The establishment are clearly determined to either prevent Trump from becoming President or to deligitimise him.
We are living in an era of fake news run by the corporate media to forward its owners agenda.
Sadly Radio NZ is also an echo chambers for this propaganda.
You are being played folks.
After the lying propaganda you put out yesterday Paul, you are complaining about others doing the same thing?
And maybe you think no one notices how you repeatedly slink away when any FACTS get close to the lies you are attempting to play, like you did again yesterday?
You are no better than any of the ‘evil’ forces you rant about daily – just as willing to lie and deceive yourself and others in order to push your individual philosophy. A f**ing hypocrite in other words.
Thanks for the ad hominem. I’d appreciate it if you tackled the issue rather than shoot the messenger. I appreciate its a difficult topic to discuss, as it may involve questioning some certainties and preconceptions we were brought up to believe.
Did you believe the stories about WMD and Saddam Hussein?
If you don’t trust Cowspiracy as a source, watch Before the Flood. It would appear irrefutable that meat eating is a major unspoken part of our carbon footprint.
Animal Agriculture is not an ‘unspoken’ part of our carbon footprint Paul? It is extremely well studied and documented?
My issue is that you referred us yesterday to a documentary that claimed that 53% of World Greenhouse emissions were caused by Animal Agriculture.
I am saying that is untrue.
I quoted from the IPCC’s 5th assessment yesterday that Agriculture in total provided 14% of Global GHGE.
That same assessment shows that the burning of fossil fuels for various purposes accounts for over 65% of global GHGE.
I can find no credible scientific source that disagrees with that basic scenario.
Can you produce credible scientific evidence that the IPCC is wrong about all that?
If not, do you have the honesty to concede the ‘Cowspiracy’ documentary is wildly inaccurate, and therefore the claim you made that eating meat is the single most destructive thing you can do to the environment has no basis in fact?
From my analysis of that report it looks highly likely that most people in NZ would be in the top 10% of the Worlds richest people anyway, so maybe talking to the people around you would be a good start?
Yeah well now we seen conclusively he is a dishonest pusher of lying propaganda that doesn’t have the guts to back up or withdraw the lying propaganda he pushes…
He can rest easy. I won’t bother wasting anymore time exposing him for the hypocrite he is.
It’s all clear Paul, you can go back to deceiving yourself and the other conspiracy theorists in your usual manner.
I’m happy to move onto that, once you have dealt with the questions already in hand Paul.
In 1.1.2.1 above I have asked you to address some specific questions regarding the previous documentary you cited, and the claim you made deriving from that.
Aspects of Cowspiracy may be inaccurate as you claim.
I don’t know.
However the film Before the Flood also makes the connection between meat eating and climate change.
So clearly there is some consensus on this.
Let me guess, they’re comparing feedlot meat with conventional cropping. It’s a nonsense argument Paul, because it’s based on BAU and BAU is killing the planet whether we eat meat or soy. If you are now reading permaculture, you will be getting to some of this. We need polyculture food production, and many of those systems do better with livestock in them.
A ‘consensus’?
Two Vegan fanatics that are happy to lie outright, and a Hollywood actor who by his own admission just about killed the planet with his travel carbon footprint in order to make a documentary showcasing his ‘green concern’ credentials?
Is that a sufficient standard of proof for you Paul? Are you happy to accept other peoples claims on that level of proof yourself?
It ain’t for me, not by a long long shot!
What about some credible scientific consensus to back up your claims as I asked for? Find any of that?
“More than 5m premature deaths could be avoided globally by 2050 if health guidelines on meat consumption were followed, rising to more than 7m with a vegetarian diet and 8m on veganism”
And how is that going to help the carbon footprint? This is the problem with these kind of reductionist analyses. They just end up looking stupid.
Thanks Paul,
Both links take there baseline from the FAO 2006 figure ‘Emissions from livestock account for 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gases’ (More than the IPCC 2013, but lets not quibble).
So I think we now agree that ‘Cowspiracy’ is completely and utterly inaccurate in claiming 53%?
And that neither report says anything even remotely like ‘eating meat is the single most destructive thing you can do the environment’ so we can dismiss that claim of yours as completely and utterly inaccurate also.
Thanks weka that’s a great link to read and hear. Reminds me of the efforts of Men of the Trees, which included women as well. I think that the UN have taken up the idea and some countries adopted it big time but we need to embrace it desperately now.
I wonder how soon we can start a target for each one of us to plant a tree once a year, on Arbour Day or some regional anniversary day, and have a mixed landscape not mono-pirad-culture and have some pines that produce pine seeds and so on, hard wood, trees that are resistant to fire destruction all getting a look in.
A bit of leadership and organisation from good pollies functioning well, not dysfunctional and assymetric.
Hi weka
Another idea, using conserved water in lakes etc and at same time limiting evaporation.
Have floating mats of reeds or such, that wouldn’t leach out unfavourable or toxic substances and have vegetables growing on them in a fairly uncontrolled way, that would draw nutrients needed from the water, so no added fertilisers, and there would be a regular route through them by the farmers or custodians or kaitiaki to pluck out growths that would overwhelm the food plants chosen.
Fish would feed on the underside of them and it could have many benefits once trialled and the right methods and types chosen.
It would seem the neoliberal establishment will stop at nothing to ensure they stay in control.
As their agenda involves ramping up tensions against China and Russia, i would agree with your conclusion about the outcome.
They clearly are trying to control matters.
And to their misfortune the peoples of Iraq. Syria, Libya, East Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela and numerous other countries are victims of the deep state and military industrial complex’s desire to control matters.
Garibaldi, obviously you fail to see the bigger picture of what is happening in Africa and the Middle East. The US foreign policy over many, many years has not changed.
Demanding that evidence-free, anonymous assertions be instantly venerated as Truth — despite emanating from the very precincts designed to propagandize and lie — is an assault on journalism, democracy, and basic human rationality. And casually branding domestic adversaries who refuse to go along as traitors and disloyal foreign operatives is morally bankrupt and certain to backfire on those doing it.
Beyond all that, there is no bigger favor that Trump opponents can do for him than attacking him with such lowly, shabby, obvious shams, recruiting large media outlets to lead the way. When it comes time to expose actual Trump corruption and criminality, who is going to believe the people and institutions who have demonstrated they are willing to endorse any assertions no matter how factually baseless, who deploy any journalistic tactic no matter how unreliable and removed from basic means of ensuring accuracy?
All of these toxic ingredients were on full display yesterday as the Deep State unleashed its tawdriest and most aggressive assault yet on Trump: …
When he starts using phrases like “Nobody should crave the rule of Deep State overlords.”, that’s an appeal to pretty base emotion and it’s a propaganda technique, not journalism.
He also way understates how much caution mainstream outlets are placing around this to further his narrative of trashing mainstream journalism.
Good points about some of the way Greenwald frames his article. It’s a point in favour of many MSM outlets that they didn’t rush to publish about unverified data.
OTOH, it does seem to me that caution is needed in accepting the dossier. It does seem to me to be part of some covert warfare. I trust neither the CIA nor Putin’s surveillance services and propaganda.
I also detest Trump and his (often contradictory) policies/agenda, but think the way to counter him is through the kinds of processes Greenwald recommends.
Thing is, Buzzfeed never said “this is all true”/. They released the full dossier after CNN reported on its existence. Not surprising people took it andf ran with it, with the inauguration looming people needed a goood laugh.
Yeah, fact-checking, independent corroboration, and looking at what someone actually does are a lot more important than the entertaining noise.
To me it’s a really interesting balance on whether to publish the 35 pages or not. That the intel agencies have briefed Obama and Trump about the allegations is a fact, and something I think should be publicly known. Given that the agencies apparently give it enough credence for it to form the basis of the brief, are we better served by seeing the raw data, or by having mysterious allegations floating around?
I’m curious whether the agencies have other independent corroboration of any of it, but we’ll probably never know since that might expose sources and methods. IMO, if the 35 pages is all they’ve got then it’s another big black mark against their credibility. OTOH, there’s enough solidly documented stuff showing links between Trump and his team and Russian interests, so I’d be surprised if the agencies didn’t have a lot of stuff that’s not public (yet).
I haven’t read all the way through those 35 pages yet. But as far as I can see so far, a lot of it is…an anonymous person talks to some people and some of them tell them that they heard that so and so said such and such.
In other words, a fair smattering of hear-say. Gossip.
A 70 year old business tycoon has contacts in Russia. Big deal.
He allegedly has some fetishes. Big deal.
And the stuff about the goings on of oligarchs might, or so I’d think, rub two ways…ie, I’d imagine US authorities would be curious about some of their activities.
The thing that bothers me is that it seems a fair chunk of the Republican Party is working in cahoots with a fair chunk of the Democratic Party and the Intelligence Agencies; that all the above are using overly compliant mainstream news outlets to swipe the legs out from under the democratically elected President of the US.
And I’m under no illusions they would have done the same if it was Sanders who was about to be President, just as over the pond, sections of the establishment are working hand in glove with one another and media outlets there to discredit Corbyn.
I get it that people enjoy reveling in ‘giving one’ to Trump. But there’s something more important going on here that deserves our attention.
If ‘the people’ were doing something that was gathering steam that might lead to a ‘take down’ of Trump, I’d be right there with them in spirit. But this is an establishment under siege seeking to re-assert itself. And my enemy’s enemy isn’t my friend – I won’t be cheering them on.
The establishment are clearly determined to either prevent Trump from becoming President or to deligitimise him.
Er, what? First, they can’t and therefore won’t prevent him from taking office, and second, nothing they could come up with to “de-legitimise” him could beat the stuff he’s come up with all on his own. Third, in what sense is a billionaire property developer with a private plane and a trophy wife not “the establishment?”
Last week I had a house full of visitors, it was awesome. Anyways some of my visitors had stopped in at Kaikoura to visit family before coming up here. Family that are heavily involved in earthquake recovery and rebuilding there.
Turns out Brownlee was very arrogant when he visited, he was very angry at the public for embarrassing him in front of the media, and that’s coming from someone that attended the meeting and I was told is not a fan of the farmer that had a go at Brownlee. It’s always good to get the facts from those whom were there rather than the media spin. Doubt Brownlee will be back in Kaikoura anytime soon.
Guess that’s why they sent Mr Dildo this time, no public meeting, just a swift visit and meeting with selected local businesses.
A cursory examination of Brownlee’s history reveals it doesn’t really take much to make him angry. He has form for getting all bent out of shape whenever anyone questions him, or disputes his statements. He’s basically an ill-tempered bully with a chip on his shoulder.
An interesting read. Who wants to bet various people in government haven’t “taken out insurance” by doing things like making copies of his tax returns?
Just purchased a copy of Chris Trotters ‘No Left Turn’ from the discards table at Hastings Library. Nice copy, 50 cents.
Leaving one copy available between the 3 Libraries (Flaxmere, Hastings and Havelock North). All areas that, for very different reasons, could do with some political education.
WELL DONE to those responsible for the gutting of our libraries, and their fine contribution to dumbing down and keeping the population as ill informed as possible.
Specially noted is the fact that you sold off a large number of Shakespeare books on his anniversary, and gutted the politics section in the year leading up to the Elections.
How very timely.
Well, Foss got a little reminder not to slam the door on the way out, and that’s good enough for me. Now we have the prospect of the residents of Havelock North rewarding their poisoner, the ‘humbled’ Lawrence Yule, with a position in National. Maybe.
President Barack Obama has put Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified material, on his short list for a possible commutation, a Justice Department source told NBC News.
The longer one keeps cycling back into Trash. I can’t do anything about that sorry. Here’s what it said,
In reply to Sacha.
What inspired you most, Sacha?
[1] The way he linked the destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq with the brave resistance struggles of Stonewall and Selma?
[2] His irony-free condemnation of Russia while stating, with a straight face, that the U.S. is not a “country that bullies smaller neighbors”? ,
[3] Was it his canting about Islamic terrorism—which the United States supports both diplomatically and militarily in Syria—while remaining silent about Christian and Israeli terrorism?
[4] Or perhaps you were inspired by his praise of “those who marched for justice” while his henchmen pursue and traduce Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, and while Chelsea Manning rots in solitary confinement.
You could try taking out the number formatting, it looks odd in the original comment so maybe that’s why it’s going to trash. Or it could be the random bug.
I can’t remember what the shorter one was, so can’t find it. It doesn’t look like it’s in Trash, and I’m guessing from memory that it was in the same Obama’s last speech thread.
I wonder when the bubble crowd will get it, just jokes. I know they never will – they will take it as personal abuse, be offended, then look for someone to blame for them being offended.
May as well be me today.
The labour party in a liberal party and voting for them is a waste of time if you are actually interested in the rights, and needs of working people.
Plus they really do need to get off there high horse and accusing people of giving up on civil rights. Civil rights is a given, we just think your kidding yourself for thinking that we can get civil rights under a liberal system.
A wage slave who thinks they are free – is a simpler slave to deal with, than a slave who knows they are under the yoke of wage slavery.
Adam
Then again slaves in other places have at times been well treated, some have been able to buy out of their servitude.
At present we are in a culture that doesn’t even want slaves, it wants to deal with people who have money which is an artificial way of gaining credits. , But it doesn’t want to buy into the economic circle of employment, earnings, spending on things from human employment.
We are all under the yoke of our basic needs, and wage slavery can be viewed as security if one has decent wages and is respected in society and can have a full life. Bob Dylan sings it – You’ve got to serve someone. The plumber and his client, the grocer and his customer, both need each other. But with the damned talent we have for trying to break the human circle and play with our cunning machines, we humans collaborate to make our race redundant and base.
Trying to justfy your bondage does not mean you are not a slave.
We may not like slavery, but as a culture we tolerate it on so many levels. Never have we had so many sex slaves, never have so many women and children been held in such open bondage.
Let you onto a secret – Being anti-authoritarian means embracing freedom.
Servering unto others by free will is human, service to others to survive, is slavery.
Adam
Let you onto a not-secret but still not admitted by many – freedom espousing people often become authoritarian.
There are no perfect approaches to living ‘right’ in human society, just a constant effort to maintain a balance, at the top end of a sliding scale, with freedom at the high end and subjugation at the other.
A state house has been unwrapped on Auckland’s waterfront, but its not for living in – its a million-dollar sculpture. Is this irony, or not ? Maybe its a memorial.
nah its a statement to greed and stupidity.
and all the nice polite society will come and ohhh and aahhhh and get pictures taken for the gossip sites sipping champagne and wearing fancy dresses.
Michael Parekowhai, who lived in Northcote which contained a large state housing area, obviously understood the importance for a family of a place to call home. The house is a monument to a kinder era when the state understood the importance of providing housing to the people who needed it. Children could grow up in an area and complete their schooling at the local high school. Stability was valued.
In my view this Parekowhai house is also a monument of shame for this government.
Today’s precarious families are temporarily housed in motels, cars, and garages and made to feel like losers while the government flicks off the old state houses and tenants are forced to leave their communities, disrupting schooling and fracturing social links.
If the building highlights this government’s failure in social housing enough to incite voters to dump this government, then perhaps it will have fulfilled a greater purpose than that envisaged by the real estate firm donor.
+ 100% Tautoko Mango Mata. I had similar thoughts when I first viewed this sculpture, and wondered if it was also some kind of political statement (to be expected from Michael Parekowhai) .
Ultra-conservative Russian lawmaker Yelena Mizulina is a senator in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament. She successfully campaigned for anti-LGBTQ legislature against “gay propaganda” which has made homosexual relationships and people subject to fines and punishment, and has been connected to a rise in anti-gay violence in Russia. She is now working to make domestic violence more acceptable.
The Guardian reported in August that Mizulina had introduced a new bill to the State Duma, which would decriminalize violence within families, subjecting perpetrators to fines rather than jail time. She stated at the time, “Battery carried out toward family members should be an administrative offense,” adding, “You don’t want people to be imprisoned for two years and labelled a criminal for the rest of their lives for a slap.”
i told a friend in the US today to stock up condoms, morning after pill,and so on.
She laughed and said she had closed shop a while ago. I reminded her that she had one boy and two girls in their midteens and they have not even opened shop yet.
but nevermind. i am just showing my privilege of being a first world woman.
Fair enough, and we’re just getting started with this shit 🙁
For those that don’t quite get it, women in the US are stocking up on birth control because access is expected to get harder. Transgender people who use hormones likewise, and other people who need meds for health reasons because they think they’re going to lose their health coverage.
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:…
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
In NZ doctors can refuse care to women who need an abortion, on moral grounds. And Chris Trotter just made the argument that identity politics are a problem because they stop MPs from being free to make decisions on moral grounds, so I guess we’re not so far removed.
curious, i saw no stated restriction on MPs nor tyre marks…..I did see however an appeal to tolerance and a dismissal of polarisation.Sound advice at any time, and particularly so now.
“So brightly did “identity politics” shine that Labour’s long-standing tradition of agreeing to disagree on issues of personal morality retreated into the shadows”
Abortion access, transgender rights, even disability rights in this day and age, all issues of personal morality. I took Trotter to be saying that MPs should be free to act on their conscience without the social and political pressure of identity politics.
The word MP or caucus is not mentioned….he is speaking of the party and the demos.
Within broadly agreed principles that serve all there is a recognition that experience, belief and views differ….or in other words, it is unrealistic to expect homogeneity in other than small groups…and politics is numbers.
an appalling organisation that has run roughshod over particularly the elderly and vulnerable (though not exclusively)…..and the CEO gets a bonus and a nice new job and the Minister remains at head and unrepentant.
“EQC suggested she make a complaint to the Ombudsman as a last resort. But Mrs Jones has lost all faith in the system.
How many people have been wrongfully accused of serious criminal offending by a Government organisation that is supposed to step up and help people in a time of need? ”
Damn them for their ‘kick them when they’re down’ culture.
Thanks Pat for bringing this to our attention. Clearly some outfit had a contract with EQC to assess for eligibility and install the heat pumps and were way too quick off the mark… maybe to jump start their revenue stream?
Was this heat pump thing some sort of ‘aren’t we being so nice to the poor folks of Christchurch’ PR exercise?
‘Was this heat pump thing some sort of ‘aren’t we being so nice to the poor folks of Christchurch’ PR exercise?”
It was painted as that at one stage…..however this particular incident and heat pumps in general are but a microcosm of the whole EQC experience for thousands…..the advice to refer to the Ombudsman is farcical (as the aggrieved party probably well knew) as those that appealed to the Ombudsman were not served at all and the office themselves stated no ability or desire to rule with regard EQC.
“…but a microcosm of the whole EQC experience for thousands…..the advice to refer to the Ombudsman is farcical…”
We were travelling in the SI in February 2011, and again in 2013, and spoke with hundreds of people affected by the ‘quakes. Many we have spent time with literally fled Christchurch, never to return, such was the trauma not only of the big ‘quakes but the thousands of aftershocks.
Without fail, all have had negative experiences with EQC and their contractors.
For most of these people, having to apply to EQC for compensation for damage to their homes was the first time they had ever had to go cap in hand to a government agency to get the assistance they believed they had paid for via levies and taxes.
Extremely sobering process, and it was not only the sense of betrayal they felt at how they were treated, but absolute shock that fellow Kiwis, employed by this Government agency, could do their work with seemingly cheerful disregard at the devastating effects on the lives of these citizen users.
And accounts such as this indicates a level of almost sociopathic dedication to their appointed tasks.
The other day Bomber Bradbury, in an article endeavoring to instruct Gareth Morgan on how to create a better ‘anti-establishment’ party, made an interesting statement…
“Labour can’t criticise what those Government Departments do to the poorest and weakest members of society because they are beholden to the PSA…”
And when I think about it…has Labour actually kicked up the appropriate amount of shit when stories like this make it into the light of day?
Because if any one incident over the past 8 years of this mob’s rule has galvanised the general public into criticism of government departments it is how EQC shat all over the Canterbury claimants.
Don’t think being beholden to the PSA was the issue…..many of EQCs employees were contractors and were unlikely to be members. Labours lack of advocacy was noted and grates with many, though a couple of MPs did extremely helpful work, but at an individual case level (still believe time will show a grand coalition immediately after the second quake)…..like WINZ the culture is driven from above.
Hmmm….my thoughts are tending in the direction of comparing this situation with what happened with the Ministry of Health Disability Support Services and the Carer Support Subsidy.
MOH:DSS, almost immediately upon its inception in about 2000, contracted out almost every aspect of support for disabled Kiwis who are not under ACC, including the Needs Assessment and Service Coordination service…through which those with disabilities have to traverse in order to access any funding for supports.
Because of the overriding emphasis placed on only funding ‘unmet needs’ and hugely emphasising the requirement for only funding what family won’t or can’t do, many families living with disability found that the only government funded support available was CSS…which because of the punitive restrictions around who can be paid for what and the fact it is funded at $3 per hour (already financially struggling families simply cannot afford to make up the shortfall to meet minimum wage) those of us who were allocated Carer Support days found them very difficult to utilise if we kept strictly within the rules.
I was allocated 110 days in late 2002 after having tried and failed to find ‘formal’ care for my man so I could address a health issue. This large allocation was made by the NASC (who assesses and coordinates services under contract for the MOH DSS) and because of the large allocation was approved by MOH head office.
When I phoned our NASC (remember, a contracted provider for the MOH) and said this didn’t solve the problem (of needing carers) and was not enough to actually pay for care through a provider, I was told by the NASC to be “creative” with the funding.
The last thing anyone can accuse me of is creativity, so I was not caught up in the pogrom instituted by the Ministry of Health Disability Support Services in 2010 and 2012 against disabled people and their chosen family carers committing Carer Support fraud. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3418235/Care-support-fraud-hits-1-million
(Those with a decent memory will remember that publicity around these pogroms coincided with the Human Rights Tribunal decision saying the family carers should be paid a wage in January 2010 and the Appeal Court decision upholding the HRRT decision in May 2012)
And ironically, there was little if any acknowledgement that the hundreds of family carers who were getting paid (in breach of the discriminatory policy) were being paid under ‘arrangements’ facilitated by the contracted providers…who were never publicly investigated for this.
At no time was there any public acknowledgement that Carer Support funding was only allocated after an assessment by a MOH contracted provider…who was also charged with ensuring that the allocatee was appraised of and followed the rules for use.
At no stage was there any public acknowledgement that NASCs were instructing disabled people and their family carers on how to “be creative” in order to access this very limited and inflexible support funding….and hence placing these families at risk of prosecution.
(Bear in mind, that CSS is allocated on a kind of pro rata basis…so many days CSS for so many hours per week of unpaid care…in my case…the $8200 per year CSS was instead of the MOH funding $80,000 for ‘formal’ care. )
But as civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, Congressional Black Caucus head Rep. Cedric Richmond and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker testified that Sessions’ confirmation to head the Department of Justice would set back the cause for universal civil rights, only one Republican on the committee remained to listen.
“I want to express my concerns about being made to testify at the very end of the witness panels,” Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond said to applause from members of the Congressional Black Caucus seated behind him in the Russell Senate building. “To have a senator, a House member and a living civil rights legend testify at the end of all of this is the equivalent of being made to go to the back of the bus.”
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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 ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nuurrianti Jalli, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies College of Arts and Sciences Department of Languages, Literature, and Communication Studies, Northern State University Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asian governments not only have to deal with the virus but also with the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Murakami Wood, Professor of Critical Surveillance and Securities Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa The skyline of Riyadh, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.(Shutterstock) There is a long history of planned city building by both governments ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment of ...
The Boil Up’s Lucinda Bennett considers the oyster – from freshness to pearls to the joy of shucking your own. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. In Carmen Maria Machado’s short story ‘Eight Bites’, a woman begins her last supper before bariatric surgery with “a cavalcade ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 6 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
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 ...
The establishment are clearly determined to either prevent Trump from becoming President or to deligitimise him.
We are living in an era of fake news run by the corporate media to forward its owners agenda.
Sadly Radio NZ is also an echo chambers for this propaganda.
You are being played folks.
http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/the_real_purpose_of_the_us_governments_report_on_alleged_hacking_by_russi/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-10/4chan-claims-have-fabricated-anti-trump-report-hoax
After the lying propaganda you put out yesterday Paul, you are complaining about others doing the same thing?
And maybe you think no one notices how you repeatedly slink away when any FACTS get close to the lies you are attempting to play, like you did again yesterday?
You are no better than any of the ‘evil’ forces you rant about daily – just as willing to lie and deceive yourself and others in order to push your individual philosophy. A f**ing hypocrite in other words.
Thanks for the ad hominem. I’d appreciate it if you tackled the issue rather than shoot the messenger. I appreciate its a difficult topic to discuss, as it may involve questioning some certainties and preconceptions we were brought up to believe.
Did you believe the stories about WMD and Saddam Hussein?
I think lost sheep more than nailed the issue here Paul
If you don’t trust Cowspiracy as a source, watch Before the Flood. It would appear irrefutable that meat eating is a major unspoken part of our carbon footprint.
Animal Agriculture is not an ‘unspoken’ part of our carbon footprint Paul? It is extremely well studied and documented?
My issue is that you referred us yesterday to a documentary that claimed that 53% of World Greenhouse emissions were caused by Animal Agriculture.
I am saying that is untrue.
I quoted from the IPCC’s 5th assessment yesterday that Agriculture in total provided 14% of Global GHGE.
That same assessment shows that the burning of fossil fuels for various purposes accounts for over 65% of global GHGE.
I can find no credible scientific source that disagrees with that basic scenario.
Can you produce credible scientific evidence that the IPCC is wrong about all that?
If not, do you have the honesty to concede the ‘Cowspiracy’ documentary is wildly inaccurate, and therefore the claim you made that eating meat is the single most destructive thing you can do to the environment has no basis in fact?
And Iv got an article here that says the worlds richest 10% generate half the worlds emissions and that’s low balling https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/02/worlds-richest-10-produce-half-of-global-carbon-emissions-says-oxfam
So I’ll ask again. How do you tell some one they’re a hoarder
Send them an email?
From my analysis of that report it looks highly likely that most people in NZ would be in the top 10% of the Worlds richest people anyway, so maybe talking to the people around you would be a good start?
What are your ideas?
I’d rather send out a vote
PAUL?
Scuttled away again to that nice safe place where you don’t have to confront any FACTS that disagree with your lying propaganda?
He is employed by RT to dump and run, code name Paulsky, in spare time glove puppet to grenwald and pilger
Yeah well now we seen conclusively he is a dishonest pusher of lying propaganda that doesn’t have the guts to back up or withdraw the lying propaganda he pushes…
He can rest easy. I won’t bother wasting anymore time exposing him for the hypocrite he is.
It’s all clear Paul, you can go back to deceiving yourself and the other conspiracy theorists in your usual manner.
I have been busy.
I have suggested you watch Before the Flood.
Have you?
I’m happy to move onto that, once you have dealt with the questions already in hand Paul.
In 1.1.2.1 above I have asked you to address some specific questions regarding the previous documentary you cited, and the claim you made deriving from that.
Do you intend to do address those questions?
Aspects of Cowspiracy may be inaccurate as you claim.
I don’t know.
However the film Before the Flood also makes the connection between meat eating and climate change.
So clearly there is some consensus on this.
Let me guess, they’re comparing feedlot meat with conventional cropping. It’s a nonsense argument Paul, because it’s based on BAU and BAU is killing the planet whether we eat meat or soy. If you are now reading permaculture, you will be getting to some of this. We need polyculture food production, and many of those systems do better with livestock in them.
A ‘consensus’?
Two Vegan fanatics that are happy to lie outright, and a Hollywood actor who by his own admission just about killed the planet with his travel carbon footprint in order to make a documentary showcasing his ‘green concern’ credentials?
Is that a sufficient standard of proof for you Paul? Are you happy to accept other peoples claims on that level of proof yourself?
It ain’t for me, not by a long long shot!
What about some credible scientific consensus to back up your claims as I asked for? Find any of that?
Here you go
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/21/eat-less-meat-vegetarianism-dangerous-global-warming
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-greenhouse-hamburger/
“More than 5m premature deaths could be avoided globally by 2050 if health guidelines on meat consumption were followed, rising to more than 7m with a vegetarian diet and 8m on veganism”
And how is that going to help the carbon footprint? This is the problem with these kind of reductionist analyses. They just end up looking stupid.
Thanks Paul,
Both links take there baseline from the FAO 2006 figure ‘Emissions from livestock account for 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gases’ (More than the IPCC 2013, but lets not quibble).
So I think we now agree that ‘Cowspiracy’ is completely and utterly inaccurate in claiming 53%?
And that neither report says anything even remotely like ‘eating meat is the single most destructive thing you can do the environment’ so we can dismiss that claim of yours as completely and utterly inaccurate also.
Took a while, but we got there in the end!
Hey Paul, cattle can regenerate land, help sequester carbon, and provide food,
https://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change
Thanks weka that’s a great link to read and hear. Reminds me of the efforts of Men of the Trees, which included women as well. I think that the UN have taken up the idea and some countries adopted it big time but we need to embrace it desperately now.
I wonder how soon we can start a target for each one of us to plant a tree once a year, on Arbour Day or some regional anniversary day, and have a mixed landscape not mono-pirad-culture and have some pines that produce pine seeds and so on, hard wood, trees that are resistant to fire destruction all getting a look in.
A bit of leadership and organisation from good pollies functioning well, not dysfunctional and assymetric.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/india-plants-50-million-trees-uttar-pradesh-reforestation/ 🙂
Although I tend to think that less trees planted more strategically might be better, it’s still an impressive effort.
Hi weka
Another idea, using conserved water in lakes etc and at same time limiting evaporation.
Have floating mats of reeds or such, that wouldn’t leach out unfavourable or toxic substances and have vegetables growing on them in a fairly uncontrolled way, that would draw nutrients needed from the water, so no added fertilisers, and there would be a regular route through them by the farmers or custodians or kaitiaki to pluck out growths that would overwhelm the food plants chosen.
Fish would feed on the underside of them and it could have many benefits once trialled and the right methods and types chosen.
We are being more than played. The manipulations and deceptions are burying the truth and it is escalating. It will not end well.
It would seem the neoliberal establishment will stop at nothing to ensure they stay in control.
As their agenda involves ramping up tensions against China and Russia, i would agree with your conclusion about the outcome.
You think they’re in control. How quint. The American crises showed that control to be fake. Fake fake fake
They clearly are trying to control matters.
And to their misfortune the peoples of Iraq. Syria, Libya, East Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela and numerous other countries are victims of the deep state and military industrial complex’s desire to control matters.
War is the absence of commen sense so that’s not a very good example
” War is the absence of common sense.” That’s dead right ,and the USA proves time and again it doesn’t have any common sense.
Garibaldi, obviously you fail to see the bigger picture of what is happening in Africa and the Middle East. The US foreign policy over many, many years has not changed.
Bomber gets it.
A deep state coup.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/01/12/the-donald-trump-fake-news-scandal-are-we-witnessing-a-deep-state-coup/
It’s very difficult not to pass your prejudice on to children Iv heard
Glenn Greenwald warns of the dangers (for the media and democracy) of accepting uncritically the alleged (and unverfied) surveillance dosier on Trump (as leaked yesterday). He calls it part of deep state warfare.
I gotta say, I’m losing respect for Greenwald.
When he starts using phrases like “Nobody should crave the rule of Deep State overlords.”, that’s an appeal to pretty base emotion and it’s a propaganda technique, not journalism.
He also way understates how much caution mainstream outlets are placing around this to further his narrative of trashing mainstream journalism.
Andre – I think you should question your faith in the Democrats .
Good points about some of the way Greenwald frames his article. It’s a point in favour of many MSM outlets that they didn’t rush to publish about unverified data.
OTOH, it does seem to me that caution is needed in accepting the dossier. It does seem to me to be part of some covert warfare. I trust neither the CIA nor Putin’s surveillance services and propaganda.
I also detest Trump and his (often contradictory) policies/agenda, but think the way to counter him is through the kinds of processes Greenwald recommends.
Thing is, Buzzfeed never said “this is all true”/. They released the full dossier after CNN reported on its existence. Not surprising people took it andf ran with it, with the inauguration looming people needed a goood laugh.
Yeah, fact-checking, independent corroboration, and looking at what someone actually does are a lot more important than the entertaining noise.
To me it’s a really interesting balance on whether to publish the 35 pages or not. That the intel agencies have briefed Obama and Trump about the allegations is a fact, and something I think should be publicly known. Given that the agencies apparently give it enough credence for it to form the basis of the brief, are we better served by seeing the raw data, or by having mysterious allegations floating around?
I’m curious whether the agencies have other independent corroboration of any of it, but we’ll probably never know since that might expose sources and methods. IMO, if the 35 pages is all they’ve got then it’s another big black mark against their credibility. OTOH, there’s enough solidly documented stuff showing links between Trump and his team and Russian interests, so I’d be surprised if the agencies didn’t have a lot of stuff that’s not public (yet).
I haven’t read all the way through those 35 pages yet. But as far as I can see so far, a lot of it is…an anonymous person talks to some people and some of them tell them that they heard that so and so said such and such.
In other words, a fair smattering of hear-say. Gossip.
A 70 year old business tycoon has contacts in Russia. Big deal.
He allegedly has some fetishes. Big deal.
And the stuff about the goings on of oligarchs might, or so I’d think, rub two ways…ie, I’d imagine US authorities would be curious about some of their activities.
The thing that bothers me is that it seems a fair chunk of the Republican Party is working in cahoots with a fair chunk of the Democratic Party and the Intelligence Agencies; that all the above are using overly compliant mainstream news outlets to swipe the legs out from under the democratically elected President of the US.
And I’m under no illusions they would have done the same if it was Sanders who was about to be President, just as over the pond, sections of the establishment are working hand in glove with one another and media outlets there to discredit Corbyn.
I get it that people enjoy reveling in ‘giving one’ to Trump. But there’s something more important going on here that deserves our attention.
If ‘the people’ were doing something that was gathering steam that might lead to a ‘take down’ of Trump, I’d be right there with them in spirit. But this is an establishment under siege seeking to re-assert itself. And my enemy’s enemy isn’t my friend – I won’t be cheering them on.
The establishment are clearly determined to either prevent Trump from becoming President or to deligitimise him.
Er, what? First, they can’t and therefore won’t prevent him from taking office, and second, nothing they could come up with to “de-legitimise” him could beat the stuff he’s come up with all on his own. Third, in what sense is a billionaire property developer with a private plane and a trophy wife not “the establishment?”
We are living in an era of fake news…
Oh, we certainly are.
This kind of fake news, mostly.
By crikey NZ tabloids are full of Agent Orange today, I’m over it and the shit spinning coming out of his mouth.
Anti establishment and anti dynasty he said in the debates, he is so full of it.
Hey, waidaminnit – how do I know you’re not a tool of the establishment and Lil Fingers is their boy all along? Why I orda…
I’m staying up in protest over media miss handling of information
Last week I had a house full of visitors, it was awesome. Anyways some of my visitors had stopped in at Kaikoura to visit family before coming up here. Family that are heavily involved in earthquake recovery and rebuilding there.
Turns out Brownlee was very arrogant when he visited, he was very angry at the public for embarrassing him in front of the media, and that’s coming from someone that attended the meeting and I was told is not a fan of the farmer that had a go at Brownlee. It’s always good to get the facts from those whom were there rather than the media spin. Doubt Brownlee will be back in Kaikoura anytime soon.
Guess that’s why they sent Mr Dildo this time, no public meeting, just a swift visit and meeting with selected local businesses.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/88310224/road-access-issues-harbour-still-top-of-the-list-for-kaikoura-businesses
A cursory examination of Brownlee’s history reveals it doesn’t really take much to make him angry. He has form for getting all bent out of shape whenever anyone questions him, or disputes his statements. He’s basically an ill-tempered bully with a chip on his shoulder.
The opposition dont focus enough on the born to rule arrogance that exudes from most nat ministers in their treatment of joe public.
Best answer for them is probably to be extra-respectful all the time in their own dealings with citizens – that is, show not tell.
Treats his staff like crap in front of media too, I’ve heard. Funny how it never comes up.
An interesting read. Who wants to bet various people in government haven’t “taken out insurance” by doing things like making copies of his tax returns?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/how-trumps-attacks-on-us-intelligence-will-come-back-to-haunt-him-214622
Just purchased a copy of Chris Trotters ‘No Left Turn’ from the discards table at Hastings Library. Nice copy, 50 cents.
Leaving one copy available between the 3 Libraries (Flaxmere, Hastings and Havelock North). All areas that, for very different reasons, could do with some political education.
WELL DONE to those responsible for the gutting of our libraries, and their fine contribution to dumbing down and keeping the population as ill informed as possible.
Specially noted is the fact that you sold off a large number of Shakespeare books on his anniversary, and gutted the politics section in the year leading up to the Elections.
How very timely.
Yup and did any hawkes bay local govt figures get a new years honour shower from shonky central ?
Well, Foss got a little reminder not to slam the door on the way out, and that’s good enough for me. Now we have the prospect of the residents of Havelock North rewarding their poisoner, the ‘humbled’ Lawrence Yule, with a position in National. Maybe.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11781033
50 shades of grey?…..or am I mixing that up with Trump?
Can’t be. Trump is 50 shades of golden.
he may end up being 50 shades of red
50 shades of yellow and red – orange?
lol….shit,its already happened
Good news, I hope.
President Barack Obama has put Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified material, on his short list for a possible commutation, a Justice Department source told NBC News.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/army-leaker-chelsea-manning-obama-s-short-list-commutation-n705441
Dear weka,
Yesterday, after I pointed out that two of my comments on the “Obama’s last speech” thread had not come through, you replied:
Could you tell me where they are?
The longer one keeps cycling back into Trash. I can’t do anything about that sorry. Here’s what it said,
In reply to Sacha.
What inspired you most, Sacha?
[1] The way he linked the destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq with the brave resistance struggles of Stonewall and Selma?
[2] His irony-free condemnation of Russia while stating, with a straight face, that the U.S. is not a “country that bullies smaller neighbors”? ,
[3] Was it his canting about Islamic terrorism—which the United States supports both diplomatically and militarily in Syria—while remaining silent about Christian and Israeli terrorism?
[4] Or perhaps you were inspired by his praise of “those who marched for justice” while his henchmen pursue and traduce Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, and while Chelsea Manning rots in solitary confinement.
You could try taking out the number formatting, it looks odd in the original comment so maybe that’s why it’s going to trash. Or it could be the random bug.
I can’t remember what the shorter one was, so can’t find it. It doesn’t look like it’s in Trash, and I’m guessing from memory that it was in the same Obama’s last speech thread.
Thanks, weka, you really are a champion!
I hope you remember that next time I piss you off 🙂
Problem with the waiver or “Mad Dog” knows something?.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/mattis-hasc-cancelled-confirmation
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/01/leading-labours-broad-church.html
when he’s good he’s very good…..
Yeah I liked that from Chris.
I wonder when the bubble crowd will get it, just jokes. I know they never will – they will take it as personal abuse, be offended, then look for someone to blame for them being offended.
May as well be me today.
The labour party in a liberal party and voting for them is a waste of time if you are actually interested in the rights, and needs of working people.
Plus they really do need to get off there high horse and accusing people of giving up on civil rights. Civil rights is a given, we just think your kidding yourself for thinking that we can get civil rights under a liberal system.
A wage slave who thinks they are free – is a simpler slave to deal with, than a slave who knows they are under the yoke of wage slavery.
Adam
Then again slaves in other places have at times been well treated, some have been able to buy out of their servitude.
At present we are in a culture that doesn’t even want slaves, it wants to deal with people who have money which is an artificial way of gaining credits. , But it doesn’t want to buy into the economic circle of employment, earnings, spending on things from human employment.
We are all under the yoke of our basic needs, and wage slavery can be viewed as security if one has decent wages and is respected in society and can have a full life. Bob Dylan sings it – You’ve got to serve someone. The plumber and his client, the grocer and his customer, both need each other. But with the damned talent we have for trying to break the human circle and play with our cunning machines, we humans collaborate to make our race redundant and base.
Trying to justfy your bondage does not mean you are not a slave.
We may not like slavery, but as a culture we tolerate it on so many levels. Never have we had so many sex slaves, never have so many women and children been held in such open bondage.
Let you onto a secret – Being anti-authoritarian means embracing freedom.
Servering unto others by free will is human, service to others to survive, is slavery.
Adam
Let you onto a not-secret but still not admitted by many – freedom espousing people often become authoritarian.
There are no perfect approaches to living ‘right’ in human society, just a constant effort to maintain a balance, at the top end of a sliding scale, with freedom at the high end and subjugation at the other.
A state house has been unwrapped on Auckland’s waterfront, but its not for living in – its a million-dollar sculpture. Is this irony, or not ? Maybe its a memorial.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/322216/controversial-artwork-unwrapped-on-auckland-wharf
It’s not irony, it’s taunting.
+1 Most of the money for the sculpture was donated by a real estate firm.
nah its a statement to greed and stupidity.
and all the nice polite society will come and ohhh and aahhhh and get pictures taken for the gossip sites sipping champagne and wearing fancy dresses.
They should have 3 families living in it, to give it some more artistic flair
Some squatters even 😈
How many days until the first taggers?
Michael Parekowhai, who lived in Northcote which contained a large state housing area, obviously understood the importance for a family of a place to call home. The house is a monument to a kinder era when the state understood the importance of providing housing to the people who needed it. Children could grow up in an area and complete their schooling at the local high school. Stability was valued.
In my view this Parekowhai house is also a monument of shame for this government.
Today’s precarious families are temporarily housed in motels, cars, and garages and made to feel like losers while the government flicks off the old state houses and tenants are forced to leave their communities, disrupting schooling and fracturing social links.
If the building highlights this government’s failure in social housing enough to incite voters to dump this government, then perhaps it will have fulfilled a greater purpose than that envisaged by the real estate firm donor.
+ 100% Tautoko Mango Mata. I had similar thoughts when I first viewed this sculpture, and wondered if it was also some kind of political statement (to be expected from Michael Parekowhai) .
Explains the Putin boners.
/
Ultra-conservative Russian lawmaker Yelena Mizulina is a senator in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament. She successfully campaigned for anti-LGBTQ legislature against “gay propaganda” which has made homosexual relationships and people subject to fines and punishment, and has been connected to a rise in anti-gay violence in Russia. She is now working to make domestic violence more acceptable.
The Guardian reported in August that Mizulina had introduced a new bill to the State Duma, which would decriminalize violence within families, subjecting perpetrators to fines rather than jail time. She stated at the time, “Battery carried out toward family members should be an administrative offense,” adding, “You don’t want people to be imprisoned for two years and labelled a criminal for the rest of their lives for a slap.”
http://jezebel.com/russian-parliament-passes-law-decriminalizing-domestic-1791076784
Fake news? That’s soooo yesterday. Get yourself some fake books to read on the subway.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fake-books-for-the-all-too-real-trump-era-crack-up-commuters_us_58764eabe4b03c8a02d4512b
I have just been reading this, – real news and important news for a change.
but hey, i guess its not Sharia Law.
” Judge O’Connor ruled that doctors can refuse to treat transgender patients and women who’ve had abortions—all in the name of “religious freedom.”
https://health.good.is/articles/ruling-denies-medical-treatment?utm_content=inf_10_81_2&utm_source=TSE&utm_medium=FB&utm_campaign=pd&tse_id=INF_ef448940d82311e6a03c354c456e1db2
Well those women and transgender people can just go to a friendlier state can’t they, and be grateful they don’t live in Syria while they’re at it.
/extreme sarcasm
i told a friend in the US today to stock up condoms, morning after pill,and so on.
She laughed and said she had closed shop a while ago. I reminded her that she had one boy and two girls in their midteens and they have not even opened shop yet.
but nevermind. i am just showing my privilege of being a first world woman.
fwiw i have run out of sarcasm and fucks.
Fair enough, and we’re just getting started with this shit 🙁
For those that don’t quite get it, women in the US are stocking up on birth control because access is expected to get harder. Transgender people who use hormones likewise, and other people who need meds for health reasons because they think they’re going to lose their health coverage.
and how does that square with hippocratic oath?
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:…
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
do they really use that?
In NZ doctors can refuse care to women who need an abortion, on moral grounds. And Chris Trotter just made the argument that identity politics are a problem because they stop MPs from being free to make decisions on moral grounds, so I guess we’re not so far removed.
https://www.nzma.org.nz/publications/code-of-ethics
is this the CT article to which you refer?https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/01/leading-labours-broad-church.html
yep. I saw it in your earlier comment. It has some really good stuff in it, then he throws a whole bunch of people under the bus.
curious, i saw no stated restriction on MPs nor tyre marks…..I did see however an appeal to tolerance and a dismissal of polarisation.Sound advice at any time, and particularly so now.
“So brightly did “identity politics” shine that Labour’s long-standing tradition of agreeing to disagree on issues of personal morality retreated into the shadows”
Abortion access, transgender rights, even disability rights in this day and age, all issues of personal morality. I took Trotter to be saying that MPs should be free to act on their conscience without the social and political pressure of identity politics.
The word MP or caucus is not mentioned….he is speaking of the party and the demos.
Within broadly agreed principles that serve all there is a recognition that experience, belief and views differ….or in other words, it is unrealistic to expect homogeneity in other than small groups…and politics is numbers.
Demos?
general voting public
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
“Why are you afraid of Trump?” “Because I read Octavia Butler”
“Why are you afraid of Pence?” “Because I read Margaret Atwood”
https://twitter.com/seelix/status/811005002558959617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Yes!!
Don’t believe the hype. They’re paper tigers
Keep it 100
and back in NZ, own own debacle continues…..
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/85456/eqcs-unaccountable-actions-see-christchurch-woman-wrongly-accused-fraud-and-left
this from a Gov dept overseen by a Minister…..defies belief.
fuck that’s bad. End of the empire stuff.
an appalling organisation that has run roughshod over particularly the elderly and vulnerable (though not exclusively)…..and the CEO gets a bonus and a nice new job and the Minister remains at head and unrepentant.
“EQC suggested she make a complaint to the Ombudsman as a last resort. But Mrs Jones has lost all faith in the system.
How many people have been wrongfully accused of serious criminal offending by a Government organisation that is supposed to step up and help people in a time of need? ”
Damn them for their ‘kick them when they’re down’ culture.
Thanks Pat for bringing this to our attention. Clearly some outfit had a contract with EQC to assess for eligibility and install the heat pumps and were way too quick off the mark… maybe to jump start their revenue stream?
Was this heat pump thing some sort of ‘aren’t we being so nice to the poor folks of Christchurch’ PR exercise?
I’d be more cynical than that and guess it was how do we tick off this quota on our job sheet exercise, while spending the least amount of time on it.
‘Was this heat pump thing some sort of ‘aren’t we being so nice to the poor folks of Christchurch’ PR exercise?”
It was painted as that at one stage…..however this particular incident and heat pumps in general are but a microcosm of the whole EQC experience for thousands…..the advice to refer to the Ombudsman is farcical (as the aggrieved party probably well knew) as those that appealed to the Ombudsman were not served at all and the office themselves stated no ability or desire to rule with regard EQC.
“…but a microcosm of the whole EQC experience for thousands…..the advice to refer to the Ombudsman is farcical…”
We were travelling in the SI in February 2011, and again in 2013, and spoke with hundreds of people affected by the ‘quakes. Many we have spent time with literally fled Christchurch, never to return, such was the trauma not only of the big ‘quakes but the thousands of aftershocks.
Without fail, all have had negative experiences with EQC and their contractors.
For most of these people, having to apply to EQC for compensation for damage to their homes was the first time they had ever had to go cap in hand to a government agency to get the assistance they believed they had paid for via levies and taxes.
Extremely sobering process, and it was not only the sense of betrayal they felt at how they were treated, but absolute shock that fellow Kiwis, employed by this Government agency, could do their work with seemingly cheerful disregard at the devastating effects on the lives of these citizen users.
And accounts such as this indicates a level of almost sociopathic dedication to their appointed tasks.
The other day Bomber Bradbury, in an article endeavoring to instruct Gareth Morgan on how to create a better ‘anti-establishment’ party, made an interesting statement…
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/01/09/tdb-summer-election-special-is-top-real-or-a-gareth-morgan-vanity-project/
“Labour can’t criticise what those Government Departments do to the poorest and weakest members of society because they are beholden to the PSA…”
And when I think about it…has Labour actually kicked up the appropriate amount of shit when stories like this make it into the light of day?
Because if any one incident over the past 8 years of this mob’s rule has galvanised the general public into criticism of government departments it is how EQC shat all over the Canterbury claimants.
Don’t think being beholden to the PSA was the issue…..many of EQCs employees were contractors and were unlikely to be members. Labours lack of advocacy was noted and grates with many, though a couple of MPs did extremely helpful work, but at an individual case level (still believe time will show a grand coalition immediately after the second quake)…..like WINZ the culture is driven from above.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6584422/Review-of-nepotism-at-EQC-had-gaps
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/71891130/daughter-of-eqc-executive-being-investigated-again
“…like WINZ the culture is driven from above.”
Hmmm….my thoughts are tending in the direction of comparing this situation with what happened with the Ministry of Health Disability Support Services and the Carer Support Subsidy.
(http://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/services-and-support/disability-services/types-disability-support/respite-and-carer-support/carer-support)
MOH:DSS, almost immediately upon its inception in about 2000, contracted out almost every aspect of support for disabled Kiwis who are not under ACC, including the Needs Assessment and Service Coordination service…through which those with disabilities have to traverse in order to access any funding for supports.
Because of the overriding emphasis placed on only funding ‘unmet needs’ and hugely emphasising the requirement for only funding what family won’t or can’t do, many families living with disability found that the only government funded support available was CSS…which because of the punitive restrictions around who can be paid for what and the fact it is funded at $3 per hour (already financially struggling families simply cannot afford to make up the shortfall to meet minimum wage) those of us who were allocated Carer Support days found them very difficult to utilise if we kept strictly within the rules.
I was allocated 110 days in late 2002 after having tried and failed to find ‘formal’ care for my man so I could address a health issue. This large allocation was made by the NASC (who assesses and coordinates services under contract for the MOH DSS) and because of the large allocation was approved by MOH head office.
When I phoned our NASC (remember, a contracted provider for the MOH) and said this didn’t solve the problem (of needing carers) and was not enough to actually pay for care through a provider, I was told by the NASC to be “creative” with the funding.
The last thing anyone can accuse me of is creativity, so I was not caught up in the pogrom instituted by the Ministry of Health Disability Support Services in 2010 and 2012 against disabled people and their chosen family carers committing Carer Support fraud.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3418235/Care-support-fraud-hits-1-million
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10807955
(Those with a decent memory will remember that publicity around these pogroms coincided with the Human Rights Tribunal decision saying the family carers should be paid a wage in January 2010 and the Appeal Court decision upholding the HRRT decision in May 2012)
And ironically, there was little if any acknowledgement that the hundreds of family carers who were getting paid (in breach of the discriminatory policy) were being paid under ‘arrangements’ facilitated by the contracted providers…who were never publicly investigated for this.
At no time was there any public acknowledgement that Carer Support funding was only allocated after an assessment by a MOH contracted provider…who was also charged with ensuring that the allocatee was appraised of and followed the rules for use.
At no stage was there any public acknowledgement that NASCs were instructing disabled people and their family carers on how to “be creative” in order to access this very limited and inflexible support funding….and hence placing these families at risk of prosecution.
(Bear in mind, that CSS is allocated on a kind of pro rata basis…so many days CSS for so many hours per week of unpaid care…in my case…the $8200 per year CSS was instead of the MOH funding $80,000 for ‘formal’ care. )
“You can’t arrest me, I’m white”
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/jeff-sessions-confirmation-hearing-kkk-protesters
Pricks can’t help themselves.
But as civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, Congressional Black Caucus head Rep. Cedric Richmond and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker testified that Sessions’ confirmation to head the Department of Justice would set back the cause for universal civil rights, only one Republican on the committee remained to listen.
“I want to express my concerns about being made to testify at the very end of the witness panels,” Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond said to applause from members of the Congressional Black Caucus seated behind him in the Russell Senate building. “To have a senator, a House member and a living civil rights legend testify at the end of all of this is the equivalent of being made to go to the back of the bus.”
http://www.salon.com/2017/01/11/watch-congressional-black-caucus-says-jeff-sessions-confirmation-will-set-back-the-cause-of-universal-civil-rights/
They’re emboldened right? More and more I am thinking about how we need to address that here in NZ. Different scale and dynamics but still there.