Anadarko has started drilling for oil off the coast of Raglan.
Another nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s reputation as a leader in environmental matters.
A sad day.
YEAH to Greenie Jeanette Fitzsimons!!!!! …..former Green Party Leader and Green activist and researcher….What a gem of a woman!…what a hero she is…out there on the deep seas fighting against unsafe oil drilling off the coast of New Zealand. She makes me proud to be a New Zealander and proud to be a woman!
…..and also a big Yeah for Bunny McDairmaid( Greenpeace)!!!! …what a New Zealand hero she is! ….skipper of SV Tiama tracking the oil drilling ship Noble Bob Douglas
Great people with the courage of their convictions.
However when does it end how can we beat these Right Wing selfish greedy bastards .
We no sooner win one battle up up they come with some other ghastly scheme. However as the late Joe
Totally agree with Paul!
Unsure how a Government representing a country who has signed the Kyoto Protocol can stand up for deep sea drilling or any further drilling or extraction of fossil fuels which in turn create greenhouse gases.
When Simon Bridge’s grandkids are running around with masks on to survive, he may see the error of his ways and thinking. Good for NZ? He is supposed to be an intelligent man, and I suspect far more educated than the role model John Key that he appears to idolise.
The fact of the matter (quoting Simon), is that even with the stringent compliance necessary, New Zealand could not cope with an oil spill, and the events off Tauranga give evidence to the problems encountered and that was only small scale.
This Government and subsequent governments, should be promoting and investing in alternative energy, do their homework (what they get paid for) and see the reality of the contributions people such as Kessler have given to the world.
We could be World leaders yet again with inventing and promoting alternative energy sources.
Time for present and forward Governments to stop and think about the decisions they are making, and stop focusing on the short term monetary gains.
Global warming is happening, fossil fuels are contributing, let’s get behind positive steps to reduce fossil fuel extraction and hence useage and become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
The argument of “did you drive your car today” is only a valid argument if alternate modes of transport were freely available. I am sure if alternative green fuels were available, they would be the peoples choice.
So yes I agree…A sad day!
These are sad days indeed, and it benefits people to be real about that. It’s scraping the bottom of the barrel time, socio-politically speaking. Seen footage of the air pollution in large Asian cities, looks like Blade Runner (which is being remade) to me.
You know, I have literally never before encountered someone who sees it that way around. You know what you get if you subtract all the “this is just like the time when I ___” randomness out of Family Guy? A less subversive version of All in the Family.
It’s Tuesday 26 November 2013, about 7am and I’m about to get dressed, finish packing bag and get bus to 488 George St Sydney to attend a full day workshop at the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Have trimmed over 700 ‘business’ (NOT) cards, ready to do ‘swapsies’ with as many of the fellow attendees as possible.
ACTIVISM 101 – GET THEIR NAMES! 🙂
Tonight is a net-working event, so it will be quite a big day.
I have printed off copies of the request Lisa Prager and myself have made to the NZ Serious Fraud Office, requesting an investigation for alleged bribery and corruption by Mayor Len Brown and Sky City (Auckland), to discuss with anti-corruption experts and any Australian media who may be interested.
(It seems that many people I’ve spoken to here are aware of the Auckland Mayor ‘sex scandal’.
However, the fact that there was NO ‘due diligence’carried out by Auckland Council on the increased risk of money-laundering, arising from the NZ International Convention Centre (or – as I prefer to call it – the Sky City ‘money-laundering’ ) Act 2013, whilst on Mayor Len Brown’s ‘watch’, doesn’t appear to be so widely known, probably because of what seems to be effectively a mainstream media ‘blackout’ on this story?).
It seems that the Anti finning legislation is just another Smoke and Mirrors load of bullshit from the Nats as it is going to be phased in, in 3 years. So much for conservation from the Nats.
“Lost in the touchy-feel good images was the fine print: New Zealand’s intention to ban the practice is three years away and is only a proposal.
Conservationists worried about the status of many of our 113 shark species say there is no justification for the phase-in and fear fishing industry proponents will use a consultation period to water down the plan.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11161466
The whole approach to managing New Zealand’s fisheries needs a rethink.
From protecting all identified spawning areas to through to ensuring only New Zealander’s own and run the fishing boats. Dont get me started on longlines and bottom trawling.
I see that cameras on fishing boats are to be phased in over the next 2 years to help combat dumping. Its a band aid.
I’m ok with eating dead things, though these days I comsume very little meat. A result of the change in my eating habits when I was a vegetarian.
I’m also of the belief that if you do not have the stomach to kill it, you should not eat it.
So, I’ve killed and eaten possums, chickens, duck, rabbits, goat, and fish. It’s the butchering I find more troubling than actually ending the animals life.
I’ve not killed a deer, pig, sheep or cow.
I’d like to see study of food sources including trips to farms and freezing works as part of the curriculum for every secondary school student so they can at least make properly informed decisions about what they eat.
I started eating mostly as a vegetarian when I was flatting with a couple of friends who were veges.
At that time, I’d eat meat when I visited my parents or sometimes when I went out.
I then turned full vegetarian when I shifted and started living with with what can only be described as a bunch of hippies.
Intelligent, informed, artistic, curious and healthy both in mind and body. Wonderful people.
It was the start of a great deal of learning for me, not only in food, but emotional health, group or tribal health.
All up I lived as a vegetarian for about 6 years.
I started eating meat again when I left New Zealand and lived in various places overseas. I found it difficult to maintain being a vegetarian as a single travelling person, though I did meet people along they way that managed it.
Not eating meat for me was never a moral decision as it is with some people.
Since I returned to New Zealand, I’ve not resumed a vegetarian lifestyle, and continue to eat meat about once per week.
I think we should eat a lot more possums. I tried it once and was vaguely impressed. It might be a good way of controlling their numbers and giving our native flora and fauna a bit more of a chance. I agree with you about trips to farms and meat works, especially battery hen factories and pig torture facilities. Dairy farms might be good as well, just to see the damage being done to the waterways.
Really? I thought it meant something like – ” involving questions of right and wrong behavior : relating to ethics” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical
Are you telling me vegans and vegetarians don’t consider eating meat as a question of right and wrong?
Yet people claim that fish can’t feel pain (or animals can’t feel emotion) and use science to back that up. Some scientists support that using the scientific method.
Oh dear. Phillip I think of this often when I eat fish. I reached my 30th anniversary of being vego last year. (I turned vego when I was 14) but have started eating fish occasionally. It’s gives me a protein burst that I seem to need more as I get older.
But what to do? The darlings suffer and we have a slack arse regulatory framework around marine protection, and I’m uncomfortable with being part of the problem It’s a quandary.
(link has lots of other protein-source information..)
..there is one culinary thing i have to give the americans credit for..
..the peanut butter and jam combination..
..a good quality bread (toasted..)..with a good quality (not sugar-drenched) jam..overlaid with a healthy dollop of (extra crunchy)peanut butter..
..washed down with hot tea..is a fast-food heaven..
(and something weird is happening with me..i am getting urges to make (nut-laden) breads..and (not sugar drenched) jams..i dunno w.t.f. that is all about..)
I did try vegan on and off for many of those years, it’s where my heart is at as far as the bovines are concerned (they are lovely animals) and for environmental reasons, but , oh! I have a terrible soft spot for cheese. Cheese and only cheese, out of all the variety of dairy products. Now days I try to avoid Fonterra products where possible and get goat cheese if I can ever afford it. About two thirds of my meals would be vegan.
Peanut butter – yes, the PIC;s one on wholegrain toast in the morning is a goer but PB + jam, I did give that a go as a teen but it felt a bit too Elvis for my tastes.
And avo’s. Regrettably they don’t agree with me. Regrettable because they are a great food and good in place of dairy fats.
I guess where I am now is in the place of a lapsed vego (pescetarian I think the word is)trying to mitigate the environmental and ethical impact of dietary requirements. And thats before my brand boycotts begin! Thats another level of avoidance due to not consuming food from corporates who have a track record of labour rights abuses.
Rosie, you get protein from most things you eat, plants are actually quite high in protein.
No need to get it from animals at all. When did you last hear of someone in the western world suffering from protein deficiency? Cheese is hard to give up but you can buy vegan cheeses nowadays, some good, some not so good. I make cheeses from nuts, mainly cashews and they are delicious. Lots of recipes on google!
Nuts are excellent, in particular walnuts. They are often provided in the diets of elderly people who are unable to eat large portions; contain most minerals etc.
“..and what the horrors for them of death from a hook thru the mouth..
..followed by suffocation and/or a head-bash..
..must be like..
..eh..?..”
Probably similar to the small creatures that get half chopped by the harvesting machines and then die slowly in the fields of grains and beans that provide the food you eat.
Trillions of dollars worth of oil and gas simply waiting to be extracted. Anadarko are prepared to spend 1 million dollars a day to look for this oil. They obviously believe it is there. They will drill for 70 days and may well draw a blank (90% chance). Such is life. If they do strike oil then we all win. On Waitangi Day we may discover that New Zealand is richer than it is today
Or poorer. Depends on the costs, which do not figure in your analysis. A bit like those housing market models that do not allow for decreases in housing value.
The protest flotilla (six tiny boats) have given up and are on the way back to port already. The High Court cannot stop a perfectly legal activity. Roll on Waitangi Day when we can all discover if we are wealthier.
The Cunliffe was trying to claim there was a 70% chance of spill. You are now trying to claim that there is just a 5% chance, That figure is not believable as it not the Norwegian UK or USA experience at all. The Gulf of Mexico is still cleanly producing loads of oil and profits to the USA.
Questions for all who object to drilling and petroleum exploration.
Do you use an automobile?
Do you intend to keep using an automobile?
Do you use digital / electronic goods?
Do you eat cheap packaged foods?
I could carry on. If you want to stop it the only way is to stop consuming and using petrochemical products…which you will find pretty much impossible to do. We are all culpable, to change we need to embrace alternatives now, and cut our whole life expectations. If not, well we are fucked.
I have an automobile and use it when public transport, walking and cycling is inconvenient. One of the main considerations when buying my house was so that walking, cycling and public transport was most convenient.
So, I take the train to the city, use my bike or walk for shopping, and use my car when I go to the coromandel.
Yes, I use digital / electronic goods. I’m quite keen to see oil subsidies and tax breaks redirected toward research in alternative materials.
Very few of my foods are cheap.
I bake my own bread and grow vegetables. When shopping I have a couple of bags I reuse.
Unfortunately, so many things are wrapped in plastic these days, it’s very difficult to avoid.
As Naturesong points out, existing in society without using oil (directly or indirectly) is pretty near impossible for us as individuals.
But the very fact that oil companies are finding it commercially viable to drill so deep or mine crappy oil sands demonstrates that the “low hanging fruit” is running out, oil-wise. Refusing to endanger other industries and the environment by desperately drilling the last drops makes oil even more expensive, so R&D into fossil-fuel replacements becomes more commercially viable and accelerates the society-wide transition away from oil.
We can’t stop using oil in our daily lives.
We can try to stop drilling more of it, though.
Yes, almost everything available today uses oil in its construction but most oil drilled is used for transport (69% to 97%).
I’m not really against drilling for oil, I just think we should use it for better purposes than transport especially in NZ where it’s possible to produce enough electricity to power transport. We may have to get rid of private motor vehicles but that’s ok because they’re a massive waste of resources anyway.
I had a feeling you would not engage honestly. You have 2 logical fallacies here; ad hominam where you cast David Cunliffe as economical with the truth, and then use that as a red herring to avoid adressing either of my points.
David Cunliffe did not claim there was a 70% chance of a spill.
He produced documentation that showed there was a 70% chance of a reportable incident
Amy Adams put forward the strawman that he was talking about spills. I see you are repeating that willful and dishonest mis-interpretation.
The incidence of spills in ultra-deep water (greater than 1500m) are about 1 in 19 (24 spills from 465 wells).
So, back to the question.
If oil is discovered, how much wealthier will we be?
And when an oil spill happens, how much wealthier will we be?
A spill of thousands of barrels means quite a lot.
Your hero Key wants to gamble with over $15b in annual revenue from tourism and fisheries for the sake of a drilling rig that probably won’t match that in its operational life.
Maybe thats the Nats plan, ruin the tourism industry and then the Bankers and other thieves, can come in and make us slaves to the rich in our own country.
Your link to spills were spills of just over 50 barrels.
How much wealthier will we be? Just ask the citizens of the Arabian states with oil.
IF a tiny oil spill occurs not a cent less wealthier.
That’s the bit that completely eludes the average RWNJs. They go on about how better off we will be and ignore the fact that it will only be the 1% at the top that will be better off.
The document includes spills from 50 barrels up but to 4.9 million barrels.
However, we can only assess the likely hood of a spill with this data, not the extent of the damage. For that we would turn to modelling of what a spill would look like in our region of the world.
Andarko have refused to release the modelling, and only say
In the environmental impact assessment it last month lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority for its Taranaki operation, the company conceded a loss of well control would hold “significant impacts” for the environment, but stated this was “extremely unlikely”.
Now, comparing Saudi Oil to New Zealand.
More than 95% of all Saudi oil is produced on behalf of the Saudi Government by the parastatal giant Saudi Aramco.
So, they get to keep their oil, and being a leader in OPEC as well owning 18% of the worlds oil, they get it all on their own terms.
And were you aware that they are currently trying to diversify their economy. Why would they need to do that?
New Zealand on the other hand, with “Lets make a deal” Key ….
we get either;
5% AVR, that is 5% of the net revenues obtained from the sale of petroleum or
20% APR, that is 20% of the accounting profit of petroleum production.
So, after the stuff is extracted shipped, processed or onsold, and the accountants go though it, we get royalties.
Whats the bet that the company makes an accounting loss, or ends up with token net revenues?
How much would you pay an accounting firm to ensure that happens?
Also, since there are enough known oil reserves in the world, that if we extracted them all and burnt the stuff, we’d literally cook ourselves. So, whatever oil was discovered, we cannot use all of it.
Oh, and for that pittance we assume all the risk of a spill, the cost of a clean up, the destruction of our fisheries, tourism, and Clean Green Image.
The image alone is valued in the region of 30B per year, every year.
So, again, how much wealthier will we be?
The wealth is not found in a polluting, dying industry.
The wealth is in clean energy solutions.
Great to see all that profit for the US and A. How much more before they’ll be able to house all their people? It wouldn’t cost that much, there are plenty of empty houses. Maybe they could fuel buses to transport homeless people to the empty houses. Ah, the wonders of profit!
As per normal the RWNJ fails to realise that the resource is more valuable than the electronic dollars.
Worse than that, they can’t even figure out the value in electronic dollars.
According to Wikipedia, NZ has oil reserves of 534 million barrels.
At $1-200 per barrel, I make that $50-100bil.
If the new deep sea exploration doubles NZ’s oil reserves, that’s maybe $200bil. “Trillions” my arse.
Not just nowhere near “trillions”, but only ten or fifteen years worth of tourism income alone – income that even the existence of exploration can endanger, let alone a moderate spill.
The conversation we are having about wealth and dollars is totally redundant: who gives a flying fuck if the oil extraction ends up killing the planet how many $s you made?
As Xtasy has painstakingly pointed out this government has been taking advice from UK advisors on how to deal with the sick and disabled. It also is practising a sanctions regime on the unemployed which I believe is being copied from the UK system. Over there it’s all got to the level of persecution of Beneficiaries as soon as they slip up or rightly refuse to not do workfare.
The extreme it’s got to over there is illustrated by this case :
“Half-blind woman crippled with back pain killed herself after benefits bosses stopped her disability payments – following a TWO MINUTE assessment
Jacqueline Harris, 53, was told she was fit to return to work
Widow was partially sighted and only able to walk with the aid of sticks
Christine Norman claims benefits ruling drove her sister to kill herself”
This morning Steven Joyce was commenting on Government expecting enterprises to estimate their needs for revenue for a future year so they approximate better to the actual amount. He said that public or private should be able to forecast correctly. I was remembering how he had to bail out MediaWorks which seemed an example of how difficult this is to do.
Tertiary educationals have had their buffer zone for repayment of over resourcing reduced from 3% to 1%. It must be hard to estimate right in this dynamic period of interesting times. So Government is squeezing these bodies for what reason? Trying to make provision of education harder? Along with a deep sense of distrust and distaste for any discipline other than an MBA with a PhD in how to extract millions of litres (dollars) from one lemon?
@CnrJoe… would be very interesting to see the detail of this statistic. And there’s nary a sewage pond to be seen throughout Southland. Just lots of rivers literally turning to shite
Will Fonterra pay for the cleanup? Unlikely since National Inc. nobbled the democratically elected ECan and other boards are stacked, and the RMA is being ‘streamlined’
Well, if you thought you’d seen all the madness and absurdity that could possibly come out of the financial system by now, you are definitely being caught on the wrong flat foot as we speak. And there can be no doubt that much more of this will be revealed as we go along. Jamie Dimon renting Buckingham Palace to celebrate his $13 billion settlement with US regulators is just the beginning, though it’s a pretty clear statement of just how untouchable too big to fail policies have made Wall Street and the City feel. And they don’t feel that way for nothing, in every sense of the word, count on it.
A Labour spokesman said this about the party at the Palace, which included appearances by the Royal Philharmonic and the English National Ballet: ““There is also the fact that this should be a special place. This is the home of the Queen. Where is it all going to end?“ Well, sir, maybe it’s time to wake up, because the new kings and queens of the world have taken over. And they intend to be loud and proud about it, like any group of conquerors throughout history ever did.
Stands our little attempts at “democracy” well on end do you think?
If oil is found in large quantities it would certainly raise the currency and make exporting difficult but not impossible. I have a Stressless recliner chair made in Norway for instance. It was expensive but absolute quality.The problem of being too affluent from oil riches could only arise under a National government. I for one would be happy to handle that crisis if and when it arises.
Energy is an effective tax on all activities and products in an economy. So you are right, but such an “uptick” is likely to make us more dependent on fossil fuels, not less, as we enjoyed another round of the good time ride.
The problem of being too affluent from oil riches could only arise under a National government.
hahahahahaha
The only people who would be able buy stuff would be the people getting the money and that won’t be 99% of the population. The only people National care about is the rich and they will do everything that they can to make them richer at our expense.
Norwegians can make quality stuff because they train craftspeople. We used to, but now we have a service economy with people who would have done apprenticeships finding themselves on a minimum wage or a grudgingly paid pittance of a benefit. Apart from yachts, what do we still make? A high dollar when we sell milk powder and our most creative people have moved overseas is a disaster, but I suppose it’ll make the next lot of ministerial Beemers a bit cheaper.
you do realise thats just key attempting to lay a very obvious trap?
Do you support the PM goading the opposition to behave irresponsibly?
Wasnt “show me the money” keys catch cry last time?
Isnt this now “go on, say something before you do your due dilligence”?
Did you spot that key claims its the oppositions money and not tax payer money?
Isnt waiting to see the state of the books before you commit to spending tax payer money a good idea?
Me – im less than impressed that our PM chose to use the media to engage in school yard taunts. Just how old is he? 12?
Many of the Standardistas, as you name them, don’t want Cunliffe to BUY back the shares either.
There have been many comments proposing that the shares should simply be cancelled, or taken back into state control with no compensation being paid at all.
There have been many comments proposing that the shares should simply be cancelled, or taken back into state control with no compensation being paid at all.
That’s not ideal and probably not necessary: you can just dilute the sons of bitches.
Hope a new Government is not going to do a buy back – renationalisation without compensation makes much more sense since the assets belonged to the past and present taxpayers of New Zealand and not the Government. The salutary lesson might teach the greedies a valuable lesson that falls short of violent revolution. On second thoughts, the French peasants and their quaint revolutionary technology sounds far more exciting – especially since the wailing of the shareholders/ticket-clippers would be short lived.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 11.4.1
If he’s not willing to be so rash as to commit to buy them back, then I think expecting him to take them back without compensation is a recipe for disappointment.
And CC, advocating murder of people you disagree with isn’t as hip as you think it is.
A functional definition of a psychopath is a person who cannot feel empathy for fellow human beings or shame or remorse for their atrocities and acts of cruelty. However, non-compliance with their schemes with whatever level of courage one has at any moment and educating others as to the shit really going down on this planet is the only effective course. Like many species of vermin, and the mythical vampires that they are, they can only function in the dark.
Sociopathic banksters won’t even get it when they’re waiting for their turn at the guillotine.
Richard S. Fuld Jr. of Lehman Brothers said. “I take it as a personal failure to lose money,” On the morning of March 17, 2008, justice would declare he should have been headed to prison instead of to work.
Richard Fuld, who early on that morning — at 5 a.m. — departed from his twelve-acre Greenwich estate with its twenty rooms, eight bedrooms, a tennis court, a squash court, and a pool house –one of five he owned—to be chauffer driven to deal with a possible run on banks and the bankruptcy of Bear Stearns, the smallest of Wall Street’s Big Five investment houses?
Richard Fuld who, among past winners of Fed largesse and insider information soon to be scapegoat along with Ken Lewis, on that morning was headed “right onto North Street toward the winding and narrow Merritt Parkway, headed for Manhattan”…starring “ out the window in a fog at the rows of mansions owned by Wall Street executives and hedge fund impresarios,” as described by Andrew Sorkin in Too Big to Fail?
Where “most of the homes had been bought for eight-figure sums and lavishly renovated during the second Gilded Age, which, unbeknownst to any of them, lest of all Fuld, was about to come to a crashing halt.”
And where now, all but a handful in the financial sector, thanks to U.S. taxpayers and the ownership of a printing machine, are still enjoying, on the streets where they live, a financial sector share of corporate profits that has risen to a new peak in the $450 billion range, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis?
Crimes against humanity on a massive scale, the perpetuation of suffering and death, the oppression and subjugation of many for the profits of a few, none of this seems to register with you.
This ongoing, systematic violence and bloodshed goes unremarked upon, while you damn near faint with shock at the thought of anyone violently resisting these horrors.
Interesting moral compass you have there. Might want to get it re-calibrated though.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
CC advocates guillotining people who bought shares in Air New Zealand. The same people that James Henderson was so deeply concerned at having lost a few bucks the other day.
I told him I thought that wasn’t as hip as he thought it was.
I am pretty happy with where my moral compass is on this score.
You might want to re-examine yours if you think that the privatising of 20% of the shares in an airline that you keep control of (and which the opposition planned to sell 10 years previously) is “ongoing, systematic violence and bloodshed” that requires beheadings.
Because if the top 1% continue their extreme greed and exploitation much longer then the number of people suffering under poverty and war will reach a critical mass, the fabric of society will fall apart, and no amount of money will save them from sharing in the misery they have created
“You might want to re-examine yours if you think that the privatising of 20% of the shares in an airline that you keep control of (and which the opposition planned to sell 10 years previously) is “ongoing, systematic violence and bloodshed” that requires beheadings.”
Ah yes sorry Gormy, I forgot your rule about only looking at any given event in absolute isolation from every other event.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
What is the reason shareholders in Air New Zealand are to be beheaded? Is it unrelated to their shareholding in Air New Zealand? Makes as much sense as anything else you’ve pronounced on this topic, I suppose.
National’s full-on assault on democracy continues with an attempt to gut local democracy in Hawkes Bay in favour of a tiny , mayor plus nine member council for the entire Hawkes bay region. The autocratic and corporatist ambitions of Key and co know no bounds, they won’t be happy until the entire country is run by an unelected board of directors.
Local government amalgamation is a hot button issue in Hawkes Bay. Napier Mayor Bill Dalton was elected on a specific anti-amalgamation platform. looks like this is going to send Stuart Nash to parliament as Labour MP for Napier for sure.
The Ayatollah’s comments are simply speaking to his local political base. Both this agreement, and the secret talks held with the US in the months leading up to it, would have needed the go ahead from the Ayatollah to have even occurred.
As for Israel – to an outsider there is a lot of internal political pressure building up in that country, and also it’s spent too long delivering huge financial costs and political liabilities to the US for very little in return eg. Palestinian settlement situation getting worse not better.
Article IV
1. Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with articles I and II of this Treaty.
Your link only goes to the top of Kiwipolitico which is an active blog which means that the top article will change rapidly. My link goes to the actual article. This means that in a few months after the front page of Kiwipoliticao has changed people will still be able to find the article.
Bryce Edwards gives Labour a clear path to eliminate the National backing Maori Party
The future of the Maori Party in both Te Tai Hauauru and throughout the rest of the Maori seats might well depend on relations between the Labour and Mana parties. If those two parties end up agreeing to an accommodation pact in which Mana stands aside from five of the seven seats and Labour stands aside in Hone Harawira’s seat as well as Te Ururoa Flavell’s Waiariki seat, then the Maori Party might struggle to remain in Parliament.
What happened to the Foreshore and Seabed issue anyway? Isn’t that the reason for the Maori Party to exist? Was a billion dollars for Whanau Ora a good investment?
Please take some time to consider isgning this. None of us knows when we, a friend or other loved one, from illness, accident, or age may be disabled.
The petition reads:
“We, the undersigned, request the House of Representatives to urgently take all appropriate measures to ensure full access to public and commercial buildings for disabled people especially for new buildings in the Christchurch rebuild”
For the Earthquake Disability Leadership Group this means equality in access and that all people, including those with disabilities are able to enter, exit and move through a building in the same way as everybody else does.
The Building Act 2004 and the Building Code require all buildings to which the public are admitted (whether for free or by charge) to have reasonable and adequate facilities for disabled people to visit, work, and carry out normal activities there. The Building Act and Building Code do not require access or facilities for disabled people in residential housing.
The Department of Building and Housing administers the Act and regulations. Enforcement of the Act and regulations is carried out by territorial authorities, which issue building consents and code compliance certification for buildings that comply with the Act and regulations.
The Building Act also references the New Zealand Standard NZS 4121 (the code of practice for design for access and use of buildings by persons with disabilities) as a compliance document for the requirements of disabled people’s access.
No, Joyce is taking the opportunity from the earthquake to save commercial developers money by not having to make their buildings accessible. It is intended to bring it in across NZ.
New proposed ammendments to evidence act passed cabinet. BUT I wonder if they will change much.
One is that victims willbe told in advance if their sexual history is going to come up. That may dissauade them from appearing and have the opposite effect.
The victims previous sexual history has no bearing upon their being raped. As such, it should be forbidden to bring it up in court or anywhere. In fact, there’s probably quite a bit that’s irrelevant to the allegation and should be banned from being asked – what the victim was wearing comes to mind as well.
I agree. The ONLY possible evidence that might be relevant is if she has been proven to be a liar about being reaped before BUT a defendants previous offending, even the same type of offending s not allowed in, so logically….
Tell me fellow Standard contributors am I the only one to feel rather uncomfortably at the way the parole appeals for Ewen MacDonald was arrived,at.
I do not for one minute think he is a very nice person but the fact is he was found not guilty.
However the Serious sensible mob still seem to have a lot to say regarding this case.
The police (may be influenced by the SS bunch ?) are not planning to investigate further ,yet there is one other person who is suspect and in my personal opinion there could be one other .
Interesting you brought up the Scott Guy murder case Pink Postman. Does anyone else feel curious about the obsession the MSM have with this particular murder? There have been many equally bizarre murder inquiries – some of them unsolved – that have not received anything like the media attention this one has. Am I being a little precious when I look at the following:
1. Colour – white.
2. Status – well to do country folk with a farming background.
3. Good looking family.
4 Seemingly well educated and articulate.
4. National Party stalwarts.
Counter that with a brown skinned or white working class victim. Probably equally as bright if not brighter, but without the status symbol and few opportunities to make something of themselves. Tough bickies. Sorry n’ all that, but we’re not all that interested.
he was not guilty of the murder of scott guy, he is in prison for his other acts. Which, on a pathological scale are pretty scarey.
I was appalled recently to see a farmer who deliberately broke the tails of 150 cows got 8 months home detention. Cruelty o animals is wrong per se, but is frequently a harbinger of violence toward humans…
MacDonald’s apparantly cavalier attitude may be on a list of behaviours of pathalogical folks…
In the past five years the total assets on US bank books have risen by a ‘paltry’ $2.1 trillion while over the same period, Chinese bank assets have exploded by an unprecedented $15.4 trillion hitting a gargantuan CNY147 trillion or an epic $24 trillion – some two and a half times the GDP of China!
Putting the rate of change in perspective, while the Fed was actively pumping $85 billion per month into US banks for a total of $1 trillion each year, in just the trailing 12 months ended September 30, Chinese bank assets grew by a mind-blowing $3.6 trillion!
So when you lose out on that purchase of a home to a Chinese buyer who bid 50% over asking sight unseen, with no intentions to ever move in, you will finally know why this is happening.
So when you lose out on that purchase of a home to a Chinese buyer who bid 50% over asking sight unseen, with no intentions to ever move in, you will finally know why this is happening.
And that is why foreign ownership of NZ land and businesses need to be banned now. The way that things are going we will soon be serfs in our ow land as everything gets sold by the greedies for cash which is hot off the digital printing press.
Where is the ‘spinner’ Hooten, i would like to know from which side of the spectrum the ‘private polling’ came,(where does this put National then, 39%???, i wasn’t expecting that until after the Christmas break when everyone has had a chance to stop and think)…
Slavoj Zizek commenting on that fat gutted shameful Mayor of Toronto. Rob Ford makes Boris Johnson look the height of human nobility.
Zizek says that the left has put aside its traditional concerns and allowed politics to be parodied, become a fun show with people like Rob Ford, being outrageous, and still getting support from, and he uses the word, ‘cynical’ political supporters.
Labour has focussed on gay rights and people’s rights too single-mindedly and disregarded its other concerns with a disastrous outcome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5GCt9hM1DQ
McFlock
I know you can be relied on to see through the glass darkly when it comes to feminiism or rape culture or gay rights or something that you can possibly take umbrage or create contention about. Did you look and listen to the link. Why don’t you specify his comment so we know what you are on about.
I think that the present bad situation for low income people with poor employment conditions, deteriorating everything might be what he had in mind when he said that Labour had failed to act to improve rights and the lives of all people which it says it is concerned about.
Firstly, the left has not “put aside” traditional concerns. It has simply recognised that inequality and the alienation of the proletariat extend farther than the mere bank balance and rights of employees.
Secondly, the Rob Fords of the world are not the fault of the left. At worst, they are the fault of a neolib culture which means that such folk (John Banks for example) hang on to the pay cheque when even thirty years ago a person would have had the sense of shame and dignity to resign. If anything they help the left, being obvious canker sores of the “fuck you” ruling class.
And thirdly, if the more insecure members of “the left” concentrated on improving workers’ rights themselves rather than bitching that teh gayz and teh wimmins are getting too much attention, the world would be a better place in so many fucking ways.
Firstly, the left has not “put aside” traditional concerns. It has simply recognised that inequality and the alienation of the proletariat extend farther than the mere bank balance and rights of employees.
I think thoughtful left watchers consider that the focus of Labour has been on the far extensions of inequality and the nearer ones have been alienated.
And Zizek being a poseur Bill. He is as full of interesting ideas and thinking as you are. And I have a lot of respect for you, though I do not agree with all your ideas.
I think thoughtful left watchers consider that the focus of Labour has been on the far extensions of inequality and the nearer ones have been alienated.
I was going to reply with a list of moral failings of the Right but realised that a mud slinging exercise would be futile. And I do agree that Labour in the past has given too much focus on identity politics at the expense of addressing the dramatically worsening socio economic inequality in NZ.
Neo-liberals, of which the Labour party still has way too many for my liking, are OK about extending human rights, so long as they don’t don’t conflict with, their running off with, “the money”.
Throwing progressives a few crumbs, like gay marriage, while they continue to burgle us.
We, however, are capable of multitasking!
There is no reason why we cannot address the rights of minorities, and other disadvantaged groups, along with the right to be free from poverty, and be fairly paid.
For example. gay rights, women’s rights and workers rights are not mutually exclusive. They are all part and parcel of a fair and decent society.
But, despite the broad church blah blah blah thing, what’s up with Shane Jones? Is there something I am missing? Commentators – help?
Labour deliberately or uncontrollably giving mixed messages?? Surely tactics and strategies are much better formulated with Cunliffe at the helm?
Shane has been, is, and will be, in the wrong party as long as he is in Labour. Time for the caucus and party to take the next step in terms of real change from within.
Speaking on Maori TV’s Te Kaea tonight, Jones was outspoken about attempts to stop Anadarko from deep sea drilling and said the protesters should remember that the company had a statutory right to be there.
Only if we, not the government, choose to extend them that right.
“Protesters need to bear in mind we are buying oil out of the Gulf of Mexico and other far-flung places when we should be focusing on making an industry in our own country.”
And the reason for that would be because our oil refinery doesn’t refine our oil.
Yeah, I’d say that it was time for Shane Jones to wander off and join United Future where he could fully support National while saying that he isn’t.
Ihave some malware adware stuff, you know that underlines stuff when you browse and if you hit it, it’s an ad… anyone got instructions for removal, that wont cost me?
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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 ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
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, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
Anadarko has started drilling for oil off the coast of Raglan.
Another nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s reputation as a leader in environmental matters.
A sad day.
YEAH to Greenie Jeanette Fitzsimons!!!!! …..former Green Party Leader and Green activist and researcher….What a gem of a woman!…what a hero she is…out there on the deep seas fighting against unsafe oil drilling off the coast of New Zealand. She makes me proud to be a New Zealander and proud to be a woman!
…..and also a big Yeah for Bunny McDairmaid( Greenpeace)!!!! …what a New Zealand hero she is! ….skipper of SV Tiama tracking the oil drilling ship Noble Bob Douglas
http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/blog/Bunny-McDiarmid/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanette_Fitzsimons
What fabulous women environmentalists!
Well said, chooky ! +1000%
Yep, agree 100% Chooky.
Great people with the courage of their convictions.
However when does it end how can we beat these Right Wing selfish greedy bastards .
We no sooner win one battle up up they come with some other ghastly scheme. However as the late Joe
Totally agree with Paul!
Unsure how a Government representing a country who has signed the Kyoto Protocol can stand up for deep sea drilling or any further drilling or extraction of fossil fuels which in turn create greenhouse gases.
When Simon Bridge’s grandkids are running around with masks on to survive, he may see the error of his ways and thinking. Good for NZ? He is supposed to be an intelligent man, and I suspect far more educated than the role model John Key that he appears to idolise.
The fact of the matter (quoting Simon), is that even with the stringent compliance necessary, New Zealand could not cope with an oil spill, and the events off Tauranga give evidence to the problems encountered and that was only small scale.
This Government and subsequent governments, should be promoting and investing in alternative energy, do their homework (what they get paid for) and see the reality of the contributions people such as Kessler have given to the world.
We could be World leaders yet again with inventing and promoting alternative energy sources.
Time for present and forward Governments to stop and think about the decisions they are making, and stop focusing on the short term monetary gains.
Global warming is happening, fossil fuels are contributing, let’s get behind positive steps to reduce fossil fuel extraction and hence useage and become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
The argument of “did you drive your car today” is only a valid argument if alternate modes of transport were freely available. I am sure if alternative green fuels were available, they would be the peoples choice.
So yes I agree…A sad day!
These are sad days indeed, and it benefits people to be real about that. It’s scraping the bottom of the barrel time, socio-politically speaking. Seen footage of the air pollution in large Asian cities, looks like Blade Runner (which is being remade) to me.
nooo!!!
..they’ve killed off brian..!
..w.t.f..!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/family-guy-beloved-character-dies-shocker-video_n_4335575.html
phillip ure..
Stewie will have to repair his time machine, in some future episode.
i hope so..i hope so..
..it has to be all just a bad dream/time-machine thing..
..brian is the show..
..i mean..if the writers are bored..kill off who brian calls ‘the fatman’..
..but not the dog..!
..phillip ure..
Family Guy is one of the reasons I no longer watch TV.
For me thats South Park what a load of rubbish that is But sorry Draco but FG is at least funny.
You know, I have literally never before encountered someone who sees it that way around. You know what you get if you subtract all the “this is just like the time when I ___” randomness out of Family Guy? A less subversive version of All in the Family.
All in The Family was out of it’s time.
FYI folks!
It’s Tuesday 26 November 2013, about 7am and I’m about to get dressed, finish packing bag and get bus to 488 George St Sydney to attend a full day workshop at the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Have trimmed over 700 ‘business’ (NOT) cards, ready to do ‘swapsies’ with as many of the fellow attendees as possible.
ACTIVISM 101 – GET THEIR NAMES! 🙂
Tonight is a net-working event, so it will be quite a big day.
I have printed off copies of the request Lisa Prager and myself have made to the NZ Serious Fraud Office, requesting an investigation for alleged bribery and corruption by Mayor Len Brown and Sky City (Auckland), to discuss with anti-corruption experts and any Australian media who may be interested.
(It seems that many people I’ve spoken to here are aware of the Auckland Mayor ‘sex scandal’.
However, the fact that there was NO ‘due diligence’carried out by Auckland Council on the increased risk of money-laundering, arising from the NZ International Convention Centre (or – as I prefer to call it – the Sky City ‘money-laundering’ ) Act 2013, whilst on Mayor Len Brown’s ‘watch’, doesn’t appear to be so widely known, probably because of what seems to be effectively a mainstream media ‘blackout’ on this story?).
Meant of course in a caring way 🙂
If you would like to see a copy of this SFO complaint folks, you can check out http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Cheers!
Penny Bright
‘Her Warship’ 😉
Go Penny!
It seems that the Anti finning legislation is just another Smoke and Mirrors load of bullshit from the Nats as it is going to be phased in, in 3 years. So much for conservation from the Nats.
“Lost in the touchy-feel good images was the fine print: New Zealand’s intention to ban the practice is three years away and is only a proposal.
Conservationists worried about the status of many of our 113 shark species say there is no justification for the phase-in and fear fishing industry proponents will use a consultation period to water down the plan.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11161466
The whole approach to managing New Zealand’s fisheries needs a rethink.
From protecting all identified spawning areas to through to ensuring only New Zealander’s own and run the fishing boats. Dont get me started on longlines and bottom trawling.
I see that cameras on fishing boats are to be phased in over the next 2 years to help combat dumping. Its a band aid.
and from a vegan point of view..’don’t get me started’ on the similarities between the central nervous systems of fish and humans..
..and what the horrors for them of death from a hook thru the mouth..
..followed by suffocation and/or a head-bash..
.. must be like..
..eh..?..
..phillip ure..
I’m ok with eating dead things, though these days I comsume very little meat. A result of the change in my eating habits when I was a vegetarian.
I’m also of the belief that if you do not have the stomach to kill it, you should not eat it.
So, I’ve killed and eaten possums, chickens, duck, rabbits, goat, and fish. It’s the butchering I find more troubling than actually ending the animals life.
I’ve not killed a deer, pig, sheep or cow.
I’d like to see study of food sources including trips to farms and freezing works as part of the curriculum for every secondary school student so they can at least make properly informed decisions about what they eat.
@naturesong..
..i agree with yr last paragraph..
..and..so..yr ‘naturesong’ is a funeral dirge for the animals you eat..?
..and can i ask why you went veggo in the first place..?
..how long for..?
…and why you resumed carnivorous ways..?
..just curious..eh..?
..phillip ure..
I started eating mostly as a vegetarian when I was flatting with a couple of friends who were veges.
At that time, I’d eat meat when I visited my parents or sometimes when I went out.
I then turned full vegetarian when I shifted and started living with with what can only be described as a bunch of hippies.
Intelligent, informed, artistic, curious and healthy both in mind and body. Wonderful people.
It was the start of a great deal of learning for me, not only in food, but emotional health, group or tribal health.
All up I lived as a vegetarian for about 6 years.
I started eating meat again when I left New Zealand and lived in various places overseas. I found it difficult to maintain being a vegetarian as a single travelling person, though I did meet people along they way that managed it.
Not eating meat for me was never a moral decision as it is with some people.
Since I returned to New Zealand, I’ve not resumed a vegetarian lifestyle, and continue to eat meat about once per week.
You probably won’t believe this but I agree with you
I think we should eat a lot more possums. I tried it once and was vaguely impressed. It might be a good way of controlling their numbers and giving our native flora and fauna a bit more of a chance. I agree with you about trips to farms and meat works, especially battery hen factories and pig torture facilities. Dairy farms might be good as well, just to see the damage being done to the waterways.
I’m sure its only a matter of time until science gives us some ethical reasons not to be eating plants.
Whatcha gonna do then?
I don’t think the word ethics means what you think it does.
Really? I thought it meant something like – ” involving questions of right and wrong behavior : relating to ethics”
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical
Are you telling me vegans and vegetarians don’t consider eating meat as a question of right and wrong?
Some vegetarians choose that path due to their moral or ethical outlook.
However neither ethics nor morality are the result of empirical evidence or controlled experiments.
Yet people claim that fish can’t feel pain (or animals can’t feel emotion) and use science to back that up. Some scientists support that using the scientific method.
Probably not have the same energy that I have now to reply to such an idiotic and useless comment by you, clashman.
Oh dear. Phillip I think of this often when I eat fish. I reached my 30th anniversary of being vego last year. (I turned vego when I was 14) but have started eating fish occasionally. It’s gives me a protein burst that I seem to need more as I get older.
But what to do? The darlings suffer and we have a slack arse regulatory framework around marine protection, and I’m uncomfortable with being part of the problem It’s a quandary.
@ rosie..
“..But what to do? ..”
can i suggest a (considered) vegan diet..?
..if still consuming cheese/dairy..these are ‘heavy’ foods for the body to process..
..avocado and peanut butter are good sources of protein..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=vegan+diet
(link has lots of other protein-source information..)
..there is one culinary thing i have to give the americans credit for..
..the peanut butter and jam combination..
..a good quality bread (toasted..)..with a good quality (not sugar-drenched) jam..overlaid with a healthy dollop of (extra crunchy)peanut butter..
..washed down with hot tea..is a fast-food heaven..
(and something weird is happening with me..i am getting urges to make (nut-laden) breads..and (not sugar drenched) jams..i dunno w.t.f. that is all about..)
phillip ure..
Thanks phillip 🙂
I did try vegan on and off for many of those years, it’s where my heart is at as far as the bovines are concerned (they are lovely animals) and for environmental reasons, but , oh! I have a terrible soft spot for cheese. Cheese and only cheese, out of all the variety of dairy products. Now days I try to avoid Fonterra products where possible and get goat cheese if I can ever afford it. About two thirds of my meals would be vegan.
Peanut butter – yes, the PIC;s one on wholegrain toast in the morning is a goer but PB + jam, I did give that a go as a teen but it felt a bit too Elvis for my tastes.
And avo’s. Regrettably they don’t agree with me. Regrettable because they are a great food and good in place of dairy fats.
I guess where I am now is in the place of a lapsed vego (pescetarian I think the word is)trying to mitigate the environmental and ethical impact of dietary requirements. And thats before my brand boycotts begin! Thats another level of avoidance due to not consuming food from corporates who have a track record of labour rights abuses.
(With apologies to TS readers for TMI)
and this one is a bit of a shocker for fans of the traditional kiwi-diet..
..esp xmas dinner edition..(death by butter..!..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/heres-how-much-butter-it-takes-for-an-all-paula-deen-thanksgiving-beware-the-bog-standard-kiwi-tucker-diet-eh/
(paula deen is an american celebrity chef..famous for her super-unhealthy recipies..
..(she fries creamed-rice..(!)..whoar..!.eh..?)
..it also has gifs..one of dean saying ‘please forgive me’..
..and as far as that traditional kiwi diet is concerned..it’s not that far from deen..
..have you read the edmonds cookbook lately..?
..’holy buckets of sugar and butter..!..batman..!’..
..phillip ure..
Paula Deen on the flying stick of butter has always been one of my favourite gifs of her.
Rosie, you get protein from most things you eat, plants are actually quite high in protein.
No need to get it from animals at all. When did you last hear of someone in the western world suffering from protein deficiency? Cheese is hard to give up but you can buy vegan cheeses nowadays, some good, some not so good. I make cheeses from nuts, mainly cashews and they are delicious. Lots of recipes on google!
Nuts are excellent, in particular walnuts. They are often provided in the diets of elderly people who are unable to eat large portions; contain most minerals etc.
“..and what the horrors for them of death from a hook thru the mouth..
..followed by suffocation and/or a head-bash..
..must be like..
..eh..?..”
Probably similar to the small creatures that get half chopped by the harvesting machines and then die slowly in the fields of grains and beans that provide the food you eat.
And I can imagine just how faulty those cameras will end up being.
Trillions of dollars worth of oil and gas simply waiting to be extracted. Anadarko are prepared to spend 1 million dollars a day to look for this oil. They obviously believe it is there. They will drill for 70 days and may well draw a blank (90% chance). Such is life. If they do strike oil then we all win. On Waitangi Day we may discover that New Zealand is richer than it is today
Or poorer. Depends on the costs, which do not figure in your analysis. A bit like those housing market models that do not allow for decreases in housing value.
The protest flotilla (six tiny boats) have given up and are on the way back to port already. The High Court cannot stop a perfectly legal activity. Roll on Waitangi Day when we can all discover if we are wealthier.
So, if they do discover oil.
How much wealthier will we be?
And given that there is a 1/20 chance of a spill, when there is a spill, how much wealthier will we be?
The Cunliffe was trying to claim there was a 70% chance of spill. You are now trying to claim that there is just a 5% chance, That figure is not believable as it not the Norwegian UK or USA experience at all. The Gulf of Mexico is still cleanly producing loads of oil and profits to the USA.
Not to the USA…to a small group of corporate scum only.
Don’t be such a fool. The Arabs sell oil correctly. Silly old New Zealand and USA just give it away to corporate scum bags
Questions for all who object to drilling and petroleum exploration.
Do you use an automobile?
Do you intend to keep using an automobile?
Do you use digital / electronic goods?
Do you eat cheap packaged foods?
I could carry on. If you want to stop it the only way is to stop consuming and using petrochemical products…which you will find pretty much impossible to do. We are all culpable, to change we need to embrace alternatives now, and cut our whole life expectations. If not, well we are fucked.
I have an automobile and use it when public transport, walking and cycling is inconvenient. One of the main considerations when buying my house was so that walking, cycling and public transport was most convenient.
So, I take the train to the city, use my bike or walk for shopping, and use my car when I go to the coromandel.
Yes, I use digital / electronic goods. I’m quite keen to see oil subsidies and tax breaks redirected toward research in alternative materials.
Very few of my foods are cheap.
I bake my own bread and grow vegetables. When shopping I have a couple of bags I reuse.
Unfortunately, so many things are wrapped in plastic these days, it’s very difficult to avoid.
That’s only half the equation.
As Naturesong points out, existing in society without using oil (directly or indirectly) is pretty near impossible for us as individuals.
But the very fact that oil companies are finding it commercially viable to drill so deep or mine crappy oil sands demonstrates that the “low hanging fruit” is running out, oil-wise. Refusing to endanger other industries and the environment by desperately drilling the last drops makes oil even more expensive, so R&D into fossil-fuel replacements becomes more commercially viable and accelerates the society-wide transition away from oil.
We can’t stop using oil in our daily lives.
We can try to stop drilling more of it, though.
it’s a case of +2 degrees, or +6 (no squiggly approx. key). 😛
It’s not impossible though, is it? So get started. Lead the way as the left like to say.
I’m pretty sure it is impossible in this society, especially if someone’s on an average income.
But I certainly try to limit the amount of fossil fuels I am responsible for.
Yes, almost everything available today uses oil in its construction but most oil drilled is used for transport (69% to 97%).
I’m not really against drilling for oil, I just think we should use it for better purposes than transport especially in NZ where it’s possible to produce enough electricity to power transport. We may have to get rid of private motor vehicles but that’s ok because they’re a massive waste of resources anyway.
I had a feeling you would not engage honestly. You have 2 logical fallacies here; ad hominam where you cast David Cunliffe as economical with the truth, and then use that as a red herring to avoid adressing either of my points.
David Cunliffe did not claim there was a 70% chance of a spill.
He produced documentation that showed there was a 70% chance of a reportable incident
Amy Adams put forward the strawman that he was talking about spills. I see you are repeating that willful and dishonest mis-interpretation.
The incidence of spills in ultra-deep water (greater than 1500m) are about 1 in 19 (24 spills from 465 wells).
So, back to the question.
If oil is discovered, how much wealthier will we be?
And when an oil spill happens, how much wealthier will we be?
A spill of 50 -100 barrels of oil 100km off shore means diddly squat.
like your comments, fistiani.
A spill of thousands of barrels means quite a lot.
Your hero Key wants to gamble with over $15b in annual revenue from tourism and fisheries for the sake of a drilling rig that probably won’t match that in its operational life.
Maybe thats the Nats plan, ruin the tourism industry and then the Bankers and other thieves, can come in and make us slaves to the rich in our own country.
“Confessions of an economic hitman…”
More diversion and red herrings.
Please show us all where you get the idea that a spill off the coast of Raglan will magically stop once 100 barrels have been spilt?
But first;
If oil is discovered, how much wealthier will we be?
And when an oil spill happens, how much wealthier will we be?
Your link to spills were spills of just over 50 barrels.
How much wealthier will we be? Just ask the citizens of the Arabian states with oil.
IF a tiny oil spill occurs not a cent less wealthier.
“How much wealthier will we be? Just ask the citizens of the Arabian states with oil.”
So not wealthier at all, unless we’re members of the elite? Good to know.
That’s the bit that completely eludes the average RWNJs. They go on about how better off we will be and ignore the fact that it will only be the 1% at the top that will be better off.
Spills less than 50 barrels were not included.
The document includes spills from 50 barrels up but to 4.9 million barrels.
However, we can only assess the likely hood of a spill with this data, not the extent of the damage. For that we would turn to modelling of what a spill would look like in our region of the world.
Andarko have refused to release the modelling, and only say
Now, comparing Saudi Oil to New Zealand.
More than 95% of all Saudi oil is produced on behalf of the Saudi Government by the parastatal giant Saudi Aramco.
So, they get to keep their oil, and being a leader in OPEC as well owning 18% of the worlds oil, they get it all on their own terms.
And were you aware that they are currently trying to diversify their economy. Why would they need to do that?
New Zealand on the other hand, with “Lets make a deal” Key ….
we get either;
5% AVR, that is 5% of the net revenues obtained from the sale of petroleum
or
20% APR, that is 20% of the accounting profit of petroleum production.
So, after the stuff is extracted shipped, processed or onsold, and the accountants go though it, we get royalties.
Whats the bet that the company makes an accounting loss, or ends up with token net revenues?
How much would you pay an accounting firm to ensure that happens?
Also, since there are enough known oil reserves in the world, that if we extracted them all and burnt the stuff, we’d literally cook ourselves. So, whatever oil was discovered, we cannot use all of it.
Oh, and for that pittance we assume all the risk of a spill, the cost of a clean up, the destruction of our fisheries, tourism, and Clean Green Image.
The image alone is valued in the region of 30B per year, every year.
So, again, how much wealthier will we be?
The wealth is not found in a polluting, dying industry.
The wealth is in clean energy solutions.
The right prefer “Key facts” which are mainly lies and misleading.
Are their wells owned by an overseas company?
when did he claim 70% chance of a spill? Link?
Great to see all that profit for the US and A. How much more before they’ll be able to house all their people? It wouldn’t cost that much, there are plenty of empty houses. Maybe they could fuel buses to transport homeless people to the empty houses. Ah, the wonders of profit!
As per normal the RWNJ fails to realise that the resource is more valuable than the electronic dollars.
It’s bizarre isn’t it. It’s like collecting points from a pin ball machine.
But if he gets more points than anyone else he wins!!!!!
He who dies with the most points…
Worse than that, they can’t even figure out the value in electronic dollars.
According to Wikipedia, NZ has oil reserves of 534 million barrels.
At $1-200 per barrel, I make that $50-100bil.
If the new deep sea exploration doubles NZ’s oil reserves, that’s maybe $200bil. “Trillions” my arse.
Not just nowhere near “trillions”, but only ten or fifteen years worth of tourism income alone – income that even the existence of exploration can endanger, let alone a moderate spill.
The conversation we are having about wealth and dollars is totally redundant: who gives a flying fuck if the oil extraction ends up killing the planet how many $s you made?
Yep.
We’re willing to sacrifice the NZ children and youth of today for the sake of trying to balance out electronic ledger entries.
So I think that the ‘wrong’ ethos is very well established.
With all of the 5% of the royalties. woohoo.
As Xtasy has painstakingly pointed out this government has been taking advice from UK advisors on how to deal with the sick and disabled. It also is practising a sanctions regime on the unemployed which I believe is being copied from the UK system. Over there it’s all got to the level of persecution of Beneficiaries as soon as they slip up or rightly refuse to not do workfare.
The extreme it’s got to over there is illustrated by this case :
“Half-blind woman crippled with back pain killed herself after benefits bosses stopped her disability payments – following a TWO MINUTE assessment
Jacqueline Harris, 53, was told she was fit to return to work
Widow was partially sighted and only able to walk with the aid of sticks
Christine Norman claims benefits ruling drove her sister to kill herself”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513284/Half-blind-woman-crippled-pain-killed-benefits-bosses-stopped-disability-payments–following-TWO-MINUTE-assessment.html
And here in NZ:
“Winz forces Hamilton family to prove sons still disabled
‘To have to prove this is silly’ ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/9437301/Winz-forces-Hamilton-family-to-prove-sons-still-disabled
The harassing condition is as follows one which is patently ludicrous: “Winz threatened to put a stop to disability payments for their two teenaged boys unless they could prove they still have their condition.”
Dyson did it oo. Under her regime my brother in law had to be retested, presumably winz thought there was a cure for cerebral palsy
Both Labour and National Govts have been crap at this.
This morning Steven Joyce was commenting on Government expecting enterprises to estimate their needs for revenue for a future year so they approximate better to the actual amount. He said that public or private should be able to forecast correctly. I was remembering how he had to bail out MediaWorks which seemed an example of how difficult this is to do.
Tertiary educationals have had their buffer zone for repayment of over resourcing reduced from 3% to 1%. It must be hard to estimate right in this dynamic period of interesting times. So Government is squeezing these bodies for what reason? Trying to make provision of education harder? Along with a deep sense of distrust and distaste for any discipline other than an MBA with a PhD in how to extract millions of litres (dollars) from one lemon?
U.S. Methane Study Says Emissions 50 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/us-methane-study-emissions_n_4339308.html
and according to my recent sums – in dairy cows alone – we/n.z have the a population of 1.3 billion people in terms of shit and piss
1.3 billion
that is one seriously stat there..cnr joe..
‘1.3.billion’..
..fuck..!
..phillip ure..
@CnrJoe… would be very interesting to see the detail of this statistic. And there’s nary a sewage pond to be seen throughout Southland. Just lots of rivers literally turning to shite
Sure thing
1 dairy cow = 17-20 humans worth of shit
1.26 million dairy cows in the Waikato = 17 million peoples worth of shit
2012 – new zild dairy herd 6.5 million cows = 1.300 000 000 peoples worth of shit
And farts. And piss
For milk. MILK !
Only counting dairy cows.
Google it up
Thanks.
Will Fonterra pay for the cleanup? Unlikely since National Inc. nobbled the democratically elected ECan and other boards are stacked, and the RMA is being ‘streamlined’
Here we are all arguing the toss and anticipating the “Left” being in power! Reality check time. Heres’ real power (from http://www.theautomaticearth.com/whos-really-king-of-the-world-today/ )
Well, if you thought you’d seen all the madness and absurdity that could possibly come out of the financial system by now, you are definitely being caught on the wrong flat foot as we speak. And there can be no doubt that much more of this will be revealed as we go along. Jamie Dimon renting Buckingham Palace to celebrate his $13 billion settlement with US regulators is just the beginning, though it’s a pretty clear statement of just how untouchable too big to fail policies have made Wall Street and the City feel. And they don’t feel that way for nothing, in every sense of the word, count on it.
A Labour spokesman said this about the party at the Palace, which included appearances by the Royal Philharmonic and the English National Ballet: ““There is also the fact that this should be a special place. This is the home of the Queen. Where is it all going to end?“ Well, sir, maybe it’s time to wake up, because the new kings and queens of the world have taken over. And they intend to be loud and proud about it, like any group of conquerors throughout history ever did.
Stands our little attempts at “democracy” well on end do you think?
Fishy if oil is found in large quantities our currency will sky rocket in value then all farming and other exporters will become uneconomic
If oil is found in large quantities it would certainly raise the currency and make exporting difficult but not impossible. I have a Stressless recliner chair made in Norway for instance. It was expensive but absolute quality.The problem of being too affluent from oil riches could only arise under a National government. I for one would be happy to handle that crisis if and when it arises.
happy with 5% royalties or are you banging down National’s door urging them to truly follow Norway’s policy
dutch disease
plus NZ has proven totally incapable of managing our currency to a lower rate and thinks its OK to kill exporters to get cheap imported toys and fuel.
If the price of gas went down I reckon we would see a big uptick in the local economy — it would be fantastic to be oil independent like Norway
Energy is an effective tax on all activities and products in an economy. So you are right, but such an “uptick” is likely to make us more dependent on fossil fuels, not less, as we enjoyed another round of the good time ride.
wont anadarko send it all offshore? Like our best fruit and vegs, meat and seafood?
hahahahahaha
The only people who would be able buy stuff would be the people getting the money and that won’t be 99% of the population. The only people National care about is the rich and they will do everything that they can to make them richer at our expense.
Norwegians can make quality stuff because they train craftspeople. We used to, but now we have a service economy with people who would have done apprenticeships finding themselves on a minimum wage or a grudgingly paid pittance of a benefit. Apart from yachts, what do we still make? A high dollar when we sell milk powder and our most creative people have moved overseas is a disaster, but I suppose it’ll make the next lot of ministerial Beemers a bit cheaper.
+1
That’s it exactly. We don’t have an economy any more, we have a financial roulette wheel.
See Cunners is not going to buy back MRP, Meridian and Air New Zealand shares. Maybe he is not as crazy as the Standardistas hope he is.
But he’s not saying he won’t either. And markets hate uncertainty.
you do realise thats just key attempting to lay a very obvious trap?
Do you support the PM goading the opposition to behave irresponsibly?
Wasnt “show me the money” keys catch cry last time?
Isnt this now “go on, say something before you do your due dilligence”?
Did you spot that key claims its the oppositions money and not tax payer money?
Isnt waiting to see the state of the books before you commit to spending tax payer money a good idea?
Me – im less than impressed that our PM chose to use the media to engage in school yard taunts. Just how old is he? 12?
The one thing that I’d like to see is the governments books open to everyone in real time.
heh – and in the computer age – is there any reason why this cant be done?
Plenty of reasons why it wouldnt be done though
That he’s already fallen in to, because he’s a dumbass.
how exactly?
all ive heard him say is “yeah nah – your just trying to trap me so you can call me a profligate communist”
Many of the Standardistas, as you name them, don’t want Cunliffe to BUY back the shares either.
There have been many comments proposing that the shares should simply be cancelled, or taken back into state control with no compensation being paid at all.
BTFD mate
That’s not ideal and probably not necessary: you can just dilute the sons of bitches.
Damn right we do. Selling anybodies assets without their permission happens to be theft after all and receivers of stolen goods don’t get compensated.
yeah, lets see him try that.
Hope a new Government is not going to do a buy back – renationalisation without compensation makes much more sense since the assets belonged to the past and present taxpayers of New Zealand and not the Government. The salutary lesson might teach the greedies a valuable lesson that falls short of violent revolution. On second thoughts, the French peasants and their quaint revolutionary technology sounds far more exciting – especially since the wailing of the shareholders/ticket-clippers would be short lived.
If he’s not willing to be so rash as to commit to buy them back, then I think expecting him to take them back without compensation is a recipe for disappointment.
And CC, advocating murder of people you disagree with isn’t as hip as you think it is.
This is Hip pretty baby…
Not as hip as violent murder, apparently.
like fine wines and cheese, tones soften with age.
Murder, Gormy? lolz.
We are all one, mate. All part of the greater whole.
“This is not war; it is pest control!” http://youtu.be/vu6_IxkAHsI
Yeah. Murder lolz. The funniest lolz there are. I laughed and laughed. Cracks you up too, I see Felix.
Ever heard of hyperbole, Gormy?
Are we allowed to discuss legal penalties for heinous crimes?
Funnier than rape, ya reckon?
A functional definition of a psychopath is a person who cannot feel empathy for fellow human beings or shame or remorse for their atrocities and acts of cruelty. However, non-compliance with their schemes with whatever level of courage one has at any moment and educating others as to the shit really going down on this planet is the only effective course. Like many species of vermin, and the mythical vampires that they are, they can only function in the dark.
Sociopathic banksters won’t even get it when they’re waiting for their turn at the guillotine.
Richard S. Fuld Jr. of Lehman Brothers said. “I take it as a personal failure to lose money,” On the morning of March 17, 2008, justice would declare he should have been headed to prison instead of to work.
Richard Fuld, who early on that morning — at 5 a.m. — departed from his twelve-acre Greenwich estate with its twenty rooms, eight bedrooms, a tennis court, a squash court, and a pool house –one of five he owned—to be chauffer driven to deal with a possible run on banks and the bankruptcy of Bear Stearns, the smallest of Wall Street’s Big Five investment houses?
Richard Fuld who, among past winners of Fed largesse and insider information soon to be scapegoat along with Ken Lewis, on that morning was headed “right onto North Street toward the winding and narrow Merritt Parkway, headed for Manhattan”…starring “ out the window in a fog at the rows of mansions owned by Wall Street executives and hedge fund impresarios,” as described by Andrew Sorkin in Too Big to Fail?
Where “most of the homes had been bought for eight-figure sums and lavishly renovated during the second Gilded Age, which, unbeknownst to any of them, lest of all Fuld, was about to come to a crashing halt.”
And where now, all but a handful in the financial sector, thanks to U.S. taxpayers and the ownership of a printing machine, are still enjoying, on the streets where they live, a financial sector share of corporate profits that has risen to a new peak in the $450 billion range, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis?
Starving the masses while feeding the banking machine with free printed (by electronic key strokes) money.
Hi Gormy, the lolz was at you you fool.
Crimes against humanity on a massive scale, the perpetuation of suffering and death, the oppression and subjugation of many for the profits of a few, none of this seems to register with you.
This ongoing, systematic violence and bloodshed goes unremarked upon, while you damn near faint with shock at the thought of anyone violently resisting these horrors.
Interesting moral compass you have there. Might want to get it re-calibrated though.
Someone’s compass needs recalibrating, I accept.
CC advocates guillotining people who bought shares in Air New Zealand. The same people that James Henderson was so deeply concerned at having lost a few bucks the other day.
I told him I thought that wasn’t as hip as he thought it was.
I am pretty happy with where my moral compass is on this score.
You might want to re-examine yours if you think that the privatising of 20% of the shares in an airline that you keep control of (and which the opposition planned to sell 10 years previously) is “ongoing, systematic violence and bloodshed” that requires beheadings.
Why is that someone many here deride as a RWNJ is talking sense while others are howling at the moon ?
Strange Days.
Because if the top 1% continue their extreme greed and exploitation much longer then the number of people suffering under poverty and war will reach a critical mass, the fabric of society will fall apart, and no amount of money will save them from sharing in the misery they have created
“You might want to re-examine yours if you think that the privatising of 20% of the shares in an airline that you keep control of (and which the opposition planned to sell 10 years previously) is “ongoing, systematic violence and bloodshed” that requires beheadings.”
Ah yes sorry Gormy, I forgot your rule about only looking at any given event in absolute isolation from every other event.
What is the reason shareholders in Air New Zealand are to be beheaded? Is it unrelated to their shareholding in Air New Zealand? Makes as much sense as anything else you’ve pronounced on this topic, I suppose.
Frightening!
http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-tepco-is-risking-the-removal-of-fukushima-fuel-rods-the-dangers-of-uncontrolled-global-nuclear-radiation/5359188
National’s full-on assault on democracy continues with an attempt to gut local democracy in Hawkes Bay in favour of a tiny , mayor plus nine member council for the entire Hawkes bay region. The autocratic and corporatist ambitions of Key and co know no bounds, they won’t be happy until the entire country is run by an unelected board of directors.
Local government amalgamation is a hot button issue in Hawkes Bay. Napier Mayor Bill Dalton was elected on a specific anti-amalgamation platform. looks like this is going to send Stuart Nash to parliament as Labour MP for Napier for sure.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9443440/Panel-Merge-Hawkes-Bay-councils
Israel, Iran, and the Bomb
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/avi-benhur/israel-iran-and-the-bomb_b_4335626.html?
Some, Israeli Concerns (other than being kept under a bushel regarding negotiations).
http://www.dw.de/israels-fears-over-iran-nuclear-deal/a-17254067?maca=en-rss-en-world-4025-rdf
-“the greatest diplomatic victory of the Islamic Republic since the Khomeini revolution”
(and they have not forgotten Munich 😉 , or, have they).
“[Israel]…”a rabid dog” pronounced Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just the other day over a cup-of-cha.
The Ayatollah’s comments are simply speaking to his local political base. Both this agreement, and the secret talks held with the US in the months leading up to it, would have needed the go ahead from the Ayatollah to have even occurred.
As for Israel – to an outsider there is a lot of internal political pressure building up in that country, and also it’s spent too long delivering huge financial costs and political liabilities to the US for very little in return eg. Palestinian settlement situation getting worse not better.
just ‘another day at the office’ Message you later.
-Shalom
“He may huff and puff ” but Netanyahu and Israel must now Go It Alone
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/robert-fisk-he-may-huff-and-puff-but-benjamin-netanyahu-is-on-his-own-now-as-nuclear-agreement-isolates-israel-8960766.html
-Robert Fisk, The Independent.
Can Americans can read?
Fairly straight forward I would’ve thought.
Thanks for that. Not Can the Can aye!
btw, Welcome to a counter- Empire Multitude producing commons through immaterial labour 😀
Covering their bases, Pentagon Sells $10.8B worth of Bunker-Busters to U.A.E and Saudis
http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/saudi-arabia-and-u-a-e-preparing-for-war-with-iran-major-purchases-of-bunker-buster-bombs-and-missiles-from-pentagon-2/?
Lord of War
a speculative Low down from Kiwipolitico : ‘nested game’.
Apparently this link.
Nice write up by Pablo
works my end D.
Your link only goes to the top of Kiwipolitico which is an active blog which means that the top article will change rapidly. My link goes to the actual article. This means that in a few months after the front page of Kiwipoliticao has changed people will still be able to find the article.
Thanks, had to be a reason; I only had a ‘man’ look . 😀
In-Alien Death Cult- Santa Muerte
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25032305?
😎
(“Alien technology and human stupidity, an unbeatable combination”- The Doctor).
Bryce Edwards gives Labour a clear path to eliminate the National backing Maori Party
http://liberation.typepad.com/liberation/2013/11/maori-party-and-te-tai-hauauru-a-sign-of-looming-defeat-.html
ae, ka pai.
that makes much more sense than any deal with the maori party..
..who after election..could well turn around and support national..again..
..best to wipe them out..and be done with it..
..ensure a progressive govt..
..and start effecting some poverty-busting changes..
..i cannot think of single reason why such a lab/mana arrangement is not a good-deal..
..both battling to the death in those maori seats makes absolutely no sense for either..
..phillip ure..
What happened to the Foreshore and Seabed issue anyway? Isn’t that the reason for the Maori Party to exist? Was a billion dollars for Whanau Ora a good investment?
Please take some time to consider isgning this. None of us knows when we, a friend or other loved one, from illness, accident, or age may be disabled.
The petition reads:
“We, the undersigned, request the House of Representatives to urgently take all appropriate measures to ensure full access to public and commercial buildings for disabled people especially for new buildings in the Christchurch rebuild”
For the Earthquake Disability Leadership Group this means equality in access and that all people, including those with disabilities are able to enter, exit and move through a building in the same way as everybody else does.
The link to the online petition is https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/we-request-the-government-urgently-take-all-appropriate-measures-to-ensure-full-access-to-public-and-commercial-buildings-for-disabled-people-especially-for-new-buildings-in-the-christchurch-rebuild
Isn’t this already on the books?
http://www.odi.govt.nz/what-we-do/built-environment/index.html
No, Joyce is taking the opportunity from the earthquake to save commercial developers money by not having to make their buildings accessible. It is intended to bring it in across NZ.
New proposed ammendments to evidence act passed cabinet. BUT I wonder if they will change much.
One is that victims willbe told in advance if their sexual history is going to come up. That may dissauade them from appearing and have the opposite effect.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11163028
The victims previous sexual history has no bearing upon their being raped. As such, it should be forbidden to bring it up in court or anywhere. In fact, there’s probably quite a bit that’s irrelevant to the allegation and should be banned from being asked – what the victim was wearing comes to mind as well.
I agree. The ONLY possible evidence that might be relevant is if she has been proven to be a liar about being reaped before BUT a defendants previous offending, even the same type of offending s not allowed in, so logically….
Tell me fellow Standard contributors am I the only one to feel rather uncomfortably at the way the parole appeals for Ewen MacDonald was arrived,at.
I do not for one minute think he is a very nice person but the fact is he was found not guilty.
However the Serious sensible mob still seem to have a lot to say regarding this case.
The police (may be influenced by the SS bunch ?) are not planning to investigate further ,yet there is one other person who is suspect and in my personal opinion there could be one other .
the results of his personality assessments do not make comforting reading. It’s not a long sentence relatively speaking.
Interesting you brought up the Scott Guy murder case Pink Postman. Does anyone else feel curious about the obsession the MSM have with this particular murder? There have been many equally bizarre murder inquiries – some of them unsolved – that have not received anything like the media attention this one has. Am I being a little precious when I look at the following:
1. Colour – white.
2. Status – well to do country folk with a farming background.
3. Good looking family.
4 Seemingly well educated and articulate.
4. National Party stalwarts.
Counter that with a brown skinned or white working class victim. Probably equally as bright if not brighter, but without the status symbol and few opportunities to make something of themselves. Tough bickies. Sorry n’ all that, but we’re not all that interested.
Has the Women’s Weekly factor is my observation Anne
@ anne..+1..
phillip ure..
been wondering the same thing… the good thing is Mrs Guy has escaped the focus.
he was not guilty of the murder of scott guy, he is in prison for his other acts. Which, on a pathological scale are pretty scarey.
I was appalled recently to see a farmer who deliberately broke the tails of 150 cows got 8 months home detention. Cruelty o animals is wrong per se, but is frequently a harbinger of violence toward humans…
MacDonald’s apparantly cavalier attitude may be on a list of behaviours of pathalogical folks…
such a SHAME . 😎
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9443197/Anadarko-approval-error-in-law
– Everyone needs a hobby I suppose
Noanimals were harmed – a rather disturbing read.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/feature/
Hobbit hater!
Think that the US policy of Quantitative Easing is crazy? Then check out these graphs of China’s inconceivable, unsustainable, reality distorting capital injection into Chinese banks.
In the past five years the total assets on US bank books have risen by a ‘paltry’ $2.1 trillion while over the same period, Chinese bank assets have exploded by an unprecedented $15.4 trillion hitting a gargantuan CNY147 trillion or an epic $24 trillion – some two and a half times the GDP of China!
Putting the rate of change in perspective, while the Fed was actively pumping $85 billion per month into US banks for a total of $1 trillion each year, in just the trailing 12 months ended September 30, Chinese bank assets grew by a mind-blowing $3.6 trillion!
So when you lose out on that purchase of a home to a Chinese buyer who bid 50% over asking sight unseen, with no intentions to ever move in, you will finally know why this is happening.
yes, I believe they’ve experienced property bubbles at home. The money moves on.
And that is why foreign ownership of NZ land and businesses need to be banned now. The way that things are going we will soon be serfs in our ow land as everything gets sold by the greedies for cash which is hot off the digital printing press.
Hooton says Labour + Greens support at 49% in a private poll. https://twitter.com/MatthewHootonNZ/status/405180720651321344
Where is the ‘spinner’ Hooten, i would like to know from which side of the spectrum the ‘private polling’ came,(where does this put National then, 39%???, i wasn’t expecting that until after the Christmas break when everyone has had a chance to stop and think)…
Slavoj Zizek commenting on that fat gutted shameful Mayor of Toronto. Rob Ford makes Boris Johnson look the height of human nobility.
Zizek says that the left has put aside its traditional concerns and allowed politics to be parodied, become a fun show with people like Rob Ford, being outrageous, and still getting support from, and he uses the word, ‘cynical’ political supporters.
Labour has focussed on gay rights and people’s rights too single-mindedly and disregarded its other concerns with a disastrous outcome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5GCt9hM1DQ
Rob Ford’s left wing?
Or is his refusal to resign somehow the fault of same-sex marriage?
McFlock
I know you can be relied on to see through the glass darkly when it comes to feminiism or rape culture or gay rights or something that you can possibly take umbrage or create contention about. Did you look and listen to the link. Why don’t you specify his comment so we know what you are on about.
I think that the present bad situation for low income people with poor employment conditions, deteriorating everything might be what he had in mind when he said that Labour had failed to act to improve rights and the lives of all people which it says it is concerned about.
Did watch vid.
It was rambling shit.
Firstly, the left has not “put aside” traditional concerns. It has simply recognised that inequality and the alienation of the proletariat extend farther than the mere bank balance and rights of employees.
Secondly, the Rob Fords of the world are not the fault of the left. At worst, they are the fault of a neolib culture which means that such folk (John Banks for example) hang on to the pay cheque when even thirty years ago a person would have had the sense of shame and dignity to resign. If anything they help the left, being obvious canker sores of the “fuck you” ruling class.
And thirdly, if the more insecure members of “the left” concentrated on improving workers’ rights themselves rather than bitching that teh gayz and teh wimmins are getting too much attention, the world would be a better place in so many fucking ways.
Firstly, the left has not “put aside” traditional concerns. It has simply recognised that inequality and the alienation of the proletariat extend farther than the mere bank balance and rights of employees.
I think thoughtful left watchers consider that the focus of Labour has been on the far extensions of inequality and the nearer ones have been alienated.
And Zizek being a poseur Bill. He is as full of interesting ideas and thinking as you are. And I have a lot of respect for you, though I do not agree with all your ideas.
well scratched gw
Maybe they should be thoughtful left do-ers then.
You are so right McFlock!
I was going to reply with a list of moral failings of the Right but realised that a mud slinging exercise would be futile. And I do agree that Labour in the past has given too much focus on identity politics at the expense of addressing the dramatically worsening socio economic inequality in NZ.
Zizek is a poseur. End.
Neo-liberals, of which the Labour party still has way too many for my liking, are OK about extending human rights, so long as they don’t don’t conflict with, their running off with, “the money”.
Throwing progressives a few crumbs, like gay marriage, while they continue to burgle us.
We, however, are capable of multitasking!
There is no reason why we cannot address the rights of minorities, and other disadvantaged groups, along with the right to be free from poverty, and be fairly paid.
For example. gay rights, women’s rights and workers rights are not mutually exclusive. They are all part and parcel of a fair and decent society.
Might catch Cunliffe on this side of the ditch tomorrow, which explains the “unavailable for comment” back in the Land of the Long White Cloud?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9445575/Drilling-could-split-Labour
But, despite the broad church blah blah blah thing, what’s up with Shane Jones? Is there something I am missing? Commentators – help?
Labour deliberately or uncontrollably giving mixed messages?? Surely tactics and strategies are much better formulated with Cunliffe at the helm?
Shane has been, is, and will be, in the wrong party as long as he is in Labour. Time for the caucus and party to take the next step in terms of real change from within.
Only if we, not the government, choose to extend them that right.
And the reason for that would be because our oil refinery doesn’t refine our oil.
Yeah, I’d say that it was time for Shane Jones to wander off and join United Future where he could fully support National while saying that he isn’t.
lolz
DTB
Do we get our oil partly digested, from Singapore or such? Is Marsden Refinery not set up to process our own oil?
Ihave some malware adware stuff, you know that underlines stuff when you browse and if you hit it, it’s an ad… anyone got instructions for removal, that wont cost me?
From memory I used malwarebytes – free download, for a virus like that (put in false hyper links)
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Thanks Bill, trying it now. Much appreciated.