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Comment: Open Mike 10/07/25
Written By: AB - Date published: 3:18 pm, July 10th, 2025
American poet Robert Lowell (whom no-one mentions any more despite him being a literary celebrity in his day and very good) wrote about the mafia boss Lepke Buchalter (Czar Lepke) who was at the time in prison on death row: "Flabby, bald, lobotomized,/ he ...Comment: What happened to the Epstein Client List?
Written By: AB - Date published: 2:52 pm, July 10th, 2025
Surely Bibi has the original list (straight from their now deceased asset) and he's hanging onto it no matter what Bondi and the FBI do?Comment: Open Mike 09/07/25
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:50 am, July 9th, 2025
"series of tight postcolonial networks" = small-time, provincial, politely 'Kiwi' mafiaComment: Open Mike 08/07/25
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:46 pm, July 8th, 2025
Why? Because if rates are capped, Councils will balance their budgets by selling assets. These assets will then pass into private ownership. Given that these assets are essential services such as water infrastructure and social housing, selling them ...Comment: Open mike 25/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:46 am, June 25th, 2025
Keep superannuation universal at 65. Treat all income from all sources (superannuation, work, capital gain, investments, inheritance) in the same way and tax it at a more steeply progressive rate as we used to do in the past. Administratively it's probably ...Comment: Open mike 23/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:29 am, June 23rd, 2025
Just another self-proclaimed champion of free speech showing us how deep that commitment actually runs. Also, he has an agenda and won't be derailed by people who actually know stuff.Comment: Daily review 19/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:04 am, June 20th, 2025
There's an old-fashioned word that I think describes Uncle Shane better than anything else: "appetitive". A man with strong appetites that he is intent on satisfying - with food being only one of these and the others being things I should not mention. His ...Comment: Open mike 18/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 3:26 pm, June 18th, 2025
NZ's census is to be discontinued. It would be interesting to know what statisticians, evidence-based public policymakers and social science researchers think about this. To me it looks like a government that wants to be able to pluck whatever madness may ...Comment: Open mike 17/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:28 am, June 17th, 2025
Yeah - the agenda is always to divert the money that the government gets from taxes away from public sector employees who provide services directly to the public. Instead, this money must go into the hands of business owners as profits and to their private ...Comment: The other Jacinda Book
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:38 pm, June 12th, 2025
There is probably another book that may never be written. It would be about the funding, management, growth and the nature of the campaign to vilify Ardern and NZ's Covid response in particular. Who contributed, what were the networks of disinformation, ...Comment: Open mike 12/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:00 am, June 12th, 2025
National instigated it in 2016 because they wanted to look like they cared about the environment without having to mention or act on climate change. While Predator Free is an excellent idea, it's a modernised version of the conservationism of 50 years ago ...Comment: Open mike 11/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:25 pm, June 11th, 2025
"As long as the two major parties remain tethered (however loosely) to reality and the Overton window, I think we’ll find [MMP] will continue to [hold the line against extremism]" Yes, that seems right. But to complicate things - is it possible that MMP ...Comment: Open mike 10/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:15 am, June 10th, 2025
The Illusion of Thinking Well, yeah. 'Thought' is by definition a property of biological entities - so whatever these machines do, cannot be called 'thinking'. Also, humans have no idea how their own thinking works - and will never know because we simply ...Comment: Open mike 08/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 4:05 pm, June 8th, 2025
They've done the things that their pseudo-religious economic zealotry tells them must result in growth: higher unemployment, lower taxes, lower wages, less regulatory burden for business. But the growth isn't there yet. So, either someone is to blame, or ...Comment: Open mike 08/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 3:33 pm, June 8th, 2025
acknowledging the existence of such forces, especially in human nature Yes, that for sure. But more than just in our nature. It is actually evidenced in our human past as we would all know if ethnologists and economic anthropologists were given the ...Comment: Open mike 07/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:27 pm, June 7th, 2025
It's a Bill that fetishises private property rights and elevates them to become the over-riding consideration in Government policy decisions. It is completely contrary to the existing assumption in democracies that property rights are always limited - ...Comment: Open mike 05/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 5:29 pm, June 5th, 2025
My guess is that TPM are trying to emphasise what they consider to be the illegitimacy of the Privileges Committee process - by openly defying it. For TPM, the illegitimacy seems to lie in the fact that the process makes no attempt to be consistent with ...Comment: Open mike 04/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:45 am, June 4th, 2025
Yeah - though Paul Henry is a right-wing elitist, which means being a craven brown-noser of, and propagandist for, wealth and power. There is nothing 'elite' about him personally.Comment: Open mike 02/06/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:15 am, June 2nd, 2025
The craven desire of our elites for imperial honours is unedifying at the best of times - but far worse in times like this. The accompanying blurb for Ruth Richardson should have read: "for her contribution to human misery, premature deaths of despair and ...Comment: Open mike 30/05/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:05 pm, May 30th, 2025
Watching largely disadvantaged people fight each other like animals... Yes, but if we ban things based on this principle, where does it stop? Wouldn't that sentence be a fairly accurate description of the labour market in an environment of austerity where ...Comment: Which animal does Labour resemble?
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:52 pm, May 30th, 2025
Labour are like mayflies. A lot of good work goes on underwater where nobody sees it. When they emerge they can be briefly entrancing, but then decay sets in and it all goes underwater again. We need the mayflies, but they should throw in a few honey ...Comment: Migration: the spectre at the feast
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:35 pm, May 28th, 2025
"After climate change, the challenge of population movements ranks second, something still to be understood." If climate change is as bad as some predictions. it will spark population movements that will dwarf what we see now. The two challenges are linked ...Comment: Open mike 28/05/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:21 am, May 28th, 2025
"Getting things done"Comment: Open mike 28/05/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:20 am, May 28th, 2025
The quickest way to reduce crime rates is not to count everything. And if you are stupid or unscrupulous enough to make absurd claims during an election campaign concerning your ability to reduce crime, you will end up in a hole. Put these two facts ...Comment: Open mike 26/05/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:46 pm, May 26th, 2025
Regardless of how it is populated, the upper house must not be given the power to block legislation outright Yeah. The purpose should be to enhance the democratic process by throwing bad legislation into the public domain for a period of time to properly ...Comment: Willis’ Roundup Budget will not grow new shoots of the economy
Written By: AB - Date published: 6:12 pm, May 24th, 2025
Businesses will likely choose investing in assets and equipment over investing in recruiting & hiring new staff but they might train & upskill selected staff to operate new machinery. The result is likely more machinery and fewer employees Possibly - but ...Comment: Open mike 23/05/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 3:20 pm, May 23rd, 2025
Willis poisonously delivering an anecdeotal slur that spreads outwards to taint all young men. The 18/19 year old I knew best was at that age getting himself round a noisy, crowded university campus with a physical disability, trying to schedule lectures ...Comment: What would the Greens’ inheritance/gift tax mean for farming?
Written By: AB - Date published: 4:06 pm, May 20th, 2025
Yes, I think you're right. It's tempting to add complexity to a tax system because we want to make nuanced distinctions - say between productive and non-productive assets. But complexity probably increases the opportunities for gaming and discredits the ...Comment: What would the Greens’ inheritance/gift tax mean for farming?
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:17 pm, May 20th, 2025
Perhaps inheritance tax could explicitly distinguish productive assets of national significance (PANS) from non-productive assets. PANS would be things that we want to keep in a productive state like most farms, but which we don't want to see accumulating ...Comment: Open mike 19/05/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:18 pm, May 19th, 2025
The only recourse left is political, not judicial. Yes - and if there was more judicial power to block legislation, then that might lead to obvious politicisation of judicial appointments - so leading us back circuitously into the domain of the political ...
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- Could NZ First vs ACT blow up the coalition over the Regulatory Standards Bill?
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- Collateral benefit: space launch centre’s sensors will plug Cape York gap
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- For smuggled drones, China wouldn’t be as soft a target as Russia
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- Economic Bulletin June July 2025
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NZ Post is being told to start over on its consultation process for a proposed business reorganisation after the ERA found it failed to meet its obligations to union members. Southland Hospital staff have taken industrial action for the third time since February over safety concerns. More people moved away ...1 day ago
- Wednesday 10 July
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- Brickbats
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- Christian Nightmares
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- Dealing to the evidence
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- Wednesday 9 July
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- China’s ‘Taiwanese separatist’ hotline shows expanding lawfare strategy
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- “There is no corruption in New Zealand…”
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- Pacific maritime policy could mend fragmentation, increase resilience
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- Unbelievable
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- Fact brief – Is global warming just due to El Niño?
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- Think about defence spending like this: when risks rise, so do insurance premiums
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- In their dreams
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Provide a desJournalist and former university professor Dr David Robie reflects on the 1985 Rainbow Warrior mission to Rongelap atoll to help US nuclear refugees and the bombing of the Greenpeace campaign ship by French secret agents. His analysis is that far from the sabotage being an isolated incident, it ...4 days ago
- ASPI Defence Conference: Putting the ‘national’ in national preparedness and resilience
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- Qantas hack: limits to the government’s reach
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- Prison for One: Accepted
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- Tuesday 8 July
The Supreme Court has begun hearing arguments on whether it should uphold or overturn previous court rulings that four Uber drivers were entitled to be treated as employees of the firm, rather than as contractors. Hospital workers are pushing back against a trial to reduce the number of maternity beds ...4 days ago
- Uber drivers taking a stand on behalf of all platform workers
As the Uber drivers have their case heard in the Supreme Court today, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi believes that the outcome of the case will have lasting implications for people working the in the platform economy and workers who have been misclassified as contractors. ...4 days ago
- Capital gaps and complacency: investment imbalance undermines sovereignty
Australia’s ability to generate breakthrough ideas has never been in doubt. But despite increasing recognition of the need for national resilience, the country still lacks a capital system built to serve strategic purpose. The failure ...4 days ago
- NZ economy sliding back into recession
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- How to fill a 155 mm hole in Australian defence strategy
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- Gordon Campbell On Using The Tax System To Boost Funding For The Arts
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- Horses for courses: where quantum computing is, and isn’t, the answer
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- People Linked to Jeffrey Epstein Who Have Died
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- Don’t kid yourself, Australia: a Taiwan war would spread across the Indo-Pacific
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s second visit to China—pencilled in for this month—will come weeks before the People’s Liberation Army’s 98th anniversary on 1 August 2025, a date laden with symbolism as Beijing approaches the military modernisation ...5 days ago
- A good way to say goodbye
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The dust has barely settled on the 2025 federal election and the returning government has already reaffirmed its commitment to delivering a national food security strategy. That’s a welcome and long-overdue step forward. But unless ...5 days ago
- Submission on the Public Finance Amendment Bill
This submission comments on select aspects of the Public Finance Amendment Bill. The NZCTU opposes the removal of the wellbeing provisions from the Act. These were inserted in 2020 to make clear that the goal of fiscal policy is to support the wellbeing of New Zealanders. The wellbeing provisions help ...5 days ago
- Legislating For Liberty.
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Reality Check Radio’s petition to prosecute former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, alongside Chris Hipkins, Ashley Bloomfield, and a cadre of public health experts, is a bewildering display of political theatre. Launched on the cusp of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, this campaign is less a call ...5 days ago
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New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. During the month of June, we made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand. An update on Winston's War on Woke ...23 hours ago - Green Party won’t contest Tāmaki Makaurau by-election
After careful consideration, the Green Party will not stand a candidate in the upcoming Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. ...1 day ago - Te Pāti Māori Announces Award-Winning Broadcaster Oriini Kaipara to Contest Tāmaki Makaurau By-El...
Te Pāti Māori have confirmed the selection of celebrated broadcaster and longtime West Auckland advocate Oriini Kaipara (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi) as its candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. Oriini’s deep whakapapa to Tāmaki Makaurau is grounded in her upbringing at Hoani Waititi Marae, where she was ...2 days ago
- OPED – Mark Patterson: “Do something about the bloody trees”
“Do something about the bloody trees” would be the most common refrain I hear around Clutha and when travelling about rural New Zealand. Forestry has been, and is, a legitimate land use option for farmers and forestry companies. Always has been, always will. Sensible farmers have incorporated planting out of ...2 days ago
- OPED – Jenny Marcroft: Supporting our oyster farmers
Most of us who live in the Mahurangi region are well aware of the ongoing challenges faced by oyster farmers because of multiple significant sewage spills into Mahurangi Harbour. Watercare’s sewerage network in Warkworth is infiltrated with stormwater following rainfall, resulting in overflows into the Mahurangi River and the wider ...3 days ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Protect New Zealanders’ Ability to Use Cash
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would protect New Zealanders’ ability to use cash. The Bill will provide for the enduring use of cash as a private, accessible, and reliable method of payment. “People who rely on cash due to barriers to digital banking deserve ...4 days ago
- New study shows speed of Antarctic ice melt, Govt fans climate flames
As the Government pulls out of global climate commitments, a significant new report shows that sea ice around Antarctica is melting at unprecedented speed. ...5 days ago
- Family Boost announcement does little to boost families
Today’s announcement on the Family Boost scheme is little more than tinkering around the edges while real issues in the ECE system are ignored, says the Green Party. ...5 days ago
- Serious Response to Serious Problems
As New Zealand has positively responded to the crack down on gang patches there has been a growing recognition of the influence of organized crime on our communities. New Zealand First continues to be focused on all aspects that undermine the safety and security in our neighbourhoods, businesses, and ...1 week ago
- NZ First Bill: Only Official New Zealand Flag to Fly on Government Buildings
New Zealand First has today introduced a member's bill which would make it law that government buildings can only display the official flag of New Zealand. “Government buildings are for all New Zealanders and should not be hijacked to force cultural, woke, or divisive political ideology down the throats of ...1 week ago
- Healthy Homes standards need more teeth
With mandatory Healthy Homes standards coming into effect for all tenancies tomorrow, the Green Party is calling for a new Rental Warrant of Fitness system to give the new standards true effect. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party pays tribute to Takutai Tarsh Kemp
The Green Party has paid tribute to Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp who sadly passed away early this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- Government Sabotages Settlement: Te Pāti Māori Backs Te Whānau-Ā-Apanui
Te Pāti Māori stands in solidarity with Te Whānau-ā-Apanui after revelations the Government is looking to derail their almost completed Treaty settlement. Minister Goldsmith has stated that the Government will not budge on its position that the Crown is sovereign. They are seeking to remove the ‘sovereignty clause’ agreed to ...2 weeks ago
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Christopher Luxon’s Government pulling out of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance is just the latest sign they care little for the climate crisis or cost of living it’ll exacerbate, says the Green Party. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s $200mill fossil fuel handout in breach of trade agreement
Legal advice commissioned by the Green Party shows the coalition Government’s $200 million “investment” in new gas fields is a clear breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS). ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Minister should fess up on cuts
Simeon Brown needs to be honest about how much more money he expects Health New Zealand to cut from its budget to get back in the black. ...3 weeks ago - Greens call on Govt to condemn US for attack on Iran
The Green Party is calling on the Government to condemn the United States for its illegal bombing of Iran and inflaming tensions across the Middle East. ...3 weeks ago
- Luxon’s Complicity Puts Aotearoa at Risk: Te Pāti Māori Stands Against Global Military Aggressio...
Te Pāti Māori stands firmly against the rising tide of global military aggression. While the Luxon scrambles to appease Trump and Israel, we choose peace, sovereignty, and an independent foreign policy grounded in justice and truth. More than 56,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel over the past 20 months. ...3 weeks ago
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- ‘It is an interesting time’ – Tania Simpson takes over as chair of Waitangi Trust
Tania Simpson intends to hit the ground running in what will ultimately be a short term due to the trust's rules. ...2 hours ago - The history of the world’s greatest superhero
Nearly a century ago, a man in red and blue lifted a car on the cover of Action Comics #1. It didn’t take long for that man of steel to fly off the comic page and into radio … then onto the small and big screens, books, merchandise and anything ...6 hours ago - The Secret Diary of .. the Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid
MONDAY Thank you everyone for coming along to this excellent use of public spending. As head of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19, I shall investigate, and investigate fully, the claims of those who say the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis was a crime against humanity and was ...6 hours ago
- Short story: Collective Tissue, by Craig Cliff
Terry Voss (born 1975) is the author of the story collection The Boring Aurora, which was shortlisted for the Sunday Supplement’s best first book award in 2001. His poems and stories have been published in many print and online journals, including Visigoths, 2B/X2B, Sundown and Herringbone. He is currently working ...6 hours ago
- The Weekend: I can’t stop thinking about this ad
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. It’s either a sign I’m scraping the bottom of the vibes barrel or a sign that I’m choosing to find joy in unexpected places but last weekend I found myself utterly captivated, impressed and moved(?!) by a billboard. To be clear, I ...7 hours ago - The top 20 moments from the DIVA exhibition at Auckland Museum, ranked
Bow down bitches, the true divas are in town. This week in attention economy news, JoJo Siwa is threatening to release her cover of ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ on Spotify. In the short video she’s already released, she sounds like she’s swallowed three packets of cigs and auto tuned the raspy ...7 hours ago
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As we wrap up Outrageous Week, actor Siobhan Marshall takes us through her life in television. It’s been 20 years since Outrageous Fortune first stormed onto New Zealand television screens, but Siobhan Marshall still meets a “terrifying” number of people who think she’s Pascalle West. Whether they’re from overseas viewers ...7 hours ago
- Have luxury cinemas gone too far?
In the age of boutique cinema experiences, Alex Casey pines for simpler times. My enduring memory of watching Alien: Romulus at the cinema is not of the creepy AI Ian Holm, nor of the hallway of facehuggers, but something much more chilling. In the opening scenes we drifted into the ...7 hours ago
- How to save the world with wonder
Sonya Wilson explains why wonder is at the heart of her novels Spark Hunter and The Secret Green. Last winter, about halfway up a small, damp slope in the Paradise Valley, I saw some steam rising from a lump of moss. I might’ve walked on past, brushing it off as ...7 hours ago
- NFIP activists, advocates to open nuclear-free Pacific exhibition
Asia Pacific Report Nuclear-free and independent Pacific advocates are treating Aucklanders to a lively week-long exhibition dedicated to the struggle for nuclear justice in the region. It will be opened today by the opposition Labour Party’s spokesperson on disarmament and MP for Te Atatu, Phil Twyford, and will include a ...8 hours ago - A new exhibition is a thoughtful examination of the lasting relationship between Asia and Australia
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Honorary Senior Fellow, School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne Jacky Cheng, Imaginary Homelands, 2025, installation view, The Neighbour at the Gate, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2025. Image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan ...18 hours ago
- Hendra virus has killed a horse in Queensland. Should we be worried?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vinod Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor (Molecular Virology), Monash University CJKPhoto/Getty The death of an unvaccinated horse from Hendra virus this week in southeast Queensland is the state’s first reported case in three years. Before that, Australia’s last case was in July ...20 hours ago
- The ACT wants dog owners to spend 3 hours a day with their pet. But quality, not quantity, matters m...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Photo by Anna Tarazevich/Pexels Authorities in the ACT have released draft regulations for the welfare of dogs. One inclusion getting attention is a guideline “requiring all dogs to ...20 hours ago
- Oranga Tamariki paying nearly $2m a year to communications staff
The revelations come from an Official Information Act response to questions raised by the Taxpayers Union lobby group. ...21 hours ago
- Guests at a feast in Iran’s Zagros Mountains 11,000 years ago brought wild boars from all across t...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Petra Vaiglova, Lecturer in Archaeological Science, Australian National University Kathryn Killackey Have you ever stopped by the grocery store on your way to a dinner party to grab a bottle of wine? Did you grab the first one you saw, or ...21 hours ago
- Lessons For New Zealand – The Arson Attack Of Melbourne Synagogue
...21 hours ago - Nurses vote to go on 24-hour strike, citing safe staffing concerns
Health NZ is offering a 3 percent pay rise over two years, plus two payments of $325. ...22 hours ago
- What is cannabis use disorder? And how do you know if you have a problem?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Dawson, PhD Candidate, School of Psychology and National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland Around 41% of Australians report they’ve used cannabis at some point in their life. Research estimates that 22% of recreational cannabis consumers ...22 hours ago
- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 11, 2025
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 11, 2025. ‘Storm clouds are gathering’: 40 years on from the bombing of the Rainbow WarriorFrom the prologue of the 40th anniversary edition of David Robie’s seminal book on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, former New ...22 hours ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending July 11
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House, $60) Still going strong. 2 ...22 hours ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Concrete’ by Jonny Mahon-Heap
A new poem by Jonny Mahon-Heap. Concrete I waited for the pain to shift. I had bad day bad day bad day bad day bad day bad day good day good day bad day bad day bad day bad day. I had birthdays. I held my breath for a long ...22 hours ago
- PSNA Condemns The NZ Govt’s Silence Over US Sanctions Against United Nations Special Rapporteu...
Albanese released a damning report identifying companies complicit in Israel’s mass killing and mass starvation of civilians in Gaza, provoking the US to sanction her. ...24 hours ago
- NZ Jewish Council And Holocaust Centre Of NZ Urge Govt Action Following Australia’s Landmark Antis...
Australia’s plan, announced by Prime Minister Albanese, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, and Special Envoy on Antisemitism Jillian Segal, introduces strong, decisive measures aimed at tackling anti-Jewish hate across multiple sectors of society. ...24 hours ago
- Dawn service held 40 years on from Rainbow Warrior bombing
TVNZ 1News The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior has sailed into Auckland to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior in 1985. Greenpeace’s vessel, which had been protesting nuclear testing in the Pacific, sank after French government agents planted explosives on its hull, killing Portuguese-Dutch photographer ...1 day ago
- What is the Strait of Hormuz and why is it so important for global shipping?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Clarence, Law Lecturer, RMIT University During the recent conflict between Iran and Israel, Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s major shipping routes. Would that be possible, and what effects would it have? The Strait of ...1 day ago
- Twenty years on, Outrageous Fortune remains as relevant as ever
Tara Ward reflects on an Outrageous week on The Spinoff. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. On 12 July, 2005, Outrageous Fortune burst onto our screens and transformed the landscape of New Zealand television. Created by Rachel Lang and James Griffin, the ...1 day ago
- Reviewers of legislation Treaty clauses expected to report back in months
The creation of the group has been led by Justice and Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. ...1 day ago
- We shouldn’t have to fight this hard to prove our mana in Tāmaki
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei deputy chair Ngarimu Blair reflects on a hard-fought Environment Court battle, and what the ruling on Westhaven Marina really means for tangata whenua. While there was major gratitude for the success of my iwi in the recent decision from the Environment Court regarding the Westhaven Marina, it ...1 day ago
- Rugby headgear can’t prevent concussion – but new materials could soften the blows over a career
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Draper, Professor of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Canterbury The widely held view among rugby players, coaches and officials is that headgear can’t prevent concussion. If so, why wear it? It’s hot, it can block vision and hearing, and it ...1 day ago
- Mental Health Worker Numbers Don’t Tell Full Story Of Service Under Stress And Strain
The Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey today said Health NZ payroll data showed total full-time staff employed in mental health growing by more than 9 per cent year on year between Quarter 3 in 2023 and Quarter 1 2025. ...1 day ago
- How do you follow up a Wellington icon like KC Cafe?
For owner and chef Michael Chan, the answer is Hei – the restaurant he always dreamed of opening. One of the many problems with modern TV cooking shows is the obsession with “elevating” food from non-Western cultures. You’ll recognise the kind of moment I mean: a contestant on Masterchef, My ...1 day ago
- Tāmaki Makaurau by-election throws up curious quirk of MMP
Analysis: Te Pāti Māori has two overhang seats. The Independent Electoral Review recommended abolishing overhang seats. The post Tāmaki Makaurau by-election throws up curious quirk of MMP appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Watch live: Focus turns to vaccines and mandates at Covid-19 Royal Commission
The hearings will include testimonies from mandated industries, nursing and midwifery sectors and researchers. ...1 day ago
- Trump has flagged 200% tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals. What do we produce here, and what’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joe Carrello, Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Tanya Dol/Shutterstock US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Australia’s pharmaceutical exports to the United States has raised alarm among industry and government leaders. There are fears that, if implemented, the tariffs could ...1 day ago
- ‘Fashion helped the pride come out’: First Nations fashion as resistance, culture and connection
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design and Society, University of Technology Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images of deceased people. First Nations garments have always held deep meaning. What we wear tells ...1 day ago
- The cost of being: A lawyer and solo mum paying off the mortgage as fast as possible
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a lawyer and mum of two explains where their money goes. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 41. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Lawyer. Salary/income/assets: Salary of ...1 day ago
- Does AI actually boost productivity? The evidence is murky
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Whittle, Director, Data61, CSIRO Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock There’s been much talk recently – especially among politicians – about productivity. And for good reason: Australia’s labour productivity growth sits at a 60-year low. To address this, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ...1 day ago
- Albanese’s China mission – managing a complex relationship in a world of shifting alliances
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Laurenceson, Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (UTS:ACRI), University of Technology Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves for China on Saturday, confident most Australians back the government’s handling of relations with our most important economic partner and the leading strategic power ...1 day ago
- NZ’s new AI strategy is long on ‘economic opportunity’ but short on managing ethical and socia...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Lensen, Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images The government’s newly unveiled National AI Strategy is all about what its title says: “Investing with Confidence”. It tells businesses that Aotearoa New Zealand ...1 day ago
- Will my private health insurance cover my surgery? What if my claim is rejected?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yuting Zhang, Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne shurkin_son/Shutterstock The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined Bupa A$35 million for unlawfully rejecting thousands of health insurance claims over more than five years. Between May 2018 and ...1 day ago
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