The authors report a variety of reasons for the generational shift, with a selection of personal views sampled: 16, of which three quarters were brought up in a religious household but have evolved a more independent stance. Default to atheism is what the media do normally as the result of indoctrination into trad binary thinking.
Reluctance to acknowledge the general trend of western civilisation toward the personal spirituality option during the past half-century seems evident in the subtext, though that could be due to the RNZ editor being a slow learner rather than the authors. Census questions usually recycle the antiquated conventional religious framing, and Labour failed to shift them in the direction of reality, which would be evidenced by inclusion of a personal spirituality option in both the census questioning and resultant bar graphs!
Forgiving Behavior among Emerging Adults: The Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality and Personality Traits [15 March 2023]
Forgiveness is multifaceted in nature and therefore there is no consensus among researchers regarding its definition. However, most scholars agree on one aspect that forgiveness is an important psychological asset and is highly beneficial to self and others and promotes mental health and well-being. Increasing empirical literature states that those high in forgiveness experience greater self-rated health, recovery abilities, personal healing, and psychological well-being and decreased negative emotions, the risk for substance use, somatic symptoms and risk for mental illness.
Not really a good idea to forgive media pros for their incompetence &/or failure to provide suitable public service. However implying that discrimination against spiritual folk is a desirable leftist attribute seems rather uncouth. We ought to encourage both groups to do better.
Not really a good idea to forgive media pros for their incompetence &/or failure to provide suitable public service.
Would your 'suitable' suit everyone? Split a piece of wood; perceived incompetence is there. Lift up the stone, and you will find failure there.
We can all "do better" (I know I can) – to err is human, to forgive divine.
Elsewhere in his essay, Pope stresses the many human factors that lead to bad outcomes: overconfidence, tunnel vision, bias, prejudice and inconsistency, among others, and exhorts us to combine “good nature and good sense” in our judgment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_Criticism
Yes, I do agree that goodwill is crucial in politics. A basis for ongoing relevance of the teachings of Jesus around that, huh? Also relevant is the Dalai Lama's focus on compassion.
If you've ever seen a hospital ward, engineering company, aid organisation, or local charity, know that they are all chock full of Christians doing the work for you.
Default atheism is so useful in understanding the politics of south Auckland, west Auckland, Pacific Island states, the Middle East, South and middle America, all of Africa, southern and eastern Asia, Turkey, Ukraine, all post-soviet states, and Russia.
Go right ahead figuring them without all that "antiquated framing" you so loathe.
Analysis like yours is the reason the west is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world.
Hipkins seems to believe Peters ought to be silenced by Luxon. You know, in accord with the logic that leaders of political parties ought to be unable to express political opinions. If he's serious, he ought to advocate a law change to enforce such censorship.
If he's merely posturing, is the posture more impressive than the one Peters adopted? They both seem equally amusing.
It's as if he believes that potentially breaking a law is a serious matter. Like red-light runners, when they decide to brake instead. Election bribes are a typical product of democracy, yet somehow nobody told Hipkins.
Still, Tova & Jenna feel the bribery framing is naughty and ought to be punished, so maybe the Peters posture is somewhat effective. I dunno, looks like politics as usual: both left & right playing the fool. What's wrong with govt giving taxpayer money to media anyway?? They serve the public interest by explaining what's going on – most people can't figure it out for themselves.
You've built yourself one heck of a straw man there. Of course leaders of parties can express opinions, it's nonsense to suggest Hipkins is saying otherwise.
It is however blindingly obvious that in a government, the PM should be in charge, not the Deputy PM. Peters has lied, and Luxon has not corrected his lies (in public … privately he has no doubt been fuming).
False accusations of corruption and bribery are NOT an acceptable part of our democracy, and they do not end well. Ask Jami-Lee Ross.
luxon was on the verge of tears last night on te news when questioned about winston ,cause jeez we've got more important things then the dp being a dishonest shit.
The dead cat has been thrown and Nationals promise of changing working for families increase the top bracket from $42'000 to $50'000 giving a $25 increase in working for families is no longer going ahead.The poorest paying for wealthy landlords tax cuts.
Yes but hilariously Luxon commented that whether the journalism bribe was true or not, and he believes the jury is still out on that, is not the main point because it's really about perception…………ah yes the old smoke and mirrors perception trick…….
Could be right, Robert. So his tacit signal is Peters `ought not to express a different view to mine on the issue'. I suspect he even believes such virtue-signalling works.
It's also entirely feasible that he feels the need to exhibit a simulation of a strong moral stance, since a measurable portion of voters are easily impressed by such exhibitions. Perhaps Labour's focus groups indicate that?? If so, fair enough, but the unimpressed would have too many to easily number.
Oh, you mean the assumption that folks will default to a lawyer's definition of bribery, due to Peters being a lawyer? Would not be widely shared in my opinion – too many know about metaphor.
I think electoral bribery could usefully be parked in economic policy, so that the $55 million appears as a line item in the budget. Chomsky 1.01 is all a political party need tell the media. Manufacturing consent is how commercial democracy operates, so it's an appropriate test to use on media pros.
When the eyes glaze over, watch carefully to see if the penny drops. If it doesn't, suggest that they tell their employer they need a remedial course in standard methods of using political influence in a democracy.
Every 3 years the word "bribe" is used as a political metaphor, and in all directions. A tax cut "bribe", a fees-free "bribe", a dental care "bribe", and so on. It means (as you well know) a party offers a policy that they hope will win votes.
What Peters has alleged is nothing whatsoever to do with that. If you haven't read what he said, please do. If you have, maybe read it again. He lied. It is as simple as that.
Dirty farmer Mr Crawford said on RNZ this morning that the NRC was now aligned with the new Government!
This piece again shows the value of Local Democracy Reporting, some local papers dropped their Council and Court “beats” long ago and LDR has done some sterling work.
Herein lies the Left's/progressives vulnerability. The ideological ruthlessness of the Right shows no mercy.
I feel for those councillors battered by those blunt instruments. It will have been a hideous feeling, though they knew it was coming.
Once they've recovered, those for-now-disheartened councillors will find that there are avenues and opportunities to sustain what they achieved when they were more influential. The victors likewise, will discover that smashing stuff down is not so easy as they expect. Plus, climate change.
The ousted Councillors–Craw and Robinson in particular have long positive records in the community and will keep on keeping on.
There are strong GE and organic strands in the North, and it is up to all of us really, not just Councils. The right are eternally at it when it comes to their ability to ladle nitrates into waterways.
What an excellent resource for raising awareness – well worth a donation to Greenpeace. Hope they can keep it up to date and record/show nitrate trends.
There's been a constant caterwauling about terrible Northland roading in recent years.
The fact is that for 70 odd years Northland almost totally elected National MPs.
The fact is that the Regional Councils and industry bodies like Federated Farmers in the region have basically sat on their hands and backed the neglect. Excuses were always made with local 'leaders,' it was always 'softly softly.'
Of course in 2017 the tone changed. Aligning with the National Government got the region jack shit.
I expect the next thing we'll hear about is the NRC putting its oar into the debate about Government funding for the Whangarei Hospital redevelopment. You know, the "Please hurry, this is urgent, we've been promised, this is critical for the region" sort of thing. The "National whinged the money Labour had labelled wasn't enough, we demand more," type of message.
Reckon that'll happen? Along with "We're happy with your Tobacco decisions since we're aligned with you even though they will affect the region to the extent of scores of millions."
Winnie certainly has a point in his assertions that the media was bribed by the media grants.These were given to maintain media friendliness and therefore exert some influence upon the multitude at a time of high media frenzy,of which he personally gained some benefit and recognition.Reality.
If you mean in 2020, it was when Covid had devastated business in so many ways, not least advertising revenue. Were wage subsidies "bribes" too?
If you mean after 2020, which is when the vast majority of the fund was allocated, it was so successful in manipulating the media coverage that … er, Labour's vote slumped from 50% to half that. Oops.
The Google archive has hundreds of relevant pages on this, so it's easy to inform yourself if you care.
“The Public Interest Journalism Fund was introduced during Covid because it was a disastrous time in terms of media and we were pressured by good people out there to say, ‘hey, you support financial institutions so how about supporting local media that’s struggling’.
“It was aimed at supporting New Zealand media to keep producing stories and was not just for RNZ and for TVNZ.
“We never ever had any editorial control over anything anyone wrote, and that’s the truth. For Winston to insinuate some conspiracy is absolute disinformation and falsehoods."
No editorial control is true to say but the dispersement of funds was conditional (as it should be) and that itself provides a level of control…the question that arises is whether you think the conditions were reasonable or had a political slant.
A good guide to the reliability of any accusations like this is whether the accuser gives any examples of this "corruption" or only hides behind vague language without any specifics. We all wait for Winston to cite chapter and verse (but don't bother, he won't).
NZ on Air have funded shows like Q & A for many years, long before Ardern's government. They still do and will continue (the coalition agreement says nothing about scrapping NZ on Air or RNZ or TVNZ). So, there is no good faith here, at all.
Of course many (most?) of the public aren't going to delve into the details. Peters knows that, and anyway his target is 5%, not 50.
The public have the choice whether to allow their opinion to be formed for them by others or to seek the information and form their own.
In this instance the public is unlikely to be provided with a unbiased appraisal when the party accused of being subject undue influence (the media organisations) investigates itself.
As the fund ceased to operate in June this year it is now history in any event, but as with most things political various parties will make use of its existence for political purposes and the implications are likely to impact for some time to come.
Same old, same old and an affliction of all political hues.
Sadly positions will continue upon tribal lines for most, to the detriment of progress.
bring back Kim Hill and she can interview Winston Peters aka imafwit and ask a few pointed questions tho i doubt if we would accept an interview with a person of her calibre.
Sandra Le Cron's naive and simplistic comments mark "them" as an easy-pick for the Right – their vote would have been a certainty and their willingness to troll this Left-wing site, taken as read. Bothering to respond to their shallow provocations, or not, gives us control, but yes, they are a pest 🙂
you are correct robert. I havent been here for weeks , but instantly picked her/his comments as coming from a fisherman/woman. so shallow as to virtual signal their trolling ability/inability.
It has come to pass that this new gummint has an obvious trouble with telling the truth, pretty much everything they say is lies. A few days ago both Luxon and Willis defended the smoke free cancellation because of the threat of robberies saying that there would only be ONE outlet in Northland, Alesha Verrall had to correct them and say the proposed refs would have 14. Neither Nat can obviously read and just lie as a default setting.
Had to laugh listening to morning retort today, Luxon says the new govt is going to fix the economy, which is in a really really bad state, after the worst financial vandalism in NZ history by the former Labour govt. Shortly afterward Adrian Orr is on saying the NZ economy is in great shape, there never was a recession and agreed his comments yesterday on potential OCR rise is a warning shot across the banks and financial lending institutions bows. The old too much money by too many people chasing too few goods problem…….apparently….
But then wait….really really really big news…..the Wellington mayor has a drinking problem….
S and P, Moody's and Fitch would have criticised the NZ economy and downgraded their ratings if the NZ economy was in a bad state, but they haven't. It follows that Luxon is talking rubbish. The question is why does the MSM let him get away with talking rubbish like this?
Meanwhile on RadioNZ last night I heard that the bar owner where Tory Whanau was drinking said that there was no problem and that he would be glad to have the group of people back any time.
Anything that involves in-depth investigative journalism is way beyond the skills of most in the MSM these days. The editorial directive, or above, is to focus on sound bites, catchy headlines, opinionated commentary articles, anything scandalous involving public or sporting figures, and if it bleeds it leads……..
New Regional Infrastructure Fund: Chris Bishop says it's all good.
Provincial Growth Fund? Chris Bishop said it was all bad.
"Shane Jones has an appalling track record of inappropriate behaviour, conflicts of interest and lack of accountability – traits that have become a stain on the Provincial Growth Fund.
“The PGF was Labour’s reward to NZ First for supporting the coalition. The result is a slush fund that lacks transparency and is being treated as NZ First’s campaign chest for 2020.”
Can't see how this relationship can possibly go wrong!
Chris Bishop has a habit of inserting the wrong memory stick when making comments……….could be he can’t see the right one for all the smoke………and all the mirrors really confuse things…….
Trump is saying the same BS the US economy is in serious trouble because of Biden yet low unemployment and a massive increase in manufacturing .Luxon just keeps repeating the lies Trumpish like.Nationals policy will start another round of house price inflation, then the Tax cuts in July will dump a large sum of money into the retail sector causing more inflation just as Adrian Orr will have inflation nearly under control.Here we go back to the 1990's yo yo economy small bursts of growth followed by recessions and Austerity increasing the OCR to bring down the inflation caused by tax cuts.PWC warned everybody before the election about these election bribes which damage the longterm economy.
Aotearoa seems set to balance relations with China & USA:
The Chinese Communist Party newspaper, “Global Times”, has already noted that Luxon has been clear about his interest in collaboration with China under the Belt and Road Initiative framework. Pressed during the election campaign on whether a National government would take money from China to pay for new roads, Luxon said: “Yeah, absolutely.” https://www.politik.co.nz/national-takes-over-infrastructure/ | Politik
I wonder if Lux will retain it or reconfigure it. Will he issue instructions to see how soon they secure suitable results? Asian-ethnicity ministers could be useful in view of our current ethnicity numbers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_Zealand
Parity of asians with maori is a fact of life, in any ethnicity-voter framing. Folks will notice it. Media may even report it, with a gosh of surprise at the time lapse since last reported. May even connect the dots to the treaty relevance, huh? Lux may notice a useful lever here. Too thick?
I have quite often seen russian propaganda regarding russia's attacks on East Ukraine and Crimea, parroted on this site.
Russian investigative journalist, Andrey Zakharov, and others, have compiled the history of how putin planned, propagandised and executed his attack on Ukraine:
'His War' is Andrey Zakharov's historical investigation into Vladimir Putin and the war he unleashed in Ukraine back in 2014. For ten years now, journalists from around the world have been gathering evidence on how exactly this war began. In this film, we have compiled all the evidence together. This includes wiretaps of conversations among Russian officials and separatists, email leaks, and most importantly, confessions from the participants of the 'Russian Spring.' Why did Putin specifically provoke the Euromaidan? How did the Kremlin prepare for the annexation of Crimea? And why did Russia's intervention in Ukraine's internal affairs become the main cause of the war that started in 2014?
It is detailed and an hour and a half long. But better to actually learn about this, than to repeat kremlin nonsense from RT. Has good English subtitles.
Chippie really hasn't got it through yet that he in Opposition now rather than being on the Government benches and part of the Executive.
He is complaining that "He said he thought it was an “interesting decision” that National had chosen Greens climate spokesman James Shaw over the official Opposition climate change spokeswoman in Megan Woods".
There is no such thing as an "Official Opposition spokeswomen". The Greens are an Opposition Party on exactly the same level as are Labour. The only Opposition role that is recognised is the Leader of the Opposition. There is no such thing as "Deputy Leader of the Opposition" as Chippie appears to be labelling Sepuloni.
As well he seems to think that members of his party have "portfolios". They have no such thing. They may be Labour Party spokespersons but that is all.
Come on Hipkins. At least you should have begun to understand the greatly reduced position you and your mates now occupy.
"He seems to think that members of his party have "portfolios". They have no such thing. They may be Labour Party spokespersons but that is all."
Alwyn, it takes only 5 seconds to check before you submit. Less time than it does to type your egg-on-face rants.
In 2023 the Leader of the Opposition announces:
"Louise Upston adds Family Violence Prevention to her portfolios … Todd Muller is confirmed as the Agriculture spokesperson, and also takes on the Climate Change portfolio … Todd McClay picks up the new Hunting and Fishing portfolio… Penny Simmonds takes on the new portfolio of Workforce Planning … Tama Potaka picks up the Māori Development and Associate Housing portfolios" …
I'm surprised that you, of all people take what Luxon says as gospel. Can we now assume that you will accept anything he says as being absolutely correct because he said it?
No There is no such position as deputy-leader of the Opposition. Whoever used that wording was simply wrong. If it was Luxon he was just as wrong as Hipkins currently is.
Have a look at this. You will see that they have positions of PM, and deputy PM as well as Leader of the Opposition. They then have leaders and deputy leaders of parties but there is no position of deputy leader of the Opposition. Why would there be? The other Opposition parties are not somehow automatically subservient to the Opposition Party that got the most votes are they?
There is no such position and no such link. There are references to he phrase Deputy leader but no such position is recognised, even to having a Wiki entry. You will note that there is a Wiki entry to Leader of the Opposition but not Deputy.
If my link to all the roles in the New Zealand Parliament from the official source doesn't persuade you, what will?
Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand · Deputy Leader of the Opposition · New Zealand Parliament
Experience · Deputy Leader of the Opposition · MP, Housing & Urban Development; Early Childhood Education Spokesperson · Candidate for Wellington Central.
I'll never learn to speak more than a few words and my country hick accent murders te reo, but I recall sitting in a greasy spoon in wairoa once in a stall next to to older gents speaking fluently in Maori, magic!
Because it was definitely te reo and it was atleast 10 minutes of muted conversation, fuck you rightness are despite to attack anything Maori, ain't you
You'd think since Labour only holds 17 electorates, all 17 successful electorate mps would be in shadow cabinet, nope, insetead FIFTEEN are List mps, most who lost safe seats and should have retired by now.
WTF are Rino and Deborah Russell still doing in politics, do they have no shame? You could have ran pot plants in their seats and they would have got more votes.
And for a party that is facing an existential crisis (whether the left wants to admit it or not) by totally being rejected by male voters of ALL ages and classes, you'd think theyd atleast gender ballance the shadow cabinet so it doesn't look like a radical feminist party (whether it's true or not is irrelevant, voters think it is and perception is ALL that matters) but nah… 6/10 are women and 12/20 are bland robot female politicians.
So you can bet your arse in opposition Labour is going to continue to be as obsessed with unpopular, alienating gender and social policy and everytime it opens its mouth working and middle class people will continue to groan.
Honestly I'd get rid of the lot of labour's caucus except Kieren (the future of Labour) , Rachel (how the hell is she at the bottom when she's the only Labour mp in decades to hold Nelson, twice?!) Duncan, Cushla (labour's ONE Maori electorate mp) and Carmel (because she's good in the house)
The rest of them should be sent packing.
However, after taking a beating this bad, you'd think they'd do some soul searching… Na carry on as if this lot weren't utterly rejected.
15 list mps in shadow cabinet… Unbelievable.
The caucus should be 11 out of the ten females who won electorates (all but Helen white who should be retiring before 2026) and the 6 male electorate mps + Kieren Grant etc
Your reckons are in need of a makeover. It’s a fresh line-up. Just what the political doctor ordered. Electorate MPs do not take precedence over list MPs. They are all equal. It is the person deemed best for each individual portfolio, taking into account geographical and other important considerations.
Please look and listen to Hipkin’s press conference. It has its humorous moments which is more than you get with the other lot. Hopefully you will also recognise he knows his MPs better than we do:
Just wow, you'd have been at home at Roehm's SA gatherings, your reactionary working class man thing against social liberal women would have been popular.
Dad and I get our 4th anti-COVID booster vaccinations later today. Better safe than sorry – masks to protect against infection, and vaccines to protect against symptoms.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
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 ...
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 ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Māori affiliation with Christianity has fallen from 46.2 percent to 29.9 percent.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/503554/maori-atheism-on-the-rise-legacy-of-colonisation-driving-decline-in-traditional-christian-beliefs
The authors report a variety of reasons for the generational shift, with a selection of personal views sampled: 16, of which three quarters were brought up in a religious household but have evolved a more independent stance. Default to atheism is what the media do normally as the result of indoctrination into trad binary thinking.
Reluctance to acknowledge the general trend of western civilisation toward the personal spirituality option during the past half-century seems evident in the subtext, though that could be due to the RNZ editor being a slow learner rather than the authors. Census questions usually recycle the antiquated conventional religious framing, and Labour failed to shift them in the direction of reality, which would be evidenced by inclusion of a personal spirituality option in both the census questioning and resultant bar graphs!
Wonderful that The Standard gives you opportunities to pass on the wisdom and experience you have gathered across numerous life lessons in order to help empower or support others – forgive them, for they are slow/binary, and know not what they do.
Not really a good idea to forgive media pros for their incompetence &/or failure to provide suitable public service. However implying that discrimination against spiritual folk is a desirable leftist attribute seems rather uncouth. We ought to encourage both groups to do better.
Would your 'suitable' suit everyone? Split a piece of wood; perceived incompetence is there. Lift up the stone, and you will find failure there.
We can all "do better" (I know I can) – to err is human, to forgive divine.
Let your good nature shine through
Yes, I do agree that goodwill is crucial in politics. A basis for ongoing relevance of the teachings of Jesus around that, huh? Also relevant is the Dalai Lama's focus on compassion.
I dunno, I read a lot of Dennis Frank's posts as billboards for the Dunning-Kruger institute.
In other words, he’s spamming this site?
Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, but (imho) Dennis is doin’ the best that he can!
TbF, I'm suprised he has time to grace TS with his presence and ‘pearls’.
If you've ever seen a hospital ward, engineering company, aid organisation, or local charity, know that they are all chock full of Christians doing the work for you.
Default atheism is so useful in understanding the politics of south Auckland, west Auckland, Pacific Island states, the Middle East, South and middle America, all of Africa, southern and eastern Asia, Turkey, Ukraine, all post-soviet states, and Russia.
Go right ahead figuring them without all that "antiquated framing" you so loathe.
Analysis like yours is the reason the west is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world.
Hipkins seems to believe Peters ought to be silenced by Luxon. You know, in accord with the logic that leaders of political parties ought to be unable to express political opinions. If he's serious, he ought to advocate a law change to enforce such censorship.
If he's merely posturing, is the posture more impressive than the one Peters adopted? They both seem equally amusing.
It's as if he believes that potentially breaking a law is a serious matter. Like red-light runners, when they decide to brake instead. Election bribes are a typical product of democracy, yet somehow nobody told Hipkins.
Still, Tova & Jenna feel the bribery framing is naughty and ought to be punished, so maybe the Peters posture is somewhat effective. I dunno, looks like politics as usual: both left & right playing the fool. What's wrong with govt giving taxpayer money to media anyway?? They serve the public interest by explaining what's going on – most people can't figure it out for themselves.
You've built yourself one heck of a straw man there. Of course leaders of parties can express opinions, it's nonsense to suggest Hipkins is saying otherwise.
It is however blindingly obvious that in a government, the PM should be in charge, not the Deputy PM. Peters has lied, and Luxon has not corrected his lies (in public … privately he has no doubt been fuming).
False accusations of corruption and bribery are NOT an acceptable part of our democracy, and they do not end well. Ask Jami-Lee Ross.
luxon was on the verge of tears last night on te news when questioned about winston ,cause jeez we've got more important things then the dp being a dishonest shit.
The dead cat has been thrown and Nationals promise of changing working for families increase the top bracket from $42'000 to $50'000 giving a $25 increase in working for families is no longer going ahead.The poorest paying for wealthy landlords tax cuts.
"Hipkins seems to believe Peters ought to be silenced by Luxon."
You're misreading the situation.
Hipkins believes Luxon should publicly admonish Peter's inflammatory, untrue statements, not demand silence, imo.
Yes but hilariously Luxon commented that whether the journalism bribe was true or not, and he believes the jury is still out on that, is not the main point because it's really about perception…………ah yes the old smoke and mirrors perception trick…….
Could be right, Robert. So his tacit signal is Peters `ought not to express a different view to mine on the issue'. I suspect he even believes such virtue-signalling works.
It's also entirely feasible that he feels the need to exhibit a simulation of a strong moral stance, since a measurable portion of voters are easily impressed by such exhibitions. Perhaps Labour's focus groups indicate that?? If so, fair enough, but the unimpressed would have too many to easily number.
Again, no, Dennis.
Hipkins is saying Peters shouldn’t lie and Luxon ought to express that view also.
Oh, you mean the assumption that folks will default to a lawyer's definition of bribery, due to Peters being a lawyer? Would not be widely shared in my opinion – too many know about metaphor.
I think electoral bribery could usefully be parked in economic policy, so that the $55 million appears as a line item in the budget. Chomsky 1.01 is all a political party need tell the media. Manufacturing consent is how commercial democracy operates, so it's an appropriate test to use on media pros.
When the eyes glaze over, watch carefully to see if the penny drops. If it doesn't, suggest that they tell their employer they need a remedial course in standard methods of using political influence in a democracy.
Sure, clever, if you support "being misleading" as a valid political strategy.
The implications of "misleading" are interesting to ruminate upon.
You're being remarkably obtuse on this.
Every 3 years the word "bribe" is used as a political metaphor, and in all directions. A tax cut "bribe", a fees-free "bribe", a dental care "bribe", and so on. It means (as you well know) a party offers a policy that they hope will win votes.
What Peters has alleged is nothing whatsoever to do with that. If you haven't read what he said, please do. If you have, maybe read it again. He lied. It is as simple as that.
yes observer, I observe that frank dennis is trying to have a bob each way , much like peter winston. hard to spot the difference.
Tory take over at NRC in Whangārei…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/503478/new-northland-regional-council-chair-geoff-crawford-elected-at-explosive-meeting
Dirty farmer Mr Crawford said on RNZ this morning that the NRC was now aligned with the new Government!
This piece again shows the value of Local Democracy Reporting, some local papers dropped their Council and Court “beats” long ago and LDR has done some sterling work.
No, we must not have reporting on local councils! Ratepayers and voters must not be told what is going on, in their name, with their money!
That is Winston Peters' view, and it seems, Luxon's as well. Money is spent on reporting, therefore it is a bribe. Idiotic.
NZ On Air and RNZ launch new Local Democracy Reporting service with NPA | NZ On Air
Herein lies the Left's/progressives vulnerability. The ideological ruthlessness of the Right shows no mercy.
I feel for those councillors battered by those blunt instruments. It will have been a hideous feeling, though they knew it was coming.
Once they've recovered, those for-now-disheartened councillors will find that there are avenues and opportunities to sustain what they achieved when they were more influential. The victors likewise, will discover that smashing stuff down is not so easy as they expect. Plus, climate change.
The ousted Councillors–Craw and Robinson in particular have long positive records in the community and will keep on keeping on.
There are strong GE and organic strands in the North, and it is up to all of us really, not just Councils. The right are eternally at it when it comes to their ability to ladle nitrates into waterways.
Mike Joy continues to alert us to the ongoing harm of nitrates in our water, while the agricultural industry smothers such thinking everywhere it can.
Nitrate "pollution" in New Zealand is a far greater issue than is widely recognised, imo.
Greenpeace has launched a “know your nitrate” map…
https://maps.greenpeace.org/maps/aotearoa/know-your-nitrate/?_ga=2.201959633.1727071562.1701287528-1794156884.1701193947
Takes a minute to learn the navigation then away you go…
Thanks, Tiger Mountain. I'll circulate that amongst my colleagues 🙂
What an excellent resource for raising awareness – well worth a donation to Greenpeace. Hope they can keep it up to date and record/show nitrate trends.
thank you…reposted on our community page
These guys belong in a Faulkner novel – maybe minor members of the Snopes clan.
There's been a constant caterwauling about terrible Northland roading in recent years.
The fact is that for 70 odd years Northland almost totally elected National MPs.
The fact is that the Regional Councils and industry bodies like Federated Farmers in the region have basically sat on their hands and backed the neglect. Excuses were always made with local 'leaders,' it was always 'softly softly.'
Of course in 2017 the tone changed. Aligning with the National Government got the region jack shit.
I expect the next thing we'll hear about is the NRC putting its oar into the debate about Government funding for the Whangarei Hospital redevelopment. You know, the "Please hurry, this is urgent, we've been promised, this is critical for the region" sort of thing. The "National whinged the money Labour had labelled wasn't enough, we demand more," type of message.
Reckon that'll happen? Along with "We're happy with your Tobacco decisions since we're aligned with you even though they will affect the region to the extent of scores of millions."
Winnie certainly has a point in his assertions that the media was bribed by the media grants.These were given to maintain media friendliness and therefore exert some influence upon the multitude at a time of high media frenzy,of which he personally gained some benefit and recognition.Reality.
when will be rid of this tedious troll?
There's a few of them around at the moment.
But they are getting easier to spot Anne…….difficulties with reasoning, logic and problems with judgment and critical thinking are sure give aways….
If you mean in 2020, it was when Covid had devastated business in so many ways, not least advertising revenue. Were wage subsidies "bribes" too?
If you mean after 2020, which is when the vast majority of the fund was allocated, it was so successful in manipulating the media coverage that … er, Labour's vote slumped from 50% to half that. Oops.
The Google archive has hundreds of relevant pages on this, so it's easy to inform yourself if you care.
Willie on Winnie:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/willie-jackson-describes-winston-peters-behaviour-as-worrying/S3AF6DZFTVBORNLU4E3ZWDMMMY/
“The Public Interest Journalism Fund was introduced during Covid because it was a disastrous time in terms of media and we were pressured by good people out there to say, ‘hey, you support financial institutions so how about supporting local media that’s struggling’.
“It was aimed at supporting New Zealand media to keep producing stories and was not just for RNZ and for TVNZ.
“We never ever had any editorial control over anything anyone wrote, and that’s the truth. For Winston to insinuate some conspiracy is absolute disinformation and falsehoods."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/willie-jackson-describes-winston-peters-behaviour-as-worrying/S3AF6DZFTVBORNLU4E3ZWDMMMY/
No editorial control is true to say but the dispersement of funds was conditional (as it should be) and that itself provides a level of control…the question that arises is whether you think the conditions were reasonable or had a political slant.
https://d3r9t6niqlb7tz.cloudfront.net/media/documents/220221_PIJF_General_Guidelines_updated.pdf
Decide for yourself.
A good guide to the reliability of any accusations like this is whether the accuser gives any examples of this "corruption" or only hides behind vague language without any specifics. We all wait for Winston to cite chapter and verse (but don't bother, he won't).
NZ on Air have funded shows like Q & A for many years, long before Ardern's government. They still do and will continue (the coalition agreement says nothing about scrapping NZ on Air or RNZ or TVNZ). So, there is no good faith here, at all.
Of course many (most?) of the public aren't going to delve into the details. Peters knows that, and anyway his target is 5%, not 50.
The public have the choice whether to allow their opinion to be formed for them by others or to seek the information and form their own.
In this instance the public is unlikely to be provided with a unbiased appraisal when the party accused of being subject undue influence (the media organisations) investigates itself.
As the fund ceased to operate in June this year it is now history in any event, but as with most things political various parties will make use of its existence for political purposes and the implications are likely to impact for some time to come.
Same old, same old and an affliction of all political hues.
Sadly positions will continue upon tribal lines for most, to the detriment of progress.
bring back Kim Hill and she can interview Winston Peters aka imafwit and ask a few pointed questions tho i doubt if we would accept an interview with a person of her calibre.
Sandra Le Cron's naive and simplistic comments mark "them" as an easy-pick for the Right – their vote would have been a certainty and their willingness to troll this Left-wing site, taken as read. Bothering to respond to their shallow provocations, or not, gives us control, but yes, they are a pest 🙂
you are correct robert. I havent been here for weeks , but instantly picked her/his comments as coming from a fisherman/woman. so shallow as to virtual signal their trolling ability/inability.
It has come to pass that this new gummint has an obvious trouble with telling the truth, pretty much everything they say is lies. A few days ago both Luxon and Willis defended the smoke free cancellation because of the threat of robberies saying that there would only be ONE outlet in Northland, Alesha Verrall had to correct them and say the proposed refs would have 14. Neither Nat can obviously read and just lie as a default setting.
Had to laugh listening to morning retort today, Luxon says the new govt is going to fix the economy, which is in a really really bad state, after the worst financial vandalism in NZ history by the former Labour govt. Shortly afterward Adrian Orr is on saying the NZ economy is in great shape, there never was a recession and agreed his comments yesterday on potential OCR rise is a warning shot across the banks and financial lending institutions bows. The old too much money by too many people chasing too few goods problem…….apparently….
But then wait….really really really big news…..the Wellington mayor has a drinking problem….
S and P, Moody's and Fitch would have criticised the NZ economy and downgraded their ratings if the NZ economy was in a bad state, but they haven't. It follows that Luxon is talking rubbish. The question is why does the MSM let him get away with talking rubbish like this?
Meanwhile on RadioNZ last night I heard that the bar owner where Tory Whanau was drinking said that there was no problem and that he would be glad to have the group of people back any time.
Anything that involves in-depth investigative journalism is way beyond the skills of most in the MSM these days. The editorial directive, or above, is to focus on sound bites, catchy headlines, opinionated commentary articles, anything scandalous involving public or sporting figures, and if it bleeds it leads……..
Of course the bar owner said Tipsy and her friends were no problem. Likely to be some of their most profitable customers.
Here's one Anne……
So, it's a jack up?
Never done anything wrong Jack-off, does your Halo match your Jack-boots?
New Regional Infrastructure Fund: Chris Bishop says it's all good.
Provincial Growth Fund? Chris Bishop said it was all bad.
"Shane Jones has an appalling track record of inappropriate behaviour, conflicts of interest and lack of accountability – traits that have become a stain on the Provincial Growth Fund.
“The PGF was Labour’s reward to NZ First for supporting the coalition. The result is a slush fund that lacks transparency and is being treated as NZ First’s campaign chest for 2020.”
Can't see how this relationship can possibly go wrong!
Shane Jones’ PGF answers don’t pass the sniff test | Scoop News
Chris Bishop has a habit of inserting the wrong memory stick when making comments……….could be he can’t see the right one for all the smoke………and all the mirrors really confuse things…….
Bishop is as trustworthy as his former employers are about the health impacts of their products.
With the likes of him, Shane Jones etc the integrity bar is set rather low.
Trump is saying the same BS the US economy is in serious trouble because of Biden yet low unemployment and a massive increase in manufacturing .Luxon just keeps repeating the lies Trumpish like.Nationals policy will start another round of house price inflation, then the Tax cuts in July will dump a large sum of money into the retail sector causing more inflation just as Adrian Orr will have inflation nearly under control.Here we go back to the 1990's yo yo economy small bursts of growth followed by recessions and Austerity increasing the OCR to bring down the inflation caused by tax cuts.PWC warned everybody before the election about these election bribes which damage the longterm economy.
Aotearoa seems set to balance relations with China & USA:
No reason spare money ought not to be used to strengthen relations between nations, right? Depends how you do it though. We're currently deploying this triad in China: https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/asia/china/new-zealand-embassy/our-people-in-china/
I wonder if Lux will retain it or reconfigure it. Will he issue instructions to see how soon they secure suitable results? Asian-ethnicity ministers could be useful in view of our current ethnicity numbers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_Zealand
Parity of asians with maori is a fact of life, in any ethnicity-voter framing. Folks will notice it. Media may even report it, with a gosh of surprise at the time lapse since last reported. May even connect the dots to the treaty relevance, huh? Lux may notice a useful lever here. Too thick?
I have quite often seen russian propaganda regarding russia's attacks on East Ukraine and Crimea, parroted on this site.
Russian investigative journalist, Andrey Zakharov, and others, have compiled the history of how putin planned, propagandised and executed his attack on Ukraine:
It is detailed and an hour and a half long. But better to actually learn about this, than to repeat kremlin nonsense from RT. Has good English subtitles.
Grant Robertson has been assigned the shadow roles of…drum roll… finance and racing!
Racing!
Wahoo!
Entertaining times ahead!
I bet there was some jockeying around for that role.
You can bet on it!
Given Grant's no thoroughbred to look at, we can surmise he nagged his way into the role and now he's saddled with it.
Apologies all round for the dreadful puns.
He'll do more reigning in of the Co-Deputy PM than CLuxon will.
You just get punnier and punnier. So many you must be a little hoarse…..
I'm just surprised Ed hasn't spoken up!
Wouldn't that be pony-er and pony-er?
DonKey was bad enough, now we have Whinny!
Just wait til he gets the bit between his teeth!
Grant will have fun giving Winston a stir-rup!
But misses out on Sport, to Peeni Henare.
Chippie really hasn't got it through yet that he in Opposition now rather than being on the Government benches and part of the Executive.
He is complaining that "He said he thought it was an “interesting decision” that National had chosen Greens climate spokesman James Shaw over the official Opposition climate change spokeswoman in Megan Woods".
There is no such thing as an "Official Opposition spokeswomen". The Greens are an Opposition Party on exactly the same level as are Labour. The only Opposition role that is recognised is the Leader of the Opposition. There is no such thing as "Deputy Leader of the Opposition" as Chippie appears to be labelling Sepuloni.
As well he seems to think that members of his party have "portfolios". They have no such thing. They may be Labour Party spokespersons but that is all.
Come on Hipkins. At least you should have begun to understand the greatly reduced position you and your mates now occupy.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/labour-to-unveil-opposition-line-up-as-it-ramps-up-attacks-on-national-led-government/TQ6XLSQCOJGS7EX4RGUIQQBDVU/
Very smart move by the Government to effectively sideline Labour who, in 6 years did bugger all with their “nuclear moment”
Same one again Anne…..
If labour did nothing why is clutson,and tweddle dum and tweedledee spending the rest of the year undoing instead of doing??
bwaghorn
Good point, alwyn.
Shaw was chosen because his depth of knowledge is far greater than anyone else Luxon could have chosen – in particular, Matty.
"He seems to think that members of his party have "portfolios". They have no such thing. They may be Labour Party spokespersons but that is all."
Alwyn, it takes only 5 seconds to check before you submit. Less time than it does to type your egg-on-face rants.
In 2023 the Leader of the Opposition announces:
"Louise Upston adds Family Violence Prevention to her portfolios … Todd Muller is confirmed as the Agriculture spokesperson, and also takes on the Climate Change portfolio … Todd McClay picks up the new Hunting and Fishing portfolio … Penny Simmonds takes on the new portfolio of Workforce Planning … Tama Potaka picks up the Māori Development and Associate Housing portfolios" …
Luxon Sets Out Team To Contest The 2023 Election | Scoop News
I'm surprised that you, of all people take what Luxon says as gospel. Can we now assume that you will accept anything he says as being absolutely correct because he said it?
Looks like you do not know what you are talking about, alwyn.
Nicola Willis Deputy leader of the opposition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Cabinet_of_Christopher_Luxon
No There is no such position as deputy-leader of the Opposition. Whoever used that wording was simply wrong. If it was Luxon he was just as wrong as Hipkins currently is.
Have a look at this. You will see that they have positions of PM, and deputy PM as well as Leader of the Opposition. They then have leaders and deputy leaders of parties but there is no position of deputy leader of the Opposition. Why would there be? The other Opposition parties are not somehow automatically subservient to the Opposition Party that got the most votes are they?
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2020/0327/latest/LMS438252.html
There is a position of Deputy leader of the opposition, as the link @ 11.4.4 shows. Your denials do not change that fact.
There is no such position and no such link. There are references to he phrase Deputy leader but no such position is recognised, even to having a Wiki entry. You will note that there is a Wiki entry to Leader of the Opposition but not Deputy.
If my link to all the roles in the New Zealand Parliament from the official source doesn't persuade you, what will?
Nicola telling porkie-pies – again! What's new, eh Alwhinge?
But will she resign?
Drowsy M. Kram
Yay, new Kiwis in Wellington:
Guardian – Kiwi chicks born in Wellington for first time in a century
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealands-central-bank-defends-maori-language-use-2023-11-29/
The idiots in charge getting more world wide headlines for taking us in the wrong direction!!
I feel so embarrassed for Aotearoa/Aotearoa (in New Zealand Sign Language)/New Zealand right now that N/ACT/NZF are tarnishing our whenua's good name and taonga by quarrelling with The Reserve Bank of Aotearoa/NZ (Te Putea Matua) for no reason except to turn the RBNZ (Te Putea Matua) into an institution that will do its bidding and to perpetuate arrant nonsense.
This is our land and we are all part of it, whatever language we use and write/sign in.
We need to be better than this.
I'll never learn to speak more than a few words and my country hick accent murders te reo, but I recall sitting in a greasy spoon in wairoa once in a stall next to to older gents speaking fluently in Maori, magic!
If "I'll never learn to speak more than a few words" is true how do you know they were "speaking fluently in Maori"?
Because authenticity rings true, alwyn – gtfu.
Elementary, my dear Watson
“Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters praises US engagement in the Pacific”
So Winnie’s now Deputy Sherriff to Albanese?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/503591/foreign-affairs-minister-winston-peters-praises-us-engagement-in-the-pacific
So how is Nact1 going to square the circle with snuggling up to both USA, and China’s Belt and Road?
Henry Kissinger is dead.
On hearing that Kissinger had been awarded the Nobel Prize, the comedian Tom Lehrer famously declared that "political satire is obsolete".
"Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević." – Anthony Bourdain
Oh. No.
I am dumbfounded at labour's Shadow cabinet announced today.
You'd think since Labour only holds 17 electorates, all 17 successful electorate mps would be in shadow cabinet, nope, insetead FIFTEEN are List mps, most who lost safe seats and should have retired by now.
WTF are Rino and Deborah Russell still doing in politics, do they have no shame? You could have ran pot plants in their seats and they would have got more votes.
And for a party that is facing an existential crisis (whether the left wants to admit it or not) by totally being rejected by male voters of ALL ages and classes, you'd think theyd atleast gender ballance the shadow cabinet so it doesn't look like a radical feminist party (whether it's true or not is irrelevant, voters think it is and perception is ALL that matters) but nah… 6/10 are women and 12/20 are bland robot female politicians.
So you can bet your arse in opposition Labour is going to continue to be as obsessed with unpopular, alienating gender and social policy and everytime it opens its mouth working and middle class people will continue to groan.
Honestly I'd get rid of the lot of labour's caucus except Kieren (the future of Labour) , Rachel (how the hell is she at the bottom when she's the only Labour mp in decades to hold Nelson, twice?!) Duncan, Cushla (labour's ONE Maori electorate mp) and Carmel (because she's good in the house)
The rest of them should be sent packing.
However, after taking a beating this bad, you'd think they'd do some soul searching… Na carry on as if this lot weren't utterly rejected.
15 list mps in shadow cabinet… Unbelievable.
The caucus should be 11 out of the ten females who won electorates (all but Helen white who should be retiring before 2026) and the 6 male electorate mps + Kieren Grant etc
It's shameful Debra and Rino haven't reaigned.
Your reckons are in need of a makeover. It’s a fresh line-up. Just what the political doctor ordered. Electorate MPs do not take precedence over list MPs. They are all equal. It is the person deemed best for each individual portfolio, taking into account geographical and other important considerations.
Please look and listen to Hipkin’s press conference. It has its humorous moments which is more than you get with the other lot. Hopefully you will also recognise he knows his MPs better than we do:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/503581/labour-party-leader-chris-hipkins-reveals-new-shadow-cabinet
NB. the entire caucus has been given shadow portfolio responsibilities. Good practice.
it’s a fresh line up.
Pull the other on Anne. It’s the same tired old hacks booted out of government less than 2 months ago.
I don't wear socks in the summer time.
Helen White won her seat, and she has every right to be there.
Just wow, you'd have been at home at Roehm's SA gatherings, your reactionary working class man thing against social liberal women would have been popular.
The Cookers LOVE LOVE LOVE Winston!
https://rumble.com/v3ynskd-operation-m.o.a.r-mother-of-all-revelations.html
Help us, Jesus!
The newly self-appointed Minister for self funded media? Of course they do!
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2022/covid-19-cases-new-zealand/
https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-boosters/
Dad and I get our 4th anti-COVID booster vaccinations later today. Better safe than sorry – masks to protect against infection, and vaccines to protect against symptoms.
Tory dumb asses economics 101:
We have rampant inflation – the cause of majority of said inflation – corporate greed. (google Australian Tax department)
Yeap the corporations have decided working people are dumb enough to buy the lies and propaganda they spin – so they look at something else. Winston
The have their special elects in Government now.
So how will inflation be under Tory dumb ass economics – you silly – They will force down wages saying it's the only way to fix inflation.
Corporations laugh in your face – must be having a good giggle they were able to elect Winston back to be such a distraction.
Good luck, thank God I'm disabled and will be dead before the bring back open slavery – on your dumb wage slave ass.