My belief runs with John Key on this matter. The doctors have PC image to maintain because of a foolish though well meaning law. I am much closer to the end than JK and would be greatly comforted if I knew that if terminal and in great pain I could decide to have the ‘plug pulled’.
Key is right in that it does happen, but I think it’s a lot more of a grey area than he intimated. I also expect that the ‘euthanasia by inaction’ that he’s hinting at comes quite late in the piece, when the individual involved probably would have chosen to end their life months earlier if they’d had the choice.
Maybe they’ve had enough of this gov’t BS with all the porkys Ryall keeps telling about increased doctors and nurses and the slash by stealth they’ve been up to in the health sector along with farming out elective work off the waiting lists to their private hospital mates.
They’re in a tough spot, taking the oath to preserve human life in a system where their paychecks are written by the born to rule neo liberal worhippers and the DHB’s are run by NACT’s mates.
A doctor in the UK kill many many older people without their consent.
The question surely is, in cases where the individual cannot commit suicide then the
consideration of euthanasia can be entered into, but doctor who quicken the end of
life are committing murder and it should not be allowed.
I watched Parliament yesterday and I thought that a comedian had snuck in and was masquerading as John Banks. Because the speech had to be a joke. It is very difficult to achieve the amount of belligerence coupled with stupidity that was on show. Then I confirmed it was actually Banksie.
This is the guy who thinks it’s still 1981 (the time of the 40th NZ government) and who says he’ll be back for the 50th term, when Shearer will be the leader of the opposition – except the current government is the 50th.
He had the gall to say that the Greens can’t get elected in in an electorate seat – ignoring that the Greens have a bigger vote nationally than Act’s pitiful less than 1% (compared with Green Party’s 11-14%) …
Banks is still living in 1981 First Past the Post NZ, when the issue of climate change had far less media attention.
Banks only got elected in an electorate seat because National did a deal. Labour did no such deals with the Greens, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something in 2014.
It doesn’t look like the Greens are going to need it. If I was them I wouldn’t want it. Becoming too dependent on an electorate seat for a party seems to result in the party expending too much effort and mana defending it with the inevitable result that they wind up being unable to run a nationwide campaign and a slow descent into being a party of one MP.
They’d be better reaching a loose accord prior to the election so that they can fight to get the voters to vote for their policies to improve their negotiating position after election result.
I’d also add that the party that relies on one electorate MP tends to place more emphasis on the personal beliefs of that indispensable MP than on its policies, i.e. the common beliefs of its membership.
Duh Mickey, that’s pretty much the attitude of the top 1%.
The real movers and shakers don’t live in parliamentary type venues and would never be caught dead on record saying such things, like the Koch Brothers.
Banks is a simply a distracting loon used by the Nat’s to divert attention from the great NZ swindle and should be treated like any child throwing a tantrum and ignored.
Haha John Banks having a go at the Green MPs because they are list MPs and “would never get elected anywhere.”
1. They did get elected, NZers gave the Green party their party vote. 11% to ACTs 1%.
2. John Banks is only there because of a cup of tea ffs.
Also love the challenge to “stand in Epsom in 2014” when JBs dodgyness has been so sorely exposed. It’s going to take a lot of cups of tea for him to get elected anywhere again. Even in BMWtown I mean Epsom.
Shame on Brownleee and NAct for focusing on Roads of Negligible Significance over the importance of revitalising KiwiRail after years of decline under private ownership:
The Labour Party has asked tough questions about the state of KiwiRail after it won a temporary injunction preventing the publication of sensitive material from a leaked business plan.
…
But parts of it were read in Parliament yesterday by Labour MP Phil Twyford under the absolute privilege MPs have, without the source document being identified.
…
Mr Twyford asked several questions of the Minister of State Owned Enterprises, pointing to aspects of the report:
* Has the board of KiwiRail advised him that from 2014 onwards the rail asset will decline and disruption will grow,
…
* Has the board of KiwiRail advised him that the amount to be spent on timber bridges will be cut substantially, projects on the main trunk line will be cancelled or deferred, the overall condition of railway sleepers will decline, …
It takes them too long to revitalise KR so they can flick it off to their mates so they’ll ignore it as it can’t be achieved in their window of power.
So they place their man Quinney atop and park the brownlee bus in front for his unique brand of arrogance and BS and stay the course Joyce set last term.
Charter schools are an experiment on our most vulnerable children, teachers’ union advocate Frances Guy says.
More than 150 parents, teachers and education leaders gathered at the Kelston Community Centre on Tuesday to discuss the Government’s decision to introduce charter schools.
With quotes from John Minto, Waikato University professor of education Martin Thrupp, Massey High School principal Bruce Ritchie, Massey Primary School principal Bruce Barnes, and Kelston Intermediate School teacher Sue Newby. They give a thumbs down to Charter Schools and refer to the fact that NZ already has a very good education system so why try something as dodgy as Charter Schools.
Maybe because 20% are falling out of the bottom of our current system and they want to be proactive and do something about it. All the education establishment will agree to do is the same as they have always been doing so nothing will change.
You do know that the biggest influence is poverty right? Get rid of the poverty and the few percent who are having difficulty will mostly disappear. Do what NACT want and our education will actually suffer – just as what happened in the US and UK after similar reforms.
The education establishment is always doing the research and changing. That’s why schools are better today than when I went to school 30+ years ago. You’re just one of the people who are too stupid to realise that.
The trouble is they are getting worse results than they were getting 30 years ago. The education system is being dumbed down with focus on soft subjects such as “inquiry (aka googling on the internet), kapa haka and “enviro”(aka recycling).
Maths especially is actively demoted, probably because most teachers just dont like it. It is left to one or two teachers in a school to pick up the slack. Same with English with “text” language not being acceptable. And all though this “yes of course little Jimmy’s doing well” – except he’s not and the parents dont find out until the next teacher or he next school. Or the student doesnt find out until he tries to get a job or tries t go to uni and has to do a year of catch up or woese yet just cant get in at all.
In addition to that, the far left-wing bias of the teachers unions and most teachers leaves the students with little exposure to radical ideas such as working hard to achieve goals, looking after yourself and not depending on the state for handouts. Everyone one is a “winner”, no matter how hard they try (or not). It’s “mean” not to give everyone a “reward” (talk about newspeak- even words are changing their meaning) just for turning up.
From what I’ve read/seen it seems that it’s actually getting more challenging. Actually being able to think is far harder than wrote learning.
In addition to that, the far left-wing bias of the teachers unions and most teachers leaves the students with little exposure to radical ideas such as working hard to achieve goals, looking after yourself and not depending on the state for handouts.
Individualism is a dead end – quite literally. You must be a part of a society to survive so it’s not a question of looking for handouts on the left but working together. The right is the home of the handouts. Just look at the RoNS, the cronyism that’s shining through and the massive increase in government borrowing.
It’s “mean” not to give everyone a “reward” (talk about newspeak- even words are changing their meaning) just for turning up.
Got any proof of that or is it just another RWNJ meme?
Om charter schools. It is concerning that at a regulated NZ school a dedicated trickster and paedophile found a way to breach the barriers to staying in teaching. He ingratiated himself into a Maori community by adopting a Maori-centric behaviour. That was an extra breach of trust by someone who was not even NZ pakeha on top of the whole bad behaviour of false friendship with children serving his own personal desires. Procedures were not followed that should have sent a red flag of warning before he could get so entrenched. The Teachers Council were duped, the police did not have the confidence and evidence to proceed further etc. The system failed the children and their parents.
Now if charter schools are to be able to widely employ non-teachers they will be fertile fields for this sort of twisted individual.
Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Is she aware that teachers are police vetted every 3 years when they have to reregister, and can she assure the House that non-registered teachers working in charter schools will also be police vetted every 3 years?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: Indeed, they are often vetted more often than every 3 years, and we will be expecting the same level of probity, protection, and safeguarding of all students in all schools.
Hon Nanaia Mahuta: If there is no difference whatsoever in the vetting and background checks for non-registered charter school teachers, why did officials warn the Minister last year that “There is the challenge of ensuring that students are not put at risk by mentors who are not necessarily subject to professional licensing.”?
Carol
I have a tape of an old piece of advice for budding politicians on how not to answer a question. I don’t know if it was meant to be cutting analysis or spoof. But Parata has learned well. Is there a psychological and speaking test before the NACTs will endorse a candidate for parliament?
I am entirely unreasonable of course. In wanting NZ policies to be more effective and well researched. As I have got older the accretion of examples of our she’ll-be-right, research and expertise lite, approach have grown so I can no longer overlook our innate capacity to go into almost everything on a wing and a prayer. And we aren’t a very religious society either. This is an important revelation to me and so while we must keep trying for better, we are bound to get this sort of vague shit from politicians in answer to searching questions. And this can apply for Left and Right. I just felt I had to get this off my chest. There, there I feel better now.
Rob 6.2
Good point. But it is obvious that conditions where there are no or fewer controls will allow worse situations or more bad ones to surface. Don’t you think?
A black mark for Tonga. A Tongan now a decorated NZ policeman goes home to attend his grandfather’s funeral and ends up dead there after violence with Tongan police involvement. Very sad for his family. Very sad for the state of Tongan male culture. And following my former piece about the destructive power of alcohol when it isn’t carefully limited, an unhappy example that reinforces the rightness of my point.
The Slippery little Shyster’s empty suitcase of intellectual rigor has been opened and exposed for all to see,
Having alienated everyone but the National core 40% of the vote Slippery is beginning to lash out in anger and not having a particular group of people to be angry at,
Making accusations that Doctors and Nurses are regularly killing people in New Zealand hospitals will sure as hell get em all voting for ya,
All but accusing the Hungarian PRT serving in Baghlan Province of being COWARDS is likely to have one of them pay some deviant Afghani to plant road-side explosives in reply to the Prime Ministers abhorrent utterance,
The sooner the country gets rid of this Slippery used-car-salesman the better…
All but accusing the Hungarian PRT serving in Baghlan Province of being COWARDS is likely to have one of them pay some deviant Afghani to plant road-side explosives in reply to the Prime Ministers abhorrent utterance,
That’s as big a slur against the Hungarians as what Key said.
If ever an apology was painfully obviously required it’s here. The Hungarian minister of Defense writes an open letter than says a) you’re wrong, and b) it’s a shame your “comradely spirit” appears to be lacking.
I think that’s diplomatic speak for “f*ck you.”
A no comment response from Key here is pretty much like extending the middle finger in reply. Key is not capable of seeing that there are exceptions to every rule, including the politicians ‘Never admit you are wrong, never apologize’ rule. Sometimes you put your foot so far in it that not apologizing is worse. This dick is supposed to be representing us. Thanks JK.
I’ve made an open Facebook group about this, which I intend to bring to the attention of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence and as many Hungarians as I can. http://www.facebook.com/groups/172650396204620/
Wow a message of hope and change from the Murdoch clan. Golly. I may well be being cynical here, but I do note that her husband is noted PR guru Matthew Freud (Sigmund’s great-grandson no less) who was in with the Tony Blair crowd.
Yay, the news on RadioNZ National, we are saved, the balance of trade tipped firmly in New Zelands favor for this quarter we exported 100 and something million dollars worth of stuff more than what we imported,
Party anyone???
Yeah i’m friggin lying, the whole thing took another tiny step towards the column over to the right of the profit one, you know the one what sez ”gone tits up”
Imports are down 1.4% for the quarter and more telling exports are down 0.4%, expect another 2000 unemployed…
“The thing is, a black man can’t be president in America, given the racial aversion and history that’s still out there,” Cornell Belcher, a pollster for Obama, told the journalist Gwen Ifill after the 2008 election. “However, an extraordinary, gifted, and talented young man who happens to be black can be president.”
Belcher’s formulation grants the power of anti-black racism, and proposes to defeat it by not acknowledging it. His is the perfect statement of the Obama era, a time marked by a revolution that must never announce itself, by a democracy that must never acknowledge the weight of race, even while being shaped by it. Barack Obama governs a nation enlightened enough to send an African American to the White House, but not enlightened enough to accept a black man as its president.
[…]
While Beck and Limbaugh have chosen direct racial assault, others choose simply to deny that a black president actually exists. One in four Americans (and more than half of all Republicans) believe Obama was not born in this country, and thus is an illegitimate president. More than a dozen state legislatures have introduced “birther bills” demanding proof of Obama’s citizenship as a condition for putting him on the 2012 ballot. Eighteen percent of Republicans believe Obama to be a Muslim. The goal of all this is to delegitimize Obama’s presidency. If Obama is not truly American, then America has still never had a black president.
John Beattie, Director of FiordlandLink Experience (monorail) needs to understand that the World Heritage status of our parks is based on the pristine, unaltered nature of the environment and most tourists want to experience that too and if they don’t, there is always Disneyland. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/fiordland-or-disneyland.html
I saw a ‘story’ which showed Michelle Obama at a soup kitchen handing out food etc and to mark the occasion the final photo showed the young female beneficiary taking a photo with her $500 iPod.
This to me smells of bene-bashing that why should somebody with such a phone get food for free. Completely ignoring the upheavals sadly so common in America and around the world and seemingly requiring one to drop all one’s assets before getting help.
Well that would make no sense because pods and pads and phones are cheaper than food. But it will make for a good ignorant rant by many ignorant ranters.
pfft. Just a recommendation, innit? I’m sure Johnny Boy can pull any number of other recommendations from, erm…well, out his arse really. And be guided by them. (Don’t know how to categorise that [unfortunate?, disturbing?, amusing?…all of the pre-mentioned?] image I just had of JK following his recommendations and so disappearing up his own arse )
Loathe as I am to bring it all up again (who am I kidding, I am not loathe! 🙂 ) have a shufti at tnis: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m90539&fb=1
The bizarre, unhealthy blinding media contempt for Julian Assange.
A warning to all those heading off over the Tasman to live in Australia. Things may not be all that good there as a flock of Aussie Pelicans have settled in the Kaipara Harbour. Perhaps they know something we don’t!
John Key is hamming it up on the dance floor with a bunch of youngsters. Nothing wrong with that. All in good fun.
But does anyone remember when Pete Hodgson and another Labour minister (can’t remember who) did exactly the same thing in 2007/8? They were derided and lampooned by a spiteful MSM.
What’s the bet Key will be lauded by the same MSM as a… good fellow who joins in the fun and makes everyone smile and laugh.
Similarly on NewstalkZB this afternoon, host Larry Williams and NBR hackette Ellen Read snarled that the law needs to come down far more heavily on people who drink too much. When token liberal Tim Watkin pointed out that they usually slam talk like that as “nanny state”, Williams and Read did not miss a beat.
“That’s not nanny state!” shouted Read.
“No,” agreed Williams, “That’s just doing something about drinking!”
As usual, Watkin declined to challenge them any further.
“The point of the treaty-based international consensus was to make it comfortable for multinationals to romp around the world while paying minimal tax.”
and
“A pernicious fiction propagated by the OECD is that the arm’s-length method produces precise results, while all other methods of allocating income are sloppy. The arm’s-length method is illusory.. . . fiction piled on top of fiction”
The KiwiRail report has the figure of $200 million over 3 years as a shortfall or reduction in funding. With unfortunate consequences for its effectiveness. Brownlee throws in the ‘information’ that the government is spending hundreds of millions on it. I think the job he’s in is too big for him. The roads are using up hundreds of millions or is it billions. The difference is that it is glamorous to float along in the BMW or the latest humvee, while only peasants and hard working productive firms are using rail.
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This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
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. ...
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. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
Looks as though John-Mr-nice-and-natural-tell-it-how-it-is-Key’s off the cuff, unresearched sound bites are beginning to get him into trouble. Now it’s not only the Hungarian’s he has upset but also New Zealand’s hospitals and doctors
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7538178/PMs-euthanasia-claim-sparks-anger
My belief runs with John Key on this matter. The doctors have PC image to maintain because of a foolish though well meaning law. I am much closer to the end than JK and would be greatly comforted if I knew that if terminal and in great pain I could decide to have the ‘plug pulled’.
Having the “plug pulled” is not euthenasia in the context of the bill being proposed.
Key is right in that it does happen, but I think it’s a lot more of a grey area than he intimated. I also expect that the ‘euthanasia by inaction’ that he’s hinting at comes quite late in the piece, when the individual involved probably would have chosen to end their life months earlier if they’d had the choice.
Lanthanide, it may well be a grey area, I cannot be certain (who can?), but it would be a change to see Key using a little more “grey matter”!
Key is right in that it does happen,
Nonsense. Can you provide us with one example of a doctor killing a patient in this country?
Maybe they’ve had enough of this gov’t BS with all the porkys Ryall keeps telling about increased doctors and nurses and the slash by stealth they’ve been up to in the health sector along with farming out elective work off the waiting lists to their private hospital mates.
They’re in a tough spot, taking the oath to preserve human life in a system where their paychecks are written by the born to rule neo liberal worhippers and the DHB’s are run by NACT’s mates.
A doctor in the UK kill many many older people without their consent.
The question surely is, in cases where the individual cannot commit suicide then the
consideration of euthanasia can be entered into, but doctor who quicken the end of
life are committing murder and it should not be allowed.
Is Shipman at all relevant to the current bill?
No.
I watched Parliament yesterday and I thought that a comedian had snuck in and was masquerading as John Banks. Because the speech had to be a joke. It is very difficult to achieve the amount of belligerence coupled with stupidity that was on show. Then I confirmed it was actually Banksie.
The speech was on the Government’s further undermining of the ETS.
If the attitude of Banks is held by even a minority of the world’s population then the planet is fcuked.
This is the guy who thinks it’s still 1981 (the time of the 40th NZ government) and who says he’ll be back for the 50th term, when Shearer will be the leader of the opposition – except the current government is the 50th.
He had the gall to say that the Greens can’t get elected in in an electorate seat – ignoring that the Greens have a bigger vote nationally than Act’s pitiful less than 1% (compared with Green Party’s 11-14%) …
Banks is still living in 1981 First Past the Post NZ, when the issue of climate change had far less media attention.
Banks only got elected in an electorate seat because National did a deal. Labour did no such deals with the Greens, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something in 2014.
It doesn’t look like the Greens are going to need it. If I was them I wouldn’t want it. Becoming too dependent on an electorate seat for a party seems to result in the party expending too much effort and mana defending it with the inevitable result that they wind up being unable to run a nationwide campaign and a slow descent into being a party of one MP.
They’d be better reaching a loose accord prior to the election so that they can fight to get the voters to vote for their policies to improve their negotiating position after election result.
Yeah, I agree with that assessment.
Except where Labour and the Greens doing a deal means that a seat goes to the left instead of the right.
Yep, that’s the one.
I’d also add that the party that relies on one electorate MP tends to place more emphasis on the personal beliefs of that indispensable MP than on its policies, i.e. the common beliefs of its membership.
So did Labour do a deal with Jim Anderton similar to Banks ?
National had to gift a seat to Banks.
Anderton always had his seat to begin with.
Didn’t Labour accommodate the Greens so that Fitsimmons got Coromandel?
Not sure, but National consistently beat the Greens there from 2002 on.
Duh Mickey, that’s pretty much the attitude of the top 1%.
The real movers and shakers don’t live in parliamentary type venues and would never be caught dead on record saying such things, like the Koch Brothers.
Banks is a simply a distracting loon used by the Nat’s to divert attention from the great NZ swindle and should be treated like any child throwing a tantrum and ignored.
He should have been kicked out for insulting elected members of parliament. List MPs are elected.
I think his robot circuitry is affected by solar flares.
Haha John Banks having a go at the Green MPs because they are list MPs and “would never get elected anywhere.”
1. They did get elected, NZers gave the Green party their party vote. 11% to ACTs 1%.
2. John Banks is only there because of a cup of tea ffs.
Also love the challenge to “stand in Epsom in 2014” when JBs dodgyness has been so sorely exposed. It’s going to take a lot of cups of tea for him to get elected anywhere again. Even in BMWtown I mean Epsom.
Shame on Brownleee and NAct for focusing on Roads of Negligible Significance over the importance of revitalising KiwiRail after years of decline under private ownership:
Good work by Twyford:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/3/4/a/50HansQ_20120823_00000001-1-KiwiRail-Confidence-in-Board.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSzzUZM8JU
It takes them too long to revitalise KR so they can flick it off to their mates so they’ll ignore it as it can’t be achieved in their window of power.
So they place their man Quinney atop and park the brownlee bus in front for his unique brand of arrogance and BS and stay the course Joyce set last term.
Stand with Pussy Riot
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_pussy_riot_free_russia_e
A slightly more Russian perspective on Pussy Riot. Which suggests why they got a more than negligible 2 year sentence.
http://exiledonline.com/crime-pussy-riot-the-russian-soul-world-war-iii-how-pussy-riot-troupe-got-the-exile-censored-in-2008/
I see the Western Leader (West Auckland local paper) has a (hard copy) front page article slamming Charter Schools. Online version here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/7539981/Charters-experiment-on-poor
With quotes from John Minto, Waikato University professor of education Martin Thrupp, Massey High School principal Bruce Ritchie, Massey Primary School principal Bruce Barnes, and Kelston Intermediate School teacher Sue Newby. They give a thumbs down to Charter Schools and refer to the fact that NZ already has a very good education system so why try something as dodgy as Charter Schools.
Maybe because 20% are falling out of the bottom of our current system and they want to be proactive and do something about it. All the education establishment will agree to do is the same as they have always been doing so nothing will change.
Bollocks
You do know that the biggest influence is poverty right? Get rid of the poverty and the few percent who are having difficulty will mostly disappear. Do what NACT want and our education will actually suffer – just as what happened in the US and UK after similar reforms.
The education establishment is always doing the research and changing. That’s why schools are better today than when I went to school 30+ years ago. You’re just one of the people who are too stupid to realise that.
yep.
Most of our social ills are symptoms of a deeper malady, not maladies themselves.
The trouble is they are getting worse results than they were getting 30 years ago. The education system is being dumbed down with focus on soft subjects such as “inquiry (aka googling on the internet), kapa haka and “enviro”(aka recycling).
Maths especially is actively demoted, probably because most teachers just dont like it. It is left to one or two teachers in a school to pick up the slack. Same with English with “text” language not being acceptable. And all though this “yes of course little Jimmy’s doing well” – except he’s not and the parents dont find out until the next teacher or he next school. Or the student doesnt find out until he tries to get a job or tries t go to uni and has to do a year of catch up or woese yet just cant get in at all.
In addition to that, the far left-wing bias of the teachers unions and most teachers leaves the students with little exposure to radical ideas such as working hard to achieve goals, looking after yourself and not depending on the state for handouts. Everyone one is a “winner”, no matter how hard they try (or not). It’s “mean” not to give everyone a “reward” (talk about newspeak- even words are changing their meaning) just for turning up.
Yeah the education system is doing real well.
But they’re not are they? 30 years ago 50% passed and the results of the pupils were altered to ensure that.
From what I’ve read/seen it seems that it’s actually getting more challenging. Actually being able to think is far harder than wrote learning.
Individualism is a dead end – quite literally. You must be a part of a society to survive so it’s not a question of looking for handouts on the left but working together. The right is the home of the handouts. Just look at the RoNS, the cronyism that’s shining through and the massive increase in government borrowing.
Got any proof of that or is it just another RWNJ meme?
OT/U-T
Om charter schools. It is concerning that at a regulated NZ school a dedicated trickster and paedophile found a way to breach the barriers to staying in teaching. He ingratiated himself into a Maori community by adopting a Maori-centric behaviour. That was an extra breach of trust by someone who was not even NZ pakeha on top of the whole bad behaviour of false friendship with children serving his own personal desires. Procedures were not followed that should have sent a red flag of warning before he could get so entrenched. The Teachers Council were duped, the police did not have the confidence and evidence to proceed further etc. The system failed the children and their parents.
Now if charter schools are to be able to widely employ non-teachers they will be fertile fields for this sort of twisted individual.
Yes, prism, Nania Mahuta quizzed Parata on that very issue this week. I’m not convinced by her replies:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/1/7/2/50HansQ_20120822_00000007-7-Teaching-Staff-Non-registered-Application.htm
Carol
I have a tape of an old piece of advice for budding politicians on how not to answer a question. I don’t know if it was meant to be cutting analysis or spoof. But Parata has learned well. Is there a psychological and speaking test before the NACTs will endorse a candidate for parliament?
I am entirely unreasonable of course. In wanting NZ policies to be more effective and well researched. As I have got older the accretion of examples of our she’ll-be-right, research and expertise lite, approach have grown so I can no longer overlook our innate capacity to go into almost everything on a wing and a prayer. And we aren’t a very religious society either. This is an important revelation to me and so while we must keep trying for better, we are bound to get this sort of vague shit from politicians in answer to searching questions. And this can apply for Left and Right. I just felt I had to get this off my chest. There, there I feel better now.
So you are condeming charter schools for heinous issues that are hapening in the current system?
Rob 6.2
Good point. But it is obvious that conditions where there are no or fewer controls will allow worse situations or more bad ones to surface. Don’t you think?
A black mark for Tonga. A Tongan now a decorated NZ policeman goes home to attend his grandfather’s funeral and ends up dead there after violence with Tongan police involvement. Very sad for his family. Very sad for the state of Tongan male culture. And following my former piece about the destructive power of alcohol when it isn’t carefully limited, an unhappy example that reinforces the rightness of my point.
The PM should apologise to the Hungarians.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1208/S00354/hungarian-defence-minister-on-nz-afghanistan-deaths.htm
Honestly, our Prime Minister is a dick NZ.
What a bozo.
Bozo the clown. Hungary, euthanasia, John Key is seriously lacking not just wisdom and depth but also basic knowledge.
What the fuck is he doing?
The Slippery little Shyster’s empty suitcase of intellectual rigor has been opened and exposed for all to see,
Having alienated everyone but the National core 40% of the vote Slippery is beginning to lash out in anger and not having a particular group of people to be angry at,
Making accusations that Doctors and Nurses are regularly killing people in New Zealand hospitals will sure as hell get em all voting for ya,
All but accusing the Hungarian PRT serving in Baghlan Province of being COWARDS is likely to have one of them pay some deviant Afghani to plant road-side explosives in reply to the Prime Ministers abhorrent utterance,
The sooner the country gets rid of this Slippery used-car-salesman the better…
That’s as big a slur against the Hungarians as what Key said.
+1
Well, he “won’t be commenting” on the Hungarian open letter according to Felix Marwick.
Dick. (not Marwick, he’s just doing his job)
If ever an apology was painfully obviously required it’s here. The Hungarian minister of Defense writes an open letter than says a) you’re wrong, and b) it’s a shame your “comradely spirit” appears to be lacking.
I think that’s diplomatic speak for “f*ck you.”
A no comment response from Key here is pretty much like extending the middle finger in reply. Key is not capable of seeing that there are exceptions to every rule, including the politicians ‘Never admit you are wrong, never apologize’ rule. Sometimes you put your foot so far in it that not apologizing is worse. This dick is supposed to be representing us. Thanks JK.
What a wanker.
I wonder houw our diplomatic corp’s already high esteem for John Key is doing now.
“What the fuck is he doing?”
He’s making up as he goes along.
Should read “making it up”.
I’ve made an open Facebook group about this, which I intend to bring to the attention of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence and as many Hungarians as I can.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/172650396204620/
What weight would any apology from the PM carry? What self-respecting nation would want to receive a chunk of his insincerity?
The ongoing saga of the Murdochs and MSM….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/7540529/Murdoch-profit-alone-a-disaster
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!( Pleased to see they have a dark sense of humour)….
Wow a message of hope and change from the Murdoch clan. Golly. I may well be being cynical here, but I do note that her husband is noted PR guru Matthew Freud (Sigmund’s great-grandson no less) who was in with the Tony Blair crowd.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-406666/The-night-Tony-Blair-cross-fertilised-PR-guru-Freud.html
Yay, the news on RadioNZ National, we are saved, the balance of trade tipped firmly in New Zelands favor for this quarter we exported 100 and something million dollars worth of stuff more than what we imported,
Party anyone???
Yeah i’m friggin lying, the whole thing took another tiny step towards the column over to the right of the profit one, you know the one what sez ”gone tits up”
Imports are down 1.4% for the quarter and more telling exports are down 0.4%, expect another 2000 unemployed…
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Fear of a Black President
“The thing is, a black man can’t be president in America, given the racial aversion and history that’s still out there,” Cornell Belcher, a pollster for Obama, told the journalist Gwen Ifill after the 2008 election. “However, an extraordinary, gifted, and talented young man who happens to be black can be president.”
Belcher’s formulation grants the power of anti-black racism, and proposes to defeat it by not acknowledging it. His is the perfect statement of the Obama era, a time marked by a revolution that must never announce itself, by a democracy that must never acknowledge the weight of race, even while being shaped by it. Barack Obama governs a nation enlightened enough to send an African American to the White House, but not enlightened enough to accept a black man as its president.
[…]
While Beck and Limbaugh have chosen direct racial assault, others choose simply to deny that a black president actually exists. One in four Americans (and more than half of all Republicans) believe Obama was not born in this country, and thus is an illegitimate president. More than a dozen state legislatures have introduced “birther bills” demanding proof of Obama’s citizenship as a condition for putting him on the 2012 ballot. Eighteen percent of Republicans believe Obama to be a Muslim. The goal of all this is to delegitimize Obama’s presidency. If Obama is not truly American, then America has still never had a black president.
Meanwhile….
This too.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/08/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-loquacious/261481/
John Beattie, Director of FiordlandLink Experience (monorail) needs to understand that the World Heritage status of our parks is based on the pristine, unaltered nature of the environment and most tourists want to experience that too and if they don’t, there is always Disneyland.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/fiordland-or-disneyland.html
I saw a ‘story’ which showed Michelle Obama at a soup kitchen handing out food etc and to mark the occasion the final photo showed the young female beneficiary taking a photo with her $500 iPod.
This to me smells of bene-bashing that why should somebody with such a phone get food for free. Completely ignoring the upheavals sadly so common in America and around the world and seemingly requiring one to drop all one’s assets before getting help.
Well that would make no sense because pods and pads and phones are cheaper than food. But it will make for a good ignorant rant by many ignorant ranters.
A quick search on Ebay shows a used Apple iPhone 1st Generation at $50 through to an Apple iPhone 3G at $95.
what about “KILLER” key.
he has an opinion on anything and everything these days.
next time he goes to the “states” maybe he should stay there.
The Waitangi Tribunal has ruled that the asset sales process must be stopped until the water claim is resolved.
Cat meet pidgeons.
pfft. Just a recommendation, innit? I’m sure Johnny Boy can pull any number of other recommendations from, erm…well, out his arse really. And be guided by them. (Don’t know how to categorise that [unfortunate?, disturbing?, amusing?…all of the pre-mentioned?] image I just had of JK following his recommendations and so disappearing up his own arse )
“nom nom nom …pigeons!” *burp*
The Week in Pictures
“Whistle-blower”, speaking from the Ecuadorian embassy, maintains right to reveal restricted information
Link
funny
Well done. If those posters don’t bring down the government, nothing will.
Loathe as I am to bring it all up again (who am I kidding, I am not loathe! 🙂 ) have a shufti at tnis:
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m90539&fb=1
The bizarre, unhealthy blinding media contempt for Julian Assange.
Thanks for that, Vicky.
Here’s something on the same theme from the excellent Media Lens site….
http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=686:incinerating-assange-the-liberal-media-go-to-work&catid=25:alerts-2012&Itemid=69
Nice link to David Green’s article.
Bookmarked.
Thanks for the genuinely informative links.
30% of recent US fatalities in Afghanistan were ‘Green on Blue’ killings by Afghan “allies”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_WM64iCt24&feature=g-all-u
The highest ever in the history of the Afghanistan conflict. Its a fuck up. And our troops are dying over there.
…and our “leaders” couldn’t give a fuck.
A warning to all those heading off over the Tasman to live in Australia. Things may not be all that good there as a flock of Aussie Pelicans have settled in the Kaipara Harbour. Perhaps they know something we don’t!
Picked this video up on the Herald site:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_cid=1&gallery_id=127574
John Key is hamming it up on the dance floor with a bunch of youngsters. Nothing wrong with that. All in good fun.
But does anyone remember when Pete Hodgson and another Labour minister (can’t remember who) did exactly the same thing in 2007/8? They were derided and lampooned by a spiteful MSM.
What’s the bet Key will be lauded by the same MSM as a… good fellow who joins in the fun and makes everyone smile and laugh.
Similarly on NewstalkZB this afternoon, host Larry Williams and NBR hackette Ellen Read snarled that the law needs to come down far more heavily on people who drink too much. When token liberal Tim Watkin pointed out that they usually slam talk like that as “nanny state”, Williams and Read did not miss a beat.
“That’s not nanny state!” shouted Read.
“No,” agreed Williams, “That’s just doing something about drinking!”
As usual, Watkin declined to challenge them any further.
An interesting take on transfer pricing.
The KiwiRail report has the figure of $200 million over 3 years as a shortfall or reduction in funding. With unfortunate consequences for its effectiveness. Brownlee throws in the ‘information’ that the government is spending hundreds of millions on it. I think the job he’s in is too big for him. The roads are using up hundreds of millions or is it billions. The difference is that it is glamorous to float along in the BMW or the latest humvee, while only peasants and hard working productive firms are using rail.