Archive for October, 2015
ABs vs Australia
Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, October 31st, 2015 - 78 comments
Will the All Blacks be the first team to defend a RWC title?
Finally Fighting for Democracy?
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 31st, 2015 - 31 comments
Boots on ground.
Petition on Slater’s hate speech
Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, October 31st, 2015 - 127 comments
US ship visit and nuclear free NZ
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, October 31st, 2015 - 77 comments
The US has been invited to send a ship to NZ. One News has a headline about a “nuclear ship”. Explosive if true, but I think this is an error. There is some confusion on the matter, let’s hope it is cleared up fast.
Open mike 31/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 31st, 2015 - 18 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 30/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:16 pm, October 30th, 2015 - 4 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Food Bank Charity
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, October 30th, 2015 - 97 comments
Guest post from Kōrero Pono on the politics and ethics of food banks.
Weekend social 30/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, October 30th, 2015 - 23 comments
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?
Dirty Politics was in the public interest
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, October 30th, 2015 - 46 comments
Today’s anonymous editorial in The Herald makes for interesting reading, with the right conclusion in the end – Hager’s Dirty Politics served a genuine public interest, and should be legally protected as such.
Q&A with Scoop’s Alastair Thompson
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 30th, 2015 - 46 comments
Scoop’s Alastair Thompson will be joining us live around 10am. Do you have questions on the future of the media, public service journalism, or plans for the Scoop Foundation? Ask them here!
Were people smugglers paid money to take refuges away from New Zealand?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 30th, 2015 - 34 comments
Amnesty International has published a report “By Hook or by Crook: Australia’s Abuse of Asylum-Seekers at Sea” which has rightfully been described as a damning indictment of Australia’s handling of the refugee crisis. But New Zealand benefitted from payments of money to people smugglers. What did the Government know?
Five years as a united Auckland
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, October 30th, 2015 - 168 comments
Auckland Council is delivering a publication to all Auckland households celebrating five years of Auckland super city. But is there any reason to celebrate?
Open mike 30/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 30th, 2015 - 72 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 29/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, October 29th, 2015 - 10 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Tomorrow – Q&A with Scoop’s Alastair Thompson
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, October 29th, 2015 - 4 comments
For 16 years Scoop has been making an enormous contribution to the NZ media landscape. On Friday at 10am Scoop’s Alastair Thompson will join us here on The Standard for a question and answer session.
Technology and the law – and going after Hager
Written By: - Date published: 10:12 am, October 29th, 2015 - 213 comments
A recent supreme court ruling that a “stored sequence of bytes” constitutes property is pretty bizarre – and it seems to be being used to go after Nicky Hager.
Open mike 29/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 29th, 2015 - 84 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 28/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, October 28th, 2015 - 18 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
“A creeping authoritarianism from the current government”
Written By: - Date published: 4:17 pm, October 28th, 2015 - 36 comments
The reaction to Westpac handing over Nicky Hager’s data to police is still playing out. Rob Hosking observes “a creeping authoritarianism from the current government”.
Getting mommy to dispense the drugs
Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, October 28th, 2015 - 32 comments
Now that cannabis is going legal and heading for the neighbourhood social gatherings where mothers sell addictive substances (like cosmetics and kitchenware) to each other. Lets legalize it, tax it HEAVILY, and could someone please give Helen Kelly and others like her the relief that they can use.
Cameron prefers ornamental Lords
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, October 28th, 2015 - 15 comments
Fascinating developments in British politics as The House of Lords opposes Cameron’s cuts to tax credits and chooses instead to protect the poor. Cameron is incensed.
We are paying for Key and Coleman to attend the World Cup
Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, October 28th, 2015 - 207 comments
John Key and Jonathan Coleman are attending the World Cup on the taxpayer’s tab.
Open mike 28/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 28th, 2015 - 65 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 27/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, October 27th, 2015 - 19 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Portugal
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, October 27th, 2015 - 38 comments
This is going to end well…
Well I’m glad we cleared that up
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, October 27th, 2015 - 25 comments
Let’s keep politics out of Rugby
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, October 27th, 2015 - 87 comments
The right used to state that politics should be kept out of sport. With John Key politicising the All Blacks to an obscene it may be time for them to reinforce what now appears to be a very reasonable principle.
NZ number one in the world – and it’s all bad news
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 27th, 2015 - 388 comments
Rachel Stewart writes about a disaster for this country.
Open mike 27/10/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 27th, 2015 - 41 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Sobriety
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, October 26th, 2015 - 10 comments
The video excerpt comes from the Yann Arthus-Bertrand film ‘Human’. It’s available to view on youtube.
Angry at Westpac
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, October 26th, 2015 - 56 comments
Westpac passing over Nicky Hager’s details was probably illegal, and may turn out to have been a very bad move…
- My Universe just lost one of its brightest stars…
. . This morning, a little after 4am, Sharlene lost her brave fight against cancer. Rest in peace, Sharlene. You were always one of my brightest stars… . . Advertisements ...6 hours ago - Ripped Away From Their Parents
16 hours ago - 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #24
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 9 through Sat, June 15, 2019 Editor's Pick Costa Rica Doubled Its Forest Cover In Just 30 Years! Costa ...16 hours ago - Opinion Polling In 2019: More Art Than Science?
16 hours ago - Climate Change Survivalism Is Not The Answer
16 hours ago - Planetary health and ’12 years’ to act
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeffrey Kiehl Life makes us wake up to needed changes. A visit to the doctor’s office and accompanied tests indicate you have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Your doctor indicates two pathways to ...2 days ago - Why hasn’t New Zealand been building more wind farms?
New Zealand needs to decarbonise its electricity supply, while also increasing it to cope with the extra demand from electric vehicles. Wind energy is an obvious solution for this: we have an excellent wind resource, and its cheaper than fossil ...2 days ago - Colombia: Coca, cocaine and negotiating with the state
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The coca issue has gained a new lease of life in Duque’s Colombia, although to be truthful it never really lost its importance to the state. Trump’s scolding of Duque for not doing enough to halt ...2 days ago - Chemical watchdog confirms suppressed report but justifies the suppression
Director-General of OPCW Fernando Arias Gonzales admits Douma engineers report was legit and he was part of the FFM – but attempts to justify suppression of the report. France 24 reports that the head of the Organisation for the ...2 days ago - Strikes workWhen teachers demanded more time and more money to do their jobs, Education Minister Chris Hipkins was adamant: there was no more money and they should expect disappointment. No, after a joint strike and facing five weeks of rolling stoppages, ...3 days ago
- Equality comes to EcuadorEcuador's Constitutional Court has legalised same-sex marriage:Ecuador's highest court has approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the traditionally Catholic country. The vote at the nine-member Constitutional Court came as they ruled on the lawsuits by two same-sex couples ...3 days ago
- Arundhati Roy: ‘I don’t want to become an interpreter of the east to the west’
Arundhati Roy is speaking at the Auckland Writers Festival on July 17. In this interview in The Guardian Roy discusses her writing and political activism. Gary Younge: One of the things I’m intrigued by at this moment is the way ...3 days ago - Japan’s deadly 2018 heatwave ‘could not have happened without climate change’
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne The record-breaking 2018 summer heatwave in Japan in which more than 1,000 people died “could not have happened without human-induced global warming”, a study finds. And the extreme heat felt in ...3 days ago - Access: Jim’s Truth
I've had a bit to say of late about YouTube, its algorithms and the escalating allure of certain facile "creators" to young men. I worry about this stuff. But I think it's also important to acknowledge that the alt-lite and ...3 days ago - Climate Change: National commits to failureNational released a policy document on the primary sector today, in which they commit to ensuring farmers do not have to do anything to reduce emissions: On climate change, National recommends farmers remain outside the ETS, while critics such as ...3 days ago
- Climate Change: Time to fix the RMAOMV's application for resource consent for drilling offshore exploration wells has highlighted a major flaw in our environmental legislation. Climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, is our most pressing environmental threat. But the EPA, which is deciding the application, ...3 days ago
- Farmers are still poisoning CanterburyIn 2018, ECan decided to "solve" the problem of farmers poisoning the water with nitrates by raising nitrate limits so they could make the problem disappear. Of course, this didn't fix anything. Instead, its still getting worse:In Canterbury, polluting nitrates ...4 days ago
- Googling OIA requesters violates the Privacy ActI saw an interesting article from FOIMan - a UK-based fredom of information site - on the subject of agencies googling requesters. This is apparently a common practice, but their short advice is "don't": its not just creepy and intimidating, ...4 days ago
- From the vaults: Vanua’aku Pati declares provisional government – struggle for independence grow...The article below is part of our ‘From the Vaults’ series and first appeared in the fortnightly left-wing NZ paper, Socialist Action, February 10, 1978. We hope to be expanding our Pacific coverage in future. The Republic of Vanuatu came ...4 days ago
- Shirley Smith: In Her Own Right
There are a number of ways of reading Sarah Gaitanos’s biography Shirley Smith: An Examined Life. In my view – I knew Shirley a little – she would want to you to read it as her struggle to be recognised, ...4 days ago - Dear friends: please stop hating on Clarke GayfordMultiple motivations are behind my various attempts to reduce involvement in online life. The preciousness of time is a big one. The pointlessness of digital feuds is another. The inevitable temptation to meanness is a third.read more ...4 days ago
- Britain’s criminal spiesLast month, we learned that MI5 had "compliance issues" around its data storage, and is retaining information for longer than necessary in violation of the law. But it turns out that its worse than that: they've been obtaining spy warrants ...4 days ago
- Botswana decriminalises homosexualityBotswana's High Court has ruled that colonial laws outlawing homosexuality are unconstitutional:High court judges in Botswana have ruled that laws criminalising same-sex relations are unconstitutional and should be struck down, in a major victory for gay rights campaigners in Africa. ...5 days ago
- Jacinda Ardern and the working poorby Don Franks In his June 8th piece “Jacinda Ardern looks unbeatable” journalist Martin van Beynen appeared unbeatable himself – at fawning praise. This week I was reading about John F Kennedy, the American president assassinated in 1963, and saw ...5 days ago
- Climate change: sea level rise could displace millions of people within two generations
Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Bristol and Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Antarctica is further from ...5 days ago - Justice denied is not justice at allI am fortunate enough to be a citizen of three countries – New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland – which gives me the right to live in all three places. So, let’s imagine I am a very bad person. ...5 days ago
- Another industry no-one wants to be a part ofWe see regular stories from farmers and orchards complaining that no-one wants to work long hours in terrible conditions for poor pay in their shitty industry. And now, its fishers. But in the process, they neatly explain why:"It's a hard ...5 days ago
- Climate Change: A climate emergency in AucklandNew Zealand's largest city has just declared a climate emergency. And its not just a symbolic move:While the declaration is largely symbolic, it signals the start of a more urgent and focussed approach by councillors to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. ...5 days ago
- FinallyNew Zealand troops are coming home from Iraq next year. Good. Their mission there was never moral, and seems to have involved directly assisting the Iraqi army in a murderous war, as well as assisting the US with mass biometric ...6 days ago
- The OIA and Parliamentary PrivilegeImmediately after being elected in 2017, the government started playing bullshit games over answers to written parliamentary questions. Since those games seemed to be systematic, I asked the likely culprit - Chris Hipkins - whether he'd given advice to other ...6 days ago
- Lobbying against key US climate regulation ‘cost society $60bn’, study finds
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss Political lobbying in the US that helped block the progress of proposed climate regulation a decade ago led to a social cost of $60bn, according to a new study. Environmental economists Dr ...6 days ago - Not the transformation we were promised
The Wellbeing Budget opens with, “What is wellbeing?”, a question that has been widely posed and little understood. Treasury says “Wellbeing is when people are able to lead fulfilling lives with purpose, balance and meaning to them.” Long-term challenges facing ...6 days ago - The Public Sector Pay Puzzle
Who would have thought that so many different groups of public sector workers would have discovered at roughly the same time that they have been underpaid and under-resourced to such an extent? No one doubts that teachers of different kinds ...6 days ago - Rocket Man a glitzy spectacleby Don Franks Rocket Man is a glitzy spectacle, scooping up on the extravagant showmanship side of Elton John. Two hours of energy and flair. The relentlessly full on song and dance sequences mostly work, especially the fantasy sequence where ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: End pollution subsidies nowWhen National gutted the ETS in 2009, one of the ways they did it was to hand out huge subsidies to big polluters. Now the climate crisis is here, but the polluters want their subsidies to continue:The latest climate pleaders ...7 days ago
- Will NZ Post sabotage local body elections?School board of trustees elections were held last week. Unfortunately, NZ Post seems to have sabotaged them:Voting in the triennial elections for most school boards closed at noon on Friday, June 7. But Ponsonby Primary School principal Dr Anne Malcolm ...7 days ago
- The Tamakis Quest For Dominion: More “Handmaid’s Tale”, Less “Modern Family”.
1 week ago - 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #23
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 2 through Sat, June 8, 2019 Editor's Pick White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show Rod ...1 week ago - Israel’s snipers have injured thousands protesting the blockade of GazaSince March 30 2018 Palestinians have protested along the fenced border with Israel calling for a return to the lands they were expelled from in 1948. Israel maintains direct external control over the territory’s air and maritime space, most of ...1 week ago
- Media Link: The March 15 aftermath.
I was interviewed as part of an Al Jazeera documentary on the aftermath of the March 15 terrorist attacks in Christchurch. The program is well worth watching because it addresses subjects that most of the NZ media do not want ...1 week ago - Time for some accountabilityThe Herald (paywalled) reports that the GCSB called the Beehive to try and stop the government from announcing the Budget had been "hacked". Why? Because it was false, and they'd told Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf so. But instead, he lied ...1 week ago
- Getting what they paid for againOur fishing industry is pervasively criminal, with widespread under-reporting, dumping, and other illegal behaviour. The most effective way of stopping this crime is to put cameras on fishing boats to watch catches as they are brought aboard, enabling under-reporting, dumping ...1 week ago
- Climate Change: National still peddling denialOne of the core ideas underlying the Zero Carbon Act is the idea of policy durability: that in order to be effective, climate change policy has to survive multiple changes of government. As a result, the Bill has been watered ...1 week ago
- The Least We Could Do.
1 week ago - Was it Really a Wellbeing Budget?On the Friday morning previous to Budget Thursday, the Prime Minister gave what amounted to a pre-budget speech. It was not welcomed by the listeners, even though most New Zealanders may have found it promising But the audience was from ...1 week ago
- Not a good international citizenI've spent the afternoon crafting a brief submission to Parliament on the International Treaty Examination of The War Crimes Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The government wants to ratify a treaty amendment which would make ...1 week ago
- Climate Change: Chile going carbon neutralNew Zealand is currently in the process of enacting legislation to set us on a pathway to carbon neutrality (except for cows) by 2050. Meanwhile, Chile - not a country we think of as being especially rich - is going ...2 weeks ago
- New Fisk2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: An existential threatHow bad is the threat of climate change? Existential risk to civilisation bad:A new climate report co-authored by a former fossil fuel executive has painted a bleak outlook for the future of human civilisation - including nuclear war. Existential climate-related ...2 weeks ago
- Controversy Creates Cash: Simon Bridges and the Monday Night WarsWhen Simon Bridges leaked details of last week’s budget, it was a bit of a gamble.read more ...2 weeks ago
- No press freedom in Australia IIYesterday the Australian government raided a journalist for revealing its plans to spy on Australian citizens. Today, they're raiding the ABC for revealing that war crimes were committed by Australian soldiers:Australian Federal Police officers are raiding the ABC's Sydney headquarters ...2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: Try not to flyHow are people reducing their ecological impact to deal with climate change? In Sweden, they're giving up flying:The number of Swedes taking the train for domestic journeys has risen as plane journeys inside the country have fallen, reflecting rapidly growing ...2 weeks ago
- Europe – Left and RightThe Labour Party has always been an uncomfortable alliance between those on the one hand who are content to seek a politics that declines to accept the infallibility of market-driven outcomes and accordingly seeks to achieve greater social justice within ...2 weeks ago
- Defending Privilege“Keep things as they are,” is always the catch-cry of those who are happy with their lot. “Change is a waste of time” makes sense to those who are doing well and see no reason to disturb their privileged existence. ...2 weeks ago
- Behind the scenes at Te Papa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, has been in the news over the past year for its proposals to restructure the number and roles of staff managing its collections. Scientists, both local and overseas, voiced their opposition, and ...2 weeks ago - Odious secrecy II
Last month, when the government released its Zero Carbon Bill, I highlighted how it contained an odious expansion of secrecy which throw a veil over practically all decisions made by the Independent Climate Change Commission. I wanted to see how ...2 weeks ago - Gabriel Makhlouf’s already had three strikes. Can he really avoid being ‘out’?National leader Simon Bridges laid it on pretty think last week when he did his big reveal and showed that the supposed 'hack' of the Treasury website and early release of some Budget information nothing more than some Google searches ...2 weeks ago
- Simon, ranting 24/7 is not actually a policy position…
So, the “Wellbeing Budget” that the New Zealand Government signaled would be a marked shift in the priorities of the country under this Coalition Government has finally come out. What did it tick? What did it steer away from? If ...2 weeks ago - No press freedom in AustraliaLast year, Australian journalist Annika Smethurst broke the news that the government was plotting to allow the Australian Signals Directorate - their equivalent of the GCSB - to spy on Australian citizens and hack their computers. The plans were shelved ...2 weeks ago
- Sometimes with politics, you should sweat the small stuff2 weeks ago
- A victory for press freedom in the UKIn 2017, journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey released the documentary No Stone Unturned. The documentary investigated the 1994 Loughinisland massacre in which six people were murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force, a crime for which no-one has ever been ...2 weeks ago
- Austerity is mass-murderNeoLiberal austerity is a cruel policy which robs the state of its ability to help people. In the UK, it is also mass-murder:More than 130,000 deaths in the UK since 2012 could have been prevented if improvements in public health ...2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: Left in the dustThe government's Zero Carbon Bill, which would establish a framework to drive New Zealand towards net-zero emissions of everything but methane by 2050, is currently in select committee. The government is spinning this as an ambitious plan to fight climate ...2 weeks ago
- Who Is The Best Judge Of The People’s “Wellbeing”?
2 weeks ago - New Times arising: The Giddens Project blogs III first came across the concept of New Times when I was browsing a newsstand at Piccadilly Station in London in October 1988. The words were splashed across the cover of a special issue of what was then the go-to ...2 weeks ago
- Effects of Global Warming
Why are young – and not so young – people becoming more vociferous in their protests about global warming? Why has climate change become a political and partisan issue at democratic elections? Why do ‘greenies’ try to stop the development of new ...2 weeks ago - Treasury troubles, strike money & growing grains of salt for pollsThe debate over Budgets in Wellington is the ultimate in beltway-ness. For most New Zealanders settling the teacher and/or junior doctors strikes, making sure healthcare and welfare is funded sufficiently to ensure reasonable access, and other such day-to-day issues are ...2 weeks ago
- More on the abortion debateThis article by Kenan Malik in 2012 explores the issue of abortion, how it raises profound questions about what it means to be human, about when and how do we become human, about the nature of rights, and about who ...2 weeks ago
- Remembering lesbians in lesbian and gay liberationThanks to the author of this article for passing it on to us. Ann is a veteran socialist, trade union and lesbian activist in the United States. While she is writing about experiences there, the article is very much relevant ...2 weeks ago
- 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #22
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 26 through Sat, June 1, 2019 Editor's Pick 12 books on how climate change is transforming businesses and the global ...2 weeks ago - May ’19 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking
Image credit: Hot Tips to Boost Your Lead Generation Through Blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This ... 2 weeks ago - New general strike in Argentinaby Phil Duncan Workers in Argentina have just staged another general strike. It took place on Wednesday (May 29) and saw public transport and airports paralysed, along with banks, hospitals and many shops. Key ports, along with schools and universities ...2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: We need to tax jet fuelAviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. But as Stuff points out, jet fuel is exempt from taxes:[A]lthough fuel prices have climbed steadily for the last quarter century, the jet fumes we spew into the skies ...2 weeks ago
- The US is actually unique for not valuing life!
"...that’s what sets America apart from every other country; we value life. That is what makes us unique.” - Sarah SandersThere is a high level of delusion operating in the White House. The stream of mistruths that come out of ...2 weeks ago - Speaker: School donations: a small step towards a level playing fieldAmong the provisions in yesterday's Budget was new funding for schools: $150 annually per student. The money is availabe only to decile 1-7 schools and it's specifically intended to reduce the need for those schools to ask for yearly donations ...2 weeks ago
- Cameras on vessels to ensure sustainable fisheries
Commercial fishing vessels at greatest risk of encountering the rare Māui dolphin will be required to operate with on-board cameras from 1 November, as the next step to strengthen our fisheries management system. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Fisheries Minister ...1 week ago - Greatest number of new Police in a single yearA new record for the number of Police officers deployed to the regions in a single year has been created with the graduation today of Recruit Wing 326. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 78 new constables means ...1 week ago
- Ensuring multinationals pay their fair share of taxNew Zealand is pushing on with efforts to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share of tax, with the release of proposed options for a digital services tax (DST). In February Cabinet agreed to consult the public on the problem ...2 weeks ago
- Unite in our Efforts to Support Whānau
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated (NKII) leaders are pleased to have met today with Ministers Martin, Davis and Mahuta to find solutions to the incident that occurred on the 1st May 2019. Minister Martin has agreed to conduct an inquiry into ...7 hours ago - The crisis the Housing Minister createdA report yesterday of a woman, 86, moving because of a 73 percent rent hike illustrates the crisis created by Housing Minister Phil Twyford, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. ...14 hours ago
- National Maori Authority response to Oranga TamarikiNational Maori Authority puts forward a response to Oranga Tamariki "As this national conversation unfolds - we need to plot a path that sees no more Maori children in care and everything we do and say must always put our ...14 hours ago
- National Maori Authority Chair slams David SeymourThe Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has come out swinging against ACT MP David Seymour and called him out for his comments when it comes to hate speech: “David Seymour is doing nothing more the running a ...1 day ago
- CEAC joins in united Support for Napier – Wairoa Railway14th July 2019 was a great day for HB/Gisborne, giving us all a real deep feeling of hope for our future health, wellbeing, safety, security and environmental sustainability for all who call HB our home. This was the first train ...1 day ago
- Tova interviews Tanya Sammons, Tyrone Marks, Aaron SmaleTova O’Brien: With me now are survivors of abuse in state care. Tanya Sammons, Tyrone Marks who also sits on the commission’s Survivor’s Advisory Group. Kia ora, kōrua. Thank you very much for joining us. Tanya, perhaps we could start ...2 days ago
- Tova O’Brien interviews Mervin SinghamOn Newshub Nation: Tova O'Brien interviews Mervin Singham, Executive Director of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care ...2 days ago
- Tova O’Brien interviews Act Party leader David SeymourTova O’Brien: The ACT Party will unveil its grand rebrand at the party conference this weekend, complete with a suite of new policies. David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, hopes it will transform his minor party into a major political ...2 days ago
- NZ government extends Iraq and Afghanistan troop deploymentsThe Labour Party-NZ First-Greens coalition government announced on June 10 that New Zealand’s deployment of about 100 soldiers to Iraq will be extended for another 12 months. The deployment of about a dozen troops to Afghanistan will last for at ...2 days ago
- Beth Ad Lib No. 32Emissions from cow’s milk here are half the global average. Land use is 1/9th, and water use beats the global average using less than both almond and soy milk. ...2 days ago
- IDEA Services dispute escalates: 12-hour strike SundayA 12 hour strike this Sunday by care and support workers at IDEA Services will go ahead after two days of failed mediation this week. ...2 days ago
- Recreational cannabis law changes – Expert Q&AA promised referendum on recreational cannabis next year has raised questions on what a legal, regulated cannabis market might look like. ...2 days ago
- Chamber supports collaborative approach to ‘Hobbit Law’New arrangements unanimously agreed to by the Film Industry Working Group are welcomed by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. ...2 days ago
- A new offer on the table for secondary teachersSecondary teachers have received a new offer from the government to settle the area school and secondary collective agreements. ...3 days ago
- Primary teachers to vote on a proposed settlementTwo weeks after the largest strike in the New Zealand history, proposed settlements and an accord between the Government and teacher unions will be taken to primary teachers and principals for ratification votes next week. ...3 days ago
- Build-to-rent another expense for taxpayersIf Housing Minister Phil Twyford could do a few basic calculations, he would know that the “build-to-rent” proposal he is looking at would require substantial Government financial support and guarantees to get off the ground, Tenancies War ...3 days ago
- Have your say on the China-NZ double taxation agreementThe Finance and Expenditure Committee is seeking submissions on the International Treaty examination of the Agreement between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of the People's Republic of China for the Elimination of Double taxation. ...3 days ago
- RITANZ welcomes passing of Insolvency Practitioners BillThe Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association of New Zealand (RITANZ) has welcomed news that the Insolvency Practitioners Bill has passed into law on Wednesday, almost a decade after it was first introduced into Parliament. The Insolvency Practitioners ...3 days ago
- SAFE to launch petition to Parliament at RallyInternational Awareness Day to Stop Live Transport will today see caring Kiwis outside Parliament, speaking out against the cruelty of the live export trade. Animal rights organisation SAFE and more than 50 animal groups globally are highlighting the cruelty ...3 days ago
- New Kiwi research questions Government’s loan shark decisionThe Government's decision to not cap the interest rate loan sharks can charge is under further scrutiny following the release of a new report. ...3 days ago
- Worksafe and ACC experimenting with farmers’ livesGovernment agencies are experimenting with farmers’ lives in their call for untested CPDs (crush protection devices) to be fitted on ATVs. Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says international research suggest there is no credible ...3 days ago
- Plastics campaigners welcome announcement on refund schemesPlastic campaigners welcome action on waste today, following an announcement by the Ministry for Environment that it intends to “look into” establishing a bottle deposit scheme. ...3 days ago
- Container deposit scheme is just another taxA container deposit scheme from the Government would just function as a new tax, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . ...3 days ago
- Growing risk of nitrate contamination private water suppliesMany thousands of people could be at risk from drinking water with high levels of nitrates. ...3 days ago
- Payment to ‘The Limery’ is a loan, not a grantOn Wednesday the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union issued a statement about the Provincial Growth Fund’s $355 million loan to ‘The Limery’ in Wairoa. ...3 days ago
- CPAG welcomes Ministry of Health focus on food insecurityChild Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that income adequacy, along with the consistent certainty of income, is key to ensuring that children's nutritional needs are met for healthy brain development in their critical early years, and for ensuring that ...3 days ago
- E tū: screen production bargaining rights welcomedE tū welcomes the Government’s commitment to legislation which will allow film and television contractors to bargain collectively. ...3 days ago
- Have your say about surgical procedures on animalsNew Zealanders have a chance to say what they think about the rules for surgical procedures on animals. ...3 days ago
- CPAG submits on Consumer Credit legislationCPAG joins with FinCap and Ngā Tangata Microfinance in calling for the Government to include an interest rate cap in the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill, to complement the Bill’s policy to limit to the total cost of borrowing. ...3 days ago
- Call for the government to ‘stop stealing Māori children’Māori lawyers, midwives, social workers and academics unite to call on the government to ‘stop stealing Māori children’ ...3 days ago
- Youth demand greater involvement in decision-makingThe Youth Declaration document from UN Youth New Zealand, created by 250 rangatahi at the Aotearoa Youth Declaration conference outlines the biggest challenges young people see in our society and the solutions they propose to tackle them. ...3 days ago
- Māori Party in Auckland supports Air NZ decision on tamokoThe Māori Party support the decision of Air New Zealand to reconsider the use of tamoko tattoos. ...4 days ago
- Money talks when addressing Māori mental wellbeingBased on a budget analysis the Māori Party in Auckland are looking for what’s for Māori when it comes to targeted funds for Māori mental health. ...4 days ago
- Acute demand driving deficitsPressuring District Health Boards to reduce their deficits will exacerbate the critical shortfall being experienced in public hospitals dealing with significant increased acute demand, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried ...4 days ago
- Open letter response to Mike Hosking on teachers“Oh Mike, here you are wading in on the teacher contract negotiations with figures that can politely be called creative and impolitely something else altogether. ...4 days ago
- Fish & Game back call from Canterbury Officer of HealthFish & Game New Zealand back the call from Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey that research into the levels of nitrates in drinking water is urgently needed after a new study found a correlation of high nitrate ...4 days ago
- Housing Providers Launch KiwiBuy PetitionAdopting KiwiBuy, a range of programmes enabling Kiwis to own their own home progressively, is being urged on the Government, in a petition launched by Community Housing Providers. The Salvation Army, Housing Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and Community Housing ...4 days ago
- Camera programme about protecting market share, not dolphinsEver since the newly elected Labour-led Government scrapped the comprehensive fisheries camera programme promised by the National Government, conservation groups have been clamouring for the programme to be reinstated. ...4 days ago
- Racist policies towards Māori children need to changeIn response to an investigation led by Newsroom on the uplift of Māori children by Oranga Tamariki, Te Rau Ora CEO Maria Baker has said that Māori already experience disproportionate rates of mental illness, addiction, self-harm and suicide, and with ...4 days ago
- Seabed oil drilling imminent as giant rig arrivesWednesday, June 12: Drilling in our seabed is about to start for the overseas oil giant OMV, despite the Government ban on new oil and gas permits. ...4 days ago
- How NZ’s well-being budget delivers for the environmentInternationally, the Ardern government is seen as a progressive beacon , and its recent budget was watched closely as a milestone in the “year of delivery” for Ardern’s well-being agenda. ...4 days ago
- Secondary teachers call off next week’s strikesSecondary teachers have cancelled the regional rolling strike action that had been planned for the week beginning 17 June 2019. ...4 days ago
- Establishing fitness to stand trial for Chch shooterEstablishing fitness to stand trial as the first step in Christchurch attack court process ...4 days ago
- WTF? There’s a giant oil rig on the horizonThursday, June 13: A drill rig commissioned by oil giant OMV has arrived in New Zealand, a little over a year after the Government issued a ban on new oil and gas exploration permits. ...4 days ago
- Hate Speech? Or Speech they Hate!It is not hate speech that is being banned, but speech that the Left hate. ...4 days ago
- Letters reveal Talley effort to prevent seafloor protectionForest & Bird is releasing letters showing Talley’s fishing co, along with other bottom trawling companies, lobbied against seabed protection in the South Pacific. This comes on the eve of Talley’s appearance in court on charges of illegal bottom ...4 days ago
- Taxpayers’ Union praises James Shaw for videoconferencingThe Taxpayers’ Union has congratulated Climate Change Minister James Shaw for his integrity and frugality. In response to questions from Todd Muller in the House today , Mr Shaw confirmed he has been conducting climate change meetings via video ...4 days ago
- Teacher speaks out against conditions at impoverished schoolThe WSWS recently spoke to a teacher at a secondary school in a small New Zealand regional town. In his first year in the profession, the young teacher wished to remain anonymous to avoid repercussions for speaking out. But he ...4 days ago
- Feds applauds Budget’s farming investmentsMoves to improve the accuracy of Overseer, and on-the-ground support for farmers working to lift their environmental sustainability, are positive steps, Federated Farmers says. ...4 days ago
- Hāpai Te Hauora raise concerns after legislation rushedHāpai Te Hauora raise concerns after racing legislation rushed through Parliament ...4 days ago
- Lambie’s vote key if government wants to have medevac repealed
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government almost certainly would have to obtain the support of Tasmanian crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie to amend or repeal the medevac legislation. Home Affairs ...4 hours ago - Dancing with the Stars finale: And the winner is…
Our three month celebrity charity journey is over! Sam Brooks power-ranks the finale of Dancing with The Stars.Can I just say what an honestly strange event the last episode of this kind of reality show is? It’s one hour and 59 ...4 hours ago - The House: Budget 2019 not over yet
From the debating chamber, to estimates hearings, to question time, to a first reading debate, Budget 2019 is all over Parliament at the moment despite being unveiled last month. Here's the financial scrutiny process. ...7 hours ago - The Spinoff Reviews New Zealand #85: Taking a dog on an Auckland train
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey borrows a dog and goes on a magical journey. Look, I had extremely high hopes for the day that pets were finally allowed ...8 hours ago - Family justice review urges integrated approach to servicesThe Independent Panel considering family justice reforms is calling for an integrated family justice service - called Te Korowai Ture ā Whānau. ...9 hours ago
- ACT Party re-launches itself with ‘act for freedom’ sloganACT Party leader David Seymour says he's confident he can win the Epsom seat in Auckland without the endorsement of National. ...10 hours ago
- A short list of reasons for Aucklanders to envy Melbourne’s food scene
Auckland is great – but, argues Catherine McGregor, Melbourne’s restaurants, cafes and bars still have the edge.Long before ‘cool’ even existed, Melbourne was cooler than wherever you lived. Take it from me: if you’d stopped a 19th century dandy flaneur-ing ...13 hours ago - How to read the most unreadable (and greatest) novel ever published
Auckland musician Joshua Hetherington used to tremble at the thought of reading Ulysses. But in this personal essay published on Bloomsday – the annual celebration of James Joyce – he discovers a kind of spirit guide. ...14 hours ago - The best of The Spinoff this week
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website.Amanda Thompson: A love letter to my crockpotOnce when I was younger and stupider I thought I didn’t need a crockpot. I thought they were the laughable domain of Tupperware-hoarding suburban ...15 hours ago - Kim Dotcom and the seven-year itch
17 hours ago - The Hamilton-based company making bikes that glide on water
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the ...17 hours ago - Government’s ‘saving lives at sea’ rhetoric rings hollow
What was New Zealand’s role in the interception of the Andika, and is the $25 million allocated to preventing asylum-seeker vessels like it really a humanitarian act?In the 2019 “Wellbeing” budget, $25 million was allocated to maritime mass arrival prevention, ...18 hours ago - We need a new OT complaints agency
The silent are silent no more and they are crying for help. There is nowhere for them to go. Jacoby Poulain argues we need a new independent complaints agency for the children's ministry. ...18 hours ago - Keith Jackson: Act now over grave threat facing Australian press freedom
OPEN LETTER: By Keith Jackson I joined the Australian Journalists Association (now the MEAA – Media Alliance) in, I think, 1971, when I still lived and worked in Papua New Guinea. When I formally retired from paid work a ...1 day ago - Patrick Gower: Our justice system helped kill Nicole Tuxford
Nicole Tuxford’s death is up there with the worst failures of the justice system in New Zealand history, writes Newshub’s Patrick Gower. Our justice system helped kill Nicole Tuxford. These are extreme and hurtful words to put next to Nicole’s name, ...1 day ago - Science Writing and Climate Change – a new environmental journalism bookDavid Robie ISBN/code: 9781927184578 Price: $20.00 Publication date: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 Publisher: Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) in association with SciDev.Net and the Pacific Media Centre: Manila and Auckland. “Disaster reporting, ...1 day ago
- ACT Party members’ bill would repeal parts of Human Rights ActThe Act Party has announced a new members' bill that would repeal parts of the Human Rights Act, and it says it wants to abolish the Human Rights Commission. ...1 day ago
- How I became the most powerful male Wiccan in North Dunedin
Thanks to a eighteen year old book, Critic‘s Charlie O’Mannin briefly became the most powerful male Wiccan in all of North Dunedin. In the depths of time before the world came into being (2001), in a dark and distant land (the ...2 days ago - Quantum physics experiment shows Heisenberg was right about uncertainty, in a certain sense
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Howard Wiseman, Director, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University The word uncertainty is used a lot in quantum mechanics. One school of thought is that this means there’s something out there in ...2 days ago - Two greats of Auckland theatre meet in A Fine Balance
A Fine Balance opens tonight in Auckland, and it marks a historic collaboration between two pillars of Auckland theatre. Sam Brooks talked to two of the team – Prayas president Amit Ohdedar and director Ahi Karunharan – about the show.On paper, ...2 days ago - Memo to WINZ: Don’t use Twitter to clap back at your clients
Being a big brand, corporate, or government department means restraining yourself on social media, no matter how grievously you feel you’ve been wronged, writes Anna ConnellI used to manage social media for a bank. We had good days and bad ...2 days ago - Climate change and the rural way of life
The government’s environmental policy is creating major tensions in farming communities. Alex Braae went to a meeting in Taumarunui to see it play out. “We’ve got the get the government’s attention somehow. Okay, we’re not all going to jump on our ...2 days ago - Lesley Max: Big questions beyond baby uplift video
Dame Lesley Max watched Melanie Reid's baby uplift documentary with a knot in her stomach but urges New Zealanders to move beyond gut-level responses to really seeking solutions. ...2 days ago - How The Salvation Army are taking on dodgy truck shops
The Sallies are taking on unscrupulous mobile traders with their own rival service. Business editor Maria Slade went out riding with the Good Shop.It’s a freezing cold day with rain going sideways but Savannah is wearing shorts. She’s been vacuuming, ...2 days ago - Two Cents’ Worth: Tip Top and other economic mysteries
The Two Cents' Worth team has gone in search of the answers to their most burning economic questions. ...2 days ago - Collective bargaining shouldn’t rely on old timey warfare
Governments and unions need to learn from the protracted and conflict-driven teacher negotiations. ...2 days ago - A biblical plague of rats is terrorising Titirangi
Responding to reports that packs of cat-sized rats have taken over Titirangi, Don Rowe travelled to West Auckland to find out the truth.There’s an infestation in Titirangi – and it’s not just white girls with dreadlocks. Rats “the size of ...2 days ago - Build-to-rent – it’s all about tax
Phil Twyford says build-to-rent could be a part of the solution to the housing crisis. Does he have the power to make it work? ...2 days ago - Court appearance: Mosque attack survivors’ and families’ painful day
FIRST PERSON: By Katie Todd, of RNZ News, reporting outside the High Court in Christchurch The latest chapter in the court proceedings of the accused mosque gunman played out in cold, misty weather in Christchurch today. Reporters and camera ...2 days ago - Setka furore opens division within the labour movement – and there is no easy solutionSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ray Markey, Emeritus Professor, Macquarie University John Setka’s reported comments about Rosie Batty have the potential to seriously damage the Labor Party and unions generally in the public eye. The Labor Party’s ...2 days ago
- Built like buildings, boab trees are life-savers with a chequered past
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. When you are in the ...2 days ago - Everything that’s great about boab trees
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. When you are in the ...2 days ago - Pets or steak? The inside story of a bovine brouhaha in the ‘burbs
An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those ...2 days ago - Emily Writes: I came out three years ago and I’ve never been happierEmily Writes reflects on being out and proud, three years after accepting and embracing her sexuality.In church I listened to sermons about people with the devil in their hearts. People who would go to Hell even if they were good ...2 days ago
- Oranga Tamariki uplift backlash taking its toll on social workersAn organisation representing social workers says the backlash against a video showing an uplift of a child is taking its toll on frontline staff. ...2 days ago
- Chinese NZ Herald retracts misleading article
The Chinese New Zealand Herald is in the spotlight for publishing and then retracting an article about the Hong Kong protests. ...2 days ago - Proposal to mine fossil-rich site in New Zealand sparks campaign to protect it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Lecturer in Ancient DNA, University of Otago An Australian company’s application to mine a fossil-rich site in the south of New Zealand has been met with fierce criticism and a ...2 days ago - How a cyber attack hampered Hong Kong protesters
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe University Massive public protests taking place in Hong Kong over the past week are aimed at a new extradition law, known as the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, ...2 days ago - ‘People felt totally trapped’: what it’s like to be a pensioner renting privately as Australi...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling A growing number of older Australians don’t own their homes. And whether they are private renters or live in social housing can make a big difference ...2 days ago
- Social worker ‘joked’ about bonuses for child uplifts
A supervising social worker has apologised to a mother for saying the agency paid bonuses for the number of children uplifted. Plus political reaction to the broader uplift controversy. ...2 days ago - How a cyber attack hampered Hong Kong protestors
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe University Massive public protests taking place in Hong Kong over the past week are aimed at a new extradition law, known as the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, ...2 days ago - The Offspin podcast: rainy days and father figuresIn episode seven of The Offspin, with more bad weather in England and not a lot of cricket being played, we took the opportunity to reminisce on our personal journeys in the sport. And spend some quality time dissing Australian ...2 days ago
- Ebert Construction liquidators taking action to claw back $1.3m
The liquidators of Ebert Construction are taking legal action to claw back a portion of the $7.3 million paid to a company controlled by Ebert's directors. ...2 days ago - Research Check: is white meat as bad for your cholesterol levels as red meat?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle You’ve probably heard eating too much fatty red meat is bad for your health, while lean meat and chicken are better choices. ...2 days ago - Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending June 14The 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 Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (Sandstone, $27)Looks ...2 days ago
- Inside the story: the all-knowing narrator in Kim Scott’s Taboo
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julienne van Loon, Vice Chancellor’s Principal Research Fellow, School of Media & Communication, RMIT University The omniscient narrator – an all-knowing, third-person voice – is making a return to contemporary fiction. Indigenous ...2 days ago - We won’t let up: a youth climate activist on Auckland Council’s emergency callThis week’s emergency declaration by Auckland Council is a welcome development in the fight to save the planet, says 17 year old Rebecca Kerr. But there’s still so much to be done.On May 24th, thousands of students marched down Queen ...3 days ago
- National: brought to you by the taunter-in-chief
National splits into Collins-based factions, Bridges gets his Smiths record out and everyone hates on landlines for some reason. James Elliott's news of the week. ...3 days ago - The Friday Poem: ‘Massacre’ by Tusiata AviaA new poem by acclaimed poet and performer Tusiata Avia. Massacre Thursday 14 March When I arrive in Auckland and Hine learns that I have moved back to Christchurch she asks me if I know it is a bad placeit is built ...3 days ago
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Yesterdaze This week started with the release of the latest round of political polls. And even if it’s not marked in your calendar you can always tell it’s polls day because Simon Bridges brings an archive box to work, and ...3 days ago
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