Open mike 08/05/2024
Written By:
- Date published:
6:00 am, May 8th, 2024 - 113 comments
Categories: open mike -
Tags:
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 …
Recent Comments
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #20
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 12, 2024 thru Sat, May 18, 2024. Story of the week “The legislation I signed today [will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and ...4 hours ago - Bernard’s pick ‘n’ mix 6 @ 6:06am on Sunday, May 19
TL;DR: Here’s six links that stood out to me in the last day in Aotearoa’s political economy to 6:06am on Sunday, May 19:Aotearoa-NZ is the seventh worst in the OECD’s homelessness rankings, just behind the United States and just ahead of Australia. BlackRock thinks rate hikes actually worsen inflation because ...19 hours ago - Lords of the flies
19 hours ago - Fact Brief – Does breathing contribute to CO2 buildup in the atmosphere?Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does breathing contribute to CO2 ...1 day ago
- Is it time to take the Interislander away from Kiwirail?
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: KiwiRail’s seemingly endless requests for more money is damning. At one point, KiwiRail assured Robertson when he was the Finance Minister that the worst-case scenario would be an extra $300 million before requesting $1.2 billion a few months later. Not what most people ...2 days ago - Behind Blue Eyes.
No one knows what it's likeTo be the bad manTo be the sad manBehind blue eyesNo one knows what it's likeTo be hatedTo be fatedTo telling only liesHave you ever wondered what life must be like for Mike Hosking? Seeing things in black and white through blue tinted specs? In ...2 days ago - Road food
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two week’s editions.Share More Than A FeildingBike bling, London Read more ...2 days ago - Some Reader Feedback For Your Weekend
Hi,I think we all made it through another week — congratulations. I’ve been digesting the new Arab Strap record, which is astonishing. In other news, I’m going to be doing a Webworm popup in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday July 13. I’ll bring a bunch of merch, and some other ...2 days ago - Thinking About the Property Rights in Resource Decisions As Well As Transaction Costs.
The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am going to explore the Bill from the perspective of its proponents with their ...2 days ago - Bryce Edwards: Can Shane Jones be trusted in making Fast-track decisions?
New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be shooting the proposal in the foot. ...2 days ago - Seymour appeals to PPTA to call off meetings on charter schools – but does he seriously believe he...
Buzz from the Beehive Associate Education Minister David Seymour is urging the PostPrimary Teachers Association to put learning ahead of ideology. He wants the union leaders to call off their teachers meetings around the country where they hope to muster the strength to undo the government’s plans to establish several ...2 days ago - Police don’t fight crime
What are police for? "Fighting crime" is the obvious answer. If there's a burglary, they should show up and investigate. Ditto if there's a murder or sexual assault. Speeding or drunk or dangerous driving is a crime, so obviously they should respond to that. And obviously, they should respond to ...2 days ago - Two central banksMichael Reddell writes – I got curious yesterday about how the Australia/New Zealand real exchange rate had changed over the last decade, and so dug out the data on the changes in the two countries’ CPIs. Over the 10 years from March 2014 to March 2024, New Zealand’s ...3 days ago
- TVNZ hīkoi documentary needs a sequel
Graham Adams writes that 20 years after the land march, judges are quietly awarding a swathe of coastal rights to iwi. Early this month, an hour-long documentary was released by TVNZ to mark the 20th anniversary of the land-rights march to oppose Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The account ...3 days ago - The missing Green MPDavid Farrar writes – The Herald reports: Suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has passed an unpleasant milestone: she has now been absent for as many parliamentary sitting days as she has been present for this year. Tana is on full pay while she is suspended, and will benefit from a ...3 days ago
- The contest for the future heart and soul of the Labour PartyPeter Dunne writes – It is no coincidence that two Labour should-have-been MPs are making the most noise about public sector cuts. As assistant general secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons has been at the forefront of revealing where the next round of state sector job ...3 days ago
- Lobbying for Waikato’s Medical School causing problems for the GovtBryce Edwards writes – It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a ...3 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on the psychological horror film Possession
This is one of the (extra) weekly columns on music or movies. Plenty of solid analyses of Possession exist online and most of them – inevitably – contain spoilers. This column is more in the way of a first-timer’s aid to getting your initial bearings. You don’t need to have ...3 days ago - Portrait of a Man.
I am painting in oil, a portrait of a manWho has taken all the heart aches,And all the pain he can stand.I am using all the colors of blue,I have here on my stand.I am painting in oil, a portrait of a man.This has been an interesting week for me. ...3 days ago - The Hoon around the week to May 17Helen Clark joins the Hoon as a special guest talking whether Aotearoa should join Aukus II, and her views on the fast track legislation and how Luxon and the new Government are performing. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts ...3 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 17-May-2024
We’re at the end of another week. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked if the Herald’s poor journalism will cost lives On Tuesday Matt covered Wayne Brown’s proposal for public transport in the Long ...3 days ago - Rishi’s relaunch
With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #20 2024Open access notables Publicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change: We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...3 days ago
- The thrilling possibilities of charter schools
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...3 days ago - This Unreasonable Government.
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...3 days ago - Supreme Court weighs in on name suppression
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...3 days ago - Is This A “Merchants” Government?The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...3 days ago
- This is what corruption looks likeWhen National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants: On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...3 days ago
- Take that, Vladimir – and be warned: we have plenty more sanctions (at least, we hope so) in our ...Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...3 days ago
- More Harm Than Good.How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...3 days ago
- The Ombudsman fails againIn 2020, the Operation Burnham inquiry reported back, finding that NZDF had lied to Ministers and the New Zealand public about its actions in Afghanistan. The inquiry saw a large number of documents declassified and released, which raised another problem: whether they had also lied to the Ombudsman in his ...3 days ago
- No Time To Think: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...3 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Lobbying for Waikato’s Medical School causing problems for the GovtIt’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...3 days ago
- Picking Sides.3 days ago
- Universities offer course in self-serving cowardiceHenry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...3 days ago
- The teacher trainee challengeDavid Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...3 days ago
- Words and (in)actionsNew Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...4 days ago
- What do you hope for/fear from the budget?
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...4 days ago - Gordon Campbell on ACT’s charter schools experimentIf there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...4 days ago
- Drought fuels wildfire concerns as Canada braces for another intense summerThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...4 days ago
- Bernard’s Dawn Chorus and pick ‘n’ mix for Thursday, May 16
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...4 days ago - Controversial proposal could threaten coalitionThe University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...4 days ago
- Of Rings of Power Annatar, Dramatic Irony, and Disguises
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...4 days ago - The future of Nick's Kōrero.
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...4 days ago - The PM promises tax relief in the Budget – but will it be enough to satisfy the Taxpayers’ Union...Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...4 days ago
- Fucking uselessYesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...4 days ago
- Setting things straight.
Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading ...4 days ago - Far too light a sentenceDavid Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...5 days ago
- Unwinding Labour’s AgendaMuriel Newman writes – Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...5 days ago
- Sequel to “Real reason Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Chhour”Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...5 days ago
- The Govt’s Fast-Track is being demolished by submissions to ParliamentBryce Edwards writes – The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...5 days ago
- A generation is leaving at a rate of one A320-load per day5 days ago
- NZUP RORS back to lifeThe government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...5 days ago
- School Is Out.
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...5 days ago - How Are You Doing?
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...5 days ago - The Rings of Power: Season Two Teaser Trailer
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...5 days ago - At a glance – What ended the Little ice Age?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 ...5 days ago
- Talking Reo with the PM
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...5 days ago - Waitangi Tribunal’s authority in Chhour case is upheld – but bill’s introduction to Parliament...Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...5 days ago
- Australia jails another whistleblowerIn 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...5 days ago
- Some “scrutiny”!Back in February I blogged about another secret OIA "consultation" by the Ministry of Justice. This one was on Aotearoa's commitment in its Open Government Partnership Action Plan to "strengthen scrutiny of Official Information Act exemption clauses in legislation" (AKA secrecy clauses). Their consultation paper on the issue focused on ...5 days ago
- TVNZ is loss-making, serves no public service due to bias, and should be liquidatedRob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...5 days ago
- The conflicted Covid ChairDavid Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...5 days ago
- Attacking the smartest and most resilient people in the room is never a good ideaChris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...5 days ago
- A fortune-telling failure, surely, if the tarot cards can’t see a bulldozer comingRNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...5 days ago
- The climate battleground heats up
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...6 days ago - Bernard’ s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Tuesday, May 14The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...6 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on why anti-Zionism is not anti-SemiticTo be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...6 days ago
- Climate change is making hurricanes more destructiveThis is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...6 days ago
- Wayne Brown’s PT PlanYesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...6 days ago
- Potaka's Private Universe.
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...6 days ago - Our slow regional councilsThe Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...6 days ago
- Ministers are not above the law after allBack in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...6 days ago
- NZTA takes the wheel after govt gives it the road map for regional roads (and puts a speed governor ...Buzz from the Beehive Tolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...6 days ago
- Change in Catalonia?or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...6 days ago
- State of the Planet speeches, 2024
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...12 hours ago - State of the Planet: Government must be guided by values not moneyGreen Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...14 hours ago
- Release: Chris Hipkins’ speech: New Zealand in 2040 – A vision worth fighting for
...1 day ago - Release: 4,500 jobs lost – and countingMore than 4,500 jobs are set to go as the National Government continues its deep cuts to services to pay for irresponsible and ill-timed tax cuts. ...3 days ago
- No-cause evictions leave no hope for rentersThe Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...3 days ago
- Release: National winding back mental health workThe Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...4 days ago
- Government ignorant of evidence in neglect of tamarikiToday’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...5 days ago
- Gang policy setting communities up for failureThe Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...6 days ago
- Statement from police spokesperson Ginny Andersen“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...6 days ago
- Charter schools not a serious solutionWe need serious investment and solutions into our education system, not a vanity project from David Seymour. ...6 days ago
- Release: Ideological charter schools won’t increase achievementThe Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...6 days ago
- Release: Visas needed for Palestinians with family in New ZealandThe Government must show some compassion and create a special visa to allow Palestinians with family in New Zealand to be reunited with them here. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt’s stubbornness will harm Māori childrenGovernment has remained stubborn and is ramming its Bill into the House today, which the Waitangi Tribunal has said will hurt vulnerable children. ...6 days ago
- ‘Lucky dip’ process too casual for hearing critical submissions on Fast Track approvals billTe Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...7 days ago
- New Zealand First Member’s Bill to protect women’s spaces
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...1 week ago - Release: Support for climate adaptation inquiryLabour supports a Notice of Motion in the House today to move the Finance and Expenditure Committee to conduct an inquiry on climate adaptation. ...1 week ago
- Greens welcome cross-party approach to climate adaptationThe Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...1 week ago
- Release: Sexual violence prevention among hundreds of job cuts at ACCThe National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...1 week ago
- Government shows allergy to evidence in benefits crackdownThe Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...2 weeks ago
- Minister of Finance reheats austerity politicsThis morning’s pre-Budget speech from the Minister of Finance offered no “meaningful” news on the Government’s trickle-down economics based plans. ...2 weeks ago
- A win for Wellington – Greens welcome more housingThe Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Backtrack on school lunches a win for Kiwi kidsDavid Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Hon Willie Jackson to debate at the Prestigious Oxford UnionHon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...2 weeks ago
- Members Bill will prevent Māori land confiscationsGreen Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...2 weeks ago
- TIKANGA IS NOT LAW. IT IS CULTURAL INDOCTRINATION.A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National won’t commit to full Nelson Hospital upgradeThe Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour calls for fast track list to be releasedMinisters must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National gaslights women fighting for equal payNational has scrapped the pay equity taskforce that fights for equal pay for women and looks at ethnic pay gaps. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: More job cuts, fewer houses under NationalThe 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. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Children fall deeper through the cracks in Govt cutsWith 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. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour honours memory of Sir Robert MartinThe 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. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: 130,000 cattle saved from live exportLabour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...3 weeks ago
- Central Bank makes clear Government is pouring fuel on housing crisis fireToday’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. ...3 weeks ago
- New unemployment figures paint bleak pictureThe 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. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: National’s job cuts already starting to bite as unemployment risesUnemployment 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 ...3 weeks ago
- Release: National hiking transport costs for families and young New ZealandersWeekly expenses will grow for more than 1.6 million New Zealanders as the Government ends free and half price public transport fares tomorrow. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Labour welcomes EU free trade agreementThe 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 ...3 weeks ago
- Surprise: Landlord tax cuts don’t trickle downThe Green Party is renewing its call for rent controls following reports of rental prices hitting an all-time high. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: $1.7b for no increase in access to medicineThe 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 ...3 weeks ago
- New measures to protect powerlines from trees
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...2 days ago - Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani win top Māori dairy farming awardWairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...2 days ago
- DJ Fred Again – Assurance report received"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...2 days ago
- District Court Judges appointedAttorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...3 days ago
- Unions should put learning ahead of ideologyAssociate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...3 days ago
- Craig Stobo appointed as chair of FMACommerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...3 days ago
- Budget 2024 invests in lifeguards and coastguardSurf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...3 days ago
- New Zealand and Tuvalu reaffirm close relationshipNew Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...3 days ago
- New Zealand calls for calm, constructive dialogue in New CaledoniaNew Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...3 days ago
- New Zealand welcomes Samoa Head of StatePrime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...3 days ago
- Island Direct eligible for SuperGold Card fundingTransport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...3 days ago
- Further sanctions against RussiaForeign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...4 days ago
- One year on from Loafers LodgeA year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...4 days ago
- Pre-Budget speech to Auckland Business ChamberKa nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...4 days ago
- New Zealand and Vanuatu to deepen collaborationNew Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...5 days ago
- Penk travels to Peru for trade meetingsMinister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...5 days ago
- Minister attends global education conferencesMinister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...5 days ago
- Education Minister thanks outgoing NZQA ChairMinister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...5 days ago
- Joint statement of Christopher Luxon and Emmanuel Macron: Launch of the Christchurch Call FoundationNew Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...5 days ago
- Panel announced for review into disability servicesDistinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...6 days ago
- Minister welcomes Police gang unitToday’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...6 days ago
- New Zealand expresses regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoricForeign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...6 days ago
- New Chief of Defence Force appointedAir Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...6 days ago
- Government puts children first by repealing 7AALegislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...6 days ago
- Defence Minister to meet counterparts in UK, ItalyDefence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...6 days ago
- Charter schools to lift educational outcomesThe upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...6 days ago
- COVID-19 Inquiry terms of reference consultation results received“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...6 days ago
- The Pacific family of nations – the changing security outlookForeign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...6 days ago
- NZ and Papua New Guinea to work more closely togetherHealth, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...6 days ago
- Driving ahead with Roads of Regional SignificanceThe coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...7 days ago
- New Zealand congratulates new Solomon Islands governmentA high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...1 week ago
- New Zealand supports UN Palestine resolutionNew Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...1 week ago
- Speech to the 2024 Infrastructure SymposiumIntroduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...1 week ago
- $571 million for Defence pay and projectsDefence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...1 week ago
- Climate change – mitigating the risks and costsNew Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...1 week ago
- Getting new job seekers on the pathway to workJobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...2 weeks ago
- Accelerating Social InvestmentA new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...2 weeks ago
- Getting Back on TrackCheck against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...2 weeks ago
- NZ – European Union ties more critical than everYour Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...2 weeks ago
- Therapeutic Products Act to be repealedThe Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...2 weeks ago
- Kanaky New Caledonia unrest: French politics rocked as leaders plead for end
NC La Première television reports on the clearing of barricades after a week of protests and rioting in the capital Nouméa. Video: NC 1ère TV By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk With New Caledonia about to enter its second week of deadly riots, French authorities have mounted ...2 hours ago - Pacific civil society groups condemn ‘heavy-handed’ French crackdown over Kanaky unrestAsia Pacific Report Pacific civil society and solidarity groups today stepped up their pressure on the French government, accusing it of a “heavy-handed” crackdown on indigenous Kanak protest in New Caledonia, comparing it to Indonesian security forces crushing West Papuan dissent. A state of emergency was declared last week, at ...3 hours ago
- Police and justice system need to re-earn 'lost faith' – dairy owners
The new government's promised law and order changes need to happen faster, a spokesman says. ...5 hours ago - Taiwanese Community in Christchurch Rallies for Taiwan's WHO Participation
On May 18, the Taiwanese community in Christchurch came together for the "Health for All, Taiwan Can Help" march, urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to grant Taiwan participation. ...8 hours ago - Govt policies tailored for the wealthy, not the people – GreensThe Greens are taking aim at the coalition government 's policies, saying they lack genuine care. ...9 hours ago
- What Is Behind The Turmoil In The New Zealand Green Party?The instability comes as the party tries to refresh its brand after six years of being part of a right-wing, pro-imperialist government with both the Labour Party and, from 2017-2020, the far-right NZ First Party. ...12 hours ago
- Wake Up Call: Government Debt Hits $90,000 Per Household Today – “$90k Debt Day”Based on the latest Treasury forecasts, New Zealand Government debt will tick above $90,000 per household for the first time ever at 10pm today, Sunday 19 May 2024. The Taxpayers’ Union is calling it “$90k Debt Day”. Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ ...12 hours ago
- Watch: Christopher Luxon speaks at National Party conferencePrime Minister Christopher Luxon will be talking at the Palmerston North Function Centre on Sunday morning. ...15 hours ago
- Iwi Leaders Group united against Oranga Tamariki scrapping Treaty obligationsIf the government really wants Oranga Tamariki to continue working with Māori groups, it should leave the law as it is, leader says. ...18 hours ago
- Government IT Systems Need A $800 Million OverhaulThe government is facing a bill of more than $800 million to overhaul back-office IT systems, and attempts to lessen its impact have hit delays. ...19 hours ago
- Bolstering support for Asian personnel in the NZ Defence ForceThe founder of a Pan-Asian network in the New Zealand Defence Force hopes to support Asian personnel in their defence careers. ...19 hours ago
- 'Increasingly Activist' Waitangi Tribunal Faces Its Future Under Renewed Attack From Senio...David Seymour has renewed attacks on what he says is an 'increasingly activist' Tribunal as it faces questions about its future. ...19 hours ago
- An Ode to .. Shane Jones
Arawata Shane Arawata Shane had wandered long In the wild tangled hills of the West Coast. He came to a stop on the mighty range And looked down at the wide river flats. He breathed in the clean air, And he took in the shadows playing across The face of ...19 hours ago - Fiji’s Jo Nata reflects on the 2000 coup: ‘We let the racism genie out of the bottle’SPECIAL REPORT: Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s ...24 hours ago
- Rule change to protect powerlines from being hit by treesEnergy Minister Simeon Brown wants a 'clear to the sky' zone to prevent vegetation hanging over lines. ...1 day ago
- New Caledonia riots: Tear gas, stun grenades used as protesters swarm airport runwayBy Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist and Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific digital journalist Police have used tear gas and stun grenades on rioters at an airport near Nouméa as the chaos in New Caledonia stretched into its sixth day. Five people, including two police officers, have died and hundreds of ...1 day ago
- Government faces further legal action over Māori Health Authority axingIt is the second High Court action into the government's policies affecting Māori. ...1 day ago
- Kanaky New Caledonia: Amnesty calls on France to ‘uphold rights’ of indigenous peopleAsia Pacific ReportThe global human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on France to not “misuse” a crackdown in the ongoing unrest in the non-self-governing French Pacific territory of Kanaky New Caledonia in the wake of a controversial vote by the French Parliament to adopt a bill changing the territory’s ...1 day ago
- Revamped school lunches may be less healthy – principalA major provider of school lunches fears the government's new $3 limit for most students will see them eating more pre-packaged and processed food. ...2 days ago
- ‘Stop laughing, I’m trying to kill someone’: Cohen Holloway on playing a serial murderer
The star of Dark City: The Cleaner takes us through his life in TV, including the VHS revolution and the John Campbell impression that started it all. Best known for his comedic roles, Cohen Holloway says he struggled at times to maintain the stone cold facade of serial killer on ...2 days ago - A life storyDavid Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. My friend Doug never travelled; he had little interest in the world beyond his own tiny rural town. I’ve rarely known anyone who radiated such contentment. Doug (I’ll call him that) died in March. You won’t know him. ...2 days ago
- Do you recognise anybody in these 150-year-old photographs?Some of the earliest photos of life in Aotearoa are on display at Auckland Museum right now – but the identities of some of the people in them are a mystery. What was it like to be one of the first people in New Zealand to have their photo taken? ...2 days ago
- The indie books fest bringing big ideas to small town WairarapaSince its founding almost a decade ago, Featherston Booktown has grown into one of the country’s most interesting and idiosyncratic literary events. Erin Banks reports from the audience. “Come in, have you had lunch? I’m about to make a cheese toastie.” Mary Biggs, operations manager of Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival, ...2 days ago
- Enduring the voyage of the tatauAfter 33 years abroad, Loveni Enari recently returned to Aotearoa and Samoa in what a friend joked was an “existential crisis”. He learnt and re-learnt so much about his family, friends and both countries. Almost as an afterthought, he got a Samoan tatau. This is his story. (Accompanying it are ...2 days ago
- Bearing witness to a confession of murderNearly 30 years ago, two people told me they’d killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Fact: in 1995, Angela Blackmoore ...2 days ago
- The Weekend: A landmark case for trans rights in AotearoaEditor Madeleine Chapman looks back at the week and shines a light on some increasingly rare longform journalism. Mōrena and welcome to The Weekend where there will sadly be no aurora to see. After a busy week last week of short, sharp pieces, this week we swung the other way, ...2 days ago
- Tourists trapped by New Caledonia unrest feel ‘abandoned’ by NZBy Lauren Crimp , RNZ News reporter New Zealanders stuck among riots and civil unrest in New Caledonia’s capital say they feel abandoned by their own country, having received little help from the government. Nouméa descended into chaos on Monday, with clashes between indigenous Kanak pro-independence protesters and French security ...2 days ago
- Kanaky in flames: Five takeaways from the New Caledonia independence riotsANALYSIS: By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates. Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during ...2 days ago
- When body positivity becomes problematicForget thin is in, apparently now bigger is better … or is it? After over a decade of body positivity, girls, teens and women are even more confused about what body positivity actually is. The movement began with women confronting unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look. But sub-strands ...2 days ago
- Short story: Ruin, by Ockham winner Emma HislopGrace always sat at the bar at the back of The Cambridge, where she could watch who came in. A huge mirror ran the length of the pub, so you could sometimes watch people without them knowing. The mirror made the place seem a lot bigger than it really was. ...2 days ago
- The Secret Diary of .. Sheriff Mark MitchellMONDAY Sheriff Mark Mitchell rose at dawn. He had a long day’s ride ahead of him. He was headed for Waikeria. Waikeria! Even the name itself stirred his blood, and set root in his imagination. There was nothing and no one in Waikeria. But he would bend it to his ...2 days ago
- The Boy in the Water: A forensic examination, at lastThe first phase of the inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones finished this week, turning up plenty of revelations and few answers. But through all the confusion, heartbreak and antipathy on display, the simple fact at the heart of this case remains: if little Lachie’s body had ...2 days ago
- How Many Public Sector Roles Are Going, And From Where?Public servants' jobs are on the chopping block as the sector scrambles to meet the Finance Minister's cost-cutting targets. ...2 days ago
- Can you control your image? Gina Rinehart, King Charles and ‘moral portraits’Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Benjamin, Professor in Art History, University of Sydney “She’s no oil painting”. Those were the unkind words of a colleague commenting on the subject of Vincent Namatjira’s acrylic painting, Gina. Every one of the prominent Australians and cultural heroes in Namatjira’s ...2 days ago
- Government plans for Māori wards breach The Treaty of Waitangi -TribunalGovernment plans to require local councils hold a referendum on whether to have Māori wards breaches the Treaty of Waitangi, a Waitangi Tribunal report has found. ...2 days ago
- Threatened species have declined 2% a year since 2000. Nature positive? Far from it.Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan C Evans, Senior Lecturer, Public Sector Management, School of Business, UNSW Sydney Martin Tobias Aakesson/Shutterstock Our government has great aspirations. It has committed to end extinctions and expand our protected areas to cover 30% of every Australian ecosystem by 2030. ...2 days ago
- Rugby league in Perth and Papua New Guinea? Here’s what could be next for the NRLSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This year the National Rugby League (NRL) opened its season in Las Vegas. It was an audacious move by the league’s ambitious head honcho Peter V’Landys to showcase the game in ...2 days ago
- The budget has earmarked $8.6 million for live music. Is it enough to save the flailing industry?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University Leading music organisations have praised the federal budget for its investment in the live music sector. The budget includes A$8.6 million for a program called Revive Live: to provide essential support to ...2 days ago
- The Week in Politics: Charter schools, special police units and a tricky problem for the governmentThe Week in Politics: ACT brings back a signature policy, while NZ First mulls how to fulfil a promise. ...2 days ago
- There’s $110 million for Indigenous education in the budget. But where’s the evidence it will wo...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland The 2024 federal budget contains A$110 million for Indigenous education. This includes funding for various different organisations to represent and help Indigenous people as well as scholarships in a bid to ...2 days ago
- New Caledonia’s Nouméa airport closed until Tuesday, says Air New ZealandAir New Zealand has confirmed Nouméa’s Tontouta International airport in New Caledonia is closed until Tuesday. The airline earlier told RNZ it would update customers as soon as it could. Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Morning Report government officials had been working on an “hourly basis” ...2 days ago
- Cameras reveal wombat burrows can be safe havens after fire and waterholes after rainSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Linley, PhD Candidate in Ecology, Charles Sturt University Grant Linley Australia’s unprecedented Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20 created ideal conditions for misinformation to spread, from the insidious to the absurd. It was within this context that a bizarre story ...2 days ago
- ChatGPT is now better than ever at faking human emotion and behaviourSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcel Scharth, Lecturer in Business Analytics, University of Sydney OpenAI executive Mira Murati launching GPT-4o. OpenAI Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted ...2 days ago
- Menopause can bring increased cholesterol levels and other heart risks. Here’s why and what to do ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treasure McGuire, Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Mater Health SEQ in conjoint appointment as Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Bond University and as Associate Professor (Clinical), The University of Queensland Speedkingz/Shutterstock Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of a ...2 days ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Xiāng’ by Hannah PattersonA new poem by Hannah Patterson. Xiāng There’s a pear tree in our backyard And Xiāng tells me She can’t eat them anymore Not after some things that have happened in her life. She tells me, in Mandarin The word for pear sounds the same as the word for disassociation ...2 days ago
- Cycle lanes are good for business, actually‘Cycling Works’ aims to show business support for citywide cycle infrastructure. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, supermarket giant Foodstuffs lost its attempt to block the construction of a cycle lane outside Thorndon New World in Wellington. The Spinoff’s Wellington editor ...2 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending May 17The 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. AUCKLAND 1 Slow Productivity by Cal Newport (Penguin, $40) Taking out the top spot in Auckland this ...2 days ago
- Nuclear subs are coming to Australia. Now the Coalition wants reactors, too. We’re not ready for i...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University For decades, Australia has exported uranium – but not used it, other than in the Lucas Heights research reactor. But change is coming. We now face a rapidly deepening commitment to ...2 days ago
- After 180 years, new clues are revealing just how general anaesthesia works in the brainSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam D Hines, Research fellow, Queensland University of Technology Sergey Mironov/Shutterstock Over 350 million surgeries are performed globally each year. For most of us, it’s likely at some point in our lives we’ll have to undergo a procedure that needs general ...2 days ago
- 'I can do much better': Green MP Julie Anne Genter promises to improve conduct"In future I should walk away," Green MP Julie Anne Genter says after complaints over an exchange in Parliament and from two members of the public. ...3 days ago
- Call to protect asylum seekers who may arrive in New Zealand by boatA group of more than 40 refugees, charities and advocates want better protections for asylum seekers arriving by boat. ...3 days ago
- Homo Pentecostus: on queer intimacies, religion, ancestry and the human need for connectionSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Graffam, PhD Candidate in Theatre, Monash University Gianna Rizzo/Malthouse Music pumps; lights pulsate; two sweaty bodies sway together, touching, breathing in each other’s scent. A male body framed by downlight restlessly shifts between stances and gestures. He undresses. The intensity ...3 days ago
- Want to be buried on your own land, at sea or in a forest? A guide to unconventional send-offsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra van der Laan, Professor of Accounting, University of Sydney Mtaya/Shutterstock At some point, you or someone else will need to make a decision about your “send-off”. Most Australians die in an institution, such as a hospital or aged care facility. ...3 days ago
- Vanuatu, MSG chief reaffirms support for FLNKS, blames France over unrestAsia Pacific Report Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai — who is also Chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group — has reaffirmed MSG’s support of the pro-independence umbrella group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) stance opposing the French government’s constitutional bill “unfreezing” the New Caledonia Electoral Roll. It is ...3 days ago
- Blazing a trail: the Leonard family legacy in Māori televisionProducer Susan Leonard remembers her father Ernie, a pioneer of Māori television, and how his legacy lives on in Pathfinders. My father was a fabulous man. His name was Ernie Leonard and he started in TV in the 1970s when it was still glamorous – when TVNZ made behind the ...3 days ago
- Home detention for New Caledonia’s unrest ringleaders, Tiktok bannedBy Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk, and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The suspected ringleaders of the unrest in New Caledonia have been placed in home detention and the social network TikTok has been banned as French security forces struggle to restore law and order. The French ...3 days ago
- Review finds big increase in multi-year government spends, use not always justifiedMulti-year appropriations - which give the government authority to spend money without reapplying annually - are loosening Parliament's control of the public purse, auditor-general says. ...3 days ago
- $63.6m for Surf Life Saving and Coastguard in Budget 2024"New Zealand has a tragically high drowning toll," Transport Minister Simeon Brown said at the announcement. ...3 days ago
- Dr. Eric Chuah Standing For Mayor Of TaurangaDr. Eric Chuah who stood for a centrist NZ political party in the October 2023 NZ Elections for Maungakiekie Auckland will stand as a candidate for Tauranga City Council Ward of Matua-=Otumoetai and Mayor of Tauranga. ...3 days ago
- How to enjoy a comedy festival in your own loungeIf you can’t get to the comedy fest, let us bring the comedy fest to you. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is in full swing at the moment, with a veritable smorgasboard of comedy treats ...3 days ago
- Poll Shows Three Quarters Of Wellingtonians Oppose Airport SaleA new poll commissioned by Unions Wellington shows an overwhelming majority of Wellingtonians oppose the Council’s plan to sell the 34% public stake in Wellington Airport. ...3 days ago
- $63.6m boost for Surf Life Saving and Coastguard in Budget 2024"New Zealand has a tragically high drowning toll," Transport Minister Simeon Brown said at the announcement. ...3 days ago
- Nearly 1300 homes on hold amid government reviewNewly released documents show building has been paused on 690 KiwiBuild homes and 593 market homes. ...3 days ago
- At the heart of the budget is the sad truth the economy is weak. That’s one reason inflation will ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aruna Sathanapally, Chief Executive, Grattan Institute, Grattan Institute A central focus of this week’s budget is the treasury’s forecast for inflation. By this time next year, inflation is projected to be back within the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target range. Inflation has ...3 days ago
- Denser housing can be greener too – here’s how NZ can build better for biodiversitySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yolanda van Heezik, Professor of Ecology, University of Otago Getty Images Cities across Aotearoa New Zealand are trying to solve a housing crisis, with increasing residential density a key solution. But not everyone is happy about the resulting loss of natural ...3 days ago
- Clean energy slump – why Australia’s renewables revolution is behind schedule, and how to fix itSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, Energy and Climate Change, Grattan Institute WDG Photo/Shutterstock For years, the electricity sector has been the poster child for emissions cuts in Australia. The sector achieved a stunning 26% drop in emissions over the past 15 ...3 days ago
- It’s OK to ask a loved one if they’re feeling suicidalIt’s often the last thing people want to do, but asking someone if they’re having suicidal thoughts is a critical first step to helping them. Content warning: this story discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. For a list of resources that can help if you or someone you know is feeling ...3 days ago
- Watch live: Transport Minister makes pre-Budget announcementSimeon Brown and Matt Doocey are set to reveal another bit of next week's budget. ...3 days ago
- We mapped a lost branch of the Nile River – which may be the key to a longstanding mystery of the ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy J. Ralph, Associate Professor, Macquarie University The pyramids at Giza, like dozens of others, are located several kilometres west of the current path of the Nile. Alex Cimbal / Shutterstock The largest field of pyramids in Egypt – consisting of 31 ...3 days ago
- If I’m diagnosed with one cancer, am I likely to get another?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute ABO PHOTOGRAPHY/Shutterstock Receiving a cancer diagnosis is life-changing and can cause a range of concerns about ongoing health. Fear of cancer returning is one ...3 days ago
- All options being considered to help New Zealanders in New Caledonia – Winston PetersGovernment looking at all options for helping New Zealanders who want to leave New Caledonia as death toll rises. ...3 days ago
- Rebuke issued in stoush over volume of on-bus announcements for blind passengersAnd how a union boss ruined a regional councillor's morning. ...3 days ago
- Nearly 1300 Kāinga Ora homes on hold amid government reviewNewly released documents show building has been paused on 690 KiwiBuild homes and 593 market homes. ...3 days ago
- What’s happening in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, and why it matters to NZWinston Peters has been on tour around the Pacific while two unrelated crises unfolded, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Two separate ...3 days ago
- Charter schools might increase government costs, deliver only marginal benefits, Cabinet papers showCharter schools will likely get higher per-student funding than most state schools, and evidence of their efficacy is mixed. ...3 days ago
So that is where the Reading "Reform" came from!
A single mandated "Reform" is not a good plan for teaching kids to read. The full article is not available yet from Newsroom but is usually opened up in a day or so.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/08/meet-the-man-behind-the-governments-education-policy/?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=b160c99eea-Daily_Briefing+08.05.2024&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-b160c99eea-95522477&mc_cid=b160c99eea&mc_eid=88a3081e75
Emeritus Professor James Chapman,
https://www.liftingliteracyaotearoa.org.nz/blog/abandon-our-literacy-myth
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2312/S00172/new-zealand-initiative-celebrates-senior-fellow-michael-johnstons-appointment-as-chair-of-ministerial-advisory-group.htm
James Chapman has been labouring on about phonics for close on 40 years inspite of evidence against full on phonics
Can you cite any evidence against 'full on phonics'
Because there is 40 years of credible research showing that the 'balanced literacy' approach, beloved on the MoE, delivers significantly worse outcomes for kids struggling to read.
This is a new article – but provides links to scientific research,which you could follow through, if you want to educate yourself.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/122697726/advisor-under-fire-as-literacy-group-says-reading-programme-failing-children
Yes some kids learn to read using balanced literacy – these are the kids who will learn to read under just about any circumstance – and often are self-starters who learn without any formal teaching. They will also learn to read using phonics-based instruction.
" Structured literacy isn’t just a passing trend; it’s firmly grounded in research and evidence-based practices. Studies conducted in recent years have highlighted its effectiveness in teaching reading, particularly to individuals with dyslexia and other learning challenges (Shaywitz, 2018). This evidence-backed approach has caught the attention of educators and stakeholders who are searching for proven methods to enhance literacy outcomes. "
"Across the globe, concerns are mounting over literacy levels among both children and adults. Structured literacy emerges as a promising solution to this literacy crisis. Recent research has highlighted its effectiveness in addressing the diverse needs of learners, fostering a culture of literacy excellence in schools and beyond (Kilpatrick, 2019). "
Unlocking Literacy: The Rise of Structured Literacy in Education – Cognition Education
Structured literacy emerges as a promising solution to this literacy crisis
So not actually proven, then.
From my limited (20years+) teaching experience, one size does NOT fit all.
Is it not the most inclusive approach (albeit including more of the complexity of language)?
So long as the remedial backup can cover those who find this all too much …
What remedial backup? The govt is cutting funding for things like support staff.
Reading recovery is done by teachers.
And not only cutting support staff it is "actually" also ending the reading recovery programme – betting the house on the change working without any back up.
I missed this
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/stanford-confirms-end-of-reading-recovery-programme-in-schools-doesn-t-rule-out-job-losses.html
Reading Recovery is throwing the same teaching model (which has already demonstratedly not worked) to the student – just in a one-on-one environment.
Actually changing the teaching model is a much better solution (and allocation of resources).
I'll pick that there will be a reading recovery programme of some sort for those not keeping up with the class …
Some will then say, we should have had it from the get go.
If it's a phonics based reading recovery – you might have an argument. But the current one achieves very little at considerable cost.
Actually better to invest the money in teaching properly from the beginning.
There will always be those who need help catching up.
Not providing for that is part of the arrogance of system change.
And the one on one teaching should be premised on the way the individual can best learn/be taught to understand.
Did you not read the first quote?
" Structured literacy isn’t just a passing trend; it’s firmly grounded in research and evidence-based practices. Studies conducted in recent years have highlighted its effectiveness in teaching reading, particularly to individuals with dyslexia and other learning challenges (Shaywitz, 2018). This evidence-backed approach has caught the attention of educators and stakeholders who are searching for proven methods to enhance literacy outcomes. "
Unlocking Literacy: The Rise of Structured Literacy in Education – Cognition Education
And then there's this:
Structured literacy provides solid foundations – Education Gazette
One size may not fit all, but what we have been doing has failing, and structured literacy is an evidence based, proven solution.
There have been arguments about different approaches to "teaching reading" since the 1970's. A specialist reading teacher told me that either of the two main methods worked well, but neither would cover all children, and sometimes one would be better at different ages / maturity. From memory (and I hope someone corrects this if it is wrong), one method concentrates on whole words, another on the sound of individual letters or letter groups. Regardless of teaching method, children benefit from being read stories by their parents – by seeing reading as enjoyable, and by being able to look at the book while being read to and relate to pictures and in due course written words. We have much better understanding of learning difficulties which individual children have; and they arise from a range of reasons, including different ways in which their brains develop and understanding at different ages, as well as exposure to reading in the home. Poverty can affect school success, and there is no doubt that we are more divided economically than we were pre-Muldoon. Ideally teachers should be aware of mental developments that link to certain stages of reading / understanding, and are able to give at least a small amount of individual time to each child to assess how they are learning as well as measuring progress. Simple measurements without appropriate analysis can lead to wrong conclusions.
The standard of literacy in NZ has deteriorated significantly over recent decades, and we have to act to address that decline. During the formative years of my children's education, literacy teaching generally followed a whole language approach ((PDF) Incorporating phonics within a New Zealand whole language programme (researchgate.net)), about which James Chapman, Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at Massey University wrote:
"The whole language approach has been discredited by scientific studies of literacy for nearly four decades. Extensive research shows that achievement in reading depends on two processes: the ability to recognise the words in text accurately and quickly, and the use of language skills such as vocabulary and syntax. (see, Tunmer & Hoover: https://doi.org/10.1080/19404158.2019.1614081). Progress in learning to read words requires the ability to translate letters and letter patterns into phonological forms (i.e., letter-sound relationships). This enables beginning readers to develop sight word knowledge, which in turn frees up cognitive resources to focus on sentence meaning." Abandon our Literacy Myth — Lifting Literacy Aotearoa
It seems clear a return to structured literacy is long overdue.
"The Government’s education policy reform has striking parallels to those put forward by researcher Michael Johnston and right-wing think tank the New Zealand Initiative."
So what does that prove? Is the NZ Institute necessarily wrong about everything because it's "right-wing"?
What is your substantive objection to structured literacy? What is the evidence against it?
What is this country coming to:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516147/watch-elderly-woman-knocked-to-the-ground-in-unprovoked-attack
Some entitled bastard in a bad mood so he picks on an 88yr old who is a bit unsteady on her feet. Appalling.
I saw that on the news Anne. Bloody disgusting. I hope he gets a decent judge that is not afraid to hand down a decent sentence with no discounts.
How about this one
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/northland-teens-shocking-act-to-push-elderly-man-off-his-bike-for-fun-criticised/VED5JHGPBJA2BBX4OXHW7ZHDGQ/
Quite appalling targeting of elderly (and largely defenseless) people.
Any bets as to the penalties likely to be imposed?
Possibly that is where the large shipment of wet bus tickets is destined for, although there are other places and industries that might need them too. /sarc
Similar to the knocking the 88 year old over in Federal st Auckland.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516147/watch-elderly-woman-knocked-to-the-ground-in-unprovoked-attack
A reasonable commentary on the consistent scandals befalling the Green Party over the last 6 months.
https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/05/08/green-party-grapples-with-persistent-scandals/
It's a mighty big rebuild they have to do.
Let's hope they do a better rebuild than the Nats. Their current gene pool is so shallow it's scary.
Don't believe everything you read. Van der Kaay writes for the so-called "Democracy Project" run by Bryce Edwards.
Edwards has for many years consistently criticized parties from the Left while acting as an apologist for the Right.
The Greens have had 3 unfortunate events.
Kaay’s article is not worth a hill of beans.
The greens are my former favorite party.
The behaviour of MPs is worrying. If you extend your timeline a little further back it would include Elizabeth Kerekere and her bullying that forced her to resign.
Here is an article that says it better than me.
For me it is less about the individuals, more the attitude that underpins their actions. A sense of entitlement that is concerning.
Yes, there are two sides to every story. I can't help but feel Tana will end up resigning.
Genters righteous anger with Doocey is particularly hypocritical. Our first Mental Health minister who has been brave and open about his struggles.
Frankly the recent commentary here on TS, excusing Genter's behaviour with Dooey, Cranfield and Newcomb in that she was provoked, reeks of the Jake Heke defence "Look what you made me do."
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/03-05-2024/can-the-green-partys-holy-mission-survive-its-fallible-disciples
Come off it gsays. Genter has been in parliament 13 years behaving, to my knowledge, impeccably.
Then she gets het up because Doocey yells lies at her (completely ignoring the real spending facts on roading) so she crosses the aisle to show him the actual numbers in the report.
In an obvious, coordinated and probably made-up hit National drags up a witness to another episode where a passionate JAG meets an anti-cycleway (code for National/ACT voter) person who claims (unproven, no witnesses) she too was yelled at by JAG. Note: Nobody would offer to video a meeting where they were yelling at a constituent.
It was a very dumb thing to do to cross the aisle and JAG should get a sanction from the privileges committee for this-presumably they will take into account the previous 13 years of not doing this. Note: apparently crossing the aisle is not against the rules.
I don't see the relevance of Doocey's mental history (you are clutching at straws here). If you are fit to be in parliament you are fit to be part of the rough and tumble. In this case he bears some of the blame by yelling obvious lies in the first place. Maybe this will teach him to stick to yelling the truth.
(code for National/ACT voter) This is where outsiders away from Wellington are coming a cropper.
The lack of consultation by WCC and concerns about it seems to be apolitical. It is not a left/right issue. To me it is a clash between one eyed and multi eyed.
So those that can see that if we make it difficult for residents to survive then Wgtn becomes less desirable to live. Our suburbs should not be built just to cater for one demographic. It shocked me when talking to people that many of them are ignorant about:
PS An electorate MP represents all the people in the electorate not just the ones who may have voted for her or who she or we perceive might have voted for her.
I have just become aware that the "incident" with the florist actually happened about 18 MONTHS AGO.
The news reports about it were very obviously slanted to make people believe that it happened shortly before the parliamentary incident.
So how the f… does this have relevance to the parliamentary incident?
It isn't like she used a wooden bed leg to bash someone as a certain National MP who is currently in parliament.
She had an argument with someone, one and a half years ago.
One and a half years ago!
And that was buried in the bottom of the article.
Big f…n deal!
The right are out to get her, they will stop at nothing!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350270955/julie-anne-genter-was-buying-flowers-dying-friend-amid-florist-confrontation
If The Greens have only just become aware of this then they need to act on it now. It doesn't matter really when the issues happened. It is not as if the incidents are being ignored by the Greens. They do seem to fit a pattern with the Cranfields person as well.
Hopefully JAG will have the parlt stuff dealt with by the Privileges cttee and the comms issues dealt with by The Greens and she will keep on being the no1 transport knowledgeable person in the house.
Of course the more we ourselves blow the issue up the less attention is paid to the Peters/Carr possible defamation stuff.
Hadn't realised that it was 18 months ago Mike…really is a scam/beat up…terrible reporting of the facts by MSM (which is actually their job).
I bet a lot of people didn't realise that.
And Stuff think they can save the 6 o'clock news?
Based on this useless example of their journalism, it is already dead.
That's the irony for me.
Two from my stable of hobby horses, the road users influence in parliament and MSM. I should have my Pom Poms out.
Instead, it's head in my hands bemoaning another 'knock-on'.
I suggest that you read that article again. You clearly didn't read it very cardfully the first time.
There were two people who are mentioned in the article. The first was the florist. That happened recently. She is Laura Newcombe.
The second was about another person, Nicola Cranfield, at another shop, Cranfields, in another part of town. That is the one that Genter claims happened about eighteen months ago.
When you have read the story a bit more carefully you will see that they are different people, at different times, but with the same rabid dog attitude by JAG.
There is an even earlier one about her involving a then WCC Councillor Simon Woolf when she also lit into him in a rather deranged manner. Some people, like Genter, simply never learn do they?
"In this case he bears some of the blame by yelling obvious lies in the first place. Maybe this will teach him to stick to yelling the truth."
A less kind person would mention victim blaming, I will leave it at the Heke defence.
"In an obvious, coordinated and probably made-up hit National drags up a witness to another episode where a passionate JAG meets an anti-cycleway (code for National/ACT voter) person who claims (unproven, no witnesses) she too was yelled at by JAG. Note: Nobody would offer to video a meeting where they were yelling at a constituent."
Maybe, maybe not. Yr conspiracies don't matter.
Genter did make a boo-boo in the house and these NAct voters and in Genter's own words show she has form for this behaviour. "I accept that sometimes when dealing with people who are very upset, I haven't been able to stay calm and I need to know when to walk away."
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/05/07/julie-anne-genter-breaks-silence-and-offers-three-more-apologies/
Anyhoo, my response to you was more about the glossing over of quite a few (let's be kind) mis-steps from senior Green MPs and what they have in common .
I am a big fan of Genter too, and rather than take the Officer Barbrady approach – "Nothing to see here folks" I want our comrades in The Greens to get their shit together.
gsays-I didn't gloss over anything. The Kerekere bullying happened well over a year ago which is not anywhere close to the period I am commenting on above in relation to Kaay's biased article.
I commented on the three relatively current events that the MSM media seems to be trying to portray as a pattern, where nothing could be further from the truth.
If we are to start going back a couple of years there are National MP misdemeanors as long as my arm.
I couldn't care less for yr whataboutism regards Nat MPs. They ain't my team.
Clearly there is a worrying aspect to these misdemeanours. Tana, from what little we know appears to be the worst of the lot.
We all hop up and down and question the Nats and their selection process in regards Uffendell but it would appear you would have us believe the Greens have nothing to worry about, it's all a MSM/NActs conspiracy!
'a reasonable commentary'..really..?
I thought it was a simplistic rehashing of the wholesale pearl clutching we have seen around this..
Devoid of any insights…
Genter spat the dummy at the facile droolings of doocey..on an issue she is both knowledgeable and passionate about ..
.and she broke parliamentary protocol..by crossing the floor to remonstrate with him..to wave her arms at him ..wave a raft of papers at him .
That's it .!…
Yes.. it's a breach of parliamentary protocol ..so the privileges committee will decide her censure…
That's it..!
..and as for the flower lady interaction…the brief interview genter gave the always/easily excited maiki Sherman revealed that she first went in there to buy flowers for a sick friend…
Not to confront the flower lady..
This is all looking like a beat up..
And to use this minor brouhaha to claim the greens are in some kind of crisis and need to 'rebuild'..is frankly farcical.
The florist obviously challenged her on the cycle-lanes…and genter engaged..and it could be said over-reacted by pulling her phone out..
That's it..!
Everyone really needs to get a bit of a grip…
..and to breathe through their noses..
This is all heading for a mountain -out-of-a-molehill-award..
That's it indeed. Basically some inappropriate behaviour, but no suggestion whatever of actual moral turpitude. A token penalty and a warning should cover it, to my mind.
I checked out Nick's Korero last night. https://nickrockel.substack.com/p/i-could-be-a-florist?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
That florist does seem to have some "form" all right. What I take from it is that she's relied in her business mostly on one-time off-the-shelf purchases by the semi-captive market offered by hospital visitors. Dealing with large or special orders don't seem to be her forte. And now that bike lanes have had the effect of reducing that casual trade, she's begun to feel the pinch.
You'd be so wrong if you think that this is the type of florist that has the tied up bouquets that you get from the supermarkets.
This florist is more the old time/type one where they might do flowers for weddings, graduations, whole venues. They are an Interflora florist catering for birthdays all around the south area. Interflora have the deliveries by van or sometimes cycle courier. Mostly van as the flowers need to be kept in tip top condition. I think I'd be right in saying that they would be the only one in Newtown, Berhampore, Island bay. I think there is one in Kilbirnie.
That part of the shopping centre has been poorly treated over the years. Now the area is a rat run, any shops are suffering. Agencies such as the Cancer Society, closer to the hospital that used to have easy access to a parking area are hemmed in by narrow-ish entrances over a bus lane. If you misjudge your turn and turn too early and have to go along the bus lanes a little way then a camera will ensure you get a ticket for $150.00.
Further down in Adelaide road at least two businesses I know of have up sticks and are moving because even though WCC say that they have mainaitned entrances for businesses these in practice are difficult to use being across a bus lane and a cycle lane with myriads of green paint, unforgiving kerbing and OTT flag things.
One of our fellow posters has indicated that people in the area are aware of how these people have been treated and much of the sympathy is going the way of the shopkeepers and not JAG.
Be great if JAG filmed it all?
Not to mention that this second incident actually happened about 18 months ago but the florist conveniently forgot to tell us that.
This is so obviously a National smear job.
I heard an interview with Shane Jones on morning report/rnz ..
And I was struck by the thought that he is like a noisy barbarian at the gate…
You don't want to let him in…
And you just want him to go away…
He's gone from amusing bombastic fool, to corrupt dangerous mf. Small men and a little power is always bad
Watched this on TV news. Appalling. and makes me think of 'One strike and your'e out.'
'.you're out'…but good to hear.the a'hole was arrested 40 minutes later.
Yep, he's never won an electorate seat. Not sure he ever could.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350268124/live-te-pati-maori-mp-stands-exterminate-maori-comments
Good on Mairiameno Kapa-Kingi for standing up to the tone-deaf apologists whose comments do nothing but enable the insidiousness of what this government's trying to do to its Treaty partner to continue.
Exterminate: to kill all the animals or people in a particular place or of a particular type.
EXTERMINATE | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary
We've almost become immune to hyperbole, but this one takes the cake.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018903262/act-leader-doubles-down-on-joke-about-blowing-pacific-ministry-up
"blow up"
phrasal verb of blow
explode.
"the car blew up as soon as it hit the wall"
What is your point? That two wrongs make a right?
Are you saying that Seymour was right to use that language?
If so, then you're a disgrace.
I thought he was saying that Seymour had taken the cake and already eaten it.
did you listen to her speech? I watched the short version in Chris' link. You may not agree with her perspective, but the word exterminate used in context was coherent and understandable. She is saying that government policy will remove Māori ability to remain Māori. She's not saying the government will genocide Māori people, she is saying that without their culture they will become white and thus cease to exist.
Which many people, myself included, agree is true. As far as I can tell, ACT are intent on removing cultural protection, NZF will play the populist, anti-tikanga card, and National will slow things down a bit but will nevertheless attempt to remove Māori power and self-determination.
Agree with this summation Weka, I also listend and she was careful but doesn't stop the 'shock, horror' people exclaiming. Also agree with the summary of what ACT etc are up to.
Yes I did listen to her speech. Not only is the use of the word unwise, it is entirely untrue both literally and in context.
There is no attempt to "remove ability to remain Māori" (your words I know), nor is there any attempt to remove Māori culture. If there was, I and many others would be joining her in the fight.
obviously TPM and Kapa-Kingi disagree with you. She explained it well enough.
TPM are playing to an audience, Weka. Nothing more, nothing less.
they're a political party
But really all you've done here is say you don't like what she said
🤷♀️
It's not that I don't like what she said. It's that is untrue. As I say, she's playing to an audience, that but you're right, that's politics.
I know you think it's untrue. And? All you've done is say 'she's wrong'/
I'm not sure what your point is. Her claims are serious enough to warrant challenging.
My point is that you haven’t challenged her claims. You’ve simply reduced a 700 word explanaiton down to one word, named it hyberbole and said she is wrong.
"My point is that you haven’t challenged her claims."
I have challenged her claims.
There is no attempt to "remove ability to remain Māori" (your words I know), nor is there any attempt to remove Māori culture. If there was, I and many others would be joining her in the fight.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-05-2024/#comment-1999080
that doesn’t challenge the claims, it just says you disagree. We already covered this.
If you want to challenge the claims, then explain how and why.
"If you want to challenge the claims, then explain how and why."
You're asking me to prove a negative. There is simply not enough evidence to justify her claims, particularly as she herself has claimed the context was the removal of section 7aa.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350270453/national-and-labour-say-te-pati-maori-mp-went-too-far-saying-government-planned
I wasn’t asking you to prove a negative, I was saying you haven’t made a challenge. That would require you explaining your thinking about why she is wrong. But never mind.
How exactly will government policy "remove Māori ability to remain Māori."? I don't understand this claim.
A starting point is trying to erase or eliminate the langauge from the Public Service.
Last time I looked Maori were part of the Public.
That does not in any way "remove Māori ability to remain Māori." Even if it wanted to, the government could not remove anyone's ability to remain Maori.
And the government has not tried to "erase or eliminate the langauge from the Public Service." It has simply told government departments to communicate primarily in English, and to use English names of government departments. A reasonable directive, considering the number of Kiwis who understand English greatly exceeds the number who understand Maaori.
You appear to have missed the starting point part of my comment.
No-one is trying to erase or eliminate te reo from the public service.
But wait, there's more.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350271270/new-disability-issues-minister-louise-upston-insists-whaikaha-will-re-brand
What don't you understand? The government wants to remove the Māori specific aspects of child welfare.
Here's the Hansard record,
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20240501_051540000/kapa-kingi-mariameno
The government intends to remove section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. That's the section that seeks to change outcomes for Māori kids in Māori terms.
https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/about-us/performance-and-monitoring/section-7aa/what-we-do-section-7aa/
I'm not sure what you think you're proving by quoting an activist like Kapa-Kingi? Do you actually believe the CRT line that colour-blindness is a "just another word for white supremacy"?
And what makes you think section 7AA is some kind of magic formula for Maaori advancement? Was it not section 7AA that saw Maaori kids reverse uplifted from white couples who apparently provided a stable, loving family environment? What do you mean by "in Maaori terms"? I would have thought that a stable, loving family environment was up near the top of any child's "cultural needs".
All I can say in defence of your claim that "government policy will remove Māori ability to remain Māori" is that it isn't quite as hyperbolic as Kapa-Kingi's claim.
I take it you didn't read/listen to the speech?
Yes I have listened to it weka. And as one other commentator noted, it showed "she is in questionable contact with reality".
Would you like to respond to my questions?
Did you read Karen Chhour's introduction to the bills first reading?
Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill — First Reading – New Zealand Parliament (www.parliament.nz)
+1 Chris.
Ridiculous grandstanding wedge driving shit from tpm!
You mean ridiculous, performative outrage from NACT?
Who on one hand like to shit all over the left for the perceived ills of cancel culture and "wokeness", and on the other start clutching at their pearls whenever they are criticised or get called out for being wankers.
Who's the snowflake now, David et al?
[lprent: I’ll let this through despite the handle change. But decide which one you want to use going forward. ]
See moderator note
Autofill on my phone strikes again!
Apologies
I've edited the comment above to your regular user name.
I have no love of the coc I assure you
What I took from her interview on RNZ this morning was that the word "exterminate" was used deliberately to provoke a response, because words like "deculturation" go over peoples’ heads. The APA's definition of deculturation says:
I took this as her actual point – the elimination of the Maori worldview as an influential or important force in modern contemporary social, political or economic life.
I'd agree that the Coalition is attempting to do that – particularly ACT. But actually using the word "exterminate" while knowing that 99% of people would assume it to mean physical extermination/genocide, is tactically stupid. Too much of this sort of thing will mean that parties of the liberal centre-left/right (i.e. Labour) may be backed into a corner where they have no option but to rule out TPM as a partner.
Unfortunately the response that she's achieved (except from the already convinced) is that she is in questionable contact with reality. (Extermination is a fair description of what is going on in Gaza, not that what is happening to Maori in NZ).
Her message (whatever it was) has been lost in the language she chose to use.
Unless her sole desire was to get her name in the headlines – this has been a communications fail.
However, TPM have recent history of doing exactly this. Which makes me think that this is all about playing to their party base, and that they have zero interest in ever being part of a government – and a permanent desire to be on the cross-benches, criticizing everyone.
Growing the party's vote and sitting on teh cross benches free to criticises government policy whoever is in government is not necessarily a bad thing, and might be preferable to being in a centre left Hipkins led government.
Assuming Labour doesn't need them to govern 😈
Perhaps it's my belief structure getting in the way, but it has always seemed rather pointless to go into Parliament without the desire to actually make changes. And you have to be in government to make changes.
I think it's that last sentence that's at issue. The Greens have long demonstrated how change can be achieved without being in government. If TPM spend the next 6 years establishing their policies in the public eye as well as growing their vote, that makes sense to me. The long haul.
And Labour may still need them.
I recall the great Pita Sharples saying it's better to be in the tent than out, didn't go so well for tpm when he chose the national tent
"she is in questionable contact with reality"
So deftly put.
Maybe she should have used a vivid everyday phrase, such as "consigning Maori culture to the rubbish bin", or something equally vigorous which however stops short of implying actual physical destruction of her people. "Deculturation" (I didn't even know that was a word) wouldn't have done – too unfamiliar and open to misinterpretation.
Yep – and the question is why she didn't do exactly as you say.
Are there any moderators 'on duty' at TS today? Asking for a friend
yes. Why?
I sent some messages to the contact addresses.
that goes to Lprent. Is it urgent? I can email him and ask him to check them.
he should see his personal one fairly quickly.
Yes
I see Lynn has moderated, sorry that took so long.
For future reference, the quickest way to get moderator attention is to reply to one of the mods anywhere on site. We check the Replies tab and see who is talking to us. If you don't get a response, do it again.
In this case you could reply to me (or any mod who is active on the site on the day) and put a link to the comments/thread where the issues are. You don't have to go into details, just link and say there is a serious problem and ask for a mod to take a look.
Thank you Weka. I will do. I just did not want to inspire yet another go at me.
totally understand. Even just replying to an older commenter of mine and asking me to take a look would work (no link needed, I just need to know there is something important to look at).
Absolutely agree with Bearded Git. Doocey should be sanctioned for knowingly lying(imo). They do this to try to create a response such as he got from JAG. Precisely what an Iq and Eq challenged person resorts to when they can’t actually debate like an educated and intelligent opponent. As we have seen recently from the garbled car crash that was MMitchell. By the look on Simone’s face this is a tactical method that is going to be ongoing. Just for Simone’s amusement. They are not in Government for the right reasons. Dormant Doocey is just there as a yes vote to everything COC ups want to repeal or pass into legislation. The Right Honourable he IS NOT.
Green baiting, especially the Wellington MPs, is National's goal. In their minds they are getting payback for the Greens kicking National's butt (as well as Labour's) in Wellington at the last election
All these "incidents" are not co-incidental, they are a deliberate plan by National to disgrace the Greens. Expect more "incidents" to come to light as their plan develops.
The man is a fuckwit.
.
That programme will be bulk purchased by the government and delivered to schools, which Seymour said would "significantly reduce the cost of the programme".
"Students will receive nutritious food that they want to eat. It will be made up of the sorts of food items thousands of mums and dads put into lunch boxes every day for their kids – forget quinoa, couscous, and hummus, it will be more like sandwiches and fruit," Seymour said.
When asked about food items like sushi for lunches, he said, "If you don't get that sushi's woke, then I don't know how to wake you up, but the key message here is that we are introducing the kinds of foods that are put in the lunchboxes of children, the other 75 percent of kids, who rely on their parents to send their lunch".
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/sushis-woke-seymour-cuts-107m-school-lunches
The Government has sunk to a new low with today’s announcement that they will replace high quality nutritious lunches with largely processed snack foods for Intermediate and High School students, as families continue to struggle with food insecurity.
“This announcement is a devastating lost opportunity to promote healthy eating habits that protect against chronic diseases that result in major health system costs,” Health Coaltiion Aotearoa (HCA) co-chair Professor Lisat Te Morenga said.
https://www.healthcoalition.org.nz/lunches-downgrade-robs-children-of-nutrition-well-being-immunity-and-fuel-to-learn/
Woke up Kiwis – they're here!
I imagine Seymour's problem is with the price of middle-class foods like hummus and quinoa.
Hummus is a staple food made from cheap as chips chick peas. My wife who’s been teaching in a wide decile range of primary schools for over forty years says she’s seen plenty of hummus in school lunches but has never seen quinoa or couscous. Are you sure you and your dorky mate mate have your facts right?
I'm guessing quinoa features in some of the meals for kids with food allergies eg those that need gluten-free.
Or Seymour is making shit up. The whole things has the same vibe as Penny Simmonds going on about disabled carers getting massages. Afaik she never produced any evidence of this nor meaningful explanation. It was superficial bullshit designed to make it harder to get at the truth of what they were doing.
Well, here we are with a major movement developing in the student aged population in the US (and increasingly the world) against the slaughter in Gaza.
The Biden admin thought that a few swift kicks at the encampments by riot police or rabid supporters of Israel would cause them to hastily pack up camp and go home to Mummy and Daddy.
Instead we are looking at the development of a movement that may equal that of the Vietnam protests. Gazans are already making signs thanking the students of the world for their compassion and humanity.
And just to give everyone the morale boost they needed, along comes Macklemore with a smart and defiant mainstream rap that really says what youth says best to authority with all proceeds going to UNRWA
There arent a lot of bright spots for Gaza now with the Rafah invasion seemingly in motion but this is definitely one.
Edit: I thought the embed code was enough to get the song onto the page but apparently not so you’ll need to click through.
https://twitter.com/macklemore/status/1787616471738368099
The BHN episode linked here adds important context to some of the comments on Māori politics today. The status quo of New Zealand is still detrimental to Tangata Whenua.
We have made some good progress in the last few years, supporting Māori culture and Te Reo and wellbeing. But to deny that the current government is trying to erase all those gains is simple ignorance.