chris Smalls, one of the protest's leaders, told CBS MoneyWatch.
This is the kind of direct action that Utah Phillips was advocating for, and what I assumed was clear, apologies for the confusion. I don't mind if it is removed.
I think he is also getting at the 'things' that do not just happen – that those who are killing earth are mostly people not 'things' and these people have names and addresses and through these can be called to account. 'Earth is dying' leaves out that the causes of death are mostly due to people and is likely to invoke a reaction of woe, there is nothing we can do.
I don't find it a call to violent action. It is written in active voice to encourage thought – the usual passive sentence construction does not encourage this.
People could write letters or peacefully picket.
Imagine if the famous speech by Winston Churchill after Dunkirk has been written in passive voice….
'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets……'
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Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading → ...
David Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...
Muriel Newman writes – Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...
Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...
An average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during the March quarter, up 54% from a year ago.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in ...
The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
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 ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
Arawata Shane Arawata Shane had wandered long In the wild tangled hills of the West Coast. He came to a stop on the mighty range And looked down at the wide river flats. He breathed in the clean air, And he took in the shadows playing across The face of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist and Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific digital journalist Police have used tear gas and stun grenades on rioters at an airport near Nouméa as the chaos in New Caledonia stretched into its sixth day. Five people, including two police officers, have died and hundreds of ...
Asia Pacific ReportThe global human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on France to not “misuse” a crackdown in the ongoing unrest in the non-self-governing French Pacific territory of Kanaky New Caledonia in the wake of a controversial vote by the French Parliament to adopt a bill changing the territory’s ...
A major provider of school lunches fears the government's new $3 limit for most students will see them eating more pre-packaged and processed food. ...
The star of Dark City: The Cleaner takes us through his life in TV, including the VHS revolution and the John Campbell impression that started it all. Best known for his comedic roles, Cohen Holloway says he struggled at times to maintain the stone cold facade of serial killer on ...
David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. My friend Doug never travelled; he had little interest in the world beyond his own tiny rural town. I’ve rarely known anyone who radiated such contentment. Doug (I’ll call him that) died in March. You won’t know him. ...
Some of the earliest photos of life in Aotearoa are on display at Auckland Museum right now – but the identities of some of the people in them are a mystery.What was it like to be one of the first people in New Zealand to have their photo taken? ...
Since its founding almost a decade ago, Featherston Booktown has grown into one of the country’s most interesting and idiosyncratic literary events. Erin Banks reports from the audience. “Come in, have you had lunch? I’m about to make a cheese toastie.” Mary Biggs, operations manager of Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival, ...
After 33 years abroad, Loveni Enari recently returned to Aotearoa and Samoa in what a friend joked was an “existential crisis”. He learnt and re-learnt so much about his family, friends and both countries. Almost as an afterthought, he got a Samoan tatau. This is his story. (Accompanying it are ...
Nearly 30 years ago, two people told me they’d killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Fact: in 1995, Angela Blackmoore ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at the week and shines a light on some increasingly rare longform journalism. Mōrena and welcome to The Weekend where there will sadly be no aurora to see. After a busy week last week of short, sharp pieces, this week we swung the other way, ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates. Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during ...
Forget thin is in, apparently now bigger is better … or is it? After over a decade of body positivity, girls, teens and women are even more confused about what body positivity actually is. The movement began with women confronting unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look. But sub-strands ...
Grace always sat at the bar at the back of The Cambridge, where she could watch who came in. A huge mirror ran the length of the pub, so you could sometimes watch people without them knowing. The mirror made the place seem a lot bigger than it really was. ...
MONDAY Sheriff Mark Mitchell rose at dawn. He had a long day’s ride ahead of him. He was headed for Waikeria. Waikeria! Even the name itself stirred his blood, and set root in his imagination. There was nothing and no one in Waikeria. But he would bend it to his ...
The first phase of the inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones finished this week, turning up plenty of revelations and few answers. But through all the confusion, heartbreak and antipathy on display, the simple fact at the heart of this case remains: if little Lachie’s body had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Benjamin, Professor in Art History, University of Sydney “She’s no oil painting”. Those were the unkind words of a colleague commenting on the subject of Vincent Namatjira’s acrylic painting, Gina. Every one of the prominent Australians and cultural heroes in Namatjira’s ...
Government plans to require local councils hold a referendum on whether to have Māori wards breaches the Treaty of Waitangi, a Waitangi Tribunal report has found. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This year the National Rugby League (NRL) opened its season in Las Vegas. It was an audacious move by the league’s ambitious head honcho Peter V’Landys to showcase the game in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University Leading music organisations have praised the federal budget for its investment in the live music sector. The budget includes A$8.6 million for a program called Revive Live: to provide essential support to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland The 2024 federal budget contains A$110 million for Indigenous education. This includes funding for various different organisations to represent and help Indigenous people as well as scholarships in a bid to ...
Air New Zealand has confirmed Nouméa’s Tontouta International airport in New Caledonia is closed until Tuesday. The airline earlier told RNZ it would update customers as soon as it could. Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Morning Report government officials had been working on an “hourly basis” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Linley, PhD Candidate in Ecology, Charles Sturt University Grant Linley Australia’s unprecedented Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20 created ideal conditions for misinformation to spread, from the insidious to the absurd. It was within this context that a bizarre story ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcel Scharth, Lecturer in Business Analytics, University of Sydney OpenAI executive Mira Murati launching GPT-4o.OpenAI Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted ...
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Looks like the guy behind the "cash drop" has a bit of history behind him. Doesn't seem like the type of guy you want to go in to business with. I think the company will be receiving a fine of some sort.
The man behind Safety Warehouse's fake cash stunt: Who is Andrew Thorn? | Stuff.co.nz
Agreed. But where was the Auckland city council in all this? How could such a stunt have been sanctioned for Aotea square?
He is only 28 that Thorn in our side! The image of him shows him to be a good looking, sleek, well dressed young man – looks self-possessed, and self-centred and apparently keen to push into profitable ventures.
Not much precautionary consideration for him I would say. His background indicates the recklessness and callousness that some business people adopt and succeed with. Sounds like Trump, looks like a Trumpian figure. There will be many decades of all sorts of clever moves to enrich himself; he might live as long as Trump.
“Silencing ‘disharmonious speech’ will not be golden” Paul Moon
One take on the issue of regulating hate speech, but I think a myopic one. Countries have usually managed to criminalize sedition without altogether outlawing dissent for example – imperfectly perhaps, but law is an imperfect instrument. It suffices to go after the frank instances of hate speech, the ones that have proven problematic – and some have.
Our country would not have been enriched by the contribution of the Southerns, and the sky did not fall, nor were many oppressed by discouraging them – their material being perfectly accessible online to anyone who cared. If that is what it takes to discourage Trumpism, it's a price I'm glad to pay.
You missed a bit
…………as long as I get to decide who can talk.
But it isn't me that gets to decide – it's a judge.
I expect the use of the rule will be reasonably conservative – but if that cramps the style of US bought redneck gun nuts like Nicole McKee, so much the better – they contribute nothing of value to NZ.
Again.
In your opinion.
Feel free to trot out any evidence you might have that validates a contrary position.
Stuart Munro,,, How about you trot out evidence re: Nicole McKee.
You sadden me you creep.
Nicole McKee – a little info.https://www.newsroom.co.nz/nicole-mckee-firearms-freedom-and-family
The winds changed for ACT when David Seymour stood as the sole MP against legislation to outlaw military-style semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack…
New Zealand First, as well as New Conservatives, continue to court the gun vote (Ron Mark even went so far as to tell a Masterton audience his party didn’t agree with some of the law changes it recently signed off). But the support of the community looks set to go to ACT – a party that’s now polling consistently between 7 and 8 percent.
Given how much the party owes to its firearms family, it was no surprise to see Nicole McKee on the party’s list of candidates for this year’s election.
What might have been surprising, was how much ACT has leaned into the gun vote.
A June press release from ACT president Tim Jago, pointed out not once, but twice, that the party’s 2020 list included seven licensed firearms owners…
Over the past year, McKee has become synonymous with the pro-gun lobby. The prominent advocate also runs her own firearms safety training business and is a New Zealand shooting champion.
She is a mother of four and until recently, was the spokesperson for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO).
https://www.act.org.nz/nicole-mckee
From the few media appearances that she has made, McCree has established herself as a ranting fool. And you would seem to be one of her disciples – it would be sad, if it weren't so funny.
And this is the party that pretends to libertarianism?
A shameless shill for a foreign gun lobby – her disgrace is bottomless.
Chris T Southern was one of the enablers of the ChCh terror attack
Modern technology has made it easier to radicalise fringe mentally inadequate loners.
There has to be a line drawn somewhere to minimise the spread of terrorism of any type.
To allow free reign would be to you let the Taliban radicalise yet every democratic govt is shutting down their free speech so no rules for white supremacists and a complete ban on all other races and religions.
I await your link to this with baited breath.
Read the govt report Chris T it's been all over the local media.
[You have a Moderation note waiting for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-12-2020/#comment-1770573 ]
[You have a Moderation note waiting for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-12-2020/#comment-1770573 ]
Obviously. We all get that. Self evident (ie use of 'I', no links) so why are you commenting?
Because someone is making a wild claim without any evidence to justify it.
Or "doing a Mallard"
……..or expressing an opinion.
If we had to always link to what someone else says when putting our opinion forward it would not be our opinion. Hopefully people would put views supported by something/someone that can be unpicked or acknowledge as justifying….
But then sometimes they don't quote chapter and verse and that is Ok too.
The points made by Stuart Munro are valid to my mind. Another point of view.
Question for the people at the Standard.
Do you think what Israel Folau said should de fined as "hate" speech. ?
YES
It was, because it was rephrased as a threat.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (Conventional translation)
https://biblia.com/bible/nkjv/1-corinthians/6/9-10#footnote2
[deleted quote due to lack of link]
That isn't a threat.
Unless you think the church should be done for hate speech.
The difference between the text, and the Folau meme version of the text, is that one is directed at the reader, and the other is directed at an audience the meme maker wishes to intimidate.
Intimidation is often accomplished by threats, or accompanied by implicit threats. The substitution of losing a desirable goal, for being consigned to punishment changes the focus of the text substantially.
It is not even a threat.
If people are sheep enough to believe there is a Hell, then they are into it enough to know Folau doesn't get to decide who goes there.
It certainly is a threat – and encouragement to the kind of self-righteous morons that shoot up pizza parlours.
But whether it meets the standard a careful judge might rule actionable is something else again. As it stands, Folau's employer distanced themselves from his statements, which covered the matter amply.
A degree of deterrence to the sort of epic redneck stupidity that has done so much harm in the US is becoming necessary here. But one would have to be right out on the fringe to meet much more than a formal warning.
Chris T I find that your pseudonym is intimidating. It appears to be Christ but coming apart which worries me deeply. I also find your frequent comments are an attempt to dominate this blog with your peculiar pronouncements according to your vision of the world, and how it should be. It appears to me that you are attempting to interfere with free, reasoned thought and speech. Could you glance over Gloriavale and others, instead, they need your pastoral care.
Surely the fact that he was trying to stir up people's negative feelings towards some people who had done him no harm, or no great harm to him or anyone else, should be referred to. The desire to hurt people, to upset and harass them is an unpleasant thing when it only happens once in private. He disagrees with something himself, strongly and might feel he has to say so in church or in an interview.
But he announced his opinion loudly and defiantly at a sports meeting, where he was because of his sporting ability which was being paid for by his club. His words were conveyed to a great crowd, the private hurt he caused became multiplied by the number in the crowd and those who heard or read the words and understood their meaning at the time, and later. It was an offence in my opinion, and illegal and irresponsible when his club was considered. Its intention was to denounce people with different ideas to him, and to damn them to the world. I think the term hate speech is being thrown around as a generic term, and another word found to replace it.
An academic who has been an activist for years has some thoughts on better ways of taking forward concerns on rights and behaviours.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018776224/loretta-ross-callout-and-cancel-culture-don-t-serve-social-justice
Professor Ross says legitimate criticism, or punching up, is warranted to hold people in power accountable that aren’t accessible in everyday life.
“But I’m concerned with what I call the sideways punching,” she tells Jesse Mulligan.
“Sideways punching is when people are relatively of the same status that you are, but you are busily criticising them because they don’t use the words you would use, or they use the wrong gender pronoun, or they didn’t have the latest woke language.
At times "the church" should be done for hate speech depending on their preachings. Being told on the phone, during Lockdown by a church group that people who aren't abominations, like me, will be saved. Would you call that love speech?
No. It is just the church being their stupid selves.
But I don't think there should be some law topping people from doing it.
Just like the stupid people who told Rosa Parks she had to sit at the back of the bus, or the systemic racism or bigotry that has afflicted this country's history? (ie women or non-land owning Maori not being allowed to vote) I'm sure you will cry false equivalence, well I would disagree with you on that too. Sometimes it takes Laws to be brought in to stop bigotry or dominance of one group over another so while you may say you do not think laws should be brought in to protect citizens, I do. THAT is the beauty of free speech, not allowing "stupid selves" to preach Hate Speech. In my opinion.
Utter crap analogy.
Is someone talking forcing anyone to do anything?
A law topping people? We may yet see that for those who are always shooting their mouths off. That is why we try here to elucidate reasonable ways forward. Good if you could think out something in joined up sentences which would require at least 4-5 lines explaining the whys of your wisdom.
Chris, You can hardly be very serious in your opinion that the Falau quote is hate speech. (Noteing this has since been moderated away).
If you really believed that you wouldn't then say such a thing yourself.
The thing about regulating speech is its about what is being said and not what those who say such things believe. If you say it its equally as harmful as if Falau says it.
Folau had his arse and paycheck kicked to touch for being a dick anyway, after he compromised his employer and sports code in contravention of his agreements.
The more serious problem is the 'under the radar' bigots and self-entitled agitators of the unthinking followers (like Billy TK). Sometimes the State needs to provide guidelines with consequences for the recidivist recalcitrants in the hope they will begin to respect otherds, and to protect the many, not the few. To say there is a difference between that and driving offences as Moon posits, only proves that some academics and the legislative system lacks the ability to formulate sound law. What an indictment.
https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/inside-story-how-israel-folau-s-legal-team-played-rugby-australia-20191216-p53kcr
edit
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53330105
JK Rowling joins 150 public figures warning over free speech
Law lecturer at Open University – https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scottish-law-lecturer-hits-out-after-gagging-university-over-trans-comments-3059356
The academic, who has been studying English literature with the OU, was expressing his thoughts on planned hate crime laws in Scotland that would allow men to self-identify as women as well as the furore around author JK Rowling’s views on gender.
He wrote the SNP’s new Bill “would make it a crime for anybody to deny that a ‘trans’ woman (i.e. a man) was a real woman”.
Where comes this hysteria about young people uncertain about who they are that has taken over our world? The young have always had to find their way in the world, try to understand their nature, their strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately the business world has interfered in the running of society. There is not the definite pathway to a job and adulthood that there once was. Once you left school, got a job and did that for a while, might have then gained more skills, found a life partner, saved and bought a house and that was a learning experience just getting that far.
What is the scene now, an imposition by government and authorities of disruption as a way of life; everything might change in a few years. How can you settle in and do something and build a life worth living? And the psychology broadcast by neolib – that people not in jobs are lacking in some way, NZrs are lazy, the constant chant about NZ's lack of productivity, the negative stuff is published and broadcast often. There is much of mealy-mouthed prejudices and conformist truths that speak the words of the anti-human cult; it talks about freedom and free speech, but what is it – the contents of an empty paper bag.
That emptiness is what drives the frantic uncertainty of young people searching for identity and reacting to attempts to reveal the reality of this climate of voyeurism about humanity. What are we, and where are we going? We had better not talk about it, it is too scary, and wouldn't show the authorities in a good light. Soon it will be illegal to discuss child poverty and the degradation of society.
The UK is trying to squash references to anti-capitalism in schools*; the Scots have a bill making it illegal to deny that a trans man is a woman. Our very bones and guts and minds are under attack from this mindless surge of disestablishment of society by the wealthy and predatory. Behind their facades they are valueless, and there are those who don't live by a concept of respect, kindness, and trying to be steadfast in values of fairness and honesty, in regard to themselves as well as the rest of the world, and the confused.
*https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/01/ban-anti-capitalist-resources-schools-stifle-dissent-orban-hungary
It's an interesting case – but I think it would be unwise to make the law a vehicle for Trans or Terf agitation. Anti racial and/or religious messages of the kind linked to criminal behaviours should be the priority – making the focus of the new law keeping the peace, not gagging inoffensive fools or encouraging skirmishing by fringe groups.
I think that is right – keep balance. These are unbalanced individuals anyway – it's a mistake to tip them over the edge of reason.
Chris Trotter, who lives in a fantasy New Zealand circa 1987, really does seem to like to spend his decline into irrelevance fretting about an imaginary mass movement of Trumpian rural gun owners, doesn't he?
I mean, they never seem to happen but he is convinced there is an army of good 'ol boy street thugs just waiting for the order from crusher to assemble for a torch lit parade and sweep to power….
Chris lets his lyricism get in the way of his ideas. He might simply have the demographic wrong.
Trotter's as relevant as a uni lecturer stuck in the 80's, waffling on forgetting the points then looking chuffed with themselves at the end with the verbosity they've unleashed.
That's why the msm keep going to him as their 'lefty' for the illusion of balance and not spooking the horses.
He isn't so narrow and blinkered as some of you commenters here and makes for interesting reading and an opportunity to create different scenarios and get more perspectives on whatever.
As a kid my mother made me stay at the table till I'd eaten my fish dinner, and I'd sit on and on with a ball of dry stuff in my mouth. I'd sucked out the sauce and now it was too hard to swallow. A certain amount of stuff here brings memory back to those good old days.
Think you're confusing the actual person with how they make a living in this media environment i.e. provide acceptable copy rather than express their true opinions which possibly wouldn’t be published.
We all gotta serve somebody as Mr Dylan sang.
That is a point tc – he does have to make a living and supplies comment to a number of outlets. One could say though that getting different ideas about politics and society into many people's heads in this country is doing god's work. And because he changes tack, people have to keep reading him to see what he says today. I don't know who you think he serves, but presume you think it isn't Labour. But which part of Labour is so wholly perfect that it shouldn't be tackled, have its jersey pulled, tripped over etc. as it makes its run for a try At The Wrong End of the field.
Ah yes, the NZ Initiative. Such lovely fellows, true heirs to the Business Round Table…
"…In posts on his personal blog, New Zealand Initiative chief editor Nathan Smith attacks Muslims and Jews and espouses incel ideology, Marc Daalder reports
The chief editor of the prominent New Zealand Initiative think tank runs a far-right blog on the side, where he bashes Muslims, says Jews invite anti-Semitism on themselves and falsely claims that the death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic has been artificially inflated…."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/think-tank-editor-runs-far-right-blog
"espouses incel ideology" "means "involuntary celibates", are members of an online subculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one." -Wikipedia
So they use violence against women.
So they use violence against women.
Perhaps part of what makes them unattractive in the first place is their barely concealed violence? The violence was in them before they were rejected.
I've met a few chaps like this…you can just about smell the aggression on them.
These right wing extremists have trouble forming relationships with women.So they blame women .
There are many of these men NZ.
I know of a least a dozen they all have no children all support conspiracy theories all believe in racial superiority all bar one haven't had any longterm relationships with women.
Most are trump supporters and antivaxxers.
They all vehemently hate strong women leaders.
David Seymour has been courting these extremists with subtle hints dog whistles ,ACT is a product of the business round table.The NZ initiative pushes ACT policy word for word.
edit
Cheapskates, those men could go to prostitutes and build a relationship with one they liked but they don't want to pay for it. So they whine and hate, which is their natural outlook. A saying is that you can't buy love. But it may be the only way they will ever get sex, and romance happens when people find each other lovable, so they will always have difficulty with that aspect. Get real, this is a society that monetises everything so go out and buy whatever you want. Don't expect to get something for nothing.
There is an interesting aspect though. What woman, or women did they get to know when they were growing up? Our childhood makes the man or woman. My contention once again is if society wants to be better, it needs to give parents the opportunity to show love to their children, and the authorities show love to the parents by helping them, with frequent workshops on parenting tied to weekly child allowance payments, goods when needed, a family holiday once a year with workshops for the parents on how to handle their problems and enjoy successful outcomes with their kids. Women being good mothers and happy in themselves would eventually see happy, capable young men go off into the world. Not these sad types who hate everyone because they dislike themselves, and no-one has ever shown them they are likable.
Why it takes Newsroom to do the job of the SIS outing these guys is beyond me.
It would be justifiable common-sense to assume that the SIS has a bias in favour of surveilling people who present a credible threat to current accumulations of wealth/power or to the mechanisms for continuing that accumulation. Such as environmentalists, anti-free trade campaigners, anti-povery activists etc, – not racist nutters.
Same question could be asked of TVNZ/RNZ and should be but don't hold your breath with club member Kris and his former employer.
The SIS is an extension of the CIA and the NZ govt doesn't have much input into its operations.
That's why they are more interested in left wing greens and environmental activists .As opposed to right wing terrorists who they have deliberately overlooked.
[ Oh, please!
You assert that as matter of fact. I usually reply with [Link required] but you have completely ignored the last four ones 🙁
https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/about-us/
You are in Pre-Moderation until you provide an adequate response to this Moderation note or you can take an extended Summer break – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:06 PM.
The business round table / NZ initiative /tax payers union.push a lot of untruths through their media releases.
When the business roundtable became unpopular they changed their name to try and get back in the public's good books and pretend they are independent.
They seem to use unsavory characters to push their agenda.
Hey Tricledrown you have power in your fingertips.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432644/think-tank-editor-running-far-right-blog-resigns
If you want to know what really has been been occurring inside NZ's security intelligence network – particularly in relation to the Commission of Inquiry report just released – and Paul Buchanan's overall assessment, then this podcast is a must view:
I have enjoyed for a long time the flash mob in 2012 celebrating the city and the Banco Sabadell playing Ode to Joy. To hearten themselves during Covid and all the travails it has caused in 2020 they are promising another public performance.
It is an advertisement for the bank, for the city, and for their way of life which seems so much more gracious than ours. I am disturbed by the way our education is going, there seems less music, in the universities less Humanities, and in the streets less humanity and limited portions of joy.
But this is their 2020 promise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tHrpJxinP8
And this is the former flashmob presentation, a great one and a great advertisement for the bank, well presented, great images and sound etc. and no-one had to cry 'Remember the children'!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBaHPND2QJg
Hi folks, I was talking to a mate yesty, he is an ambo. He is "not racist" but resents getting "Te Reo rammed down his throat". He was talking about getting a 'Not Guilty' t-shirt that seems to be popular in talk back circles.
There was a conversation round these parts, a few months back, along why it was inappropriate to be talking about All Lives Matter when The States was dealing with another cop that had murdered an unarmed black man.
There was a great link provided by a Standardista that summed it all up.
I am hoping someone can recall and point me in the right (no pun intended) direction.
gsays You could put the keywords in the search line at the top and see what comes up. Then under International in the Archives would be another place to search. Sometimes something is so apt that it should be framed!
Cheers grey, I will give it a go.
edit
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432641/temperatures-drop-to-freezing-levels-in-otago-southland
Linked news items today – we're in this climate thing together.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/432635/pacific-islands-forum-leaders-urged-to-target-worst-greenhouse-gas-emitters-for-climate-action
Samoan-born, New Zealand-based climate scientist Penehuro Lefale said the world's reliance on oil, gas and coal and its inability to find alternatives for "clean fuel" was the problem to the climate crisis.
Forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano called today's virtual summit, and said Pacific leaders had a duty to encourage the world into purposeful action.
The region's low-lying islands are among the worst affected by the climate crisis with threats of rising seas and increasing cyclones.
Natano said with islands on the front-line of the climate emergency, the forum's global leadership and advocacy was critical.
The forum also aimed to put pressure on world leaders.
and
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/432611/potential-black-sand-mining-operation-in-png-may-threaten-communities-endangered-leatherback-turtles
Thirty-eight kilometres of black sand beaches north of the town of Madang in Papua New Guinea could be about to be mined, threatening communities and the environment, including nesting grounds for endangered leatherback turtles.
Did anyone have a bet that this would happen?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432657/toxic-waste-in-mataura-won-t-be-removed-this-year
[deleted]
[deleted]
[please don’t post people’s personal details like that have no relevance to the political issue – weka]
Why are you posting names and addresses?
yeah, doxxing (especially on the basis of one line in a newspaper) is a dick move.
It's public information. Of interest to thinkers about business in NZ. You people find fault about everything. A big tendency to nitpick. I don’t know what you think you achieve by it.
[Ignoring the obstinacy of your comment for the moment, posting e-mail addresses here lures bots that trawl through the internet and scrape sites for e-mail addresses. This is a problem because it slows down traffic to and from the site. So, please be a good member of the TS community and help keeping the place tidy and the site running smoothly, thanks – Incognito]
Naming the relevant people involved and posting their publicly available email addresses, along with a political objective (eg emailing the directors involved to lobby them to do right) is ok. Posting individual's personal addresses, and with no clear suggestion of intent, is not ok. Doubly so in situation like this where feelings are already high.
edited.
[seeing Incog’s mod note above, a better idea would be to link to email addresses for political action purposes rather than posting on site – weka]
I posted them because they were public information. I stated that I was looking at where the directors came from, two were from Bahrain, one from London, and the others all from Invercargill and involved in fertiliser and fishing. It would interest those who follow business behaviour in NZ. I guess that seeing it wan't involving close personal relationships it would fall outside the box for many. This is a strange situation where freedom of information is frowned on. What are feelings high about for goodness sake? I'm talking about ouvea, waste from aluminium manufacturing that is going to cost NZ money to dispose of, after a lot of expensive legal work which the companies involved will wiggle out of paying as with other matters. I'm not involved in the feelings about Trevor Mallard using words that have not been passed by society's censors.
[it’s up to you grey. You’ve got the attention of moderators, and you can either do the work to understand where the boundaries are, or you can ignore the boundaries and get escalating moderations. I’m happy to explain more why the boundaries are important, but I’m not going to engage with someone who is clearly wanting an argument with moderators about moderation. See this post for why https://thestandard.org.nz/a-bit-about-how-the-standard-works/ – weka]
If that's all you said I don't think there would have been a problem.
Just admit you done wrong, learn, and move on from it.
mod note.
Why is someone's exact personal address of interest to anyone else – unless you want them to pay a visit?
Public information is public, but that doesn't mean you have to collate it into a handy list for any idiot looking for fame.
Get lost McFlock and The Alien you must be running out of hot air and haughty self-righteousness now at the end of this busy year creating dominance over everybody writing here.
See my Moderation note @ 5:56 PM.
Reads like an incitement to violence.
Utah Phillips was a pacifist, but I agree that the meme is ambiguous in this context. I'm leaving it now that the personal info is gone.
In context with the deleted dox, I drew a similar conclusion as McFlock, but good to know you're on to it
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-workers-protest-jeff-bezos-house/
This is the kind of direct action that Utah Phillips was advocating for, and what I assumed was clear, apologies for the confusion. I don't mind if it is removed.
I think he is also getting at the 'things' that do not just happen – that those who are killing earth are mostly people not 'things' and these people have names and addresses and through these can be called to account. 'Earth is dying' leaves out that the causes of death are mostly due to people and is likely to invoke a reaction of woe, there is nothing we can do.
I don't find it a call to violent action. It is written in active voice to encourage thought – the usual passive sentence construction does not encourage this.
People could write letters or peacefully picket.
Imagine if the famous speech by Winston Churchill after Dunkirk has been written in passive voice….
'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets……'
And in the days of the long-tail of the internet, empty rhetoric can become action.
A better bet might be that that before this stuff is finally removed the mighty Mataura will reach flood levels that will again threaten the storage.