It seems that you largely come onto this site principally to gloat. It is not such a good look.
There are a few of us basically from the centre-right who come on to the site to debate. A fair few of those who are obviously on the left engage in the debate, that is actually respond to to the points. Most (though not all) don't go full feral. Otherwise The Standard would be just a left echo chamber.
Why? Leader of another party does something stupid and may have been involved in posting of photo on a blog of ill repute. This is nowhere close to bring down the Government territory.
Yes, but I would say he wasn't upholding the ethical standards required of the role before he was elected, so this is largely on NZF voters. I agree it is a dilemma for Ardern though.
True. Imagine if people could be blocked from becoming Ministers for not exhibiting good enough character beforehand to be trusted to uphold the Cabinet Manual. Would save some anguish and arseholery.
Jacinda Ardern is sensible enough to allow the SFO to do their job.
She also has no role in scrutinising the behaviour of an MP outside Parliament, when there is no actual proof that he took the photo in question. His statement was probably a Royal "We" meaning A NZ First member.
Our Prime Minister has real problems to deal with, this is similar to other storms in tea cups.
Having announced the election date in 7 months, and therefore 4 months of practical government before the campaign proper starts, isn't the basic answer "that's a matter for the electorate to decide" ?
Of course – but as we all know there are two main purposes of this manufactured scandal: drive NZF under 5% and tarnish Ardern (albeit at one remove).
That said, the whole donations regime IS scandalous and National is donkey deep in it as Simon's phone call to Jamie shows. Perhaps Labour could front-foot it by a clear policy to end anonymity in donations, require that donations come only from named individuals not corporations, trusts, unions etc., and cap annual donations at something affordable by someone on the median wage.
I understand where you’re coming from Rosemary. Many of us who are activists on the left have had to grapple with disappointment at how NZ First has been a handbrake on the rate of transformation our Labour-led coalition has been able to achieve. Deceased rodents have been swallowed, to be sure. What needs to happen now, is a mobilisation for progression. We musn’t sucuumb to negativity and bitterness and become enemies of ourselves. I have a background in the health and disability sector. I may even have met you sometime and somewhere. We’re allies. We must mobilise this year to increase the majority for Labour, so we can improve the material well-being of those whom this dysfunctional economy has left behind. I urge anyone here, if you’re involved in political membership or campaigning, get involved. Start now. We need numbers. We need hands, feet, arms, legs, voices, moving whatever muscles we have, from whatever positions we may be in, to ensure this next term we, the left are in power and have the room and majority to be truly transformative.
Of course it isn’t. But neither is it just “another leader of another party”. This is the deputy PM, the leader of Labours coalition partner in government. Worse than that perhaps, the timing of all of this is making Bridges decision to cut NZF loose look righteous.
I reckon Simon knew this was about to hit the media else would have announced not working with NZF about a month before election. How did he know? The mind boggles.
“ “Labour may struggle to mobilise their fanbase come the next election; people are beginning to suspect this government is more interested in style over substance. And the gloss has definitely come off Ardern.”
that “year of delivery” may be a term jacinda wished she never muttered.
Meatstock is a music festival for non-vegetarian audiences where the sauces are hot but the music is not.
Bands playing there this year include the Poor Cribs, the Mutton Chops, the Lampton Quay Minces, Supersized, and the Burger Boys with their hit, "Do You Want Fries With That?"
Opposition Leader Simon Bridges will be drumming for the Crusty Piemen which is why James is going. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the band and that they were on fire. Nothing like live music, said the live musician….. Also glad the music was on fire and not the sauces (too much) or the BBQs.
Music brings us together like little else. One of my little conundrums is figuring out how such great music as country can be is loved and played by rednecks. Really confronts the stereotypical approach to politics and beliefs.
Don't imagine you are going to wind any of us up by mentioning 'Meatstock'. It might give you a trembly little thrill and a snigger to imagine you are – but it's a fail, mate. Last night I ate fish I had caught, killed (iki), and prepared myself. A few days earlier I barbecued lamb chops on a charcoal grill (the only way) getting some good smokey flavours by adding green rosemary sprigs to the coals. Most of us on the left are very well-rounded, tough and smart – completely unlike the idea of us you seem to have in your head.
Given the hysterical responses from some on the left when mentioning meat previously would indicate that some views of the left are reasonable to hold.
It's a bit like redheads or an Irishman being told stereotypically that they're prone to flying off the handle; then people use the way that the redheads and the Irish react, by getting riled, to this characterisation as proof!
Tell me often enough that I am ruining the planet by eating meat and I might start reacting to this form of over-simplification.
Maybe Facebook isn’t the demon we think it is. Certainly there are major differences between us and the UK when it comes to media consumption, but this article from the Guardian makes a good read.
The past footage of Bloomberg now appearing is very interesting for someone outside the US – he looks like a billionaire Republican who as mayor of New York was viciously racist and authoritarian. Also there's some laughable footage where he is spouting the meritocratic myth/lie that the way to get ahead is to be the first to arrive at work, the last to leave and don't take a lunch break – in a way spookily anticipating the systems of control and surveillance that have subsequently emerged in workplaces like Amazon warehouses.
With Biden seemingly tanking, it seems that Bloomberg's purpose is to get enough delegates to ensure Sanders doesn't get a majority. That results in a brokered Democratic convention where a 'centrist' could be given the nomination, even though Sanders has a plurality. Popcorn time if they try that – and tragically, yet another gift to Trump.
Still I guess it will be an super interesting battle if it ends up being Sanders/Bloomberg running directly against each other, you couldn't ask for a more clearer cut ideological battle to be waged out in the open..if Sanders can take on Bloomberg's billions, the establishment DNC and 99% of liberal media and still take the nomination, then we know he has a very real chance of defeating Trump.
Just to put these numbers in perspective, let us not forget that Trump is a man who the Democrats love to lampoon as a low-functioning moron, a grossly incompetent administrator, a corrupt crook and a sexual predator.
And there is probably not much in that assessment that I disagree with.
And yet after years of his supposed ineptitude and their supposed ingeniousness, they have not managed to advance a single person who is odds-on to beat him.
This is as great an embarrassment to the inner-city celebrity intelligentsia that has displaced the Democratic working-class heartland as any true soul could possibly imagine.
Yes I like that take too, it is so similar to the position the Republicans ( in their own twisted universe that is) found themselves during the last Rep nomination cycle that is is almost bizarre
As James and Friends sprinkle nonsense about the demise of Jacinda Ardern the more stupid and useless their words and predictions look. James has every support of every low mouth journo and rag ever produced here or abroad.
However, Prime Minister Ardern is in fact the most illustrious and sure – footed person in the world's political arena.
James knows that. His mentors know that. New Zealanders know that. James is delivering lies. As is Simon Bridges.
In the meantime, in the past 3.5 yrs, the mess that goes by the name "United Kingdom" has produced nothing like the Delivery of the NZ Coalition. Weight for Weight our Coalition is a five decades ahead of a crippled UK.
Let's not compare ourselves to the UK an pat ourselves on the back…
Maybe instead look at our homelessness, prison population, child poverty, affordable housing etc Judge the govt on the progress they are making on those stats.
James and his ilk are imho jealous of Jacinda’s popularity. Simple as that. And so they try to denigrate her at every opportunity. What nasty mean-minded people they are. At least Wayne from the right tries to show some balance with his comments and doesn’t come over as bitter and twisted.
Yes, they have increased the minimum wage and increased some welfare and family tax credit increases. These things are easy. Literally just the stroke of a pen.
But not so well on things that require actual delivery. Such as houses, operations, child poverty, promises on light rail, etc. These require Ministers to constantly monitor progress, and ensure that targets and objectives are actually met. Labour has a serious problem around the competency of delivery. Way too many people across the political spectrum don't think they can.
It explains why the centre-right vote has held up. If the government was solidly delivering and looking competent, they would be doing much better. Labour was doing so in 2002 and National was in 2011, both dates being the same point in the electoral cycle. The fact that this election looks to be competitive in quite an indictment. In 1975 a few months out from the election, the then Labour government looked incompetent. Which is why Rob Muldoon won.
Competency was the issue in 1975. Is it also going to be the case in 2020?
I have had enough experience of government to know what you are asserting is not true.
Changing a tax rate is something done one a piece of legislation that can be passed in a couple of hours. Same as simply banning something.
But building houses according to a schedule is a management challenge. Requires buying land, letting contracts (and the whole tendering process that goes with this). Then the contracts have to be monitored, people kept to task. all has to be done with high managerial competence.
The minister doesn't negotiate and purchase for each plot of land any more than a minister individually analyses the economic impacts and revenue projections on a proposed tax change.
If you were handling your portfolios to that level of detail, you:
You are deliberately misinterpreting what I have said. Obviously Ministers don't actually let contracts, etc. But they are responsible for the systems, the monitoring of progress, trouble shooting (such as getting in experts to assist the Ministry) and keeping people to task.
All very different to changing a tax or benefit rate.
Wayne at least she fucking admitted their is a housing problem not like old smile and rave key . You should be ashamed you were part of a do nothing government
You'll never get Wayne to admit or concede anything.
"I have had enough experience of government to know what you are asserting is not true"
He does all that 'I know best' stuff in a very modest and considered sort of way – probably why the media still see him as some fair and balanced sort of sage, enabling him to keep milking it as a rent-a-voice for a bit longer.
But he's not alone by any means. Aside from Mrs Wayne, he's got his own enterage of hero worshippers. Sorry to say many of them misrepresent themselves as being members of the 4th Estate. Others are fellow talking heads that sit there dripping with fashion, jewelery and wisdom telling us all what we’re supposed to know if we want to be aspirational and in with the in-crowd.
Personally I think they’re hideous specimens.
(Shit! did I say that out loud?)
By the way, I realise I might be sailing close to the wind, in as much as I realise I could be accused of attacking the messenger rather than the message. But when it's constant, it kind of goes to the legitimacy of the message.
I was kind of hoping Wayne might be bestowed with some other sort of honour – such as a knighthood. There'd be a better chance of his slinking into obscurity, honour and marbles intact; Mrs Wayne being allowed her pride (not sure if she's particularly "fat and cuddly" or good on the Elna); and the 4th Estate being forced to look for another talking head (going forward)
Nothing like a trade wind blowing, flittering and fluttering to give an exilarating feeling..
I'll step back @Cogs, and just watch (like I think I promised myself I would do as a NY resolution). I appreciate your job is hard enough having to deal with it all.
Most off the things you cite have actually got worse in the last 2 years. That is not the fault of National. The current government has to own responsibility for those things.
That's momentum. It's difficult to turn 9 years of neglect around in two years. The John Key and Bill English governments have to own responsibility for that.
Why not? Families are charged way more stuffed into dive private tenancies.
If motels are being used in the short to medium term as more than emergency housing then it's right to have them contribute what state house tenants contribute until such time they can be found a community to live in.
Slum landords need to be dealt with no doubt… but thats a poor example for the state to follow…
Perhaps you are eight and there should some cintribuition but shurly it should be considerably less than what you would pay in a state house… maybe 10 percent?
The surge in motel use began under a National government. When it started people were receiving benefit advances to pay for them which meant for many debts into the tens of thousands. Then, still under National, around 2014, a new category of grant was introduced especially for emergency housing. No government has addressed the issue of a significant number of people still repaying big debts back, $30k, $40k, $50k – John Campbell on Checkpoint reported one at $80k. About a year ago the Social Security Appeal Authority remitted one which was $10k. This government has said they will not go back and remit these hideous debts for those who were caught up in that complete mess. The irony is that the meet the criteria to receive the recoverable advance the person must be in dire financial straits, so by meeting that test they end up with a debt for $50k.
They have formed an entire measurement framework around budget outcomes, so that there is total transparency about what effect public investment is having under each budget line.
And of course they've continued that in December 11 2019, outlining the broad areas that they will focus on in the upcoming May budget.
This government is shying away from nothing. Sure, criticize them for not delivering fast enough, by they are following a clearly forecast course and a framework within which to hold them to account.
It was part of the trade off (along with extended brightline test) for the non inclusion of cgt.
The fly in the ointment is the constraint enacted by the RBNZ for bank lending to investors (borrowing limits) the rbnz will have to increase the investor equity requirement to constrain investor growth (and housing inflation).
What things are you referring to that the current government is responsible for which have worsened homelessness, the prison population, child poverty and affordable housing?
She, like other National Party bloggers, complains Labour and the Greens aren't doing enough in condemnation of NZF for photos of Lester Grey with reporters appearing on Whale Oil 2.0.
In her article she links to a piece she wrote in 2013 on the GCSB illegal spying scandal. The very first image, and before one word appears, is one of the beleaguered Hugh Wolfensohn BEING DOOR-STEPPED presumably by Vance and her photographer.
You worked at British tabloid News of the World for seven years. Did you enjoy that job?
I loved it. It was so much fun….I spent a large part of my life on stakeouts. I lived in my car. You spend up to 16 hours on a job, just waiting. You take turns with the photographer going to get the papers, a bacon roll, coffee and cigarettes.
I guess what's really happening is that journalists do not like it one bit when the tables are turned, even for a moment…do they really believe they are beyond reproach?
PS. Here’s the long history of the News of the World which was shut down for hacking the phone of a dead teenager. It’s also the paper at which Vance claims she had so much fun and presumably leaned all she knows.
Well Wayne given some of these projects are very large and require exhaustive planning and execution, it is understandable they are not all up and running right now.
With a housing deficit that National refused to accept, it obviously is taking a while to get up to speed with building more homes. What did National achieve in their last 9 years other than leave a huge problem for our current government.
Likewise the run down hospitals and schools and environmental vandalism mess that National left in their wake (with farmers allowed to have cows wading in rivers and streams).
The government readily acknowledges there is more to be done. National just adopted a nothing to see here, move on, let’s have a tax cut and raise GST.
This is a recycling of Bill English's failed election campaign promises. Tax cuts for the rich will serve to motivate Labour's base more than ever, I suspect.
How to tackle decades of infrastructure deficit in Auckland made particularly acute in recent times after huge and unmanaged immigration increases?
Growth at 4% built on importing bodies isn't a sensible plan.
How to tackle housing affordability, dropping home ownership rates and the class separation and community health this inevitably affects.
Labour has not been able to turn the ship around yet it's true. Part of that is inexperience, but most of it is having a right wing coalition partner, a hostile Public Service and a middle class addicted to free house price gains and reluctant to give that up for the good of all.
And Bridges said today that they will pretty much reverse all the changes the government has made to the rental housing and they will allow foreigners back into the housing market.
The Nats have no problem with 'delivery' because they seldom attempt anything worthwhile or difficult. They can quite reliably deliver windfall cash into the pockets of their supporters – that's their whole purpose.
In one tweet, seen by The Times, Andrew Sabisky, a writer and researcher who calls himself as a “super-forecaster” said: "I am always straight up in saying that women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s.”
According to the paper, the researcher also deleted tweets mocking people for “wetting themselves” over female Labour politicians including Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long Bailey, all of whom he dismissed as “dim”.
Wow. I had these all over my succulents in Spring. I noticed quickly that something was attacking them and upon inspection at night the plants were crawling with these things. The damage was like nothing I'd see before.
I tried looking online to see if there was a known issue but nothing until now.
I eradicated them with Pyrethrum over several nights.
If it really was brown marmorated stink bugs, then MPI really really want to know about it. If there's any still around or they come back, get in touch with MPI.
Offering free money to National voters smacks of Bribery. To do it when there is an ongoing holocaust rampaging through ordinary men and women of Aotearoa is scandalous beyond pity.
Sir William English gave huge offers to the very Wealthy and much lesser amounts to the lowly Nationals. Unfortunately, Bill scummed himself. in front of his entire family.
There you go national plans to stop mimimum wage increase that will just create more of a mess in Aotearoa.
She is someone who caused you to grab a box of tissues.????????.
I think the amount of people with autism is much higher than that especially when there were stats of high percentage of adult people with reading levels of a 12 year old.????.
I would ride a electric bike it would be cool and great for the environment low carbon transport.
I seen some of his statements on Maori TV not good at all.
Maori tangata need to talk to New Zealanders f health help line it's a pain in the you know what when the person you are talking to don't understand what you're problem is and what you want.
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Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/119089844/polluters-making-windfall-gains-from-scheme-to-reduce-emissions
More proof the ets is a failure.
Beijing has released evidence that Xi JinPing was on the corona virus case much earlier than anyone suspected.
Now why, oh why does that remind me of Winston Smith's task to 'update' history in 1984?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/world/asia/coronavirus-china-live-updates.html
Or am I just being too cynical?
I wonder what wonderful things Winstons fan base of twitter bots will say about him today ?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/02/swarm-of-apparent-twitter-bots-claim-admiration-of-winston-peters-after-difficult-week.html
[I have asked you a few times to back up your accusations and allegations. Alwyn tried to save your butt but you ignored my other requests: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-14-02-2020/#comment-1684990 and https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-13-02-2020/#comment-1684709. You simply continue with your shit stirring here without adding anything to the debate. Give us a break and take three weeks off – Incognito]
James,
It seems that you largely come onto this site principally to gloat. It is not such a good look.
There are a few of us basically from the centre-right who come on to the site to debate. A fair few of those who are obviously on the left engage in the debate, that is actually respond to to the points. Most (though not all) don't go full feral. Otherwise The Standard would be just a left echo chamber.
But do you want to actually debate?
Thank you, Wayne.
James only comes here to mass debate
See my Moderation note @ 8:28 AM.
Jacindas continues to say nothing about Winston and it’s going to cause damage.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119518952/prime-minister-silent-on-winston-peters-covert-photo-controversy
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/119531489/snooping-on-journalists-is-an-attempt-to-silence-and-shut-them-down
and of course this opens up for nice adverts like this one:
https://www.facebook.com/183355881680015/posts/3451669638181940/?vh=e
Why? Leader of another party does something stupid and may have been involved in posting of photo on a blog of ill repute. This is nowhere close to bring down the Government territory.
I guess since he is Deputy PM and a minister you could male the case he isn't upholding the ethical standards required of the role…
Then you are left with does the PM act or let it slide, thats where some political risk sits but as you say not enough to bring down the govt….
Yes, but I would say he wasn't upholding the ethical standards required of the role before he was elected, so this is largely on NZF voters. I agree it is a dilemma for Ardern though.
True. Imagine if people could be blocked from becoming Ministers for not exhibiting good enough character beforehand to be trusted to uphold the Cabinet Manual. Would save some anguish and arseholery.
Cough. John Key.
Jacinda Ardern is sensible enough to allow the SFO to do their job.
She also has no role in scrutinising the behaviour of an MP outside Parliament, when there is no actual proof that he took the photo in question. His statement was probably a Royal "We" meaning A NZ First member.
Our Prime Minister has real problems to deal with, this is similar to other storms in tea cups.
Having announced the election date in 7 months, and therefore 4 months of practical government before the campaign proper starts, isn't the basic answer "that's a matter for the electorate to decide" ?
Of course – but as we all know there are two main purposes of this manufactured scandal: drive NZF under 5% and tarnish Ardern (albeit at one remove).
That said, the whole donations regime IS scandalous and National is donkey deep in it as Simon's phone call to Jamie shows. Perhaps Labour could front-foot it by a clear policy to end anonymity in donations, require that donations come only from named individuals not corporations, trusts, unions etc., and cap annual donations at something affordable by someone on the median wage.
One wonders if Certain Folks are now contemplating the wisdom of having sold what might have passed for their soul in signing the Pact with Winston.
Has it been Worth It In the Long Run?
Some of us have seen little other than SSDD.
And the Pretty Pony Tax of course.
Hark!
Is that the sound of the Wheels Falling Off?
"Hark! Is that the sound of the Wheels Falling Off?" – hope not; sounds painful.
I understand where you’re coming from Rosemary. Many of us who are activists on the left have had to grapple with disappointment at how NZ First has been a handbrake on the rate of transformation our Labour-led coalition has been able to achieve. Deceased rodents have been swallowed, to be sure. What needs to happen now, is a mobilisation for progression. We musn’t sucuumb to negativity and bitterness and become enemies of ourselves. I have a background in the health and disability sector. I may even have met you sometime and somewhere. We’re allies. We must mobilise this year to increase the majority for Labour, so we can improve the material well-being of those whom this dysfunctional economy has left behind. I urge anyone here, if you’re involved in political membership or campaigning, get involved. Start now. We need numbers. We need hands, feet, arms, legs, voices, moving whatever muscles we have, from whatever positions we may be in, to ensure this next term we, the left are in power and have the room and majority to be truly transformative.
Of course it isn’t. But neither is it just “another leader of another party”. This is the deputy PM, the leader of Labours coalition partner in government. Worse than that perhaps, the timing of all of this is making Bridges decision to cut NZF loose look righteous.
Almost as if he'd been given the heads-up…
I reckon Simon knew this was about to hit the media else would have announced not working with NZF about a month before election. How did he know? The mind boggles.
One final link before heading off to Meatstock for the day
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/15/jacinda-ardern-new-zealand-election-vote-disillusioned
“ “Labour may struggle to mobilise their fanbase come the next election; people are beginning to suspect this government is more interested in style over substance. And the gloss has definitely come off Ardern.”
that “year of delivery” may be a term jacinda wished she never muttered.
Wasn't that an incompetent spin doctor, not her?
Excuse me James but what is meatstock.
just curious.
I also wondered what it was and here is what I found – a music and BBQ festival in Auckland this weekend at the ASB showgrounds …
https://meatstock.nztix.co.nz/Default.aspx?Event=109192
Meatstock is a music festival for non-vegetarian audiences where the sauces are hot but the music is not.
Bands playing there this year include the Poor Cribs, the Mutton Chops, the Lampton Quay Minces, Supersized, and the Burger Boys with their hit, "Do You Want Fries With That?"
Opposition Leader Simon Bridges will be drumming for the Crusty Piemen which is why James is going. 🙂
I wonder if producers of plant-based 'meat' products are welcome to exhibit there…
Yip one was on tv saying they were going
You get what you ask for! I had no idea what Meatstock was, so I made it all up…….. and found out I was right. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2017/meatstock/auckland/epsom
Yep. Some here. Tried it. Not bad,not great
Katchafire played last night and were excellent
Glad you enjoyed the band and that they were on fire. Nothing like live music, said the live musician….. Also glad the music was on fire and not the sauces (too much) or the BBQs.
Music brings us together like little else. One of my little conundrums is figuring out how such great music as country can be is loved and played by rednecks. Really confronts the stereotypical approach to politics and beliefs.
I suggest you set your sights more towards alt country, mac1. Go check out Drive-by Truckers latest, The Unraveling.
Thanks for that, riffer. 🙂
You're in my thoughts and prayers!
"jacinda" / james; "jacinda" / james – who to believe? Have fun at Meatstock, james.
Bill Gates (not to mention Peter Jackson) being that well known investor in ‘Impossible Foods‘.
C'mon james, it's not too late to ‘get with the programme‘
Don't imagine you are going to wind any of us up by mentioning 'Meatstock'. It might give you a trembly little thrill and a snigger to imagine you are – but it's a fail, mate. Last night I ate fish I had caught, killed (iki), and prepared myself. A few days earlier I barbecued lamb chops on a charcoal grill (the only way) getting some good smokey flavours by adding green rosemary sprigs to the coals. Most of us on the left are very well-rounded, tough and smart – completely unlike the idea of us you seem to have in your head.
Given the hysterical responses from some on the left when mentioning meat previously would indicate that some views of the left are reasonable to hold.
You surely don’t know what you’re talking about James if you think ‘the left’ are universally outraged by meat eating
I dunno, it seems meateaters get riled whenever vegetarianism is brought up.
It's a bit like redheads or an Irishman being told stereotypically that they're prone to flying off the handle; then people use the way that the redheads and the Irish react, by getting riled, to this characterisation as proof!
Tell me often enough that I am ruining the planet by eating meat and I might start reacting to this form of over-simplification.
Thanks for your concern, James, but not to worry – from your linked article:
True dat.
Ardern doesn't have a winning card, just a joker.
Maybe Facebook isn’t the demon we think it is. Certainly there are major differences between us and the UK when it comes to media consumption, but this article from the Guardian makes a good read.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/15/reports-of-social-media-influence-on-voters-are-greatly-exaggerated?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
It will be very interesting (though probably not at all surprising) to see who gets unmasked during this Dem election cycle…
Elites Turn to Bloomberg and Remove Their Masks
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/panicked-over-sanders-elites-turn-to-bloomberg/
The past footage of Bloomberg now appearing is very interesting for someone outside the US – he looks like a billionaire Republican who as mayor of New York was viciously racist and authoritarian. Also there's some laughable footage where he is spouting the meritocratic myth/lie that the way to get ahead is to be the first to arrive at work, the last to leave and don't take a lunch break – in a way spookily anticipating the systems of control and surveillance that have subsequently emerged in workplaces like Amazon warehouses.
With Biden seemingly tanking, it seems that Bloomberg's purpose is to get enough delegates to ensure Sanders doesn't get a majority. That results in a brokered Democratic convention where a 'centrist' could be given the nomination, even though Sanders has a plurality. Popcorn time if they try that – and tragically, yet another gift to Trump.
"viciously racist and authoritarian"
That describes the Democrat Party very well.
Well Bloomberg was actually a Republican – who endorsed Dubya twice.
For a few giggles – watch Bloomberg telling you not to use the bathroom
Here is another good piece from FAIR on the Bloomberg bullshit spewing forth from most liberal media…
"Pundits Look to Bloomberg as Their Anti-Sanders Savior"
https://fair.org/home/pundits-look-to-bloomberg-as-their-anti-sanders-savior/
Still I guess it will be an super interesting battle if it ends up being Sanders/Bloomberg running directly against each other, you couldn't ask for a more clearer cut ideological battle to be waged out in the open..if Sanders can take on Bloomberg's billions, the establishment DNC and 99% of liberal media and still take the nomination, then we know he has a very real chance of defeating Trump.
Joe Hildebrand
I'd not endorse all of this particular column, but this para in particular stands out as indisputably true.
Yes I like that take too, it is so similar to the position the Republicans ( in their own twisted universe that is) found themselves during the last Rep nomination cycle that is is almost bizarre
Yup !
Your dream ticket, Adrian! Mikey and Hillz!
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/15/michael-bloomberg-hillary-clinton-vp-115407
The Misery Struggle of National
As James and Friends sprinkle nonsense about the demise of Jacinda Ardern the more stupid and useless their words and predictions look. James has every support of every low mouth journo and rag ever produced here or abroad.
However, Prime Minister Ardern is in fact the most illustrious and sure – footed person in the world's political arena.
James knows that. His mentors know that. New Zealanders know that. James is delivering lies. As is Simon Bridges.
In the meantime, in the past 3.5 yrs, the mess that goes by the name "United Kingdom" has produced nothing like the Delivery of the NZ Coalition. Weight for Weight our Coalition is a five decades ahead of a crippled UK.
Let's not compare ourselves to the UK an pat ourselves on the back…
Maybe instead look at our homelessness, prison population, child poverty, affordable housing etc Judge the govt on the progress they are making on those stats.
or perhaps "look at our homelessness, prison population, child poverty, affordable housing etc"…. Judge the previous govt on that.
Nz did that's why we had a change of govt…
It's up to the new Govt to follow through on its promises and like it or not that's what they'll be judged on…
James and his ilk are imho jealous of Jacinda’s popularity. Simple as that. And so they try to denigrate her at every opportunity. What nasty mean-minded people they are. At least Wayne from the right tries to show some balance with his comments and doesn’t come over as bitter and twisted.
Yeah that must be it. If fact she’s so popular she’s heading (on the latest poll) do be our first single term PM for a long time
And the reason I comment on her is that I think she is doing a terrible job as pm. Over promising and under delivering on a grand scale.
You should be happy because what she promised and under-delivered you didn't want anyway!
Some items yes – others no.
James, here's where you detail what items 'yes' and what items 'no'. Briefly if you like. Something, anything!
If you want to be taken seriously, that is.
Hmm, what has the government actually delivered?
Yes, they have increased the minimum wage and increased some welfare and family tax credit increases. These things are easy. Literally just the stroke of a pen.
But not so well on things that require actual delivery. Such as houses, operations, child poverty, promises on light rail, etc. These require Ministers to constantly monitor progress, and ensure that targets and objectives are actually met. Labour has a serious problem around the competency of delivery. Way too many people across the political spectrum don't think they can.
It explains why the centre-right vote has held up. If the government was solidly delivering and looking competent, they would be doing much better. Labour was doing so in 2002 and National was in 2011, both dates being the same point in the electoral cycle. The fact that this election looks to be competitive in quite an indictment. In 1975 a few months out from the election, the then Labour government looked incompetent. Which is why Rob Muldoon won.
Competency was the issue in 1975. Is it also going to be the case in 2020?
No MMP in 1975 so issues of competency could be directed at the one party government.
I agree this government could be one term. The next government will be a Labour Green government which will get things done.
That's where the race is.
So MMP hides a lack of competency in the Govt?
It explains the increased difficulty in gaining the consensus required to get major reform implemented.
Testosterone poisoning in one coalition partner, yes.
All government is done with the stroke of a pen. Twyford didn't promise to build all the damned houses himself.
A thousand more state houses every year.
The trees that the nats scoffed at are well on schedule.
First year tertiary education now free.
Single-use plastic bags nixed.
Migration compact ratified.
Saw that govt needed a chief technology person (hopefully reducing odds of another novopay).
Healthy homes rquirements.
Railway lines reopening.
Abortion being decriminalised and laws made more sensible.
McFlock,
I have had enough experience of government to know what you are asserting is not true.
Changing a tax rate is something done one a piece of legislation that can be passed in a couple of hours. Same as simply banning something.
But building houses according to a schedule is a management challenge. Requires buying land, letting contracts (and the whole tendering process that goes with this). Then the contracts have to be monitored, people kept to task. all has to be done with high managerial competence.
This has not been obviously always present.
The minister doesn't negotiate and purchase for each plot of land any more than a minister individually analyses the economic impacts and revenue projections on a proposed tax change.
If you were handling your portfolios to that level of detail, you:
You are deliberately misinterpreting what I have said. Obviously Ministers don't actually let contracts, etc. But they are responsible for the systems, the monitoring of progress, trouble shooting (such as getting in experts to assist the Ministry) and keeping people to task.
All very different to changing a tax or benefit rate.
So what do they do if the projections from the change in rate don't match reality?
Wayne at least she fucking admitted their is a housing problem not like old smile and rave key . You should be ashamed you were part of a do nothing government
You'll never get Wayne to admit or concede anything.
"I have had enough experience of government to know what you are asserting is not true"
He does all that 'I know best' stuff in a very modest and considered sort of way – probably why the media still see him as some fair and balanced sort of sage, enabling him to keep milking it as a rent-a-voice for a bit longer.
By the way – it's Dr. to you
That's what makes him a dangerous mofo.
/agree
But he's not alone by any means. Aside from Mrs Wayne, he's got his own enterage of hero worshippers. Sorry to say many of them misrepresent themselves as being members of the 4th Estate. Others are fellow talking heads that sit there dripping with fashion, jewelery and wisdom telling us all what we’re supposed to know if we want to be aspirational and in with the in-crowd.
Personally I think they’re hideous specimens.
(Shit! did I say that out loud?)
By the way, I realise I might be sailing close to the wind, in as much as I realise I could be accused of attacking the messenger rather than the message. But when it's constant, it kind of goes to the legitimacy of the message.
I was kind of hoping Wayne might be bestowed with some other sort of honour – such as a knighthood. There'd be a better chance of his slinking into obscurity, honour and marbles intact; Mrs Wayne being allowed her pride (not sure if she's particularly "fat and cuddly" or good on the Elna); and the 4th Estate being forced to look for another talking head (going forward)
Yes, you’re close to the wind.
Nothing like a trade wind blowing, flittering and fluttering to give an exilarating feeling..
I'll step back @Cogs, and just watch (like I think I promised myself I would do as a NY resolution). I appreciate your job is hard enough having to deal with it all.
Best of the British old bean
Mayor Pete.. amazing human being…
Yes Cricklewood
The Wealthy Nationals have done nothing that you commend.
They developed the homeless, prison population, child poverty, affordable housing etc
Judge this govt on the great progress they are making while the Wealthy play tennis and ping pong.
While you are at it, have a look at the Disgusting Cost of Housing you guys have thrown at the Common man.
Observer,
Most off the things you cite have actually got worse in the last 2 years. That is not the fault of National. The current government has to own responsibility for those things.
That's momentum. It's difficult to turn 9 years of neglect around in two years. The John Key and Bill English governments have to own responsibility for that.
Very true but I would argue that charging families stuffed into dive motels is not a step in the right direction.
Why not? Families are charged way more stuffed into dive private tenancies.
If motels are being used in the short to medium term as more than emergency housing then it's right to have them contribute what state house tenants contribute until such time they can be found a community to live in.
Slum landords need to be dealt with no doubt… but thats a poor example for the state to follow…
Perhaps you are eight and there should some cintribuition but shurly it should be considerably less than what you would pay in a state house… maybe 10 percent?
Paying $55 weekly for a motel room that is costing MSD $1500 is a real bargain. Not to mention free power / fresh towels and linen daily.
The surge in motel use began under a National government. When it started people were receiving benefit advances to pay for them which meant for many debts into the tens of thousands. Then, still under National, around 2014, a new category of grant was introduced especially for emergency housing. No government has addressed the issue of a significant number of people still repaying big debts back, $30k, $40k, $50k – John Campbell on Checkpoint reported one at $80k. About a year ago the Social Security Appeal Authority remitted one which was $10k. This government has said they will not go back and remit these hideous debts for those who were caught up in that complete mess. The irony is that the meet the criteria to receive the recoverable advance the person must be in dire financial straits, so by meeting that test they end up with a debt for $50k.
Thankfully this government is.
They have formed an entire measurement framework around budget outcomes, so that there is total transparency about what effect public investment is having under each budget line.
And of course they've continued that in December 11 2019, outlining the broad areas that they will focus on in the upcoming May budget.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1912/S00093/priorities-for-2020-wellbeing-budget-outlined.htm
This government is shying away from nothing. Sure, criticize them for not delivering fast enough, by they are following a clearly forecast course and a framework within which to hold them to account.
Geez Wayne,
Bridges announcement just cost them 5 points.
On TVNZ1's Q+A, he told host Jack Tame he would reverse Labour's changes to ring-fencing losses, which no longer lets landlords offset residential property deductions against other income.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/simon-bridges-pledges-changes-housing-and-renting-rules
Wow, reversing ring fencing. Is that part of the 'Bold Moves' strategy along with tax cuts for the rich?
Hard to see what part of the electorate Bridges is targeting, lol.
It was part of the trade off (along with extended brightline test) for the non inclusion of cgt.
The fly in the ointment is the constraint enacted by the RBNZ for bank lending to investors (borrowing limits) the rbnz will have to increase the investor equity requirement to constrain investor growth (and housing inflation).
What things are you referring to that the current government is responsible for which have worsened homelessness, the prison population, child poverty and affordable housing?
Interesting one from former News of the World reporter Andrea Vance.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/119531489/snooping-on-journalists-is-an-attempt-to-silence-and-shut-them-down
She, like other National Party bloggers, complains Labour and the Greens aren't doing enough in condemnation of NZF for photos of Lester Grey with reporters appearing on Whale Oil 2.0.
In her article she links to a piece she wrote in 2013 on the GCSB illegal spying scandal. The very first image, and before one word appears, is one of the beleaguered Hugh Wolfensohn BEING DOOR-STEPPED presumably by Vance and her photographer.
How's that for intimidation?
Then I found a 12 questions story on Vance done by the Horrid in 2017. Question 2:
I guess what's really happening is that journalists do not like it one bit when the tables are turned, even for a moment…do they really believe they are beyond reproach?
PS. Here’s the long history of the News of the World which was shut down for hacking the phone of a dead teenager. It’s also the paper at which Vance claims she had so much fun and presumably leaned all she knows.
Well Wayne given some of these projects are very large and require exhaustive planning and execution, it is understandable they are not all up and running right now.
With a housing deficit that National refused to accept, it obviously is taking a while to get up to speed with building more homes. What did National achieve in their last 9 years other than leave a huge problem for our current government.
Likewise the run down hospitals and schools and environmental vandalism mess that National left in their wake (with farmers allowed to have cows wading in rivers and streams).
The government readily acknowledges there is more to be done. National just adopted a nothing to see here, move on, let’s have a tax cut and raise GST.
Oh and apparently Natz are promising more of running down services and infrastructure if they are reelected. (translation – more tax cuts!!)
This is a recycling of Bill English's failed election campaign promises. Tax cuts for the rich will serve to motivate Labour's base more than ever, I suspect.
Indeed.
How to tackle decades of infrastructure deficit in Auckland made particularly acute in recent times after huge and unmanaged immigration increases?
Growth at 4% built on importing bodies isn't a sensible plan.
How to tackle housing affordability, dropping home ownership rates and the class separation and community health this inevitably affects.
Labour has not been able to turn the ship around yet it's true. Part of that is inexperience, but most of it is having a right wing coalition partner, a hostile Public Service and a middle class addicted to free house price gains and reluctant to give that up for the good of all.
Surprise, Surprise. Nats to promise their usual tax cuts for the coming election. that's it folks, same old, same old.
good good. The longer they remain mediocre and unimaginative, the better.
And Bridges said today that they will pretty much reverse all the changes the government has made to the rental housing and they will allow foreigners back into the housing market.
The Nats have no problem with 'delivery' because they seldom attempt anything worthwhile or difficult. They can quite reliably deliver windfall cash into the pockets of their supporters – that's their whole purpose.
On ya Phil 😀
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12308954
Was good eh? The only snag is that Hosking isn’t going anywhere unfortunately. In Sydney or LA he’d be just another deadbeat nobody.
And in Queenstown there's plenty of people who would take him for a ride and spend his money for him
Fighting for their right to exploit:
Landlord organisations mount challenge to new rental rules
I hope the Coalition don’t “do a CGT” on this one too.
Only the best people.
https://twitter.com/DawnHFoster/status/1228653325266096128
Downing Street has hired an adviser who compared women's sport to the paralympics as part of Dominic Cummings’ hiring drive for “misfits and weirdos”.
In one tweet, seen by The Times, Andrew Sabisky, a writer and researcher who calls himself as a “super-forecaster” said: "I am always straight up in saying that women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s.”
According to the paper, the researcher also deleted tweets mocking people for “wetting themselves” over female Labour politicians including Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long Bailey, all of whom he dismissed as “dim”.
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/dominic-cummings-weirdos-hiring-downing-street-1742024
Wow. I had these all over my succulents in Spring. I noticed quickly that something was attacking them and upon inspection at night the plants were crawling with these things. The damage was like nothing I'd see before.
I tried looking online to see if there was a known issue but nothing until now.
I eradicated them with Pyrethrum over several nights.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/new-zealand-scientists-working-to-stop-spread-of-brown-marmorated-stink-bugs.html
If it really was brown marmorated stink bugs, then MPI really really want to know about it. If there's any still around or they come back, get in touch with MPI.
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/protection-and-response/responding/alerts/brown-marmorated-stink-bug
Ok, Thanks. Could have been a Brown Shield Bug or Brown Soldier Bug.
https://tomsaunders.co.nz/bmsb-vs-nz-stink-bugs/
Have a read far more likely it was a native version.
We do have something that looks similar but smaller. I think you are OK
Bribery by any other name
Offering free money to National voters smacks of Bribery. To do it when there is an ongoing holocaust rampaging through ordinary men and women of Aotearoa is scandalous beyond pity.
Sir William English gave huge offers to the very Wealthy and much lesser amounts to the lowly Nationals. Unfortunately, Bill scummed himself. in front of his entire family.
Kia Ora The Am Show.
There you go national plans to stop mimimum wage increase that will just create more of a mess in Aotearoa.
She is someone who caused you to grab a box of tissues.????????.
I think the amount of people with autism is much higher than that especially when there were stats of high percentage of adult people with reading levels of a 12 year old.????.
I would ride a electric bike it would be cool and great for the environment low carbon transport.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
I say that New Zealand handled the Covid virus people quite good actually. Some people don't know how to be thankful.
PEE is very dangerous crap.
The Tongan Comedy film will show some more of Aotearoa humour I will be keen to watch it.
The Coalition Government did not make this mess it was your government———-.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I seen some of his statements on Maori TV not good at all.
Maori tangata need to talk to New Zealanders f health help line it's a pain in the you know what when the person you are talking to don't understand what you're problem is and what you want.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Breakfast Show.
There you go PEE equates to more violence.
Racist people using Racism to grab power. New Zealand is in denial that most people are discriminatory.
Trade training is the best education most people can get it will be their backstop in life.
Billy T James was using his Comedy projecting what people's Attitude to Maori was in his time I know I had that attitude heaped on me and it still is.
Ka kite Ano
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
https://youtu.be/5Yj4j_lZMBo
Kia Ora Newshub.
I don't think that the Government new tenants law will cause negative effects for the tenants.
That's good for the tamariki free school lunches in schools.
That stop and frisk was a stupid racist law in New York.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Kai in Kura is cool.
That's is cool a Maori Carving on the state highway in Te Tairawhiti.
Australians and New Zealand indigenous cultures have a lot in common.
That's a good idea E Sports fund rising for Heart foundation .
Ka kite Ano