Author Archive
Open mike 16/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 16th, 2023 - 96 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 15/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 15th, 2023 - 8 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 …
Open mike 15/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 15th, 2023 - 47 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 14/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 14th, 2023 - 15 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 …
Open mike 14/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 14th, 2023 - 46 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 13/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 13th, 2023 - 30 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 …
Predatory delay on climate action by Fonterra, Dairy NZ and Federated Farmers
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, September 13th, 2023 - 2 comments
A damning report from Russel Norman on how the agricultural industry blocked climate action for the past two decades.
Open mike 13/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 13th, 2023 - 57 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 12/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 12th, 2023 - 9 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 …
Labour pledges free cervical screening
Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, September 12th, 2023 - 9 comments
“Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and regular screening saves lives, so it is critical cost isn’t a barrier to accessing early detection”
Greens will demand Minister for Oceans and Fisheries to lead ocean rescue plan
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, September 12th, 2023 - 14 comments
“The Green Party has a rescue plan for the ocean”
Open mike 12/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 12th, 2023 - 38 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 11/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 11th, 2023 - 44 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 …
Open mike 11/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 11th, 2023 - 30 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Open mike 10/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 10th, 2023 - 50 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Open mike 09/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 9th, 2023 - 34 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 08/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 8th, 2023 - 12 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 …
Open mike 08/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 8th, 2023 - 36 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 07/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 7th, 2023 - 33 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 …
Open mike 07/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 7th, 2023 - 85 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 06/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 6th, 2023 - 8 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 …
Open mike 06/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 6th, 2023 - 90 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 05/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 5th, 2023 - 10 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 …
Open mike 05/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 5th, 2023 - 79 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 04/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 4th, 2023 - 11 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 …
Open mike 04/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 4th, 2023 - 88 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Open mike 03/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 3rd, 2023 - 50 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Labour’s 2023 campaign launch
Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, September 2nd, 2023 - 54 comments
Video from Labour’s 2023 campaign launch in Auckland.
Open mike 02/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 2nd, 2023 - 16 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 01/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 1st, 2023 - 22 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 …
Open mike 01/09/2023
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 1st, 2023 - 43 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
- Letter To Luxon.
Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...1 week ago - LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
Lindsay Mitchell writes – While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...1 week ago - BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Brian Easton writes – Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...1 week ago
- CRL Progress – Sep-23
It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...1 week ago - Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...1 week ago - Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...1 week ago - Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...1 week ago - MIKE GRIMSHAW: It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...1 week ago
- 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...1 week ago - The End Of The World.
Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...1 week ago - Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's ChildrenClimate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...1 week ago
- Has There Been External Structural Change?
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...1 week ago - Another Labour bully
Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...1 week ago - Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problemIts that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...1 week ago
- JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New ZealandJERRY COYNE writes – If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...1 week ago
- Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...
Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession. This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...1 week ago - Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolishTL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...1 week ago
- CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluffFor nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...1 week ago
- The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...1 week ago - A Womance, and a Nomance.
After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...1 week ago - When The Internet Rushes To Your Defense
Hi,You can’t make this stuff up.People involved with Sound of Freedom, the QAnon-infused movie about anti-child trafficker Tim Ballard, are dropping like flies. I won’t ruin your day by describing it here, but Vice reports that footage has emerged of executive producer Paul Hutchinson being inappropriate with a 16-year-old trafficking ...1 week ago - Doubts about Robertson’s good news dayThe trading banks yesterday concluded that though GDP figures released yesterday show the economy is not in recession, it may well soon be. Nevertheless, the fact that GDP has gone up 0.8 per cent in the latest quarter and that StatsNZ revised the previous quarter’s figure to show a ...1 week ago
- The Votes That Media Dare Not Speak Its Name
.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..A recent political opinion poll (20 September) on TV1 presented what could only be called bleak news for the Left Bloc:National: 37%, down two points equating to 46 seatsLabour: 27%, down one point (34 ...2 weeks ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38 2023Open access notables At our roots Skeptical Science is about cognition of the results of climate science research in the minds of the entire human population. Ideally we'd be perfectly communicating understanding of Earth's climate, and perfectly understood. We can only approximate that, but hopefully converging closer to perfection. With ...2 weeks ago
- Failing To Hold Back The Flood: The Edgy Politics of the Twenty-First Century.
Coming Over The Top: Rory Stewart's memoir, Politics On The Edge, lays bare the dangerous inadequacies of the Western World's current political model.VERY FEW NEW ZEALANDERS will have heard of Rory Stewart. Those with a keen eye for the absurdities of politics may recognise the name as that of the ...2 weeks ago - Pick this Chris, you get the Greens. Pick the other one you get Seymour.
A bit of a narrative has been building that these two guys, your Chris and your Chris, are not so very different.It's true to a point. The bread and butter timidity has been dispiriting to watch, if you have a progressive disposition. It does leave the two of them relatively ...2 weeks ago - RICHARD PREBBLE: Who won the Leaders’ debate?Richard Prebble writes – There was a knockout winner of the Leaders’ debate. Check for yourself. Recall how they looked. If you cannot remember or missed it, the debate is on TVNZ’s website. Turn off the sound and ask: “Which one looks like a Prime Minister?” ...2 weeks ago
- Thursday's Chorus: GDP up an extra 33c per person per weekJust like National when it was in government, Labour bought nominal GDP growth and momentum by pulling as hard as it could on the population lever. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Stats NZ has reported better-than-expected GDP growth in the June quarter, thanks largely to record-high net migration of ...2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: National’s policy for failureWe already know that the National Party are de facto climate change deniers who want to reverse virtually all climate change policy. So how do they think they'll cut emissions? According to their climate change spokesperson, polluting corporations will do it out of the goodness of their hearts: The ...2 weeks ago
- NZ’s big dairy company reports a massive profit jump – but the lobby group Greenpeace doesn’...
Dairy farmers, or at least those who are also shareholders in the Fonterra dairy co-operative would have received a second dose of good news this week, when the dairy giant reported a massive profit jump. This followed news of a better sale at the Fonterra GDT auction this week. Net ...2 weeks ago - Big issues out of the mouths of giant babes
A longtime New Zealand broadcaster and commentator is taking a theatrical turn in advance of the General Election to draw different kinds of attention to the issues New Zealanders will be voting on in October.In a pre-election event that invites audiences to consider New Zealand politics through a theatrical lens ...2 weeks ago - That new hospital which Labour is promising – is it the same one which Sepuloni mentioned in May ...Our busy ministers – desperately busy trying to whip up voters’ support as their poll support sags, among other things – have added just one item of news to the government’s official website over the past 24 hours or so. It’s the news that the Government has accepted the Environment ...2 weeks ago
- Queenstown was keeping rates lowOn Monday, we learned that Queenstown, one of the country's largest tourist destinations, suddenly had to boil its water to avoid cryptosporidium. Now, it looks like it will last for months. Why? The usual reason: they'd been keeping rates low: Queenstown could face months of having to boil water ...2 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell on chaotic coalitions, drinking water and useless debatesThis week’s ONE News-Verian poll had the National/ACT coalition teetering on the edge of being able to govern alone while – just as precariously – having its legislative agenda vulnerable to a potential veto by Winston Peters in the House. So close, but so perilous. During the run-up to election ...2 weeks ago
- An ill windNational Leader Christopher Luxon likes to bag the way the Resource Management Act worked. Though it has been repealed and replaced by the Labour government, Luxon plans, before Christmas, to repeal the new legislation and, for the foreseeable future, revert to the old Act that he has consistently criticised. ...2 weeks ago
- Further Adventures with Martin the Chess Bot
Earlier this month, I had a bit of fun with Chess.com’s worst AI, the one and only Martin Bot: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/09/02/nine-queens-against-martin-chess-hilarity/ Well, in the past few days, I’ve achieved a trio of notable personal firsts against Martin. I thought I would record them in the morbid interests of ...2 weeks ago - The Inflation Reduction Act is reducing U.S. reliance on ChinaThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Over a year later, its climate provisions remain a hot topic. The law’s proponents argue that it’s created a boom in domestic manufacturing jobs within the United States while paving ...2 weeks ago
- Relief for dairy farmers – and the NZ economy – as prices rise again at latest GDT auctionNew Zealand’s dairy farmers will be relieved that prices rose for the second time this month at the latest Fonterra GDT auction. The encouraging feature of the sale was the activity of Chinese buyers who drove up prices. As a result, the GDT price index rose 4.6%, helped by a 4.6% lift ...2 weeks ago
- Democracy McNuggets
Here is a review of last night’s Democracy McNuggets debate, delivered in the style of last night's Democracy McNuggets debate.McNugget #1This format was very advantageous for the man who speaks in lazy SLAM DUNK.To hark back a few editions: The lazy SLAM DUNK doesn’t bother to make its case. It simply offers ...2 weeks ago - A Forced Pause.
Unfortunately I will need to take a bit of time off from this blog. After months of misdiagnoses and a change in GPs, my precious son is in Starship Hospital about to have major surgery. He already has had one … Continue reading ...2 weeks ago - Better-than-expected BoP figures give Robertson something to bray about – but revisions helped, a...Buzz from the Beehive Source: ANZ The latest balance of payments statistics – providing a broad measure of what the country earns and spends internationally – gave grist to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s publicity mill today. The current account deficit narrowed to 7.5 per cent of ...2 weeks ago
- Dirty dairy corrupts our democracyThe planning process under the RMA is meant to be one of public consultation: the council prepares a plan, and we all get to have a say on it. But it turns out that in Otago, the dirty dairying industry has been trying to rewrite the new land and water ...2 weeks ago
- Calling The Big Dog’s Bluff.2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: “Offsets” aren’tSince we began worrying about climate change, the market fundamentalists have pushed the idea of "offsets" rather than actual emissions reductions. There's just one atmosphere after all, so in theory it doesn't matter where the reductions are made, so you can just pay someone on the other side of the ...2 weeks ago
- GRAHAM ADAMS: Is Ardern a liability for Labour?Ministers are pretending the former PM has simply vanished. Graham Adams writes – Late last week, Tova O’Brien asked Grant Robertson on her Stuff podcast if Jacinda Ardern should be “rolled out” to “galvanise the base” to help save Labour’s faltering campaign. Robertson laughed. ”I’m sure for ...2 weeks ago
- Wednesday’s Chorus: Biggest insurer starts targeted climate retreatOwners of property deemed at risk from climate change related floods and rising sea levels will increasingly find their access to affordable insurance shut off. Some may become ‘prisoners’ in their uninsurable and therefore unbankable homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: IAG, which insures more than 60% of homes ...2 weeks ago
- Chris vs Chris.
So it’s kind of obligatory to start with the boxing analogy…In the red corner, you’ll know him from his red hair and his red heart, the champion of achievable socialism, weighing in when given the opportunity - it’s Chris.And fighting out of the blue corner, you’ll know him from his ...2 weeks ago - Hipkins – Luxon stalemateLast night’s TVOne debate may well reinforce the idea that the minor parties will determine this election. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and National leader Christopher Luxon ended their one-and-a-half hours with Luxon probably slightly ahead, though a stalemate might be a more realistic assessment. But there was nothing of ...2 weeks ago
- At a glance – Do volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans?On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...2 weeks ago
- This little bald fellow, is he your god?
2 weeks ago - Bryce Edwards: A Very hollow election
The 2023 general election campaign must be the most hollow in living memory. There really isn’t much that is positive or attractive about the electoral options on offer. This is an election without inspiration. An angry mood for change There is a definite cyncism amongst the public right now – ...2 weeks ago - NZ’s external deficit close to record levels – so why aren’t the politicians talking about i...As New Zealand confronts a near-record current account deficit few, if any, of the country’s politicians are talking about it or the underlying problems. NZ’s external deficit is expected to continue narrowing, but at a slower pace than forecast a few months ago. Data out this week is expected ...2 weeks ago
- Delirious Hatred: The Dystopic Tendencies of Twenty-First Century Progressivism.Fighting Mad: That which Twenty-First Century progressives most feared, Twenty-First Century progressivism has become. No one old enough to have experienced the emancipatory power of true progressivism: in the factory or on the streets; in the university quad or in the “old school” newsroom; could possibly vote for the parties ...2 weeks ago
- Midwives pay equity proposal at last is posted on the Beehive website – but not, yet, the good new...Buzz from the Beehive Hurrah. Someone in the Beehive has posted a ministerial announcement, the first since Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta last Thursday announced New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco. It is somewhat stale news, dated 15 September 2023. It was ...2 weeks ago
- Tuesday’s Chorus: Landlords lick their lips2 weeks ago
- MICHAEL BASSETT: Our media still don’t get it* Michael Bassett writes – If Labour ministers and our left-leaning media knew more about New Zealand’s political history they would stop giving so much publicity to National’s tax-cut plans, ill-advised though they might be. The attacks are only increasing the likelihood that National will be elected. In one ...2 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell on National’s (lack of) plans for El NinoDebate time: In contrast to most debates, political debates aren’t simply about winning on points of logic, but are also about looking likeable on television – which is why good political debaters often have to pull their punches on TV, lest they seem unkind to dumb animals. Chris Hipkins is ...2 weeks ago
- Climate change is destroying reefs, but the effects are more than ecologicalThis article by Michele Currie Navakas Professor of English, Miami University is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Aug. 30, 2023, bringing surging seas and winds over 100 mph. Meanwhile, another climate emergency has been unfolding along ...2 weeks ago
- Electorate Watch: Hamilton East.
Before New Zealand changed to MMP in 1996 there was a lot more interest in certain local contests. First past the post elections were won and lost in key marginal electorate battles, rendering the votes of those in safe seats largely obsolete.These days local contests have little impact on the ...2 weeks ago - Luxon moderatesBoth National and ACT are starting to back off some of their hardline positions on tax and spending. And finally, National leader Christopher Luxon has softened his stance on doing a deal with Winston Peters and NZ First. Their moves are subtle and wrapped up in sound-byte-friendly media standup ...2 weeks ago
- Mate, it's a 2 billion dollar hole and you are just chock full of it
In Art, we find meaning.From Art, we draw deeper understanding of what the hell it’s all about.Kindly now mute your cellphones and please remain behind the velvet ropes as we move through the gallery.She might be contemplating a secret, she might be enjoying a private joke. Perhaps she is simply ...2 weeks ago - Mate, it's a 2 billion dollar hole and you are just chock full of itIn Art, we find meaning.From Art, we draw deeper understanding of what the hell it’s all about.Kindly now mute your cellphones and please remain behind the velvet ropes as we move through the gallery.She might be contemplating a secret, she might be enjoying a private joke. Perhaps she is simply ...2 weeks ago
- A pallid shade of Green IILast month, the Greens introduced their clean power policy, promising loans and grants to upgrade homes to add solar panels and be energy efficient. Two weeks ago Labour released their response - a weak "pilot scheme" of energy efficiency grants, which I described as a pallid shade of Green. Today, ...2 weeks ago
- National’s cooker problemThe right has a problem with brainwormed conspiracy theorists. They've thoroughly infiltrated NZFirst and ACT, and now it seems they've infiltrated National as well: The National Party candidate favoured to win the Hamilton East electorate held views directly opposed to the party's leader on fluoridation of water and vaccine ...2 weeks ago
- CHRIS TROTTER: Act’s message – cheerfully libertarian? Or, radically right-wing?Pushed by the need for votes, Act’s leader, David Seymour, like Richard Prebble before him, has reached out to the dark side of the New Zealand electorate. Much as he would prefer to pull in support on the strength of Act’s sunny libertarianism, there just ain’t enough Eighteenth Century liberals ...2 weeks ago
- Govt found $1m for humanitarian support after Moroccan earthquake – but what about the victims of ...Buzz from the Beehive Again, no news has been posted on the government’s official website over the past 24 hours. Indeed, no news has been posted since Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta last Thursday announced New Zealand would be providing $1 million humanitarian support to Morocco to those affected by ...2 weeks ago
- BRIAN EASTON: What is PREFU 2023 really telling us?Despite the headlines, things are not much worse than at the time of the 2023 budget, but fiscal management is always difficult. Brian Easton writes- The Treasury is required by law to publish a Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU) a few weeks before a general election, ...2 weeks ago
- Monday’s Chorus: National's tax hole widens to $2.44b2 weeks ago
- The Mayor and the Auckland ManifestoOnce upon a time, manifestos were a key feature of the election period, arriving in letterboxes in solid printed form, and full of details of what each party proposed to do and why. These days, we get a little pledge card with a few bullet points on it. So it’s interesting ...2 weeks ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Who will be New Zealand’s next foreign minister?Change is coming. A shakeup of the ministers responsible for New Zealand’s international relations seems almost guaranteed, irrespective of the country’s election result on October 14. Coalition politics are likely to play a key role in appointments related to foreign affairs. On current opinion polling, a government led by the ...2 weeks ago
- Not since the depression have we seen a proposal like thisACT leader David Seymour has declared war on the public service with his promise to sack 15,000 of them. This is probably four times more than National want given the boot under its promise to cut all budgets by 6.5 per cent. But Seymour may have got a foretaste ...2 weeks ago
- Of Golf Balls and War Spoils: The One Ring and Property Law Squabbles
It has been a while since I engaged in meaty Tolkien analysis, so I deem it time to delve into one of the most pressing issues of our age. Namely, the vexed property law issues governing the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. I was prompted to offer some ...2 weeks ago - “Thanks for attending the job interview process Mr Luxon… we’ve some more questions though?”
We, the public, are making a hiring decision. That’s what this is. As silly as it is to have things like those utterly infernal “Most preferred Prime Minister” polls, largely an outcome of the “presidential style” of politics that has no basis in our system because we simply do ...2 weeks ago - Russell Brand Screams “Conspiracy” To Avoid Rape Allegations
Hi,Webworm was birthed over three years ago, as New Zealand went into its first Covid lockdown. Back then I wrote a lot about the conspiratorial madness that erupted from the sewers, the world very quickly becoming infected with brain worms. I have all those Webworms archived here, for anyone interested.As ...2 weeks ago - My Sunday Pick ’n’ Mix for Sept 17
2 weeks ago
- Free school lunches paid for with a wealth tax
The Green Party will expand free school lunches and pay for it with a fair tax system. ...2 weeks ago - The Pacific Reset & the Blue Continent
Thank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon about New Zealand Foreign Policy. After offering one or two general thoughts about the nature of foreign policy, the focus today will be the Pacific Reset and why its goals remain even more important today as when they were ...2 weeks ago - Release: Huge hole in National’s climate budget
National’s plan to cut policies that are reducing New Zealand’s climate emissions will result in a huge gap in the country’s emissions budgets and could see Kiwis paying significantly more at the petrol pump as a result of Christopher Luxon hiking the ETS price. ...2 weeks ago - Greens would push Labour much further on solar powerLabour’s plan to support rooftop solar is a step in the right direction, but falls short of what could be achieved through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Doubling rooftop solar to reduce bills & emissionsLabour will double the number of houses with rooftop solar in New Zealand, lowering household power bills, reducing emissions and boosting renewable electricity generation. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour will advance women’s health, careers, and legal protectionsA re-elected Labour Government will continue its proud tradition of advancing women’s health, employment, and legal rights Spokesperson for Women Jan Tinetti said. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party confirms plan for five weeks annual leaveSpeaking at the E Tū Election Launch in Auckland today, Green Party co leader Marama Davidson outlined the Green Party’s manifesto commitment to ensure everyone has five weeks of annual leave. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour to keep lifting worker wages and rightsA re-elected Labour Government will protect hard-fought workers’ rights and keep the momentum on wage growth to lift incomes for all New Zealanders, leader Chris Hipkins announced today. ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand First Party List 2023New Zealand First is proud to announce the Party List for the upcoming 2023 General Election. We have had a great number of applicants and potential candidates moving through the selection process over the past few months. Our final selection for our list proves we have a wide range ...2 weeks ago
- A National/ACT Government would make life miserable for those already worst offOnly a party vote for the Greens will end poverty. ACT’S welfare policy announced today is as cruel as it gets. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Willis’ resignation call means only one thing – $2 billion more cutsMassive cuts to public service are on the cards as Nicola Willis has promised to resign if she doesn’t deliver tax cuts but is refusing to make the same commitment if she doesn’t raise enough income from her bungled foreign buyer’s tax. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: A faster justice system focused on victimsLabour will help more victims of crime achieve justice faster by introducing a formal class-action regime, modernising consent laws and increasing the use of technology to speed up hearings. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Gaping hole confirmed in National’s tax planA whopping $2.1 billion dollar hole has been confirmed in National’s tax scheme in a new report released today. ...3 weeks ago
- Labour pledges biggest ever increase to training DoctorsLabour will deliver the largest ever increase to the number of doctors trained each year, adding an additional 335 doctors a year to our health workforce from 2027, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has announced. ...3 weeks ago
- PREFU Exposes Political PromisesToday’s PREFU has some alarming statistics showing an economy deteriorating and the cost of unaffordable government expenditure, mainly in the 2022 and 2023 budgets. Despite this alarming economic and fiscal picture, political parties are making unaffordable promises, talking about a surplus by 2027, or four years time, all of which ...3 weeks ago
- Let’s Vote For The Aotearoa We Deserve
The Future is Up to Us released today by the Green Party is a clear vision of the future we can build together. The Green Party has also published an independent fiscal review of the policy priorities set out in The Future is Up to Us , which shows ...1 day ago - National’s water U-turn will drive up New Zealanders’ rates billsThe National Party’s U-turn on water reform has left local councils high and dry and will drive up Kiwi’s rates bills, Labour Party Local Government Spokesperson Kieran McAnulty says. “The National Party said they’ll repeal Affordable Water ...1 day ago
- Election 2023: Green Party unveils policy priorities and fiscal plan review
The Green Party has unveiled its policy priorities as well as an independent fiscal review, which it says shows their plan adds up. ...1 day ago - Why you must vote ACT for real changeToday, ACT Leader David Seymour released a video asking New Zealanders to Party Vote ACT to avoid inaction and instability. You can watch the video by clicking the image below. “ACT is making one final appeal to voters before the polls open tomorrow. ...1 day ago
- National Announces 100 Day Action PlanIf New Zealanders choose a National-led government to rebuild the economy and deliver tax relief, we will go to work immediately implementing our 100 Day Action Plan, National Party Christopher Luxon says. “New Zealanders have waited six long years ...1 day ago
- It could all come down to one seat: Seymour
With advance voting almost under way, Act pitches hard for voters to exclude "chaos" in a future government by ensuring National and Act can govern, Tim Murphy reports Act leader David Seymour is emphasising one extra seat could be the difference between "real change" and "chaos" in a centre-right government after ...1 day ago - 'It's because I'm young, I'm female, and I'm Māori'
The country’s youngest candidate to run for Parliament has made three separate reports to police after her home was broken into and her rubbish rifled through. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke says other political leaders have gaslighted her experience. Te Pāti Māori Hauraki Waikato’s candidate says she isn’t scared or shaken by the ...1 day ago - Election 2023: Labour reveals full policy planLabour has released its full policy plan this afternoon, with a focus on improving education for children and funding for training and work for youth. ...1 day ago
- Chris Hipkins isolating with Covid-19
The Prime Minister and Labour leader has tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating for five days or until he returns a negative test After feeling unwell on Sunday morning and cancelling his attendance at a Samoan church service in Auckland, Chris Hipkins has now tested positive for Covid-19. He ...1 day ago - 'Bugger' – Labour leader Chris Hipkins tests positive for Covid-19 at crucial point ...Labour leader Chris Hipkins has revealed that he has tested positive for Covid-19, just as the party prepares to release its manifesto today. ...1 day ago
- Prime minister tests positive for Covid-19
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has tested positive for Covid-19, and will be isolating for five days or until he returns a negative test. A spokesperson confirmed he has cold and flu symptoms that began yesterday and will continue with engagements he can undertake via Zoom. Hipkins missed an event on ...1 day ago - Mediawatch: Giving young people an election voiceThe TVNZ Young Voters' debate run by Re:News was a rowdy interjection into a relatively subdued election campaign, and its moderator has some ideas on how media organisations can better cater to young people. ...1 day ago
- ‘I’ve got news for you and your masters’: Winston Peters takes aim at ‘corrupt’ TVNZIn a bizarre interview with TVNZ’s Q&A programme this morning, NZ First leader Winston Peters said he would “make sure” he secured the broadcasting portfolio should his party make it into government. “We’ll start with TVNZ after the campaign,” he told journalist Jack Tame in an interview that made yesterday’s ...1 day ago
- Election 2023: National Party releases 100-day action plan if electedThe National Party has released its plan of what it would do in its first 100 days in government, if elected. ...1 day ago
- Hipkins missing morning campaign event but will launch Labour manifestoLabour’s manifesto launch will go ahead this afternoon, despite leader Chris Hipkins missing an event on the campaign trail this morning due to being unwell. Deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni is speaking at a Sāmoan church service in Auckland this morning in Hipkins’ place, but according to a Labour spokesperson, ...1 day ago
- National sets out priorities in ‘100-day action plan’National has pledged to remove the Auckland fuel tax, repeal water reform and resource management legislation, ban gang patches and remove funding for cultural reports used in sentencing in its first 100 days in office. The party has set out a range of priorities for its first 100 days in ...1 day ago
- Chris Hipkins unwell, to miss morning campaign eventThe prime minister is missing an event on the campaign trail this morning because he’s unwell. Chris Hipkins was due to speak at a Sāmoan church service in Auckland, but deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni is stepping in to take his place. Hipkins is scheduled to launch Labour’s manifesto at ...1 day ago
- Make it strange: an interview with Bill NelsonLawrence Patchett talks to Bill Nelson about Root, Leaf, Flower, Fruit, a verse novel that Nelson has just released with Te Herenga Waka University Press. Bill Nelson demonstrated his versatility with his first book, Memorandum of Understanding. A book of surprising range and humour, it included a love poem styled ...1 day ago
- The French vanilla fraudNone of New Zealand’s commercial French vanilla ice creams contain the crucial ingredient. Dylan Jones busts the case wide open. Like any good investigation, this one started as an innocuous Thursday night question among flatmates: what is French vanilla ice cream, and how is it different to regular vanilla? A ...1 day ago
- An Ode for .. the Kingmaker
Bard Billot on Lord Winston The Duke of Hazard Lord Winston, the Duke of Hazard, Rose late and yawned. The Palace was loud with the hubbub Of busy courtiers preparing to flee the city. Outside the gates, the followers of Baron Luxon Prepared for their assault upon the ...1 day ago - Election 2023: All the latest developments on 1 OctoberNational leader Christopher Luxon says he wouldn't do a deal with The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji, even if it could help avoid a potential coalition with New Zealand First. ...1 day ago
- All Black legend’s Mitey legacy
School-aged children in the south are increasing their emotional literacy and talking about the tough stuff thanks to a rugby star’s commitment and a Southland teacher’s persistence Belinda Brown was a teacher with two decades of classroom experience when she heard Sir John Kirwan talk at a Winton pub about his ...1 day ago - The time is ripe to turn wine waste into gold
The promise of science to add commercial value to the waste of the New Zealand wine industry while limiting how much of it is sent to landfill Opinion: The New Zealand wine industry has been a great success story, creating world-renowned wines with continued export demand, but it’s an industry ...1 day ago - The Sunday Essay: The joy of paper diariesMy appointment diary will never be replaced by apps and platforms. It is the only true record of the minutiae of my life. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Images by Tina Tiller. I bumped into an old friend and former colleague ...1 day ago
- The truth behind the ‘audacious’ return of the Pop-up GlobeThe Pop-up Globe might be returning to the stage, but not everybody’s happy about it. Sam Brooks talks to some creditors – left in the dark after the company’s liquidation – about its shock 2023 return. On September 15, the Pop-up Globe announced it would be making an “audacious” return ...1 day ago
- NZ elections 2023: Green Party, Te Pāti Māori call out ‘harmful emboldening of extremism’
RNZ News Green Party co-leader James Shaw has compared the language of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to former US president Donald Trump, saying it may be emboldening violence against candidates in Aotearoa NZ’s election campaign. It comes after several candidates from different parties have spoken out about being ...2 days ago - Hipkins claims the 'm' word
Chris Hipkins endured four seasons in one hour at an outdoor festival in an Auckland park – and claims to be sensing a rapid change in mood in the electorate as well, a fortnight from the election The Labour leader has gone there. He's publicly claiming his party has picked up 'momentum' in this ...2 days ago - Labour releases Rainbow Manifesto, promising reformed surrogacy laws and LGBTQ+ refugee quotaThe party also wants to look at possibly removing the stand-down period for blood donation men who have sex with men currently face. ...2 days ago
- Green Party and Te Pāti Māori call out 'harmful emboldening of extremism' after incident...Green Party co-leader James Shaw has compared the language of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to Donald Trump, saying it may be emboldening violence against candidates. ...2 days ago
- 1 in 50 Fijian children may have rheumatic heart disease, says health chiefBy Pauliasi Mateboto in Suva One in 50 Fijian children could have rheumatic heart disease and children between the ages of five to 15 years are the most at risk of rheumatic fever. While revealing these alarming statistics, Health Secretary Dr James Fong revealed the high figures indicated the high ...2 days ago
- NZ election 2023: Police investigate after invasion of Te Pāti Māori candidate’s homeRNZ News New Zealand police are investigating after the home of Te Pāti Māori election candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke was invaded, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind. They said the burglary of a Huntly home was reported to police on Monday. On Friday, Te Pāti Māori issued a statement saying ...2 days ago
- Anti-co-governance march to parliament overshadowed by counterprotestA protest against co-governance led by Julian Batchelor, a prominent figure in the movement, has ended, with police saying there were no issues. About 300 people marched from Civic Square to parliament in Wellington today, according to a police press release, and they have now departed parliament grounds. About 45 ...2 days ago
- ACT's business plan: Removing January holiday, putting minimum wage on holdThe ACT Party says it would abolish Fair Pay Agreements, put a hold on minimum wage increases for three years, and remove the 2 January public holiday. ...2 days ago
- Police investigate after invasion of Te Pāti Māori candidate's homePolice are investigating after the home of Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke was invaded, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind. ...2 days ago
- Election 2023: All the latest developments on 30 SeptemberThere's no break in sight for the political party leaders as they continue to campaign in communities on Saturday. Follow RNZ's live blog for more. ...2 days ago
- Andy Foster plots his glorious returnFormer Wellington mayor Andy Foster is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for NZ First. He talks to Joel MacManus. Fear not, Wellingtonians, your leader has returned from exile: Andy Foster is back. After nine terms on council and one term as mayor, Foster lost his re-election bid to ...2 days ago
- Andy Foster plots his glorious returnFormer Wellington mayor Andy Foster is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for NZ First. He talks to Joel MacManus. Fear not, Wellingtonians, your leader has returned from exile: Andy Foster is back. After nine terms on council and one term as mayor, Foster lost his re-election bid to ...2 days ago
- ‘Who’s that?’ says Peters of Luxon in at times jovial, at times furious interviewIn an interview that swung from jovial to furious and back again, Winston Peters joked about National leader Christopher Luxon’s claim not to know him, and denied his party was responsible for race-baiting that’s led to an escalation in vitriol towards Māori. In an interview on Newshub Nation this morning, ...2 days ago
- ‘Who’s that?’ says Peters of Luxon in at times jovial, at times furious interviewIn an interview that swung from jovial to furious and back again, Winston Peters joked about National leader Christopher Luxon’s claim not to know him, and denied his party was responsible for race-baiting that’s led to an escalation in vitriol towards Māori. In an interview on Newshub Nation this morning, ...2 days ago
- ‘I had to drive into a wheelbarrow’: Miriama Smith on the TV ad that haunts herThe star of Shortland Street, The Gone and now Celebrity Treasure Island shares some of her favourite TV moments. Name a New Zealand television show, and Miriama Smith has probably been in it. For the past 30 years, the actor and presenter has been a welcome fixture on our TV ...2 days ago
- VOTE2023: Q&A with James Shaw
In this week's episode of VOTE2023, we talk to Green Party co-leader and Climate Change Minister James Shaw about student-focused policies, electric vehicles, the Emissions Trading Scheme, and whether the Green Party would form a coalition government with National This series is made by politics students and aims to entertain ...2 days ago - The Week in Detail: Tiny homes, mental health awareness, and Afghan refugees
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, the big problems with tiny homes, how we can do our bit to mitigate climate change (besides recycling), why it's so difficult to keep our drinking water safe, the limits of mental health 'awareness', and the case of an ...2 days ago - Their house, my garden: Growing things in potsSee ya later, ground. This week on Their house, my garden, it’s all pots, balconies, window ledges and the kitchen bench. Sometimes you move into a tiny CBD apartment to live out your urbanite dreams. You put on your sparkly eyeshadow and smile till 3am behind the bar of a ...2 days ago
- Getting the brain back on track: Is there new hope for sufferers of chronic illness?After a mild traumatic brain injury turned her life into a ‘game of snakes and ladders with no ladders’, Ursula Cochran discovered a powerful tool she could use to start getting better – her own brain. Here, she explores the potential of mind-body training for sufferers of other chronic illnesses, ...2 days ago
- Getting the brain back on track: How my recovery from chronic illness could hold hope for othersAfter a mild traumatic brain injury turned her life into a ‘game of snakes and ladders with no ladders’, Ursula Cochran discovered a powerful tool she could use to start getting better – her own brain. Here, she explores the potential of mind-body training for other sufferers. This piece is ...2 days ago
- Long Read: The food lobby in Aotearoa
This is The Detail's Long Read – one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's a story from RNZ's In Depth team: 'Fully embedded': The food lobby in Aotearoa. Investigative reporter Guyon Espiner has come out with a new series, Off the Shelf, looking at the quiet struggle to stop New Zealanders eating ...2 days ago - Media targeting public for a war with China, warns Declassified AustraliaPacific Media Watch Barely a day passes without a story in the British or Australian media that ramps up fear about the rulers in Beijing, reports the investigative website Declassified Australia. According to an analysis by co-editors Antony Loewenstein and Peter Cronau, the Australian and British media are ramping up ...3 days ago
- Indonesian police raid church office, home in Nduga – arrest six, torture 12Asia Pacific Report Members of Indonesia’s Nduga District Police and the Damai Cartenz Police Task Force have raided a residential house and the local head office of the Papuan Tabernacle Church (Kingmi Papua) in the town of Kenyam, Nduga Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, reports Human Rights Monitor. Before raiding the ...3 days ago
- Candidate's home broken into, vandalised, threat left behindThe home of Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana Maipi-Clarke was broken into, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind this week. ...3 days ago
- ‘Politically motivated attack’: Te Pāti Māori candidate’s home vandalised, ‘threatening le...Te Pāti Māori’s candidate for Hauraki-Waikato says her home was “invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter” in what the party is calling a “politically motivated attack”. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark said the “premeditated and targeted attack” was the latest of three incidents to take place at her home just ...3 days ago
- Ghoulish smoke and mirrors: Reaction to National's fiscal planThe National Party's fiscal plan is ghoulish smoke and mirrors that will put more children into poverty, if you listen to Labour and the Green Party. ACT is critical, too. ...3 days ago
- Taking The Politics Out Of The Covid-19 Royal Commission“ACT will take the politics out of the Royal Commission into the Government’s Covid-19 response by allowing all New Zealanders to have their say on what should be investigated through a new crowdsourced terms of reference”, says ACT Leader ...3 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori Candidate Hana Maipi-Clark’s Home Invaded In Politically Motivated AttackTe Pāti Māori are not strangers to hate speech and online threats. Today however, a line was crossed. Our Hauraki-Waikato candidate, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark’s home was invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter. This premeditated and ...3 days ago
- The disability royal commission recommendations could fix some of the worst living conditions – bu...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University The bite mark on Ashlee’s cheek, her broken teeth and other photos of injuries from assaults in disability housing are some of the haunting images emerging from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect ...3 days ago
- The Week in Politics: Luxon likely to get what he doesn't wantAnalysis - Christopher Luxon's announcement that he'll work with Winston Peters after the election if he has to boosts NZ First's chances of getting back into Parliament, writes Peter Wilson. ...3 days ago
- National's big guns come out in Tāmaki
National has wheeled out its stars into the blue, blue seat of Tāmaki which is under friendly fire attack from Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden First Bill English, then Christopher Luxon fronted within two days of each other for Simon O'Connor in the previously safe National heartland of the east ...3 days ago - Concern at candidate's assault: 'He shook me, slapped my cheeks'
Chris Hipkins has condemned the increased risk of campaign trail violence as police investigate an assault on Labour’s Angela Roberts Labour’s candidate for Taranaki-King Country has confirmed she was assaulted following an election debate at the Inglewood Rotary Club earlier this week. Angela Roberts explained in a Facebook post after ...3 days ago - National's fiscal plan doesn't answer tax cut questions
National may have hoped its detailed fiscal plan would put to bed the lingering questions about how it will pay for its tax cuts, but there are no satisfactory answers in sight, Marc Daalder writes Analysis: Grant Robertson says National's new fiscal plan has a $537 million hole in it and ...3 days ago - Beneficiary Bashing Continues This Election With National, ACT & NZ First Policies“People who experience poverty as sanctioned by a capitalist system shouldn’t be punished for the predicament they’re in” says Brooke Pao Stanley, AAAP Coordinator. These parties use fear based politics to gain popularity and continue to push a narrative ...3 days ago
- Foreign policy has been missing from NZ’s election campaign – voters deserve answers to these bi...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Tax cuts, crime, the cost of living, potholes and co-governance … these and various other issues are now familiar to most voters. But there has been one major election area missing the serious debate ...3 days ago
- Labour candidate slapped following debate in TaranakiLabour candidate Angela Roberts, a list MP campaigning in Taranaki-King Country, was shaken and slapped by a member of the public following a debate on Tuesday this week. She described the incident on Facebook. While talking about education policy with an attendee after an event at Inglewood Rotary Club, the ...3 days ago
- Forest Owners Welcome National's Forest Policy But Hold Reservations On Planting RestrictionsThe Forest Owners Association generally welcomes the National Party forestry policy announcement that National wants to give certainty and support to the forestry and wood processing industry clearly recognising its economic and environmental advantages. ...3 days ago
- Funding The Basics Brilliantly Would Be A StartBoth major parties needed to have prioritised ongoing new investment in children and education in their allowances for new spending, NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter said today. “The two fiscal plans released this week made pre-commitments ...3 days ago
- National’s Fiscal Plan Continues Attack On Low Income HouseholdsNational has finally released its fiscal plan after much delay and it reveals a plan to cut the incomes and essential public services the poorest New Zealanders rely on, just so they can pay for tax cuts for landlords and the well-off, says NZCTU ...3 days ago
- Governor-General’s Official Visit To MalaysiaThe Governor-General of New Zealand, Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, and Dr Richard Davies will depart for an official visit to Malaysia on Sunday 1 October 2023. Their Excellencies are travelling to Malaysia at the invitation of His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong ...3 days ago
- ‘Forcing more children into poverty’: Labour responds to National’s fiscal planLabour says National’s plan to index benefits to inflation rather than wages will result in more children living in poverty. Speaking in Lower Hutt today, party leader Chris Hipkins said National was proposing “$2 billion in benefit cuts”. “In the middle of a cost of living crisis, they’re cutting benefits ...3 days ago
- Review Of Wellbeing Strategy Needed As Police Recruitment Declines; Suicides ContinueHatikvah Blue Hope Foundation is gravely concerned following the suicide of another serving police officer in the past month, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the grieving family. This tragedy comes as NZ Police is seeing a staggering 48.5% decline ...3 days ago
- Here’s how to fix Australia’s approach to soil carbon credits so they really count towards our c...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron Simmons, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, University of New England William Edge, Shutterstock Australia’s plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 relies heavily on carbon credits. These credits are awarded to projects that avoid the release ...3 days ago
- Tough Times Ahead For Children In Hardship Under Next Government, CPAG WarnsThe Child Poverty Action Group is asking the National Party to make good on its commitment to children in poverty, but says the party’s fiscal plan reveals it has no desire or intention to help those living in the greatest poverty in Aotearoa. ...3 days ago
- Review: Patricia Highsmith play never quite reaches its subject’s brillianceSam Brooks reviews Auckland Theatre Company’s Switzerland, which can’t quite meet its subject straight in the eye. What is it? The last show in Auckland Theatre Company’s programme is somewhat of a pivot from the rest of its programme this year. It’s a psychological thriller by an Australian playwright (Joanna ...3 days ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘farm to table’ by kī anthonyA new poem by kī anthony. farm to table there is a story in my body that you want to hear. pull me apart like supermarket pizzabread and tell me who i am. narrative unspools my broken cassette; pick up your fork. wind me up. present me on masterchef and ...3 days ago
- 'Completely unacceptable': Labour candidate Angela Roberts 'slapped' following p...The candidate for Taranaki-King Country says she was going to let it go, but realised it was important to take a stand against aggressive and unacceptable behaviour. ...3 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending September 29The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Vintage, $26) Gamer Queen of the list! ...3 days ago
- Taxpayers’ Union Slams National’s Alternative Fiscal PlanThe Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the plan released by the National Party today saying it barely touches the sides in terms of cutting waste, and realigning the sector to live within the country’s means. Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Jordan ...3 days ago
- Nicola Willis confirms plan for pre-Christmas mini-budgetA National-led government would deliver “a mini-budget before Christmas”, Nicola Willis has confirmed, with the intention of “setting out some of the savings and reprioritisations we believe are necessary to get New Zealand back on track”. Speaking as National unveiled its revised, post-Prefu fiscal plan, she said heads of government ...3 days ago
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