When a standard small-l liberal conservative like Chris Finlayson can go full on-record slaying the entire National Party, you can bet the floodgates will open to more ex-Ministers going after them and forecasting their destruction.
Don't forget that Labour was down where National are now (22%?) until Andrew Little decided to relinquish the leadership. So it's highly likely they will survive but not be ready to govern until around 2029 or so.
And again, it seems to be forgotten that NZ is MMP and that even with only 22 % and a few other parties they could govern – as could Labour for that matter if they have enough friends left in the other parties to form a working coaltion.
The current majority of Labour is unusual in that setting, and as far as i can see i don't see it repeated in 2023.
And fwiw, lets see how housing, mental health, the health system, the public school system, our hospitals, etc will look come election day.
I suspect Labour will get away with just tinkering as usual. Lots of deserved critisim about lack of progress on many of issues, but Labour/Greens/Maori would be feeling pretty safe because to vote them out would put who in power? Would National/Act do much to fix our problems? Nope.
What problems have Labour fixed since they came about?
Housing? That is an even worse problem now with a good decent mid sized town now housed at 100 of millions of dollars every few month.
Health care? have you tried getting it atm? Waiting lists? No beds for ?Starship? Crumbling Emergency departments and nurses leaving for OZ cause better pay and houses?
Schools ? Still underfunded unless for the very rich, still crumbling with unheated transportable class rooms and teachers eating lunch in the Gymnasium?
cancelled roads and slow trains, and golden bike bridges etc?
They can tinker, but it must be considered that if you constantly only cut the fraying edges one day you run out of edges to cut. And it seems that that is all they do, its easier and faster then to mend the edges properly. I can see Labour fall for their own arrogance and hubris.
Oh and maybe a bit more flowing shit in Wellington, cause our infrastructure is awesome and the people in the towns don't need government help? Right? The ratepayer will fix it. Right?
Schools still "underfunded unless for the very rich, still crumbling with unheated transportable class rooms and teachers eating lunch in the Gymnasium?"
I know of a school which has five “leaky building” classrooms which have to be replaced. It’s being handled.
Impacted by availability of builders etc. of course because they’re all busy. Shall I attack the government and say they’re useless because kids are using a hall and corridors as classrooms?
Yes, and the Roads in Northland were crap already under National and Key who blamed it on Helen Clark, and now they are being blamed on John Key. See that rinse repeat in action.
And cones are living on the road as they too can't be housed. That is my story behind the cones. They are homeless, as whomever owns them finds it easier and cheaper to just keep them on the road – often as a hazard more then anything, rather then warehousing them after use.
And yes, you are right there, they should have done it ages ago, National or Labour, and you know what? They. Did. NOT.
But then maybe Labour is gonna be building some two laned bridges in Northland. 🙂 Or build some schools to replace the ones that fall apart, specifically those that are in the poorer areas of the country.
Ive just spent a week in P.N. hospital. no complaints from me. nothing like as bad as you (constantly) moan about. maybe you need to get out into the real world ,to find that we have it pretty good here. when you have customers in your shop, are you this negative?
In addition the Elective Services Patient Flow Indictors (ESPIs) targets ensure people do not wait longer than four months for a First Specialist Assessment (ESPI 2) or wait greater than four months for certainty of treatment (ESPI 5).
btw, that whinging you are hearing, its coming from Government. 🙂
I am however pleased that you got the medical care you needed, and i hope you did not have to wait in agony for month on end for that to happen.
perhaps you should read my post correctly before rushing back with yet another moan. I was in hospital for a week, not a day. and perhaps you should also think about positive attitudes (unfortunatley you arent the only person with outrage as your default setting). talking to the nurses at the P.N. hospital(who were great along with ALL of the staff, the one thing they all agree on is that a positive attitude is more important than any amount of dollars. one definite thing I have learnt(many yrs ago) is that a positive attitude towards beauracracy and officialdom gets you much better levels of service…….or you could just whinge, your choice..
I'm surprised that she bothers to talk to that silly woman on Morning Report.
Why doesn't she talk to Judith about the subjects the interview was meant to be about. Covid vaccination progress, The clamp down on free speech, the shambles that is housing etc.
Could it be that Radio New Zealand are under instructions not to embarrass the Government?
Oh well, perhaps you can tell us why Jacinda refuses to talk to the more competent interviewers on New Zealand radio? Mike Hosking for example.
That's proper tin foil hat stuff there. Yes, media is massaged, but if people are concerned about the Covid vaccine, the clampdown on hate speech, and housing, they shit as shit don't want to hear from Judith Collins.
She can't even run her own party, let alone a country.
Judith's position is of Judith's making and if the media want to grill her on her fuck-ups in caucus then they should be free to do it, no?
Well i don't disagree with you on Judith (bring back Puckish! or maybe that was Judith?), it certainly will not be the Labour Party that will talk about those people that are not o n board with their 'reforms'. According to the Labour Party they have a 'man' date for that, and thus it is all kumbaya.
And besides, National said exactly the same thing when Cunliffe spoke, or Andrew Little for that matter. And neither Cunliffe or Little 'ran' the Labour Party successfully for anything on anything.
How privilege can turn grown men into petulant man-babies?
The way mass media has a constant temptation to cater to the dumbest segment of the population?
How capitalism rewards people with confidence rather than competence?
The ongoing problem of hairstylists exploiting the vulnerable conceit of the tasteless nouveau riche by charging them large sums of money in exchange for silly haircuts?
So many things, none of which include "the more competent interviewers on New Zealand radio".
Your honor its speaks to the caricature of the defendant collins, its important that people know that collins is capable of killing off any opposition in her party using devious methods, so people can decide if the should believe the defendant collins on any thing else that dribbles out of her nasty twisted little mouth
My reading is that Finlayson's point about the inability of National to reconcile its urban liberal and rural conservative factions (with the added complication of religious conservatism) will continue. The party will falter further and two parties will emerge along with ACT who as libertarians occupy a different space on the right.
If Muller was really pissed off, and could resist the inevitable repercussions, he would force a by-election and again show the poor candidate vetting and selection, organisation and campaign performance that is the current National party status.
the many different groups that eye each other suspiciously at nat party conferences will keep on drifting apart. more interested in personal gain than benefits for the masses(as it should be, if they are ever honest). it will all come down to how unpopular the current gov has to get to be elected out . with the nats hemouraging voters to everybody else(even parties not in gov, what a hoot),its going to be a looong cold winter for the nats.
Aunty Jude is a tough cookie. Findlayson isn't saying anything we don't all know. If the Nats change leader who would you suggest? The new fellow from Botany? To be thrown under the bus, against JA? Sleep tight Aunty Jude is firmly in charge, I hope.
I'm not suggesting anyone. All I'm predicting is that Findlayson's remarks could easily be the straw that breaks things and that Collins will be rolled – not to get someone they think is good in there, but to get rid of Collins because the longer she stays the more damage they'll have to fix. They'll be looking to at least slow the clear run the government has down because it's Collins that's gicing it to them right now. The honeymoon could be over, unfortunately.
If you were up very early this morning and missed The Standard, it was because of a power cut at about 0400.
The UPS'es woke us up, I notified Vector, and shut the system down. The whole of the K Rd area was out.
Came back up sometime around 0600. When the cat woke me up, I started it up again and took some time to clean up a few nagging server issues.
(yawn) It will be a later start to work today.
I am getting a bit tired of being the Vector power outage alarm system for this area. I wish they’d just fix whatever the repeated problem is and return us to having power outages every few years rather than every few months.
Went back to bed immediately after that comment. Got up just before 10. Fortunately I had planned to work from home today anyway because it was a cursing day (ie when I was debugging a block of code I wrote weeks ago and learning humility).
…. Included among the beasts were both people and dinosaurs, who then lived cheerfully side by side until such time as dinosaurs for some reason died out.
Joe Bennett
The dinosaurs died out because there was no room for them in the ark. Joe Bennet should know this. Joe you need to check your facts, read the small print. between the lines, in the first book of chronicles.
It's all there, at least I think it is. It was just left out in later reprints.
Joe if you can't find it there, it is the work of the devil. And you had better get yourself to the nearest pentecostal revivalist meeting and fall to your knees and beg to save your soul, or else be horribly tortured in hellfire, FOR EVER
You don’t know anything about palaeontology, obviously. The dinosaurs died out before the Ark. By about 23 years. Look it up on Wikipedia or Google it. I cannot do the thinking for you.
42 is meaningless, it is not prime, not even semiprime. But you’re correct that there is some debate about the exact date of the Great Extinction. All we know for sure is that it was a Tuesday in February.
Here is a more constructive analysis on the primary reasons why so many people rightly distrust MSM and by extension the way 'science' has been weaponized against any critiques that people may genuinely have…as usual Joe Bennett adds nothing to the conversation except his sanctimonious empty headed reactionary dribble.
Why Has "Ivermectin" Become a Dirty Word?
"At the worst moment, Internet censorship has driven scientific debate itself underground"
Nobody is attempting to suppress studies of ivermectin. But I’ll take a guess actual experts capable of setting up and running a credible quality study mostly look at the limited benefit claimed in even the lowest quality and overhyped studies rife with known biases, and conclude there's better things to put their time and resources towards. Particularly since those with deep understanding of pharmacokinetics and cell biochemistry have lots of good reasons to believe ivermectin will be ineffective, as outlined in the sciencebasedmedicine article.
Now let's consider places where ivermectin has been widely used. Brazil. Peru. Hungary. Czech Republic. India. Any of them look like covid treatment success stories?
Pick any of the studies you want from that c19ivermectin site. Find the source paper reporting it, and explain why you think it's a credible, quality study. Be sure to look at aspects such as blinding, randomisation, controls, numbers of patients in the various arms of the study.
Studies that have low numbers (which make it very difficult to tell if there's a "there" there amid the statistical noise), might not blinded or randomised or with any of a number of serious flaws can still get peer-reviewed and published. But they aren't actually good evidence, at best they might be pointers to what treatment to trial in a better larger study.
These small, non-blinded poorly controlled, poorly randomised studies tend to be badly contaminated by confirmation bias, where the person conducting the study believes they have "the answer" and makes choices that bias the results. Such as one study I saw that had a total of 20ish patients, the control arm had only four patients, and the control arm patients were on average the oldest, highest BMI, highest co-morbidity score. They are also badly prone to publication bias – whereby only the positive results where the researchers can proudly trumpet their results actually get published, and the studies that don't generate positive results just get quietly shelved.
As for censorship, that issue is discussed in the Vice piece linked above:
What goes undiscussed here, of course, is that Big Tech isn’t suppressing science—as outlined above, ivermectin is being vigorously studied across the world—but is, rather, moderating promotion of and advocacy for an as-yet unproven cure for a serious disease. The alternative here—that YouTube, if it doesn't bar advocacy for the use of potentially dangerous drugs in potentially dangerous ways, will become a haven for the promotion of unproven and at times outright dangerous quack cures, in the same way that it was previously a haven for Sandy Hook and Holocaust denialism and other rather pernicious forms of misinformation including bleach drinking—goes undiscussed. …
Educational, documentary, scientific or artistic content
We may allow content that violates the misinformation policies noted on this page if that content includes context that gives equal or greater weight to countervailing views from local health authorities or to medical or scientific consensus. We may also make exceptions if the purpose of the content is to condemn or dispute misinformation that violates our policies. This context must appear in the images or audio of the video itself. Providing it in the title or description is insufficient.
Yet instead of fighting women’s oppression & demolishing a gender prison that also harms us, you try to demolish feminists, fight to strengthen the prison walls, assert male dominance over the female wing & add a new non-binary wing but the prison & the oppression still remain .
I still reckon that Triter and Faceache are largely stinking pits of superficial and vile narcissistic venting, but now and again there are pearls cast.
An uplifting read, and somehow hopeful….thanks weka for braving the Dark Places and returning with this.
It's hard to tell with Lavery, maybe they're shitposting or trolling. But the response/analysis of the position is valid IMO, because Lavery is part of the hard core queer culture that wants to restrict women's rights. Even if Lavery was joking, they're still pouring fuel of the fire of misogyny and sexism.
This came out around the same time. Lavery is a one of the editors. Lavery claims the cover is satire, GCFs say the fuck it is when images of guns and other weapons are aimed at feminists online all the time in the gender/sex war. It's trolling and direct messaging imo, as well as normalising violent imagery within trans activism. One of the things happening is trying to demolish the perception that most violence is done by men (males).
I agree, 'just in time' is what all good businesses try to do. Chris B really showed his nasty nat colours this morning when he stated on Morning Report that Chris H should offer an incentive to Pfizer to get further up the queue. Obviously he believes bribery is not illegal if he does it.
actually that is what Israel did in order to get the vaccine, and i would not consider it a 'bribe' – that is something that really involves giving moeny to a private person / entity to receive a personal benefit, while Israel simply outbid others, and in a free market world that would be par for the course. Highest bidder wins.
The sum means the average price for each dose of vaccine from both companies is about $23.50, slightly higher than the amount that Pfizer had initially said the shots would cost, according to the report. The higher price is because Israel has pushed to buy large numbers of the vaccines and to have them delivered quickly to keep the vaccination drive in high gear.
Vaccine prices reported by the Washington Post and the BBC in December indicate Israel is paying significantly more for the Pfizer vaccine than either the US or the European Union.
The Washington Post reported at the time that the US was paying Pfizer/BioNTech $19.50 per dose while the EU 27-country bloc was paying $14.76. It cited Moderna vaccine prices as $15 per dose for the US and $18 per dose for the EU.
The figures were based on EU prices that were tweeted — and then deleted — by a Belgian government official as well as calculations from Bernstein Research, an analysis and investment firm.
The BBC reported a day earlier that Pfizer was marketing its vaccines to countries at a price range of $10.65 to $21 per dose, while Moderna’s range was $25 to $37 per dose.
Israel was late joining the line for the Pfizer vaccine behind the US, Canada and Japan.
Yeah, Sabine is well out there. Just look at the Belt and Road Initiative of China. Massive bribes (low interest loans to countries with bad credit and similar) all offered in the national interest of China, not personal gain.
actually again, this is not a bribery. Not done in the dark. Not done hush hush. Not done at all. Just simply ' how much do you want to get it too me'. Fwiw, that is not bribery, that is capitalis. A bit like selling and / or buying a house in NZ. Highest bidder wins. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribery
Bribery is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty.[1] With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action."[2] Gifts of money or other items of value which are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and not for dishonest purposes, is not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost for electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However, giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be considered bribery.
A bribe is an illegal or unethical gift or lobbying effort bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be money, goods, rights in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, objects of value, advantage, or merely a promise to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.[3]
It may have not been ethical, or moral, specifically in regards to poorer nations who can not outbid Isreal on the free market, but it was not a 'bribe'. It was simply a higher bid that was accepted by Pfizer.
It is equally not ethical or moral by Pfizer to not share the patent so as to provide other nations that have vaccine producing abilities to make their own generic but again this is the free Market.
And just be cause you don’t like or approve of China and its actions, i.e. the offering of cheaper loans to countries that would otherwise / or have been other wise fleeced by the west is also just good business. The building of infrastructure in Africa by China, the west could have done that, but did not.
The west could have done a great many things over the last few decades/hundreds of years in Africa, the Stans, Asia, etc, it choose to invest little and create a whole lot of war and then plunder and pillage a lot. Go figure.
The price differences most likely represent the size of the orders – the larger the order, the lower the unit cost.
Isreal is a very small market. The EU and the US are very large markets. I expect NZ will pay even more than Isreal for the same reasons. Where does bribery come into it?
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have shown astonishing — and essentially equivalent — degrees of efficacy, at least in the early stages after vaccination.
The Pfizer vaccine showed efficacy of 95% at preventing symptomatic Covid infection after two doses. The vaccine appeared to be more or less equally protective across age groups and racial and ethnic groups……….
The J&J one-dose vaccine was shown to be 66% protective against moderate to severe Covid infections overall from 28 days after injection, though there was variability based on geographic locations. The vaccine was 72% protective in the United States, 66% protective in South America, and 57% protective in South Africa.
But the vaccine was shown to be 85% protective against severe disease, with no differences across the eight countries or three regions in the study, nor across age groups among trial participants. And there were no hospitalizations or deaths in the vaccine arm of the trial after the 28-day period in which immunity developed.
Write a diatribe against capitalism or patriarchy in a right-wing publication and some readers will generally accuse you of being a fool. But write anything heterodox for a progressive publication and you are sure to be told, not only that you are wrong, but that you are a bad person who needs to shut up.
The old saying that “the right looks for converts, while the left looks for traitors” is much older than cancel culture, and it remains as true as ever.
Sonic hedgehog is a protein encoded for by the SHH gene.[1] This signaling molecule is key in regulating embryonic morphogenesis in all different types of animals. SHH controls organogenesis and the organization of the central nervous system, limbs, digits and many other parts of the body. Sonic hedgehog is a morphogen that patterns the developing embryo using a concentration gradient characterized by the French Flag model.
At this point I am still suspecting a spoof… Eventually I find this…
Two of these genes—i.e., desert hedgehog and Indian hedgehog—were named for species of hedgehogs, while sonic hedgehog was named after Sonic the Hedgehog, the protagonist character of the eponymous video game franchise.[15][16] The gene was named as such by Robert Riddle, who was a postdoctoral fellow at the Tabin Lab, after his wife Betsy Wilder came home with a gaming magazine containing an advert for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game.[17][18][19]
Apparently the structure of the protein encoded from the genes looks spiky… like a hedgehog.
As a sub-note
A potential inhibitor of the Hedgehog signaling pathway has been found and dubbed "Robotnikinin"—in honour of Sonic the Hedgehog's nemesis, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.[88]
The rest of the article explains exactly how important these genes and the signalling proteins are in body development.
A very effective way to make something obscure to something that I'm going to remember. Also a hint that scientists often grab jokes from popular culture.
Well it would help if the government and councils stopped promoting false and slanted facts.
– All water supplies need fluoride to stop tooth decay. Now this is not anti- fluoride but conflating the two issues over the whole country comes pretty close because there is tooth decay in fluoride areas as well.
– Wellington will grow by 80,000 people over the next 30 years. About a 40% increase.It wasn't labeled a high projection scenario, middle was about 30,000 but we are expected to plan on a figure that is dodgy at best
-The IRD ran a trial on 644,000 taxpayers for six months around their employer contributions. Really? Umm if you made a mistake on a system changeover maybe admit it?
Dunno about the other two, but you're overegging the fluoridation claims from what I can find.
The usual line is along the lines of "Fluoride is a natural substance that helps protect our teeth by making them stronger and by reducing tooth decay."
I have to look at this issue every few years and don't recall any categorical promises it will eliminate the problem by itself. And such a phrasing would inspire quite the rant from a particular colleague who has a definite obsession with precision in language
Not saying it never happened, but would love to know which council made that statement (if only to throw red meat at said colleague lol).
The fluoride claim was advanced in this which conflates the 6500 children needing hospital dental care with no fluoride supplies Were they all from those areas? or a large proportion. The claim further down about better dental health rests on some evidence work. Invoking Bloomfield was to try for the golden halo effect I imagine.
“Around 6500 children under the age of nine were admitted to hospital for tooth decay and associated infections in 2019. The Fluoridation Bill as a whole recognises water fluoridation is a health-related issue. Right now only around 2.3 million New Zealanders have access to fluoridated drinking water.”
That doesn't read to me like all 6.5k admissions would be stopped if everywhere was fluoridated.
The safeguards against the potential for privatisation will be important.
Also she will have her work cut out showing how this corporatisation is different from Max Bradford taking away all the electricity gentailers from local government 20 years ago.
Or how it is different from any other smashing of local government in previous years like the removal of social housing from Councils by stealth.
Thank God there's a review being conducted in parallel about the future of local government. They look like they are about to become as useful as community boards.
Do nooot laugh about community boards. Aren't Mickey Savages chickens back in Titirangi? The community board has my complete sympathy on that unsolvable issue.
And this solves what exactly? And delivers what to local communities? Why not form a Ministry of Works – water division – that has some decent engineers and goes around councils sorting out the technical problems of water delivery and implementation and maybe there is a subsidy per head/ by location to put it in and continue delivery and then leave it with the council ownership.
We need engineers on this not overpaid CEO's and potential privatisation.
Maybe I need to put a tank supply in for moi and get my drinking water from a stand pipe at the end of the street.
RedBaroncv Your idea sounds practical and effective governing. I predict it won't fly – everyone will say it sucks. So no water division – just the division as usual.
Was talking to a local councillor who went to the briefing they gave down south.
They were unimpressed. It's called "three waters" but wastewater and stormwater were barely mentioned in their briefing documents, the focus was almost entirely on drinking water. And they were also unimpressed with the guy in charge's attitude to the legislative requirement for dealing with Mana Whenua – the councillor felt it was regarded as token consultation, rather than the required "giving effect" to their te Mana o te Wai statements.
..The idea is to consolidate about 100 RMA plans and policy statements down to about 14 – but details of the committees will work is still forthcoming.
The government said the new system will be less complex and more efficient – but Massey University Associate Professor of Planning Caroline Miller rejects that.
She said the proposal contains a massive new set of overly complex and centralised rules and procedures – and is too much change in one go…
"I'm not trying to be ageist but they'll take on a lot of bright new young things who have no idea – and they will be shoved in at the deep end."
Miller said the whole process could easily come grinding to a halt.
"I think there's a potential for a huge, real catastrophic breakdown….
Another Great Leap Forward by a modernising, vital, fast-acting Labour Government dealing with all the big and little problems, going further than other governments ever tried to reach.
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These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
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. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
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 ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nuurrianti Jalli, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies College of Arts and Sciences Department of Languages, Literature, and Communication Studies, Northern State University Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asian governments not only have to deal with the virus but also with the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Murakami Wood, Professor of Critical Surveillance and Securities Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa The skyline of Riyadh, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.(Shutterstock) There is a long history of planned city building by both governments ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment of ...
The Boil Up’s Lucinda Bennett considers the oyster – from freshness to pearls to the joy of shucking your own. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. In Carmen Maria Machado’s short story ‘Eight Bites’, a woman begins her last supper before bariatric surgery with “a cavalcade ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
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When a standard small-l liberal conservative like Chris Finlayson can go full on-record slaying the entire National Party, you can bet the floodgates will open to more ex-Ministers going after them and forecasting their destruction.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300345221/national-party-is-selfdestructing-former-minister-says
He's former Attorney-General, former law partner, now QC.
This is a big signal for the legal establishment, let alone the party.
Don't forget that Labour was down where National are now (22%?) until Andrew Little decided to relinquish the leadership. So it's highly likely they will survive but not be ready to govern until around 2029 or so.
And again, it seems to be forgotten that NZ is MMP and that even with only 22 % and a few other parties they could govern – as could Labour for that matter if they have enough friends left in the other parties to form a working coaltion.
The current majority of Labour is unusual in that setting, and as far as i can see i don't see it repeated in 2023.
And fwiw, lets see how housing, mental health, the health system, the public school system, our hospitals, etc will look come election day.
I suspect Labour will get away with just tinkering as usual. Lots of deserved critisim about lack of progress on many of issues, but Labour/Greens/Maori would be feeling pretty safe because to vote them out would put who in power? Would National/Act do much to fix our problems? Nope.
As i said, the best this country can hope for is a Labour Party that must go into a coalition, even if only with their junior partner the green party.
We will see how much are still happy to vote for the lot come 2023.
What problems have Labour fixed since they came about?
Housing? That is an even worse problem now with a good decent mid sized town now housed at 100 of millions of dollars every few month.
Health care? have you tried getting it atm? Waiting lists? No beds for ?Starship? Crumbling Emergency departments and nurses leaving for OZ cause better pay and houses?
Schools ? Still underfunded unless for the very rich, still crumbling with unheated transportable class rooms and teachers eating lunch in the Gymnasium?
cancelled roads and slow trains, and golden bike bridges etc?
They can tinker, but it must be considered that if you constantly only cut the fraying edges one day you run out of edges to cut. And it seems that that is all they do, its easier and faster then to mend the edges properly. I can see Labour fall for their own arrogance and hubris.
Oh and maybe a bit more flowing shit in Wellington, cause our infrastructure is awesome and the people in the towns don't need government help? Right? The ratepayer will fix it. Right?
Schools still "underfunded unless for the very rich, still crumbling with unheated transportable class rooms and teachers eating lunch in the Gymnasium?"
So what would you do?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/442984/budget-21-2-billion-in-new-education-spending-to-target-future-changes-historic-payroll-mistakes
I know of a school which has five “leaky building” classrooms which have to be replaced. It’s being handled.
Impacted by availability of builders etc. of course because they’re all busy. Shall I attack the government and say they’re useless because kids are using a hall and corridors as classrooms?
let's do nothing, after all you provided us with handy excuses and leave it to the next government. Rinse repeat. Why have government at all?
Do nothing? Hell, I won't be doing nothing, I'll be going to Specsavers because I don't see nothing being done.
The attitude is all very roading.
"My road is crap. They're not doing anything about it. Why should ours be down the priority list?"
Cones. Road works.
"Bloody cones, bloody roadworks."
Done. "They should've done it ages ago."
Next road down the county, and the next, and the next? Same scenario.
Yes, and the Roads in Northland were crap already under National and Key who blamed it on Helen Clark, and now they are being blamed on John Key. See that rinse repeat in action.
And cones are living on the road as they too can't be housed. That is my story behind the cones. They are homeless, as whomever owns them finds it easier and cheaper to just keep them on the road – often as a hazard more then anything, rather then warehousing them after use.
And yes, you are right there, they should have done it ages ago, National or Labour, and you know what? They. Did. NOT.
But then maybe Labour is gonna be building some two laned bridges in Northland. 🙂 Or build some schools to replace the ones that fall apart, specifically those that are in the poorer areas of the country.
Ive just spent a week in P.N. hospital. no complaints from me. nothing like as bad as you (constantly) moan about. maybe you need to get out into the real world ,to find that we have it pretty good here. when you have customers in your shop, are you this negative?
It is good that you had a good day in hospital.
here is your average waiting list in Counties Manukau.
https://countiesmanukau.health.nz/for-health-professionals/waiting-list/
here is Auckland Central
https://www.adhb.health.nz/assets/Documents/OIA/2020/12-2020/Wait-times-of-patients.pdf
and here is PN http://www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz/HealthServices/Pages/Elective.aspx
btw, that whinging you are hearing, its coming from Government. 🙂
I am however pleased that you got the medical care you needed, and i hope you did not have to wait in agony for month on end for that to happen.
perhaps you should read my post correctly before rushing back with yet another moan. I was in hospital for a week, not a day. and perhaps you should also think about positive attitudes (unfortunatley you arent the only person with outrage as your default setting). talking to the nurses at the P.N. hospital(who were great along with ALL of the staff, the one thing they all agree on is that a positive attitude is more important than any amount of dollars. one definite thing I have learnt(many yrs ago) is that a positive attitude towards beauracracy and officialdom gets you much better levels of service…….or you could just whinge, your choice..
Stuff had briefly a Breaking News banner that Collins was going to respond; watch live.
It has gone …
I wonder where Collins is …
Judith, the mike is here. Judith …??
I'm surprised that she bothers to talk to that silly woman on Morning Report.
Why doesn't she talk to Judith about the subjects the interview was meant to be about. Covid vaccination progress, The clamp down on free speech, the shambles that is housing etc.
Could it be that Radio New Zealand are under instructions not to embarrass the Government?
Oh well, perhaps you can tell us why Jacinda refuses to talk to the more competent interviewers on New Zealand radio? Mike Hosking for example.
That's proper tin foil hat stuff there. Yes, media is massaged, but if people are concerned about the Covid vaccine, the clampdown on hate speech, and housing, they shit as shit don't want to hear from Judith Collins.
She can't even run her own party, let alone a country.
Judith's position is of Judith's making and if the media want to grill her on her fuck-ups in caucus then they should be free to do it, no?
Well i don't disagree with you on Judith (bring back Puckish! or maybe that was Judith?), it certainly will not be the Labour Party that will talk about those people that are not o n board with their 'reforms'. According to the Labour Party they have a 'man' date for that, and thus it is all kumbaya.
And besides, National said exactly the same thing when Cunliffe spoke, or Andrew Little for that matter. And neither Cunliffe or Little 'ran' the Labour Party successfully for anything on anything.
What's Horeskin an example of?
How privilege can turn grown men into petulant man-babies?
The way mass media has a constant temptation to cater to the dumbest segment of the population?
How capitalism rewards people with confidence rather than competence?
The ongoing problem of hairstylists exploiting the vulnerable conceit of the tasteless nouveau riche by charging them large sums of money in exchange for silly haircuts?
So many things, none of which include "the more competent interviewers on New Zealand radio".
Your honor its speaks to the caricature of the defendant collins, its important that people know that collins is capable of killing off any opposition in her party using devious methods, so people can decide if the should believe the defendant collins on any thing else that dribbles out of her nasty twisted little mouth
Hoskings is "competent".
Thanks for the laugh this evening.
Maybe she's temporarily absconded to Jacobabad, to escape the heat of the National Party imploding…
https://twitter.com/i/events/1409526197537681412
Bloody Findlayson. Wish he'd kept his mouth shut. This'll get Collins sacked and the nats will start their climb back. Honeymoon's over.
That's possible.
My reading is that Finlayson's point about the inability of National to reconcile its urban liberal and rural conservative factions (with the added complication of religious conservatism) will continue. The party will falter further and two parties will emerge along with ACT who as libertarians occupy a different space on the right.
If Muller was really pissed off, and could resist the inevitable repercussions, he would force a by-election and again show the poor candidate vetting and selection, organisation and campaign performance that is the current National party status.
the many different groups that eye each other suspiciously at nat party conferences will keep on drifting apart. more interested in personal gain than benefits for the masses(as it should be, if they are ever honest). it will all come down to how unpopular the current gov has to get to be elected out . with the nats hemouraging voters to everybody else(even parties not in gov, what a hoot),its going to be a looong cold winter for the nats.
Aunty Jude is a tough cookie. Findlayson isn't saying anything we don't all know. If the Nats change leader who would you suggest? The new fellow from Botany? To be thrown under the bus, against JA? Sleep tight Aunty Jude is firmly in charge, I hope.
I'm not suggesting anyone. All I'm predicting is that Findlayson's remarks could easily be the straw that breaks things and that Collins will be rolled – not to get someone they think is good in there, but to get rid of Collins because the longer she stays the more damage they'll have to fix. They'll be looking to at least slow the clear run the government has down because it's Collins that's gicing it to them right now. The honeymoon could be over, unfortunately.
If you were up very early this morning and missed The Standard, it was because of a power cut at about 0400.
The UPS'es woke us up, I notified Vector, and shut the system down. The whole of the K Rd area was out.
Came back up sometime around 0600. When the cat woke me up, I started it up again and took some time to clean up a few nagging server issues.
(yawn) It will be a later start to work today.
I am getting a bit tired of being the Vector power outage alarm system for this area. I wish they’d just fix whatever the repeated problem is and return us to having power outages every few years rather than every few months.
You must be on your third coffee by now then 😉
Went back to bed immediately after that comment. Got up just before 10. Fortunately I had planned to work from home today anyway because it was a cursing day (ie when I was debugging a block of code I wrote weeks ago and learning humility).
Now I am on my third coffee.
Gotta love the cat alarm!
My partner has been treating it like a new born child and feeding her at inappropiate hours. Both a slowly learning the values of fast and break-fast.
Some light reading for a cold morning. Of course, Dr Fauci will be vilified, as is already happening. Fair is fair, when fact is fantasy.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/125592098/facts-versus-fantasy
The dinosaurs died out because there was no room for them in the ark. Joe Bennet should know this. Joe you need to check your facts, read the small print. between the lines, in the first book of chronicles.
It's all there, at least I think it is. It was just left out in later reprints.
Joe if you can't find it there, it is the work of the devil. And you had better get yourself to the nearest pentecostal revivalist meeting and fall to your knees and beg to save your soul, or else be horribly tortured in hellfire, FOR EVER
Incorrect.
You don’t know anything about palaeontology, obviously. The dinosaurs died out before the Ark. By about 23 years. Look it up on Wikipedia or Google it. I cannot do the thinking for you.
AHA
Ha
Nice.
Things started going wrong for the dinosaurs after one of them ate a bat.
Yup, his name was Ozzy.
23?
I think the correct number is 42
42 is meaningless, it is not prime, not even semiprime. But you’re correct that there is some debate about the exact date of the Great Extinction. All we know for sure is that it was a Tuesday in February.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Douglas Adams
I kid you not
Noah could have saved the world a plague and malaria too!
https://youtu.be/4AT73jLE_5Q?t=421
Here is a more constructive analysis on the primary reasons why so many people rightly distrust MSM and by extension the way 'science' has been weaponized against any critiques that people may genuinely have…as usual Joe Bennett adds nothing to the conversation except his sanctimonious empty headed reactionary dribble.
Why Has "Ivermectin" Become a Dirty Word?
"At the worst moment, Internet censorship has driven scientific debate itself underground"
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/why-has-ivermectin-become-a-dirty-7bd
I suffer from Apple phobia and I fear Mac tin.
I have no idea what those things mean?..maybe science can help alleviate any discomfort you may be experiencing?
Taibbi is misrepresenting again, as is becoming sadly common with him.
Ivermectin skeptics are asking for one thing: for a credible, quality study that shows significant benefit.
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/ivermectin-is-the-new-hydroxychloroquine-take-2/
At least one credible quality study has indeed been done – but the results were that ivermectin had negligible benefit.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777389
Nobody is attempting to suppress studies of ivermectin. But I’ll take a guess actual experts capable of setting up and running a credible quality study mostly look at the limited benefit claimed in even the lowest quality and overhyped studies rife with known biases, and conclude there's better things to put their time and resources towards. Particularly since those with deep understanding of pharmacokinetics and cell biochemistry have lots of good reasons to believe ivermectin will be ineffective, as outlined in the sciencebasedmedicine article.
Now let's consider places where ivermectin has been widely used. Brazil. Peru. Hungary. Czech Republic. India. Any of them look like covid treatment success stories?
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries (sorting by deaths per 1M population is useful)
https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/ivermectin-covid-19-antiparasitic-political/
And for a general look at where the false claims are coming from about ivermectin getting suppressed etc – this Vice piece is a good backgrounder:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5z5y/why-is-the-intellectual-dark-web-suddenly-hyping-an-unproven-covid-treatment
Obviously you're not looking very hard… there are dozens of peer reviewed positive studies – https://c19ivermectin.com/
Yeah right… so why is even mentioning ivermectin censored on the largest social media sites in the world.
Here's an exercise for you, maui.
Pick any of the studies you want from that c19ivermectin site. Find the source paper reporting it, and explain why you think it's a credible, quality study. Be sure to look at aspects such as blinding, randomisation, controls, numbers of patients in the various arms of the study.
Studies that have low numbers (which make it very difficult to tell if there's a "there" there amid the statistical noise), might not blinded or randomised or with any of a number of serious flaws can still get peer-reviewed and published. But they aren't actually good evidence, at best they might be pointers to what treatment to trial in a better larger study.
These small, non-blinded poorly controlled, poorly randomised studies tend to be badly contaminated by confirmation bias, where the person conducting the study believes they have "the answer" and makes choices that bias the results. Such as one study I saw that had a total of 20ish patients, the control arm had only four patients, and the control arm patients were on average the oldest, highest BMI, highest co-morbidity score. They are also badly prone to publication bias – whereby only the positive results where the researchers can proudly trumpet their results actually get published, and the studies that don't generate positive results just get quietly shelved.
As for censorship, that issue is discussed in the Vice piece linked above:
Youtube's actual policy is here:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9891785?hl=en
In particular:
No worries maui. There is plenty of it around. If needed you can always get your dose here:
https://www.iahp.com.au/animal-products/ausmectin-cattle-pour-on
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1409971972981739522?s=21
Click on main text in Kristina’s tweet to open the thread
Yet instead of fighting women’s oppression & demolishing a gender prison that also harms us, you try to demolish feminists, fight to strengthen the prison walls, assert male dominance over the female wing & add a new non-binary wing but the prison & the oppression still remain .
I still reckon that Triter and Faceache are largely stinking pits of superficial and vile narcissistic venting, but now and again there are pearls cast.
An uplifting read, and somehow hopeful….thanks weka for braving the Dark Places and returning with this.
it's all about the curation of one's account. On TS, moderators do it, on twitface it's up to the individual.
Is that a joke definition?
It's hard to tell with Lavery, maybe they're shitposting or trolling. But the response/analysis of the position is valid IMO, because Lavery is part of the hard core queer culture that wants to restrict women's rights. Even if Lavery was joking, they're still pouring fuel of the fire of misogyny and sexism.
This came out around the same time. Lavery is a one of the editors. Lavery claims the cover is satire, GCFs say the fuck it is when images of guns and other weapons are aimed at feminists online all the time in the gender/sex war. It's trolling and direct messaging imo, as well as normalising violent imagery within trans activism. One of the things happening is trying to demolish the perception that most violence is done by men (males).
The country may almost run out of vaccines but Chris Bishop will still be jabbing a dead horse called Pfizer.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/445806/national-criticises-government-for-dwindling-covid-19-vaccine-supplies
Vaccine distribution is definitely when there should be "just in time" allocation.
I agree, 'just in time' is what all good businesses try to do. Chris B really showed his nasty nat colours this morning when he stated on Morning Report that Chris H should offer an incentive to Pfizer to get further up the queue. Obviously he believes bribery is not illegal if he does it.
actually that is what Israel did in order to get the vaccine, and i would not consider it a 'bribe' – that is something that really involves giving moeny to a private person / entity to receive a personal benefit, while Israel simply outbid others, and in a free market world that would be par for the course. Highest bidder wins.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-to-be-paying-average-of-47-per-person-for-pfizer-moderna-vaccines/
so, in your world(?)
bribery only exists for personal gain?
Yeah, Sabine is well out there. Just look at the Belt and Road Initiative of China. Massive bribes (low interest loans to countries with bad credit and similar) all offered in the national interest of China, not personal gain.
actually again, this is not a bribery. Not done in the dark. Not done hush hush. Not done at all. Just simply ' how much do you want to get it too me'. Fwiw, that is not bribery, that is capitalis. A bit like selling and / or buying a house in NZ. Highest bidder wins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribery
It may have not been ethical, or moral, specifically in regards to poorer nations who can not outbid Isreal on the free market, but it was not a 'bribe'. It was simply a higher bid that was accepted by Pfizer.
It is equally not ethical or moral by Pfizer to not share the patent so as to provide other nations that have vaccine producing abilities to make their own generic but again this is the free Market.
And just be cause you don’t like or approve of China and its actions, i.e. the offering of cheaper loans to countries that would otherwise / or have been other wise fleeced by the west is also just good business. The building of infrastructure in Africa by China, the west could have done that, but did not.
The west could have done a great many things over the last few decades/hundreds of years in Africa, the Stans, Asia, etc, it choose to invest little and create a whole lot of war and then plunder and pillage a lot. Go figure.
The price differences most likely represent the size of the orders – the larger the order, the lower the unit cost.
Isreal is a very small market. The EU and the US are very large markets. I expect NZ will pay even more than Isreal for the same reasons. Where does bribery come into it?
Just the free market at work.
bishop is from the party that built an Arab chap a sheep farm in the desert dont forget
It's called arable farming, I believe. Or is it 'aridible'?
mac1
Excellent mac, and very quick.
Orrible farm,
Everyone now knows Pfizer to be the most efficacious so is now most in demand.
Fortunately we ordered early. We also ordered other vaccines, and now it appears a mix may be our best defense, much as it is with influenza.
Everyone knows. Right? Here is a nice article comparing the available vaccines.
https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/02/comparing-the-covid-19-vaccines-developed-by-pfizer-moderna-and-johnson-johnson/
So please define '"everyone".
Thanks Sabine.
The Pfizer vaccine is simply the best.
@ PB
From earlier this year – the fuckery surrounding acquisition of the pfizer vaccine.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-03-04/pfizer-pfe-has-a-moral-dilemma-deciding-where-the-vaccines-will-go
A bit of light relief. To me the funniest thing here is the girl asking knock knock dude if he wants a key. I guess that's me put in my place.
https://twitter.com/KiffinEileen/status/1409995781252075528?s=20
Where are the Dad jokes?
BOTTOM LEFT corner.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2021/06/jess-de-wahls-debacle-shows-you-can-only-really-be-cancelled-your-friends
OMG: I just had an amusing time responding to a query from my partner when she ran a across something out of her (?probably) physiotherapy treatment.
She was wondering 'what the hell' when a paper started out describing the effects of the "sonic hedgehog (SHH)".
At this point I am still suspecting a spoof… Eventually I find this…
Apparently the structure of the protein encoded from the genes looks spiky… like a hedgehog.
As a sub-note
The rest of the article explains exactly how important these genes and the signalling proteins are in body development.
A very effective way to make something obscure to something that I'm going to remember. Also a hint that scientists often grab jokes from popular culture.
For instance how the Thagomiser made its way into the description of dinosaur morphology.
as a student of gary larson < I can attest to the fact that the real world is getting more and more like larsons cartoons . my cat doesnt agree……
woodart – Go Gary!
I have a suspicion the quantum physics crowd started it when they started naming things "strange" and "quarks".
My fave is WIMPS – weakly interacting massive particles.
I've been spotifyng "The infinite monkey cage' there a baffling lot those physicists, hoping some of it's getting lodged somewhere.
There are quite a few gene names that make you laugh out loud. Scientists do have a sense of humour and don’t always go for the high-brow jokes.
Unfortunately, the
party pooperscancel culturePC brigade was on to it.https://www.nature.com/articles/news061106-2.pdf
More on facts versus fantasy. Concerning that so many New Zealanders struggle with the truth out there!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445828/false-facts-mistaken-for-reality-by-about-half-of-new-zealanders
Well it would help if the government and councils stopped promoting false and slanted facts.
– All water supplies need fluoride to stop tooth decay. Now this is not anti- fluoride but conflating the two issues over the whole country comes pretty close because there is tooth decay in fluoride areas as well.
– Wellington will grow by 80,000 people over the next 30 years. About a 40% increase.It wasn't labeled a high projection scenario, middle was about 30,000 but we are expected to plan on a figure that is dodgy at best
-The IRD ran a trial on 644,000 taxpayers for six months around their employer contributions. Really? Umm if you made a mistake on a system changeover maybe admit it?
Dunno about the other two, but you're overegging the fluoridation claims from what I can find.
The usual line is along the lines of "Fluoride is a natural substance that helps protect our teeth by making them stronger and by reducing tooth decay."
I have to look at this issue every few years and don't recall any categorical promises it will eliminate the problem by itself. And such a phrasing would inspire quite the rant from a particular colleague who has a definite obsession with precision in language
Not saying it never happened, but would love to know which council made that statement (if only to throw red meat at said colleague lol).
The fluoride claim was advanced in this which conflates the 6500 children needing hospital dental care with no fluoride supplies Were they all from those areas? or a large proportion. The claim further down about better dental health rests on some evidence work. Invoking Bloomfield was to try for the golden halo effect I imagine.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300254800/water-fluoridation-powers-to-be-taken-off-councils-giving-control-to-dr-ashley-bloomfield
From your link, Verrall said:
That doesn't read to me like all 6.5k admissions would be stopped if everywhere was fluoridated.
I don’t believe it.
Minister Mahuta's water reforms to amalgamate all the nations' water entities from 67 into 4 have been announced.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300345516/water-services-of-67-councils-to-be-amalgamated-into-4-water-entities-in-massive-shakeup
The safeguards against the potential for privatisation will be important.
Also she will have her work cut out showing how this corporatisation is different from Max Bradford taking away all the electricity gentailers from local government 20 years ago.
Or how it is different from any other smashing of local government in previous years like the removal of social housing from Councils by stealth.
Thank God there's a review being conducted in parallel about the future of local government. They look like they are about to become as useful as community boards.
"Or how it is different from any other smashing of local government in previous years like the removal of social housing from Councils by stealth."
Tell us more. You see, if it's done by stealth then we don't know about it!
Councils banned from applying for funds to assist with public housing.
So they do the math, and then sell them off.
What councils, what houses where, how many?
At the moment it's more assertion, Ad. You may be right, but we still don't know anything about these stealthy moves.
“They look like they are about to become as useful as community boards”.
Yikes!
🙂
Possibly the whole problem relates back to confusion about what were 'community boards' – free-for-all house cladding?
Do nooot laugh about community boards. Aren't Mickey Savages chickens back in Titirangi? The community board has my complete sympathy on that unsolvable issue.
"The safeguards against the potential for privatisation will be important."
This.
And this solves what exactly? And delivers what to local communities? Why not form a Ministry of Works – water division – that has some decent engineers and goes around councils sorting out the technical problems of water delivery and implementation and maybe there is a subsidy per head/ by location to put it in and continue delivery and then leave it with the council ownership.
We need engineers on this not overpaid CEO's and potential privatisation.
Maybe I need to put a tank supply in for moi and get my drinking water from a stand pipe at the end of the street.
RedBaroncv Your idea sounds practical and effective governing. I predict it won't fly – everyone will say it sucks. So no water division – just the division as usual.
Was talking to a local councillor who went to the briefing they gave down south.
They were unimpressed. It's called "three waters" but wastewater and stormwater were barely mentioned in their briefing documents, the focus was almost entirely on drinking water. And they were also unimpressed with the guy in charge's attitude to the legislative requirement for dealing with Mana Whenua – the councillor felt it was regarded as token consultation, rather than the required "giving effect" to their te Mana o te Wai statements.
We'll see, I guess.
A briefing says it all doesn't it really! Do what we say, don't bother about a democratic community discussion.
Briefing was my word, I think. But it did seem light on consultation.
Mana whenua have to be half of each Board. Detail in the Cabinet papers released on appointment processes.
Yep.
the talk didn't seem to appreciate that.
5th state in Australia to have Covid community transmission. A family in South Australia.
Source 9 news Australia.
Yeah right tui when it comes to having a partial reopening of the trans Tasman bubble.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445820/resource-management-act-replacement-could-be-a-catastrophic-disaster-planning-expert
..The idea is to consolidate about 100 RMA plans and policy statements down to about 14 – but details of the committees will work is still forthcoming.
The government said the new system will be less complex and more efficient – but Massey University Associate Professor of Planning Caroline Miller rejects that.
She said the proposal contains a massive new set of overly complex and centralised rules and procedures – and is too much change in one go…
"I'm not trying to be ageist but they'll take on a lot of bright new young things who have no idea – and they will be shoved in at the deep end."
Miller said the whole process could easily come grinding to a halt.
"I think there's a potential for a huge, real catastrophic breakdown….
Another Great Leap Forward by a modernising, vital, fast-acting Labour Government dealing with all the big and little problems, going further than other governments ever tried to reach.
In case of winter blues, Covid fatigue or the desire for a distraction, I heartily recommend Talkback.
A new show on TVNZ on demand. Created by Mike Minogue and Jason Hoyte. Ginette McDonald and Morgana O'Reilly also feature in the cast.
Well written, incisive and funny. Most of the characters in the show are recognisable.