With regards the question “Will the All Blacks be the first team to defend a RWC title?” the obsessive-compulsive in me says no, the All Blacks will be the third team to defend a RWC title.
Australia defended its 1999 title in 2003, but lost to England, while England defended its 2003 title in 2007 but lost to South Africa. The other finals occasions have not included the winner from the previous tournament.
Will the All Blacks be the first team to ‘successfully’ defend a RWC title? – quite probably, but I’m not staying up to watch any awarding of cups, medals, or giving of dodgy three-way handshakes … there’s too high a risk of seeing more of the blossoming bro’mance between Key and McCaw
Heard today from some National supporters that there’s been a lot of work going in to convincing McCaw to run for office after he retires from the ABs.
-Probably still going to get up to watch the game though. I do enjoy my rugby.
Politicians are so narcissistic that they think everyone wants to be one. McCaw is bright enough and has the leadership skills to do whatever he wants in the world. Who knows, but I doubt prime minister of NZ is on his list. I suspect he regards Key’s affection the way the captain of the first XV regarded the admiration of the geeky kid in the 4th form – something he knows it would be rude to reject and which he just has to put up with.
After 14 years as an ab and probably the top paid one for at least half that he can probably do what ever takes his fancy. Coaching might be a on the list I would think.
“McCaw came to the attention of national selectors during a 5-all draw with Rotorua Boys’ High School in the 1998 New Zealand secondary schools rugby final in Christchurch. However, he failed to make the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team, losing out to Sam Harding, Angus McDonald and Hale T-Pole. With Sam Harding moving south to study at the University of Otago, McCaw headed to Christchurch’s Lincoln University to study agricultural science and pursue his rugby interests. He achieved all but two papers for his Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree before rugby became his life.“
Exactly Joe Bloggs. Key and McCaws’ antics have put me off New Zealand rugby for life. (although it’s probably not all McCaws’ fault and I hope I will recover once key has disappeared.)
Splitting infinitives was deemed an outrage by Victorian grammarians who wanted English to conform to Latin grammatical structure.
Personally, I split or don’t split infinitives on aesthetic/aural grounds.
McCaw’s scholastic history does not suggest that he is exceptionally intellectual though clearly he is no dullard. (He neither completed his undergraduate degree nor went on to postgraduate study.)
Rugby was obviously a greater allure than was exploration of the fields of knowledge and philosophical or scientific enquiry – which is not at all a criticism.
Being passionate about thinking and enquiring into the nature of the world is not everyone’s cup of tea.
That is a bit unfair — McCaw was proxime accessit (second to the dux) at high school, and gain consistently high marks at school. He only gave up on uni because of his rugby.
Yes a back to back win between 5 – 10 points. The ABs have so much to play for, they have never met Australia in a rugby cup final, both NZ and Australia have won twice and previously mentioned NZ are the current holders of the cup.
Last weekend I got up 2 minutes before the start of the second half when the score was 12 SA and & 7 NZ, what a second half it was; Carter’s drop goal gave the game to NZ.
I’m sorry, but can I frame it another way…
World number one in Domestic violence nation against number one gang rape nation , (at least that was true though out the twentieth century) .Not looking forward to the end result, but on a selfish level , out of our faces for awhile.
No, was I so post to be, played football, all sorts of sport, thats called participation, no supporter of this muck sucking up most of the sponsorship money about, and I think they are failing grassroots rugby I would add, like some other sports here an in Australia, they add a sort of twisted bullying nature to politics.
I enjoyed your wee rant. I expect there is going to be a bit of ranting if NZ lose, bulging eye balls, griting teeth etc. Any win against Aussie is always the best.
He wasn’t too far out, was he?
He predicted a 15 point margin and it was in fact 17.
I didn’t think it would have been that much and if I had been willing to bet on it I would have picked the ABs by about 5.
âŠ.part of me wants the All Blacks to lose,so I don’t have to watch Key dribble all the celebrationâŠ..with his sycophantic”me toâŠme to” lackeydom and his grovelling fourth form boys toadyismâŠâŠâŠ..oh godâŠ..go Australia!!!!!
Some cardiologist on TV yesterday reckons the rate of heart attacks double or triple within a few days of the ABs losing. Coleman won’t want extra hospital admissions.
Do you think key has had a path already cleared so he can scuttle down to the sheds after the game, before the AB’s can get there, so he can nab the seat next to Richie’s and be there waiting with his stubby in hand?
I don’t think SA liked the slippery ball last week. Could you imagine brylcreem on the ball, penalty after penalty and nothing going over the goal post.
What a dreadful thought.
It is probably lucky that we don’t have a Dennis Compton clone in the team.
I wonder if he rubbed his hands through his hair before polishing the ball when he was playing for England?
I actually hope the All Black’s put the game beyond doubt, with 10 minutes to go. Already found the semi-final stressful enough LOL. (Although I think the AB’s will win 20-10.) Also, with the Rugby League/Cricket/Netball world Cups, already across the ditch, I think the Aussies have enough silverware.
The AB’s to win — they seem to be unstoppable, and have come together as a unit. There were some concerns early on, but their performance against France (a thrashing), and SA (hanging on in a tight match) have led me to the conclusion that they are firing on all cylinders.
Whatever your opinion of McCaw, he is a legend of the game — he first played in 2001,and has racked up over 100 tests, over 14 years.
And there has been a lot of stuff said about Sonny Bill Williams, but playing in world cup finals for both union, and league (and even representing your nation both those codes) is a tremendous achievement.
Though, If we do lose, I hope we all remember that its not the end of the world, and the sun will still rise tomorrow.
I agree – Nonu’s try was just brilliant! This is an exceptional All Black team, with a few ready to bow out now. They have earned this moment of glory.
This is the same Pocock whom disagreed with coal-mining in a NSW forest-and chained himself to one of their diggers-and would refuse to marry his partner until same-sex marriage was legal in Australia
Can’t they ever give it a break over there in Perth, the reincarnation of the 1950s?
The season has been over for a month and they still haven’t anything else to talk about? Even in Melbourne they give the AFL a break from about a week after the Grand Final until the end of the Spring Racing Carnival in mid-November.
I guess in Perth there is nothing else that ever happens.
I just loved the piling on of points in the last quarter from 4 ahead, then 7, then 10, then 17.
McCaw has now played 148 tests, there are at least two more tests in him. Ma’a’s try was a blast.
Congratulations to the team on a historic win, first time for a team to make it 3 wins and both Australia and NZ entered the final as being unbeaten in the tournament.
Great game and congratulations on the team’s hard work. My only grouch is our rugby commentators over here, when I have watched games with Welsh, English, Scots etc commentators they are calm, measured, usually only one voice sparely giving an account of the game with an occasional comment by a second commentator. They just know when to shut up. A pleasure to listen to as it doesn’t grate and get in the way of concentrating on the game. Always here in NZ the two commentators keep up a running conversation on the game together and it grates on the nerves with them testing each other’s opinions – who cares – why can’t they just shut up occasionally. I end up with the sound turned off and can see and get everything from the game without their input quite nicely thank you. The All Black’s deserve better.
I’ve really enjoyed the ITV commentary and analysis which we received here in the Middle East – as you say calm, measured and non-intrusive to enjoying the spectacle. The biggest issue I have with the NZ commentary is Justin Marshall – sometimes he says things that make me wonder if he had even played the game at all – let alone at the highest level!
…As well as the first team to win three World Cups (the most by any other rugby nation). Also, it’s the first time that the All Blacks had won a World Cup away from home.
Is it called a hat trick if you win three in a row? (I realise the third win cannot happen until 2019). I know that I sound like a Nat on election night.
I assume that they don’t have the rule they used to have in the FIFA World Cup.
When Brazil won for the third time in 1970 they got to keep the trophy.
Congratulations ABs, who played strong and played well. A well deserved win đ
Commiserations Wallabies. Excellent work for getting up there into the finals to play off the ABs.
Also well done the other rugby teams whose contribution made this event possible.
Leave the politics aside for today and allow the boys to enjoy their glory, without hindrance. Hopefully a politician or two, or three will respectfully do the same.
John Key had to go down to the Police office at the stadium I understand.
Some balding little fellow in glasses tried to get on the pitch and take a selfie with McCaw. He got flattened by a tiny little policewoman though.
The pitch invader tried to claim he knew McCaw but Richie said he had no idea who he was. They asked Key to go down and identify the chap as being little Andie and to explain that, although he was delusional, he was actually harmless.
Superb stuff. Well played Australia but what a super All Black performance. I bet Ben Smith will cop a few fines though in the kangaroo court later on!
Watched the ITV coverage beamed through here in the Middle East – great commentary and after match analysis (Sean Fitzpatrick, Johnny Wilkinson & Michael Lynagh).
Nothing like an Otago pub to re-understand the religious force Rugby opens up. Great screaming and cheering. Pity the only dark beer was Guiness!
I would wish all the retirees well, but especially Richie great success in his future life. Huge and humble service to this country for a decade and more.
Unless he chooses politics. Then he’ll see what a contact sport looks like.
Back to back WC’s is a unique achievement so well done AB’s, Hansen etc.
I hope the NZRU has a good look at youth and grassroots (provinces) as we don’t seem to have the ritchies/dans/kevins coming through in enough numbers imo as not all make it to the very top.
Only 3% of all german youth academy attendees make it as a pro so you need the raw material and plenty of it to keep the top level supreme.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that MÄori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the MÄori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be âbigger than politics.â True, but the fine words, apologies and âwe hear youâ messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week â as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Governmentâs powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. Iâm talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at RÄtana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
Thereâs been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the childrenâs playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the âbotched mergerâ of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic partyâs primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housingâs ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Ministerâs metaphor of âflooding the marketâ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is Americaâs un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is Americaâs Octavian, the Republicâs youthful undertaker â and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMPâS SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the âilliberalâ prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi MÄori rallied against the Crownâs attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hÄ«koi of a generation and the birth of Te PÄti MÄori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Governmentâs move to dilute child poverty targets is a reminder that it is actively choosing to preserve hardship for thousands of households. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israelâs illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinianâs have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinianâs who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israelâs occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Governmentâs disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whÄnau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they canât escape on ...
Te PÄti MÄori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. âThis announcement is just another example of the governmentâs anti-Tiriti, anti-MÄori agenda.â Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. âSeymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
Nationalâs Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now itâs been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didnât declare and said wasnât pre-arranged. ...
Te PÄti MÄori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. âReinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of MÄori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. âThis legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whÄnau out onto the street for no reasonâ said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âTheir solution to the housing ...
âNationalâs campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,â Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
âThere are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,â Jan Tinetti said. ...
âThis government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this governmentâs agenda and the future of our mokopuna,â said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
âTodayâs climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,â Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how theyâre taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. âThe Abuse in Care Inquiryâs report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faithâbased institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Governmentâs online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. âIt is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
TÄnÄ tÄtou katoa, NgÄ mihi te rangi, ngÄ mihi te whenua, ngÄ mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealandâs payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. âThe Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre â Te PokapĆ« WÄina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. âThe research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âRegions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesiaâs Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIndonesia is important to New Zealandâs security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,â says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kĆrero, he kĆrero, he kĆrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of NgÄti Maniapoto, Minister for MÄori Development Tama Potaka says. âMy thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust â NgÄti Maniapoto for bringing their important kĆrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.âI have received Ms Fredricâs resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,â Mr Brown says.âOn behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliamentâs test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âSection 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are âdangerous changesâ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. âIssues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. âThe level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations Iâve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatƫ rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawkeâs Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. Itâs the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care âWhanaketia â through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,â was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry âWhanaketia â through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. âTax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. âIt includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. âCompetitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. âUnder current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and WhangÄrei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âFor too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIt is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,â Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. âI am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. âASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,â Mr Peters says. âThis will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. âThis $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,â Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. âThis support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealandâs commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. âCabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. âThe previous governmentâs botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. âNew Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. âAttending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,â Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the regionâs fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministersâ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Governmentâs plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. âOn the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.âIncreasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. âNew Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,â Mr Peters says. âWe are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, itâs a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealandâs foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kÄkÄ shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro â winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 â died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Wattsâ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Governmentâs emissions reduction plan. Now Iâve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayersâ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. âThey didnât explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still havenât. Thereâs no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character sheâd like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. âIf the phone rings, I have to answer it,â Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of PĆneke writer Flora Feltham.In âThe Raw Materialâ, the longest essay in Flora Felthamâs dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. âPounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the bandâs perfect weekend and new release. âGood speakers, good food, good music, no distractionsâ: thatâs all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Prettiesâ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this yearâs showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing â a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babuâs humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field â especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the âteal waveâ into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the worldâs most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman â specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Googleâs parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the cityâs eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, itâs predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Ă kerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether youâd have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out whatâs next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because itâs not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te RĆ«nanga Nui o NgÄ Kura Kaupapa MÄori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa MÄori ...
If you havenât started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. Thereâs the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my motherâs furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The governmentâs announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old MÄori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,â Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkinsâ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any MÄori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among MÄori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this weekâs mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its âget tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing â the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the bodyâs immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are youâll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshullâs anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the warâs early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing itâs not is âjust a headacheâ. âMigraineâ comes from the Greek word âhemicraniaâ, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earthâs land area â particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. Youâd barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capitalâs last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the countryâs effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealandâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we donât yet know what the legacy of this yearâs games will be, letâs take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in todayâs extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
Itâs the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurchâs St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
With regards the question “Will the All Blacks be the first team to defend a RWC title?” the obsessive-compulsive in me says no, the All Blacks will be the third team to defend a RWC title.
Australia defended its 1999 title in 2003, but lost to England, while England defended its 2003 title in 2007 but lost to South Africa. The other finals occasions have not included the winner from the previous tournament.
Will the All Blacks be the first team to ‘successfully’ defend a RWC title? – quite probably, but I’m not staying up to watch any awarding of cups, medals, or giving of dodgy three-way handshakes … there’s too high a risk of seeing more of the blossoming bro’mance between Key and McCaw
Heard today from some National supporters that there’s been a lot of work going in to convincing McCaw to run for office after he retires from the ABs.
-Probably still going to get up to watch the game though. I do enjoy my rugby.
Might be why he is not keen on a knighthood.
A good way for him to destroy his popularity.
I would think that R McCaw has , as he always had, very high aspirations in whatever he does in life.
However, what makes Key think Politics would suit McCaw ?
Politicians are about as low in the scrap heap as anyone can go and is full of lying, cheating low life.
And I would think Ritchie well knows that.
J Key, do not bring a great man down to your level, you weasel.
Politicians are so narcissistic that they think everyone wants to be one. McCaw is bright enough and has the leadership skills to do whatever he wants in the world. Who knows, but I doubt prime minister of NZ is on his list. I suspect he regards Key’s affection the way the captain of the first XV regarded the admiration of the geeky kid in the 4th form – something he knows it would be rude to reject and which he just has to put up with.
Yes I think you are probably right Matthew – at least I would hope you are. I would be very disappointed if your assessment was not the case.
Nearly all attempts by high profile rugby players to stand for public office have ended in failure — Laidlaw, Thorne to name a few.
I am picking that that McCaw will probably find his home in the corporate word — which has seen ex-AB’s prosper.
After 14 years as an ab and probably the top paid one for at least half that he can probably do what ever takes his fancy. Coaching might be a on the list I would think.
Doesn’t McCaw have a law degree or something? He might want a break from the rugby world… hopefully he joins Greenpeace đ
Something to do with agriculture from Lincoln I think.
From Wikipedia:
“McCaw came to the attention of national selectors during a 5-all draw with Rotorua Boys’ High School in the 1998 New Zealand secondary schools rugby final in Christchurch. However, he failed to make the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team, losing out to Sam Harding, Angus McDonald and Hale T-Pole. With Sam Harding moving south to study at the University of Otago, McCaw headed to Christchurch’s Lincoln University to study agricultural science and pursue his rugby interests. He achieved all but two papers for his Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree before rugby became his life.“
MCCaw ended up working with soil.
Exactly Joe Bloggs. Key and McCaws’ antics have put me off New Zealand rugby for life. (although it’s probably not all McCaws’ fault and I hope I will recover once key has disappeared.)
Shouldn’t that be, “Will the All Blacks be the first team to defend a RWC title ‘successfully'”? đ
Yes. Good spotting. “To successfully defend” is a grammatical outrage that Richie would never commit (although Key would).
Splitting infinitives was deemed an outrage by Victorian grammarians who wanted English to conform to Latin grammatical structure.
Personally, I split or don’t split infinitives on aesthetic/aural grounds.
McCaw’s scholastic history does not suggest that he is exceptionally intellectual though clearly he is no dullard. (He neither completed his undergraduate degree nor went on to postgraduate study.)
Rugby was obviously a greater allure than was exploration of the fields of knowledge and philosophical or scientific enquiry – which is not at all a criticism.
Being passionate about thinking and enquiring into the nature of the world is not everyone’s cup of tea.
That is a bit unfair — McCaw was proxime accessit (second to the dux) at high school, and gain consistently high marks at school. He only gave up on uni because of his rugby.
Arts degree, waste of money,
I find cutting them quite funny.
We need Kiwis to be thicker!
Who needs thinkers when we have a kicker!
âJK love poetry, Twitter
Whatever your opinion of Victorian grammarians, pedants deserve to be held to a more annoying standard than the rest of the population.
Yes a back to back win between 5 – 10 points. The ABs have so much to play for, they have never met Australia in a rugby cup final, both NZ and Australia have won twice and previously mentioned NZ are the current holders of the cup.
Last weekend I got up 2 minutes before the start of the second half when the score was 12 SA and & 7 NZ, what a second half it was; Carter’s drop goal gave the game to NZ.
I’m sorry, but can I frame it another way…
World number one in Domestic violence nation against number one gang rape nation , (at least that was true though out the twentieth century) .Not looking forward to the end result, but on a selfish level , out of our faces for awhile.
So you’re not a rugby fan!
No, was I so post to be, played football, all sorts of sport, thats called participation, no supporter of this muck sucking up most of the sponsorship money about, and I think they are failing grassroots rugby I would add, like some other sports here an in Australia, they add a sort of twisted bullying nature to politics.
I don’t like the corruption of betting in cricket, no doubt some corruption of betting occurs in many other sports.
Rugby has changed over the years, big play pay packets and sponsorship deals.
Your view is as valid as anyone elses.
I should add that I wasn’t getting at you, just a wee rant. please enjoy.
I enjoyed your wee rant. I expect there is going to be a bit of ranting if NZ lose, bulging eye balls, griting teeth etc. Any win against Aussie is always the best.
This is an interesting outsider look at this game by American National Public Radio. It really is the biggest rugby match in history. Even people who aren’t sports or rugby fans might get something out of watching such a spectacle. You don’t have to be a football fan or know anything about it to enjoy watching a FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Italy.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/30/453287933/the-rugby-world-cup-final-is-saturday-and-its-going-to-be-a-doozy
Interesting link, and here’s the follow-up from NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/31/453462384/new-zealand-wins-rugby-world-cup
Key has already been published as predicting a win to the ab’s 27-12 I believe. Key curse will guarantee a loss. Hope I’m wrong. But not really.
He wasn’t too far out, was he?
He predicted a 15 point margin and it was in fact 17.
I didn’t think it would have been that much and if I had been willing to bet on it I would have picked the ABs by about 5.
âŠ.part of me wants the All Blacks to lose,so I don’t have to watch Key dribble all the celebrationâŠ..with his sycophantic”me toâŠme to” lackeydom and his grovelling fourth form boys toadyismâŠâŠâŠ..oh godâŠ..go Australia!!!!!
Some cardiologist on TV yesterday reckons the rate of heart attacks double or triple within a few days of the ABs losing. Coleman won’t want extra hospital admissions.
Correction the increased rate of heart attacks is 50% – 100% when the ABs lose.
Do you think key has had a path already cleared so he can scuttle down to the sheds after the game, before the AB’s can get there, so he can nab the seat next to Richie’s and be there waiting with his stubby in hand?
His minders are setting up the cones and brightly coloured tapes as we speak.
I reckon Key has a plan to pinch the seat of the CEO of World Rugby and be centre stage at the cup presentation ceremony.
Key will also hand out a bunch of shiny medals with his face on both sides. (they will look good on TV but in reality they are cheap plastic)
AB’s by 13 and over….pile it on like brylcreem.
I don’t think SA liked the slippery ball last week. Could you imagine brylcreem on the ball, penalty after penalty and nothing going over the goal post.
What a dreadful thought.
It is probably lucky that we don’t have a Dennis Compton clone in the team.
I wonder if he rubbed his hands through his hair before polishing the ball when he was playing for England?
I actually hope the All Black’s put the game beyond doubt, with 10 minutes to go. Already found the semi-final stressful enough LOL. (Although I think the AB’s will win 20-10.) Also, with the Rugby League/Cricket/Netball world Cups, already across the ditch, I think the Aussies have enough silverware.
Its good of prime to put it on for us non sky customers.
Looking forward to good match
The AB’s to win — they seem to be unstoppable, and have come together as a unit. There were some concerns early on, but their performance against France (a thrashing), and SA (hanging on in a tight match) have led me to the conclusion that they are firing on all cylinders.
Whatever your opinion of McCaw, he is a legend of the game — he first played in 2001,and has racked up over 100 tests, over 14 years.
And there has been a lot of stuff said about Sonny Bill Williams, but playing in world cup finals for both union, and league (and even representing your nation both those codes) is a tremendous achievement.
Though, If we do lose, I hope we all remember that its not the end of the world, and the sun will still rise tomorrow.
I find your last sentence implausible in several ways đ
Lucky that it doesn’t need to be tested đ
Well done All Blacks and hard luck Australia – coach and team have moved mountains in the last 6 months, but not this one.
Player of the tournament for me – Nonu. Magnificent final try and sadly the end of a mid-field era with he and Smith moving on.
I agree – Nonu’s try was just brilliant! This is an exceptional All Black team, with a few ready to bow out now. They have earned this moment of glory.
Good to see David Pocock say global warming worries him more than the All Blacks. Sorry can’t post the link but its at The Mirror. Worth reading.
This is the same Pocock whom disagreed with coal-mining in a NSW forest-and chained himself to one of their diggers-and would refuse to marry his partner until same-sex marriage was legal in Australia
Yep, be good if we had an All Black one of those. It might be the best shot at getting good progressive change in this country.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/oct/30/australia-flanker-david-pocock-sport-politics
My favourite rugby player. Puts McCaw, Nonu and Dagg, the latter two who tweeted support for JK on election day to shame.
In my mind the true winner and hero of the world cup…………David Pocock.
The closest we had was possibly before your era.
Graham Mourie. A very good player. Pity he was a bloody awful coach for the Hurricanes later on.
GeezI hope the Wallabies win! Am in Perth tonight- so it’s its more Dockers v’s Eagles. Pocock could be the deciding factor.
Can’t they ever give it a break over there in Perth, the reincarnation of the 1950s?
The season has been over for a month and they still haven’t anything else to talk about? Even in Melbourne they give the AFL a break from about a week after the Grand Final until the end of the Spring Racing Carnival in mid-November.
I guess in Perth there is nothing else that ever happens.
Awesome try right on half time!
Bigger score than I expected.
Great finish!
Great game and well done All Blacks. I imagine that John Key is now sprinting towards the All Black dressing room with his camera ready to go …
FFS, let it go and enjoy the moment. Plenty of time over the ensuing weeks to critique every photo and comment made by Key & Co.
Best quote from the commentary team after the match when discussing Key arriving in the dressing room – “just as well Richie doesn’t have a ponytail”.
You are obsesseed
If there was an election this month then whoever the incumbent happened to be would win
That second half… nail biting there for a second
Yeah Aussie were looking good ’til they dropped the ball đ
thank god team Key got us over the line…again.Thanks John.
I just loved the piling on of points in the last quarter from 4 ahead, then 7, then 10, then 17.
McCaw has now played 148 tests, there are at least two more tests in him. Ma’a’s try was a blast.
Congratulations to the team on a historic win, first time for a team to make it 3 wins and both Australia and NZ entered the final as being unbeaten in the tournament.
First team to win two in a row.
Great game and congratulations on the team’s hard work. My only grouch is our rugby commentators over here, when I have watched games with Welsh, English, Scots etc commentators they are calm, measured, usually only one voice sparely giving an account of the game with an occasional comment by a second commentator. They just know when to shut up. A pleasure to listen to as it doesn’t grate and get in the way of concentrating on the game. Always here in NZ the two commentators keep up a running conversation on the game together and it grates on the nerves with them testing each other’s opinions – who cares – why can’t they just shut up occasionally. I end up with the sound turned off and can see and get everything from the game without their input quite nicely thank you. The All Black’s deserve better.
I’ve really enjoyed the ITV commentary and analysis which we received here in the Middle East – as you say calm, measured and non-intrusive to enjoying the spectacle. The biggest issue I have with the NZ commentary is Justin Marshall – sometimes he says things that make me wonder if he had even played the game at all – let alone at the highest level!
…As well as the first team to win three World Cups (the most by any other rugby nation). Also, it’s the first time that the All Blacks had won a World Cup away from home.
Is it called a hat trick if you win three in a row? (I realise the third win cannot happen until 2019). I know that I sound like a Nat on election night.
I assume that they don’t have the rule they used to have in the FIFA World Cup.
When Brazil won for the third time in 1970 they got to keep the trophy.
For all the grouching and bad history between progressives and the conservative rugby hierarchy – you have to acknowledge excellence when you see it.
This impressive team can teach us all something about contemporary leadership, and a commitment to mastery.
Congratulations ABs, who played strong and played well. A well deserved win đ
Commiserations Wallabies. Excellent work for getting up there into the finals to play off the ABs.
Also well done the other rugby teams whose contribution made this event possible.
Leave the politics aside for today and allow the boys to enjoy their glory, without hindrance. Hopefully a politician or two, or three will respectfully do the same.
Quite disappointed. Expected Key to be on the dais but he wasn’t. Left all looking bereft and flat. Really took the shine off the whole Cup. Sigh.
John Key had to go down to the Police office at the stadium I understand.
Some balding little fellow in glasses tried to get on the pitch and take a selfie with McCaw. He got flattened by a tiny little policewoman though.
The pitch invader tried to claim he knew McCaw but Richie said he had no idea who he was. They asked Key to go down and identify the chap as being little Andie and to explain that, although he was delusional, he was actually harmless.
Superb stuff. Well played Australia but what a super All Black performance. I bet Ben Smith will cop a few fines though in the kangaroo court later on!
Watched the ITV coverage beamed through here in the Middle East – great commentary and after match analysis (Sean Fitzpatrick, Johnny Wilkinson & Michael Lynagh).
There was certainly a gap in the backline defence when B Smith was yellow carded on the bench and he knew it.
Nothing like an Otago pub to re-understand the religious force Rugby opens up. Great screaming and cheering. Pity the only dark beer was Guiness!
I would wish all the retirees well, but especially Richie great success in his future life. Huge and humble service to this country for a decade and more.
Unless he chooses politics. Then he’ll see what a contact sport looks like.
Back to back WC’s is a unique achievement so well done AB’s, Hansen etc.
I hope the NZRU has a good look at youth and grassroots (provinces) as we don’t seem to have the ritchies/dans/kevins coming through in enough numbers imo as not all make it to the very top.
Only 3% of all german youth academy attendees make it as a pro so you need the raw material and plenty of it to keep the top level supreme.