Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi …
Written By:
- Date published:
7:30 am, February 17th, 2021 - 144 comments
Categories: Andrew Little, australian politics, jacinda ardern, scoundrels -
Tags:
Some international news yesterday as Jacinda Ardern chose to use decidedly undiplomatic speech to address Australia’s removal of its citizenship from a Jihadi bride leaving her as New Zealand’s problem, even though her link to New Zealand was tenuous and she was for all intents and purposes Australia’s problem. And even though Ardern had previously asked Scomo to be careful with the issue.
From Radio New Zealand:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has lashed out at Australia for dumping responsibility for a woman and two young children detained at the Turkish border on New Zealand.
The 26-year-old detainee – described by the Turkish government as an Islamic State terrorist – was caught trying to enter Turkey illegally from Syria.
Ardern said the woman, who had dual citizenship, left for Australia when she was six and travelled to Syria from Australia on an Australian passport.
Ardern said she directly raised the matter with the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and asked that they work together to resolve the issue.
“I was then informed in the following year that Australia had unilaterally revoked the citizenship of the individual involved. You can imagine my response.
“Since then we have continually raised with Australia our view that their decision was wrong, we continue to raise that view.
“My concern however, now, is that we have a situation where someone is now detained with two small children,” she said.
Legally the woman’s citizenship now only lies with New Zealand.
“I never believed that the right response was to simply have a race to revoke people’s citizenship, that is just not the right thing to do.”
We will put our hands up when we need to own the situation. We expected the same of Australia, they did not act in good faith.”
“If the shoe was on the other foot we would take responsibility, that would be the right thing to do, and I ask of Australia that they do the same,” she said.
She said New Zealand officials would be working to do welfare checks of those involved, and would be engaging with Turkish authorities.
“Regardless of their circumstances, regardless of whether have committed offences and particularly we have obligations when they have children involved.
“I would argue Australia holds those obligations too.”
There are some pretty fundamental human rights at stake. Just check the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights if you need proof. Protected rights include this one:
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
And these two:
Everyone has the right to a nationality …
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Of course Australia has not been the best at recognizing international human rights and respecting the rights of an individual. Just read any of the Standard posts about Peter Dutton to realize this is another example of weaponised brutality for political advantage.
And Australia’s immigration policies and practiced cruelty has caused problems for the relationship with New Zealand in the past. It was just 12 months ago when Ardern told Morrison that Australia should not deport to New Zealand its people and its problems.
A couple of years ago Andrew Little also stood up to them. This is what I wrote at the time:
The Australians are upset with Andrew Little and are throwing Donald Trump type tantrums to show their displeasure.
What has he done to attract their displeasure? He accused the Australian Government of having a deportation policy with what appears to have a venal, political strain.
The policy relates to a 2014 law change which increased the Minister of Immigration’s powers to cancel the visas of Kiwis, including those who have lived in Australia for extended periods of time who are deemed to be not of “good character”.
The change of policy has meant that many kiwis have been thrown into custody, separated from family and removed to a country they may not have any links with.
The cases are numerous but include a 17 year old held in an adult detention centre for non violent offending in breach of International Treaties protecting young people, as well as the case of Ko Hapua and Lee Tepuia, both who were deported because they belonged to motorcycle gangs that were not actually illegal.
Tepuia’s case in particular is jaw dropping. He had lived in Australia since 2005 and his youngest daughter was an Australian. His forcible removal from his wife and four children has had a devastating effect on him.
And he kept winning in Court yet despite this Dutton kept cancelling his visa and not telling him why.
When you also consider the appalling treatment that refugees have been subject to in Nauru you get an overwhelming feeling that people are being harassed and humiliated by Dutton and Co for political gain.
And there was this earlier attempt to implement the power to remove an Australian’s citizenship even if it was the only citizenship that they had. I wrote this in 2016:
In Tony Abbott’s Australia there was a recent attempt to attack a fundamental human right, that of citizenship by granting the Minister of Immigration the right to withdraw an individual’s Australian citizenship, even if it was the only citizenship the individual had.
It was a covert attempt from within Abbott’s cabinet and was quickly shut down by others with a proper comprehension of the importance of citizenship and human rights.
It was not a general power, it was to be applied only against those suspected of terrorism related offences. But the fact that it was even considered, and the leaking of transcripts of what was said in Cabinet, suggests that Abbott’s tenure as Prime Minister may again be on the ropes.
The proposal was raised by Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton. Remarkably there was no policy paper to present and senior members of Cabinet including the Deputy Prime Minister were not aware that the idea was being proposed before it occurred. It was brought up at the end of a cabinet meeting with no paperwork.
The Sydney Morning Herald ran this story which included these remarkable quotes from within the cabinet meeting in question:
Malcolm Turnbull attacked the measure:
This is an extraordinary proposition … [a] person’s citizenship is of enormous importance, intrinsic to themselves. Take me. The only people who’ve lived in Australia longer than my family are Aboriginal. I have no other identity. Are we seriously saying some minister could take my citizenship?
Only if you’re a terrorist, was the rejoinder. “Only if you are someone the minister thinks is a terrorist,” Turnbull corrected.
You know that things are particularly freaking weird when Barnaby Joyce opposes something ultra conservative. But that is what happened in this case.
It is not only the screaming egregious breach of human rights that is what is wrong here. It is also the trashing of New Zealand Australian diplomatic relations while engaging in egregious breaches of human rights that is the kicker.
National is backing Australia’s view. I am pretty sure that if Judith Collins was in control the Jihadi’s bride’s kiwi citizenship would be taken off her. The consequences to her two young children are irrelevant.
We should not be surprised. Australia’s handling of the rights of kiwis who have spent the vast majority of their lives in Australia and who have been treated with contempt has caused significant damage to the Aotearoa Australia relationship. This particular incident is the cherry on the top.
144 comments on “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi … ”
- Comments are now closed
- Comments are now closed
CommentsOpinions
Recent Comments
FeedsPartyGovtMedia
- Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...9 hours ago - As Our Power Lessens: Published
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...13 hours ago - By Any Other Name.
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...18 hours ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...20 hours ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...24 hours ago - 2024 OIA stats
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...2 days ago - Climate Change: A perverse incentive
The government published its first Biennial Transparency Report under the Paris Agreement yesterday, and the media has correctly noted that it is missing any plan to actually meet our target. While it hypes domestic emissions reductions so far - which have been good, but will likely get worse thanks to ...2 days ago
- Economic Bulletin December 2024
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...2 days ago - NZCTU make submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...2 days ago
- ZB’s Power Couple
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...2 days ago - Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...2 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 20-December-2024
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...2 days ago - The Hoon around the year to December 20, 2024
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...2 days ago
- The baby-boomers’ last gasp
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...2 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...2 days ago
- Join us at 5pm for 2024’s last Hoon
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...3 days ago - Christmas Gifts: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...3 days ago
- GDP Figures No Christmas Present for New Zealand
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...3 days ago
- Cheeseburgers and Stunt Monkeys
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...3 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...3 days ago
- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...3 days ago - Back on Track
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...3 days ago - Book Review: How Big Things Get Done
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner Want to know how to do something big? Ask someone who has done it before! Professor Bent Flyvbjerg has spent his career studying megaprojects. In 2023, ...3 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...3 days ago - Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...3 days ago - Handling Democracy.
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...4 days ago
- Open letter to the Minister of Dwindling Finances
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...4 days ago - Open Government: The joke ends
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...4 days ago
- An unusual sort of press conference
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...4 days ago - This substack has talked about this government’s seeming corruption & pro-corporate issues...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...4 days ago - NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...4 days ago
- Wednesday 18 December
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...4 days ago
- Can the government change its mind on the ferries?
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...4 days ago
- Notes from Afar: Will Luxon Attend Waitangi Day? And Opposition Calls Out Nicola Willis for “C...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...4 days ago - Member’s morning
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...4 days ago
- Going Backwards
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...4 days ago - Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more Austerity
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...4 days ago
- December-24 AT Board Meeting
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...4 days ago
- The Making of a Mental Health Rockstar
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...4 days ago - It could have been worse
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...4 days ago
- The Deep Divisions of Local Government
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...4 days ago - Willis’ austerity strategy just isn’t working
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...5 days ago
- Sabin 33 #7 – Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities?
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...5 days ago
- Join us for a pop-up Hoon at 5pm on HYEFU
5 days ago - ‘Ideas Worth Saving’: A Call for Papers
Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...5 days ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...5 days ago
- HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...5 days ago
- “Better economic management”
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...5 days ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...5 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...5 days ago
- Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...5 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...5 days ago
- 8% ACT Party Creates One Ring To Rule Them All
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...5 days ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...5 days ago
- Govt to double number of toll roads
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...5 days ago
- Luxon’s pre-emptive strike
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...5 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...5 days ago
- More public service contempt of parliament
Back in 2023 the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties raised concerns about the inherent conflict of interest involved in public service agencies supporting parliamentary select committees. Our parliament is run on a shoestring, so depends on the public service for advice. But public service agencies work for Ministers, not ...6 days ago
- If There Is A God
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...6 days ago - A Lipstick Government
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...6 days ago - NZCTU open letter to Treasury on undue restrictions on restricted briefings
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...6 days ago
- Why you won’t hear me advocate for electric cars
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate. I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...6 days ago
- Coalition forced to back down on tolling Pahiatua track
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...6 days ago
- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...6 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...6 days ago
- Making Gravy
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...7 days ago - Nothing here but the shadows
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...1 week ago - The United Right: the FSU’s Continued Efforts to Undermine Academia
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...1 week ago
- Showing the Americans how to do it
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...1 week ago
- 2 Men, 1 Haircut
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...1 week ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago - As Our Power Lessens: Accepted
2024 is now officially my best-ever year for short stories. My 1,850-word dark fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens, has been accepted for the upcoming solstice edition of Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/), thereby making that six published short stories for the calendar year. As always, see the Bibliography page for ...1 week ago
- Six years of work wasted – Holidays Act reform now years away
Brooke van Velden has wasted six years of work from businesses, unions, and government by binning planned Holidays Act reforms, said Acting CTU President Rachel Mackintosh in response to today’s announcement from Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety. “The Minister has cynically kicked the can on Holiday Act reform even ...1 week ago
- Come Undone?
Words, playing me deja vuLike a radio tune, I swear I've heard beforeChill, is it something real?Or the magic I'm feeding off your fingersWho do you need?Who do you love?When you come undoneSongwriters: John Taylor / Simon Le Bon / Nick Rhodes / Warren Cuccurullo.When this three-way coalition was being ...1 week ago
- National’s Greatest Misses 2023-4
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...2 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...2 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...2 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...2 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...3 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...3 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...3 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...4 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...4 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...5 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...5 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...5 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...5 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...5 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...6 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...6 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...1 week ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
- Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...2 weeks ago
- Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...2 weeks ago
- Winston Peters – Kinleith Mill Speech
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...2 weeks ago - Swarbrick calls on Auckland Mayor to end delay of revival of St James Theatre
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...2 weeks ago
- He Ara Anamata: Greens launch Emissions Reduction Plan
Today, the Green Party of Aotearoa proudly unveils its new Emissions Reduction Plan–He Ara Anamata–a blueprint reimagining our collective future. ...2 weeks ago
- PM appoints business leader to APEC Business Advisory Council
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...2 days ago - New intelligence oversight appointments
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...2 days ago
- New housing developments able to progress more quickly
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...2 days ago
- Actions to speed up air travel delivering results
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...2 days ago
- Ending contracted emergency housing in Rotorua
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...2 days ago
- Vocational education and training decisions support return to regions
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...2 days ago
- Reducing the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...2 days ago
- Ngāruawāhia section of Waikato Expressway back to 4 lanes for Christmas
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...2 days ago
- Appointments to the ENZ board
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...3 days ago
- Government to celebrate Waitangi Day around NZ
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...3 days ago
- More gangs added to Gangs Act list
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...3 days ago
- Judicial appointment announced
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...3 days ago
- GDP data highlights importance of growth
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...3 days ago
- Strengthening Free Speech in Universities
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...3 days ago
- Launch of Emergency Cellular Priority Service
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...3 days ago
- Minister reopens Mangamuka Gorge
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...3 days ago
- Funding confirmed for second Ashburton Bridge
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...3 days ago
- Government boosts support for avian influenza response
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...3 days ago
- Levelling the playing field for media advertising
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...4 days ago
- Inspector-General of Defence appointed
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...4 days ago
- Fire and Emergency New Zealand final levy rates confirmed
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...4 days ago
- More AML relief on the way for Kiwi businesses
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...4 days ago
- Hawke’s Bay Expressway moving at pace
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...4 days ago
- Government seeks partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned-land
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...4 days ago
- Wide ranging legislation to make justice system more efficient
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...4 days ago
- Diverse skills in community trust appointments
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...4 days ago
- Torture redress for survivors of the Lake Alice Unit
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...4 days ago
- A busy year in the House
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...4 days ago
- Consultation opens on working with engineered stone
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...4 days ago
- Greater reporting on Treaty settlement commitments
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...4 days ago
- New appointments to the Charities Registration Board
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...4 days ago
- Building consent processing times improve
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...4 days ago
- Faster access to support through Innovation Fund
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...4 days ago
- New Zealand to assist Vanuatu on earthquake response
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...4 days ago
- Government takes steps to reduce card fees for Kiwis
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...4 days ago
- Review recommends ECE regulation shakeup
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...4 days ago
- Offshore Renewable Energy Bill passes first reading
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...4 days ago
- Local Government (Water Services) Bill passes first reading
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...4 days ago
- Gene Technology Bill passes first reading
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...4 days ago
- New Zealand ratifies AANZFTA Upgrade
New Zealand has ratified the Upgrade to the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), Minister for Trade Todd McClay announced today. “ASEAN which is comprised of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, is New Zealand’s fourth largest trading partner in two-way trade – ...5 days ago
- A hater and an enthusiast review The Royal Free by Carl Shuker
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...2 hours ago - Survive to 25 (December, that is)
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...2 hours ago
- All I want for Christmas is modern day slavery legislation
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...2 hours ago
- Israeli-American historian describes attacks on Gaza as ‘war of annihilation’
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...4 hours ago - NZ govt plans to make ‘heavy handed’ change to free speech rules for universities
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...4 hours ago
- Caitlin Johnstone: Where does the aggression really begin?
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...7 hours ago
- OECD Report Highlights That More Is Needed
This report reflects that gap in our dealings overseas, and it shows that legislators, the public sector and businesses need to walk the talk. ...16 hours ago - Government quietly scraps waste minimisation policies
The government has quietly cancelled plans to improve recycling and roll out a kerbside food scraps composting scheme. ...16 hours ago - MEAA welcomes News MAP funding ‘leg up’ for Australian journalism
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...17 hours ago
- Transmission Gully partnership breakdown will not hurt future public-private partnerships, Infrastru...
The roads partnership unravelled under a confidential settlement this week, meaning NZTA will now finish off what it had said was incomplete work. ...22 hours ago
- Funding cuts to charity particularly felt over Christmas period
The number of people seeking help from Lifeline is expected to increase by 10 to 20 percent over Christmas. ...1 day ago
- Nelson Hospital conditions ‘unbearable’ – staff
One worker says the building is decrepit and falling down around them. ...1 day ago
- The Secret Diary of .. Luxon at Xmas
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...1 day ago - Stand by for cricket’s Smash Palace
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...1 day ago
- Early-onset dementia under the microscope
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...1 day ago
- Keeping the pirates at bay: Should the Australian ‘Blocking Order’ case prompt a discussion in N...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...1 day ago
- ‘We were as famous as Tom Cruise’: Craig Parker on 90s Shortland St fandom
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...1 day ago
- ‘I prioritise the mission, not my health’: Adam McGrath’s perfect weekend playlist
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...1 day ago
- The rescue dog bringing joy to Christchurch retirement homes
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes. Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...1 day ago
- Fiji pro-Palestine nativity scene exposes Gaza as ‘hell on earth’ at Christmas
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...1 day ago
- Vanuatu quake: ‘Our shop was flattened like a deck of cards’
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...1 day ago
- How diplomats have broken the law in NZ – and what happened next
A handful of foreign diplomats have misbehaved during their time here - and not all of them have been brought to justice. ...1 day ago
- Swim schools report sinking enrolments as downturn deepens
Being able to swim is often considered a life skill, but tough economic times are forcing many families to pull their children out of lessons. ...2 days ago
- ‘There will be deaths because of this’ – Warning over Health NZ IT cuts
A West Coast IT worker is warning patients will die as Health New Zealand aims to slash its data and digital staff. ...2 days ago
- Polytech sales possible but unlikely when Te Pūkenga disestablished – minister
In a surprise move, the sale of polytechnics will be on the table when the national institute of technology Te Pūkenga is disestablished. ...2 days ago
- Parliament’s final sitting day an insight into party factions
On Parliament's last day of the year, there was a rare glimpse of the factions within the major parties. ...2 days ago
- Former Labour MP, North Shore mayor Ann Hartley dies
Former Labour MP and mayor of Auckland's North Shore City Ann Hartley has died. ...2 days ago
- The closest thing Australian cartooning had to a prophet: the sometimes celebrated, sometimes contro...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker. Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...2 days ago
- Labour moves Speaker from the ‘nice’ to ‘naughty’ list
Last week's fights with the Speaker over the Fast Track schedule may have changed the tone in Parliament. ...2 days ago
- Govt ends pilot programme for Māori and Pacific, sparking outrage
The Government announced the end of the programme that allowed Māori and Pacific people to acess bowel cancer screening at 50-years-old. ...2 days ago
- Parliament fits an extra morning into final sitting day
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...2 days ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Bejeweled log’ by Holly Fletcher
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...2 days ago
- Sunglasses don’t just look good – they’re good for you too. Here’s how to choose the right p...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...2 days ago
- How does franchising work?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...2 days ago
- The one episode of Shortland Street you need to watch this year
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...2 days ago
- As China expands its cyber espionage and sabotage operations, how will the Trump administration resp...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...2 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for 2024
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...2 days ago
- Government confirms plan to dismantle Te Pūkenga, re-establish polytechs
The government has confirmed its plan to break up Te Pūkenga / New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology and re-establish independent polytechnics. ...2 days ago
- AI can’t do your Christmas shopping just yet – but next year might be different
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Whittle, Director, Data61 Ganjalex / Shutterstock I’m a computer scientist and a bad Christmas shopper. Over the weekend, I wondered whether AI systems might be able to help me out. Could I just prompt ChatGPT to pick a personalised ...2 days ago
- Heading on an overseas holiday? The Australian dollar tumbled this week – but that’s not bad new...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Crosby, Professor of Economics, Monash University Michael Leslie/Shutterstock This week, the value of the Australian dollar fell to 62 US cents, its lowest level since October 2022. The acute cause? A revelation by the United States Federal Reserve that ...2 days ago
Oranga Tamariki, time to fly in cape and all …
Yip bring back the kids and leave the jihadi bride in Turkey, they'll be better off without her and it sends a message to any other thicko that thinks being a terrorist breeding unit is a good idea.
You approve of uplifting those children because they are at risk when cared for by their mother?
What sort of life will a kid raised by a terrorist get,? filled with hate is all they'll get . Plus it will send a message.
Fair enough. Now all New Zealand Government has to do is to find some loving foster parents and they’ll live long and happy ever after. How hard can it be?
I would like to know if the mother knew her Australian citizenship would be revoked before she left Australia?
It is not straight forward when it comes to the welfare of the children and which country has the say over the welfare of the children.
What is the status of the children when it comes to international law?
A person cannot be denied entry to their country of birth unless there is legislation for this.
Possibly not. I presume that the children are Syrian nationals but they would have a ery strong case to be given New Zealand residence given the circumstances.
The residence of the children needs to be determined.
The children appear to be Syrian, they are fatherless and their father's were from Switzerland. The mothers is widowed and has NZ citizenship.
1. Can the mother ask for entry into Switzerland?
2. Has the mother asked for entry to NZ for her children?
3. Can Australia revoke entry for her children?
Correction Sweden and not Switzerland.
If the mother has NZ citizenship by birth or grant (based on media coverage, she was born here so probably has citizenship by birth), the children are eligible for NZ citizenship by descent, so that's probably the practical answer.
Left in 2014. Law came in 2015. Amended in 2018. I think.
Thanks for that collation.
Further evidence of a detestable race of people
From all accounts the PMs displeasure with Australia dosnt even rate in Oz…a non event.
Nonsense. Jacinda Ardern is extremely popular in Australia, and her mauling of the unlikeable Morrison will play very well indeed.
We'll see
It was the 27th item when I scrolled down the Sydney Morning Herald website yesterday evening so yep, guess it’s largely gone unnoticed in Australia. The law allowing her dual citizenship to be revoked was passed in 2015. Depending on which media you listen to her citizenship was revoked in 2019 or 2020. Old news over there.
Yep , couple family members in two states hadnt heard a thing about it and shrugged ….NZ barely gets a mention in OZ media and nobody cares
Well it wouldn't would it. Anyway her displeasure seems more at ScoMoFo and his Ilk.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
So it would be very hard to say that the Australian government's move to deprive this person of their citizenship was arbitrary. They did it with specific legislation which sets out those extreme conditions and the evidence required for that deprivation of citizenship.
And by electing to have dual citizenship the person certainly ensured they had options to change nationality.
I would feel a whole lot more comfortable if our Prime Minister said that before the person steps foot inside this country, they will have an SIS file a foot thick and that the system will follow her penumbra-like.
In this century, no other country in the southern hemisphere has had to deal with terror threats like we have, and no other intelligence community has failed to deal with it. And yes, they have to look in multiple directions at once. No, they don't have to disclose all that evidence. The PM has had a full legislative rehearsal to be able to anticipate this current situation and passed on it.
This has all the hallmarks of building to be an Ahmed Zaoui. The applicant will generate local advocates who will play the our emotive media like a black grand piano. Our state should test this person as long as it needs to.
Um, Australia would strongly disagree with you. Combined with their widespread hatred of illegal migrants/refugees, this is not a hard political decision for their PM.
Not to mention Indonesia and the bottom third of Africa.
Australia looks at New Zealand as a soft touch for immigration, gangs and other organised crime, and terrorists.
It sure isn't a hard decision when we act so weak for so long and then weep buckets on tv about it.
"Australia looks at New Zealand as a soft touch"
i.e. conservative Australians have no principles, no shame, and view other people's decency as a weakness to be exploited.
Barely a year after 50 people were killed here by an Australian citizen terrorist, Fa'afoi and Little should be giving pretty stern advice to the PM.
How do you know they haven't?
That will only become public once this goes to court – which is where it's heading once some NGO gets its teeth into it.
At the moment Ardern's emotion sure looks like a poor political substitute for having a leg to stand on .
You reckon an NZ organisation will take our govt to court for not removing this person's citizenship?
This is going to go all the way to the Supreme Court no matter which way the state decides.
Taken there by who?
This woman is a white supremacist is she?
Possibly the mother left before the legislation was drawn up to revoke citizenship.
With the 501 legislation this is not backdated.
Not sure why that matters.
It matters because the woman would not have been barred from returning to Australia had she returned before the legislation came in.
It depends what the legislation says as to when it can be enforced. On return, on leaving or prior to the legislation.
The Australian Law Commission had a good hash at the citizenship revocation powers once the law was enacted:
https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/publicassets/740b679e-15a1-e911-93fe-005056be13b5/3640%20-%20Review%20of%20Australian%20Citizenship%20Renunciation.pdf
Point 11 covers their objections to retrospectivity, and effects on children
Well if this IS the only country to deal, it's hardly surprising if no other country has failed to deal, now, is it.
It's very surprising that the New Zealand government is still being surprised.
Anyone who thinks media have over-egged our PM's anger, check the video: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-delivers-extraordinary-broadside-australia-over-woman-detained-in-turkey-abdicated-its-responsibilities?auto=6232517011001
Well removing one civil status was legal and considered a punishment for certain crimes.
btw, i would like to point out that Trump in the US also looked at ways to remove birth right citizen ship and gained citizenship from people whom he and his regime disapproved of. And one could consider the removal of voting rights to be part of that punishment.
In Germany we called people like that 'vogelfrei' and while that can mean in a positive as 'free as a bird' in the negative it also meant that this person could be killed, harmed, abused etc without any recourse to local lawenforcment and or help.
It was and could be again a good tool to keep people in place, and a good tool to get rid of competition, nuisances etc and generally the populace would not give a care if the headline ain't large enough for them to see it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_death#:~:text=Under%20the%20Holy%20Roman%20Empire,common%20form%20of%20civil%20death.
[Content deleted because it contained too many links that triggered Auto-Moderation]
this might be an excellent read to some on the origin of the term Vogelfrei und Staatenlos.
https://www.amazon.com/Homo-Sacer-Sovereign-Meridian-Aesthetics/dp/0804732183
The extract is from wikipedias article about the author of the Homer Sacer Project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Agamben#Homo_Sacer:_Sovereign_Power_and_Bare_Life_.281995.29
The laws that give us rights today are fairly new around 300 – 400 odd years, and only ever as good as the one who applies them.
That's genuinely interesting sabine. In the Anglo world we have the word 'outlaw' that seems related to this.
We don't use that word much nowadays because the state has become so all-encompassing it leaves no space for the outlaw to exist – but the concept remains.
in the german sense you would call it 'outlawed'.
English outlawry was Anglo-Saxon which is Germanic, so probably shares the same origin as the German status.
Frankly I only have to contemplate the hellish depths and insane criminality of ISIS for a few seconds to conclude NZ should revoke her citizenship as well – the Syrian's can have her. International law my arse, some actions just put you in another category.
We recently tracked down and prosecuted a 100yr old who had worked as a Nazi camp guard – what exactly is so different about this atrocity that has occurred under our noses in our lifetime? This particular woman chose to leave Australia illegally, to join a psychopathically violent and criminal terror cause, and now she gets to live with the consequences.
Every single person who was ever associated with ISIS should be tracked down, convicted and placed into lifetime incarceration somewhere very remote, secure and hellish. I honestly don't care how brutal that sounds.
But otherwise what Ad said. That our media will deflect and minimise this horror, to play us like violins with the 'helpless woman and children' card, is evidence only of our moral weakness and cupidity.
I suspect her contribution to global terrorism does not add up to a tiny fraction of 1% of that which the Australian born and bred, white-supremacist, and mass murderer gave the world.
Classic deflection. Her personal choice was to leave Australia illegally (they had tough counter terrorism laws in place already in 2014) and associate herself with an organisation the UN had declared to be terrorists. That alone confers culpability here.
If she seeks merciful treatment – and I do believe in that – then she should go and beg forgiveness from the Yazidi community first. Only they really have the right to redeem her and give her sanctuary.
Just like the mosque murderer, she was radicalised in Australia, not Syria, so there's that. Australia might want to have a look their own significant contribution to terrorism.
Just like the mosque murderer, she was radicalised in Australia,
I'm not so sure about our ChCh murderer – all the accounts I read suggest the radicalisation occurred during his travels in Europe, Turkey and Pakistan. His family clearly stated that he came back from his OE's a dramatically changed person.
As for our ISIL 'bride' – the Australian govt cannot be in any manner held responsible for her radicalisation. That would be entirely absurd proposition.
If you want to find the 'blame' for these people's actions – you're looking in all the wrong places.
The mosque shooter was a racist well before traveling. It's what happens in Australia. Excusing him and claiming it was Europe what did it is pretty gross really.
Australia has an embarrassing history with intolerance and racism. Queensland regularly elects far right wing racists to government. I think Australia has deep seated issues as a society and is where radicalised terrorists are born. Worse, their immigration policy of recent years shows they refuse to learn anything.
Interesting from David Fisher here:
It shows that Australia does nurture and export terrorism, be it Islamic or white supremacist. A regular industry they have going on there.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/isis-bride-grew-up-in-australia-now-theyre-sending-her-to-new-zealand/BIZEGW4EIUD4FPC46KKUDURRH4/
The mosque shooter was a racist well before traveling. It's what happens in Australia.
So now you've shifted the goalposts from 'radicalising' to 'all Australians are by default racists'.
Have you any idea how barkingly bigoted that sounds?
Australia is full of racists, especially Queensland.
So you've shifted all the blame onto Australia and in the meantime not one peep from you in condemnation of ISIL.
I think everyone can see how that reads.
Did we revoke the centenarian's citizenship?
German in Germany
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/10/europe/nazi-camp-guard-grm-intl-scli/index.html
So no.
The Australian Parliament has law that enables them to do just that. The US has similar grounds for 'denaturalisation'.
Citizenship is very much a basic and foundational human right – but it's not absolute. Statelessness arises for a very wide range of reasons both justified or otherwise and it's a recognised and complex problem as that article outlines.
Look the pragmatist in me realises NZ gets to suck it up in this case. Doesn’t mean I'm going to forget the vile criminality she eagerly sought to associate herself with.
What do we do with this class of stateless undesirables? And shouldn't we ascertain what her role actually was before rendering her stateless?
As a side question how do you think we should respond if Australia renounced the citizenship of the mass murderer currently incarcerated in Aotearoa?
I fully accept you wrote the OP in good faith and with good intentions. That I've expressed the other side of the case does not detract from the legitimate questions you ask.
I think you've known me long enough to have some clue that I have a particular experience with (albeit not directly) with the dark side of Islamic fundamentalism and that does not make me a disembodied, dispassionate observer here. So I plead guilty to presenting the case for the prosecution here.
And this is what should happened here – as with the post WW2 Nazis – a UN backed Court with the scope, power and resources to fully investigate the ISIL regime and account for everything that happened. That would be ideal.
Short of that it looks like we're stuck with this person, and we might as well get her and her children back to NZ and quit whining to the Australians about it.
As for your second question – well yes the Australians (like any nation) have the sovereign capacity to revoke his citizenship. But frankly what practical difference would it make in the circumstances?
Given that the terrorist aussie we have in our jail will never see the outside again it wont matter if aussie removed his citizenship.
She is not stateless Micky.
She has New Zealand citizenship. That is her state. The only way she can become stateless is if our Government was to cancel her citizenship. I realise that our PM is pretty angry but surely she is not actually planning to attempt to do that?
As far as the Mosque murderer goes can you tell us what other citizenship does he have? The Australian law doesn't, at least as far as I am aware, allow them to make someone stateless.
In theory NZ could have revoked her citizenship (section 16(a) of the Citizenship Act allows for it) leaving her as Australian, but being kind souls, we didn't. It's not just a matter of being annoyed about the treatment leaving her solely as a Kiwi, it's also that we had the same option, but chose not to follow it out of some (apparently misguided) trust that Australia would continue discussions about her status.
Ta. That's useful new information.
Do we have any examples of this provision being used? And if so in what circumstances – genuine curiosity.
Not from a quick search since it's mostly targeted at people who become citizens of another country and go to war against NZ (acts contrary to NZ's interests is the test). Would be a bit of a stretch here to declare the acquisition of Australian citizenship and assisting Isis as contrary to our interests (in that she didn't obtain Australian citizenship for that purpose), but could be tested if a minister was keen.
I note that what one can see of the children, they looked well dressed and cared for. That should count for something during the deliberations into the woman's future and the future for those children. I sincerely hope so.
The children I have considerable sympathy for, as for any human I would hope for them to have been born into better circumstances, with far better prospects.
But then I have to ask myself in what way are they any different to hundreds of millions of other similarly unfortunate children in the world at this moment – and can NZ rescue them all?
They're no different and each individual child is an absolute tragedy. But where a special circumstance prevails – such as in this case – where we may be able to give two of them a fighting chance we should grab it with both hands.
In this case I think the Aussie have well and truly outplayed us. In 2015 they put in place a lawful mechanism to revoke citizenship in these extreme circumstances. Whereas NZ did nothing.
Well it looks like we now get to suck it up and own her and her children. That's the pragmatist in me speaking – good for her children, but frankly I think she's escaping a justice she richly deserves.
So, you are the self-appointed judge, jury and executioner eh RedLogix. Oh to be so sinless and omnipotent!
I'm not going to be part of deflecting from, minimising or otherwise letting the crimes of ISIL gurgle down the memory hole.
Their crimes are well documented, and that pathological ideology still capable of resurgence.
You are deflecting – the issue was one woman, she is not ISIL! So, you are the self-appointed judge, jury and executioner eh RedLogix?
Usually justice is served after a crime has been committed. It is not a crime to travel, have a relationship or marriage with whomever one choses or to have children. Has it even been established that the woman even left Australia illegally?
Now, now. RL has had "a particular experience with with the dark side of Islamic fundamentalism".
A Muslim scratched his car in the Coolangatta Macca's car park.
Ah no. You think you're being clever when in reality – and I don't use this word all that often – you're actually being profoundly offensive.
But then I haven't explained the background, so you get a pass on this. While I'm a lot more open about my life than many participants choose – there are still some spaces I will keep private from low minds and prying bigots.
I thought it was funny.
Can i have a pass too, i need to go to the toilet.
You'd be ashamed of yourself if you knew the truth.
Now toddle off before you make a big mess.
It wasn't a crime to be a Nazi camp guard at the time either.
A most questionable statement but, if correct, it raises the question why a 100-year-old former Nazi guard was recently charged if it was not for merely having been a guard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Totenkopfverb%C3%A4nde
As I said elsewhere – she actively chose to go to Syria – in order to provide moral, ideological support, and a sexual commitment, to aid and abet ISIL.
Male recruits all took up guns – she eagerly sought out and took up the role assigned to her by the terrorists. Equal culpability even if she wasn't firing bullets or slitting throats.
Yes, you’re repeating yourself there – I can read.
So, to summarise, this New Zealand woman has aided and abetted ISIL but not committed any other direct or indirect crimes against humans or humanity as far as you know? Will she be charged, when, where, by who, and what for? Irrespectively, you want to inflict the most brutal punishment on her (cf. @ 8) whilst having considerable sympathy for her children (cf. @ 9.1)?
You don’t think this imposes a major moral and complex conflict on/for Aotearoa-New Zealand and/or on you personally?
Is there such a thing in New Zealand Criminal Law for “[e]qual culpability” with regard to accomplices in a crime?
There must be lots of old German women that you could spend this time chasing.
Some do
If they had actively applied for roles in say the Gestapo and had actively supported that organisation's goals and methods – then yes.
Why does their gender render them immune?
Still if I had my way I’d be chasing Polish women – much more interesting in my experience.
Gestapo?? Have you now moved on from Nazi camp guards to Gestapo? Why?
What role(s) had the woman applied for and how exactly did she actively support ISIL’s goals and methods?
Who stated that their gender renders them immune?
But she hasn't, to the best of our knowledge, done the equivalent of a job in the gestapo.
Ah this is getting dumb.
If you fucking leave your home country, illegally as far as I aware – and travel to a fucking war zone, with the express intention of joining and supporting an organisation known to be engaged in psychopathically violent crimes, terror and genocide – then I don't care if all you did was wash fucking tea-towels.
What part of aiding and abetting don't you guys get?
And in my view ISIL in many respects made the Gestapo look like nice guys. Your 'equivalence' gambit is pathetic.
Best you give yourself a pass for a cup a tea.
The National Party’s politics is interesting here. Has there ever been votes in NZ by supporting Australia? Usually the other way round.
Always votes in sternly denouncing the 'other' – especially foreigners and brown folk.
One has to really narrow it down when dealing with the enemy within.
Gerry Brownlee?
Blast! I’d forgotten about him
Possibly not in supporting Australia specifically, but a lot more Kiwis benefit from the TTTA than Australians, making it difficult to complain too much as mutual tightening the screws hurts more Kiwis than Australians.
Well the Australian Government is doing a great job of shoving over to us criminal , undesirable, damaged individuals who have been created in Australia's society – not because it's right (it's not) but because they can.
Now we are pretty much stuck with this shit (and it is shit) so the NZ Government really should create an excessively funded wrap around agency to deal with these people who have been foisted upon us – I am talking mandatory counselling , monitoring, work assistance ,work training, housing assistance, assistance with community groups and frankly any other assistance we can give these people and I believe the Government should heavily over resource this agency so that the negative impact of the Australian Government actions on New Zealand Society can be minimised. Obviously such an agency would be expensive to create and maintain so I suggest the Agency be funded by an additional tax on Trading Banks of 1-2% (co-incidentally, of course, almost all Australian owned)
Oh and this agency should be announced with enormous publicity and fanfare – NZ Banks profit 2019 $5.7 billion so I m talking $57- $114 million funding . I imagine Scomo will be so happy
If only!
Wonder if Jacinda reminds Morrison of the responsibility Australia has in creating these terrorists in the first place. Including their Australian Christchurch mosque murderer. Whatever the outcome, I applaud Jacinda for her frank comments. Australians are brash and inclined to think they can walk all over New Zealand.
Right we are stuck with her (whenever she gets sent back to NZ). Australia is not going to take her back.
So what are we going to do with her? No point getting grumpy.
The death penalty is out, so what resources are we going to use to make sure she not doing 25 years to life in a few years time. (at even greater expense).
From David Fisher's article again:
You want the death penalty for that? Getting a bit hysterical I think.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/isis-bride-grew-up-in-australia-now-theyre-sending-her-to-new-zealand/BIZEGW4EIUD4FPC46KKUDURRH4/
"It doesn't mean she's been doing anything bad. Walking across the border with kids would seem to indicate she was a camp follower or concubine."
Fisher is pretty good usually – but on this occasion he's missed the obvious – this woman actively chose to leave Australia in order to become involved in ISIL. This was no 'unfortunate turn of events' in her life, she went in order to provide moral, ideological and sexual commitment to the terrorists involved.
If she had been a male she would have been holding a gun – her gender does not absolve or minimise her involvment here.
Edit: Or as Poisson puts it more precisely below – ‘aiding and abetting’.
Dumb kids do dumb kid stuff. If their daddy owns a vineyard or they're good at footie they get away with it.
What crimes and atrocities has the woman in question committed?
Aiding and abetting a known terrorist organisation by providing support is unlawful under security council resolutions for the last twenty years
Thanks.
And the punishment for those actions are determined in which Court and subsequently executed by which jurisdiction/authority?
Turkey would be the obvious jurisdiction,however Sultan Erdogan was their foremost supporter.
https://twitter.com/MaxAbrahms/status/954352501989535744
maybe we should send them to their victims such as the Kurds,having had to suffer tremendous crimes.
You mean, NZ should allow them back and then send them to the Kurds? Problem solved?
Too many airmiles (think of the planet) just walk them back over the border.
I like your pragmatic way of thinking and together with future amnesia (cue: Key and Mapp) it is a sure recipe for a happy and content life.
And while Erdogan surely played his part – we shouldn't overlook the role that Saudi Wahhabism had in creating ISIS in the first place.
Eventually Saudi itself had to go into damage control mode and wound up fighting back against it's bastard creation that had so wildly run amok – but it's still important to understand the pathological ideologies involved and where they came from.
Yes Saudi Arabia funded and using US and Israeli weapons.
Unless you're Yankistan of course.
Have sexual intercourse and having children been determined as a crime now? Love to be an observer at that trial!
What trial?
Can't say I agree at any level with the Australian decision but I assume she is an NZ citizen by birth and therefore the children are eligible to be registered as NZ citizens by descent – although they may have a claim to birth citizenship elsewhere? So I guess this falls into the suck it up category unless we turn and go down the road of not allowing people to be dual nationals – which is still the case for some countries. And maybe even try to sort out long term guest workers in Australia – though that might have to wait for an Australian labour government.
What I don't get if why Labour is expending political capital on this – it's not something we can do much about – unlike a lot of other local issues.
"What I don't get if why Labour is expending political capital on this – it's not something we can do much about – unlike a lot of other local issues."
Thats a good question….deflection from other issues they are under pressure on perhaps…and Aussies are always an easy target that unites the nation.
It is related to a very serious local issue:
Australia quite literally produces and exports violence and crime to its supposed close friend and partner.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/isis-bride-grew-up-in-australia-now-theyre-sending-her-to-new-zealand/BIZEGW4EIUD4FPC46KKUDURRH4/
No it doesn't. they're criminals who fall foul of all Aussie laws. which has a knock on effect.
If we had similar legislation and aussies who lived her did that, we could rid ourselves of undesirables too
Also from the above article:
Australia gleefully abdicates responsibility for the people they have helped rear. And Australia's pretence of partnership is a lie.
Soooo… go and become a terrorist and be a support person helping to fight against the aims and morals of the country that sheltered and educated you for 20 years and it's all ok and welcome back to a country that doesn't have to take you?
What aims and morals are these? Becoming increasingly nationalist and using your friend and neighbour as a dumping ground for crime?
being an australian citizen and adhering to australian law? would you like it if someone who wasn't a citizen of New Zealand committed crimes and anti social behaviour and got to stay here regardless of if they could be living elsewhere?
How do you feel about peter thiel?
I mostly agree with you DE, but I think the Australian policy would be seen as more reasonable if there was a cut off after living more than 10 yrs in Australia and/or it could be proven that they have no family in NZ.
And especially if they arrived in Aus as children under say 10yrs old.
I agree many of the 501's are crims who don't garner much sympathy, but there are also some pretty tragic stories of the policy being implemented with no regard to circumstances and NZ winds up having broken people dumped at our airports with no support and little hope of ever building a life here.
Even worse when they finish up being separated from family who're all established in Australia. Everyone knows that for all intents and purposes many of these people are really Australians and their govt is exploiting a loophole to NZ's detriment and increasing dismay.
I agree with the roll over. I think that’s unfair to say you can’t ever becc be a full citizen or a priority system.
but isis is not a roll over clause or humanitarian cause. It’s repudiation of the laws of the country that reared you, Au or NZ. If she didn’t have kids I’d say let her rot
Yup – I pretty much agree with both of those paras.
The irony here is that while the OP brings our attention to the citizenship status of one woman who in my view deserves little of our sympathy – there are many 100's thousands of kiwis living in Australia who aren't really citizens of either nation.
Technically the SCV444 allows them to live in Aus 'indefinitely' – but falls short of granting them full rights as permanent residents. While at the same time as the years go by their connections to NZ may well diminish or vanish altogether and the NZ passport they're holding has little to no relevance to their lives.
It's a slow burning issue that neither govt wants to really come to grips with – but eventually some sensible compromise must be achievable. A 10yr automatic rollover seems a decent place to start.
As I understand it these other criminals are not actually australian citizens? To me this is part of a much larger issue of long term guest workers from NZ who are in Australia for many years and unable to get citizenship plus the benefits from it. Plus we have the issue of the "two years and residency"now I'm off to Australia crowd to deal with.
Does Australia produce bigger better brighter criminals? Looks like it does – but unless we revert to "no dual citizenship" we will still have the ISIS issue and we will still have the criminal issue unless we reduce our number of long term guest workers over there.
It is the timing thats odd….Australia notified her in 2019 and revoked citizenship last year…why does the PM choose now to express public outrage??
Expedience
Umm, because she was arrested entering Turkey?
So she was
why isn't she then turkeys issue? or syria? she's been living there almost as long as she lived in New Zealand
What?
Pat asked why the PM 'chose now' to express outrage. You claimed it was expedience and I corrected you.
that's not correcting me. it's offering an opinion. Our government was informed at the same time.
they simply hoped she'd stay in syria
No doubt they did hope she'd stay in Syria, but fully expected she wouldn't which is why they brought it up with the Australian government previously.
Then Scumo stabbed us in the back.
The only reason it is news now is that she tried to leave Syria and was arrested.
The only reason it is news is jacinda tried to beat up Australia over it. Very odd and as RedLogix calls it a teeny soapbox to preen on our moral superiority.
We are morally superior, clearly. Why do you insist on dragging New Zealand down?
Lol. Yea we are. Voting for slogans while keeping our poor poorer
Sure, bro. A real crusader for the disenfranchised, aren't you.
and thank you…I had completely forgotten about her arrest…I am getting too cynical where this Gov is concerned.
It seems to go over everyone's head that Australia has removed the dual citizenship.
If this lady had been born in Australia, she could only be an Australian Citizen.
Australian's might be reactionary and conservative and on the border of nationally racist, but there immigration policy is clear cut and their adherence to it through bipartisanship leads to that. You might not like it but you can't fault it.
Australia is far more multi-cultural than New Zealand. there are far more Asian, eastern European and Middle eastern names in all walks of life there than in New Zealand.
We prevent foreign ownership, basically preventing ownership until nominal citizen ship. Australians prevent bastards becoming citizens. fair call
Australia is far more multi-cultural than New Zealand. there are far more Asian, eastern European and Middle eastern names in all walks of life there than in New Zealand.
Thank you for saying this. Having lived and worked in Aus for the past 8 years I'm consistently disappointed at how little so many kiwis actually know about the place. It's not perfect by any stretch – but the teensy little soapbox so many kiwis like to climb on and preen their moral superiority is a bit sad imo.
I was in Australia on a fortnightly basis for years. Security guards at the airport wearing Hijabs, Restaurant owners conversing in Farsi or vietnamese. Business owners we were trying to cajole into buying our exports being either of lebanese or greek extraction. large businesses too.
Sydney / Melbourne / Perth / Brisbane are all little londons. you have been far less likely to hear an aussie accent in the metropolitan area than you would hear a kiwi accent in anywhere in auckland.
My uncle is a dual national, he knows as he is NZ first and Aus as dual, he is living in Austrtalia by the grace of Australian laws. something 99.5% of dual nationals living in Australia accept and enjoy. getting wound up about the .5% of fuckwits who think it's a free pass seems awfully strange.
Goodness where do you live? I live in Wellington's southern suburbs and a more multi cultural place I have yet to be in. In our street of 15 houses a few years ago, we had a minority of born in NZ citizens, even now there are French X 2, South African X 2 Samoan X2, Turkish X2. We have Italian restaurants, Vietnamese, Indian (south & North) Chinese in the nearby suburbs.
Big cities are usually multi cultural. The real test is in small town NZ just as it is in small town Australia.
It does not surprise me in the slightest that Scomo has been/is a bit slippery. They have a different psyche from NZers.
I live in Auckland’s CBD. I use to live in wellington. If the street my Flat was on wasn’t filled with embassies you could have called it tip Top mighty white.
Are there classes of citizenship?
If you have dual citizenship, do you have primary and secondary citizenship?
Yeah were mates when it suits them then we are just a pawn in their domestic political battles when they need a common enemy to pick on and blame for everything that's wrong with Australia.
That is the extent of how much they value this " special " relationship "
The last National government encouraged and re enforced this bullying against our own people who left to better their lives with a chance of making it with decent pay and conditions and boy did the Ockers demand their pound of flesh in the form of federal and state taxes but no entitlements befitting an Australasian citizen an ANZAC brother with that special mateship they always wax lyrical about. Key did what he does best groveling to the Yanks or the treacherous Aussies. He was happy to use the many leaving kiwis escaping the oppressive neo liberal slavery he was all about protecting as a campaign issue in 2008 but soon forgot all that when Kiwis ended up prostituting their services with no safety net and stood by while Australia shit all over their so called brothers!!
We stood up once against one of the most powerful countries on earth on the principles of our own independent foreign policy in 1985-87 and the sense of pride that stemmed from that has been like everything else sold and traded away. That is almost treason in my book.
And just in case anyone is still interested – it looks like Turkey is going to deport the woman to NZ.
Phew. You dodged a bullet there.
But then perhaps not.
The story has changed over the course of the morning and now states it is unclear where she is being deported to.
I doubt whether NZ would let her end up on Manus Island.