Hopefully, this post-legislative scrutiny will provide a chance to correct any excesses.
Archive for May, 2020
Who wants to lead the National Party?
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, May 21st, 2020 - 93 comments
Tomorrow the National Party caucus meet to decide on a leadership challenge mounted by Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye. Both parties obviously think they have the numbers. Which MPs are misleading them?
No Right Turn on scrutiny of the COVID-19 Bill
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, May 21st, 2020 - 8 comments
Open mike 21/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 21st, 2020 - 114 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 …
This is exactly why the MSM should be scrutinised as much as the government
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, May 20th, 2020 - 37 comments
The Herald’s misleading, clickbait sound-biting of Labour MP Tamati Coffey isn’t even close to what we need in reporting from the Epidemic Response Committee.
The International investigation into Covid-19
Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, May 20th, 2020 - 81 comments
More than 110 nations have backed a call for the World Health Organisation to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 virus outbreak.
Dead man walking
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 20th, 2020 - 106 comments
The media is reporting there will be a vote of no confidence in Simon Bridges’ leadership at next week’s National caucus meeting.
Open mike 20/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 20th, 2020 - 128 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 …
Mark Richardson for National leader!
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, May 19th, 2020 - 27 comments
Michelle Boag thinks that Mark Richardson should be the next National leader after Simon Bridges. Here at the Standard we wish to endorse this proposal.
Pollwatch for Newshub/Reid Research poll, 18th May 2020
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 19th, 2020 - 53 comments
The latest Newshub/Reid Research poll is a bloodbath for National- but who are the likely victims? Pollwatch is back, this time with a model for electorate winners and losers to add onto the party vote stats.
What does National do in Epsom?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 19th, 2020 - 33 comments
Last night’s Reid Research Newshub poll result will be reverberating through National’s caucus. And raises the question, do they gift Epsom to ACT and maybe get a right wing MP or do they preserve every seat they can for themselves.
Open mike 19/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 19th, 2020 - 105 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 …
Newshub Poll Shock!
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, May 18th, 2020 - 158 comments
The May 2020 Newshub/Reid Research poll is astonishing. You’ve have, quite literally, never seen anything like it.
Open mike 18/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 18th, 2020 - 136 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 …
“Is there even a point in having the Greens anymore?”
Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, May 17th, 2020 - 104 comments
Yes lefties, there is, and it’s not rocket science.
Liberal redneck on progress in rural America
Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, May 17th, 2020 - 21 comments
Taking a break from the apocalypse to talk about the problem with the Democrats and rural voters.
Open mike 17/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 17th, 2020 - 131 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 …
Should Parents and Teachers Defy the Government?
Written By: - Date published: 4:02 pm, May 16th, 2020 - 66 comments
School’s back on Monday, but the medical community is still struggling to understand covid 19
Oh Sweden
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, May 16th, 2020 - 108 comments
Just when we thought liberal democracies meant real freedom was an absolute written into human rights stone, by mid-March this year almost all OECD countries had implemented the most draconian reversal of lockdowns on every single human to combat Covid19. Except Sweden. How is it working out?
Don’t infect your feline master!
Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, May 16th, 2020 - 16 comments
In terrible news, our feline masters can both get covid-19, and they can infect other cats. Fortunately so far they have largely been asymptomatic apart from some big cats.
We don’t know if there can be cat to human transmission. But I suspect it is likely. Obvious implications about being a issue for breaking transmission chains.
Open mike 16/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 16th, 2020 - 87 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 …
What the Greens did
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 15th, 2020 - 39 comments
A round up of the Green Party’s achievements in the 2020 Budget: funding for nature, the commitment to ending violence, and public housing and insulation. And a look at the pragmatics of what the Greens can currently accomplish.
Covid-19: may be endemic
Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, May 15th, 2020 - 53 comments
Like measles, covid-19 could become endemic. Never dying out entirely. Needing to be controlled in human denser populations into the indefinite future. That is the warning from top World Health Organisation officials. Like me, they’re looking at reported research into covid-19 immunities and the picture isn’t encouraging. This is no time to be complacent.
Open mike 15/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 15th, 2020 - 121 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 …
Budget 2020
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, May 14th, 2020 - 89 comments
The budget site is up and running. Some links here along with Robertson’s speech. This post may get updated if authors feel like it. Otherwise commenters can praise or criticize. Preferably constructively rather than with mindless waffle.
Viruses love liberty – they can breed more.
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, May 14th, 2020 - 25 comments
Viruses and other diseases simply don’t care about abstractions like ‘human rights’. They just want to breed. We need a better legislative toolkit to deal with epidemics. There is only so long that a draconian state of emergency should be maintained. Like 1918 we need to start thinking about the future Health Act with reserve powers like level 2 and 1. In the meantime, we’ll deal with the virus with this imperfect act as a tool.
Budget 2020: biggest and best from PM Ardern
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, May 14th, 2020 - 88 comments
Text of a pre budget speech given yesterday by Jacinda Ardern.
Open mike 14/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 14th, 2020 - 73 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 …
Jacinda is not like Muldoon
Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, May 13th, 2020 - 97 comments
National has decided to play politics with Covid 19 and is opposing the Government’s attempt to pass legislation to secure level 2 arrangements. And has made the extraordinary claim that Jacinda Ardern is just like Rob Muldoon but with slogans.
Open mike 13/05/2020
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 13th, 2020 - 209 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 …
Bloomfield and the empire strikes back
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 12th, 2020 - 41 comments
Dr Ashley Bloomfield has responded to allegations by Simon Bridges that the government has suspended the Official Information Act and the Emergency Response Committee has made multiple requests for information from the Ministry that it is waiting for by advising publicly there are no outstanding requests for information.
Covid19 and the Stock Markets
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, May 12th, 2020 - 33 comments
In this time of uncertainty when mass unemployment beckons you would expect that stock exchanges would be plummeting. But think again. Because they seem to be doing fine.
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- ‘Utterly heartbreaking’: Two children allegedly murdered in grim start to 2025
The Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence encouraged people to use the resources available to them to get help. ...1 day ago - Watch live: Dame Tariana Turia laid to rest
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carla Archibald, Research Fellow, Conservation Science, Deakin University ABC Eating rabbit, camel, carp, feral cat, deer and cane toad might sound extreme to some, but it’s gaining attention as a solution to tackle the growing impact of invasive species. Now, Tony ...1 day ago - Inland Revenue changes interest rates for late payments
Inland Revenue is changing the interest rates paid by and to taxpayers who over and underpay their tax. ...1 day ago
- ‘I don’t hold the hose, mate’: Australia’s political history is full of gaffes. Here are som...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University The Oxford English Dictionary defines a gaffe as a “blunder, an instance of clumsy stupidity, a ‘faux pas’.” It evokes a sense of triviality rather than high ...1 day ago
- Can apps and digital resources support your child with autism or ADHD? Here’s what to look for
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelsie Boulton, Senior Research Fellow in Child Neurodevelopment, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney Fabio Principe/Shutterstock Neurodevelopmental conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism affect about one in ten children. These conditions impact development, behaviour and wellbeing. ...1 day ago
- Fully recovering Australia’s threatened species would cost 25% of GDP. We can’t do it all at onc...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By April Reside, Lecturer in Conservation, The University of Queensland An endangered golden-shouldered parrot Imogen Warren/Shutterstock Australia has already lost at least 100 species since European colonisation. Across land and freshwater habitats, 1,657 species are currently threatened with the same fate. Their populations ...1 day ago
- Wellington’s secondhand bookshops, ranked and reviewed
Summer reissue: Claire Mabey assesses the browsing merits of the capital’s secondhand bookstores. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. Secondhand bookstores are extremely dangerous ...1 day ago - It’s time for the Greens to grow up – Swarbrick
The Green Party has increasingly faced the probably unfair (at least inaccurate) criticism that it’s abandoned its raison d’être.During the 2024 adjournment debate, where Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick refused to stick with the convention of making niche political jokes and bad puns, Act leader David Seymour accused Swarbrick of ...1 day ago - A plea for more politicians of conviction
Opinion: The sad passing of Dame Tariana Turia has rightly drawn attention to the value of politicians who have strong convictions which they pursue even when it is difficult to do so. Not all of the people who have expressed admiration for her were moved to that emotion when she ...1 day ago
- Where is she now? Wendy Frew
The search for Wendy Frew takes you to Pine Crescent Park, Rosedale, in Invercargill. “Possibly windswept and interesting” to quote a Billy Connolly-ism.It’s a setting that nurtured a remarkable deep-south sporting family dynasty – one fit to rival the Bracewells of the North.Among the eight children of Karen and Colin ...1 day ago
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- Final day for public feedback on Treaty Principles Bill
The legislation proposes to rewrite the treaty principles long-defined by the courts ...1 day ago
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Everyone can help lighten the load for a struggling new mum or dad. Here’s how. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. As I recently ...1 day ago
- Dame Tariana Turia to be laid to rest today
Dame Tariana died on Friday, aged 80. ...1 day ago
- ‘Man had eel in his bum’: Remembering the story that almost broke the Herald
Summer reissue: This year the Herald on Sunday celebrated a significant birthday. Hayden Donnell takes a look back at one of its most defining moments. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...1 day ago
- How Wellington became a cornucopia of Malaysian food
Summer reissue: Our capital is a far cry from hot, bustling Kuala Lumpur, so why is this freezing city full of excellent Malaysian cuisine? My dad once told me that there are more Malaysian restaurants in Wellington per square kilometres than there are back in Malaysia. He was completely ...1 day ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 January
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- Daily crossword, Tuesday 7 January
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COMMENTARY: By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report With the door now shut on 2024, many will heave a sigh of relief and hope for better things this year. Decolonisation issues involving the future of Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua – and also in the Middle East with ...2 days ago
- Labour should apologise to Dame Tariana Turia’s whānau – Willie Jackson at tangi
Willie Jackson was among politicians past and present paying respect to Dame Tariana today - and made the call for an apology over her treatment during the Foreshore and Seabed controversy. ...2 days ago
- ‘Ghost of Suharto’ marks Prabowo’s new phase in West Papua occupation
SPECIAL REPORT: By Paul Gregoire United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) provisional government interim president Benny Wenda has warned that since Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto took office in October, he has been proven right in having remarked, after the politician’s last February election, that his coming marks the return ...2 days ago
- Should I get a weighted vest to boost my fitness? And how heavy should it be?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University ZR10/Shutterstock Exercise training while wearing a weighted vest is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. Social media posts and trainers are promoting them as a potential strategy for improving fitness and health. ...2 days ago
- Live: Hīkoi mō te Tiriti supporters invited to honour Dame Tariana Turia at tangi
The Prime Minister is visiting Whangaehu Marae to pay his respects. ...2 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Eldridge, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, Swinburne University of Technology kamitana/Shutterstock It’s summertime, and for many of us that means plenty of time outside – and, unfortunately, mosquitoes. The combination of the increase in temperature and plenty of water is ideal ...2 days ago
- Even calm people can fly into a rage behind the wheel. Here’s how to curb your road rage – befor...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Marian Weyo/Shutterstock If someone bumps into us on the footpath or in the mall, we’re generally quite forgiving. We instinctively apologise or step aside, and usually don’t scream at, stalk, ...2 days ago
- Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University EPA/MIGUEL ANGEL POLO Last year, Earth experienced its hottest year on record − for the fourth year in a row. Rising temperatures are changing ...2 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rupert Sutherland, Professor of tectonics and geophysics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Office of Ocean Exploration and Research/NOAA, CC BY-SA Continents and oceans have scientific definitions that underpin international law. The idea of dividing the world into geographical ...2 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nisa Salim, Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology Dasha Petrenko/Shutterstock The Bureau of Meteorology has warned Australia is facing one of the hottest summers on record. As the weather warms, many of us reach for light-coloured ...2 days ago
- 3 drugs that went from legal, to illegal, then back again
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Martyr, Lecturer, Pharmacology, Women’s Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia Peruvian Syrup, containing cocaine, was used to ‘cure’ a range of diseases. Smithsonian Museum of American History/Flickr Cannabis, cocaine and heroin have interesting life stories and long ...2 days ago
- Dreading the school or daycare drop-off? How to handle it when your child doesn’t want you to go
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Ridder, Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Murdoch University Kiefer Photography/Shutterstock You’re doing daycare or school drop-off, you’re already late for work, and your child’s lip starts to quiver. A tremble turns into a wail, a wail into heart-rending cries as ...2 days ago
- Perfectionist leaders can push their teams to meet high standards – but it can backfire and stifl...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gamze Koseoglu, Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne fizkes/Shutterstock Have you ever kept a brilliant idea to yourself, fearing your boss’s reaction? This hesitation is more common than you might think, especially when working under perfectionist leaders. Some of the most ...2 days ago
- 5 tips to ace a job interview – including how to prepare for the question they’ll definitely ask
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerry Brown, Professor of Employment and Industry, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Photo by Anna Shvets/Pexels If you’re back in the job market, or looking for your first position after graduating, you’ll need to think about how to ...2 days ago
- Why you should treat workplace friendships like your diet – aim for balance and variety
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan Korber, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images The list of organisations abandoning the option of fully remote work for employees has grown recently, with the likes of Amazon, IBM, JPMorgan and Meta ...2 days ago
- Sunglasses reflect more than the light: a brief history of shades, from Ancient Rome to Hollywood
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Maynard, Associate Professor, School of Communication and the Arts, The University of Queensland State Library Victoria Sunglasses, or dark glasses, have always guarded against strong sunlight, but is there more to “shades” than we think? The pupils of our ...2 days ago
- Inside the fast rise and faster collapse of the acclaimed K Road restaurant Cotto
Summer reissue: The Auckland eatery closed its doors with no warning in late 2023, prompting concerned customers to ask the simple question: what went wrong? Stewart Sowman-Lund finds out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...2 days ago
- Dunedin’s secondhand bookshops, ranked and reviewed
Summer reissue: Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...2 days ago
- Stanford braces herself for a year of cuts – and reform
“Next year is going to be a tough year for me, because I’m going to have to make some very, very difficult decisions,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says.That means cuts. Or at least replacements.“This is the problem in education: we never stop doing things.”This leads to a disjointed system, where ...2 days ago
- Protecting our democracy by reforming Parliament
Opinion: Aotearoa New Zealand currently exists in an unstable world. Democracies are under challenge across the globe, and we are not immune.As the inhabitants of one of the world’s oldest democracies, New Zealanders are accustomed to electing their Members of Parliament every three years and we value the importance of ...2 days ago
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