I really do think Jacinda needs to get rid of Mallard. He's become the albatross around her neck. Judith is of course using this as an opportunity to get at Jacinda and will continue to. Mallard is probably due to retire soon anyway, but this really doesn't reflect well on Jacinda.
How the heck can Stuff let this pass as opinion? It might be Ben Thomas' opinion, but it's worse than Kelvin Davis' speech after the last election, and that was appalling.
Watching TV3 News last night, there was the piece on a further $8m required to go further in to Pike River mine. Also the piece on people laying down in front of Parliament protesting that drugs required to keep them alive are not funded.
IMO, if the govt. has a spare $8m, I would rather it went towards funding the drugs required for the living.
I would rather the money went to saving the lives of people that are still living. If we had unlimited supply of money then I guess they could do both.
Claim is that the fan must be recovered. Original plan was there would sufficient forensic evidence in the area where the mandate stopped. Review will reveal who is correct?
Nothing was guaranteed, but the deeper they go the evidence they might find. Switchboards and fans. Self-rescue equipment. Gas monitors. Were they signed off as in spec but not? Were they missing? Eg.g isn't the fan just beyond the current obstacle?
As a thought experiment: a group of cancer patients are given a new drug. They’re told that the new pill is quite safe. Next day, 29 patients are found dead.
What do you do? You move on and pretend there’s nothing to see here, that nothing will bring back the dead, and the money is more useful for ‘the living’? Should the Crown inquest into the death of six epilepsy patients be scrapped because that money can be spent better elsewhere, e.g. for housing homeless people?
People need answers to help them find closure. People need answers to ensure and be assured that systems and processes of accountability are in place and functioning to uphold these principles. People need answers to be able to avoid/prevent similar mistakes being made in future. These things take time, can be quite costly, and are painful for some.
Welcome to politics; it is everywhere and always present.
Unfortunately we do not have a never ending supply of money and it must be allocated as the government sees fit. IMO if $8m will keep a number of people alive, it is a better use of those funds than finding remains of dead people. I believe around $52m has already been spent.
There's the systemic benefit of finding out what went wrong, but there's also the possible safety improvement if someone who did something dangerous (e.g. tampered with a gas detector, or authorised unsafe equipment) might still be working in the industry, as yet undiscovered.
And of course your comment assumes that the $8mill will go to keeping people alive rather than paying down govt debt.
Ok, you didn’t add anything new to your opinion, you just repeated it. As for those anti-cancer drugs; they’re not miracle drugs or cures. Some patients do suffer severe and almost life-threatening side effects in some cases and there’s absolutely no guarantee that they will work or even work well in all patients. These are much more ethical dilemmas than issues about money although the latter does play a role, of course. For example, PHARMAC makes recommendations based on cost-utility analysis using QALYs; they don’t decide on Pike River and could not apply the same analysis, for obvious reasons. It takes political and public debate to decide on cost-benefit analysis, where benefit is much broader and wider ranging than utility per se; not everything can and should be counted (!) in terms of life & death because we are humans and live in a human society.
I really wonder about the world we live in nowadays. What’s happened to responding to people like the shoe fetishist as a weirdo and having a giggle? Not the staff at no 1 shoe warehouse or any woman whose shoes he photographed.
but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that the guy took pics of the kids shoes and there was always another teacher in the class. But now a trauma team is sent in and the principal feels bad cause he didn’t protect the kids…………I am sorry if anyone feels traumatised and I don’t mean to invalidate their feelings. But I wonder if it’s not more helpful in this instance saying “weirdo” and getting on with life.
interested to hear others views. Btw I had, unknown to me, a close association with someone who had a shoe fetish, just to let you know. It was weird, but I didn’t need to make it make it my problem
the guy postes his fetish, including pictures of the girls whose shoes he ejaculated all over on fetish boards.
So maybe this is just a bit more then a 'eewww' and a giggle.
In the fist article it appears that one of his victims a 15 year old co-worker had her name and face plastered all over some fetish site. So the question remains, did he do the same while working as a teacher?
According to Newshub, the employee had been posting numerous photos, with one titled 'Workmate's Converse in work locker'.
One of his alleged victims was aged just 15.
In January 2021 he allegedly photographed himself performing a sex act in the colleague's shoes, according to Newshub.
Some of his posts also contained images of his alleged victims, including faces, either in the store or in the breakroom, it is claimed.
A number of posts detailed female customers' looks, ages, and a description of their shoes………………………………….
Newshub claim in March a post on the man's fetish profile discussed how he followed a "fit" woman home and returned to her house the next day before sniffing and spitting in her shoes………………..
She eventually managed to identify the workplace and the 15-year-old co-worker from a photo taken of her locker which included a document with her full name.…………………….
so maybe really there is a reason why they are following it up. Personally i would not want to be the fifteen year old.
Thanks Sabine. Mine is a good example of a knee jerk reaction based on my own experience when I didn’t have all the information. Do you are correct.
I do feel for the principal who is taking too much responsibility here. These sexual deviants, for want of a better phrase exist and will do anything to gain access to women and children. Here’s hoping his offending was limited and didn’t include the kids from the school.
btw my own experience was helped by the lack of the internet.
yes, the lack of internet in our time maybe was a saving grace for many abuse victims.
I can't fault the principal for wondering if he missed signs and what they were. In any case this guy is now in prison and hopefully will be given more then a home d sentence.
I don’t know that there are always signs. In my case the guy was the very last person you would expect. And don’t think his actions were criminal. Also worked with a guy, who we later found out sexually abused his step daughter. Although I didn’t respect him as a colleague never ever occurred to me he was a paedophile. Ever. Two “nice” progressive guys.
Even the link you did provide had some points of concern, Anker (boldface added for emphasis):
a man accused of performing sexual acts with other people’s shoes for fetish websites was on placement as a student teacher…
He’s also believed to have messaged women using fake profiles on social media asking for pictures of their shoes.
The pictures were then posted online, along with pictures of the women, without their knowledge…
It was possible students at the school had been contacted by Wylie, or one of his aliases, on social media asking for pictures of shoes…
According to court documents, Wylie faces two charges of behaving in an offensive manner in Number One Shoes on April 4 and April 15 this year. He also faces a charge of theft of a customer’s insole
That's a fairly clear picture of premeditation and deliberate deception there, without even getting into the; stalking, and unsought bodily fluid deposits, that Sabine references. Though; "photographed himself performing a sex act in the colleague's shoes", could have been boldface too.
The DSM-V distinguishes between paraphilias and paraphilic disorders, which seems an important distinction. I don't think that everyone with a; shoe, or foot, fetish is necessarily a weirdo – there is certainly room for more variety in human behavioural expression. However, when it comes to inflicting your paraphilia on others without their consent, then it becomes abuse, if not assault. It is more the violation of others, than the kink itself, that is the problem
However, the role of internet (especially in its darker recesses) fora in providing spaces to; normalize, and even incentivize, abuse of others is becoming difficult to ignore. Yet that runs smack up into the freedom of expression argument, which isn't likely to be settled anytime soon. And, with virtual network identity and cross-border differences in regulation, that'd be a nightmare to even study (to gauge the extent of the non-consensual image problems), let alone prevent.
I have been depressing myself this past month following the; Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. Imagining what that would have been like in the Internet age really makes me lose hope for our society.
The likelihood of a; trans woman, or other Assigned Male At Birth, individual being in the same changing room for you to glimpse their "willy" is fairly remote, gsays. AFAB trans-men who have had bottom surgery on the other hand might be more inclined to such exhibitionism?
The general rule with being trans in changing rooms, or toilets, is to; avoid making eye contact, or speaking to others (if there are no unisex – generally disabled – rooms available). Never going anywhere in public alone is also an important precaution against the frequent verbal and physical abuse we encounter. Waiting for a wall-adjacent space so that you can hide what unavoidable body exposure can't be concealed with towels or other garments is recommended.
I remember seeing somewhere that the most common answer for trans-people to the question; "What would you do first if all the transphobes in the world magically vanished for a day?", was; "go swimming". While looking for the source, I stumbled upon this, and got distracted:
Physical activity, in particular swimming and aquatic activity, has positive mental and physical health benefits; swimming and aquatic activity participation have the potential to address health inequalities. However, {citation} show that transphobic language and the acceptance of transphobic “banter” pervade physical activity and sport environments. As highlighted above through previous research, many transgender and non-binary people experience sport and physical activity as discriminatory, prejudiced and abusive…
The theme of not swimming for a long period of time was shared by many of the research participants and mentioned in the one-to-one interviews:
Up until the first session [Trans Swim] I hadn't submerged in water, obviously I'd had baths, but like at the beach and swimming pools, for at least ten, twelve years I hadn't been swimming. (Joe, 22nd June 2018)
I didn't swim all these years. Probably nine years. (Sam, 10th May 2019).
The main reasons for ceasing to take part in swimming activities were contingent on being transgender or non-binary and linked with not feeling safe, and not feeling comfortable to display the body.
gsays as I said earlier it was a knee jerk reaction on my behalf to the article, ie I didn't think it through, likely to do with my own experience.
And yeah I get that this person has caused harm to some people. I think I said in my comment that I don't want to invalidate peoples experience. I guess what I was thinking and I didn't put it well is I hope they don't make people into victims over this or catastrophize it, which sounds like what your mum with a head of steam is trying to do gsays.
Very much prefer not to see anyone's willy in a change room. I would not like that, nor do I want it. Nor would I like anyone with a willy looking at me when I change.
I feel this way about male v female Drs. Although if I have to see a male Dr, I grin and bear it (so to speak).
Gsays it sounds like you might be a medical professional and as such see peoples bodies regularly as part of your work., which may mean you are less bothered by this.
I did appreciate Forget now writing about their experience (sorry not 100% sure if you are trans male or trans female) experience of changing rooms. What do you think is the solution Forget now?
I am NonBinary, or just; Queer; Anker, so that makes navigating changing rooms and toilets; more difficult, rather than less so. But if I go to the pool, it's usually with kids anyway, so we can use the family changing rooms. Though, if I go by myself that's not such an option, unless that area is fairly empty so I don't have to wait. You sure don't want to be a single trans person seen to be hanging around a kiddy area! So I don't go by myself.
My preferred solution would be; more unisex toilets and such. Though that doesn't help much with trans-men & -women, who feel that their identity is bound up in their binary gender. Like, if you are visiting someone's house, do you ask where the woman's toilet is? No, even if there are more than one – they are for everybody! Though I guess; en suites are only for the people staying in that room. To me, the whole toilet debate seems mostly a result of public building designers wanting to cheap-out on the facilities. However, those metal-trough urinals are simply disgusting and I would prefer never to be in the same room with one again.
If you don't want to see someone's; Willy, or Reena, the simple solution is not to perv at their groin.
I agreed with your preferred solution. I think change rooms can be pretty fraught places for a lot of people. It’s not a matter of not perving at men’s Willies. But it would be a very heightened awareness that their is someone in a female changing room with one. Women are unused to this, and many are likely to feel deeply self conscious should that happen. For me it’s not about being transphobic (although I never allow myself to say I am not racist, transphobic or sexist). What I try and do is check my responses and be open to my own unconscious prejudice.
I say I don’t think I am transphobic over the toilet issue, because I would be happy to have a trans man use female toilets. It may be in part to do with an attempted rape by a mask man in a changing room that makes me very sensitive and aware of who is in any public change room. Especially if I perceive that would be capable of overpowering me.. Aside from that, I am a woman over a certain age. I also think many women who have been sexually abused are triggered by male genitalia or the awareness that it is around. The solution of “don’t perve”, really doesn’t feel good to me. I would be doing everything I could not to “perve” but that in and of itself doesn’t feel at all comfortable.
Oops, that should have been; trans-men & trans-women (2nd paragraph), it didn't have red underlining so I missed that typo. The evolving terminology is a bit fraught and contested, but a trans-man (usually, depending on who is speaking) means someone Assigned Female At Birth (or more rarely; Intersex) who has transitioned to male gender expression.
Simplifying; trans-man = Sex; female, Gender; man. Trans-woman = Sex; male, Gender; woman (though that's skipping a lot). Which is complicated by the fact that; hormone supplements (& blockers), and surgery, mean that trans-men often have; flat chests, beards, and sometimes willies. While trans-women often have; breasts, little body hair, and sometimes reenas (though these are more cosmetic rather than functional for breeding purposes).
But yeah, I get what you mean about being aware of other's bodies without consciously perving. Though there is a body odour (even when freshly showered) change with hormone changes too, which seems to be connected with how clockable someone is. Also, trans willies tend to be somewhat stunted and useless – though I won't go into details there. The problem is; a lot of people's ideas about trans-people seem to come from porn, and those youthful sexual athletes are likely taking performance enhancers.
Anyway, everyone has their unconscious prejudices. I can't stand drag-queens myself – though I don't deny that they are people with particular needs. Really, I don't think the; "trans-men are men, trans-women are women" slogan is likely to be fully socially accepted in my lifetime (though it is cute to see the young ones proclaim it so earnestly). I'd be happy with a general recognition that:
Hey forget now and Gsays, I am really pleased this hasn’t developed into a flaming row too! Very glad.
I appreciated your openness Forget Now and when people are open about how things are for them, it takes it away from debating points.. from your openness forget now, I was able to have some idea what it was like for trans gender people using public toilets. Felt so protective of that space, I didn’t pause to really consider it.
it’s good to share common ground. I would prefer to refer to trans people as trans people too.
Many years ago I lived in the UK and other than someone taking me to a show with drag queens in it, I hadn’t had much exposure at all to trans people. Then this tv personality, Claire Raynor, did a tv documentary about a person who had gender dysphasia and wanted to transition. It was an amazing doco and really was very empathetic towards the trans person. I’ve remembered it 30 years later.
I guess it is more the; lip-synching performances, than the drag-queens themselves I dislike. Learn to sing or play an instrument! Especially now when autotune/ pitch-shifters are readily available if you feel your voice is too deep a bass for the song (or soprano for drag-kings).
It's really more of a; musician, than an eNBy, prejudice. Plus I keep getting people expecting me to be into that Ru Paul gameshow, and I've not been able to make it through a single episode (apparently the earlier seasons were better, and more DIY).
Last night I came across an interview withRobert Pope Chicago University who analysed the people who participated in Washington insurrection and have been processed by the courts.
Of the 420+ so far:
96% White
86% Male
2/3 were 34yo or older with a cluster in the 40-50yo.
They had families and jobs
45% were business managers, CEO, doctors. Lawyers etc.
7% were unemployed.
90% were not members of gangs/militias
The all important Driver of the rioters was their overwhelming belief in the “Replacement Theory.”
This is where White people fear that the emerging rights of the minorities will push out the whites.
Half of the participants came from the Blue (Democrat) areas and were Trump supporters. The indicator was from areas where there was a decline in White population.
The more rural the area the less likely that they would be to participate.
They were all GOP supporters.
The University carried out a Gold Standard Survey of the General Population.
4% of the USA population believe that the Election was stolen and that they would support a violent response.
The survey focussed on the Replacement Theory.
PS I hope my notes are accurate. One might wonder if Replacement Theory is behind the National Party currently raising fears of minority gaining rights? Maybe.
45% were business managers, CEO, doctors. Lawyers etc.
All I can deduce from that is that many US doctors, lawyers and CEOs in the US have poor deduction abilities, are not well educated and lacking integrity. For Americans who are supposedly professionals to actively participate in violent insurrection against the state is mind boggling.
these are now the professionals that have to compete with non white, non male people who are equally well educated, often younger, and often more driven then they themselves are. It is very easy to be a highly paid mediocre white man in certain places. And then you lose your job to someone who is brown, female or 'other', and they outperform you at every instance. White privilege, its a heck of a drug.
Fanmac getting his name right would help Robert Pape his research showed most of the 377 charged so far came from towns and cities where migrants of different ethnicities were becoming the majority .White insecurity fearing of having non white people in charge .
Thanks for the correction to Robert Pape's name Tricledrown. The number given by him last night was 420 so far. And yes the different ethnicities becoming the majority is the point.
Perhaps the fight back from coloured people objecting to unwarranted arrests means that coloured people gaining "rights" in the eyes of whites, cause the fear, even if those "rights" should mean "equal rights" rather than greater "rights."
I just made notes from the You Tube item that I stumbled on. My skills did not stretch to how to link it to here, but I will backtrack so next time…. Thanks Incognito.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas told senators on Wednesday that the greatest domestic threat facing the United States came from what they both called “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.”
“Specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white race,” Mr. Garland told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The cabinet secretaries’ comments reflected a dramatic shift in tone from the Trump administration, which deliberately downplayed the threat from white supremacists and similar groups, in part to elevate the profile of what former President Donald J. Trump described as violent threats from radical left-wing groups.
Last year, a former head of the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence branch filed a whistle-blower complaint in which he accused the department of blocking a report about the threat of violent extremism and described white supremacists as having been “exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent targeted attacks in recent years.”
…
Merrick Garland added that “if there has to be a hard hierarchy of things that we prioritize,” the Jan. 6 attack would be at the top because it most threatened democracy. “I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy than the invasion of the Capitol,” Garland said, calling it “an attempt to interfere with the fundamental element of our democracy, a peaceful transfer of power.” Alejandro Mayorkas added that “the department is taking a new approach to addressing domestic violent extremism, both internally and externally.”
the offender was attempting to use a mixture of real and fake $50 notes at Briscoes, Hornby, when the employee refused to accept the cash.
But when the store assistant did not return the fake cash to the offender as requested, he pulled her hair and produced a knife…Briscoes refused to comment on the incident yesterday and police were unable to provide information…
The employee, who has been working at the Hornby store for a number of years, called police and made a statement at the scene… police were able to take note of the number plate of the offender’s car in the Briscoes car park.
So, while not just returning the counterfeit bills was obviously not the best idea, the response was way overboard. Brandishing a weapon at someone is assault, but especially so with the hair grappling! I think it was 6x the 2019 levels of violence/ abuse against Countdown staff reported with in one of the Dunedin stabbing articles (don't have link at moment)? So this seems to already have become a common thing in NZ.
Yep. Meth is a nasty chemical that twists the mind and can turn good people into psychopaths. If meth use is on the rise these type of incidences will likely rise too.
If we reduce addiction we can reduce the harm from/to addicts. So what are the factors that would bring meth use (and addiction in general) down?
Addiction is a response to human suffering. Healing trauma helps addiction. Connection helps addiction.
A holistic job. Punitive measures for addicts only exacerbate the issue by breaking families up and subjecting users to violent criminals – more trauma – more addiction – more shameful behaviour – more trauma – more addiction…
We have to work out how to, as a society, jump off the damn carousel.
Humans are the major contributors to human suffering. Many of them we reward and applaud. Statues to bastards dot the land. Shrines to shitheads. The issues rose from within. From gross inhumanities to the endless barrage of corporate shit telling us we are not enough… We've lost sight of community for celebrity, of succour for success.
When we treat social animals in anti-social ways we create social disorders.
Create community for the lost to actually return to.
You are right about the lack of community contributing to mental ill-health. Lacking a sense of belonging- family, community, church or sports groups etc underpins lots of dis-ease.
Combine that disconnect with the general fuck-wittedness trajectory of society these events are going to become more common place.
While it is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach, micro dosing with LSD is gaining favourability. However if one is in crisis, the time to be disciplined with psychedelics has passed.
Sounds like a good argument for cannabis. If all our alcohol drinkers were required to include cannabis in the golden list of drugs (with suitable limits), we would be on a great path. I hope that toilet paper is never banned, NZs are so unprogressive that they would have to be begged, to vote for its resurrection again.
This is pretty saddening, though at least the text service is reaching its target demographic. It is hard to talk when your voice is raspy from crying, so I'd be glad of the text option if I was in that situation (and had no urgent tasks to keep me distracted from the pointlessness of continued existence). I think it was Camus (Myth of Sisyphus?) who said that; suicide is the only important philosophical question:
Children as young as 11 are contacting Lifeline feeling suicidal as the helpline records its busiest month.
In April, more than 30,000 text messages were sent and received by the crisis helpline.
That surpasses the previous record set in March this year of 27,000 texts. It is also more than the 25,000 texts sent and received during {the 2020 COVID lockdown}.
The majority of texts being received are from young people between the ages of 11 and 20.
If by the "jacinda government" he means the full majority the Labour currently enjoys he could be quite right actually. I for one hope that the next election brings forward some good showing by the third parties to force Labour into a coalition. The one to look for is Act which currently seems to have the most to win, the Maori Party is interesting, The Green should be in the 10%, and then there are the conservatives and others.
Germany is currently undergoing some interesting changes. For the first time this country will have the chance at a coalition between the CDU/CSU and The Greens.
This is a really good read on the changing times, the kids that won against the german government re climate change, and best of all some good graphics of the possible coalition agreements that could be looked at.
And the realos in the Green Party could be making Government this year as a full partner.
To be sure. Not very impressed with the Shaw version of the Greens myself, but they're a better act than the opposition parties. It would be nice to see a few strong voices or intellects emerge even from ACT or the Gnats – but there's no sign of such hidden depths to date. They see Trumpian politics as something to aspire to, even as even America is recognizing they were a step too far.
Davidson is co-leader of the GP, so it is not solely the; Shaw version of the Greens, SM. Especially since he has been there for a while now, so by next election I would guess that Tuiono will have taken his place (March is a bit young, and skin of his teeth list elected on specials). Though it is possible for Shaw to resign from parliament this term and be replaced without a by-election (being a list MP), I don't think his Ministerial appointments would necessarily go with him (been a while since I have read the LP/ GP agreement).
Shaw seems to front for the issues I'm less keen on – Davidson seems ok. Seems to be a dearth of male talent atm – but Swarbrick might step up at some point. Surprised we haven't seen more of Genter. The Greens largely have the intellectual and policy chops the other opposition parties lack – interesting to see what use they make of them.
That is not the point i was trying to make. Have you had a look at the forecasted options for the next german government? What you will see there is that ALL options are discussed, the good, the bad, the ugly, if you so want.
The Co Leader of the German Green Party and the Conservatives both will try to run a good government, the point is that you need to work together.
And maybe once the people of NZ understand it they might actually demand it from their parties.
Or else you are constantly in a stalemate where every other government tries to undo what the last government has created. Maybe we should think about that, as it is as sure as day light that national at some stage will form a coalition again with someone, the other alternative that if Labour wants to rule, it might must consider a somewhat 'unpalatable' coalition partner.
1 April this year marked a somewhat historic moment with the increase of the minimum wage to $20 p/h. In the 2000's there was a push to "make low wages history". Now in 2021 we can claim that has been achieved, low wages are now history with the minimum benchmark of $20. That isn't a high wage rate, but neither is it low. Also in recent years the minimum wage has made rapid advances in catching up with the living wage, the difference is no where huge like it was in the mid 2010's. Low wages, at least in terms of how it was defined of $ per hour, are history.
That does not account for under employment of course which can still render a persons weekly income low by virtue of hours worked and availability of work.
yes and that's not about low wages per se Pat, that's about a very big price bubble, the ratio of income to house prices. To misquote John keys infamous "I would love to see wages drop" quote, I would love to see house prices drop.
Thats the point….you will not improve living standards through wage increases IF the major living cost is ignored….especially when a general wage increase is a signal to increase rents/house prices.
The solution is to restore affordable housing costs.
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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 ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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. ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
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, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
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I really do think Jacinda needs to get rid of Mallard. He's become the albatross around her neck. Judith is of course using this as an opportunity to get at Jacinda and will continue to. Mallard is probably due to retire soon anyway, but this really doesn't reflect well on Jacinda.
'Outrageous;' 'embarrassment': Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern trade letters over Trevor Mallard saga – NZ Herald
Yup, Mallard's the problem.
/
https://thestandard.org.nz/classy/
How the heck can Stuff let this pass as opinion? It might be Ben Thomas' opinion, but it's worse than Kelvin Davis' speech after the last election, and that was appalling.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/125107559/if-the-jacinda-show-wants-another-season-it-cant-afford-any-more-stumbles
The murderous euphoria of the Israeli far right who're getting everything they want and the hopelessness of Palestinians who get nothing. Two states.
https://twitter.com/edokonrad/status/1392188874743451648
Watching TV3 News last night, there was the piece on a further $8m required to go further in to Pike River mine. Also the piece on people laying down in front of Parliament protesting that drugs required to keep them alive are not funded.
IMO, if the govt. has a spare $8m, I would rather it went towards funding the drugs required for the living.
And let the white collar criminals off the hook, again?
Do the job properly this time.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/382913/pike-river-mine-early-police-work-described-as-diabolical
I would rather the money went to saving the lives of people that are still living. If we had unlimited supply of money then I guess they could do both.
well there is the money spend on the americas cup, on amazon, and such …..
we seem to have money to waste, it seem the problem really is the 'spending'.
But yeah, heck, lets play the ones against the others, while the third party laughs all the way to the bank.
I wonder how much surplus this labour government is gonna leave the next national government for tax cuts. 🙂
Think of the future victims of the pike river management mobsters jimmy.
Claim is that the fan must be recovered. Original plan was there would sufficient forensic evidence in the area where the mandate stopped. Review will reveal who is correct?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125111240/8m-plan-to-go-further-into-pike-river-mine-to-be-reviewed
I think you might be over-egging the expectations for the original plan.
Nothing was guaranteed, but the deeper they go the evidence they might find. Switchboards and fans. Self-rescue equipment. Gas monitors. Were they signed off as in spec but not? Were they missing? Eg.g isn't the fan just beyond the current obstacle?
https://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/2105/Pike_River_Familes_Main_Fan_Site_Recovery_Plan__May_2021.pdf
Thanks, that's really interesting.
As a thought experiment: a group of cancer patients are given a new drug. They’re told that the new pill is quite safe. Next day, 29 patients are found dead.
What do you do? You move on and pretend there’s nothing to see here, that nothing will bring back the dead, and the money is more useful for ‘the living’? Should the Crown inquest into the death of six epilepsy patients be scrapped because that money can be spent better elsewhere, e.g. for housing homeless people?
People need answers to help them find closure. People need answers to ensure and be assured that systems and processes of accountability are in place and functioning to uphold these principles. People need answers to be able to avoid/prevent similar mistakes being made in future. These things take time, can be quite costly, and are painful for some.
Welcome to politics; it is everywhere and always present.
Unfortunately we do not have a never ending supply of money and it must be allocated as the government sees fit. IMO if $8m will keep a number of people alive, it is a better use of those funds than finding remains of dead people. I believe around $52m has already been spent.
There's the systemic benefit of finding out what went wrong, but there's also the possible safety improvement if someone who did something dangerous (e.g. tampered with a gas detector, or authorised unsafe equipment) might still be working in the industry, as yet undiscovered.
And of course your comment assumes that the $8mill will go to keeping people alive rather than paying down govt debt.
Ok, you didn’t add anything new to your opinion, you just repeated it. As for those anti-cancer drugs; they’re not miracle drugs or cures. Some patients do suffer severe and almost life-threatening side effects in some cases and there’s absolutely no guarantee that they will work or even work well in all patients. These are much more ethical dilemmas than issues about money although the latter does play a role, of course. For example, PHARMAC makes recommendations based on cost-utility analysis using QALYs; they don’t decide on Pike River and could not apply the same analysis, for obvious reasons. It takes political and public debate to decide on cost-benefit analysis, where benefit is much broader and wider ranging than utility per se; not everything can and should be counted (!) in terms of life & death because we are humans and live in a human society.
I really wonder about the world we live in nowadays. What’s happened to responding to people like the shoe fetishist as a weirdo and having a giggle? Not the staff at no 1 shoe warehouse or any woman whose shoes he photographed.
but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that the guy took pics of the kids shoes and there was always another teacher in the class. But now a trauma team is sent in and the principal feels bad cause he didn’t protect the kids…………I am sorry if anyone feels traumatised and I don’t mean to invalidate their feelings. But I wonder if it’s not more helpful in this instance saying “weirdo” and getting on with life.
interested to hear others views. Btw I had, unknown to me, a close association with someone who had a shoe fetish, just to let you know. It was weird, but I didn’t need to make it make it my problem
the guy postes his fetish, including pictures of the girls whose shoes he ejaculated all over on fetish boards.
So maybe this is just a bit more then a 'eewww' and a giggle.
In the fist article it appears that one of his victims a 15 year old co-worker had her name and face plastered all over some fetish site. So the question remains, did he do the same while working as a teacher?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/number-one-shoe-employee-arrested-after-alleged-sexual-acts-with-co-workers-shoes-for-fetish-site/DWLDZEEQW6BXKMVUJQKZH2NDZY/
so maybe really there is a reason why they are following it up. Personally i would not want to be the fifteen year old.
Thanks Sabine. Mine is a good example of a knee jerk reaction based on my own experience when I didn’t have all the information. Do you are correct.
I do feel for the principal who is taking too much responsibility here. These sexual deviants, for want of a better phrase exist and will do anything to gain access to women and children. Here’s hoping his offending was limited and didn’t include the kids from the school.
btw my own experience was helped by the lack of the internet.
[typo fixed in e-mail address]
yes, the lack of internet in our time maybe was a saving grace for many abuse victims.
I can't fault the principal for wondering if he missed signs and what they were. In any case this guy is now in prison and hopefully will be given more then a home d sentence.
I don’t know that there are always signs. In my case the guy was the very last person you would expect. And don’t think his actions were criminal. Also worked with a guy, who we later found out sexually abused his step daughter. Although I didn’t respect him as a colleague never ever occurred to me he was a paedophile. Ever. Two “nice” progressive guys.
Even the link you did provide had some points of concern, Anker (boldface added for emphasis):
That's a fairly clear picture of premeditation and deliberate deception there, without even getting into the; stalking, and unsought bodily fluid deposits, that Sabine references. Though; "photographed himself performing a sex act in the colleague's shoes", could have been boldface too.
The DSM-V distinguishes between paraphilias and paraphilic disorders, which seems an important distinction. I don't think that everyone with a; shoe, or foot, fetish is necessarily a weirdo – there is certainly room for more variety in human behavioural expression. However, when it comes to inflicting your paraphilia on others without their consent, then it becomes abuse, if not assault. It is more the violation of others, than the kink itself, that is the problem
However, the role of internet (especially in its darker recesses) fora in providing spaces to; normalize, and even incentivize, abuse of others is becoming difficult to ignore. Yet that runs smack up into the freedom of expression argument, which isn't likely to be settled anytime soon. And, with virtual network identity and cross-border differences in regulation, that'd be a nightmare to even study (to gauge the extent of the non-consensual image problems), let alone prevent.
I have been depressing myself this past month following the; Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. Imagining what that would have been like in the Internet age really makes me lose hope for our society.
Strange you should see it that way.
I agree with you, but I also feel the same about the impact if someone were to glimpse a trans person's willy in a changing room.
Too many folk ready to bring their own discomfort on behalf of others, and making them 'victims' where that isn't the case.
I do know of someone who was photographed, they are 'meh' but Mum is really trying to build a head of outrage steam.
The likelihood of a; trans woman, or other Assigned Male At Birth, individual being in the same changing room for you to glimpse their "willy" is fairly remote, gsays. AFAB trans-men who have had bottom surgery on the other hand might be more inclined to such exhibitionism?
The general rule with being trans in changing rooms, or toilets, is to; avoid making eye contact, or speaking to others (if there are no unisex – generally disabled – rooms available). Never going anywhere in public alone is also an important precaution against the frequent verbal and physical abuse we encounter. Waiting for a wall-adjacent space so that you can hide what unavoidable body exposure can't be concealed with towels or other garments is recommended.
I remember seeing somewhere that the most common answer for trans-people to the question; "What would you do first if all the transphobes in the world magically vanished for a day?", was; "go swimming". While looking for the source, I stumbled upon this, and got distracted:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2020.00064/full
gsays as I said earlier it was a knee jerk reaction on my behalf to the article, ie I didn't think it through, likely to do with my own experience.
And yeah I get that this person has caused harm to some people. I think I said in my comment that I don't want to invalidate peoples experience. I guess what I was thinking and I didn't put it well is I hope they don't make people into victims over this or catastrophize it, which sounds like what your mum with a head of steam is trying to do gsays.
Very much prefer not to see anyone's willy in a change room. I would not like that, nor do I want it. Nor would I like anyone with a willy looking at me when I change.
I feel this way about male v female Drs. Although if I have to see a male Dr, I grin and bear it (so to speak).
Gsays it sounds like you might be a medical professional and as such see peoples bodies regularly as part of your work., which may mean you are less bothered by this.
I did appreciate Forget now writing about their experience (sorry not 100% sure if you are trans male or trans female) experience of changing rooms. What do you think is the solution Forget now?
I am NonBinary, or just; Queer; Anker, so that makes navigating changing rooms and toilets; more difficult, rather than less so. But if I go to the pool, it's usually with kids anyway, so we can use the family changing rooms. Though, if I go by myself that's not such an option, unless that area is fairly empty so I don't have to wait. You sure don't want to be a single trans person seen to be hanging around a kiddy area! So I don't go by myself.
My preferred solution would be; more unisex toilets and such. Though that doesn't help much with trans-men & -women, who feel that their identity is bound up in their binary gender. Like, if you are visiting someone's house, do you ask where the woman's toilet is? No, even if there are more than one – they are for everybody! Though I guess; en suites are only for the people staying in that room. To me, the whole toilet debate seems mostly a result of public building designers wanting to cheap-out on the facilities. However, those metal-trough urinals are simply disgusting and I would prefer never to be in the same room with one again.
If you don't want to see someone's; Willy, or Reena, the simple solution is not to perv at their groin.
Thanks Forget Now.
I agreed with your preferred solution. I think change rooms can be pretty fraught places for a lot of people. It’s not a matter of not perving at men’s Willies. But it would be a very heightened awareness that their is someone in a female changing room with one. Women are unused to this, and many are likely to feel deeply self conscious should that happen. For me it’s not about being transphobic (although I never allow myself to say I am not racist, transphobic or sexist). What I try and do is check my responses and be open to my own unconscious prejudice.
I say I don’t think I am transphobic over the toilet issue, because I would be happy to have a trans man use female toilets. It may be in part to do with an attempted rape by a mask man in a changing room that makes me very sensitive and aware of who is in any public change room. Especially if I perceive that would be capable of overpowering me.. Aside from that, I am a woman over a certain age. I also think many women who have been sexually abused are triggered by male genitalia or the awareness that it is around. The solution of “don’t perve”, really doesn’t feel good to me. I would be doing everything I could not to “perve” but that in and of itself doesn’t feel at all comfortable.
[same typo fixed in e-mail address]
Thanks for your candidacy Anker and Forget Now. It is not an easy thing you disclose.
It's not the first time that I've disclosed this on TS, gsays. Though it may be the first it didn't turn into a flaming row. Yet.
Oops, that should have been; trans-men & trans-women (2nd paragraph), it didn't have red underlining so I missed that typo. The evolving terminology is a bit fraught and contested, but a trans-man (usually, depending on who is speaking) means someone Assigned Female At Birth (or more rarely; Intersex) who has transitioned to male gender expression.
Simplifying; trans-man = Sex; female, Gender; man. Trans-woman = Sex; male, Gender; woman (though that's skipping a lot). Which is complicated by the fact that; hormone supplements (& blockers), and surgery, mean that trans-men often have; flat chests, beards, and sometimes willies. While trans-women often have; breasts, little body hair, and sometimes reenas (though these are more cosmetic rather than functional for breeding purposes).
But yeah, I get what you mean about being aware of other's bodies without consciously perving. Though there is a body odour (even when freshly showered) change with hormone changes too, which seems to be connected with how clockable someone is. Also, trans willies tend to be somewhat stunted and useless – though I won't go into details there. The problem is; a lot of people's ideas about trans-people seem to come from porn, and those youthful sexual athletes are likely taking performance enhancers.
Anyway, everyone has their unconscious prejudices. I can't stand drag-queens myself – though I don't deny that they are people with particular needs. Really, I don't think the; "trans-men are men, trans-women are women" slogan is likely to be fully socially accepted in my lifetime (though it is cute to see the young ones proclaim it so earnestly). I'd be happy with a general recognition that:
Trans-people are people.
I guess it is more the; lip-synching performances, than the drag-queens themselves I dislike. Learn to sing or play an instrument! Especially now when autotune/ pitch-shifters are readily available if you feel your voice is too deep a bass for the song (or soprano for drag-kings).
It's really more of a; musician, than an eNBy, prejudice. Plus I keep getting people expecting me to be into that Ru Paul gameshow, and I've not been able to make it through a single episode (apparently the earlier seasons were better, and more DIY).
Replacement Theory
Last night I came across an interview withRobert Pope Chicago University who analysed the people who participated in Washington insurrection and have been processed by the courts.
Of the 420+ so far:
96% White
86% Male
2/3 were 34yo or older with a cluster in the 40-50yo.
They had families and jobs
45% were business managers, CEO, doctors. Lawyers etc.
7% were unemployed.
90% were not members of gangs/militias
The all important Driver of the rioters was their overwhelming belief in the “Replacement Theory.”
This is where White people fear that the emerging rights of the minorities will push out the whites.
Half of the participants came from the Blue (Democrat) areas and were Trump supporters. The indicator was from areas where there was a decline in White population.
The more rural the area the less likely that they would be to participate.
They were all GOP supporters.
The University carried out a Gold Standard Survey of the General Population.
4% of the USA population believe that the Election was stolen and that they would support a violent response.
The survey focussed on the Replacement Theory.
PS I hope my notes are accurate. One might wonder if Replacement Theory is behind the National Party currently raising fears of minority gaining rights? Maybe.
45% were business managers, CEO, doctors. Lawyers etc.
All I can deduce from that is that many US doctors, lawyers and CEOs in the US have poor deduction abilities, are not well educated and lacking integrity. For Americans who are supposedly professionals to actively participate in violent insurrection against the state is mind boggling.
or
these are now the professionals that have to compete with non white, non male people who are equally well educated, often younger, and often more driven then they themselves are. It is very easy to be a highly paid mediocre white man in certain places. And then you lose your job to someone who is brown, female or 'other', and they outperform you at every instance. White privilege, its a heck of a drug.
I'm guessing way more 'business mangers' than doctors.
There's a mod note for you here. Please acknowledge you've read and understood.
https://thestandard.org.nz/about-trevor-mallard/#comment-1791417
I have read and understood your note.
Fanmac getting his name right would help Robert Pape his research showed most of the 377 charged so far came from towns and cities where migrants of different ethnicities were becoming the majority .White insecurity fearing of having non white people in charge .
Fanmac Robert Pape's research also showed that most were motivated by white supremacist conspiracy theories promoted by the likes of Qanon .
Thanks for the correction to Robert Pape's name Tricledrown. The number given by him last night was 420 so far. And yes the different ethnicities becoming the majority is the point.
Perhaps the fight back from coloured people objecting to unwarranted arrests means that coloured people gaining "rights" in the eyes of whites, cause the fear, even if those "rights" should mean "equal rights" rather than greater "rights."
It would be so helpful if you’d provide a link, next time.
Here it is, for everybody’s convenience: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/studies-show-capitol-rioters-were-majority-white-men/ [transcript available within link]
I just made notes from the You Tube item that I stumbled on. My skills did not stretch to how to link it to here, but I will backtrack so next time…. Thanks Incognito.
Oh! That easy! Thanks.
Further to the issue of the Capitol Riot Just today the NY Times reports
Food price index out today. Interesting to see that one.
Scare quote and no details https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300306540/six-people-charged-over-labour-party-donations
Well, the SFO can't be accused of political partiality.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/sfo-charges-six-people-in-labour-party-donations-case/O7VHPWAS3XIKFM65NUUXOIOONI/
I hope this is not going to become a common thing in NZ. Check out people already have to deal with grumpy customers.
Shopper pulls knife on Christchurch store attendant over fake cash – NZ Herald
Yeah, I just read that myself in the ODT Jimmy:
So, while not just returning the counterfeit bills was obviously not the best idea, the response was way overboard. Brandishing a weapon at someone is assault, but especially so with the hair grappling! I think it was 6x the 2019 levels of violence/ abuse against Countdown staff reported with in one of the Dunedin stabbing articles (don't have link at moment)? So this seems to already have become a common thing in NZ.
All too common I'm afraid.
Our local ED a couple of nights ago had a client pull a knife and made a big song and dance but was threatening himself (his own arms and throat).
He was post Meth bender and was seeking the drugs he would normally have.
Police arrived quicky, upon searching his bag there were nunchucks and a loaded firearm in his car…
Yep. Meth is a nasty chemical that twists the mind and can turn good people into psychopaths. If meth use is on the rise these type of incidences will likely rise too.
If we reduce addiction we can reduce the harm from/to addicts. So what are the factors that would bring meth use (and addiction in general) down?
Addiction is a response to human suffering. Healing trauma helps addiction. Connection helps addiction.
A holistic job. Punitive measures for addicts only exacerbate the issue by breaking families up and subjecting users to violent criminals – more trauma – more addiction – more shameful behaviour – more trauma – more addiction…
We have to work out how to, as a society, jump off the damn carousel.
Humans are the major contributors to human suffering. Many of them we reward and applaud. Statues to bastards dot the land. Shrines to shitheads. The issues rose from within. From gross inhumanities to the endless barrage of corporate shit telling us we are not enough… We've lost sight of community for celebrity, of succour for success.
When we treat social animals in anti-social ways we create social disorders.
Create community for the lost to actually return to.
You are right about the lack of community contributing to mental ill-health. Lacking a sense of belonging- family, community, church or sports groups etc underpins lots of dis-ease.
Combine that disconnect with the general fuck-wittedness trajectory of society these events are going to become more common place.
While it is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach, micro dosing with LSD is gaining favourability. However if one is in crisis, the time to be disciplined with psychedelics has passed.
Sounds like a good argument for cannabis. If all our alcohol drinkers were required to include cannabis in the golden list of drugs (with suitable limits), we would be on a great path. I hope that toilet paper is never banned, NZs are so unprogressive that they would have to be begged, to vote for its resurrection again.
This is pretty saddening, though at least the text service is reaching its target demographic. It is hard to talk when your voice is raspy from crying, so I'd be glad of the text option if I was in that situation (and had no urgent tasks to keep me distracted from the pointlessness of continued existence). I think it was Camus (Myth of Sisyphus?) who said that; suicide is the only important philosophical question:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125121959/lifeline-records-busiest-month-with-children-as-young-as-11-feeling-suicidal
Grrrrr! Property investors!
"Five residential addresses have been restrained"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gangs-and-guns-police-raid-seizes-firearms-2m-in-assets/UOFVN2EWTU3HRJ4RPG3LOGBOTY/
Even a somewhat pro-Gnat spinner is obliged to rebut the trolls on Stuff here:
Ben Thomas reply In reply to thehbomb
Nice narrative devoid of facts of course. National being re elected FAIL
If by the "jacinda government" he means the full majority the Labour currently enjoys he could be quite right actually. I for one hope that the next election brings forward some good showing by the third parties to force Labour into a coalition. The one to look for is Act which currently seems to have the most to win, the Maori Party is interesting, The Green should be in the 10%, and then there are the conservatives and others.
Germany is currently undergoing some interesting changes. For the first time this country will have the chance at a coalition between the CDU/CSU and The Greens.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/green-candidate-and-kingmaker-annalena-baerbock-holds-the-keys-to-germany-s-next-election-a-69889a74-d1bf-4179-a595-853b26113ca3
This is a really good read on the changing times, the kids that won against the german government re climate change, and best of all some good graphics of the possible coalition agreements that could be looked at.
And the realos in the Green Party could be making Government this year as a full partner.
We truly live in interesting times.
We truly live in interesting times.
To be sure. Not very impressed with the Shaw version of the Greens myself, but they're a better act than the opposition parties. It would be nice to see a few strong voices or intellects emerge even from ACT or the Gnats – but there's no sign of such hidden depths to date. They see Trumpian politics as something to aspire to, even as even America is recognizing they were a step too far.
Davidson is co-leader of the GP, so it is not solely the; Shaw version of the Greens, SM. Especially since he has been there for a while now, so by next election I would guess that Tuiono will have taken his place (March is a bit young, and skin of his teeth list elected on specials). Though it is possible for Shaw to resign from parliament this term and be replaced without a by-election (being a list MP), I don't think his Ministerial appointments would necessarily go with him (been a while since I have read the LP/ GP agreement).
Shaw seems to front for the issues I'm less keen on – Davidson seems ok. Seems to be a dearth of male talent atm – but Swarbrick might step up at some point. Surprised we haven't seen more of Genter. The Greens largely have the intellectual and policy chops the other opposition parties lack – interesting to see what use they make of them.
That is not the point i was trying to make. Have you had a look at the forecasted options for the next german government? What you will see there is that ALL options are discussed, the good, the bad, the ugly, if you so want.
The Co Leader of the German Green Party and the Conservatives both will try to run a good government, the point is that you need to work together.
And maybe once the people of NZ understand it they might actually demand it from their parties.
Or else you are constantly in a stalemate where every other government tries to undo what the last government has created. Maybe we should think about that, as it is as sure as day light that national at some stage will form a coalition again with someone, the other alternative that if Labour wants to rule, it might must consider a somewhat 'unpalatable' coalition partner.
Quite right – sadly NZ has to make do with a bowlderized and infantile caricature of democracy, with a slew of low-end media clowns propping them up.
We don't seem to have many philosophizers in NZ. Maybe that really is what is needed.
The post-Marxist folk, the pomos and so on, have largely wiped them out locally in favour of special pleading.
There is certainly something of Nietzsche's last men about a place where the best government has to offer is a gentle decline in quality of life.
Oddly, Baerbock has turned up in my feeds a couple of times of late – seems to be a person of character.
Yes, she has great potential to go all the way.
We don't seem to have many philosophizers in NZ. Maybe that really is what is needed. 🙂
You should really read Newsroom more often, as it is teeming with NZ philosophers.
1 April this year marked a somewhat historic moment with the increase of the minimum wage to $20 p/h. In the 2000's there was a push to "make low wages history". Now in 2021 we can claim that has been achieved, low wages are now history with the minimum benchmark of $20. That isn't a high wage rate, but neither is it low. Also in recent years the minimum wage has made rapid advances in catching up with the living wage, the difference is no where huge like it was in the mid 2010's. Low wages, at least in terms of how it was defined of $ per hour, are history.
That does not account for under employment of course which can still render a persons weekly income low by virtue of hours worked and availability of work.
Great observation george.
Number of hours worked at minimum wage needed to purchase median house in New Zealand
year 2000…..hours needed 23,178
year 2021…hours needed 40,500
yes and that's not about low wages per se Pat, that's about a very big price bubble, the ratio of income to house prices. To misquote John keys infamous "I would love to see wages drop" quote, I would love to see house prices drop.
Thats the point….you will not improve living standards through wage increases IF the major living cost is ignored….especially when a general wage increase is a signal to increase rents/house prices.
The solution is to restore affordable housing costs.
Sadly, I think as a country not quite there yet to understand this dilemma.