Question for Lynn Prentice – I guess the full RSS feed is not coming back, but if so is there anything that can be done about the mobile version of The Standard? It works OK (but not fantastically) with posts that have up to around 50 comments, but any more than that and the scrolling locks up badly on my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Y). This means that the big posts are impossible to read on my phone.
I know that it may perform differently on different types of hardware, but of the blogs I read, only The Standard has this problem. Kiwiblog and Public Address also have posts that attract lots of comments, and I never have a problem with them.
Another solution would be a dedicated Standard app that would allow offline reading and commenting directly from the app – I understand the work involved makes something like this unlikely.
By the way, I appreciate everything you do for the site and I really like the desktop version of The Standard. Thank you.
Problem was that at the time I did the change I didn’t have time/energy to actually track down and fix a problem with overseas traffic (like virtually all RSS feeds) that was blowing our server budgets. One of the joys of having systems run on a voluntary basis by someone who does paid project work is that sometimes there simply aren’t enough hours for more than minimal voluntary work.
However the paid work eased up nearly two weeks ago when we shipped a version for certification. I’m just catching up on home stuff now (like prep for a house move in September) and fixing my workstation at home (power supply is a little too small for devices hanging off it). Then I fix the outstanding issues in the voluntary areas.
But the basic solution is that I shifted the system to cloudflare about a month ago for anything that is ‘static’ and it is generally performing pretty well. That should include the RSS feeds. I haven’t had time to check what it has done to the overseas traffic volumes and therefore the $’s per GB excess. 25GB is peanuts when you have overseas search engines, overseas bots and overseas RSS feeders reading your server for the numbers of posts, graphics and comments we have.
But the main server’s CPU and overall performance is now consistent with most of the crazy overseas traffic now being off in cloudflare. I’m anticipating that I’ll have to look at the RSS code and/or cloudflare to see how to tell it that a RSS post feed is static unless actually modified. I’ll try to get to it by this weekend
I’ll be looking at the mobile platform later in the month before I start moving. These days I have a android phone (HTC One V) and an old iPhone 3G to do some testing.
Ok – looks like cloudflare worked from the invoice that arrived yesterday for June (Cloudflare started on June 13).
For the first time since we set this NZ server up back in April 2011, we actually don’t have any excess overseas traffic to pay for.
We peaked at 102GB of overseas traffic in May last year and the previous minimum was 42GB in Jan this year. May, after all of the traffic reductions we did 46GB. June is less than 25GB.
Now I can look putting the full RSS feed back on after I make sure that the damn thing treats posts as static.
But the basic solution is that I shifted the system to cloudflare about a month ago for anything that is ‘static’ and it is generally performing pretty well
I can’t agree! I’ve had a tonne of problems with putting on comments, and what it keeps calling my ‘harmful behavior’…
I have recently acquired a Toshiba Thrive Android tablet and have been working through the mobile browsing world over the past month or so. For The Standard I use Firefox as all the other browsers have a crazy scroll to a random spot on the page issue. Dolphin is better for all round browsing but the with The Standard being a favourite place to lurk it means Firefox often wins by default.
And thanks lprent, your service to the greater good is much appreciated. Surely there are some MP’s round here that can rig up a statue or something when they begin cleaning up the ashes from the tory bonfire in the near future. On seccond thoughts lets make it a community hall to keep with tradition.
Backtracking by Labour’s MPs on the Membership having a say in selecting the Leader? Some of the inner circle have been bending the NZ Herald’s Claire Trevett’s ear: they are concerned the membership might select someone other than who they would have preferred. Yes, that is the whole point!
This is very worrying. There is a despondency in the Membership at present. Denying them a genuine say in the Leadership selection will cause major ructions.
Eh? Didn’t you read the article, Bill? It’s not backtracking if you’ve never announced a position. I think the technical term for your comment is a strawman, isn’t it?
And there isn’t any despondency in the membership that I can see, just the opposite, in fact. Steadily improving poll results, a fantastic response to the Keep Our Assets petition and the real likelihood of taking the treasury benches in a couple of years (or less) is putting smiles on the dials of the many party members I know.
I am interested TRP in what say Trade Union members will have in leadership selections. IMHP they should have a say. After all the Labour Party was born out of the Trade Union movement.
Me, too, Micky. As I see it, it would go against the constitution to not have the affiliates vote on the leadership, if the general membership does. So there will have to be some serious discussion about the proposal, but at this moment, clearly, nothing is decided. The important thing is that the concept of democratising the vote party wide is now accepted and that is reason for celebration.
Yes the trade unions are the biggest group of the working people that Labour was meant to protect and advance, not the middle class lawyers and professionals that have resulted in Labour choosing the easier Right path and not the one apparently less trod. Key could just as well have joined present Labour. He would have been welcomed, and fitted in well.
Helen Kelly CTU was really good on Radionz discussing the port situation, with Timaru losing two major shipping companies’ patronage. The CTU are thinking about the problems and reckon we are too small a country not to have integrated transport plans and that the ports should be co-ordinating not staying in the silo mentality. And Fonterra getting a cheaper rate from Lyttelton, I think, started the decline. The new shipping schedule will mean containers being trucked or railed to and from Timaru through the bigger ports.
ms True But most lawyers do not live life at the same level as working and unemployed people. Lawyers are indeed service workers but privileged ones, advisors on how the public pilot their way through the reefs of laws and regulations. And their work is usually done sitting on their bottoms in heated offices.
Needed by Labour are workers who are in the productive sector, with savvy and wide-thinking, and of course confident speakers. This is so important in these days where confident newbies like Paula Bennett received the express lift treatment to the top after having a pressure cooker propaganda course in the USA on the proper way to think and talk about welfare.
TPR, you are right that there are passionate activists. Unfortunately this passion and the series of unpopular policies/actions of the Natz is not translating into support for the leader or the party. We are still behind where we were in 2008. The membership wants to see the top table implement deep change, and not cosmetic tinkering.
Ask Claire Trevett why she wrote “Senior members said there was some concern that giving too much weight to the membership vote over the caucus vote could result in a leader being chosen who was deeply unpopular within the caucus” Te Reo, this is a legitimate concern of members who are not happy with the selection process of ’08 and ’11. The price of democracy is eternal vigilance.
It is clear that Claire has been briefed by the inner circle that the Caucus is uncomfortable with the possibility the Membership will select someone who 51% of the Caucus does not want.
Is that what is behind this briefing?
Is it an attempt to maintain the status quo for Shearer’s supporters?
As I read the article, it’s a matter of how much weight to give to the party membership vote. Giving them some say seems to be a done deal.
The concern is not that members may choose someone the caucus doesn’t want, but someone the caucus is strongly opposed to (Cunliffe immediately comes to my mind). These are the key parts of the article indicating the above:
Labour leader David Shearer said yesterday there was general consensus within the caucus that it was time for the membership to share in that vote – something the members made clear during last year’s leadership contest. He said the details were yet to be worked out, including the exact split of the vote.
[…]
It is understood the party is debating options including giving slightly more weight to the vote of party members than to the vote of the caucus or at least giving them an equal vote.
Senior members said there was some concern that giving too much weight to the membership vote over the caucus vote could result in a leader being chosen who was deeply unpopular within the caucus – a result which could be unworkable in practical terms.
However, there is also a desire to ensure the members’ vote was not purely tokenism and to give them a real influence. Debate was also under way about whether the caucus portion of the vote would be a bloc vote and how affiliated unions should be treated.
[My bold]
My view is that Labour caucus needs to get over the ABC state-of-mind. Cunliffe is about their biggest asset right now.
I agree Carol. What is more, despite the apparent pressure, a decent number of the caucus did vote for Cunliffe, even though he did not in the end win. There is a big difference between someone that almost all of the caucus does not want, due to their unreliability or such, and someone that a small group of the caucus is determined not to have. I am still unconvinced. I fear that there is a group in caucus determined to stick to BAU, when more is required.
I hope the outcome is handled with sensitivity – the core activists and members I see on this site clearly want to be treated as more than customers – they are more like shareholders. Designing a new process shouldn’t be about any one person or any one alternative history.
It really is time we had a say in who our leader is.
Two former Labour MPs missed regaining their seats by less than 10 votes. Brendon Burns who lost (if I remember correctly) by only 1 or 2 votes, and Carmel Sepuloni who lost by 9 votes. Both were Cunliffe supporters. The third unfortunate loss was Kelvin Davis who was placed too low on the list by a bunch of idiots on the Selection Committee – an oversight largely caused by a case of PC gone mad IMHO. If he was a Cunliffe supporter too (and I suspect he might have been) and the three of them had been re-elected, then the outcome might have been different.
The NSW Labor party have their state conference in a few days and the most contentious debate will be about the party’s relationship with the Aussie Greens. The political kneecapping of long time Greens leader Bob Brown by the left has led the right faction of Labor to propose not giving voting preferences to the Greens as they have recommended to supporters in the past. This could cost many Green’s MP’s their jobs, though it’s likely Labor would pick up those seats.
Labor’s NSW Secretary Sam Dastyari will put a motion that would make the Greens the ‘last cab’ and influential union leader Paul Howes has attacked them as being “anti-jobs”. Howes’ has a scathing article in the Daily Telegraph, which even suggests the NSW Blues will never win the State of Origin if the Greens continue to have an influence!
If you are tracking this debate it would be great to get regular updates on this site.
While NZLabour is nowhere near as muscular as NSW’s, it’s still a good rehearsal for what will have to happen here, where the greens are in a far stronger position at this point.
Will do, ad. It’s worth noting that their are two significant differences between the Aussie situation and ours. One is MMP, which encourages coalition building, as opposed to the FPP, dog eat dog system they have in the lower house. That system also means the Greens cannot win anything but densely populated inner city seats in the lower house, plus some proportionally based senate spots, therefore limiting them to always being an add on. Secondly, the Aussie Greens don’t have the relative pragmatism shown by Russel Norman when it comes to mining jobs, which is the dominent issue in Oz.
The guts of it seems to be that Labor know they are going be in opposition at state and federal level for the next few years and are positioning themselves as the left party with practical policies that will lead to jobs, as opposed to the Greens leftward lurch to political and environmental purity without thought to the consequences for working people. I think our Greens have got a pretty good balance, as it happens and I’m looking forward to the next government immensely.
Hello folks. Pardon my ignorance (I’ve been out of the loop for a long time) but is Crosby Textor still the PR consultants to the National Party or have they moved on to some one else in the last few years?
I am on the brink of winning a 20 year long ongoing “discussion” with a powerful and influencial matriarch who has an unfortunate political view – just think talkback radio parroting queen for starters. I am preparing for my next discussion which will cover JK’s trajectory to power hence the need to get my facts right. (Her world has recently been shattered on accepting the reality that JK is a complete con) If I win, the voting habits of three generations of her family will change for the better and in fact some of them might even make the effort to vote next time round.
I could wiki this info but I am lazy and would prefer to hear it from those who know.
I don’t know rosie, but I do know today that if you want to flummox Nat supporters and get them seriously thinking (rare I know) then start discussing the history of the financial system with them, with heavy sprinkles of John Key the Federal Reserve banker.
edit: the reason it gets them thinking is that it affects their own MONEY. money money money, it’s all there is dont you know.
edit edit: and the fact that they realise they have been conned all along…. quite the humiliation
As I understand it, references by people on the left to Crosby Textor is as much a reference to the work of the consultants, as to a style of political PR management, and a loose international network of right wing political entities with similar policies and tactics.
Crosby Textor is an international group of consultants:
They tend to not declare when they are contracted to give advice to specific political parties, so it’s not easy to know exactly when the NZ National Party has made use of them.
But CT also tends to work for right wing candidates and parties in English-speaking countries. And such parties and their leaders also tend to share information on tactics and policies – see how Key buddied-up to Cameron while in the UK recently, and the similarity of their current policies.
In 2011 Mark Textor was the campaign strategist and pollster for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s re-election and played the same role in his historic 2008 victory.
The wiki reference is telling enough of of the influence of Mark Textor at least in the 2011 campaign, as well as previous campaigns. I hadn’t realised the influence of this PR machine had gone back as far as Bolger’s days. Interesting. In regard to the PR empire and the relationship between JK and David Cameron : As well as being of an idealogical feather,JK admires and looks up to him which is dangerous for us I believe as he is interested in and influenced by the policies of the Cameron regime, even though those policies have been damaging for the Brits. A good example might be the failure of PPP’s in Britain (discussed by Gordon Campbell on Scoop and which some one posted here a few days ago)and we have been adopting those same failed policies here.
VTO. Indeed. When discussing politics with those on the right I always find it helpful to bring it back to them. They are not really interested in the actual governance of the country or the experiences of others, the real interest is themselves. Fair enough to a point, we’ve all got to look out for ourselves but generally the world view is internal. “What do I get?” “I come first” Discussing the right wingers experiences and injustices, whether real or perceived will always be a good start to a hearty discussion. In the case of the Matriarch above, it was the fact that JK doesn’t actually personally care about her and her difficulties, (which came as a huge shock to her) that has got her thinking about why she voted for him twice.
Perhaps more people are waking up, just like she is. One can only hope. In the mean time so much dammage has been done.
Good stuff Carol, I was wondering about Crosby Textor. And Karl Rove I think, was a name that registered from an article about UK and it seems that he is a dark lord in the voter mind manipulation arts. Don’t know if he was involved here, or just involved with common ideas at this high level of marketing politics and images of the future to us.
Prism, Karl Rove was and most likely still is indeed a dark lord. His turf is the US of A but he may have ventured further afield by now. He was a senior advisor to the Bush Administration. He was often lampooned on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I am just looking for references to him in “Bad President” right now. Sometimes we use humour to mask to the pain……….
So Timaru is losing the business of Maersk and Hamburg Sud, who simultaneously announced they will now bypass Timaru’s port.
This highlights a few problems. New Zealand’s ports are being played off against each other and are in a race to the bottom in terms of prices to overseas multinationals. This is unusual, as ports have an effective monopoly you would think that a collaborative approach could increase prices. After all Australian ports cost considerably more.
Anti competition measures are always raised as reasons that cooperation amongst ports cannot happen. But you have to wonder about how anti competitive it is for two major lines to simultaneously announce decisions to go elsewhere.
Seems we have screams of outrage from the business sector at any efforts to draw down the highly profitable fossil fuel industry, even if as suggested the workers affected are offered retraining for a green economy. But every other sector is fair game for ruthless and massive lay-offs with no effort to retrain, or place these workers in any other sort of gainful employment.
This exposes the hypocrisy of those who always scream about jobs vs. the environment.
Jobs and the welfare of workers are not the concern at all, this is only a cynical smokescreen for the real concern, the huge personal profits that are being made by rich investors. The same concern that sees Maersk lay off hundreds of workers without batting an eyelid
Was also pretty sad to hear the Timaru Business Association complaining about how it would cost them an extra $800 to get their stuff to a sea port. But that same business association forgot to mention all the ports workers down the road, and the impact that would have on a small town like Timaru. Families. Mortgages. Retail impact. People having to shift. Etc etc.
A pretty narrow view of economic interests from the so-called business community if all they can talk about was $800 of extra cost.
Things cost what they cost and it’s physically impossible to avoid them and the fact is that the Timaru Business Association has just cost themselves even more as shipping is far more efficient than trucking.
Cutting costs is almost never the answer as it almost always results in the wrong decision.
Not that I am having a crack at Lianne Dalziell, but the shelving of the Commerce Commission report into airport landing charges a decade ago was a real shame.
Similar situation at sea ports.
If the major ports got together and came up with a case and put the case to the Commerce Commission for less competitive behaviour (without turning into a cartel), at least the problem would start to be framed against the real oligopolists, namely the two great shipping companies.
Fonterra also has a hand in this as they apparently decided to bypass the port (after doing a sweet deal with Kiwi Rail) so there is less reason for the shipping companies to bring their vessels to Timaru. They did the same thing to New Plymouth and that port is now struggling.
This is a comment in the NBR, about the UFB roll out. Can any one shed light of it accuracy?
One of the most poorly kept secrets about the nation UFB roll out is it’s big brother aspect. If you are on UFB you will have a static ip (fixed ip) and this is not up for negotiation (even with Ipv6). The reason is that these companies have signed an agreement with the government at the behest of the US that all your information is tied to your account and IP address for 7 years. So much for a national id number, they will have all your habits and message board postings tied to your ip address. Really scary stuff, the Copyright file sharing amendment bill was stage 1, the UFB with static ip stage 2 and stage 3 is anyone’s guess. This is big brother stuff and being rolled out world wide.
that seems in conflict with reports the FBI are currently trying legal avenues to stop the implementation of Ipv6 because it apparently makes tracking much more difficult.
Headline in Granny today …
Doesn’t it make you so proud and give a you a warm fuzzy.
Lil ‘ol Nu Zild is leading the way for the succession to the Crown. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10818836
The New Zealand government is organising a Commonwealth …
After a brief argument here last night, I wondered what it was that would make the often referred to and abstract concept of “maori” people want to side with their oppressors. Are they nuts, I thought? Don’t they know the capacity for constructive life-affirming principles their heritage can supply?
Then I remembered my own deep distrust, almost hate, of my own “people”; my current reality and how it emerged and the influence of the nastiness in “my culture”. I know what my culture looks like from both the out and inside and the two pictures do not match. There’s lots of style, no substance despite material evidence and loud claims, and no meaning that’ll keep you warm in “the dark night of the soul”.
For a while last night, I couldn’t see anything good about pakeha culture. Nothing. I was blinded by anger and memory. It’s not so hard to hate one’s own people, I thought. The difference of course was that even if I lived to a hundred years old, and suffered every day, I would not be able to empathise with the effects of oppression perpetrated over generations.
Yesterday marty mars mentioned a speech by Ani Mikaera and later that evening, Descendant of Smith posted a link to it. I’m reposting it here because I think it is important it doesn’t get lost in final posts of yesterday’s Open Mike. If you read no more of this post, read the material in the link below.
There is no doubt in my mind that maori continue to bear the scars of colonisation. I have already said that pakeha guilt lurks just beneath the surface; maori grief and rage inhabit the same psychological and spiritual space, often unleashed by the smallest of triggers. But I for one do not accept that this is how things have to remain. The prospect of forever being locked into the roles of oppressor and oppressed must surely be as unfulfilling for pakeha as it is frustrating for maori. I suggest that the answer lies in Tikanga Maori. Tikanga Maori has been defined by Charles Royal as “ethical behaviour”, based on fundamental principles or values. While the practice of Tikanga may adapt over time, the underlying principles or “conceptual regulators” (as Justice Taihakurei Durie has called them), comprising of values such as whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, aroha, mana, tapu, noa, wairua and utu, do not.
Ani Mikaere: Are we all New Zealanders now? A maori response to the pakeha quest for indigeneity.
In this passage, Ani Mikaere illustrates the now famous – and often bewildering to pakeha – sentiment that has entered the awareness of most New Zealanders. It appears to be deliberate understatement and humility in the face of constant hostility. She talks of things that are “unfulfilling for pakeha” and I wonder why she cares. Then she understates the effect on maori as “frustrating”. How does the fact that the torturer chips his nail, while thrashing his captive, become a concern of the captive? Would it be within reason, and still polite, for the captive to say, “Hey, you know if you didn’t thrash me the chances of you chipping your nail would reduce significantly”. Where do maori find the confidence and energy to supply such gracious offerings? Is it just an understanding that if you approach people with goodwill you have a basis for partnership? It’s not Stockholm syndrome, something else is at work.
Generally speaking, Pakeha culture doesn’t allow this offering of concern and inter-relatedness. When we fight, we want to destroy our enemy. When we are down, we hate our oppressors. We must win at all costs or lose face. After losing face, it is fair for our own people to attack us with immunity. We call those who lose face, Losers. Losers are not helped or encouraged to get back up. For that we have the trite sayings of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps or “it’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you can get back up”. Yes, very helpful. In reality it means: do it yourself because if I touch you I’ll be associated with a loser and lose face.
So where do an oppressed people get the urge to continually offer the olive branch of a new beginning over and over again? Has the pakeha elevation of “the win” and loudly proclaimed virtuous ideals, debased us; while our victims, forced to follow the path of the oppressed, discovered moral truths? Who knows. But it’s pretty stark, no?
I agree that the oppressed/oppressor relationship must end. How to end it, or if it will end naturally, is up for debate. There are certainly things pakeha could do for themselves to prepare the ground.
In Ani Mikaere’s speech she talks about post colonial pakeha experiencing a loss of identity and the various manifestations of racism and destructive attitudes this loss produces. As one of those PCP’s myself, I have experienced it personally. I grew up listening to my father’s delusions about being British – even though he was chucked out for overstaying, while a young man. The Brits don’t want us colonials. Historical disgust of colonials by the Empire is easy to find, anecdotal evidence is just my experience of it. Later I was given the right to work and live in the UK and did for while. But despite finding a few people my age who weren’t interested in the English class system, largely, I was shut out. My accent gave the perfect opportunity of an excuse. Oh, I’m a colonial? Funny ideas those chaps. We do things differently here, old boy! New Zealanders aren’t British, by any stretch.
When I came home, I tried immersing myself in pakeha culture and couldn’t, because you can’t immerse yourself in a puddle. As Ani Mikaere mentions, the nature of my research turned up some unpleasant historical truths. At first, I could just ignore them. There were lots of outward “things to do” to look like you belonged, but no spiritual connection. Then when I couldn’t ignore the other side of the story anymore, I investigated maori lore and the beliefs of other non-English groups who came here as immigrants. The maori stuff I could get a handle on because there was an easy route in; the bush and forest provided more or less the same historical environment and helped to lift the ideas off the page and into the present. However, it was also pretty clear that even if the impossible (and undesirable) happened and I was awarded honorary maori status, I could not take the final step and become maori in a spiritual sense. Studies in psychology had spelled that out. In real terms, after being to my “ancestral home”, I was now aware of a connection to two places where neither was strong enough to be useful and neither of them were maori. One place recognised me but didn’t want me, the other didn’t particularly want me, but would let me stick around.
As a post colonial pakeha, I had no home that included a collective undistrubed past and a natural path of progression to the future. My entire cultural history existed only within the parameters of my lifetime. Anything extra would be imagination. By leaving the origin and being absent for a length of time, a colonial gives up the natural historical influences and environment that allows him to be called, British or German, or whatever. The necessity to adapt to a new place using new techniques and social arrangements comes at the cost of the old collective identity. The first settlers could have gone home and just been given a metaphorical slap on the hand, as if they were away on holiday too long. The children of a colonial might be able to go home, but they’d be a treated as a bit suspect. Once you reach to grandchildren, you’re stuffed, not just socially, but internally. There is no going back. So then what do we do? It may interest you to know we aren’t alone in our problem. Did you know there are fractured Polish links to the Caribbean?
I wandered aimlessly, in a spiritual sense, for a long time. Western religion couldn’t fix it. I used working, drinking, barbequing, engaging in entertaining fads, that sort of thing. I’m embarrassed to say that at times my suppression of displacement emerged in what I now know as racism and oppressive acts. I’d ask questions to which I didn’t really want an answer. All they did was announce my spiritual displacement to people who I believed were secure. Anger was a good enough vent. I had no idea of the concept of power structures. So I can understand how it is that in modern NZ you still get pockets of people thinking that as pakeha they are oppressed by other cultures and that “we have rights too”. Racism, or trying to re-create a reality from pages of The History of The British Empire is the final warm place before a person must step off and become real.
Ani Mikaere says pakeha need to learn to trust that despite the horrors they’ve inflicted on maori, maori aren’t particularly out to get pakeha. This is going to be a problematic mental process to many, even if they can understand the imbalance of power that pakeha and maori relations have. Pakeha culture has trained us to not trust the people we have just be trying to eradicate. We eagerly project that attitude onto others in the concept of justifiable revenge. To pakeha, it is an eye for an eye mentality. If you go to bludgeon someone and then stop before the death blow and bow your head, historically, the aggressor who gave up the advantage was dispatched without hesitation. It’s a collective mental twitch we have.
In modern terms, we are taught everyday that the past predicts the future; that one bad employee means all employees are suspect and more restrictions are necessary; that a tenant behaves badly so the chances of all future tenants behaving badly increases; a few old cars crash, so all old cars should not be on the road; a few women on the DPB have extra children, so all DPB recipients are breeding for a business. We hone our laws around the concept, everyday. We cannot easily reach the philosophical release of control over our lives and accept the uncomfortable feeling that comes with knowing the likelihood of events, but also allowing the truth that the future is uncertain, unformed and subject to chance, to hold sway. We are a simple experience based, prone-to-extrapolation, people. There needs to be a safe-ish middle step people can take on their own, in private. As scary as it seems, the best I can think of is to ask people to re-examine the meaning and processes of success and failure that underpin our society; and to consider that embracing the personal identity questions that post colonial existence asks will reach a better faster solution than running from them.
What I discovered for myself, was that it is because I have no “home”, that I have the option of going (mentally) pretty much where I like. It is because I do not have a historical image to adhere to that I can embrace parts of any society I choose. It is because my spirituality is not attached to a permanent external physical place that it remains completely mobile – attached only to the demands of my nature. This means that the only time I feel under threat from a “foreign” culture is when I have not acknowledged my own internal problems. There’s no place to hide. It means I can continue to learn what it is I can give up, in terms of control of external events in my life and within social and gender roles. It means I can learn how to make space for others to express themselves as fully as pakeha do and generally take for granted. I won’t kid you that it’s all fun and giggles. The more I try to think it out beforehand, the harder it gets and fear is always lurking nearby. But it is interesting and it seems that no matter how far I go there will always be an infinite amount I will not know.
Maori have their heritage and traditional knowledge and, although it was violently interrupted, evidence suggests they have the option of a natural progression toward the future. This way of natural progression is just as sacred and correct for them as my way is to me. The prospect of maori being maori does not threaten my way now or in the future. I have a level of security that emerged by being forced to explore the insecurity of post colonial existence; supported by the option and ability to look in many different directions; and a future that is largely undefined. My experience is not so unusual and I think it is completely possible that Ani Mikaere’s dream of a new inter-related NZ can happen.
My particular verison of this is having framed in oak one of the few copies of Parliament’s Hansard maps from straight after the Land Wars which determined where the confiscation lines would be drawn, and how much they would take.
It makes for a big stark reminder in the lounge above the fireplace. And a great conversation starter with the relatives.
Optimistic.
We could meet?
Im big on Openess and Conscientiousness apparently, according to certain high priests.
Oh the stories i could tell…
but putting me aside a little
xcept opinion
the stuff i find helpful on this particular site are analyses like u-turns and the quick links by DTB and JOE 90 et al;
These, and many others, are clearly to me, very intelligent people in the multidimensional sense.
However, for a seeker of helpfulness for our people, some of the posts leave me feeling quite sad.
Leadership.
And this whole fallacy of non-contradiction thing! Dialectic and synthesis is more helpful.
Learn about how the cognitions of eg, Westerners and East Asians differ. I imagine there are parallels between our peoples.
Think about how “plugged in” most people are to ideas, particularly dominant ideas, these days since the IT revolution. Was once mainly the paper, the tele, the school and the church for example.
Thats why the term INFORMATION WAR is so apt.
I too, initially commented here and there to release emotion….still can do
But Uturn and others taught me to seek and be helpful,
So a blog is not just an “echo chamber”.
Re annoyances, ignored behaviour or non-adaptive behaviour usually becomes extinct.
History may reflect that the post-war Baby Boomer generation were the “lucky generation”, Generations X Y and I the “post-modern enlightenment generations” that lasted until AUTHORITY needed to shut it down.
I confess to some mastaburtory and cognitively copulant SLOGANEERING initially but its not helpful really.But These are post-modern times after all….
HELPFUL. The wikipedia article on NIHILISM seems like a good leaping off point for the brave as it links to all the helpful thinkers,
and the TAO TE CHING. Amazing how much thinking and writing has gone into relating NIETZSCHE and TAOISM.
and seeing as the Maori came from EAST ASIA,
soooo HANDLE THE JANDAL and see everything anew, as for the first time.
It may all end in tears but even NIETZSCHE advocated a “cheerful philosophy”
Cease the struggle against the self and you will be able to embrace all people
The Essence of Nature, that is all There Is
Abandon negative thoughts and thinking
ABANDON ROMANTICISM to commence SELF-LIBERATION.
I agree that DTB, JOE90 et al. are skilled in assembling the larger picture. You are going too far, however, in awarding me a level of intelligence I don’t possess. Mostly it the result of cobbling together enough to ease my own discomfort, realising the enormity and impossibility of the project and turning the act of knowing when to stop into something that looks passably rational. Ricocheting from righteous ideals to anger, then hypocrisy, cheerful optimism and accepting life as it is – and back again – is normal for me.
My apologies if inadvertently “teaching you to be helpful” has interrupted your own important normal processes. You are under no obligation to listen to me and I wouldn’t like to think you’re out there holding your breath for some reason.
I would be interested in reading a post on Sam Hall’s Guide to Active Nihilism, soon, though. I suppose I could read a book, but a personal lens would breathe something extra into it, don’t you think? It’s up to you.
I appreciate your post Uturn. Lots of good insight there.
“I know what my culture looks like from both the out and inside and the two pictures do not match. There’s lots of style, no substance despite material evidence and loud claims, and no meaning that’ll keep you warm in “the dark night of the soul”. ”
I think this is both very true, and not quite the whole truth.
We are not so very distant from our own cultural oppression. I say this not as an excuse for what has happened and been done in this country, but because I think Pakeha will have to look at their histories and how that informs current culture, in order to change.
I also tend to the view that it’s not that we don’t have (meaningful) culture but that we can’t see it. What kind of blindness is that?
There was a period in the 80’s when I was in Wanganui when I went back to my school centenary at NPBHS and read an article by Albert Wendt in the centennial magazine that questioned why he had to go to university to discover the story of Parihaka.
That set me as a young man on a journey to find out more about our history and I found this totally fascinating, and much more so than that of other countries.
While short much of our post-European culture is well documented, and in many respects because of that, we can have a treaty settlement process. Evidence of land confiscated, stolen, incorrectly purchased, legislation passed and so on is in abundant supply.
There are certainly those sorts of aspects about our colonisation of this country that hold us in good stead – not the legislation itself but the records of it.
One of the things I came to understand was that the deeds of institutions, e.g. Otamatea, for wayward children for set up originally for the Irish Catholic kids whose parents oft rarely talked about where they had come from and what they had left. The 80s however was a time some three or four generations along when it was suddenly becoming cool to be Irish and have that as part of your heritage. Those generations were in some small way taking a stand and saying it’s OK.
The great thing was that I could see the same thing happening for Maori. The resurgance of the interest in the culture, the activism particularly of the women, the development of Kohanga Reo and so on.
I’ve always therefore been optimistic therefore about the future for this country and while I despair at the likes of Key and Brash they are the last remnants of an aging racist bunch of people who will no longer be with us.
What I do know is that my trust in Maori to look after this country is much greater than my trust in people like those who inhabit the National party. What I also know is that there are plenty of Pakeha who also share similar views on community and family and land use and so on – even though the concepts might not quite be the same.
The future is not about our differences – they should be nurtured and enjoyed and delighted in – it’s about our commonality and our joint vision for this to be a great place.
I really would love to see 45 Maori seats elected how they see fit and 45 non-Maori seats elected via MMP ( or 60/60 or whatever). I think we would have a much better country as a result.
I’ve floated the notion over the years and found a good number of people who would have no problem with that.
It would take a significant paradigm shift for the overall population but that shift really is about what was espoused earlier – trust in Maori.
It’s why I thought it worth mentioning again – it fitted the context of this post.
I’m a fan of Edward de Bono as well as was always taken by the concept of putting the intake for a plant that needed water downstream from the discharge so the factory got to use it’s own water back again – sometimes a different way of looking at things is useful.
Personally I see nothing to fear from such an equitable partnership.
I’d be interested as to whether others would be fearful or supportive of such an arrangment -or something in between. Would you support such a governance model?
The blindness brought about by fear. The kind of fear that has it’s power outside the reach of consciousness, so a person can say they can’t find it, but it is still there, waiting to emerge as it should, at the correct time.
To my eye pakeha culture consists of moments of good intent, overshadowed by greed, cowardice and personal issues projected onto the weak, young and old. What was the old line? “…fires lit by the white man’s lust for our land, and fanned by the breath of God.” It sums it up brilliantly, but fails to add what you say, that the fires also burn the arsonist. Which they have. It doesn’t embarrass me that maori have known what pakeha’s problem was before pakeha did.
Pakeha are big on promoting their nature, especially heroic historical nature, to the point of losing sight of current reality. Not so big on nurture, except in that it helps create living targets for our nature to either destroy, or by coincidence, reaffirm the brutality and of our natures. It’s a vile game. Charging around treating everything as a competition, with an attached emotional hysteria as if we were channelling the real fear of ancients when wolves entered the village; or warring tribes arriving at the edge of the forest; when it is just us lost in our greed, lack of self awareness or hate. If only it was so easy as telling people, “You’re being XYZ right now. Why not do the opposite.” I’ve tried it and lost all sorts of things, including my family. You can’t talk people into enlightenment. Now that, is frustrating.
Our current “meaningful” culture means something to those of a particular disposition. Every people has their natural born warriors. The rest of us are asked to tear ourselves apart imitating things we know are wrong for us, suppressing our variability, adding to the problems played out in the news everyday; and field demands to become willing victims (We even tell our victims we know the game, and demand they play along anyway); or we have to keep silent to avoid the attacks of our own people who are in love with the bombastic traits of the warrior hero.
There is no way to directly influence a culture so completely focused on maintaining an imbalanced status quo with just my own acts and thoughts. March up Queen Street with a placard into waiting paddy wagons; write a book that joins the millions of other books no one reads and that changes nothing; vote for the newest political party that has to use a corrupted system to participate; the result is the same.
If a pakeha person digs back through time, past medieval social arrangements, to pre-Roman England if you like, all they get are some fragments of a people no one knows much about and a language no one speaks or understands anymore. Most of the land those people inhabited is gone, now covered in high-rise slums full of piss and needles. What is left of the fragments have been taken up and turned into a New Age subculture by those rich enough to live in the English countryside, meaningful to them, but meaningless to me. There isn’t enough on which to base a critique of current NZ pakeha reality in a way that will relight an inherited dormant memory. The old gods are silent in my part of the world.
It’s pretty obvious that colonisation, by definition, breaks every moral rule ever dreamed up by humans. People colonise their inner world with ideas and their outer world with desires. We even send probes into space to find aliens. Let’s hope they aren’t anything like humans. Colonisation is simple: One group goes to another place with the express purpose of stealing other people’s stuff and sending it home for profit. Pakeha have been doing it so long, and have been so eager to cover their tracks, there is no way simple adjustments can solve the problem anymore.
The collective human story evolves over time, as you know, and this challenge NZ faces and has been butting up against since pakeha met maori is another opportunity to find a way forward in that larger human story. There may be some good points of pakeha culture out there, being lived by any number of pakeha somebodies. They may know them as a moral or ethical behaviour, supported by the same ethical foundations that Ani Mikaere says is unchanging in Tikanga maori and that Descendant of Smith seeks out below. So why are we constantly elevating and supporting leaders who will not acknowledge that human life has ethical laws that cross boundaries of culture and place? Why are we arranging new political parties around systems we know will undermine any possibility for creating a place where ethical laws can exist?
I my opinion, examining cultural history isn’t going to help pakeha change. We’ve already overdosed on history. Imperialism is the act of doing things solely to be remembered throughout history. A fear of death, if you like. I think that the Chinese had it right when they said that god doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so if we acknowledge that indescribable environment, we find it supplies a natural harmony for all things no matter who you are or where you stand; and fear of death is no more frightening than sleeping and dreaming or waking in the morning.
Pakeha fear maori because they threaten our efforts to immortality, they way we think it should be done, and they remind us – through us attempting to force them to imitate our ways – that we are mortal. If there is no god offering an afterlife, we see death as the ultimate deadline and excuse for as much hedonism we can get before that point. Even if there is a god, we still don’t like the idea of dying. We can’t even handle aging or deformity. Anything that does not run away from death is unacceptable. So we set up lists of what looks beautiful, young and good and things to avoid, like those that are ugly, old and near death. And we freak out and need retail therapy. And then maori come along and say, “Hold on there, pale face, you can’t have your anxious hedonism here. Your fun is destroying my life.”
So I also agree with DoS, below. Although I don’t think politics will solve the underlying philosophical issue, in real terms, having maori running the show, with their understanding of connectedness and interrelation; rather than pakeha elevating fragmented pieces just to ease anxiety; will result in better outcomes than we have now.
We all need a big dose of re-enculturalisation as Rawiri Taonui calls it. The document below dispels some of the persistent myths around a disturbing area.
Everyone would benefit from it re-enculturalisation. The success of adding cultural knowledge to rehabilitation services is proven, for Maori and others. Recividism rates fall, dramatically. The document below shows how this works for serious offenders.
Adding Māori cultural knowledge would also work for those who aren’t in the justice system – it is the big missing part of the solution for this country. That is what the government should be spending billions on because it would really change the dynamic of the relationship between people. Knowledge is power which is why it is highly protected within Māoridom but concepts can still be explained and they can illuminate.
For instance i have just finished a course on whare whakairo (carved meeting houses). Traditional Māori carving showed an aspective representation which depicts things objectively and ideally as they really are, timeless and containing all their parts as opposed to perspective representation, which shows things from one viewpoint at one instant of time. I found that explanation really helpful in understanding Māori concepts of time, as Johansen (1954) describes, “Time itself in the Māori view, then, is considered as belonging to the action more than as being absolute. Thus the actions of the kinship group are not only significant as true expressions of life in the ancestors, but also of life in the living: for the same life, the same mana, is active through the history of the kinship group.”
We are who we are and we have arrived or been born on this waka for whatever reason. We are the continuation of our ancestors and our descendants. We are connected and our mana is ours and theirs. Our kinship groups are whatever they are too and i think that is positive. Māori are the indigenous people of this land and as Māori mana increases so does the mana of all who live, love and die here.
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Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Question for Lynn Prentice – I guess the full RSS feed is not coming back, but if so is there anything that can be done about the mobile version of The Standard? It works OK (but not fantastically) with posts that have up to around 50 comments, but any more than that and the scrolling locks up badly on my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Y). This means that the big posts are impossible to read on my phone.
I know that it may perform differently on different types of hardware, but of the blogs I read, only The Standard has this problem. Kiwiblog and Public Address also have posts that attract lots of comments, and I never have a problem with them.
Another solution would be a dedicated Standard app that would allow offline reading and commenting directly from the app – I understand the work involved makes something like this unlikely.
By the way, I appreciate everything you do for the site and I really like the desktop version of The Standard. Thank you.
The Standard always crashes the browser on my iPod touch before the page finishes loading – I imagine there’s the same problem on the iPhone.
The RSS full feed IS likely to come back shortly.
Problem was that at the time I did the change I didn’t have time/energy to actually track down and fix a problem with overseas traffic (like virtually all RSS feeds) that was blowing our server budgets. One of the joys of having systems run on a voluntary basis by someone who does paid project work is that sometimes there simply aren’t enough hours for more than minimal voluntary work.
However the paid work eased up nearly two weeks ago when we shipped a version for certification. I’m just catching up on home stuff now (like prep for a house move in September) and fixing my workstation at home (power supply is a little too small for devices hanging off it). Then I fix the outstanding issues in the voluntary areas.
But the basic solution is that I shifted the system to cloudflare about a month ago for anything that is ‘static’ and it is generally performing pretty well. That should include the RSS feeds. I haven’t had time to check what it has done to the overseas traffic volumes and therefore the $’s per GB excess. 25GB is peanuts when you have overseas search engines, overseas bots and overseas RSS feeders reading your server for the numbers of posts, graphics and comments we have.
But the main server’s CPU and overall performance is now consistent with most of the crazy overseas traffic now being off in cloudflare. I’m anticipating that I’ll have to look at the RSS code and/or cloudflare to see how to tell it that a RSS post feed is static unless actually modified. I’ll try to get to it by this weekend
I’ll be looking at the mobile platform later in the month before I start moving. These days I have a android phone (HTC One V) and an old iPhone 3G to do some testing.
Ok – looks like cloudflare worked from the invoice that arrived yesterday for June (Cloudflare started on June 13).
For the first time since we set this NZ server up back in April 2011, we actually don’t have any excess overseas traffic to pay for.
We peaked at 102GB of overseas traffic in May last year and the previous minimum was 42GB in Jan this year. May, after all of the traffic reductions we did 46GB. June is less than 25GB.
Now I can look putting the full RSS feed back on after I make sure that the damn thing treats posts as static.
lprent
Terrific – don’t know how you do it but you do.
I can’t agree! I’ve had a tonne of problems with putting on comments, and what it keeps calling my ‘harmful behavior’…
I have recently acquired a Toshiba Thrive Android tablet and have been working through the mobile browsing world over the past month or so. For The Standard I use Firefox as all the other browsers have a crazy scroll to a random spot on the page issue. Dolphin is better for all round browsing but the with The Standard being a favourite place to lurk it means Firefox often wins by default.
And thanks lprent, your service to the greater good is much appreciated. Surely there are some MP’s round here that can rig up a statue or something when they begin cleaning up the ashes from the tory bonfire in the near future. On seccond thoughts lets make it a community hall to keep with tradition.
Backtracking by Labour’s MPs on the Membership having a say in selecting the Leader? Some of the inner circle have been bending the NZ Herald’s Claire Trevett’s ear: they are concerned the membership might select someone other than who they would have preferred. Yes, that is the whole point!
This is very worrying. There is a despondency in the Membership at present. Denying them a genuine say in the Leadership selection will cause major ructions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10818766
Eh? Didn’t you read the article, Bill? It’s not backtracking if you’ve never announced a position. I think the technical term for your comment is a strawman, isn’t it?
And there isn’t any despondency in the membership that I can see, just the opposite, in fact. Steadily improving poll results, a fantastic response to the Keep Our Assets petition and the real likelihood of taking the treasury benches in a couple of years (or less) is putting smiles on the dials of the many party members I know.
I am interested TRP in what say Trade Union members will have in leadership selections. IMHP they should have a say. After all the Labour Party was born out of the Trade Union movement.
Me, too, Micky. As I see it, it would go against the constitution to not have the affiliates vote on the leadership, if the general membership does. So there will have to be some serious discussion about the proposal, but at this moment, clearly, nothing is decided. The important thing is that the concept of democratising the vote party wide is now accepted and that is reason for celebration.
Yes the trade unions are the biggest group of the working people that Labour was meant to protect and advance, not the middle class lawyers and professionals that have resulted in Labour choosing the easier Right path and not the one apparently less trod. Key could just as well have joined present Labour. He would have been welcomed, and fitted in well.
Helen Kelly CTU was really good on Radionz discussing the port situation, with Timaru losing two major shipping companies’ patronage. The CTU are thinking about the problems and reckon we are too small a country not to have integrated transport plans and that the ports should be co-ordinating not staying in the silo mentality. And Fonterra getting a cheaper rate from Lyttelton, I think, started the decline. The new shipping schedule will mean containers being trucked or railed to and from Timaru through the bigger ports.
Not all middle class lawyers are right wingers 😀
Thank goodness! 😉
ms True But most lawyers do not live life at the same level as working and unemployed people. Lawyers are indeed service workers but privileged ones, advisors on how the public pilot their way through the reefs of laws and regulations. And their work is usually done sitting on their bottoms in heated offices.
Needed by Labour are workers who are in the productive sector, with savvy and wide-thinking, and of course confident speakers. This is so important in these days where confident newbies like Paula Bennett received the express lift treatment to the top after having a pressure cooker propaganda course in the USA on the proper way to think and talk about welfare.
Helen will make a first class party leader.
Sorry Andrew but she has charisma too.
TPR, you are right that there are passionate activists. Unfortunately this passion and the series of unpopular policies/actions of the Natz is not translating into support for the leader or the party. We are still behind where we were in 2008. The membership wants to see the top table implement deep change, and not cosmetic tinkering.
Ask Claire Trevett why she wrote “Senior members said there was some concern that giving too much weight to the membership vote over the caucus vote could result in a leader being chosen who was deeply unpopular within the caucus”
Te Reo, this is a legitimate concern of members who are not happy with the selection process of ’08 and ’11. The price of democracy is eternal vigilance.
It is clear that Claire has been briefed by the inner circle that the Caucus is uncomfortable with the possibility the Membership will select someone who 51% of the Caucus does not want.
Is that what is behind this briefing?
Is it an attempt to maintain the status quo for Shearer’s supporters?
Clearly the ABC faction are at it again. I’d really love to know why they hate David Cunliffe so much.
It’s possible that he represents significant change in the Labour Party and conservatives, no matter their stripe, hate change.
Professional jealousy Blue?
As I read the article, it’s a matter of how much weight to give to the party membership vote. Giving them some say seems to be a done deal.
The concern is not that members may choose someone the caucus doesn’t want, but someone the caucus is strongly opposed to (Cunliffe immediately comes to my mind). These are the key parts of the article indicating the above:
[My bold]
My view is that Labour caucus needs to get over the ABC state-of-mind. Cunliffe is about their biggest asset right now.
I agree Carol. What is more, despite the apparent pressure, a decent number of the caucus did vote for Cunliffe, even though he did not in the end win. There is a big difference between someone that almost all of the caucus does not want, due to their unreliability or such, and someone that a small group of the caucus is determined not to have. I am still unconvinced. I fear that there is a group in caucus determined to stick to BAU, when more is required.
Hear, hear
I hope the outcome is handled with sensitivity – the core activists and members I see on this site clearly want to be treated as more than customers – they are more like shareholders. Designing a new process shouldn’t be about any one person or any one alternative history.
It really is time we had a say in who our leader is.
+ 1 Carol, Olwyn, Jenny and ad. Actually I also agree with BillOdrees comments and relate to the despondency he mentions.
Two former Labour MPs missed regaining their seats by less than 10 votes. Brendon Burns who lost (if I remember correctly) by only 1 or 2 votes, and Carmel Sepuloni who lost by 9 votes. Both were Cunliffe supporters. The third unfortunate loss was Kelvin Davis who was placed too low on the list by a bunch of idiots on the Selection Committee – an oversight largely caused by a case of PC gone mad IMHO. If he was a Cunliffe supporter too (and I suspect he might have been) and the three of them had been re-elected, then the outcome might have been different.
No problem with iPhone or iPad
The NSW Labor party have their state conference in a few days and the most contentious debate will be about the party’s relationship with the Aussie Greens. The political kneecapping of long time Greens leader Bob Brown by the left has led the right faction of Labor to propose not giving voting preferences to the Greens as they have recommended to supporters in the past. This could cost many Green’s MP’s their jobs, though it’s likely Labor would pick up those seats.
Labor’s NSW Secretary Sam Dastyari will put a motion that would make the Greens the ‘last cab’ and influential union leader Paul Howes has attacked them as being “anti-jobs”. Howes’ has a scathing article in the Daily Telegraph, which even suggests the NSW Blues will never win the State of Origin if the Greens continue to have an influence!
If you are tracking this debate it would be great to get regular updates on this site.
While NZLabour is nowhere near as muscular as NSW’s, it’s still a good rehearsal for what will have to happen here, where the greens are in a far stronger position at this point.
Will do, ad. It’s worth noting that their are two significant differences between the Aussie situation and ours. One is MMP, which encourages coalition building, as opposed to the FPP, dog eat dog system they have in the lower house. That system also means the Greens cannot win anything but densely populated inner city seats in the lower house, plus some proportionally based senate spots, therefore limiting them to always being an add on. Secondly, the Aussie Greens don’t have the relative pragmatism shown by Russel Norman when it comes to mining jobs, which is the dominent issue in Oz.
The guts of it seems to be that Labor know they are going be in opposition at state and federal level for the next few years and are positioning themselves as the left party with practical policies that will lead to jobs, as opposed to the Greens leftward lurch to political and environmental purity without thought to the consequences for working people. I think our Greens have got a pretty good balance, as it happens and I’m looking forward to the next government immensely.
Hello folks. Pardon my ignorance (I’ve been out of the loop for a long time) but is Crosby Textor still the PR consultants to the National Party or have they moved on to some one else in the last few years?
I am on the brink of winning a 20 year long ongoing “discussion” with a powerful and influencial matriarch who has an unfortunate political view – just think talkback radio parroting queen for starters. I am preparing for my next discussion which will cover JK’s trajectory to power hence the need to get my facts right. (Her world has recently been shattered on accepting the reality that JK is a complete con) If I win, the voting habits of three generations of her family will change for the better and in fact some of them might even make the effort to vote next time round.
I could wiki this info but I am lazy and would prefer to hear it from those who know.
I don’t know rosie, but I do know today that if you want to flummox Nat supporters and get them seriously thinking (rare I know) then start discussing the history of the financial system with them, with heavy sprinkles of John Key the Federal Reserve banker.
edit: the reason it gets them thinking is that it affects their own MONEY. money money money, it’s all there is dont you know.
edit edit: and the fact that they realise they have been conned all along…. quite the humiliation
As I understand it, references by people on the left to Crosby Textor is as much a reference to the work of the consultants, as to a style of political PR management, and a loose international network of right wing political entities with similar policies and tactics.
Crosby Textor is an international group of consultants:
http://www.crosbytextor.com/
They tend to not declare when they are contracted to give advice to specific political parties, so it’s not easy to know exactly when the NZ National Party has made use of them.
But CT also tends to work for right wing candidates and parties in English-speaking countries. And such parties and their leaders also tend to share information on tactics and policies – see how Key buddied-up to Cameron while in the UK recently, and the similarity of their current policies.
But there’s this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Textor#Recent_work
Thanks VTO and Carol.
The wiki reference is telling enough of of the influence of Mark Textor at least in the 2011 campaign, as well as previous campaigns. I hadn’t realised the influence of this PR machine had gone back as far as Bolger’s days. Interesting. In regard to the PR empire and the relationship between JK and David Cameron : As well as being of an idealogical feather,JK admires and looks up to him which is dangerous for us I believe as he is interested in and influenced by the policies of the Cameron regime, even though those policies have been damaging for the Brits. A good example might be the failure of PPP’s in Britain (discussed by Gordon Campbell on Scoop and which some one posted here a few days ago)and we have been adopting those same failed policies here.
VTO. Indeed. When discussing politics with those on the right I always find it helpful to bring it back to them. They are not really interested in the actual governance of the country or the experiences of others, the real interest is themselves. Fair enough to a point, we’ve all got to look out for ourselves but generally the world view is internal. “What do I get?” “I come first” Discussing the right wingers experiences and injustices, whether real or perceived will always be a good start to a hearty discussion. In the case of the Matriarch above, it was the fact that JK doesn’t actually personally care about her and her difficulties, (which came as a huge shock to her) that has got her thinking about why she voted for him twice.
Perhaps more people are waking up, just like she is. One can only hope. In the mean time so much dammage has been done.
Good stuff Carol, I was wondering about Crosby Textor. And Karl Rove I think, was a name that registered from an article about UK and it seems that he is a dark lord in the voter mind manipulation arts. Don’t know if he was involved here, or just involved with common ideas at this high level of marketing politics and images of the future to us.
Prism, Karl Rove was and most likely still is indeed a dark lord. His turf is the US of A but he may have ventured further afield by now. He was a senior advisor to the Bush Administration. He was often lampooned on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I am just looking for references to him in “Bad President” right now. Sometimes we use humour to mask to the pain……….
he really was pure evil
Yes Rosie that’s how it seems to me. I had another insightful! comment to ad but pressed the wrong button and it vanished. Damn.
So Timaru is losing the business of Maersk and Hamburg Sud, who simultaneously announced they will now bypass Timaru’s port.
This highlights a few problems. New Zealand’s ports are being played off against each other and are in a race to the bottom in terms of prices to overseas multinationals. This is unusual, as ports have an effective monopoly you would think that a collaborative approach could increase prices. After all Australian ports cost considerably more.
Anti competition measures are always raised as reasons that cooperation amongst ports cannot happen. But you have to wonder about how anti competitive it is for two major lines to simultaneously announce decisions to go elsewhere.
Seems we have screams of outrage from the business sector at any efforts to draw down the highly profitable fossil fuel industry, even if as suggested the workers affected are offered retraining for a green economy. But every other sector is fair game for ruthless and massive lay-offs with no effort to retrain, or place these workers in any other sort of gainful employment.
This exposes the hypocrisy of those who always scream about jobs vs. the environment.
Jobs and the welfare of workers are not the concern at all, this is only a cynical smokescreen for the real concern, the huge personal profits that are being made by rich investors. The same concern that sees Maersk lay off hundreds of workers without batting an eyelid
Was also pretty sad to hear the Timaru Business Association complaining about how it would cost them an extra $800 to get their stuff to a sea port. But that same business association forgot to mention all the ports workers down the road, and the impact that would have on a small town like Timaru. Families. Mortgages. Retail impact. People having to shift. Etc etc.
A pretty narrow view of economic interests from the so-called business community if all they can talk about was $800 of extra cost.
To be fair, that’s $800 they might not have in wages for their own staff, with the associated down-stream effects.
Things cost what they cost and it’s physically impossible to avoid them and the fact is that the Timaru Business Association has just cost themselves even more as shipping is far more efficient than trucking.
Cutting costs is almost never the answer as it almost always results in the wrong decision.
Not that I am having a crack at Lianne Dalziell, but the shelving of the Commerce Commission report into airport landing charges a decade ago was a real shame.
Similar situation at sea ports.
If the major ports got together and came up with a case and put the case to the Commerce Commission for less competitive behaviour (without turning into a cartel), at least the problem would start to be framed against the real oligopolists, namely the two great shipping companies.
Fonterra also has a hand in this as they apparently decided to bypass the port (after doing a sweet deal with Kiwi Rail) so there is less reason for the shipping companies to bring their vessels to Timaru. They did the same thing to New Plymouth and that port is now struggling.
This is a comment in the NBR, about the UFB roll out. Can any one shed light of it accuracy?
One of the most poorly kept secrets about the nation UFB roll out is it’s big brother aspect. If you are on UFB you will have a static ip (fixed ip) and this is not up for negotiation (even with Ipv6). The reason is that these companies have signed an agreement with the government at the behest of the US that all your information is tied to your account and IP address for 7 years. So much for a national id number, they will have all your habits and message board postings tied to your ip address. Really scary stuff, the Copyright file sharing amendment bill was stage 1, the UFB with static ip stage 2 and stage 3 is anyone’s guess. This is big brother stuff and being rolled out world wide.
that seems in conflict with reports the FBI are currently trying legal avenues to stop the implementation of Ipv6 because it apparently makes tracking much more difficult.
Unlikely and not the case at the moment.
http://www.orcon.net.nz/support/gfaq_page/is_my_ufb_ip_dynamic_static_or_fixed
They can do all that already. Having a dynamic IP address just means that they have to check the records with a simple time/date search.
Headline in Granny today …
Doesn’t it make you so proud and give a you a warm fuzzy.
Lil ‘ol Nu Zild is leading the way for the succession to the Crown.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10818836
The New Zealand government is organising a Commonwealth …
After a brief argument here last night, I wondered what it was that would make the often referred to and abstract concept of “maori” people want to side with their oppressors. Are they nuts, I thought? Don’t they know the capacity for constructive life-affirming principles their heritage can supply?
Then I remembered my own deep distrust, almost hate, of my own “people”; my current reality and how it emerged and the influence of the nastiness in “my culture”. I know what my culture looks like from both the out and inside and the two pictures do not match. There’s lots of style, no substance despite material evidence and loud claims, and no meaning that’ll keep you warm in “the dark night of the soul”.
For a while last night, I couldn’t see anything good about pakeha culture. Nothing. I was blinded by anger and memory. It’s not so hard to hate one’s own people, I thought. The difference of course was that even if I lived to a hundred years old, and suffered every day, I would not be able to empathise with the effects of oppression perpetrated over generations.
Yesterday marty mars mentioned a speech by Ani Mikaera and later that evening, Descendant of Smith posted a link to it. I’m reposting it here because I think it is important it doesn’t get lost in final posts of yesterday’s Open Mike. If you read no more of this post, read the material in the link below.
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/iwi-am04.pdf
In this passage, Ani Mikaere illustrates the now famous – and often bewildering to pakeha – sentiment that has entered the awareness of most New Zealanders. It appears to be deliberate understatement and humility in the face of constant hostility. She talks of things that are “unfulfilling for pakeha” and I wonder why she cares. Then she understates the effect on maori as “frustrating”. How does the fact that the torturer chips his nail, while thrashing his captive, become a concern of the captive? Would it be within reason, and still polite, for the captive to say, “Hey, you know if you didn’t thrash me the chances of you chipping your nail would reduce significantly”. Where do maori find the confidence and energy to supply such gracious offerings? Is it just an understanding that if you approach people with goodwill you have a basis for partnership? It’s not Stockholm syndrome, something else is at work.
Generally speaking, Pakeha culture doesn’t allow this offering of concern and inter-relatedness. When we fight, we want to destroy our enemy. When we are down, we hate our oppressors. We must win at all costs or lose face. After losing face, it is fair for our own people to attack us with immunity. We call those who lose face, Losers. Losers are not helped or encouraged to get back up. For that we have the trite sayings of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps or “it’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you can get back up”. Yes, very helpful. In reality it means: do it yourself because if I touch you I’ll be associated with a loser and lose face.
So where do an oppressed people get the urge to continually offer the olive branch of a new beginning over and over again? Has the pakeha elevation of “the win” and loudly proclaimed virtuous ideals, debased us; while our victims, forced to follow the path of the oppressed, discovered moral truths? Who knows. But it’s pretty stark, no?
I agree that the oppressed/oppressor relationship must end. How to end it, or if it will end naturally, is up for debate. There are certainly things pakeha could do for themselves to prepare the ground.
In Ani Mikaere’s speech she talks about post colonial pakeha experiencing a loss of identity and the various manifestations of racism and destructive attitudes this loss produces. As one of those PCP’s myself, I have experienced it personally. I grew up listening to my father’s delusions about being British – even though he was chucked out for overstaying, while a young man. The Brits don’t want us colonials. Historical disgust of colonials by the Empire is easy to find, anecdotal evidence is just my experience of it. Later I was given the right to work and live in the UK and did for while. But despite finding a few people my age who weren’t interested in the English class system, largely, I was shut out. My accent gave the perfect opportunity of an excuse. Oh, I’m a colonial? Funny ideas those chaps. We do things differently here, old boy! New Zealanders aren’t British, by any stretch.
When I came home, I tried immersing myself in pakeha culture and couldn’t, because you can’t immerse yourself in a puddle. As Ani Mikaere mentions, the nature of my research turned up some unpleasant historical truths. At first, I could just ignore them. There were lots of outward “things to do” to look like you belonged, but no spiritual connection. Then when I couldn’t ignore the other side of the story anymore, I investigated maori lore and the beliefs of other non-English groups who came here as immigrants. The maori stuff I could get a handle on because there was an easy route in; the bush and forest provided more or less the same historical environment and helped to lift the ideas off the page and into the present. However, it was also pretty clear that even if the impossible (and undesirable) happened and I was awarded honorary maori status, I could not take the final step and become maori in a spiritual sense. Studies in psychology had spelled that out. In real terms, after being to my “ancestral home”, I was now aware of a connection to two places where neither was strong enough to be useful and neither of them were maori. One place recognised me but didn’t want me, the other didn’t particularly want me, but would let me stick around.
As a post colonial pakeha, I had no home that included a collective undistrubed past and a natural path of progression to the future. My entire cultural history existed only within the parameters of my lifetime. Anything extra would be imagination. By leaving the origin and being absent for a length of time, a colonial gives up the natural historical influences and environment that allows him to be called, British or German, or whatever. The necessity to adapt to a new place using new techniques and social arrangements comes at the cost of the old collective identity. The first settlers could have gone home and just been given a metaphorical slap on the hand, as if they were away on holiday too long. The children of a colonial might be able to go home, but they’d be a treated as a bit suspect. Once you reach to grandchildren, you’re stuffed, not just socially, but internally. There is no going back. So then what do we do? It may interest you to know we aren’t alone in our problem. Did you know there are fractured Polish links to the Caribbean?
I wandered aimlessly, in a spiritual sense, for a long time. Western religion couldn’t fix it. I used working, drinking, barbequing, engaging in entertaining fads, that sort of thing. I’m embarrassed to say that at times my suppression of displacement emerged in what I now know as racism and oppressive acts. I’d ask questions to which I didn’t really want an answer. All they did was announce my spiritual displacement to people who I believed were secure. Anger was a good enough vent. I had no idea of the concept of power structures. So I can understand how it is that in modern NZ you still get pockets of people thinking that as pakeha they are oppressed by other cultures and that “we have rights too”. Racism, or trying to re-create a reality from pages of The History of The British Empire is the final warm place before a person must step off and become real.
Ani Mikaere says pakeha need to learn to trust that despite the horrors they’ve inflicted on maori, maori aren’t particularly out to get pakeha. This is going to be a problematic mental process to many, even if they can understand the imbalance of power that pakeha and maori relations have. Pakeha culture has trained us to not trust the people we have just be trying to eradicate. We eagerly project that attitude onto others in the concept of justifiable revenge. To pakeha, it is an eye for an eye mentality. If you go to bludgeon someone and then stop before the death blow and bow your head, historically, the aggressor who gave up the advantage was dispatched without hesitation. It’s a collective mental twitch we have.
In modern terms, we are taught everyday that the past predicts the future; that one bad employee means all employees are suspect and more restrictions are necessary; that a tenant behaves badly so the chances of all future tenants behaving badly increases; a few old cars crash, so all old cars should not be on the road; a few women on the DPB have extra children, so all DPB recipients are breeding for a business. We hone our laws around the concept, everyday. We cannot easily reach the philosophical release of control over our lives and accept the uncomfortable feeling that comes with knowing the likelihood of events, but also allowing the truth that the future is uncertain, unformed and subject to chance, to hold sway. We are a simple experience based, prone-to-extrapolation, people. There needs to be a safe-ish middle step people can take on their own, in private. As scary as it seems, the best I can think of is to ask people to re-examine the meaning and processes of success and failure that underpin our society; and to consider that embracing the personal identity questions that post colonial existence asks will reach a better faster solution than running from them.
What I discovered for myself, was that it is because I have no “home”, that I have the option of going (mentally) pretty much where I like. It is because I do not have a historical image to adhere to that I can embrace parts of any society I choose. It is because my spirituality is not attached to a permanent external physical place that it remains completely mobile – attached only to the demands of my nature. This means that the only time I feel under threat from a “foreign” culture is when I have not acknowledged my own internal problems. There’s no place to hide. It means I can continue to learn what it is I can give up, in terms of control of external events in my life and within social and gender roles. It means I can learn how to make space for others to express themselves as fully as pakeha do and generally take for granted. I won’t kid you that it’s all fun and giggles. The more I try to think it out beforehand, the harder it gets and fear is always lurking nearby. But it is interesting and it seems that no matter how far I go there will always be an infinite amount I will not know.
Maori have their heritage and traditional knowledge and, although it was violently interrupted, evidence suggests they have the option of a natural progression toward the future. This way of natural progression is just as sacred and correct for them as my way is to me. The prospect of maori being maori does not threaten my way now or in the future. I have a level of security that emerged by being forced to explore the insecurity of post colonial existence; supported by the option and ability to look in many different directions; and a future that is largely undefined. My experience is not so unusual and I think it is completely possible that Ani Mikaere’s dream of a new inter-related NZ can happen.
My particular verison of this is having framed in oak one of the few copies of Parliament’s Hansard maps from straight after the Land Wars which determined where the confiscation lines would be drawn, and how much they would take.
It makes for a big stark reminder in the lounge above the fireplace. And a great conversation starter with the relatives.
Optimistic.
We could meet?
Im big on Openess and Conscientiousness apparently, according to certain high priests.
Oh the stories i could tell…
but putting me aside a little
xcept opinion
the stuff i find helpful on this particular site are analyses like u-turns and the quick links by DTB and JOE 90 et al;
These, and many others, are clearly to me, very intelligent people in the multidimensional sense.
However, for a seeker of helpfulness for our people, some of the posts leave me feeling quite sad.
Leadership.
And this whole fallacy of non-contradiction thing! Dialectic and synthesis is more helpful.
Learn about how the cognitions of eg, Westerners and East Asians differ. I imagine there are parallels between our peoples.
Think about how “plugged in” most people are to ideas, particularly dominant ideas, these days since the IT revolution. Was once mainly the paper, the tele, the school and the church for example.
Thats why the term INFORMATION WAR is so apt.
I too, initially commented here and there to release emotion….still can do
But Uturn and others taught me to seek and be helpful,
So a blog is not just an “echo chamber”.
Re annoyances, ignored behaviour or non-adaptive behaviour usually becomes extinct.
History may reflect that the post-war Baby Boomer generation were the “lucky generation”, Generations X Y and I the “post-modern enlightenment generations” that lasted until AUTHORITY needed to shut it down.
I confess to some mastaburtory and cognitively copulant SLOGANEERING initially but its not helpful really.But These are post-modern times after all….
HELPFUL. The wikipedia article on NIHILISM seems like a good leaping off point for the brave as it links to all the helpful thinkers,
and the TAO TE CHING. Amazing how much thinking and writing has gone into relating NIETZSCHE and TAOISM.
and seeing as the Maori came from EAST ASIA,
soooo HANDLE THE JANDAL and see everything anew, as for the first time.
It may all end in tears but even NIETZSCHE advocated a “cheerful philosophy”
Cease the struggle against the self and you will be able to embrace all people
The Essence of Nature, that is all There Is
Abandon negative thoughts and thinking
ABANDON ROMANTICISM to commence SELF-LIBERATION.
“ACTIVE NIHILISM “IS DECONSTRUCTION.
I agree that DTB, JOE90 et al. are skilled in assembling the larger picture. You are going too far, however, in awarding me a level of intelligence I don’t possess. Mostly it the result of cobbling together enough to ease my own discomfort, realising the enormity and impossibility of the project and turning the act of knowing when to stop into something that looks passably rational. Ricocheting from righteous ideals to anger, then hypocrisy, cheerful optimism and accepting life as it is – and back again – is normal for me.
My apologies if inadvertently “teaching you to be helpful” has interrupted your own important normal processes. You are under no obligation to listen to me and I wouldn’t like to think you’re out there holding your breath for some reason.
I would be interested in reading a post on Sam Hall’s Guide to Active Nihilism, soon, though. I suppose I could read a book, but a personal lens would breathe something extra into it, don’t you think? It’s up to you.
I appreciate your post Uturn. Lots of good insight there.
“I know what my culture looks like from both the out and inside and the two pictures do not match. There’s lots of style, no substance despite material evidence and loud claims, and no meaning that’ll keep you warm in “the dark night of the soul”. ”
I think this is both very true, and not quite the whole truth.
We are not so very distant from our own cultural oppression. I say this not as an excuse for what has happened and been done in this country, but because I think Pakeha will have to look at their histories and how that informs current culture, in order to change.
I also tend to the view that it’s not that we don’t have (meaningful) culture but that we can’t see it. What kind of blindness is that?
There was a period in the 80’s when I was in Wanganui when I went back to my school centenary at NPBHS and read an article by Albert Wendt in the centennial magazine that questioned why he had to go to university to discover the story of Parihaka.
That set me as a young man on a journey to find out more about our history and I found this totally fascinating, and much more so than that of other countries.
While short much of our post-European culture is well documented, and in many respects because of that, we can have a treaty settlement process. Evidence of land confiscated, stolen, incorrectly purchased, legislation passed and so on is in abundant supply.
There are certainly those sorts of aspects about our colonisation of this country that hold us in good stead – not the legislation itself but the records of it.
One of the things I came to understand was that the deeds of institutions, e.g. Otamatea, for wayward children for set up originally for the Irish Catholic kids whose parents oft rarely talked about where they had come from and what they had left. The 80s however was a time some three or four generations along when it was suddenly becoming cool to be Irish and have that as part of your heritage. Those generations were in some small way taking a stand and saying it’s OK.
The great thing was that I could see the same thing happening for Maori. The resurgance of the interest in the culture, the activism particularly of the women, the development of Kohanga Reo and so on.
I’ve always therefore been optimistic therefore about the future for this country and while I despair at the likes of Key and Brash they are the last remnants of an aging racist bunch of people who will no longer be with us.
What I do know is that my trust in Maori to look after this country is much greater than my trust in people like those who inhabit the National party. What I also know is that there are plenty of Pakeha who also share similar views on community and family and land use and so on – even though the concepts might not quite be the same.
The future is not about our differences – they should be nurtured and enjoyed and delighted in – it’s about our commonality and our joint vision for this to be a great place.
I really would love to see 45 Maori seats elected how they see fit and 45 non-Maori seats elected via MMP ( or 60/60 or whatever). I think we would have a much better country as a result.
Gracious sentiment. But us Palagi are way to driven to be that gracious.
Nah I don’t think so.
I’ve floated the notion over the years and found a good number of people who would have no problem with that.
It would take a significant paradigm shift for the overall population but that shift really is about what was espoused earlier – trust in Maori.
It’s why I thought it worth mentioning again – it fitted the context of this post.
I’m a fan of Edward de Bono as well as was always taken by the concept of putting the intake for a plant that needed water downstream from the discharge so the factory got to use it’s own water back again – sometimes a different way of looking at things is useful.
Personally I see nothing to fear from such an equitable partnership.
I’d be interested as to whether others would be fearful or supportive of such an arrangment -or something in between. Would you support such a governance model?
The blindness brought about by fear. The kind of fear that has it’s power outside the reach of consciousness, so a person can say they can’t find it, but it is still there, waiting to emerge as it should, at the correct time.
To my eye pakeha culture consists of moments of good intent, overshadowed by greed, cowardice and personal issues projected onto the weak, young and old. What was the old line? “…fires lit by the white man’s lust for our land, and fanned by the breath of God.” It sums it up brilliantly, but fails to add what you say, that the fires also burn the arsonist. Which they have. It doesn’t embarrass me that maori have known what pakeha’s problem was before pakeha did.
Pakeha are big on promoting their nature, especially heroic historical nature, to the point of losing sight of current reality. Not so big on nurture, except in that it helps create living targets for our nature to either destroy, or by coincidence, reaffirm the brutality and of our natures. It’s a vile game. Charging around treating everything as a competition, with an attached emotional hysteria as if we were channelling the real fear of ancients when wolves entered the village; or warring tribes arriving at the edge of the forest; when it is just us lost in our greed, lack of self awareness or hate. If only it was so easy as telling people, “You’re being XYZ right now. Why not do the opposite.” I’ve tried it and lost all sorts of things, including my family. You can’t talk people into enlightenment. Now that, is frustrating.
Our current “meaningful” culture means something to those of a particular disposition. Every people has their natural born warriors. The rest of us are asked to tear ourselves apart imitating things we know are wrong for us, suppressing our variability, adding to the problems played out in the news everyday; and field demands to become willing victims (We even tell our victims we know the game, and demand they play along anyway); or we have to keep silent to avoid the attacks of our own people who are in love with the bombastic traits of the warrior hero.
There is no way to directly influence a culture so completely focused on maintaining an imbalanced status quo with just my own acts and thoughts. March up Queen Street with a placard into waiting paddy wagons; write a book that joins the millions of other books no one reads and that changes nothing; vote for the newest political party that has to use a corrupted system to participate; the result is the same.
If a pakeha person digs back through time, past medieval social arrangements, to pre-Roman England if you like, all they get are some fragments of a people no one knows much about and a language no one speaks or understands anymore. Most of the land those people inhabited is gone, now covered in high-rise slums full of piss and needles. What is left of the fragments have been taken up and turned into a New Age subculture by those rich enough to live in the English countryside, meaningful to them, but meaningless to me. There isn’t enough on which to base a critique of current NZ pakeha reality in a way that will relight an inherited dormant memory. The old gods are silent in my part of the world.
It’s pretty obvious that colonisation, by definition, breaks every moral rule ever dreamed up by humans. People colonise their inner world with ideas and their outer world with desires. We even send probes into space to find aliens. Let’s hope they aren’t anything like humans. Colonisation is simple: One group goes to another place with the express purpose of stealing other people’s stuff and sending it home for profit. Pakeha have been doing it so long, and have been so eager to cover their tracks, there is no way simple adjustments can solve the problem anymore.
The collective human story evolves over time, as you know, and this challenge NZ faces and has been butting up against since pakeha met maori is another opportunity to find a way forward in that larger human story. There may be some good points of pakeha culture out there, being lived by any number of pakeha somebodies. They may know them as a moral or ethical behaviour, supported by the same ethical foundations that Ani Mikaere says is unchanging in Tikanga maori and that Descendant of Smith seeks out below. So why are we constantly elevating and supporting leaders who will not acknowledge that human life has ethical laws that cross boundaries of culture and place? Why are we arranging new political parties around systems we know will undermine any possibility for creating a place where ethical laws can exist?
I my opinion, examining cultural history isn’t going to help pakeha change. We’ve already overdosed on history. Imperialism is the act of doing things solely to be remembered throughout history. A fear of death, if you like. I think that the Chinese had it right when they said that god doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so if we acknowledge that indescribable environment, we find it supplies a natural harmony for all things no matter who you are or where you stand; and fear of death is no more frightening than sleeping and dreaming or waking in the morning.
Pakeha fear maori because they threaten our efforts to immortality, they way we think it should be done, and they remind us – through us attempting to force them to imitate our ways – that we are mortal. If there is no god offering an afterlife, we see death as the ultimate deadline and excuse for as much hedonism we can get before that point. Even if there is a god, we still don’t like the idea of dying. We can’t even handle aging or deformity. Anything that does not run away from death is unacceptable. So we set up lists of what looks beautiful, young and good and things to avoid, like those that are ugly, old and near death. And we freak out and need retail therapy. And then maori come along and say, “Hold on there, pale face, you can’t have your anxious hedonism here. Your fun is destroying my life.”
So I also agree with DoS, below. Although I don’t think politics will solve the underlying philosophical issue, in real terms, having maori running the show, with their understanding of connectedness and interrelation; rather than pakeha elevating fragmented pieces just to ease anxiety; will result in better outcomes than we have now.
Thank you for these posts.
We all need a big dose of re-enculturalisation as Rawiri Taonui calls it. The document below dispels some of the persistent myths around a disturbing area.
http://news.tangatawhenua.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ManaTamariki-Dec2010-Final.pdf
Everyone would benefit from it re-enculturalisation. The success of adding cultural knowledge to rehabilitation services is proven, for Maori and others. Recividism rates fall, dramatically. The document below shows how this works for serious offenders.
http://www.corrections.govt.nz/news-and-publications/magazines-and-newsletters/corrections-news/2009/corrections-news-aug-sep-2008/te-piriti-successful-bridge-to-maori-values-and-practices.html
Adding Māori cultural knowledge would also work for those who aren’t in the justice system – it is the big missing part of the solution for this country. That is what the government should be spending billions on because it would really change the dynamic of the relationship between people. Knowledge is power which is why it is highly protected within Māoridom but concepts can still be explained and they can illuminate.
For instance i have just finished a course on whare whakairo (carved meeting houses). Traditional Māori carving showed an aspective representation which depicts things objectively and ideally as they really are, timeless and containing all their parts as opposed to perspective representation, which shows things from one viewpoint at one instant of time. I found that explanation really helpful in understanding Māori concepts of time, as Johansen (1954) describes, “Time itself in the Māori view, then, is considered as belonging to the action more than as being absolute. Thus the actions of the kinship group are not only significant as true expressions of life in the ancestors, but also of life in the living: for the same life, the same mana, is active through the history of the kinship group.”
We are who we are and we have arrived or been born on this waka for whatever reason. We are the continuation of our ancestors and our descendants. We are connected and our mana is ours and theirs. Our kinship groups are whatever they are too and i think that is positive. Māori are the indigenous people of this land and as Māori mana increases so does the mana of all who live, love and die here.
kia kaha