"An experienced miner who once headed Spring Creek is behind plans to reopen it, with a decision from regulators due mid-2021."
Permit…and Jobs
"Terra Firma Mining Ltd announced in July it wanted to drain the mine and reopen it with a smaller operation, targeting the specialist market of silicon manufacturing.
It would target about 200,000 tonnes of coal a year and employ 60 staff when in production.
Terra Firma has already applied for the minerals permit, and says it has the staff and equipment ready to start work."
I've talked to many people…and they are genuinely Interested in what the Greens offer for Work alternatives? (Not just in the coal replacing areas either. )
Oh…and an FYI for the "interested"…I dont use coal. And see its replacement as Urgent. I also signed petition against Denniston mine …and others…. Anyway.
I am going purple in the face from holding my breath re cannabis outcome …hopefully I will be able to exhale @ 2pm..I actually voted no on the euthanasia bill…three reasons for that ..one is the high standard of palliative care in this country..so end of life suffering is minimised..(so what is the problem we are trying to fix here..?)..second is fear of abuse/coercion by family ..trying to hurry things along…and the third is class/race-based…as in the poor and those others already proven to receive less care than white folks..will no doubt be euthanized at a higher rate than those monied/white folks…and to my mind any one of those three reasons is reason enough to say no….
Kier Starmer apparently hit a cyclist and then left the scene before the police arrived in London on Sunday just past, he was apparently on his way to his tailor in his SUV at the time. It has given rise to a mild joke doing the rounds at the moment in the UK that goes he hit the cyclist because he indicated he was turning left but went right instead.
Such a joke is strong indicator that the jury of the wisdom of the crowd is now in on Starmer while the circumstances – few in the UK visit their tailor on a Sunday – gives us a glimpse of the world of the British elite. Out of touch, lacking self-awareness, narcissistic and a smug assumption of being above the law. No wonder the shambolic British coronavirus response has been marked by corruption, nepotism, and incompetence.
The British Labour party is still behind in the polls despite the catastrophic handing of the pandemic but it seems from news from the UK that the real enemy is the is still the Labour left and Jeremy Corbyn, and weaponising anti-Semitism as a way to ensure the most obvious current threat to the rule of the British ruling class are removed from anywhere near the levers of official power. Tory-lite waiting interminably for muggins turn.
Looking at the UK, you have to conclude their post-imperial decline is gathering pace. Covid has smashed British soft power. It is the biggest hit to British prestige and cultural influence since the fall of Singapore in 1942. The UK consists of a ghastly tinsel monarchy imprisoned in a Byzantine thicket of pretentious protocol, a frantic and ridiculous English nativism that props up a myth of great power status via hollow imperial pomposity, An economy that relies on selling weapons to brutal Wahhabist extremists, squandered oil reserves pissed up against the wall on tax cuts and sticking plaster welfare and a corrupt to its eyeballs upper class ruling clique that has given up even pretending to care about anyone except themselves and the crony capitalism they all benefit from. The electoral system is a train wreck, obsolete, dysfunctional yet apparently unreformable for reasons of Westminster’s "greatness" as the "Mother of Parliaments" (despite the fact that NZ's parliament is nowadays more representative, elected by a fairer system, and by a considerable margin the oldest fully representative parliament in the world).
What a shocking state of affairs, no wonder the Scots want out, Northern Ireland is thinking the South isn’t that bad after all and even the Wales, long regarded as the personal property of the British crown, is umming and arring about going it alone. I’d want to be shot of the English shit-show as well if I were them.
For those interested in the actual investigation into anti-Semetism within the Corbyn-led Labour Party, here's the summarised findings of the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission report for you to consider:
…and for those interested in some actual thoughts on Corbyn..or atleast opinion from people who are not on record as having gleeful bias against any and all policies and stands associated with Corbyn.. here's another great piece from David Graeber..
I was tempted to go over the Guardians hatchet job on Corbyn..however I recal covering their proud stand against Corbyn so often I started boring myself..I only hope the Guardian folk are enjoying life under Boris..and I wish them the best of luck getting any traction with Starmer..
Thanks for that vid Siobhan. Very fluent speaker well expressed thoughts. I didn't like to know that The Guardian were keeping up a running barrage against Corbyn but it seems so, and the best that can be said for that is they were consistent? But what stuck with me was that report on the way that officials within the Labour Party actively did as little as possible for him, which seems like an oxymoron. But it seems that there are many morons in politics, and oxy- is only one. Hah, sad laughter.
Being stabbed in the back puts him amongst Greats such as Julius Caesar, and one day if we have managed to record and retain our history, the treatment of him by his own embedded, and embittered? Party officials will be seen as an equivalent great tragedy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar
I see that Mika 3.5 at 10.12am has linked to apparently the same David Graeber address. It definitely is worth listening to in full. Also to see the faces of famous wonderful Jewish people and historic moments, some of them infamous.
Sometimes we see national decay occurring faster than it is, because we want to see it.
States have this decade become masters at exploiting the seams between peace and war. What constitutes an asset or a weapon in this grey area longer has to go 'bang'.
Energy, cash, corrupt business practices, cyber attacks, assassination, fake news, propaganda, trade disputes, and indeed military intimidation are all examples used to gain advantage in this era of constant competition. In this respect the UK does very well.
It's not kind, or polite, or even-handed, or sometimes even rule based. And we've been waiting for hubris to catch up with UK colonialism in one great redemptive wave for a while.
It's not going to happen. London remains the financial capital of Europe. The UK remains the energy leader of Europe. Britain's public institutions remain strong. Its companies remain dominant in the world.
The last time I can recall someone trying to evaluate global soft and hard power as an evaluation of national capacity, it was the Henry Jackson Society.
Yes lots to debate in the methodology there, but worth a read all the same.
It all comes down to a pair of concepts we can easily grasp but spend little time pondering.The first is continuity: the idea that the positive things that make your life today possible—health, shelter, clean water, food, education, clothing, a functioning government, and so on—will still be around tomorrow. The second is economies of scale (and it's close cousin specialisation).
Both are necessary for successful nation to establish itself and then develop. Both heavily depend on geography; locations in the world that have secure borders, easily integrated interiors and sufficient size to gain economies of scale are rare.
For instance Russia has any amount of scale, but lacks decent borders, while NZ is the most protected nation on earth, but we're too small to gain scale. My main quibble with this document is that while it tosses many interesting factors into the mix, it places too low a weight on the ones that really matter in the long run.
The reason why I keep returning to this theme is that the post WW2 US-led order is coming to an end. It was a unique period of human history where virtually all nations could trade with all others, with both the security guarantee and trade mechanisms propped up by the USA. For all of our lifetimes, geography never really mattered the way it did through 10,000 yrs of conquest and empire.
Well now the Yanks are going home, and once again geography will matter. And we're not really accustomed to this.
What can Biden do if deaths are pushing towards 300,000 by early January when (if) he assumes office – and still climbing? Trump has so poisoned the well that coordinated, national action seems impossible without battles on the streets with armed Covid-deniers.
2-5 are good, but are chasing after the virus. No. 6 requires that a safe, effective vaccine actually exists. No. 1 is where the opportunity lies to actually make a difference, but if executed via real actions like short, sharp lockdowns and giving everybody money to survive, will spark the contention and violence everyone fears.
I don't see Biden as having the will (or support from his donors) to do what actually works. And I certainly don't buy the insinuation that Biden is some sort of under-rated policy genius who will surprise everyone.
Were they given free rein to branch out wherever they saw fit?
This from the above link – green left: New bill aims to allow foreign troops and foreign police to be used in ‘emergencies’
The new bill has not received a lot of media attention. However, human rights lawyer Kellie Tranter said in September that “there are a number of elements that are concerning and will impact on civil liberties”.
In her briefing paper she said that the bill not only fails to properly define “other emergencies”, it also: “delegates too much responsibility for the call out to a single minister; permits foreign armies and police forces to be called in; does not restrict the use of force for defence forces and extends an unreasonable level of immunity for the defence force from criminal and civil penalties.
“Defence forces used in a civilian context should not be normalised”, she said…
This bill enables foreign military forces and foreign police to be used in emergencies; and with immunity from prosecution and the assistance that they are providing is at the discretions of the minister.
I think the lawyer in OZ sees the move as enabling a virtual occupying force if there were enough protests or on just about any excuse if blown up enough, and can be done on the brainfart of one particular minister.
It's a bit like the lawyer who got the judgement that the first week of lockdown was illegal, in my opinion.
It's good for lawyers to raise these points, but they're not really big news that the population should be aghast at. If there are so many protests in aus that state and federal police, supported by aussie soldiers, aren't enough, then inviting in the US 7th Fleet isn't going to help.
But if there are multi-state wildfires in the southeast and a tsunami hits the Gold Coast, better to smooth the legalities of international assistance now.
The 59th US presidential election is set to take place on Wednesday, New Zealand time.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Safe Travel website said political activity, including rallies and protests, could be expected in the lead-up to the election and the presidential inauguration.
"Even protests or political rallies which are intended to be peaceful can result in violence," it said.
"A strong police and/or National Guard presence can be expected at any further protests. Police measures have, at times, included the use of rubber bullets and/or pepper spray to disperse crowds."
United States troops and others have practised maneouvres in NZ using a similar scenario happening here, to be the background for organising their actions.
They got the same as what NZ constables have, e.g. arresting the wrong person. Not exactly the same phrasing as "good faith", but a clear test of reasonableness.
The Democrats in the U.S.A and Labour in the UK have fought harder against their own progressive voices in Sanders and Corbyn than they have against their conservative governments. Makes me feel ill
I think I'll support The Canary it looks promising for useful information well presented.
I have been getting samples of what The Telegraph puts up and have formed my own opinion about it. It seems to me to appeal to the hoity toity in the UK and come out with snide little pieces about the young Royals, a fair amount to amuse the comfortable middle class, and sneery bits about left concerns with only a few that indicate a balanced viewpoint towards politics. I can't waste my time reading those things.
The Canary cheeps well by the looks of it. Thanks BG for putting that up. However I think I will donate to The Guardian too if they have a useful news service that will accept my 'mite'.
"Corbyn's worst crime was to speak out against Israel's treatment of Palestinians, and continued encroachment on their land."
I think it is more about the attempts by the Blairite wing of the party to use any means necessary to defeat Corbynism, and Corbyn's support for Palestine gave them the opportunity. I don't think Starmer et al are doing this because they have strong views on Israel and Palestine; their goal is to bring the days of the mass membership party to an end and turn UK Labour into a Blairite rump.
The ensuing civil war in UK Labour will run for decades after this.
I don't think the same applies to UK. UK Labour party has a long history of being the organised wing of the labour movement, and the links to the unions have been retained even during the Kinnock and Blair eras. So the potential for UK Labour to become again a mass socialist party of the working class has remained, in a way that it hasn't in NZ Labour.
Or the plan is to be so outrageous in the condemnation of anti-Semitism that barely exists, that you end up provoking the real thing. Thereby creating a retrospective justification of your original outrageous claims.
It looks to me like Britain is going down the same path of chaos and anarchy as the USA. The methods being used are different but the end result is the same. And it is the neoliberal ideology which is largely responsible – the rise in narcissism… power at all cost… nepotism (in Britain the notion that upper class toffs should rule) and deeply embedded corruption in high places.
This thought came to me this morning, it seems to fit in with yours.
The splitting of communism by capitalism in the apparent triumph of the USA over Russia's apparent ambitions seems to have resulted in lesser concern for people, effectiveness of the country's living conditions and businesses.
It seems to confirm the economic thing about needing competition to stop a monopoly getting slack and incompetent. Having communism seen as an opposition forced the USA to show that it was better in every way. Now it just shambles round like an old drunk with money, indulging itself uncaring about affects on others and looking for others drunk with whatever – finding the UK and perhaps France to be drinking buddies with, (and Australia eager to join the party and sneer at the wowsers outside).
Lisa from the Simpsons with a message to us in these times!
My point is confirmed about the need to love our parents, not disdain them, regard them as a boring drain on the country which it might surprise many people, is the received message by many from their treatment by authorities here.
More than 60 percent of new entrants in some low-decile schools in Christchurch struggle to express themselves in words. Of the 247 children tested by researchers at Canterbury University 16 percent could not pronounce the few words they did know properly.
The director of the Child Well-Being Research Institute, Professor Gail Gillon, who is leading the study, said the root causes were complex, including household stress and parents working multiple jobs to pay for the necessities of life, leaving them no time to spend with their children. Screen-time was also a factor because it reduces talking time.
Children aren't developing properly because their parents don't talk to them enough. Other matters have priority like getting back to work when they are still babies. And coming home tired and stressed from work ever after. For many, seeming to have a good standard of living, getting back to work to afford the house payments would be a priority after a certain amount of maternity leave.
Or the parents are in the precariat, and don't receive enough wages and state monetary assistance that is not a loan and when they are at home are too uptight and edgy to sit long with the child, playing with it, having little games of pick up the toy, singing with it, later reading with it.
There isn't time, they have to be out of their house in a month and have to find something else, hopefully near the kid's school, or they have to find a new school too. Etc etc and on. What a bloody life to offer young parents in a country that prided itself on being the best to bring children up in. All words, and fleeting emotion, a bit of sentimentality that we didn't really mean and care enough to hold onto. What hypocrites we have been. Can we find our way back to a reasonable standard of care now?? Or have we declined into sterile modernity and it's all SEP and technology will be brought forward to manage every aspect of our lives? Make up your minds.
By the way when I say 'our parents' I am thinking nation-wide not our personal parents. There seems a need for some group to be scapegoats in any society – that is where all the bad values tend to reside. And I fear that young parents and especially unmarried ones, have been made the official ones by the preachy, and pseudo-religious in management roles, and the cant of politicians who seem to be figures of rectitude in their electorates.
Yeah, will be comical to see them withdraw from one union, for the 'independence', and attempt to immediately join another far more restrictive and less sovereign one in Europe.
But yes, a hard border please, no use of Sterling in their economy and renewable permits needed to live and/or work in England will do for starters. Oi oi saveloy.
The greedy/grasping rentier-class/slumlords writ large…rents have gone up 25 percent in porirua in the last year..one of the poorest suburbs in nz…scum-sucking bastards they are..
Blast!! So sorry Barfly. So close and yet too far for the specials I think. However, I am heartened by the number of specials.. we need two thirds of those to get yes.
Also there is talk of a members bill if the vote is extremely close, so waiting.
I was thinking more that it would be in tune with their essential corporatism. But then again they are both action and risk averse – they may take a leaf from the book of Key.
So cannabis for personal use is banned, and will stay in the hands of the gangs and illegal trade, criminalising perfectly ordinary recreational users. Medicinal cannabis for perfectly legitimate reasons will remain in the hands of Big Pharma and be prohibitively expensive. I just don't get it.
It is going to be harder for the Green Party members to accept the party working with the government after they ruled out decriminalisation without any apparent consultation.
In contrast, the cannabis referendum is not binding. It was set up as part of the Green Party's confidence and supply agreement with Labour. A proposed legal regime is outlined in the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, but there's no legal obligation for it to be adopted wholesale if the referendum passes.
"On the issue of marijuana, that is a conscience vote for the Labour Party… we do not have a position as a whole party," said Ardern. "My view therefore would not be the Labour Party view.
The first priority, she said, would be to ensure "young people do not end up damaging themselves as a result of access, because that is what I saw as a young person".
"Second, I don't want to see people unnecessarily criminalised. Whatever outcome, that’s what I think we should be looking to achieve."
Ardern was asked today if Labour would consider decriminalisation of cannabis as an alternative, if the legalisation effort failed but the party returned to power.
"Only if it is considered in the public interest to do so," she said. "What I am interested in doing is looking at the circumstances of the way that the change of law is happening now. Is it meeting our expectations?"
i think it was quite clear before the election that if the referendum were to fail that looking to the Labour party for something would be a big fat waste of time. As for the Green Party, the Labour Party at this stage owes them nothing and does not need to consult nor ask the Greens for anything.
As one person who supports the Greens all I can say is, I no longer trust the Labour Party to do the right thing. And I would advise that they reconsider taking Ministerial positions or having anything to do with them.
This three year period is going to be monumental disappointment and they would be better advised to have nothing to do with it and thus retain credibility via independence – holding this lot to account now needs to be their prime job.
The 'holding to account' needs to happen before any election, once the count is in its to late. And frankly, to many people got cought up in that fearmongering that National would have a chance – were clearly they never had. That led people to vote for Labour as if FPTP is still the law of the land. And in regards to the weed referendum, Labour was quite clear about 'not gonna do much if it gets a no vote' before the election.
And like National, Labour now risks becoming a no mates party.
It had a mandate for decriminalisation – around 49% for legalisation and a major group in the no campaign supported decriminalisatuion.
Not acting on that mandate, after the party leader said they would look to reduce harm to people (whatever the result) is indicative that Labour is going to upset half their own party and the Greens just to retain some centre support.
It'll take a year and people will be saying Ardern is the best National Party voter supported PM since Key. Not praise as high as that for Douglas, who was rated a better Min of Finance than Muldoon.
It'll take a year and people will be saying Ardern is the best National Party voter supported PM since Key.
some of us said that before the election 🙂 .
anyways, the child has fallen into the well, and no use for crying over spilled beans.
Fact is that Labour could tomorrow simply state that it would go the way of Holland, Canada, the US etc and start with decriming personal use, small possesion and growing for own use. Tomorrow. All on its own. And they don't. Everything else is not important. They have the numbers to go it alone and they don't. And worse even, they don't even bother coming up with a justification that is science based, costed – both the cost of implementation, the cost of savings in regards to prison time, home D etc, and the subsequent investment into mental health and general well being, and last the emotional one 'what about personal freedom and choice'. So it seems Labour has no issues with the status quo, no matter the harm it causes.
Which explains the no affordable dental and the cheap diabetic drug Maori get which means they go onto kidney dialysis 10 years before they should (which makes them more vulnerable during a pandemic).
National will not hold them to account, nor ACT – it has to be Greens.
I agree..the whole referendum thing was a cop-out .. an abdication of authority/leadership on arderns' part…she should have shown some leadership ..that's what leaders are expected to do…that's why they are elected…so now we end up with this mess..if we wanted 100 percent consensus all the time..we'd elect counsellors to rule over us..
Labour is competing to be the party of government, the space is more narrow since Key.
He kept interest free fees and WFF tax credits, Labour went brightline 2 to 5 years and now a top rate of tax like Clark had (both these adjustments National will remove in 2023 or 2026).
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Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
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Coal Mining
"An experienced miner who once headed Spring Creek is behind plans to reopen it, with a decision from regulators due mid-2021."
Permit…and Jobs
"Terra Firma Mining Ltd announced in July it wanted to drain the mine and reopen it with a smaller operation, targeting the specialist market of silicon manufacturing.
It would target about 200,000 tonnes of coal a year and employ 60 staff when in production.
Terra Firma has already applied for the minerals permit, and says it has the staff and equipment ready to start work."
On this side…
https://www.letstalkaboutcoal.co.nz/coal-in-nz/
The other…
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2010/S00211/activists-deliver-a-message-to-mining-lobby-straterra-as-mining-lobby-cancels-conference.htm
I've talked to many people…and they are genuinely Interested in what the Greens offer for Work alternatives? (Not just in the coal replacing areas either. )
Oh…and an FYI for the "interested"…I dont use coal. And see its replacement as Urgent. I also signed petition against Denniston mine …and others…. Anyway.
Fingers crossed that the cannabis referendum is close enough today to win outright or to flip on the specials
Yes, thinking of those who are living in hope of the affimative.
I am going purple in the face from holding my breath re cannabis outcome …hopefully I will be able to exhale @ 2pm..I actually voted no on the euthanasia bill…three reasons for that ..one is the high standard of palliative care in this country..so end of life suffering is minimised..(so what is the problem we are trying to fix here..?)..second is fear of abuse/coercion by family ..trying to hurry things along…and the third is class/race-based…as in the poor and those others already proven to receive less care than white folks..will no doubt be euthanized at a higher rate than those monied/white folks…and to my mind any one of those three reasons is reason enough to say no….
This must be how a national party voter felt on election nite. .I am 2 for zero on the referendums ..
Kier Starmer apparently hit a cyclist and then left the scene before the police arrived in London on Sunday just past, he was apparently on his way to his tailor in his SUV at the time. It has given rise to a mild joke doing the rounds at the moment in the UK that goes he hit the cyclist because he indicated he was turning left but went right instead.
Such a joke is strong indicator that the jury of the wisdom of the crowd is now in on Starmer while the circumstances – few in the UK visit their tailor on a Sunday – gives us a glimpse of the world of the British elite. Out of touch, lacking self-awareness, narcissistic and a smug assumption of being above the law. No wonder the shambolic British coronavirus response has been marked by corruption, nepotism, and incompetence.
The British Labour party is still behind in the polls despite the catastrophic handing of the pandemic but it seems from news from the UK that the real enemy is the is still the Labour left and Jeremy Corbyn, and weaponising anti-Semitism as a way to ensure the most obvious current threat to the rule of the British ruling class are removed from anywhere near the levers of official power. Tory-lite waiting interminably for muggins turn.
Looking at the UK, you have to conclude their post-imperial decline is gathering pace. Covid has smashed British soft power. It is the biggest hit to British prestige and cultural influence since the fall of Singapore in 1942. The UK consists of a ghastly tinsel monarchy imprisoned in a Byzantine thicket of pretentious protocol, a frantic and ridiculous English nativism that props up a myth of great power status via hollow imperial pomposity, An economy that relies on selling weapons to brutal Wahhabist extremists, squandered oil reserves pissed up against the wall on tax cuts and sticking plaster welfare and a corrupt to its eyeballs upper class ruling clique that has given up even pretending to care about anyone except themselves and the crony capitalism they all benefit from. The electoral system is a train wreck, obsolete, dysfunctional yet apparently unreformable for reasons of Westminster’s "greatness" as the "Mother of Parliaments" (despite the fact that NZ's parliament is nowadays more representative, elected by a fairer system, and by a considerable margin the oldest fully representative parliament in the world).
What a shocking state of affairs, no wonder the Scots want out, Northern Ireland is thinking the South isn’t that bad after all and even the Wales, long regarded as the personal property of the British crown, is umming and arring about going it alone. I’d want to be shot of the English shit-show as well if I were them.
Starmer's continuing to do a wonderful job on behalf of the tories. Reminds us that the ABC brigade are still around in parts under Ardern.
Great summation, wonderful writing, nice one.
For those interested in the actual investigation into anti-Semetism within the Corbyn-led Labour Party, here's the summarised findings of the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission report for you to consider:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/29/key-findings-of-the-ehrc-inquiry-into-labour-antisemitism
…and for those interested in some actual thoughts on Corbyn..or atleast opinion from people who are not on record as having gleeful bias against any and all policies and stands associated with Corbyn.. here's another great piece from David Graeber..
I was tempted to go over the Guardians hatchet job on Corbyn..however I recal covering their proud stand against Corbyn so often I started boring myself..I only hope the Guardian folk are enjoying life under Boris..and I wish them the best of luck getting any traction with Starmer..
Read the EHRC report. It's where the actual investigation is.
If you don't like The Guardian, try the actual report and make up your own mind.
and I shall keep in mind the History between the EHRC and Corbyn..
https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/former-equalities-watchdog-chief-trevor-phillips-suspended-from-labour/
and this..
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jul/21/equality-human-rights-commission
So, while interesting I do not regard the EHRC to be the final word on this issue.
Thanks for that vid Siobhan. Very fluent speaker well expressed thoughts. I didn't like to know that The Guardian were keeping up a running barrage against Corbyn but it seems so, and the best that can be said for that is they were consistent? But what stuck with me was that report on the way that officials within the Labour Party actively did as little as possible for him, which seems like an oxymoron. But it seems that there are many morons in politics, and oxy- is only one. Hah, sad laughter.
Being stabbed in the back puts him amongst Greats such as Julius Caesar, and one day if we have managed to record and retain our history, the treatment of him by his own embedded, and embittered? Party officials will be seen as an equivalent great tragedy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar
I see that Mika 3.5 at 10.12am has linked to apparently the same David Graeber address. It definitely is worth listening to in full. Also to see the faces of famous wonderful Jewish people and historic moments, some of them infamous.
Sometimes we see national decay occurring faster than it is, because we want to see it.
States have this decade become masters at exploiting the seams between peace and war. What constitutes an asset or a weapon in this grey area longer has to go 'bang'.
Energy, cash, corrupt business practices, cyber attacks, assassination, fake news, propaganda, trade disputes, and indeed military intimidation are all examples used to gain advantage in this era of constant competition. In this respect the UK does very well.
It's not kind, or polite, or even-handed, or sometimes even rule based. And we've been waiting for hubris to catch up with UK colonialism in one great redemptive wave for a while.
It's not going to happen. London remains the financial capital of Europe. The UK remains the energy leader of Europe. Britain's public institutions remain strong. Its companies remain dominant in the world.
The last time I can recall someone trying to evaluate global soft and hard power as an evaluation of national capacity, it was the Henry Jackson Society.
https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HJS-2019-Audit-of-Geopolitical-Capability-Report-web.pdf
Britain was still ranked second in the world.
Plenty to argue about in the methodology section, but there's no story of inevitable entropy in there.
Yes lots to debate in the methodology there, but worth a read all the same.
It all comes down to a pair of concepts we can easily grasp but spend little time pondering.The first is continuity: the idea that the positive things that make your life today possible—health, shelter, clean water, food, education, clothing, a functioning government, and so on—will still be around tomorrow. The second is economies of scale (and it's close cousin specialisation).
Both are necessary for successful nation to establish itself and then develop. Both heavily depend on geography; locations in the world that have secure borders, easily integrated interiors and sufficient size to gain economies of scale are rare.
For instance Russia has any amount of scale, but lacks decent borders, while NZ is the most protected nation on earth, but we're too small to gain scale. My main quibble with this document is that while it tosses many interesting factors into the mix, it places too low a weight on the ones that really matter in the long run.
The reason why I keep returning to this theme is that the post WW2 US-led order is coming to an end. It was a unique period of human history where virtually all nations could trade with all others, with both the security guarantee and trade mechanisms propped up by the USA. For all of our lifetimes, geography never really mattered the way it did through 10,000 yrs of conquest and empire.
Well now the Yanks are going home, and once again geography will matter. And we're not really accustomed to this.
Really interesting video from a Jewish socialist/anarchist on the background to anti-semitism and accusations of such within the political left.
https://www.doubledown.news/watch/2020/12/april/the-weaponisation-of-labour-antisemitism-david-graeber
First we had the nasty-ass honey badger don't care, now we have nasty-ass covey spreader don't care.
What can Biden do if deaths are pushing towards 300,000 by early January when (if) he assumes office – and still climbing? Trump has so poisoned the well that coordinated, national action seems impossible without battles on the streets with armed Covid-deniers.
Well, he could just follow the plan he has set out. It includes:
1. Set consistent, evidence-based guidance to stop outbreaks
2. Seriously ramp up testing
3. Establish a US Public Health Jobs Corps
4. Help people get health insurance
5. Create a caregiving workforce
6. Bolster resources for vaccine distribution and PPE production
There's trucks of detail under that.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/28/928392673/coronavirus-is-a-key-campaign-issue-whats-joe-biden-s-plan
Of course, for any of that, Biden has to win.
2-5 are good, but are chasing after the virus. No. 6 requires that a safe, effective vaccine actually exists. No. 1 is where the opportunity lies to actually make a difference, but if executed via real actions like short, sharp lockdowns and giving everybody money to survive, will spark the contention and violence everyone fears.
I don't see Biden as having the will (or support from his donors) to do what actually works. And I certainly don't buy the insinuation that Biden is some sort of under-rated policy genius who will surprise everyone.
What the heck are they expecting in Australia?
Hiring Fijian troops to run their refugee concentration camps?
Didn't we get Aussie cops to assist after the earthquake?
Were they given free rein to branch out wherever they saw fit?
This from the above link – green left:
New bill aims to allow foreign troops and foreign police to be used in ‘emergencies’
The new bill has not received a lot of media attention. However, human rights lawyer Kellie Tranter said in September that “there are a number of elements that are concerning and will impact on civil liberties”.
In her briefing paper she said that the bill not only fails to properly define “other emergencies”, it also: “delegates too much responsibility for the call out to a single minister; permits foreign armies and police forces to be called in; does not restrict the use of force for defence forces and extends an unreasonable level of immunity for the defence force from criminal and civil penalties.
“Defence forces used in a civilian context should not be normalised”, she said…
This bill enables foreign military forces and foreign police to be used in emergencies; and with immunity from prosecution and the assistance that they are providing is at the discretions of the minister.
Same rein as NZ cops.
I think the lawyer in OZ sees the move as enabling a virtual occupying force if there were enough protests or on just about any excuse if blown up enough, and can be done on the brainfart of one particular minister.
It's a bit like the lawyer who got the judgement that the first week of lockdown was illegal, in my opinion.
It's good for lawyers to raise these points, but they're not really big news that the population should be aghast at. If there are so many protests in aus that state and federal police, supported by aussie soldiers, aren't enough, then inviting in the US 7th Fleet isn't going to help.
But if there are multi-state wildfires in the southeast and a tsunami hits the Gold Coast, better to smooth the legalities of international assistance now.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429483/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-trade-issues-warning-for-new-zealanders-ahead-of-us-election
The 59th US presidential election is set to take place on Wednesday, New Zealand time.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Safe Travel website said political activity, including rallies and protests, could be expected in the lead-up to the election and the presidential inauguration.
"Even protests or political rallies which are intended to be peaceful can result in violence," it said.
"A strong police and/or National Guard presence can be expected at any further protests. Police measures have, at times, included the use of rubber bullets and/or pepper spray to disperse crowds."
United States troops and others have practised maneouvres in NZ using a similar scenario happening here, to be the background for organising their actions.
And a mutual training agreement does not require emergency powers.
They didn't get immunity from prosecution when carrying out their duties.
They got the same as what NZ constables have, e.g. arresting the wrong person. Not exactly the same phrasing as "good faith", but a clear test of reasonableness.
Corbyn's worst crime was to speak out against Israel's treatment of Palestinians, and continued encroachment on their land.
The Democrats in the U.S.A and Labour in the UK have fought harder against their own progressive voices in Sanders and Corbyn than they have against their conservative governments. Makes me feel ill
Corbyn's victimisation by Starmer is not going down well.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2020/10/29/jeremy-corbyns-shocking-suspension-is-met-with-an-outpouring-of-solidarity-on-social-media/
I think I'll support The Canary it looks promising for useful information well presented.
I have been getting samples of what The Telegraph puts up and have formed my own opinion about it. It seems to me to appeal to the hoity toity in the UK and come out with snide little pieces about the young Royals, a fair amount to amuse the comfortable middle class, and sneery bits about left concerns with only a few that indicate a balanced viewpoint towards politics. I can't waste my time reading those things.
The Canary cheeps well by the looks of it. Thanks BG for putting that up. However I think I will donate to The Guardian too if they have a useful news service that will accept my 'mite'.
I think it is more about the attempts by the Blairite wing of the party to use any means necessary to defeat Corbynism, and Corbyn's support for Palestine gave them the opportunity. I don't think Starmer et al are doing this because they have strong views on Israel and Palestine; their goal is to bring the days of the mass membership party to an end and turn UK Labour into a Blairite rump.
The ensuing civil war in UK Labour will run for decades after this.
Agreed Mika….if they had MMP Corbyn would already have formed a new left wing party.
I don't think the same applies to UK. UK Labour party has a long history of being the organised wing of the labour movement, and the links to the unions have been retained even during the Kinnock and Blair eras. So the potential for UK Labour to become again a mass socialist party of the working class has remained, in a way that it hasn't in NZ Labour.
Or the plan is to be so outrageous in the condemnation of anti-Semitism that barely exists, that you end up provoking the real thing. Thereby creating a retrospective justification of your original outrageous claims.
More than one Jewish socialist commentator has suggested this is what has actually happened.
Or being lazy about anything involving disagreeing with anybody. That mural thing was just stupid.
Corbyn's worst crime was losing when he should have won.
The rest is excuses.
It looks to me like Britain is going down the same path of chaos and anarchy as the USA. The methods being used are different but the end result is the same. And it is the neoliberal ideology which is largely responsible – the rise in narcissism… power at all cost… nepotism (in Britain the notion that upper class toffs should rule) and deeply embedded corruption in high places.
This thought came to me this morning, it seems to fit in with yours.
The splitting of communism by capitalism in the apparent triumph of the USA over Russia's apparent ambitions seems to have resulted in lesser concern for people, effectiveness of the country's living conditions and businesses.
It seems to confirm the economic thing about needing competition to stop a monopoly getting slack and incompetent. Having communism seen as an opposition forced the USA to show that it was better in every way. Now it just shambles round like an old drunk with money, indulging itself uncaring about affects on others and looking for others drunk with whatever – finding the UK and perhaps France to be drinking buddies with, (and Australia eager to join the party and sneer at the wowsers outside).
Lisa from the Simpsons with a message to us in these times!
My point is confirmed about the need to love our parents, not disdain them, regard them as a boring drain on the country which it might surprise many people, is the received message by many from their treatment by authorities here.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429462/screen-time-a-concern-as-research-finds-poor-language-skills-for-new-entrant-children
Alarming numbers of children are starting school with very poor language skills, with some only speaking like two year olds…
More than 60 percent of new entrants in some low-decile schools in Christchurch struggle to express themselves in words.
Of the 247 children tested by researchers at Canterbury University 16 percent could not pronounce the few words they did know properly.
The director of the Child Well-Being Research Institute, Professor Gail Gillon, who is leading the study, said the root causes were complex, including household stress and parents working multiple jobs to pay for the necessities of life, leaving them no time to spend with their children.
Screen-time was also a factor because it reduces talking time.
Children aren't developing properly because their parents don't talk to them enough. Other matters have priority like getting back to work when they are still babies. And coming home tired and stressed from work ever after. For many, seeming to have a good standard of living, getting back to work to afford the house payments would be a priority after a certain amount of maternity leave.
Or the parents are in the precariat, and don't receive enough wages and state monetary assistance that is not a loan and when they are at home are too uptight and edgy to sit long with the child, playing with it, having little games of pick up the toy, singing with it, later reading with it.
There isn't time, they have to be out of their house in a month and have to find something else, hopefully near the kid's school, or they have to find a new school too. Etc etc and on. What a bloody life to offer young parents in a country that prided itself on being the best to bring children up in. All words, and fleeting emotion, a bit of sentimentality that we didn't really mean and care enough to hold onto. What hypocrites we have been. Can we find our way back to a reasonable standard of care now?? Or have we declined into sterile modernity and it's all SEP and technology will be brought forward to manage every aspect of our lives? Make up your minds.
By the way when I say 'our parents' I am thinking nation-wide not our personal parents. There seems a need for some group to be scapegoats in any society – that is where all the bad values tend to reside. And I fear that young parents and especially unmarried ones, have been made the official ones by the preachy, and pseudo-religious in management roles, and the cant of politicians who seem to be figures of rectitude in their electorates.
Can't wait to see Scotland vote for Independence and get rid of the sassenachs. Eisd O Eisd.
Yeah, will be comical to see them withdraw from one union, for the 'independence', and attempt to immediately join another far more restrictive and less sovereign one in Europe.
But yes, a hard border please, no use of Sterling in their economy and renewable permits needed to live and/or work in England will do for starters. Oi oi saveloy.
cant wait for scotland to vote for independence. end of union jack, we will HAVE to change our flag then.
The greedy/grasping rentier-class/slumlords writ large…rents have gone up 25 percent in porirua in the last year..one of the poorest suburbs in nz…scum-sucking bastards they are..
Agree. We need a working class Gvt to regulate rents based on the min-wage
Blast!! So sorry Barfly. So close and yet too far for the specials I think. However, I am heartened by the number of specials.. we need two thirds of those to get yes.
Also there is talk of a members bill if the vote is extremely close, so waiting.
At only 53% against in the cannabis referendum a member's bill would make sense.
It would get through in a referendum vote in 10 years time anyway.
Labour, being keen to support the post-Covid economy, may put it through anyway, if the referendum is pretty close.
They are saying on Stuff that if 69% of the 480k specials vote yes it will win.
Not impossible.
I was thinking more that it would be in tune with their essential corporatism. But then again they are both action and risk averse – they may take a leaf from the book of Key.
Stuart that is a perfect ditty for those who can't deal to the the nitty gritty.
So cannabis for personal use is banned, and will stay in the hands of the gangs and illegal trade, criminalising perfectly ordinary recreational users. Medicinal cannabis for perfectly legitimate reasons will remain in the hands of Big Pharma and be prohibitively expensive. I just don't get it.
It is going to be harder for the Green Party members to accept the party working with the government after they ruled out decriminalisation without any apparent consultation.
Questions
Because on the grounds of loss of trust alone, this is now quite possible.
this is from September
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/09/cannabis-referendum-jacinda-ardern-reveals-why-she-won-t-publicly-take-a-side.html
this from October
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-outlines-priorities-cannabis-reform-regardless-whether-referendum-passes
i think it was quite clear before the election that if the referendum were to fail that looking to the Labour party for something would be a big fat waste of time. As for the Green Party, the Labour Party at this stage owes them nothing and does not need to consult nor ask the Greens for anything.
As one person who supports the Greens all I can say is, I no longer trust the Labour Party to do the right thing. And I would advise that they reconsider taking Ministerial positions or having anything to do with them.
This three year period is going to be monumental disappointment and they would be better advised to have nothing to do with it and thus retain credibility via independence – holding this lot to account now needs to be their prime job.
The 'holding to account' needs to happen before any election, once the count is in its to late. And frankly, to many people got cought up in that fearmongering that National would have a chance – were clearly they never had. That led people to vote for Labour as if FPTP is still the law of the land. And in regards to the weed referendum, Labour was quite clear about 'not gonna do much if it gets a no vote' before the election.
And like National, Labour now risks becoming a no mates party.
It had a mandate for decriminalisation – around 49% for legalisation and a major group in the no campaign supported decriminalisatuion.
Not acting on that mandate, after the party leader said they would look to reduce harm to people (whatever the result) is indicative that Labour is going to upset half their own party and the Greens just to retain some centre support.
It'll take a year and people will be saying Ardern is the best National Party voter supported PM since Key. Not praise as high as that for Douglas, who was rated a better Min of Finance than Muldoon.
some of us said that before the election 🙂 .
anyways, the child has fallen into the well, and no use for crying over spilled beans.
Fact is that Labour could tomorrow simply state that it would go the way of Holland, Canada, the US etc and start with decriming personal use, small possesion and growing for own use. Tomorrow. All on its own. And they don't. Everything else is not important. They have the numbers to go it alone and they don't. And worse even, they don't even bother coming up with a justification that is science based, costed – both the cost of implementation, the cost of savings in regards to prison time, home D etc, and the subsequent investment into mental health and general well being, and last the emotional one 'what about personal freedom and choice'. So it seems Labour has no issues with the status quo, no matter the harm it causes.
Which explains the no affordable dental and the cheap diabetic drug Maori get which means they go onto kidney dialysis 10 years before they should (which makes them more vulnerable during a pandemic).
National will not hold them to account, nor ACT – it has to be Greens.
It should be us who holds them to account. All of them.
I agree..the whole referendum thing was a cop-out .. an abdication of authority/leadership on arderns' part…she should have shown some leadership ..that's what leaders are expected to do…that's why they are elected…so now we end up with this mess..if we wanted 100 percent consensus all the time..we'd elect counsellors to rule over us..
Labour is competing to be the party of government, the space is more narrow since Key.
He kept interest free fees and WFF tax credits, Labour went brightline 2 to 5 years and now a top rate of tax like Clark had (both these adjustments National will remove in 2023 or 2026).
The referendum was the Greens idea I thought – part of their agreement with Labour following the 2017 election.