Author Archive
The Todd Barclay debacle enters the sixth day of the news cycle
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, June 26th, 2017 - 61 comments
Through his never ending changing of the description of what happened in the Todd Barclay issue Bill English has kept the story prominently placed for six days in a row.
Bill English is no John Key
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, June 22nd, 2017 - 37 comments
During Dirty Politics John Key was able to stand in front of a group of reporters and with complete confidence make a series of statements the veracity of which was dubious. Bill English has shown this week that he does not have that ability.
Some random impertinent questions about Todd Barclay’s problems
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, June 20th, 2017 - 145 comments
Bill English has admitted that he knew about the tape that Todd Barclay says does not exist. And National have some serious questions to answer concerning Todd Barclay’s behaviour.
National’s Todd Barclay problem
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, June 20th, 2017 - 112 comments
Newsroom has released details about how National handled the police investigation into Todd Barclay’s alleged illegal wiretapping suggesting that Bill English thought it had occurred and that the complaint was dealt with in part by a payment from John Key’s Prime Minister’s fund.
New Zealand folds and apologises to Israel
Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, June 14th, 2017 - 81 comments
New Zealand has completely backed down from its original position of opposing the illegal occupation by Israel of Palestinian land and apologised to Israel for damaging the relationship.
Owen Jones’ and the Guardian’s Corbyn mea culpa
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, June 11th, 2017 - 57 comments
Owen Jones of the Guardian has posted a mea culpa about his pessimism that Jeremy Corbyn would succeed as Labour leader. But meanwhile blairites are claiming that Corbyn missed an open goal while at the same time calling for unity.
Labour excels in the UK
Written By: - Date published: 4:04 pm, June 9th, 2017 - 132 comments
Labour’s performance in the United Kingdom is phenomenal compared to expectations from even three weeks ago. What are the lessons for New Zealand Labour?
Is Donald Trump helping Jeremy Corbyn get elected?
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, June 7th, 2017 - 17 comments
Donald Trump’s closeness to Theresa May and his boorish behaviour over London’s recent attack may be helping Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to win this week’s general election.
Daily Review 06/06/2017
Written By: - Date published: 5:38 pm, June 6th, 2017 - 26 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
UK election goes down to the wire
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, June 5th, 2017 - 57 comments
In the United Kingdom the polls continue to narrow and Jeremy Corbyn continues to perform outstandingly well. Is the upset of all upsets possible?
Arise Sir John
Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, June 5th, 2017 - 261 comments
John Key has been awarded a knighthood. Want to know why?
When Earth’s future is under attack …
Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, June 3rd, 2017 - 35 comments
US Secretary of State and Oil Baron Rex Tillerson is visiting New Zealand next Tuesday. And 350 Aotearoa is planning to provide him with a warm reception.
Madman Trump withdraws America from Paris Accord
Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, June 2nd, 2017 - 213 comments
Donald Trump has announced that the USA will be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Change Accord.
National’s social media is starting to suck
Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, May 31st, 2017 - 46 comments
National’s social media have chosen a picture that sums up its policies well.
Government was advised the Accommodation Supplement increase will not work
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, May 29th, 2017 - 70 comments
Radio New Zealand has reported that the Government ignored two year old treasury advice to implement the increase in the accommodation supplement.
What the feck Greens
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, May 28th, 2017 - 138 comments
The Green Party caucus decision to support the Government’s tax reduction legislation is hard to comprehend and has created a perception of messiness in the way the Labour-Green MOU operates.
White middle class male privilege
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, May 27th, 2017 - 19 comments
Rohan Lord this week pulled out from being a Labour candidate because he thought his prospects of being elected were remote because he was a white middle class male. His comments displayed a complete lack of understanding of how the Labour Party works and ignores the fact that having a truly representative caucus is a virtue.
The Labour lite budget
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, May 25th, 2017 - 25 comments
From pre announced budget initiatives it is clear that today’s budget will provide National the opportunity to announce watered down insipid versions of current Labour Party policies.
No one owns water, apart from corporations who sell it …
Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, May 22nd, 2017 - 27 comments
The Herald has reported that ordinary New Zealanders are paying 500 times as much for water as corporations who export it.
Let’s green the red zone
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, May 22nd, 2017 - 91 comments
A Christchurch community group has come out with an outstanding solution for what to do with red zone land that is currently unusable.
The UK elections – Has Labour got the big mo?
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, May 21st, 2017 - 66 comments
And in the United Kingdom the election that was meant to be a foregone conclusion suddenly is suddenly tightening.
Slater v Craig – battle of the has beens
Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, May 21st, 2017 - 22 comments
The High Court this week has been asked to dissect the decline of the Conservative Party and of the 2014 form of dirty politics.
The possible privatisation of Ports of Auckland
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, May 19th, 2017 - 134 comments
The Government is attempting through coercion and cajoling to get Auckland Council to privatise Ports of Auckland.
National’s messy Israel position
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, May 16th, 2017 - 18 comments
National’s shifting position on Israel suggests all is not happy within National’s ranks.
Alfred Ngaro reprimanded for being “naïve”
Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, May 15th, 2017 - 52 comments
Alfred Ngaro has apologised to the Prime Minister for threatening the funding of voluntary organisations critical of the Government, not for expressing the views or even thinking them but for being naïve.
National threatens Government critics with loss of Government contracts
Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, May 14th, 2017 - 78 comments
Alfred Ngaro has told a National Conference that critics of the Government can expect to lose Government support for proposed contracts. And that Labour prompted concern about families living in cars.
The Trump White House descends into chaos
Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, May 12th, 2017 - 80 comments
Recent events suggest that Donald Trump has lost control of his administration.
Mental health problems are a figment of our imagination and the work of anti government protesters
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, May 10th, 2017 - 17 comments
according to Health Minister Jonathan Coleman
A young person’s view on why we have to change the Government
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, May 4th, 2017 - 78 comments
At Labour’s North Shore candidate Romy Udanga’s recent campaign launch a fourteen year old young man spoke about why he wants to work to change the Government.
Government misled families about Pike River
Written By: - Date published: 6:33 pm, April 30th, 2017 - 49 comments
TV3 has released video confirming that the atmosphere in the Pike River Mine was inert and raising major doubts about the claim that the mine was too unsafe to extract the bodies or to investigate the causes.
When a wannabe politician’s social media goes wrong
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, April 27th, 2017 - 10 comments
Over in Australia a One Nation candidate has withdrawn his candidacy after a merciless twitter attack and a photo of him in front of a swasticker mowed into a lawn and giving a nazi salute appeared.
- Barclay too wasted to speak
You’ve really got to wonder why Todd Barclay was selected in the first place and then protected by Bill English and the National party for over a year? He’s clearly unfit to be an MP.The kicker is that National party ...21 mins ago - How much longer can we take our water for granted?
The first message I sent home from New Zealand was about tap water.Sounds weird. True story.Having spent the previous five years drinking London water (you know, the kind of hard water that means endless scrubbing to get crusty, yellowy limescale ...36 mins ago - ATs new Statement of Intent
Every year Auckland Transport release a Statement of Intent (SOI), which is a document essentially saying what the organisation will be doing over the next three years and how that aligns with council priorities. This is one of the key tools ...5 hours ago - Inferno II: Better call soul
When I first read the Divine Comedy it wouldn’t have occurred to me to compare it to a television show – TV was a bit shit in the 80s – but now it does. The first canto is the pilot ...11 hours ago - Moderation in all things, even elections
The case for moderation is getting stronger by the day. We're hearing now that it's less than 100 days until the election, and until last week and the Todd Barclay story it had been a quiet build-up so far, with ...14 hours ago - Shake your money-maker
Young New Zealanders are showing they care, by pushing for change at the companies they invest in and support. Susan Strongman reports. Students, staff and alumni of the University of Auckland are calling on the institution to divest ...17 hours ago - The police were created to control working class and poor people
We’ve just added the US-based Labor and Working Class History Association to our list of links. Below is an article that gives a taste of the kind of material that appears on the LAWCHA site; while the article is from ...17 hours ago - We are heading for the warmest climate in half a billion years
Gavin Foster, Professor of Isotope Geochemistry, University of Southampton; Dana Royer, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, and Dan Lunt, Professor of Climate Science, University of Bristol This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original ...18 hours ago - What you should see at the NZ International Film Festival
Overwhelmed with options? We're here to help. Anna Billing's The Love Witch. Photo: YouTube It’s film festival season once more! And you know what that means: Another bitter winter spent braving the elements, evading snobby ...21 hours ago - I do not care about Todd Barclay’s lifestyle
The Todd Barclay saga hit the sewer this morning with a Newsroom article on Glenys Dickson's negotiations with Parliamentary Services, which included implications about Todd Barclay's lifestyle. The Barclay scandal raises several matters of public interest. Whether Barclay broke ...22 hours ago - Three Waters Infrastructure; What does Auckland need? – Part 2 – Water Supply
One the major prerequisites we need to build the houses we need to combat our housing crisis is infrastructure, without it, the development can’t occur. This post is about a highly but often forgotten element of infrastructure Three Waters – Water Supply, Wastewater ...24 hours ago - Sucking New Zealand dry
It seems totally insane to allow companies to bottle one of our most precious resources, water, and sell it overseas at a huge markup without any proper recompense for New Zealand.Today, the NZ Herald reported:NZ Pure Blue wants to send ...1 day ago - Why we need to price water IIIAnother day, and another announcement of a water bottling firm wanting to suck us dry: Millions of litres of crystal clear spring water could be bottled and shipped overseas in a proposal backed by the local council. NZ Pure Blue ...1 day ago
- Todd Barclay timeline
The timeline of the Todd Barclay scandal is interesting, not just because it shows how long the National party was able to cover-up what looks like criminal behaviour by one of their MPs, but also because it shows just how ...1 day ago - Just say no to BroadspectrumNational wants to sell 2500 state houses in Christchurch,as part of its plan to exit the state housing sector and make government suck. And who do they want to sell them to? Broadspectrum:One of the consortiums shortlisted to buy Housing ...1 day ago
- Huge high country station risks going to overseas ownership
The real estate advertisement is spot on in describing Mt White Station as an “iconic” South Island high country station. The 40,000 hectare property is adjacent to Arthur’s Pass National Park and the upper reaches of the Waimakariri River. Mt ...1 day ago - Hard News: Drug policy: women lead the way
There's a game you can play at conferences in any sector: count the women scheduled to speak and contemplate how far the event is from a true share of voices. The New Zealand Drug Foundation's two-day Parliamentary Drug Law Symposium ...1 day ago - What to do when you’ve given up on buying a home
When your quarter acre dream is crushed, here’s what experts say you should do with your money instead. Illustration: Rachel Neser Ever heard of the one where a 20-something-year-old buys an actual liveable house in Auckland in ...1 day ago - Darwin, sexual selection and Putin
Credit: RussiaFeed. Must edge my way back in into blogging after a period of mourning. So here is something provocative. Perhaps President Putin is “making Russia great again” in a way we haven’t thought of. Via Darwinian sexual selection? If this song ...1 day ago - Te Kuha, the Sacrificial Lamb
by Zella Downing The idea of throwing a virgin into a volcano to appease the gods and prevent the inevitable seems somewhat comical in 2017, but 1st World, 21st century New Zealand is doing much the same thing. Sacrificing ...1 day ago - How Does Immigration Benefit the New Zealand Economy?During the Vogel boom, say between 1871 and 1881, the population of New Zealand doubled, as did real GDP (as best as we can measure). That means per capita GDP was much the same at the end of the boom ...1 day ago
- What the Team NZ win could mean for improving our city
1 day ago - Reflections on the Child Youth and Family Review: On evidence and prevention
This Briefing Paper critiques two aspects of the recent CYFS Review process of child protection services. A wider analysis of the process is in my longer report, an extract from which has also been published as a Briefing Paper ...1 day ago - Gordon Campbell on the America’s Cup
Column – Gordon Campbell W ith hindsight, the $5 million that then-Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce grudgingly allocated back in 2013 to keep the America’s Cup squad together has proved to be one of the government’s more successful exercises ...1 day ago - Team New Zealand perfectly poised to lose 7-6
Peter Burling says that setting this up was a “very delicate process” that required making sure to lose just one race before getting to six points. After two consecutive wins against Team Oracle in Bermuda, Emirates Team New Zealand have ...2 days ago - Don’t want lurkers tracking you on Snapchat’s Snap Map? You’ve got options
Snapchat already knew where you were. Now decide whether you want to share that info with your friends - or not. Snapchat is billing the app's new Snap Map update as a "a whole new way to explore ...2 days ago - New study confirms the oceans are warming rapidly
As humans put ever more heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, the Earth heats up. These are the basics of global warming. But where does the heat go? How much extra heat is there? And how accurate are our measurements? These ...2 days ago - Our Brand Is Uselessness part 5
Alienation, capitalist crisis, Economics, Unemployment, United States – economy, Workers’ rights, World economy A six-part series by Laurence Peterson documenting an example of downward mobility in Post-Meltdown America Part 5: Yuletide Epiphanies The author experiences a mildly excruciating revelation regarding his employer’s client’s attitude towards him Toward the ...2 days ago - Gender quotas weed out incompetent men – study
Does a new study answer an old debate? Photo: 123rf New research from the London School of Economics has found gender quotas can weed out “mediocre men” from politics and business. The merits of quotas and targets ...2 days ago - OIA timeliness complaintsOfficial Information Act requests are supposed to be responded to "as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working days after the day on which the request is received". But as we all know, delays ...2 days ago
- The British used waterboarding in Northern IrelandIts long been known that the British government used torture in Northern Ireland during "the troubles". The Five Techniques were the subject of a case before the European Court of Human Rights, and it has since emerged that (contrary to ...2 days ago
- Hard News: Blockchain, what is it?Many people will have heard Blockchain or “distributed ledger technology” and some may have dismissed it as hype – especially when you hear claims that Blockchain is possibly the most important IT invention of our age. But no matter what ...2 days ago
- What Kiwirail is investing their budget money in
In the government’s budget last month, they allocated $450 million to Kiwirail over the next two years $450 million of that funding will be invested in KiwiRail over the next two financial years. “KiwiRail has achieved significant productivity and efficiency ...2 days ago - The heart in the horror of Spookers
It's the largest haunted attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, an Auckland institution and, now, a film. We talk to director Florian Habicht about the people and the past of Spookers. Photo: Greta Anderson If you’ve ever been to Spookers, you’ll ...2 days ago - Hard News: How journalism looks nowThere is more than one thing to be taken from the BBC Panorama programme London Tower Fire: Britain's Shame. The first is, of course, its damning indictment of the authorities whose catastrophic failure of care allowed so many people to ...2 days ago
- Climate change: To the courts!There's an interesting case in court today: student Sarah Thomson is challenging the government's climate change target:Sarah Thomson, 26, will have her case against Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett for the perceived failure to set emissions targets that reflect the ...2 days ago
- Not grovelling after allLast week, after a report in Stuff, I accused the Labour Party of grovelling to the almighty cow by backing away from resource rentals for water. But it turns out they were misreported:“It was reported following my speech to Federated ...2 days ago
- Growing up at Granddad’s – A Matāriki story
As we walk forward into new beginnings, Matāriki reminds us of our past, loved ones who are no longer with us and the memories we shared with our whānau. Chev Hassett shares his story. With the whānau back ...2 days ago - The racist right wing
2 days ago - Corbyn at Glastonbury
Although this video of Jeremy Corbyn speaking at Glastonbury has already torn up lefty Twitter and Facebook, it deserves all the plugging it can get: The full text is here, and it’s a demonstration of how to communicate progressive values ...2 days ago - Reviewing the OECD’s economic reviewThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the ‘rich countries club’, conducts an economic survey of its members. They just published their latest (2017) edition for New Zealand, which makes for some interesting reading. While the OECD’s reviews reflect its ...2 days ago
- National Party Congress breakout: How to Deal with a Scandal
This weekend many hundreds of National Party delegates have descended on Wellington for the party’s pre-election congress. Apart from sounding slightly rude, this gathering is designed to pump the troops before the cut and thrust of this year’s, undoubtedly, turgid ...3 days ago - TV Commercials – How Bad Are They?
When my wife and I returned home from England 23 years ago, one aspect of New Zealand life we noticed was the length of the commercial breaks on television. I could get down to the end of a long drive ...3 days ago - Do We Have to Put Up with Mike Hosking?Why do so many people dislike Mike Hosking? On the face of it, he has everything needed to host a successful daily television show. He is nice-looking (if you like that sort of thing), articulate and intelligent (or passably intelligent ...3 days ago
- Sunday readsA few pieces that caught my eye this week. Bec Shaw: Fat of the Furious I couldn’t write about what happened at the time because I felt so despairing when Roxane Gay discussed how humiliated the incident made her feel. ...3 days ago
- Sunday reading 25 June 2017
Welcome back to Sunday reading. It’s been a pretty interesting week in New Zealand politics, if you’ve been reading. But that’s not what this is about, so we’re not going to talk about it. Here’s a thought-provoking factoid about technological ...3 days ago - 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #25
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. Editor's Pick From heatwaves to hurricanes, floods to famine: seven climate change hotspots Global warming will not affect everyone equally. Here we look ...3 days ago - Foot in Mouth Award – Nicky Wagner, because disabilities issues are such a drag on a nice day
. . Bennett had it (and probably still does)… . . Key had it; . . … still had it; . . Aaron Gilmore had it; . . Steven Joyce has it; . . Alfred Ngaro has it; . . ...4 days ago - Opinion: I would never listen to any of my employees
By Winston Peters. By my count, it’s been four days since the Prime Minister and his smarmy little yuppie were exposed for what they are: liars, crooks, filthy, cronyistic, career-politician peddlers of self-interested rubbish. One of them is gone and ...4 days ago - Todd Barclay, Bill English and the OUTRAGE that is the Labour PartyThis week has been an interesting week in New Zealand politics. Here at MyThinks we thought we would ask our alt-right correspondent Richard Sevenhouses to pen a few words on his thoughts. Over to you Dick. This week started out ...4 days ago
- National penalising Kiwi homebuyers
The National led government appears to not give a damn that the levels of home ownership in New Zealand are continuing to decline.After much public and media concern about housing, the government through the Reserve Bank changed lending criteria in ...4 days ago - This is why they can’t have nice thingsEarlier this year I bought the book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign for my Dad. Here's how one reviewer opens his account of that account:read more ...4 days ago
- Nick Smith lied about combustible panels in NZ
The Grenfell Tower fire, which has caused many more deaths than the 79 currently confirmed, was thought to have started because of a faulty refrigerator. However the cause of the fire spreading so quickly has been identified as substandard combustible cladding, ...4 days ago - Christie’s law based on court incompetency
The killing of Christie Marceau was a very terrible thing, not least of all because it could have been prevented if the court system wasn't incompetent. Amongst other things, that’s one of the findings the inquest into her murder should ...4 days ago - Flashback Saturday: “What’s wrong with this picture?”
This post originally appeared in June 2012. Now I’m sure many of you will assume that this post is going to be about the old thing on rails in the middle of this picture but that isn’t what interests me ...4 days ago - A call to Israelis to disrupt the occupationAn Israeli sniper aiming at Palestinian protestors with live ammunition during confrontations following a protest against the occupation and in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, 26 May. Two weeks ...4 days ago
- Trumpwatch – How Elon Musk can overcome Trump’s climate-change obstinacy. . Fun Fact #1: “According to an ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880. Two-thirds of ...5 days ago
- If North Korea didn’t exist the US would create itUS naval carrier taking part in manoeuvres off coast of Korea; Photo by JO JUNG-HO / Yonhap via AP) by Nizar Visram IN its latest move early June 2017, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution drafted ...5 days ago
- Correcting the wrongs of the pastGermany is to pardon and compensate victims of a Nazi-era anti-homosexual law: Germany’s parliament has voted to quash the convictions of 50,000 gay men sentenced for homosexuality under a Nazi-era law that remained in force after the second world war. ...5 days ago
- Farewell Gchat. Now we have to Hangout.
We pay tribute to the home of inane online chat. The sun has almost set on Gchat. Photo: 123rf On Monday, millions of office workers will wipe away a tear as instant messaging system Gchat is shut ...5 days ago - Grenfell Tower: the voice of a firefighterThis piece of writing is up on the Facebook ‘Save the Fire Service’ page and begins with ‘”Sent to us at STUKFS, powerful and emotional story from a firefighter who attended Grenfell Tower” (STUKFS is Save the UK Fire Service); ...5 days ago
- New Zealand votes against international lawOver fifty years ago, Britain stole the Chagos Islands and forcibly expelled their inhabitants to Mauritius to make way for a US military base. Since then, they've been fighting for justice through the UK courts, and most recently at the ...5 days ago
- Pull the other oneIssues around illegal interception of communications have been prominent in the media over the last few years. There's the Kim Dotcom case, of course, and all the GCSB's shennanigans around driftnetting communications (including those of New Zealanders) from our Pacific ...5 days ago
- East-West questioned in ParliamentThe East-West Link has been in the news a bit recently, such as on TV3’s The Nation on Saturday where Simon Bridges received a grilling about the business case. Cam has also written recently about the economics of the project and ...5 days ago
- French elections: Macron’s hollow ‘majority’by René Gimpel And so it came to pass – the prodigal obtained his majority. Emmanuel Macron, youngest French president and elected to public office for the first time, last year conjured up ex nihilo a political party, ...5 days ago
- The End of a Promising CareerMy twenty years in parliamentary politics taught me that, contrary to the opinions of many, most politicians pursue a political career for other than exclusively self-serving reasons. Most genuinely want to serve their fellow citizens or believe that they can ...5 days ago
- Unpaid, unhappy and over here – Labour’s intern scandal explained
What a mess. The gates of Awataha Marae, where the interns were staying. Photo: Mihingarangi Forbes/RNZ . WHAT WAS THE INTERNSHIP SCHEME? About 85 interns from overseas arrived in New Zealand to join the ...5 days ago - No comparison in substandard housing
The hypocrisy of the right wing concerning substandard accommodation couldn’t be more apparent this week. Happy to try and take the focus off of their Todd Barclay problem, the right wing propagandists are clearly overreacting to Labour’s voluntary overseas student's ...5 days ago - Hard News: Friday Music: Digging ASMRA week ago today on Lorde Listening Day, the singer and producer Chelsea Jade (who has a good new tune out, see below) tweeted that she was "getting ASMR shivers cascading down my skull from ella's voice all through this ...5 days ago
- Keeping up with the Kontentsphere
Has another week passed you by with nary a fleeting glance at the weird and wonderful world of online content? Do you quake with fear at the prospect of rolling up to yet another Friday drinks with no idea what’s ...5 days ago - Bill English must resign
The Todd Barclay debacle highlights just how dishonest many right wing politicians really are. For over a year Bill English and the National party maintained a lie, even reselecting Barclay knowing that he had committed a potential crime.Yesterday, the NZ ...5 days ago - Twitter is ridiculing ‘racist propaganda’ Hobson’s Pledge
Don Brash-led trust is stepping up its campaign to abolish what it claims is Māori favouritism. Straight in the fire. Photo: Twitter / Vincent O'Malley A group targeting what it says is rife “race-based privilege” in New ...5 days ago - London’s new transport strategy
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, recently released his new transport strategy and – in short – it looks fantastic. Crucially, the strategy recognises that transport is – literally – a means to an end and it really focuses on the ...5 days ago - What’s that banner up the top all about?Whether you visit Pundit frequently or just stop by now and then, you might have noticed recently a new banner across the top of the site and a bright red button on the right hand panel. They're there because the ...6 days ago
- Claiming that Listerine alleviates cold symptoms is false: To repeat or not to repeat the myth durin...
With terms such as “post-truth” and “fake news” becoming increasingly prominent in the media and public discourse, the ability to effectively correct inaccurate information has never been more pertinent. Unfortunately, the task of correcting misinformation is far from trivial. In ...6 days ago
- Typhoid report shows health officials under the hammer
A chaotic picture has emerged around the response of Auckland public health officials to this year’s typhoid outbreak, says Aupito William Sio Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesman. “Our Pacific community was left exposed by the Auckland Regional Public Health Services’ ...23 hours ago - Huge high country station risks going to overseas ownership
The real estate advertisement is spot on in describing Mt White Station as an “iconic” South Island high country station. The 40,000 hectare property is adjacent to Arthur’s Pass National Park and the upper reaches of the Waimakariri River. Mt ...1 day ago - Bill English must be upfront about his involvement in Barclay scandalBill English’s explanations that he was on the periphery of the long running employment dispute involving Todd Barclay don’t stack up, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister claims to have been a bystander, but we know he was ...2 days ago
- Labour will not resile from royaltiesLabour believes cleaning up our rivers so that they are clean enough to swim in is the most important freshwater issue for this election, but that it is also fair that a royalty should be charged where public water is ...3 days ago
- With friends like Hone, who needs enemies?With less than three months until the election, Hone Harawira has delivered another blow to the Māori Party’s flagship policy of Te Ture Whenua Māori reform and the already unstable MANA-Maori Party alliance, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “On The ...3 days ago
- Shifty Bill jumps the sharkBill English's claim today that it has never been established that Todd Barclay's recordings of his staff took place is bizarre and shows a complete lack of honesty and leadership, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. "Todd Barclay told Bill ...4 days ago
- Te Ture Whenua – gone by lunchtime?Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has to front up about yesterday’s mysterious withdrawal of Te Ture Whenua Bill from Parliament’s order paper, says Labour’s Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “Has he lost his way and has decided to run ...5 days ago
- Bill English ignorance of law beggars beliefFor Bill English to claim he and others in the National Party didn’t realise the law may have been broken in the Todd Barclay taping scandal is simply not credible, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister ...5 days ago
- Government ignored advice on Pacific people’s superannuationThe Government ignored advice from the Ministry of Pacific Peoples that raising the Superannuation age of eligibility would have a ‘disproportionately high impact’ on Pacific people, says Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson Aupito William Sio. “The Ministry for Pacific ...5 days ago
- Bill English misleads Parliament on Police statementBill English's attempt to restore his damaged credibility over the Todd Barclay affair has backfired after his claim to have "reported" Mr Barclay's actions to Police has proven not to be true, says Labour MP for Wellington Central Grant Robertson. ...6 days ago
- Keep it PublicThe Green Party strongly supports the Tertiary Education Unions call to #KeepitPublic Keep what public? Out quality tertiary education system that National is trying to open up to more private for-profit providers with a new law change. The (Tertiary Education ...6 days ago
- This ‘technical error’ is hurting big timeJonathan Coleman cannot resort to his ongoing litany that the Ministry of Health’s $38 million budget blunder is an error on paper only, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark. “He might keep saying it’s a ‘technical error’ but the reality ...6 days ago
- Labour to invest in public transport for Greater ChristchurchLabour will commit $100m in capital investment for public transport in Greater Christchurch, including commuter rail from Rolleston to the CBD, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “As the rebuild progresses, there are huge opportunities for Greater Christchurch, but ...6 days ago
- Green Party will repeal solar taxIt’s ridiculous for an electricity distribution monopoly to apply a charge on solar panels but worse than that, it’s harming our effort to tackle climate change. Hawke’s Bay lines company Unison last year announced a new solar charge for their ...7 days ago
- English fails the character test over BarclayBill English is hoping this scandal will go away, but he is still dodging important questions over his role in covering up for Todd Barclay, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. ...7 days ago
- Government must apologise for Christchurch schools stuff-upThe Ombudsman’s findings that the Ministry of Education botched the reorganisation of Christchurch schools after the 2011 earthquake are damning for an under-fire National Government, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. “The Ombudsman has found the reorganisation of schools in ...7 days ago
- Government’s multinational tax measures weakThe Government’s proposals to crack down on multinational tax avoidance, by its own admission only recovering one third of the missing money, means hardworking Kiwis will bear more of the tax burden, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson Michael Wood. “The Government ...7 days ago
- World Refugee Day – we can do our bitI’m really proud that yesterday, on World Refugee Day, the Greens launched an ambitious plan to increase the refugee quota to 5000 over the next six years. Of those places, 4,000 will be directly resettled by the government and another ...1 week ago
- PM’s leadership in question over Barclay affairThe Prime Minister must belatedly show some leadership and compel Todd Barclay to front up to the Police, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “Twice today Bill English has been found wanting in this matter. ...1 week ago
- Another memory lapse by Coleman?The Minister of Health ‘couldn’t recall’ whether the Director General of Health Chai Chuah offered his resignation over the Budget funding fiasco involving the country’s District Health Boards, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark. “In the House today Jonathan Coleman ...1 week ago
- Bill English needs to come clean over BarclayBill English needs to explain why he failed to be upfront with the public over the actions of Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay, following revelations that he knew about the secretly recorded conversations in the MP’s electorate office, says Labour Leader ...1 week ago
- Minister, show some backbone and front up and debateRather than accusing critics of his Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill of telling ‘lies’, Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell should show some backbone and front up to a debate on the issue, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “Te ...1 week ago
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- New Pike footage builds compelling case for mine re-entryNew footage of the Pike River Mine deep inside the operation, revealing no fire damage or signs of an inferno, provides a compelling reason to grant the families of Pike River’s victims their wish to re-enter the drift, says Labour ...1 week ago
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- Green Party tribute to Dame Nganeko Minhinnick
Haere ngā mate ki tua o paerau; te moenga roa o ngā mātua tupuna. Haere, haere, haere. It was with a huge sense of loss that we learned of the death of Dame Nganeko Minhinnick yesterday. The Green Party acknowledges ...2 weeks ago - Urgent answers needed on DHB fundingJonathan Coleman must come clean and answer questions about what actual funding DHBs received in Budget 2017, says Labour Health Spokesperson David Clark. ...2 weeks ago
- Treasury puts Māori Land Service on red alertA damning Treasury report raises serious questions about the delivery of Te Ururoa Flavell’s proposed Māori Land Service, giving it a ‘red’ rating which indicates major issues with the project, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “Treasury’s Interim Major Projects Monitoring ...2 weeks ago
- Economy stalling after nine years of National’s complacencyThe second successive quarterly fall in per person growth shows the need for a fresh approach to give all New Zealanders a fair share in prosperity, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. ...2 weeks ago
- Kiwi kids deserve much moreAll Kiwi kids deserve so much more than the impoverished picture painted by the shameful rankings provided by the UNICEF Innocenti Report Card, says Labour’s children spokesperson Jacinda Ardern. ...2 weeks ago
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- English must confirm we still stand by our principles on UN resolutionBill English must tell New Zealand whether we remain in support of the UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “After Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee’s evasive answers to repeated questions on ...2 weeks ago
- Māori party drop the poi on Māori healthThe Māori Party have dropped the poi when it comes to supporting Ngati Whakaue and Māori interests in Bay of Plenty by allowing an iwi owned and operated service Te Hunga Manaaki to be brushed aside in favour of a ...2 weeks ago
- Labour to invest in Whanganui River infrastructureLabour will work in partnership with the Whanganui Council to repair and redevelop the city’s Port precinct in advance of planned economic development and expansion. To enable Whanganui’s plans, Labour will commit $3m in matching funding for repairing the Whanganui ...2 weeks ago
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- Councils step up as Nats drop the ball on housing crisisPhil Goff’s Mayoral Housing Taskforce is another positive example of councils stepping up where National has failed on housing, says Labour Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. ...2 weeks ago
- Time for a breather on immigrationLabour will introduce moderate, sensible reforms to immigration to reduce the pressure on our cities, while ensuring we get the skilled workers our country needs, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “New Zealand is a country built on immigration. ...2 weeks ago
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- National unprepared as immigration runs four times faster than forecastNational has been caught asleep at the wheel by record immigration that has outstripped Budget forecasts, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. ...2 weeks ago
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- Motel bill blows out as Nats fail to deliver emergency housingMinister Amy Adams has admitted at select committee that National has now spent $22m on putting homeless families in motels as it fails to deliver the emergency housing places it promised, says Labour Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. ...3 weeks ago
- Wellington City Council signs off Annual Budget
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- Homelessness: A View From The United StatesThere is a poem well known to UK baby boomers called The Naming of Parts . It’s by Henry Reed who was a conscript to the army in the Second World War and his famous poem describes learning to use ...2 hours ago
- Mayor supports plastic bag levyGisborne District Council Mayor Meng Foon is supporting 13 Mayors across the country to lobby central government to implement a national levy on single-use plastic bags. ...2 hours ago
- Corrections officers to carry pepper sprayFrontline Corrections officers will soon be able to carry pepper spray on their bodies to increase staff and prisoner safety, says Minister of Corrections Louise Upston. ...2 hours ago
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- Executing Drug Smugglers not the Best Call“Executing Chinese drug smugglers will not stem abuse,” says Leighton Baker, Conservative Party Leader. ...3 hours ago
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- Green Party selects Taupō candidateThe Taupō branch of the Green Party has selected Julie Sandilands as Taupō candidate for the 2017 general election. ...17 hours ago
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- EMANZ Welcomes NZEECS AnnouncementThe Energy Management Association of New Zealand has welcomed the publication of the MBIE’s New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NZEECS) 2017-22. ...19 hours ago
- Statement regarding the international volunteer programmeStatement regarding the international volunteer programme Over the past week, Labour Party Head Office has been in Auckland sorting out the international volunteer programme. In the course of that work we have become aware that two individuals may not have ...19 hours ago
- Social Enterprise Leaders to Social Enterprise World Forum63 Australian social enterprises have been announced as successful recipients of the Social Enterprise World Forum Australian Bursary Fund. ...20 hours ago
- Govt now needs to focus on its Energy Efficiency StrategyThe Bioenergy Association says it’s pleased the Government’s refresh of the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NZEECS) focuses on the heat and transport opportunities available across New Zealand as implementing these will ...21 hours ago
- Long March for Peace Reaches TargetPeace campaigner Ian Upton arrives at Parliament this Wednesday 28 June after walking from Cape Reinga because he says funding war is unacceptable. ...21 hours ago
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- Health professionals support climate policy challengeNew Zealanders’ health is at stake in a court case challenging the government over its failure to tackle climate change. Law student Sarah Thomson is taking on the Minister for Climate Change Issues, arguing that New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions ...24 hours ago
- Call for Guidelines on Euthanasia Media ReportingFamily First New Zealand has made a submission to the Strategy to prevent suicide in New Zealand calling on strict guidelines around the media reporting of assisted suicide & euthanasia. ...1 day ago
- “Re-investigation of allegations begins”Police has commenced a re-investigation of allegations that the private communications of an individual were intercepted by Mr Todd Barclay MP. ...1 day ago
- Be ready for the calving seasonMPI’s Penny Timmer-Arends has attended many field days and workshops to discuss the new bobby calf regulations with those affected across the supply chain. ...1 day ago
- Formal collaboration needed to help ensure safe waterWater New Zealand is calling for formal collaboration in the drinking water sector to help avoid another contamination crisis. ...1 day ago
- Republicans Seek to Euthanize 80 Million AmericansTrump, Republicans Seek to Euthanize 80 Million Young and Old Americans: Democrats will be Accessories to the Crime ...1 day ago
- Govt. must not sabotage Team NZ with San Francisco welfareThe Taxpayers’ Union warmly congratulates Emirates Team New Zealand for their success today in Bermuda and says that the Government should resist the temptation to get on the bandwagon and throw money at the defence, before it is even clear ...1 day ago
- No Pride in Prisons is changing its nameThe prison advocacy organisation No Pride in Prisons is changing its name to People Against Prisons Aotearoa following a majority vote at its annual general meeting on 14 May. ...1 day ago
- Evil Killer & Stupid Ex-Lawyer Deserve Each Other"This sort of nonsense just digs the hole deeper for his victims and their families, the daily struggle for them will last the rest of their lives while the vermin who caused their heartbreak mocks us all" - Garth McVicar. ...1 day ago
- Family Violence Reports Reach Record HighPolice family violence investigations reached a record high in 2016, statistics released today show. Police investigated 118,910 incidents of family violence last year, an increase of more than 8000 on the year before. ...1 day ago
- Focus Required on Families for More Effective Social PolicyToday Superu released its fifth annual Families and Whānau Status Report, a series that measures and monitors the wellbeing of New Zealand families and whānau - and the pivotal role that these groups hold within our society. ...1 day ago
- New pay equity claim to unite entire ECE sectorNZEI Te Riu Roa is today launching a new claim for pay equity for early childhood teachers and staff, uniting the private and public early childhood sector in a historic bid for fair pay. ...1 day ago
- Internet Party to stream campaign office live onlineThe Internet Party is again raising the bar on political innovation in New Zealand. ...1 day ago
- Government RMA Changes Ominous for Future of WaterRecent changes by government to the Resource Management Act pointed to a grim future for the public’s water and in particular rivers say the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers (NZFFA). ...2 days ago
- Environmental victory for coastal marine speciesIn a significant victory for New Zealand’s coastal wildlife, the High Court has backed a landmark 2016 Environment Court finding that Regional Councils can protect their marine environment using the RMA. Forest & Bird has previously criticised ...2 days ago
- Helensville -Winston Peters Public MeetingNew Zealand First Party Leader the Rt. Hon Winston Peters will be conducting a public meeting on Sunday 2nd July, at 1.30pm, to be hosted by the New Zealand First Helensville Electorate. The meeting is open to all and will ...2 days ago
- NZ First’s Campaign for the Regions shows welcome commitmentNew Zealand First’s Campaign for the Regions which was launched yesterday contains a number of commitments Local Government New Zealand welcomes. ...2 days ago
- The Treasury appoints new Deputy SecretaryTreasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf has announced the appointment of Jon Grayson as the Treasury’s new Deputy Secretary, Financial & Commercial. ...2 days ago
- Neoliberalism stopped the rise in inequality"The left-wing hullabaloo is wrong, inequality hasn't changed in 20 years", said Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, responding to new research findings by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research. ...2 days ago
- Insurance Council supports thrust of EQC reformsThe Insurance Council of New Zealand supports the thrust of the reforms to the EQC Act announced by the Government today, but seeks a clear expectation that insurers should be responsible for assessing and managing claims for house damage. “The ...2 days ago
- Foreign Policy conference tackles forced migration, bordersForced migrations of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, the closing and enforcement of immigration borders, and the widespread misery and geopolitical instability that ensues is the focus of the Otago Foreign Policy School that takes place this weekend. ...2 days ago
- New Documents Confirm EQC Inquiry NeededThat from Christchurch lawyer Dr Duncan Webb after documents released under the Official Information Act show that Southern Response is to step in and take over EQC’s botched repairs of AMI insured houses. ...2 days ago
- Sugar kills more New Zealanders than drugsJust hours from the Fizz Symposium opening Mika Haka , Auckland Central candidate for The Opportunities Party states: ...2 days ago
- Five Hundred make Joint Submission on NZ Suicide PlanThe deadline for public submissions on the Ministry of Health’s Suicide Prevention Strategy closed today, and the People’s Mental Health Review has been gathering submissions for a joint submission. ...2 days ago
- Water Charges – A Political And Policy Can Of WormsINSIGHTS ABOUT THE NEWS - Public and political pressure for a charge on bottled water exports is continuing to mount, however Ministers are still determined to kick the issue out beyond the election. ...2 days ago
- Five actions to save our oceansFresh from UN talks in New York, a University of Auckland doctoral student has drafted five key actions she says New Zealand must take now to protect our oceans. ...2 days ago
- Unanimous Cross-Party Support Reached on Students’ WelfareA remit successfully passed by the National Party Conference on Saturdaymarks a full cross-party political consensus on the increase of weekly loan living costs, according to the Aotearoa Students’ Alliance. ...2 days ago
- New Dingle Foundation Programme Builds ResilienceThe Graeme Dingle Foundation is launching its latest research and evaluation report at Parliament tomorrow, which confirms the effectiveness of its newest programme, MYND Sibling. ...2 days ago
- Sarah Thomson Sues NZ Government Over Climate Change TodayMy name is Sarah Thomson I’m a 26-year old law student, and I’m taking the Government to court over their failure to act on climate change. The case will be heard in the Wellington High Court over three days from ...2 days ago
- David Seymour’s End of Life Choice BillRight to Life requests that Members of Parliament support a culture of life, by voting down this contentious bill at its first reading. This was the prudent action of Parliament when defeating Michael Law’s Death with Dignity bill in 1995 ...2 days ago
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- Rally outside High Court supporting climate caseA rally supporting Sarah Thomson's climate change case against the Minister for Climate Change Issues is happening at 9:30 am outside the Wellington High Court today. ...2 days ago
- Enrolment packs go out to 3.15m votersMore than three million packs will be sent out this week as the Electoral Commission launches its campaign to enrol voters for the 2017 General Election. ...2 days ago
- New Political Party Offers EmpowermentNew Political Party Offers Empowerment June 23 2017 Kia Koe Party Press Release Tags: Politics, voting and policies. ...3 days ago
- First report tracking Samoan youth unemployment to help policy
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- The Real Pod: The Block is back, Bill English has Snapchat and Si still won’t give upJane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey gather around a pile of cheesy Lotatoes to talk about the latest happenings in New Zealand television and real life in New Zealand.It’s a huge week on The Real Pod, with the New Zealand ...32 mins ago
- NZ officials told to release info on US billionare
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21 hours ago - The Spinoff Reviews New Zealand #36: Specsavers, Queen Street
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- Parliament officials knew details of Barclay tapes
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Dismayed by the press gallery’s failure to interrogate the prime minister’s epistemological framework in the Todd Barclay scandal? Undismay yourself: New Zealand’s leading craft beer enthusiast and philosopher king Ben Thomas is here.Bill English is known as one of parliament’s ...1 day ago - Breaking: Jesse Mulligan just absolutely owned Bill English on The Project
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2 days ago - The Spinoff Reviews New Zealand #35: Cooked Taro in Wellington
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. This time, Pani Chapman (staff writer Madeleine Chapman’s mum) reviews the best cooked taro in Wellington.I’m always looking out for the best cooked taro in ...2 days ago
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