Author Archive
Lockwood: unsurprisingly relaxed about global warming
Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, April 3rd, 2008 - 28 comments
Power disavows $50 offender penalty
Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, April 2nd, 2008 - 17 comments
Duncan Garner kept Copperfield diners entertained yesterday by teasing Simon Power about the implications of National’s $50 conviction levy. We’re told that in response Power threw his hands into the air and exclaimed loudly that the policy wasn’t “his”. What an odd thing for the National Party spokesperson on law and order to say. It […]
National retreads deny climate change
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, April 2nd, 2008 - 36 comments
Lockwood Smith gave us student debt. Maurice Williamson gave us traffic jams. Now they want to give us global warming. Just days after Al Gore launched his $300m worldwide climate change campaign National retreads Maurice Williamson and Lockwood Smith are refusing to answer questions about whether or not they even believe climate change is happening. […]
Key takes back seat on Labour’s big day
Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, April 1st, 2008 - 23 comments
Perhaps he’s still getting into the swing of things after his Aussie holiday or perhaps he just doesn’t want to take on Cullen – either way, it’s a little odd that John Key doesn’t have any oral questions in the House today. On a day when Labour’s openly celebrating a number of policy rollouts it’s […]
Al Gore’s new climate change campaign
Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, April 1st, 2008 - 2 comments
Al Gore has just launched a $300 million, bipartisan campaign to try to push climate change higher on the nation’s political agenda. The website is www.wecansolveit.org – you can see the debut ad, “Anthem,” here. The campaign plans to bring together “unlikely bedfellows” of differing political stripes and use shows like American Idol to promote […]
ACT on campus defy party pill ban
Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, April 1st, 2008 - 20 comments
I wonder if the ACT Party Secretary’s authorisation, top left, will make it harder for ACT to deny, as they have in the past, that ACT on campus are outside their control. (Hat-tip: Alex N)
Cheap thrills
Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, March 31st, 2008 - 7 comments
If you’re in the market for some cheap BZP but don’t want to sell your soul to the ACT Party to get your hands on it, apparently you’re in luck.
When good ads go bad
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, March 28th, 2008 - 6 comments
From Stuff: Details of a massive home loan scam targeting buyers in South Auckland have emerged involving former Westpac mortgate manager Amar Singh. (Hat-tip: Simon)
Interview the leaders
Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, March 28th, 2008 - 51 comments
We’re going to interview the leader of each party but we’d like to give you the chance to ask the questions. Starting next week we’ll submit two questions to a leader each Monday, one of which will be the same for each of them to allow you to compare those answers; the second question will […]
National’s nanny state
Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, March 27th, 2008 - 73 comments
Seems to me we need some consensus on what a “Nanny State” actually is. Today the Nats have come out in opposition of some scholarships awarded for doctoral research by the Tertiary Education Commission – stuff like “children’s colour use and emotional wellbeing when drawing” being researched by Emily Crawford at Otago University. What could […]
What would Jesus drive?
Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, March 26th, 2008 - 10 comments
The Vatican’s update of sins to include issues of social justice and environment reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a friend from the US. She was telling me that one of the “surprise” groups to come out in support of tougher environmental regulation over there were a number of the large evangelical […]
“The Panel” on John Key
Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, March 26th, 2008 - 14 comments
Looks like people are starting to notice that the emperor has no clothes. powered by ODEO (Hat-tip: BB)
Democracy in action
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, March 26th, 2008 - 6 comments
The Press reports that: National’s hunt for a candidate in the new Selwyn electorate continues to cause problems, with one unsuccessful applicant taking the party to court to protest against his rejection… Payne said yesterday he was paying the price for being “the whistleblower” over the selection concerns in Selwyn last year. “It’s unfair and […]
Creative pitch
Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, March 26th, 2008 - 15 comments
With John Ansell now flat out with ACT and the Free Speech Coalition it suddenly stuck me that there might be an opening on the creative front with National. Putting my prejudices to one side, I’ve decided to pitch for their billboard contract.
Blackball centenary
Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, March 25th, 2008 - 10 comments
The weekend marked the centenary of the Blackball miners’ strike. TV3 reported that: “Politicians flocked to Labour’s spiritual home on the West Coast to celebrate the centenary of a miners’ strike which helped build the country’s Labour movement into a political force.”
The Redolution is now!
Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, March 25th, 2008 - 1 comment
Vote for your favourite M&M candydate here (warning, extensive Flash content).
Lies, damned lies, and statistics
Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, March 25th, 2008 - 32 comments
David Farrar appears to be throwing his weight in behind National Party’s “New Zealand Sucks” campaign with another misleading post on migration to Australia. Titled “The exodus grows”, DPF’s take on the most recent stats is that the rate at which people are “fleeing New Zealand” is accelerating. It’s perhaps disguised as one of David’s […]
Clarke and Dawe on the sub-prime crisis
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 am, March 22nd, 2008 - 6 comments
Steve posted a stick-figure explanation of the sub-prime mortgage crisis earlier in the week. Here are ABC commedians Clarke and Dawe giving their take:
Key, the Kiwi Ken
Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, March 20th, 2008 - 70 comments
For harmonious holiday gatherings of family and friends it’s sometimes said that the topics of religion and politics are best avoided. At least one among us has nothing to worry about however. As with his politics, it turns out that when Slippery John talks religion he’ll be whoever you want him to be. Agnostic John […]
GDP up; parents’ time with kids plummets
Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, March 20th, 2008 - 19 comments
One of the most interesting questions from the audience at the Stiglitz interview in Wellington last week was whether he thought we were focusing unduly on “economic growth” as the sole indicator of societal wellbeing. The point being that, as in the headline, it’s easy to imagine situations in which GDP’s rising but quality of […]
Rodney’s weightloss secret revealed! (maybe)
Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, March 20th, 2008 - 22 comments
We’d assumed it was all the dancing but perhaps there’s another explanation. Stuff reports that: ACT on Campus – the youth branch of the party – apparently sold BZP party pills last month for $1 each to Auckland University students as an inducement to get them to join ACT.
National still evasive over KiwiSaver plans
Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, March 19th, 2008 - 17 comments
You do have to wonder sometimes what it takes to get a straight answer out of a National party MP. Having recently given Brian Connell a bollocking for being evasive on camera, Bill English has now pulled out a performance of his own. He was far more polite of course, and at no stage made […]
Family First to support “love vacation”?
Written By: - Date published: 2:57 pm, March 17th, 2008 - 13 comments
Finnish MP Tommy Tabermann (SDP) has proposed granting all employees a paid 7-day “love vacation” once a year. According to Tabermann, the purpose of such vacations would be to prevent relations from disintegrating and the spouses from drifting apart. During the seven days, couples could devote themselves to each other ‘both at an erotic and […]
SST recycles discredited National party spin
Written By: - Date published: 12:28 pm, March 17th, 2008 - 7 comments
Rob Stock apparently holds several awards for personal finance reporting but looks unlikely to win another based on his rehash of National Party lines in the SST this weekend. I can understand the desire to get these pesky articles to the publisher when the sun’s shining and there are better things to be doing outside […]
Birds of a feather…
Written By: - Date published: 3:45 pm, March 14th, 2008 - 28 comments
Frogblog covers Muriel Newman’s column in the Dom yesterday: “Climate change, we didn’t do it” [whew! back to my environmentally pollutive and destructive ways then]. Muriel’s source for this assertion is the recent (and delightfully innocuously named) International Conference on Climate Change. The purpose of the conference is to promote doubt over the increasing scientific […]
Yes, Pecan!
Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, March 13th, 2008 - 2 comments
Ben and Jerry’s icecream endorsed Obama when Edwards pulled out. To celebrate Obama’s win in Vermont, Slate recently ran a competition to name an icecream in his honour. The winner? “Yes, Pecan!”.
PSA on core public service
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, March 13th, 2008 - 19 comments
Richard Wagstaff from the PSA was interviewed by Sunrise on John Key’s plan to undermine the public service this morning. He notes Key’s tactical use of emotive language, questions his distinction between “front-line” and “bureaucratic” staff, suggests that the numbers used by National are possibly a little misleading and points out that our public service […]
Connell evasive over trip
Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, March 13th, 2008 - 24 comments
Brian Connell won’t say whether he’s planning on taking his wife on the taxpayer-funded Speaker’s tour. In the clip below Faafoi asks Connell 18 times and still can’t get a straight answer as Connell gets increasingly abusive. — Leftie Infighting Alert!!— Steve Pierson: I back Connell on this, eccentric old bigot though he is. There […]
Key to scrap research fund
Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, March 12th, 2008 - 23 comments
From Radio NZ: National says it will scrap a major new research and development fund for the pastoral and food industries if it becomes the Government at this year’s election. Party leader John Key has criticised the fund as a “gimmick” and insists only the interest earned on the fund will be spent on research. […]
Slippery John in search of a hot-button
Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, March 12th, 2008 - 15 comments
To follow on from Steve’s post earlier today, it looks like National’s focus groups have thrown them up another hot-button issue – Key has alliteratively labeled this the “ballooning bureaucracy”. Back in December we posted on him effectively saying he was all for sacking prison and parole staff as well as the people who administer […]
- You’re gonna miss the post office when it’s gone
Despite it dwindling locations and reduced service, NZ Post remains a pillar in every community, writes Hera Lindsay Bird. Every Saturday morning I arrive at 7.30am, and enter the post office box lobby. Behind the narrow corridor of identical red letterboxes, there is a locked room, full of ancient Christmas ...2 weeks ago - ‘Whaka round, find out’: When the hīkoi came to Auckland
The Toitū te Tiriti hīkoi reached Auckland on Wednesday, seeing thousands cross the Harbour Bridge and walk around the coast to Bastion Point. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith joined them. Atop Bastion Point, a crowd of red, black and white gathered at the end of what we’ve been told is a history-making moment. ...2 weeks ago
- Government Will Not Say If Gang Members To Be Excluded From Abuse In Care Compensation
The government is refusing to say whether gang members could be excluded from compensation for abuse they suffered while in state care. ...2 weeks ago - Fair News Bargaining Bill In Limbo As Minister Says It Is Not Ready
It was supposed to have its second reading on Wednesday, but on the final order paper appeared at 13th, meaning it was effectively postponed for the week. ...2 weeks ago
- Free Speech Union Endorses Carter’s Copyright (Parody And Satire) Amendment Bill, But It Raises Qu...
We commend the Green Party’s Bill to protect the speech rights of creators, artists, and commentators who are regularly targets of censorship. We hope this represents the turning of a new leaf in their defence of all speech rights. ...2 weeks ago
- A hīkoi dispatch from Ōtautahi
A thousand-strong crowd gathered in Ōtautahi today to show support for the Toitū te Tiriti hīkoi. Alex Casey was there. One of the most charming aspects of attending demonstrations in Ōtautahi’s city centre is that they happen right in the orbit of our many tourist trams, periodically forcing the crowd ...2 weeks ago
- Submissions Open For The Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill
The bill seeks to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 to protect employees who discuss or disclose their remuneration. ...2 weeks ago
- Hobson’s Pledge Support Peaceful Protest But Encourage Listening
It is concerning that some participants of the hīkoi seem to believe only their voice and actions are to be respected, and are intent on shutting down any debate. ...2 weeks ago
- ‘Effortless-seeming genius’: Carl Shuker’s favourite reads and other stories
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Carl Shuker, author of new novel The Royal Free. The book I wish I’d written I wish I’d written Philip Hensher’s Kitchen Venom. No one talks about it ...2 weeks ago
- Gone By Lunchtime: Our decision desk is now ready to call the US election
The new old president, the hīkoi hits Auckland, and a momentous day of apology at parliament. After more than a week scrutinising the granular data, the Gone By Lunchtime podcast decision desk is ready to make a call: Donald Trump has won the US presidency. In a new episode, ...2 weeks ago
- Small Business Owners, MPs Rally Together To Demand Transparency In Tauranga Marine Precinct Sale
“This sale, and the lack of information surrounding it, shows exactly why we need better regulations to hold council staff and it’s leadership more accountable,” Harvey said.” ...2 weeks ago
- The Lord of the Rings musical is better than you’re probably expecting
Musical theatre sceptics Gabi Lardies and Stewart Sowman-Lund review the three-hour spectacle at Auckland’s Civic Theatre. Gabi Lardies: Stewart, we sat through THREE HOURS of musical theatre last night. That’s a big ask for an audience trained on 12-second reels. Tickets are between $69 and $179 – we were both ...2 weeks ago
- The four funniest New Zealanders are ready for their holiday orgy
In 2016, Chris Parker, Tom Sainsbury, Kura Forrester and Brynley Stent surprised audiences with an orgy. Now they’re doing it all again, on a bigger, shinier stage. Eight years ago, four little-known comedians, two who had just met, ended their play thrusting, sweating and panting in an over-the-top orgy. There ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand Government Refuses NGO Calls To Back End To Secret WCPFC Compliance Processes
Accountability.Fish, a global non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving the transparency and accountability of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), has raised concerns for some time over the lack of transparency within the ...2 weeks ago
- Who are the New Zealanders who can’t afford nourishing food?
By calculating the weekly deficit in people’s budgets, a new report shows how those receiving benefits or working for minimum wage often can’t pay for food after the cost of fixed expenses. One in five working-age New Zealanders doesn’t earn enough to feed themselves and their family well, new ...2 weeks ago
- The Cost Of Silence: NZ’s Role In Standing Against Iran’s Repression
The piece highlights the recent execution of Jamshid Sharmahd by the Iranian government, discusses New Zealand's current approach (as well as that of other democracies) toward the regime's hostage-taking tactics, and suggests an alternative, more unified approach. ...2 weeks ago
- Horrific, heartbreaking, wrong: Who apologised, and how
Politicians and public sector bosses say sorry, but victims of state abuse have something to say, too, writes Toby Manhire in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Sorrow and substance ...2 weeks ago
- As te reo Māori grows, so does the search for trilingual interpreters
Deaf Māori face exclusion from their whānau and cultural heritage due to an extreme shortage of trilingual interpreters. Imagine being deaf and at the tangi of a loved one. You stand when everyone else stands, sit when everyone else sits, and stare at the lips of speakers, trying to catch ...2 weeks ago
- We have the ratings for Stuff’s ThreeNews. What story do they tell?
Duncan Greive analyses three months’ worth of ratings data to get a sense of whether Stuff and Three’s big bet is paying off. When Three shocked the country by announcing it was shutting Newshub earlier this year, as many as 10 groups are thought to have canvassed the idea of ...2 weeks ago
- The Treaty Principles Bill
Human Rights Commission’s Tino Rangatiratanga leaderJulia Whaipooti explains what has been happening. ...2 weeks ago
- Survivors Must Receive Redress To Have The Opportunity To Heal: Save The Children
Today’s vision shared of New Zealand is of an Aotearoa where every child has their rights understood, respected and upheld ensuring they live good lives now and have a bright future to look forward to. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt Axes Specialist Māori Body Advising Pharmac Without Consulting Māori
"This is another sad indictment of the priority the National-led Government places on improving the health of Māori," said Fleur Fitzsimons, Assistant Secretary for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi Public Service Association. ...2 weeks ago
- An Apology For The Apology? Blind Survivor Deplores Use Of Ableist Slur By Prime Minister At Histori...
“The phrase "turn a blind eye" is an inherently ableist expression that wrongly equates blindness with ignorance, neglect, or deliberate stupidity. This phrase reinforces the dangerous & outdated stereotype that blind people are less perceptive, capable, ...2 weeks ago
- Care Experienced Young People Say Apology Means Nothing Without Action
The apologies seemed sincere, but amongst those listening there was disappointment that there is still no redress system; and a sense that unless the apology is followed by action the words will seem hollow. ...2 weeks ago
- Ara Taiohi Calls For Abuse Apology To Be Backed Up By Rangatahi-centred Policies
We must build back better, build a system with rangatahi at its very centre. The legacy of this government will be measured by their ability to respond appropriately, to create a physically safe and emotionally nurturing environment for children and ...2 weeks ago
- ‘The room was aching’: Survivors in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch gather for apology
Joel MacManus reports from parliament as the prime minister delivers the national apology for abuse in state care, while Lyric Waiwiri-Smith in Auckland and Alex Casey in Christchurch join survivors watching the livestream. As Andrew Bridgman, the acting chief executive of Oranga Tamariki, began the speeches at the national apology ...2 weeks ago
- Three rooms, one apology: Survivors gather across the motu for abuse in care reckoning
Joel MacManus reports from parliament as the prime minister delivers the national apology for abuse in state care, while Lyric Waiwiri-Smith in Auckland and Alex Casey in Christchurch join survivors watching the livestream. ‘It’s not enough’ – Wellington As Andrew Bridgman, the acting chief executive of Oranga Tamariki, began the ...2 weeks ago
- Hollow Apology Fails To Resonate With Survivors
Today, the Government had an historic and monumental opportunity to start righting decades of wrongs against survivors. Unfortunately, the Government has yet again let down survivors who placed their trust in it. ...2 weeks ago
- TOAH-NNEST Rejects Choice Of Parliament For State Apology – True Reckoning Is Concrete Reform &...
The national network says the government should have chosen direct engagement at the flaxroots outlining concrete, meaningful actions for survivor restoration and systemic prevention to ensure this never happens again. ...2 weeks ago
- Home Education: The Baker whānau
Home Education follows the everyday lives of six families in Aotearoa educating their children at home. Today, education among whales and horses with the Baker whānau. The new docuseries Home Education is filmed across Aotearoa, in and around the homes of six families who have taken schooling outside ...2 weeks ago
- Great news: New Zealand’s favourite TV show about trucks driving very slowly is back
Tara Ward watches the return of Moving Houses. Seasons change, flowers bloom and bath water grows cold, but one thing never alters: the pulling power of a house on the back of a truck. Moving Houses returned to TVNZ for its third season on Sunday night, and with it a ...2 weeks ago
- The Baker whānau | Home Education | The Spinoff
“Family is always first” | Watch the full series: http://thespinoff.co.nz/videos/home-education 🐋 When a whale washed up on Tokomaru Bay, Israel and Petrina Baker decided it was important to take time out of school so that their tamariki could learn how to harvest the taonga. Truancy officers were not too pleased, ...2 weeks ago
- Review: Inside Mystery Festival, Auckland’s most secretive concert
Does a slightly dodgy gimmick make for a majorly shit music festival? As Lyric Waiwiri-Smith finds out, not necessarily. To have entered Auckland’s Mystery Festival on Saturday, you needed stamina, a fondness for drum and bass, break-neck-speed head bopping, a pair of jorts or those ruched Glassons short shorts and, ...2 weeks ago
- Takatāpui, Rainbow & MVPFAFF+ Survivors Lead Aotearoa’s Journey Toward Truth & Reconcilia...
The research from Takatāpui, Rainbow, and MVPFAFF+ survivors also highlights the urgent need to end State control over children’s care decisions, advocating instead for empowering whānau with the necessary support and resources to provide appropriate ...2 weeks ago
- The cost of being: A disabled beneficiary who often has to spend bus money on food
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a ‘skint’ 32-year-old on the supported living payment explains how she gets by. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Trans woman. Age: 32. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Long-term ...2 weeks ago
- Minister Using Extraordinary Power Shows Need For Fair Pay Offer At NZDF As Strike Continues
PSA members who are civilian workers escalated industrial action last week after NZDF refused to budge from a zero-pay rise offered during negotiations for a new collective agreement. ...2 weeks ago
- “The Beginning Of A New Chapter” – Care Experienced Rangatahi Hope Landmark Apology Will Signa...
VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai has been advocating for care experienced rangatahi since 2017, and CEO Tracie Shipton hopes the apology will mark the start of a new and better chapter for care in Aotearoa. ...2 weeks ago
- A national apology and what’s left unsaid
Government agency and political leaders will apologise today for decades of historic abuse in state care, writes Duncan Greive in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...2 weeks ago
- What is Cop29? A beginner’s guide to the big climate summit in Baku
Is the global conference more than just a gabfest, and what is it doing in Azerbaijan? What is Cop and why is it 29? Cop is the “conference of the parties” – that is, the 197 parties that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change born out ...2 weeks ago
- The new stalking law, explained
Legislation that will make stalking illegal will be introduced to parliament before the end of the year. Here’s everything you need to know. Hang on – is stalking currently legal? It’s complicated. A lot of the behaviours that constitute stalking, like sending abusive messages and threatening violence, are already offences ...2 weeks ago
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