@weka - My tertiary education wasn't free for NZ taxpayers, but it was practically free for me, and I became a taxpayer in due course. @Traveller - Yes, life is hard, for some, and learning the hard way is all some people understand. Commodification of ...
This is the weird country we have become. Yes - a backlash led by (fee-paying) students, i.e. Victoria Uni stakeholders - what has become of our notionally independent tertiary education institutions? Will free speech stop the rot in universities, and ...
Our opinions all have a degree of bias, Drowsy. "That's very shrewd." Interesting BE headline - is our (present) era (or the people in it) unusually angry, and if so, then why? What does Bryce think? And where to from here for anger? Time and the cost of ...
But the post wasn't about the pandemic. Fair enough; my comment @6 was addressing a part of the post (as quoted) that seemed to draw on "the pandemic" and "vaccination" against COVID-19. And the final point of the post - the importance of welcoming ...
Both Clark and Key made decent PM's. Depends how you define 'decent' - my biased pick is Ardern over DP Key. From stardust to an empty tank: one-of-a-kind leader Jacinda Ardern knew her time was up [19 Jan 2023] Over the next six years, her leadership was...
Apparently yes. The entire liberal left "apparently" believes ostracism promotes progressive values? That's a narrow characterisation, ane a tight straitjacket, imho. which people? Those who have different views from you? Trying to shift agreeable views ...
Another day another anecdote. Love anecdotes - so entertaining; healing even - laughter is the best medicine. Keep 'em coming. The ones about John 'tax haven' Key's legacy were hysterical. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Politics https://www....
My question is this: why do the liberal left believe that ostracising those people will lead to more people adopting progressive values and voting in progressive governments? Do "the liberal left" believe that? Maybe some do, but it's been my observation ...
Re Lux and Lee - "This is how I roll" - painful(ly).
We saw this [losing the ethic of ‘working for the good of all’ and replacing it with something fearful, reactionary and polarised] in the pandemic, a time when the left’s authoritarianism spiked around ideas like, vaccination should be mandatory (...
I met a former Air NZ flight attendant recently. She told me how their conditions were cut to the point that she had to pay for her own tickets to Auckland to work on international flights. On a return trip to Wellington she was told she'd be sitting next...
Journalism's loss was Parliament's gain? Or something like that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Lee#Early_life_and_career
I really hope this doesn’t signal more government intervention in media. Wouldn't worry if I were you, but I'd like to see our CoC govt support Aotearoa's media sector - news/journalism in particular, as these seem a bit anaemic at the moment. Tbf, Luxon ...
Same, on laptops/desktops.
... lives for money – and I’m appalled by that.” “Retrograde policy...
... lives for money – and I’m appalled by that.” https://www...
“Please, M’Lud, a crust of bread ... lives for money – and I’m appalled by that.” Hmm, trading...
Pansy Wong has not been an MP since 2011. Owing to a spot of bother in 2010, our 1st Asian cabinet minister was replaced in the 2011 Botany by-election by Jami-Lee Ross, who in turn generated his own spot of bother and was replaced by Luxon. I'm not sure ...
Do all those Chinese women look the same to you? "All those Chinese women" being Wong and Lee? Honestly couldn't say - more interested in actions, and lack thereof. Stuff's Tova O'Brien said it had been a month and a half since the prime minister asked ...
It’s a time for choosing [23 Oct 2023] The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza requires each of us to make a choice. Which leads me, finally, to the choice the mostly unrepentant keyboard cavalry who are happily saddling up once more – in ...
Pansy - sorry, wong National party minister - hope Lee is listening.
"It is vital the new organisation be independent of government. Any legislation should be free from the kind of instructions the previous Government loaded into its otherwise sensible and still-needed Public Interest Journalism policy." Agreed re the PIJF...
Actually unbelievable, actually - peak Luxon. "It's pretty intuitive, pretty natural."
Might inconvenient courts/commissions be fast-tracked for 'fixing'? Time will tell. Aotearoa is small, with poverty aplenty. Trust 'our' CoC govt to be fair? That's a joke
Done - the venal architects of 'fast-track' are bent on short-sighted shortcuts, and shortcuts + 'fast-track' 'fast-buck' is a sad scam. Can't trust 'em, but I put it more gently.
Cuts to science and environment funding will hinder NZ’s climate response – scientists [15 April 2024] New Zealander of the Year Jim Salinger says government cuts to science funding will put Aotearoa even further behind other countries in terms of ...
That we are becoming a nation of renters. Your own data confirms that. Agreed, but characterising NZ as "a follower not a leader" in such a trend seems inconsistent with our current 9th place - wouldn't it be more accurate to say NZ is in the vanguard of ...
The poll sugar hit National will get in May's budget will ensure they repeat this killoff in 2925. The effects of a (mother of all / black) budget can linger long, but 2925?!! Just imagine... https://www.amazon.com.au/World-2050-Think-About-Future/dp/...
The cartoon is clever but inaccurate. I see you've cleverly avoided commenting on my questions. Maybe the cartoon is about more than just landLord properties - yep, as far as I can tell landLords don't even get a mention. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/...
Anne Salmond: NZ is a democracy, not a company [11 April 2024] Opinion: How the weakening or avoiding of parliamentary and external checks and balances on executive power risks NZ becoming more authoritarian If a Prime Minister thinks of himself as a CEO,...
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