Author Archive
The Striking Similarities Between Elon Musk and Wayne Brown
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 pm, November 9th, 2022 - 17 comments
Elon Musk and Wayne Brown both deliberately promote chaos.
Truthiness or Ignorance*
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, June 10th, 2022 - 53 comments
The world is too complex and hostile, so why bother trying to learn and understand.
Why do we* write Posts on The Standard?
Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, February 26th, 2022 - 28 comments
Why come here to comment?
The pandemic response is like driving a car
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, November 19th, 2021 - 11 comments
Staying safe from Covid-19 this summer can be as simple as a few basic steps.
Auckland could become a ghost town this summer
Written By: - Date published: 3:09 pm, November 18th, 2021 - 39 comments
Domestic tourism could become extreme tourism this summer.
Get a haircut and get a real job
Written By: - Date published: 5:19 pm, October 24th, 2021 - 63 comments
While our eyes are peeled on the 90% vaccination target, the ground under our feet is shifting.
Mad Tuesday
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 pm, October 22nd, 2021 - 15 comments
NZ Government is jumping at the deep end by re-opening schools on Tuesday.
Terra Incognita
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 pm, October 9th, 2021 - 25 comments
The future can seem scary but we do not face it alone.
Gut Feeling and Common Sense
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, October 6th, 2021 - 42 comments
With clear information people can and should be expected to make optimal and sub-optimal choices & decisions.
Priorities?
Written By: - Date published: 7:54 pm, October 3rd, 2021 - 16 comments
Is setting priorities just a matter of resources?
This turkey is struggling cooped up in a bubble
Written By: - Date published: 6:21 pm, September 29th, 2021 - 78 comments
Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas but Kiwis do, don’t they?
Fearmongering or telling it how it is?
Written By: - Date published: 5:14 pm, September 25th, 2021 - 29 comments
42 is not the meaning of life and 13 is not an unlucky number.
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 pm, September 21st, 2021 - 26 comments
Government has taken a ‘calculated risk’ with opening up Auckland somewhat tonight.
A little bit of understanding can go a long way …
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, August 19th, 2021 - 18 comments
Our online Persona is not us, but just a mask.
We Need Better Politicians!
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, August 2nd, 2021 - 24 comments
With the right people in power, we will get the answers we deserve, and our problems will melt away and scatter in a warm worriless wind.
What does The Standard mean for you?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 20th, 2021 - 60 comments
Let’s hear from you in this unscientific survey!
The Non-Partisan Populism of Popper’s Paradox
Written By: - Date published: 6:18 pm, May 22nd, 2021 - 91 comments
When democracy and free speech are hijacked to silence others, they can no longer support their principles and become a contradictio in terminis.
The Problem with Personification in Politics
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 19th, 2021 - 12 comments
It is a grave mistake to treat Ministries as if they are real persons.
Einstein versus Trump*
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 18th, 2021 - 10 comments
Einstein tried to explain complex things and understand reality; Trump tried to explain it away and distort reality.
Covid Zeitgeist
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, March 21st, 2021 - 31 comments
NZ politics needs recharging and renewal to move forward. We need more charging stations.
The Unbearable Lightness of the Bright-Line Test
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, March 13th, 2021 - 96 comments
The bright-line test is a red herring and does nothing to deter housing speculation.
You have 30 min to get your business in order!
Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, March 12th, 2021 - 77 comments
Government should have announced the decision for Auckland to go down to Level 1 first thing this morning.
So, You Want To Buy Your First Home?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 7th, 2021 - 75 comments
Money does not grow on trees, it grows on houses. It is pure magic!
An Introvert’s Guide to Spending Money*
Written By: - Date published: 1:38 pm, December 29th, 2020 - 30 comments
Don’t waste your money on shit, spend it on good shit.
Words of Outrage or Outrageous Action?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, December 24th, 2020 - 30 comments
Do you reward rage with rage or do you ignore it and walk away quietly?
Tranquillum
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 pm, December 6th, 2020 - 134 comments
Don’t expect a jellyfish to grow a spine, they just bob along on the current and keep moving, gently, slowly, kindly.
A Bit About How (my) Moderation Works (at present)
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 pm, November 29th, 2020 - 26 comments
An attempt to clarify some misconceptions and dispel some urban myths about (my) moderation.
PPE from a Universe Far, Far Away
Written By: - Date published: 2:33 pm, August 22nd, 2020 - 11 comments
An antidote against the pounding waves of BS coming from inside and outside Aotearoa.
A Stunt Scene from Mission Impossible*
Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, August 17th, 2020 - 16 comments
In NZ politics, the perception of fairness matters more than actual fairness.
National Has Found a Moral Compass
Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, June 6th, 2020 - 34 comments
National has embarked on a moral crusade to not lose the Election.
Is National Just Inconsistent or Incompetent?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 1st, 2020 - 65 comments
National’s new job-creation scheme appears to be inconsistent with their desire to fully re-instate the 90-day trial period.
- We need greater transparency on party funding
Yesterday Max Rashbrooke and Lisa Marriott released their report on political party funding. The gist of it can be gathered from the title: Money for Something. Big donors are donating big money for big influence over policy, and the current regime seems designed to facilitate rather than prevent this ...15 hours ago - Political Roundup: 29 November 2022
Items of interest and importance today POLITICAL FINANCE, PARLIAMENT, VOTING AGE Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Big money donors get access to PMs and party leaders – report Anna Whyte (Stuff): Political donations: Identity over $1,500 should be disclosed, new report recommends Brent Edwards (NBR): Research reveals influence bought through political donations Jem ...21 hours ago - How 2022 has substantially, and favorably, changed global climate outlook
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Anew analysis by the Global Carbon Budget, published in the journal Earth System Science Data, shows global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have fully recovered from the temporary dip driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, setting new records in 2021 and 2022. But it’s not ...24 hours ago - Gordon Campbell on entrenchment, and being ‘soft on crime’
Good grief. Is it really a grave misuse of power to entrench safeguards against the irreversible sale of key public assets? Hardly. If this country has learned anything over the past 40 years, it should be that New Zealand has suffered lasting economic and social damage from the previous sales ...2 days ago - Entrenching anti-privatisationLast week, Labour put the House into urgency to push on with its legislative agenda. Part of this included the committee stage of the three waters bill, and something unusual happened: they passed an entrenchment clause protecting the bill's anti-privatisation clause - meaning that a future government would need the ...2 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: The Misuse of power to entrench Three Waters legislationWhen governments become tired and lose their popularity – usually in their third term – they often become desperate to get their way and prone to misusing their power. This is currently in evidence with the Labour Government’s push to lock in elements of their Three Waters reform programme by ...2 days ago
- Revenge and rage optics continues to dominate the politics of the Right, even here. All voters deser...
The vapid cycle of self-serving performative rage when it suits… the screaming for repeal here, there and everywhere… the constant calls from columnists and the airwaves to “be angry”, for the public to just get up and be “stomping mad!”… Of course, none of this is the stuff from ...2 days ago - Top tweets on the Government’s Three Waters law entrenchmentCatching up on constitutional developments while I’ve been deep in the marking cave. And this one is a doozy — and perhaps concerning? An SOP entrenching a point of policy (ownership/control of water assets) was agreed, ie 60% majority needed to repeal.https://t.co/GRRXrmr6ZW pic.twitter.com/sm4MCOD85w — ᴅʀ ᴅᴇᴀɴ ...2 days ago
- A Strange Hill To Die On.
Last Stand? Has Labour’s caucus chosen the Government’s deeply unpopular Three Waters policy as the hill upon which it will stand and die? And, if that is the case, then – why?CURIA RESEARCH recently conducted a poll in the Napier electorate. Bad news for Stuart Nash, the Labour incumbent, whose ...3 days ago - 2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 20, 2022 thru Sat, Nov 26, 2022. Story of the Week The Art at COP27 Offered Opportunities to Move Beyond ‘Empty Words’ In Egypt, visitors encountered creative works about climate anxiety, sustainability ...3 days ago
- Revisiting the Big Three of Weird Tales: H.P. Lovecraft, C.A. Smith, and R.E. Howard
My October 2022 reading was marked by a reacquaintance with old-school Pulp Fantasy and Horror, specifically a binge through the collected works of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard. Two of those three are still well-known names among fantasy readers, but in the first half of ...3 days ago - Open Government: Another farceYesterday the government released its draft Fourth Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2023-24 for consultation. Like previous versions, the plan was meant to be "co-created" with civil society. And like previous versions, that obligation seems to have been observed mainly in the breach, with the government conducting a series ...5 days ago
- The Crypto Casino
Financial activity is too often gambling. Cryptocurrencies are the latest example.Gambling is a zero sum game: the proceeds of the winners are offset by the losses of the losers. That statement is not quite true because typically there is someone between taking a margin on each transaction. Patrons leave a ...5 days ago - Bryce Edwards: Why Labour capitulated on hate speech lawsThe Labour Government is currently fighting on multiple fronts that threaten its popularity in the run-up to next year’s election. Therefore, when a call had to be made about whether to push through divisive and poorly-designed hate speech laws, there really was no decision for Justice Minister Kiri Allan to ...5 days ago
- Josh Van Veen: Wayne Brown’s first monthWayne Brown has been Mayor for a month, and already he has done more to change Auckland than Phil Goff did in six years. The changes began even before Brown was sworn in. Only hours after the election results were announced on 8 October, the Chair of Auckland Transport Adrienne ...5 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2022Open access notables: Web bulb temperatures verging on unsurvivable are creeping into our world and heading toward familiar. That's the lesson we can infer from Dong-Quan & Sun's Effects of anthropogenic forcing and atmospheric circulation on the record-breaking welt bulb heat event over southern China in September 2021. Analyzing an event including 32.8°C the authors find: ...5 days ago
- An engineered recession is class warfareThe Reserve Bank has just come out and admitted that they are engineering a recession to protect the rich: The Reserve Bank is deliberately engineering a recession to reign back inflation after being slow to raise interest rates, Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr admitted to a select committee on ...6 days ago
- That’s no how you do democracyLast night, the English Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish government cannot hold an independence referendum. Having said that Scotland is not a colony, they then turned around and effectively said that they are, by forbidding them from holding a democratic vote on their own constitutional arrangements unless another country ...6 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on the centre-right’s internal ructionsFor donkey’s years, political commentary has been all about the binaries: left/right, Labour/National, government/opposition, she said/he said. Yet currently, a lot of the fascinating conflict is occurring amidst the centre-right. That’s because National, ACT and New Zealand First all happen to be fishing in the same pond for cranky and ...6 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Politicians and the Reserve Bank are being blamed for an escalating economic crisisWill the looming economic recession kill off Labour’s re-election chances? Is the Reserve Bank making things worse? And could a National Government do any better? These are some of the big political questions floating around after the full extent of the economy’s plight was made clear by the Reserve Bank ...6 days ago
- Josephine Varghese: From Obama to Sunak–do representational milestones mean anything more than sym...New Zealand media have recently discussed two major representational milestones in politics. Firstly, New Zealand Parliament achieving 50% women’s representation with the induction of Labour list MP Soraya Peke-Mason. Secondly, Rishi Sunak becoming the UK’s first non-White Prime Minister. Major media outlets have been celebrating these events as watershed moments ...6 days ago
- Gustavo Petro and the Civic – Military Campaigns
Gearóid Ó Loingsigh looks at the new government in Colombia and how it talks of peace while increasing militarisation The Petro–Márquez government is one which proposes to bring us to what they term Total Peace. The term and the proposal as such have been subjected to justifiable criticism, not least ...6 days ago - Labour attacks LGOIMA – in secretToday the government used urgency to introduce a new Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Bill. The bulk of the bill deals with land information memorandums (LIMs), requiring local authorities to notify of natural hazards and granting them immunity for doing so in good faith (hopefully forestalling lawsuits by ...7 days ago
- Climate Change: Fixing the Crown Minerals Act?Back in August, the High Court ruled that the Zero Carbon Act isn't worth shit and that the government can continue to approve new fossil fuel exploration without having to consider climate change. The core of the problem is the Crown Minerals Act, and in particular its purpose: "to promote ...7 days ago
- The True Cost
It is hard to take seriously the voices of those currently asserting that Brexit has come with a considerable economic cost. Where were those voices at the very beginning of what became the Brexit saga, when we were assured that membership of what was then the Common Market would produce ...7 days ago - Political Roundup: 23 November 2022Items of interest and importance today VOTING AGE Henry Cooke (Guardian): New Zealand’s supreme court has forced voting age on to agenda, exposing absurd arguments for status quo Henry Cooke: The only reasonable argument for retaining the voting age Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Local election voting age looks set to change ...7 days ago
- Phil Ferguson: a firsthand account of the Irish strugglePhil Ferguson is a founding editor of Redline and was a regular contributor. He has been out of action for the past year after suffering a stroke. He is learning to walk again and hoping to get back to writing. Tim Leadbeater sat down with Phil to talk about topics ...1 week ago
- The Most Pertinent Question.Why Now? As Rebecca Wright pointed out to Justice Minister, Kiritapu Allan, on Newshub Nation, a great deal of political travail could have been avoided by the Labour Government if they’d simply accepted the Royal Commission’s recommendation to extend the already existing legal protections against the incitement of racial hatred ...1 week ago
- FinallyAt the 2020 election, Labour promised to regulate property managers. Now, they're finally doing it: The Government’s announcement that rental property managers will be regulated has left the industry asking for more detail, and tenants calling for landlords to be regulated too. Regulating property managers was one of the ...1 week ago
- Young people must be allowed to vote
Let me just start out by saying that young people must be allowed to vote. Not because they are more enlightened than previous generations, but because the earlier people become voters, the more likely they will continue to participate in democracy.We have a serious problem in New Zealand with low ...1 week ago - How to counter holocaust denial – a particular type of hate speech
Plebity – a left free speech website looks at how to ‘counter hate speech with more speech’. This excellent article addresses one of the points discussed in the interview with Daniel Ben-Ami about how tolerance doesn’t mean silently allowing bad ideas or adopting a relativist outlook. WHAT DOES IT MEAN, ...1 week ago - Bryce Edwards: The High barriers to lowering the voting ageSixteen-year-olds aren’t about to get the right to vote anytime soon. Despite yesterday’s Supreme Court declaration that a voting age of 18 violates the Bill of Rights, there are still many barriers to get over before the voting age could be lowered. In fact, as a best-case scenario, youth voting ...1 week ago
- The Iran protests and the battle for Women’s RightsIn this Free Speech Union podcast Daphna Whitmore speaks with Dr Forough Amin about what’s happening in Iran after two months of growing protests across the country. Forough is a women’s rights activist and the founder of the Iranian Women in NZ Charitable Trust. Forough discusses the dire state of ...1 week ago
- The Sagas and Fairy Tales of the South Pacific: Maori Legends, as collected by Sir George Grey (1855...
As a Pakeha New Zealander who spent the majority of his school-level education in the lower North Island in the 1990s, I received a smattering of Maori cultural infusion. I learned how to count to ten in Maori, learned the names of colours, some rudiments of pronunciation from singing ...1 week ago - A victory for democracy!Today, the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Make it 16 Inc v AG, declaring that the law forbidding 16 and 17 year olds from voting was inconsistent with the right to be free from discrimination, and that it had not been justified under the BORA. Its a ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell on Qatar, Joyce Carol Oates and Mimi ParkerThe FIFA World Cup has kicked off amid laments about Qatar’s terrible human rights record, and FIFA’s greed in awarding them the Cup hosting rights in the first place. The criticism raining down on Qatar over its murderous treatment of migrant workers errs and its persecution of its LGBT community ...1 week ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Does New Zealand need to up its game with World Cup host Qatar?As the FIFA World Cup gets underway in Qatar, it is worth looking at the state of New Zealand’s wider relationship with the host nation. While New Zealand often likes to think of itself as a small country, it comfortably outranks Qatar in both size and population. In terms of ...1 week ago
- Elizabeth Rata: The Curriculum, intelligence, and democracyThe intelligence of the New Zealand population increased during the 20th century. Nutrition played its part but so too did education. Young people were taught the abstract knowledge of academic subjects and in the process developed secondary intelligence. Since the 1990s, the emptying out of prescribed academic knowledge from the ...1 week ago
- Where are Ukrainian refugees going? – an update
A temporary tent camp set up for Ukrainian refugees in Donetsk, in Russia’s Rostov region near the Russian-Ukrainian border, June 22, ... 1 week ago - If It Ain’t Broke, Why Fix It?Still Going Strong: Why has the Minister of Justice cobbled together a group of “progressive” academics, most of whom subscribe to the core beliefs of Māori nationalism, “decolonisation”, and te Tiriti revisionism, to “review” our political system? In the absence of any convincing evidence that our electoral machinery is “broke”, ...1 week ago
- 2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 13, 2022 thru Sat, Nov 19, 2022. Story of the Week Is COP27 the End of Hopes for Limiting Global Warming to 1.5 Degrees Celsius? The climate talks are going into overtime ...1 week ago
- Labour grovels to the bigotsIn the wake of the March 15 terror attack, the inquiry recommended tougher hate-speech laws. And after dragging their feet on it for a full year, the government has basicly said "fuck that": The Government has drastically watered down its hate speech reforms, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said on Saturday. ...2 weeks ago
- Are We in a Stagflation?
Recently, I have often been asked whether we (New Zealand or the World) are experiencing a stagflation. There is no meaningful ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. You have to define the term before deciding what is going on.Rutherford once said there were only two kinds of science: stamp collecting and physics. ...2 weeks ago - More police racismThe police annual report was released this month, with the usual statutory information on surveillance warrants and DNA samples. And it turns out there's some shocking evidence of racism among the latter: The proportion of youth DNA samples collected by police that belong to rangatahi Māori continues to rise, ...2 weeks ago
- The Political MinefieldPoor Christopher Luxon. His lack of political experience (and judgment) is constantly being highlighted – not least by his recent foray into the treatment of child criminality. So keen was he to draw attention to his assertion that “Labour is soft on crime” that he was prepared to run the ...2 weeks ago
- Media Link: “AVFA” on US midterms and Trump’s return.
After a small hiatus due to Covid hitting my household, Selwyn Manning and I resumed our weekly ” A View from Afar” podcast series with an analysis of the 2022 US midterm results and a look at what Trump’s decision to run for president again means for the GOP. You ...2 weeks ago - Bryce Edwards: National wants to brand the Govt as soft on crimeAs Government politicians put the boot into National’s bootcamp announcement yesterday, Christopher Luxon would have been celebrating. His populist announcement wasn’t only designed to scratch an electoral itch, but to cynically trap his opponents into looking soft on crime. And it probably worked. Soon after announcing his policy for bootcamps ...2 weeks ago
- Free Speech to fight anti-SemitismFree Speech Union member Daphna Whitmore talks with Daniel Ben-Ami, an author, and journalist based in London. His website “The Radicalism of Fools” https://www.radicalismoffools.com/ aims to develop a better understanding of anti-Semitism and its root causes. Daniel talks about different forms of anti-Semitism from the right and the left. He explains ...2 weeks ago
- Hello, do you know the difference? The Raytheon, Goldman Sachs Left is not the LeftThe left free speech site Plebity has published this handy chart. When you say left, you probably aren’t actually talking about the left. Find another name. Or at least understand the difference between the woke left and the traditional left which although largely silenced does still exist. Here is a ...2 weeks ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2022Notables: Presence or absence of stabilizing Earth system feedbacks on different time scales Arnscheidt and Rothman confirm the stabilizing effect of carbonate geochemistry on Earth's climate, at least on "short" timescales. More provocatively: "We have shown that the observations are inconsistent with a dominant stabilizing feedback on the longest time scales ...2 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell on the case for universal free dental careLike Banquo’s ghost, the issue of universal free dental care keeps hovering into sight at Labour’s top table. ‘Tis a goodly, progressive idea, but it is also one that’s been done in repeatedly down the years by the shafts of political expedience, some of which were fired again this week ...2 weeks ago
- Political Roundup: 17 November 2022Items of interest and importance today FOREIGN AFFAIRS Claire Trevett (Herald): Russia, China, a Trump comeback – PM Jacinda Ardern will face a big plate of troubles at Apec (paywalled) Thomas Manch (Stuff): Risky business: NZ seeks greater trade with Vietnam as China dependency causes concern Thomas Manch (Stuff): Prime Minister ...2 weeks ago
- New reports spell out climate urgency, shortfalls, needed actionsThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Michael Svoboda In the weeks leading up to the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, often called COP27, several organizations released major reports detailing the many difficult tasks on the climate negotiators’ agenda. Some of ...2 weeks ago
- Climate change: The cost of inactionA couple of days ago I highlighted National's opposition to all actual policies to reduce emissions. Now, the government has put some numbers on the cost of that, and it is staggering: nearly 24 million tons by the end of the decade: Labour says National’s promises to repeal its ...2 weeks ago
- The Facts Don’t Always Tell The Truth.2 weeks ago
- Bryce Edwards: Labour’s decaying policy on free universal dental careGrant Robertson has once again ruled out implementing a popular Labour Party policy: free universal dental care. He did so yesterday on RNZ’s Morning Report, citing the cost factor. The Acting Prime Minister suggested that spending on dental care wasn’t a priority for the Government and that the health budget ...2 weeks ago
- Grant says “no” againYesterday the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists released a report on dental care in Aotearoa, highlighting its unaffordability and recommending free, universal dental care. This is something the left has been campaigning for for a long time - Jim Anderton pushed for it before the 2011 election, and Helen Clark ...2 weeks ago
- On NZ foreign policy “independence.”For many years New Zealand elites have claimed to have an “independent” foreign policy, so much so that it has become a truism of NZ politics that transcends the partisan divide in parliament and is a shibboleth of the NZ foreign policy establishment that is parroted by media and pundits ...2 weeks ago
- Bryce Edwards: Momentum growing to reform lobbying lawsThis week global anti-corruption agency Transparency International released a report on lobbying, which described New Zealand’s lack of regulation as “glaring”. Transparency International New Zealand has developed an international comparison of New Zealand’s lobbying regulations so that MPs here can decide whether to reform this sector. Currently, a group of ...2 weeks ago
- The “Us versus Them” Worldview.Behind Closed Doors: What were the organisers of He Whenua Taurikura, the second hui called into existence by the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch mosque shootings, afraid of? Were they worried that journalists not 100 percent sympathetic to the ideals animating the hui might report ...2 weeks ago
- Don’t get fooled: Electric vehicles really are better for the climateThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons You may have heard the myth that electric vehicles are just as bad for the climate — or worse — than gas-powered cars and trucks. One common myth claims that the climate-warming pollution caused by manufacturing electric vehicle batteries ...2 weeks ago
- Privatisation screws the futureThere's a major report out today from 350 Aotearoa, First Union and the CTU about how National's privatisation of the electricity sector has led to entirely predictable outcomes of price gouging and underinvestment: Meridian, Mercury, Genesis and Contact Energy paid out $8.7b in dividends to shareholders between 2014 ...2 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell on abortion politics, Murdoch and the DeSantis surgeSo the Democrats did a whole lot better than OK in the midterm elections despite the cost of living crisis and despite the President’s low approval ratings. How come? In a word, “abortion” was the key mobilising issue. It inspired many women (and some men) to register to vote. In ...2 weeks ago
- New BookI have a new book being published this month. It is entitled “What Does It Mean to Be Human?” and is an attempt to arrive at a moral code of our own making – one that will serve all our interests and those of other creatures and of the planet ...2 weeks ago
- Three Little Words!The crucial moment in the Black Ferns’ Rugby World Cup triumph came in the closing minute. The Red Roses had used a penalty to kick to the corner, and from the throw-in that followed they had clearly planned to use a rolling maul to get the ball across the line ...2 weeks ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Jacinda Ardern’s Asia trip rekindles New Zealand’s independent foreign policyNew Zealand’s independent foreign policy is back. That’s a key underlying message from Jacinda Ardern’s trip this week to Southeast Asia. The New Zealand Prime Minister attended the East Asia Summit in Cambodia over the weekend. She will head to Thailand for the APEC leaders’ meeting later in the week. ...2 weeks ago
- 2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #45A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 6, 2022 thru Sat, Nov 12, 2022. Story of the Week What the tiny remaining 1.5C carbon budget means for climate policy The latest estimates from the Global Carbon Project (GCP) show that total worldwide CO2 ...2 weeks ago
- David Farrier’s unsettling new documentary ‘Mister Organ’ – a film to watch through your fin...
In this age of entitled white men behaving badly, it’s common to hear the term “malignant narcissist” Anyone who’s had the misfortune to be sucked into the orbit or one of these miscreants, (let alone been obliged to, say, sue one for copyright infringement) eventually learns that the ONLY ‘exit ...3 weeks ago - The End of Neoliberalism?
Gary Gerstle’s The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era is a frustrating book. It is an impressive sweeping history of American politics and economic policy from the New Deal in the 1930s to today, predicting that we are coming to ...3 weeks ago - Phil Ferguson on radical youth politics and the Irish republican strugglePhil Ferguson is a founding editor of Redline and was a regular contributor. He has been out of action for the past year after suffering a stroke. He is learning to walk again and hoping to get back to writing. Tim Leadbeater sat down with Phil to talk about about ...3 weeks ago
- Climate Change: Submit!Farming industry groups today released a joint statement against their own proposal - as adopted by the government - to price agricultural greenhouse gas emissions at the farm level. Its a perfect example of the bad faith with which they have engaged in the entire process, and of the industry's ...3 weeks ago
- Is is the beginning of the end of the toxic Trump TV show?
In 2016 the US electorate was feeling frustrated, let down, embattled, even desperate. It was – truth be told – willing to indulge its tendency for some racism and misogyny. So it screwed up its face, held its breath and reached out for Donald Trump. The years since have been ...3 weeks ago - Political Roundup: 11 November 2022Items of interest and importance today PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT Shane Jones (Herald): Stop the forays into identity politics, de-colonisation and global posturing, St Jacinda. We must focus on economic essentials (paywalled) Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Luxon is not yet the direct threat Labour is painting him as Jo Moir (Newsroom): Luxon set ...3 weeks ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #45 2022Catastrophic reverb Kemp et al. caused prolonged ripples with their paper Climate Endgame: Exploring catastrophic climate change scenarios. One can't help but think most of the heat is emotional, not intellectual; excited critics of the paper offer little more than "this sounds scary, don't harsh our vibe." Vague and even outlandish concerrns over terminology aside, true ...3 weeks ago
- Solar panels on car parks are a no-brainerThe Guardian reports that France is going to require all large car-parks to be covered by solar panels: All large car parks in France will be covered by solar panels under new legislation approved as part of president Emmanuel Macron’s renewable energy drive. Legislation approved by the French Senate ...3 weeks ago
- US court decision shows need for stronger protection of Māui dolphin
A decision by a United States Court to ban seafood imports from New Zealand shows the Government needs to do more to protect Māui dolphins. ...11 hours ago - NZ needs strong protection against water privatisationNew Zealanders deserve strong protection against the future privatisation of water assets, the Green Party says. ...2 days ago
- Political parties call for action on IranParties from across Parliament have come together to call on the Government to take decisive action to hold those responsible for violence and human rights violations in Iran to account. ...5 days ago
- Social workers need to see pay equity immediatelyThe Green Party is welcoming today’s announcement that pay equity will be extended to more social workers, and urges the Government to work with unions to get this sorted as quickly as possible. ...6 days ago
- Case for excess profit tax on banks clearer than everThe Government should adopt an excess profits tax and use any revenue raised to help people make ends meet, following the rise in the Official Cash Rate today. ...7 days ago
- Easing the pressure on New Zealanders
Since taking office in 2017, our Government has worked hard to lift wages and make life more affordable for New Zealanders, as we move forward with our plan to create economic security for all. ...7 days ago - Crown mineral change does not go far enoughLong overdue changes to the Crown Minerals Act are a welcome step in the right direction but the Government needs to go further to end the nonsensical search for fossil fuels. ...7 days ago
- Healthy Homes for all means a WOF and Landlord RegisterThe Government’s decision to exclude landlords from property management regulations means more than half of Kiwi rentals will be left out in the cold. And, where they’re kicking the can down the road on Healthy Homes Standards, the Government falls short on the basics that a Rental Warrant of Fitness ...1 week ago
- Time to extend the voting ageThe Green Party is calling on the Government to take immediate action to lower the voting age to 16. ...1 week ago
- Supporting Kiwi kids this Children's DayOur Government has put the wellbeing of children at the heart of everything we do. As we celebrate World Children’s Day, we’re taking a look at some of the ways Labour is working to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. ...1 week ago
- Hate speech change welcome, but still leaves communities at riskThe Green Party welcomes hate speech reform to protect religious groups, but is concerned that the exclusion of gender, rainbow, and disability communities sends a signal that these groups are less deserving of protection. ...2 weeks ago
- Young people deserve betterThe National Party’s plan to put children into military boot camps is so flawed it is dangerous. ...2 weeks ago
- Thousands more homes under LabourWe’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party solution better for Māori voters, not deal with NationalAn agreement between Labour and National misses an historic opportunity to make our democracy more accessible for Māori voters. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt must extend Samoa visa changes to all Pacific countriesThanks to Green Party pressure, visitors from Samoa can soon travel to Aotearoa without a visa – a right that should be extended to every Pacific country. ...2 weeks ago
- A cheaper, faster, better resource management systemOur Government is delivering a new resource management system that will better protect the environment while cutting red tape, lowering costs and speeding up the time it takes to approve new homes and infrastructure projects. ...2 weeks ago
- Nature missing in RMA reformThe Government has missed a crucial opportunity to redesign the resource management system with climate and nature at its heart. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt continuing to prioritise high income earners in immigration systemThe resumption today of the parent visa category needs to be followed by an end to the Government’s unfair salary based family reunification policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Supporting more Kiwis into jobsWe’re helping more Kiwis into work, to help support whānau, grow our skilled workforce and secure our economy for future generations. During our time in Government, we’ve delivered record low unemployment rates, as well as a steady fall in the number of New Zealanders receiving a main benefit, and we’re ...2 weeks ago
- Fix electricity market to help both climate and cost of livingThe four big electricity companies should be required to reinvest massive profits into cutting both household bills and climate pollution, the Green Party says. ...2 weeks ago
- Next Waitematā Harbour crossing must be climate-friendlyThe Minister for Transport can show climate leadership and consider only the lowest carbon ways of crossing Waitematā harbour. ...2 weeks ago
- Changes needed to three waters plansGreater local oversight and control, seven instead of four entities, stormwater staying with councils, and stronger safeguards against privatisation are among the changes the Green Party wants to three waters legislation. ...3 weeks ago
- Bold action needed on food prices and supermarket profitsSupermarkets are profiteering from families struggling to put food on the table. ...3 weeks ago
- Don’t let open banking close the door on action to address excess profitOpen banking is fine but the simplest and most effective way to address record bank profits is to tax them fairly to provide relief to families struggling to get by. ...3 weeks ago
- Māori education momentum rolls on with new wharekura
A new Year 1-13 wharekura will extend Māori Medium Education into Porirua West from 2027, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “The establishment of Te Kākā Kura o Ngāti Toa Rangatira will over time provide a local option for up to 200 tamariki and rangatahi on the western side ...9 hours ago - Easing administrative burden on farmers through new integrated farm planning projects37 new investments to simplify planning and reduce paperwork for farmers and growers Targeted projects for Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui, West Coast, Canterbury, and Otago Resources, a digital wallet and template tools to help farmers develop and integrate their farm planning. The Government is ...16 hours ago
- New Commerce Commission Chair appointedCommerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Dr David Clark has today announced the appointment of Dr John Small as the new Chair of the Commerce Commission. “Dr Small has made a valuable contribution to a broad range of the Commission’s work in his roles as associate member and member, which he ...18 hours ago
- Realising housing dreams for the Kāpiti CoastMuch needed public housing is on the way for the Kāpiti Coast thanks to the Government’s purchase of a large vacant plot of land at 59-69 Raumati Road in Raumati Beach. “This purchase will ultimately mean more families have a place to call home and demonstrates our commitment to resolving ...20 hours ago
- Decarbonisation industry milestone reached in TimaruA pioneering boiler conversion project is now up and ready to go, using woodchips to make potato chips, while slashing emissions. “McCain’s newly converted coal boiler will reduce CO2 emissions at its Timaru factory by 95% and is an excellent example of the great climate gains we can achieve through ...21 hours ago
- Fiftieth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations With ChinaChinese Embassy Reception Te Papa, Wellington Tēnā koutou katoa, Da jia hao Let me first acknowledge Ambassador Wang Xiaolong, thank you for the invitation this evening, it is a pleasure to be here. I would also like to acknowledge current and former Parliamentary colleagues, as well as members of ...1 day ago
- Govt keeps AM on the air in NorthlandMinister of Broadcasting and Media Willie Jackson and Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty today announced a $1.48 million package to fund the repair and replacement of three transmission masts in Northland to ensure AM radio can stay on air in the region. “This funding will secure the reinstatement of ...2 days ago
- Multi million dollar package to tackle retail crime and reoffendingA multi million dollar package to tackle retail crime and reoffending is the most significant crime prevention financial package in recent memory New fog cannon subsidy scheme set up. Government to provide $4000 for all small shops and dairies in New Zealand who want a fog cannon installed, with shops ...2 days ago
- Funding boost to support NZ’s game development industryNew Zealand’s game developers will receive an immediate funding boost to help support the growth of local studios beyond the current Dunedin centre. “New Zealand’s game development sector has been rapidly growing. The latest data from the New Zealand Game Developers Association shows the total revenue for the industry is ...2 days ago
- A new strategy for Pacific housingNew and existing housing initiatives are being brought together to improve home ownership for Pacific people said Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. Fale mo Aiga: Pacific Housing Strategy and Action Plan 2030, launched today, is the Government’s targeted response to the housing challenges faced by Pacific Aotearoa. Minister ...2 days ago
- Government takes action on pay parity for healthcare workersThousands of frontline community health workers – including nurses in aged-care facilities - are in for a pay rise as the Labour Government takes action on pay parity in the health sector. “I’m pleased to announce that Cabinet has agreed to on-going funding of $200 million a year so that ...2 days ago
- World’s first algae-based local anaesthetic another step closer to realityA partnership between the Government and the Cawthron Institute has delivered a breakthrough in the production of a potent microalgal ingredient for the world’s first algae-based pain medication, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced. “Scientists at Cawthron Institute in Nelson have developed a reliable and commercially scalable method for producing neosaxitoxin, ...4 days ago
- Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri and the Crown sign Agreement in Principle| Ka waitohu a Ngāti Mutunga o...Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri and the Crown have signed an Agreement in Principle marking a significant milestone towards the settlement of their historical Treaty of Waitangi claims. Ngāti Mutunga are based on Wharekauri/Chatham Islands and are the second of two iwi/imi to reach agreement with the Crown. “Today’s signing follows ...5 days ago
- Further ACC reforms introduced to ParliamentNew reporting requirements on access to ACC Earlier access to minimum rate of compensation Refinement to ACC purpose to focus on supporting all eligible injured people to access ACC The Accident Compensation (Access Reporting and Other Matters) Amendment Bill which aims to improve access to ACC for all injured people, ...5 days ago
- Government supports Chatham Islands' resilienceThe Government is supporting the Chatham Islands’ resilience to extreme weather events and natural hazards through a grant to secure safe drinking water, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty said. “Many households in the Chatham Islands lack easy access to drinking water and have been forced to get water to ...5 days ago
- New Chief Coroner appointedCoroner Anna Tutton has been appointed as the new Chief Coroner, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Anna Tutton was appointed as a Coroner in January 2015, based in Christchurch, and as Deputy Chief Coroner in 2020. After the previous Chief Coroner, Judge Deborah Marshall, retired Ms Tutton took on the ...5 days ago
- DIRA Amendment Bill passes third readingThe Government has passed an Amendment Bill today to support Fonterra’s move to a new capital structure and the continued success of New Zealand’s dairy industry. The Dairy Industry Restructuring (Fonterra Capital Restructuring) Amendment Bill will allow the Fonterra co-operative to make changes to its capital structure, as well as ...5 days ago
- Minister Whaitiri to attend Food Ministers’ Meeting with Australian counterpartsMinister for Food Safety Meka Whaitiri will attend the Fourth Australia and New Zealand Food Ministers’ Meeting in Melbourne on Friday. It will be the first time the meeting has been held in person since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted international travel. “The Food Ministers’ Meeting sets the policy direction for ...5 days ago
- New Kiwibank parent appoints directorsDavid McLean and Sir Brian Roche have been appointed as the first two directors of the newly incorporated Kiwi Group Capital Limited (KCG), the parent company of Kiwibank. In August, the Government acquired 100 percent of Kiwi Group Holdings, which also operates New Zealand Home Loans, from NZ Post, ACC ...6 days ago
- Defence Ministers meet in CambodiaMinister of Defence Peeni Henare attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Siem Reap, Cambodia. “The first face to face meeting of the ADMM-Plus members is an opportunity for me to highlight New Zealand’s position on key regional security matters,” Peeni Henare said. “In ...6 days ago
- Pay equity extended to thousands more social workersThe Government will extend pay equity to all community and iwi organisations who employ social workers and receive funding from the Crown, Minister for Women Jan Tinetti announced today. We expect this will improve the lives of approximately 4,600 social workers. “This extension means thousands more social workers will be ...6 days ago
- Taskforce set up to protect construction industry from product shortages & delaysNew ‘Critical Materials Taskforce’ will trouble shoot building materials shortages Focus on maximising productivity & cushioning businesses from supply chain risks Successful ‘Plasterboard Taskforce’ reshaped to include broader sector knowledge and expertise Will provide guidance, data and information to support builders, designers and business owners A new Critical Materials Taskforce ...6 days ago
- Bigger ED, more theatres and more beds in new Whangārei HospitalA new emergency department with three times more space will be part of the first stage of a two-stage project to build a new hospital for Whangārei and Northland. The Government has today confirmed funding for stage one of the new hospital – an acute services building and a child-health ...6 days ago
- Finnish PM to visit New ZealandFinland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, accompanied by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari and a business delegation will visit New Zealand next week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. The two leaders will meet in Auckland. “New Zealand and Finland are natural partners. We share similar approaches ...6 days ago
- New recreational rules to support hāpuku and bass fisheriesThe daily limits on recreationally caught hāpuku (also known as groper) and bass will be lowered to a total of two per person in some areas, with a new accumulation limit of three per person on multi-day trips. Oceans and Fisheries Minister, David Parker said the rule changes would take ...7 days ago
- Jobs for Nature enabling Mātāuranga MāoriMātāuranga Māori is at the heart of the latest tranche of Jobs for Nature projects set to promote biodiversity and reduce impacts of climate change on Māori land, Minister of Conservation Poto Williams says. Project work will include the creation of an ecological corridor in Tairāwhiti, protecting 60 hectares of ...7 days ago
- Supporting resilient shipping infrastructure in VanuatuThe Government has announced further support to Vanuatu to assist in constructing climate-resilient wharves as part of the Vanuatu Inter-Island Shipping Support Project (VISSP). “Aotearoa New Zealand is committed to supporting the economic recovery of our Pacific region in a way that continues to provide growth and supports climate resilience,” ...7 days ago
- Government welcomes High Court ruling on climate caseThe High Court has today confirmed the legality of the advice provided by the Climate Change Commission (the Commision) to inform New Zealand’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) and the first three emissions budgets. Minister of Climate Change James Shaw says New Zealanders can have confidence in the Commission and of ...7 days ago
- Government introduces changes to mining Act with stronger environmental focus· Crown Minerals Act will no longer actively “promote” prospecting, exploration, and mining of Crown-owned minerals · Will create more certainty around engagement between industry, iwi and hapū. The Government is proposing changes to modernise the Crown Minerals Act 1991 (CMA) to support more environmentally conscious management of resources, says ...7 days ago
- Speech to Building Nations 2050 conferenceTēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Good morning and thank you, Jack, for the introduction. I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge Infrastructure New Zealand Chair, Margaret Devlin and all the sponsors and organisers of this event for bringing us together in ‘Building Nations 2050’. I would also like to ...7 days ago
- Better natural hazard information for home buyersAssociate Minister of Local Government Kieran McAnulty has today introduced legislation to empower councils to share better information about natural hazards with the public. The Local Government Official Information Amendment (LGOIMA) Bill will make it easier for Councils to share clear and concise information in Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports. ...7 days ago
- New Zealand welcomes visiting WTO Director GeneralThe World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala visits New Zealand this week. Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor said the WTO was essential to New Zealand as a small export-dependent trading nation. “New Zealand’s economic security depends on our ability to trade. Our goods exports ...1 week ago
- Faster, cheaper, better resource management law given first readingNew laws that will deliver a faster, cheaper, and better resource management system had their first reading in the House today. The Spatial Planning (SP) and the Natural and Built Environment (NBE) Bills, which were introduced last week, will replace the 30-year-old Resource Management Act (RMA). Environment Minister David Parker ...1 week ago
- Minister Sio to meet new Vanuatu PMAssociate Foreign Affairs Minister Aupito William Sio travels to Vanuatu today, to meet with the new Government led by Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau and to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the Pacific Community (SPC) Ministerial Conference being hosted in Port Vila. Minister Sio will have a number of bilateral meetings with ...1 week ago
- Driving ahead with the Clean Car StandardFollowing discussions with vehicle importers, the Government has confirmed the Clean Car Standard will be phased in from 1 December 2022, significantly reducing the CO2 emissions of light vehicles in New Zealand, announced Transport Minister Michael Wood. “Emissions from our light vehicle fleet are the single largest source of ...1 week ago
- Speech to Constitutional Kōrero conferenceOur Evolving Sense of Nationhood – Me Anga Whakamua Indigenous Futures and New Zealand’s Constitution Tuia ki runga, Tuia ki raro, Tuia te here tangata, Mai i te wheiao ki te ao mārama Ka rongo te pō ka rongo te āo! Tīhei Mauri Ora! Kei ngā miro o te ao ...1 week ago
- Rental sector changes to regulate residential property managers, clear up meth confusion and ease pr...A suite of measures to improve the lives of renters and landlords has been announced by Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods as the Government makes more progress on reform of the rental sector. “Nearly 600,000 households rent in New Zealand and these measures will result in regulated oversight of residential ...1 week ago
- Further sanctions on the political and economic elites of Russia and BelarusForeign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta today announced further sanctions on members of the inner circles of governments in Russia and Belarus, as part of the ongoing response to the war in Ukraine. “Aotearoa New Zealand first moved against the powerful and wealthy in Russia with sanctions on political and economic ...1 week ago
- Another step towards improved supermarket competitionThe Bill to trigger an unprecedented shake-up of the grocery sector and deliver New Zealanders a fairer deal at the checkout and help tackle cost of living pressures is ready for its first reading at Parliament. “The duopoly has now been given plenty of warning. If they fail to adequately ...1 week ago
- Black Ferns to be celebrated at ParliamentA public event and celebration will be held on Parliament’s lawn on December 13 to celebrate our Rugby World Cup winning Black Ferns. “The Black Ferns’ triumph at Eden Park is one of New Zealand’s greatest sporting moments,” Grant Robertson said. “They are extraordinary athletes, exceptional people and proud New ...1 week ago
- The problem with entrenching party policy
The Detail - A move from the Greens to entrench a piece of the Three Waters reforms has thrown public discourse into chaos. ...59 mins ago - Rally To Defend Reproductive Rights On 3rd December
Pōneke Anti-Fascist Action (PAFC) is calling for Wellingtonians to stand up for the right for people to have safe, supported abortion - and to reject spaces that enable the far-right to spread their politics of misinformation. On December 3rd, ...9 hours ago - Albanese insists Voice will help ‘close the gap’, as divisions flare in Nationals
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As the Indigenous Voice provoked divisions in the Nationals, Anthony Albanese rejected the party’s claim it wouldn’t help “close the gap” for First Nations Australians. The federal Nationals, announcing this week they’ll oppose the ...10 hours ago - We all know the Great Barrier Reef is in danger – the UN has just confirmed it. AgainSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon C. Day, PSM, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University Kristin Hoel/Unsplash, CC BY-SA You might be forgiven for thinking it’s Groundhog Day reading headlines about the Great Barrier Reef potentially ...10 hours ago
- How Australian economist Sean Turnell came to be in and freed from a Myanmar jailSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney Macquarie University economist Sean Turnell is free and living in Sydney after 650 days of imprisonment in Myanmar, for what appears to be the “crime” of doing an economist’s job, which ...10 hours ago
- Politics with Michelle Grattan: Niki Savva on her book Bulldozed, Scott Morrison and the Liberals’...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Six months after Scott Morrison was ousted, he remains a centre of attention, with parliament set to censure him on Wednesday over his multi-ministry power grab. In exquisite timing, journalist Niki Savva’s book Bulldozed ...11 hours ago
- Yes, the Chinese protests are about politics and freedom. But they are also about what COVID might d...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Tasmania Kanis Leung/AP/AAP While a lot of attention has been given to the unprecedented protests in China about the “dynamic zero COVID” policy, not much has been written about the wider political ...11 hours ago
- ‘Zombie’ wage deals have hurt Australians for years. Here’s how new industrial relations laws ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Independent Senator David Pocock will vote for the government’s industrial relations bill. Mick Tsikas/AAP Imagine you were trying to design a system that would hold back wages. You would design ...11 hours ago
- Power Play: Three Waters anti-privatisation blunder adds to storm of controversyThe Three Waters legislation just got messier as the government tries to untangle a move which lawyers and opposition parties labelled as unconstitutional, Jane Patterson writes. ...11 hours ago
- National calls out Ardern over entrenchment comments
The National Party isn’t buying the prime minister’s comments that the issue of entrenchment should go back to parliament’s business committee. Last week, an unexpected move under urgency saw parts of the controversial three waters legislation entrenched, meaning more than the usual 50% majority will be required to untangle them ...12 hours ago - Everything I have in common with Terry PratchettCatherine Robertson rifles through Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins and spots strange and brilliant similarities with her own life. Beard: no Black fedora hat: no Over 100 million books sold: lolololololol, etc Beaconsfield: a town in the English county of Buckinghamshire, where Terrence David John Pratchett ...12 hours ago
- ‘Zombie’ wage deals have hurt Australians for years. Here’s how new industrial relations law c...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Independent Senator David Pocock will vote for the government’s industrial relations bill. Mick Tsikas/AAP Imagine you were trying to design a system that would hold back wages. You would design ...12 hours ago
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- At-home DNA tests just aren’t that reliable – and the risks may outweigh the benefitsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andelka M. Phillips, Senior Lecturer in Law, Science and Technology, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The field of genomic science is rapidly advancing, with commercial genetic tests becoming affordable and popular. Taking these tests is simple. The company sends ...14 hours ago
- Review: Welcome to Chippendales is true crime laid bareThe new Disney+ miniseries is a story of money, murder and men in thongs, writes Catherine McGregor. This is an excerpt from The Spinoff’s weekly pop culture and entertainment newsletter Rec Room – sign up here. The lowdown In the late 1970s, a nondescript Los Angeles nightclub became the hottest ...15 hours ago
- First voting numbers for Hamilton West byelection revealedAdvance voting opened yesterday in the Hamilton West byelection, and the turnout was, well, modest. A total of 686 votes were cast in the electorate. That compares with 1,709 advance votes in the constituency on the first day in the 2020 general election, and 1,319 on the first advance voting ...15 hours ago
- What did pregnancy do to my gut? From nausea to constipation and fartingSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Shutterstock It’s two weeks after the birth of your healthy bub and you notice your gut isn’t feeling quite right. Maybe you feel a bit bloated. Maybe you’re farting ...15 hours ago
- Underpaid at home, vulnerable abroad: how seasonal job schemes are draining Pacific nations of vital...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Apisalome Movono, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, Massey University Getty Images The economic impact of COVID on Pacific Island states, combined with major labour shortages in Australia and New Zealand, has created a perfect storm. A mass exodus means Pacific ...15 hours ago
- Ngāti Toa’s Long-held Educational Aspirations Are Set To Become RealityNgāti Toa is another step closer to realising our moemoeā to ensure our mokopuna are provided with a strong educational platform grounded in Ngāti Toatanga. Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira General Manager of Education and Employment Services, Bianca Elkington ...15 hours ago
- World of Wearable Art sold: ‘Time for a reset’The founder of the annual World of Wearable Art (WOW) showcase has confirmed the sale of the Wellington extravaganza to New Zealand company Still. The annual awards show has been held in the capital since 2005. According to the new deal, that won’t change and nor will the structure, staffing ...16 hours ago
- Binding Future Governments Will Weaken Our SocietyIt is a fundamental principle of our representative democracy that the current Parliament should not be able to bind its successors. The use of entrenchment to protect a piece of law from being changed or repealed via a simple parliamentary majority goes against ...16 hours ago
- F&P Healthcare lights up market, as its hefty R&D programme spurs fresh growth
Few listed companies on the NZ sharemarket can report a 60% decline in net profit, yet find investors reacting by bidding up the shareprice 13% in initial trading. Yet that was the achievement of Fisher and Paykel Healthcare this week. The company lit up the market, reporting revenue of ...16 hours ago - The protests in China, explained‘White paper’ protests have sprung up across China after at least 10 Uyghurs died while locked in an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Tze Ming Mok explains. Wtf, did these protests come out of nowhere? Nope. After China’s government successfully eliminated Covid via mass lockdowns in the first 2020 wave, ...17 hours ago
- New report asks for change in political donation rules“Our overriding impression was of a fundraising world that was often murky … a space in which high-net-worth donors, politicians, and party staffers mixed regularly — and where money was always in the air, even if not explicitly mentioned.” That’s the precis from Max Rashbrooke, researcher and co-author (with Lisa ...17 hours ago
- ACT Party sets out RMA alternative and transport policiesThe ACT Party has put forward a policy to replace the Resource Management Act by separating urban development from environmental protection. ...17 hours ago
- Paxlovid is Australia’s first-line COVID antiviral but Lagevrio also prevents severe disease in ov...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Cowie, Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Shutterstock Australia is experiencing the fourth wave of COVID for 2022, with the number of people hospitalised with COVID trending to levels seen ...17 hours ago
- Govt has a busy day dishing out funding to causes it deems appropriate but a fog shrouds crime-fight...
Buzz from the Beehive Biggish lumps of money featured in each of four announcements posted on the Beehive website, since Point of Order last checked on what our hard-working and big-spending ministers are doing. The government will spend $10 million on public housing in Raumati (and there’s lots more ...17 hours ago - CHA Backs Commission’s Call For Affordable Housing, Calls For Inclusionary Housing To Be Included ...The report from the Retirement Commissioner today highlights the importance of using the current RMA reforms to provide a nationally-agreed framework for inclusionary housing says Community Housing Aotearoa-Ngā Wharerau o Aotearoa CEO Vic Crockford. ...17 hours ago
- Auckland mayor ‘welcomes’ additional crime prevention fundingWayne Brown has welcomed the news of another $2 million in funding to tackle growing retail crime. Announced yesterday afternoon by the prime minister, the funding comes as part of a new crime prevention package unveiled in the days following the alleged murder of dairy worker Janak Patel. Auckland has ...18 hours ago
- How educational exchange fosters more than just learningAs international student numbers inch back to pre-pandemic norms, what do those learners gain from coming to Aotearoa? As the Covid-19 pandemic forced governments and individuals worldwide into a sustained state of higher caution, one of the most immediate and most impactful measures was the widespread shutdown of non-essential international travel. Now, ...18 hours ago
- 10 key takeaways from an astounding new survey of Gen Z New ZealandersA major new survey shows young New Zealanders turning sharply away from NZ made content and channels, writes Duncan Greive. A brand new survey covering the viewing and listening habits of Gen Z-adjacent New Zealanders has revealed behaviour which is predictable but still deeply challenging for those in the business ...18 hours ago
- New Zealanders Affected By Rare Disorders Share Their Struggles With Education System At Internation...Two representatives from the rare disorder community in New Zealand today participated in a UNESCO-led international meeting to discuss better inclusion in the education system for children living with a rare disorder. UNESCO is an agency of the United ...18 hours ago
- RSA Congratulates Maj Gen (Retd) Martyn Dunne On Award Of Timor-Leste Medal Of MeritThe RNZRSA congratulates Maj Gen (Retired) Martyn Dunne, CNZM, QSO on receiving the Medal of Merit of Timor-Leste which recognises his significant contribution to peace and stability in the country. The medal was presented on Monday at a ceremony ...19 hours ago
- Damning Greyhound Racing Report Highlights Doubts The Industry Should ContinueIn response to a petition from the Greyhound Protection League calling for a ban on greyhound racing in New Zealand, the Select Committee has released a damning report outlining doubts as to whether the industry retains the social licence required to ...19 hours ago
- ‘We’ll take anything’: The people fighting to keep fashion out of the landfillTextile waste is under the microscope and change is coming. But those trying to raise awareness say it’s not happening quickly enough. This is an excerpt from our weekly business newsletter Stocktake. For the past 20 years, Jeff Vollebregt has worked in flash corporate head offices overseas. “US and Europe and ...20 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Commission recommends retirement age stay at 65In a departure from advice from her predecessors, retirement commissioner Jane Wrightson said New Zealanders aren’t wealthy enough to cope with a higher pension age. The Retirement Commission makes policy recommendations to the government every three years. Wrightson said 40% of people aged 65 and over had virtually no other ...20 hours ago
- Newsletter: November 29 2022 – Items of interest and importance todayNew Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance today POLITICAL FINANCE, PARLIAMENT, VOTING AGE Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Big money donors get access to PMs and party leaders – ...20 hours ago
- Young New Zealanders Want Māori Language, Tikanga And Te Tiriti Principles Honoured At WorkA nationwide survey of almost 5000 Kiwis has uncovered startling data on our cultural competency – that is, our understanding and application of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in the workplace. Fewer than half of us ...20 hours ago
- More police on the beat, new pursuit policy on the wayAs the government unveils a plan aimed at preventing retail crime, the police have outlined how they intend to become more visible in the community and update their policy for chasing fleeing drivers. Police will have an increased presence and visibility in areas experiencing the most harm from serious retail ...21 hours ago
- The spectre of Covid policies past and presentProtests against China’s Covid-zero policy continue as cases rise here. Across the Tasman, the National party is banking on the ghosts of Covid policy past to lift its share of the overseas vote, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday ...21 hours ago
- A circular, more sustainable business modelHow do New Zealanders make their businesses more sustainable? As the head of innovation at the Ellen MacArthur foundation, Ken Webster literally wrote the book on building a circular economy. He shares his insights from an overseas perspective in this special live episode. Follow Business is Boring on Apple Podcasts, ...21 hours ago
- When it comes to delivery drones, the government is selling us a pipe dream. Experts explain the rea...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Smith, Research Fellow, UWA Minderoo Tech & Policy Lab, Law School, The University of Western Australia Shutterstock In early November, the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure invited public comment on proposed Australia-wide “drone delivery guidelines” it has been quietly developing ...22 hours ago
- Chasing future biotech solutions to climate change risks delaying action in the present – it may e...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tessa Hiscox, Microbiology PhD Candidate, University of Canterbury Getty Images The world is under growing pressure to find sustainable options to cut emissions or lessen the impacts of climate change. Technology entrepreneurs from around the globe claim to have ...22 hours ago
- Why does night shift increase the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease? Here’s what we know ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frederic Gachon, Associate Professor, Physiology of Circadian Rhythms, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland Laura James/Pexels Shift work means businesses and organisations can be productive for 24-hours a day. It was initially adopted to protect camps or cities ...22 hours ago
- COP27 was disappointing, but 2022 remains an historic year for international climate policySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Lake, Research Associate at the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, The University of Melbourne Sandy Huffaker/AP This year’s global climate negotiations at the COP27 in Egypt were disappointing. In particular, the international commitment to limit planetary warming ...22 hours ago
- Out of the coffin and the closet: gay vampires are no longer sub-text, they’re just textSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naja Later, Academic Tutor in Media and Communications, Swinburne University of Technology AMC There’s always been something queer about vampires. Vampire stories are traditionally rife with dark desires and invisible secrets from their early canonisation in popular culture. But what ...22 hours ago
- Where did the Earth’s oxygen come from? New study hints at an unexpected sourceSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Mole, Postdoctoral fellow, Earth Sciences, Laurentian University The amount of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere makes it a habitable planet. Twenty-one per cent of the atmosphere consists of this life-giving element. But in the deep past — as far back as ...23 hours ago
- Will we burn down this house before we learn to share it?Is this my nest or yours? What living with baby starlings has taught me about the true costs of climate change and the conscience of those who wield all the power. There’s a nest of baby starlings living in the extractor fan vent inside my kitchen wall. I’m afraid to ...24 hours ago
- This GP is signing outI am proud of the work that I do, but I am no longer proud of the system I work in, says this general practitioner. I am a full time GP in the suburbs of Hutt Valley. I love being a GP, and I have the privilege of looking after ...24 hours ago
- Protests against strict COVID-zero policy are sweeping China. It’s anyone’s guess what happens n...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David S G Goodman, Director, China Studies Centre, Professor of Chinese Politics, University of Sydney Public protests in China related to the government’s COVID-19 restrictions have hit the news worldwide over the weekend, following a fatal apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang last ...1 day ago
- Nationals declare they will oppose the ‘Voice’ referendumSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government’s bid to pass a referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice in the constitution has been dealt a blow, with the Nationals announcing they will oppose it. Nationals leader David Littleproud said the ...1 day ago
- PM denies it took Janak Patel’s death to trigger new crime prevention schemeThe same day hundreds protested outside the prime minister’s Auckland office against a lack of protection for retail workers, Jacinda Ardern revealed plans to deal with New Zealand’s rising retail crime problem. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports. Millions of dollars will be pumped into crime prevention by the government, though prime minister ...1 day ago
- Victoria faces a grave climate and energy crisis. The new government’s policies must be far bolderSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ariel Liebman, Ariel Liebman Director, Monash Energy Institute and Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University The Andrews Labor government has been returned in Victoria. It must now reckon with two particularly crucial challenges: runaway climate change and ...1 day ago
- Labour’s share of national income has been remarkably consistent since the 1860sSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jakob Madsen, Professor of Economics, The University of Western Australia Shutterstock Inflation and sluggish wage growth have raised concerns that wages and salaries are becoming an increasing smaller share of national income. Australian Council of Trade Unions head Sally ...1 day ago
- The enduring strangeness of Wuthering Heights and the woman who wrote itClaire Mabey reviews Emily, the film that attempts to unravel what may have inspired the writer Emily Brontë. “It’s an ugly book. It’s base!” says Charlotte Brontë to her sister, Emily. “How did you write it? There’s something you’re not telling me?” The question of where writers get their ideas ...2 days ago
- Brian Tamaki’s Freedom NZ applies for formal party registrationThe Electoral Commission has notified an application for party registration by Freedoms NZ. The party encompasses the Freedom and Right Coalition, the anti-mandate group founded by Destiny’s Church leader Brian Tamaki, as well as Advance NZ, the now-deregistered party led by his wife, Hannah, and the New Nation Party. Tamaki ...2 days ago
- The Past is Present: reflecting on 150 years of Chinese art at the National Gallery of VictoriaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Carroll, Senior Research Fellow, Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne Scotty So, Wearing a mask at the end of the Spanish flu, no. 1 2020 inkjet print 76.3 × 50.8 cm (image) 86.5 × 61.0 cm (sheet). National ...2 days ago
- Despite Labour polling below 30%, party strategists believe it can win Hamilton West, and general el...Although recent opinion polls have shown Labour’s support dropping below 30%, suggesting it is now the underdog going into election year, party strategists still nourish the belief the Ardern government may emerge from the general election able with allied parties to hold on to office. They are convinced the ...2 days ago
- A Kick In The Guts For Rural Nurses – Rural General Practice Nurses Once Again Overlooked By T...Today Minister Little announced action planned by the Government to provide pay parity for health workers. In his statement he made two conflicting statements: “The Government is committed to ensuring health workers are paid fairly and receive parity ...2 days ago
- Have Your Say On The Legal Services Amendment BillUnder section 18A of the Legal Services Act 2011, individuals seeking to access legal aid must pay a user charge to their legal aid provider. The legal aid provider may refuse to provide legal services until this user charge is paid, and take debt ...2 days ago
- Scott Morrison to face parliamentary censure for undermining political trustSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison will face a parliamentary censure motion this week, after the inquiry by former High Court judge Virginia Bell found his multi-ministry power grab “corrosive of trust in government”. Cabinet on Monday confirmed ...2 days ago
- Watch live: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media following Cabinet meetingJacinda Ardern has spoken about the "profound sadness and anger" at the loss of Auckland dairy worker Janak Patel. ...2 days ago
- Jacinda Ardern announces business support package targeted at dealing with crimeJacinda Ardern has spoken about the "profound sadness and anger" at the loss of Auckland superette worker Janak Patel - and announced support for dairy owners. ...2 days ago
- Too much fun is coming out of Otago – so the govt has put $2.25m into a trough for other regions t...Buzz from the Beehive It’s a toss-up to decide which is more unnecessary – the investment of $2.25 million of public money in an industry which has almost doubled its revenue over the past year or the drafting and legislating of a bill to have things done that could be ...2 days ago
- Where, and who, is getting buzzed by the Eagle police helicopter?Trespassing, petty theft, car crime – these data visualisations show what the Eagle helicopter gets up to, and where. This story was first published on Stuff. You’re in bed when it begins: a low, indistinct bass murmur. The direction is uncertain, the location distant. But the murmur sharpens, crescendos, until it’s ...2 days ago
- Covid cases keep rising – more than 27,000 last weekThe number of Covid cases continues to trend upwards, with 27,076 new community cases reported over the past week, up 3,008 on the previous week. On average, 3,863 new infections were registered each day, a jump from 3,434 the week prior. Hospitalisations were at 328 at midnight on Saturday, a ...2 days ago
- Protesters close road outside Ardern’s Auckland officeThe crowd outside Jacinda Ardern’s electorate office has swollen into the hundreds, with protesters spilling out onto New North Road. The main road has now been closed to traffic in both directions, with police vehicles parked across the lanes. The protest is one of dozens around the country prompted by ...2 days ago
- ProCare Disappointed GP Nurses Left Out Of Pay Parity AnnouncementNew Zealand’s largest representative of general practice teams is disappointed that primary care nurses have been left out of today’s pay parity announcement. This announcement is particularly disappointing as this is something that we have ...2 days ago
- Labour Votes Urgency For Over 20 New AmendmentsThe Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House) moved for a vote that urgency be accorded for over 20 amendments and additions laws, last Tuesday. The motion passed with Labour holding sufficient seats at 64 Ayes Labour, against all other voting parties in parliament, ...2 days ago
- Visually striking science experiments at school can be fun, inspiring and safe – banning is not th...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Kilah, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Tasmania Alexandr Grant/Shutterstock To a young mind, science can be magical. Perhaps you remember a visually striking or seemingly inexplicable scientific demonstration from your own youth? A liquid spontaneously and unexpectedly changes ...2 days ago
- Law Commission Starts Consultation In Review Of Adult Decision-making Capacity LawTe Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission has today published a Preliminary issues Paper, as part of its review into how the law should respond when an adult’s decision-making is affected. Kaikōmihana | Commissioner, Geof Shirtcliffe, explains: “There are ...2 days ago
- College Of Nurses Aotearoa (NZ) Welcomes Announcement From Minister Little Re Pay ParityThe College of Nurses welcomes today’s announcement from Minister Little that the Government is committed to addressing pay inequities for nurses working in Aged Care, Hospice, Māori and Pacific health providers. Pay parity for these nurses recognises ...2 days ago
- Protest for dairy workers underway at prime minister’s Morningside officeA crowd of protesters has gathered for a vigil outside prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s office in Morningside. Protesters, some of whom have shut their dairies for the afternoon, are being given black armbands to wear. Two police cars are present, and The Spinoff estimates that there are about 100 protesters ...2 days ago
- Can the TVNZ-RNZ merger meet the diverse needs of Pacific audiences?What does a Pacific man charged with threatening to kill a radio host have to do with the merger of TVNZ and RNZ? Samson Samasoni explains. This article is republished with permission from Pacific Media Network. In August 2020, a 60-year-old Sāmoan border security worker found himself in court charged ...2 days ago
- Aged Care Commissioner Welcomes Pay Increases For Aged Care StaffThe Aged Care Commissioner says pay parity for frontline community workers - many of whom work in aged care facilities - is long overdue and welcome. Cabinet today announced ongoing funding of $200 m a year to bring pay parity for workers in places ...2 days ago
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