community democracy
Categories under community democracy
- No categories
Eileen Brown for CCDHB
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 pm, September 6th, 2016 - 2 comments
Capital Coast DHB candidate Eileen Brown chairs the Newtown Union Health Service Board, a primary care service for people on low incomes. For the last 10 years, Eileen has worked for the Council of Trade Unions as a senior policy analyst; previously she worked in nursing in many areas including mental health and neuro rehabilitation. Eileen is standing as a Labour candidate. She’d be great on the DHB.
Take back our communities and create Jobs That Count
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, August 21st, 2016 - 22 comments
So often we lose sight of the fact that local government is about much, much more than rates. We’re launching a Jobs That Count ticket to change that.
A Tale of Two Droughts
Written By: - Date published: 6:38 pm, June 22nd, 2016 - 44 comments
Climate change is now causing extreme dry weather events and is increasingly blamed for water shortages. But what we are doing on the ground has just as much influence on our experience of drought. As New Zealand farmers call for drought relief this winter, it’s time we looked at how we manage land and water, and the critical role this plays in whether humans can live with variable rainfall in the age of climate change. Here’s a stellar example from India.
Indigenous Perspectives
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, May 29th, 2016 - 30 comments
“It is possible to live in a society with a world view that does not include empire”
– Winona LaDuke
We’re going to burn it all, until we burn it down.
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 am, May 20th, 2016 - 173 comments
What does it really mean to reduce NZ’s total fossil fuel use by 50% by 2030: a warm up discussion for an upcoming thought experiment.
Simplicity
Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, April 9th, 2016 - 62 comments
Good shit happening in France.
Auckland Council IT Blowout; Guest Post
Written By: - Date published: 6:26 pm, March 6th, 2016 - 62 comments
TS regular SaveNZ looks at the background to the massive cost overruns in the Auckland Council’s IT department. It’s not about the democratic processes of council; it’s because the Supercity was set up to fail.
Corporate Saviours
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, February 12th, 2016 - 66 comments
oh, hallelujah…
A Bright Spark Burning…
Written By: - Date published: 1:39 pm, March 11th, 2015 - 40 comments
A further piece on the peoples’ revolution within Northern Syria.
Aussies & US mount opposition to TPPA – but in NZ we just keep nodding
Written By: - Date published: 2:56 pm, February 14th, 2015 - 47 comments
So much to sell, so little time… When this Government is finished selling, we will have sold our right to make laws for ourselves too. Be under no doubt, if the effect of bringing in a law for the health and well being of Kiwis will cost a corporate millions of dollars, part of their lobbying after the TPP, will be threatening to sue the taxpayers of NZ and watch such a Bill slip into obscurity. And those corporates wielding that power? Most will never pay a cent of tax into the coffers of NZ taxpayers.
Local Leadership
Written By: - Date published: 10:26 pm, February 4th, 2015 - 3 comments
The Labour Local Government Council ran a hui last Friday in Wellington. I went along and it was one of the better Labour events I have been to in a long time – community-based organisers sharing and discussing what works. Crosby/Textor is onto it too.
This is not business as usual. This is not some hippy over-reaction. This is serious shit!
Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, December 11th, 2014 - 55 comments
New author Mandy Hager joins us with some reflections on having become a grandmother: “So that’s why I’m speaking out now, every opportunity I get. Not because I like the exposure (shudder), but because I love this tiny little person and I will fight for his future, come what may. It’s the right thing to do. …”
For a better way…
Written By: - Date published: 4:53 pm, August 30th, 2014 - 10 comments
The NACT way is Not Our Way. We need a better way of governance and democracy. One that is for all the people. I joined the hardy souls who went to the Not Our Way rally and march in Auckland.
Roads ‘n’ rules
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, August 12th, 2014 - 20 comments
The Kumeu candidates debate last night covered topics ranging from the very local, to the global: local roads and round-a-bouts, through the internet, poverty, health, jobs and education, to climate change, the TPPA, and the GCSB. Roads and rules were a recurring theme. [updated: stuff video; links to Green Party speeches]
Message from Christchurch: Send Help Now
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, August 5th, 2014 - 36 comments
Power has been concentrated into the figure of one man – a man who has in recent weeks shown that he thinks he is above the rule of law. You might think your one vote doesn’t make much of a difference – but it is everything to us here. Another three years of National and Brownlee, and we might not have a vote at a local level at all.
Marama Davidson: candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau
Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, May 17th, 2014 - 40 comments
Marama Davidson, is on the Green Party list & is a candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau seat. Davidson is a really promising up-coming politician. She is committed to working for people, communities, the environment, democratic process, & strongly supports wahine, Māori & young people.
Rogernomics, income inequality & gender politics
Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, April 3rd, 2014 - 22 comments
All of us, in our diversity, can make a big impact this election year. Time to end the “neoliberal” tyranny! Crime stats are celebrated masking the continuing impact of income & social inequalities. Rogernomics fractured gender politics & rape crisis intiatives.
The struggle over gambling corruption
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, March 25th, 2014 - 48 comments
There has been a long struggle by the Problem Gambling Foundation & others against SkyCity & the powerful and secretive Pokie Trusts. The government has tended to support the trusts, while maintaining their distance from them. The defunding of the PGF is the latest chapter in the struggle.
Role of Government
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, February 11th, 2014 - 46 comments
Governments are holding on to their traditional roles and functions, but the world has changed. We need something else.
just a voice
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, February 7th, 2014 - 6 comments
Brief occasional updates were requested on the public meetings being held in Dunedin. I’ll be straight up about this. I’m not altogether comfortable about submitting these posts because some readers might see the meetings as being synonymous with me. They’re not. But since I’m the only person with posting rights and because it wouldn’t be be appropriate to post an opinion under ‘notices and features’…
Off the Pages (impressions)
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, January 19th, 2014 - 11 comments
A very brief and broad brushstroke account of yesterday’s meeting at Dunedin Botanic Gardens.
Off The Pages – reminder
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, January 16th, 2014 - 9 comments
Saturday afternoon. 1 O’Clock. Bandstand in Dunedin Botanic Gardens.
Towards online citizens’ radio
Written By: - Date published: 4:31 pm, December 31st, 2013 - 72 comments
What would it take to set up and run one or two regular online progressive radio shows? Ones to counter the corporate dominance of politics, news and current events in the MSM, and on TV & radio, including on RNZ.
Where is this Democracy they Speak of?
Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, December 30th, 2013 - 167 comments
There’s a rumour going around that we live in a democracy.
A Tale of Two Cities
Written By: - Date published: 10:03 pm, December 19th, 2013 - 91 comments
It was the best of times in Wellington today. Council workers will get a living wage, and parking wardens will become council employees so they will get decent pay also. It was the worst of times in Auckland as the right-wing Scrooges having failed to remove Mayor Len Brown took it out on their workers by overturning his call for a living wage for Council staff.
Off The Pages…
Written By: - Date published: 5:43 pm, December 15th, 2013 - 17 comments
…and into the world.
Last day to vote
Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, December 12th, 2013 - 43 comments
This is the last day that you can vote No in the referendum on asset sales. So dig that form out, mark it and send it. This referendum vote is a clear way to send a message that even a self-serving delusional National MP can understand. Being able to form a government is not a mandate to do whatever you feel like with our assets.
Enrol for the referendum by the 21st
Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, November 19th, 2013 - 41 comments
If you aren’t currently enrolled or are unsure, then you will have to be enrolled in the next few days. We can shove the lie of “mandate” straight back into this National government’s lying face. Maybe when National are deprived of that silly excuse for their theft, they will stop stealing.
Poverty, women & rape culture
Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, November 19th, 2013 - 132 comments
In our highly gendered socio-economic system that has institutionalised poverty, gendered violence, sexual violence and rape culture, low income women are multiply disadvantaged. Trigger warning: This post addresses some difficult and sensitive issues about poverty, women and rape culture. Subsequent comments will be tightly moderated.
Populists v Plutocrats
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 pm, November 4th, 2013 - 12 comments
Democrat Bill de Blasio is almost 40 points clear of his Republican rival in the race for Mayor of New York City. His parents were investigated for communist sympathies. An anti-apartheid poster hangs on his kitchen wall. He loves Europe’s social democrats, admires Latin American liberation theology and is poised to confound the conservative trend in US politics by sweeping to an improbable triumph as the next Mayor of New York in this week’s elections. There are some lessons from our local elections too.
Well done Greens!
Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, October 13th, 2013 - 115 comments
Yesterday was a very good day for the Greens (and the left). Congratulations! It’s hard to predict outcomes for next year’s parliamentary elections based on local elections, especially when the voter turnout is so low. But the left does get a boost from the results. Local councils need to be improved so that are more democratic. [Update: Clow (Labour) for Whau- preliminary result. Waitakere Ranges Board]
- A Powerful Political Metaphor.
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititi’s successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...2 weeks ago - A covidious year
Dear friends, it’s been a covidious year, A testing time for all of us here— Citizens of an island nation In a state of managed isolation, A team (someone said) five million strong, Making it up as we went along: Somehow in typical Kiwi fashion, Without any wild excess ...2 weeks ago - 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #1
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 27, 2020 through Sat, Jan 2, 2021 Editor's Choice 7 Graphics That Show Why the Arctic Is in Trouble Arctic Sea Ice: NSIDC It’s no secret that the Arctic is ...2 weeks ago - The Shadow of the Nineteenth Century: Rider Haggard and Tolkien
One of the books I read in 2020 was She, by H. Rider Haggard (1887). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as being an exemplar of a good old-fashioned adventure story. I also noted with amusement ... 2 weeks ago - What we know so far about Covid19
Scottish doctor Malcolm Kendrick looks at the pandemic and the responses to it 30th December 2020 I have not written much about COVID19 recently. What can be said? In my opinion the world has simply gone bonkers. The best description can be found in Dante’s Inferno, written many hundreds of ...2 weeks ago - December ’20 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking
3 weeks ago - After Brexit?
The deed is done, the doers undoneHad I been a Brit, I would have voted ‘Remain’ rather than Brexit (or ‘Leave’). Instead, I have been bemused by the comic theatre of British politics, fascinated by what the Brits actual think and professionally interested by the revelations of the complexity of ...3 weeks ago - Happy New Year?But Will She Keep Smiling? Kindness is as kindness does. And the one thing kindness cannot do is force people to be kind. Understanding that was the single most important factor in the Prime Minister’s success at stamping out the Coronavirus. She took New Zealanders with her; she encouraged them ...3 weeks ago
- 2020 Just Reading: The List
Completed reads for 2020: The History of the Britons, by NenniusThe Annales CambriaeThe Life of King Alfred, by AsserThe Wood Beyond the World, by William MorrisThe Life of Merlin, by Geoffrey of MonmouthThe History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of MonmouthThe Life of Gildas, by Caradoc ...3 weeks ago - 2020 – Blog views by countryAs per my blog tradition, here is where my blog viewers came from in 2020: United StatesUnited KingdomCanadaAustraliaNew ZealandBrazilGermanySpainSwedenThe Netherlands The top four remain as per 2019. After four years at #6, New Zealand gains a spot. Brazil is up four, and The Netherlands jumps from #16 to #10. ...3 weeks ago
- “2020, well that was an interesting vintage…!” And all the other thoughts before it firmly kic...
There was all kinds of musings this blogger had thought about up to this point, the eve of a New Year (at least, in one calendar. Maybe we get to postpone some of this if we’re operating off the Chinese Calendar or Mayan one?). Some of those will ...3 weeks ago - 2020 Just Reading: DecemberCompleted reads for December: Frankenstein, by Mary ShelleyMurder on the Orient Express, by Agatha ChristieA Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Sign of Four, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleDracula, by Bram StokerKing Solomon’s Mines, by H. Rider HaggardThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, ...3 weeks ago
- Coffee Culture (Roslyn – Dunedin)
I have been here several times, and love it every time. Great range of coffees and other drinks, and amazing cakes! The staff are on… ...3 weeks ago - Speights Ale House (Dunedin)My review is from Monday 28th December 2020, in the early evening. Being a public holiday there was a 15% surcharge on the bill, but… ...3 weeks ago
- The Left Has Turned Into a Guild HallIf you think the American left looks like an association of market actors, it’s because it is. This article by Oliver Traldi looks at woke as a guild rather than an ideology. The difference he says is that the rules of a guild keep changing. Join the guild or have ...3 weeks ago
- End of Year Roundup.
We have arrived at the end of another year here at KP, making it the 11th since we started in January 2009. I am the only one left of the original crew and am the only one who posted this year. Lew is still nominally involved with KP as an ...3 weeks ago - Scientists shine in New Year’s Honours
In a fitting bookend to a year of science, over a dozen scientists and health experts have been distinguished in the New Year’s Honours. Every year at New Year and Queen’s Birthday I scan the list of honours looking for familiar names from the research field, and I can’t think ...3 weeks ago - NZ Politics Daily: 31 December 2020
Today’s content New Year’s Honours 2021 list announced Amber Allott (Stuff): Christchurch’s new knight reflects on nearly 30 years in politics Rahul Bhattarai (RNZ): David Carter on knighthood: Speaker’s role vital in a democracy Bridie Witton (Stuff): Wellington epidemiologist who pushed for lockdown honoured John Weekes (Herald): New Year 2021 Honours: Constellation of Kiwi stars shine bright Caroline Williams (Stuff): New Year ...3 weeks ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #52, 2020Happy Holidays, Crew! Given the smoothing effect of the publication pipeline, it's safe to say that publisher staff took a full holiday this month, as reflected in this edition's paltry collection of 54 articles, around 1/2 of our normal bill of lading. Post-AGW research After viewing a few dozen editions ...3 weeks ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 30 December 2020Today’s content Housing Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): What would actually happen if *shock horror* house prices fell? Rob Stock (Stuff): House prices set to rise further in first half of 2021 Susan St John (Interest): The speech I would like Grant Robertson to give in the New Year Tom Peters (WSWS): Housing crisis fuels poverty and inequality in New Zealand Brendon Harre: Depoliticising ...3 weeks ago
- Birds that play with others have the biggest brains – and the same may go for humans
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seen magpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...4 days ago - Early childhood educators are leaving in droves. Here are 3 ways to keep them, and attract moreSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...4 days ago
- Government funds are not ‘taxpayer money’ — media and politicians should stop confusing the tw...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...4 days ago
- Digitising the economy is bigger than us
The new Digital Economy Partnership Agreement with Singapore foreshadows a bigger, global approach to increasing productivity. ...4 days ago - Republicans must decide the future of their party post-Trump
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...4 days ago - How a ‘cash-free’ banking system harms vulnerable consumers
Covid-19 fears accelerated banks’ moves towards cashless transactions. But the Reserve Bank is fighting to protect cash, and those who still use it. ...4 days ago - The Bulletin: Summer news stories you might have missed
Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks.A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had ...4 days ago - Alice Snedden’s Bad News held a euthanasia debate dinner partySummer reissue: In this episode of Bad News, Alice Snedden is forced to confront her own mortality before hosting a very special dinner party to get to grips with the euthanasia debate.First published August 27, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...4 days ago
- Words matter and so do presidents
The contrast between the words of John F Kennedy and today’s anti-democratic demagogue is inescapable, writes Dolores Janiewski I still remember three eloquent speeches by an American president. One happened in January 1961 and spoke about a “torch being passed to a new generation”. Two years later and one day apart, ...4 days ago - Wrangle seeds call for more urban trees
The debate over cutting down a large macrocarpa to make way for a new residential development has highlighted a wider agreement between developers and protesters: that we also need to be planting far more trees. At the corner of Great North Road and Ash Street in Avondale, a 150-year-old macrocarpa stands its ground ...4 days ago - Pressure mounts on government to accelerate Covid vaccine roll-outMore infectious variants of Covid-19 are increasingly being intercepted at the country’s borders, but the minister running New Zealand’s response is resisting pressure to accelerate vaccination plans despite demands from health experts as well as political friends and foes, Justin Giovannetti reports.New Zealand’s first Covid-19 jabs will be administered in ...4 days ago
- Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: We must urgently boost border controls in the face of the Covid perilAs CEO of her iwi rūnanga, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was on the frontline protecting her community during the first outbreak of Covid-19. Now that more virulent strains threaten to breach our borders, the Māori Party co-leader calls on the government to introduce much stricter measures.As we enter the New Year I ...4 days ago
- Certainty the key outcome from Tiwai deal
The deferral of the smelter's closure enables the planning of a just transition in the south and the electricity system of the future. ...4 days ago - Behind the scenes of the biggest show in town
The Prada Cup challenger series starts today. Suzanne McFadden goes behind the scenes of the world's only live yachting regatta to see what's in store for the next five weeks. At 6am on race days, Iain Murray wakes up and immediately checks the weather outside his Auckland window. “It’s all ...4 days ago - Bridgerton offers clever relationship advice — why friendship is the foundation of happy romantic ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Raquel Peel, Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland This story contains spoilers for Bridgerton The first season of Bridgerton, Netflix’s new hit show based on Julia Quinn’s novels, premiered on December 25 last year. The show is set in London, during the ...5 days ago
- Tiwai Point negotiations continuing despite breakthrough on smelter
The New Zealand government believes its own negotiations with Rio Tinto will be resolved "fairly quickly" now there is certainty about the future of the Tiwai Point smelter. ...5 days ago - A meat eater reviews New Zealand’s best and worst vegetarian sausagesAmanda Thompson and her family are attempting to cut back on the meat, so they gave all the vego sausies the local supermarket had to offer a hoon on the barbie. Here are the results.I was a vegetarian once. Even the best of us take a well-meaning wrong turn on ...5 days ago
- Land Value Based Rates Charges Gets Thumbs Up From Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union welcomes the call by Wellington City Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons for a shift to land value based rates charges. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Local government leaders across the country should join in Fitzsimons’s call ...5 days ago - Why Trump’s impeachment really mattersIt’s been described as ‘pointless revenge’, but impeaching the president has a firm moral purpose, argues Michael Blake – setting a limit to what sorts of action a society will accept.A House majority, including 10 Republicans, voted today to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection”. The vote will initiate ...5 days ago
- Trump is impeached again in historic vote. Now Republicans must decide the future of their partySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bryan Cranston, Lead Academic Teacher – Politics & Social Science (Swinburne Online), Swinburne University of Technology In a historic vote today, Donald Trump became the only US president to be impeached twice. By a margin of 232–197, the Democrat-controlled US House of ...5 days ago
- Let’s further tighten the border and – oh, wait, don’t make it too tough for overseas students...
Hurrah. The PM is back to posting her announcements on the government’s official website, her deputy is back in the business of self-congratulation, Rio Tinto is back in the business of sucking up cheap electricity to produce aluminium at Tiwai Point, near Bluff. And overseas students (some, anyway) can come ...5 days ago - Tiwai closure deferral hailed as 'welcome certainty'
The electricity sector, Government and people of Southland are rejoicing after Tiwai Point aluminium smelter owner Rio Tinto announced the major industrial would be open until the end of 2024, Marc Daalder reports Stakeholders in the electricity sector and across Southland are celebrating the extension of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter's ...5 days ago - Ahoy! A sea shanty veteran on why the genre is blowing up on social mediaIf you’ve been on social media this week, you may well have come across a surge in interest in sea shanties. We asked a veteran of the style why. In case you missed it, soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. If that sentence is even ...5 days ago
- Sensible Sentencing Trust: Cowards Who Withhold Information In Child Abuse Cases Should Be Prosecute...“It is basic human decency to speak up and protect any vulnerable child from harm, so withholding information in child abuse cases and allowing the abuse to happen by not speaking up is, put simply, a cowardly move,” says Jess McVicar Co-Leader ...5 days ago
- ExportNZ Welcomes Back International StudentsAllowing 1,000 returning international students back to New Zealand is the right move by the Government, and hopefully we will be able to welcome more, says ExportNZ Executive Director Catherine Beard. "International education has contributed ...5 days ago
- Live: US House votes to impeach President Donald Trump after Capitol riot
A majority of the House of Representatives have voted to make Donald Trump the first US president ever to be impeached twice, formally charging him in his waning days in power with inciting an insurrection just a week after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. Follow the ...5 days ago - January 26th 100 Days 4 Action RallyThe Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “We believe it is vital to hold our new Labour-led government to account ...5 days ago
- Council Must Release Engineering Safety Report On Hemo Gorge Monument LeanThe Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Rotorua Lakes District Council to urgently release the engineering report on the public safety and structural integrity of the visible foundation-misalignment and lean of the City’s Hemo Gorge monument to government ...5 days ago
- Child Poverty And Hospitalisation Study Gets Surprising ResultChanges in income and movement in and out of poverty over time are only weakly associated with higher rates of child hospitalisation in New Zealand, according to a new University of Auckland study. Published today in PLOS ONE, the collaborative study led by Dr ...5 days ago
- 8 Tips To Protect Your Pets From The Summer SunWith a long, hot summer upon us, pet owners are urged to be extra mindful of their pet’s health and safety. Unusually warm weather can quickly take its toll on furry family members, who aren’t well equipped for dealing with blazing heat. The National ...5 days ago
- Suspended Twitter accounts: Concern over Simon Bridges' reactionThe Council for Civil Liberties is challenging a claim by former National Party leader Simon Bridges that people should have total freedom of expression on Twitter. ...5 days ago
- A Century Of Sexual Abuse Of New Zealand Women Analysed In StudyA century of sexual abuse of women in New Zealand is analysed in a University of Auckland study. The newly-published research looks back as far as 1922 by analysing interviews with thousands of women about their lifetime experiences. The study indicates ...5 days ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – January 14 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Twitter suspension of NZ accounts Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Twitter’s suspension of New Zealand-based right-wing accounts ‘an overreaction’ – Simon Bridges Alex Braae (Spinoff): NZ right-wingers caught up in global purge of Twitter ...5 days ago
- Over 60,000 Native Tree Christmas Gifts To Combat Climate Change62,686 more native trees will be planted in New Zealand in 2021 thanks to generous Kiwis who chose to go green for Christmas gifting. <img src="https://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/2101/cf409712f141732a8543.jpeg" width="720" height="540"> Trees That Count, a programme ...5 days ago
- Placing Cuba on the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism Discredits U.S. Foreign PolicySource: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By Arturo López-Levy Oakland, California Unfortunately, the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, encouraged by the Inciter-in-Chief, will not be the last act of mischief. Trump is insisting on causing as much damage as possible to the interests and values ...5 days ago
- Tiwai Point aluminium smelter to keep operating until end of 2024
The threatened Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will keep operating through to the end of December 2024, in a new deal just announced to the New Zealand stock exchange. Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto announced last year it was closing Tiwai due to high energy and transmission costs. Meridian Energy said that ...5 days ago - SuperGold or SuperWhite? A call for a more Māori gold cardThe lack of Māori language or symbolism on the SuperGold Card isn’t just a design issue – it’s emblematic of the overwhelming whiteness of Aotearoa’s superannuant population, writes former race relations commissioner Joris de Bres.I’ve enjoyed the SuperGold Card since I retired eight years ago. I appreciate the free public ...5 days ago
- We found the oldest known cave painting of animals in a secret Indonesian valleySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Brumm, Professor, Griffith University The dating of an exceptionally old cave painting of animals that was found recently on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is reported in our paper out today. The painting portrays images of the Sulawesi warty pig (Sus ...5 days ago
- How China is controlling the COVID origins narrative — silencing critics and locking up dissentersSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Garrick, University Fellow in Law, Charles Darwin University Just over a year has gone by since the novel coronavirus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and the world still has many questions about where and how it originated. The ...5 days ago
- 2021 is the year Australia’s international student crisis really bitesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Hurley, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University 2021 is shaping up as very difficult for universities, as well as the more than 130,000 people whose jobs rely on the international education sector. In October 2019 almost 51,000 new and returning international ...5 days ago
- Why the far-right and white supremecists have embraced the Middle Ages and their symbolsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Young, Lecturer, Deakin University Medievalist references littered the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6th. Rudy Giuliani called for a “trial by combat”; the “Q Shaman”, Jacob Chansley (also known as Jake Angeli), was covered in Norse tattoos; rioters brandished ...5 days ago
- Mental health services urgently needed in Canterbury and BOP, says therapist
A Whakatāne therapist says the Whakaari eruption and Christchurch mosque shooting reveal a health system unable to deal with mass casualty events. Whakaari after its eruption in 2019. Photo: Supplied/Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust This comes amid calls for millions of dollars of promised mental health funding to be urgently re-routed to Canterbury ...5 days ago - The bestselling NZ author behind Mystic, TVNZ’s latest teen seriesSummer reissue: Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Stacy Gregg, author of Pony Club Secrets and The Princess and ...5 days ago
- Alice Snedden’s Bad News: Why are we still so scared of breasts?Summer reissue: The latest episode of Bad News follows Alice Snedden on a quest to expose the double standards around nudity, and break down the barriers by getting the first-ever topless scene on Shortland Street.First published August 25, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...5 days ago
- Waikeria protests put a spotlight on prison conditions
While the protests at Waikeria shine a light on prisoner conditions, abuses of power and inhumane treatment in prison are not new and will continue until prisoner numbers significantly reduce, writes Christine McCarthy The recent six-day Waikeria protest highlighted problems at that prison, but it is not unique. The December ...5 days ago - APEC, NZ and economic interdependence
The Asia-Pacific economy will take centre stage in the next decades. Here's why that might be important for New Zealand. ...5 days ago - Being benched by the Team of Five Million
At a time when Kiwis need their squad the most, Laura Walters writes about the experience of overseas Kiwis who feel sidelined ...5 days ago - NZ absent from major biodiversity pledge
NZ isn't among the 50 signatories to an international commitment to legally protect 30 percent of the world's land and oceans for biodiversity by 2030. ...5 days ago - Siouxsie Wiles: What the new, more infectious strains of Covid-19 mean for usThe new variants of the virus can spread like wildfire, and all of us have a role to play in keeping them out of the community.I have to admit, when I first heard UK prime minister Boris Johnson talking about a new, more transmissible strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible ...5 days ago
- The Oxford vaccine has unique advantages, as does Pfizer’s. Using both is Australia’s best strat...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University On Sunday, federal Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said most Australians will be offered a vaccine from Oxford-AstraZeneca. Australia currently has agreements in place to receive 53.8 million ...5 days ago
- Why is it so offensive to say ‘all lives matter’?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Stollznow, Research fellow, Griffith University This week acting Australian Prime Minister Michael McCormack uttered a controversial phrase. Defending previous comments in which he compared the Capitol riots to the Black Lives Matter protests, he asserted, All lives matter. McCormack ...5 days ago
- Worried about Earth’s future? Well, the outlook is worse than even scientists can graspSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University Anyone with even a passing interest in the global environment knows all is not well. ...5 days ago
- Sydney Festival review: Sunshine Super Girl is destined to become a legacy piece of Australian theat...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liza-Mare Syron, Indigenous Scientia Senior Lecturer, UNSW Review: Sunshine Super Girl, written and directed by Andrea James, Performing Lines and Sydney Festival Evonne Goolagong Cawley is one of Australia’s greatest sportspeople. She was the top woman tennis player in the world in ...5 days ago
- Despite being permanently banned, Trump’s prolific Twitter record lives onSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Audrey Courty, PhD candidate, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University For years, US President Donald Trump pushed the limits of Twitter’s content policies, raising pressure on the platform to exercise tougher moderation. Ultimately, the violent siege of the US ...5 days ago
- Indonesia’s aviation safety has improved, but a lot remains to be doneSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Volodymyr Bilotkach, Associate Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology The Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 disaster serves as a warning for aviation safety regulators, not only in Indonesia but worldwide. Four minutes after taking off from Jakarta in heavy rain on January 9, the ...5 days ago
- Parliament axe attack accused bailed to secure mental health unitA 31-year-old man accused of an axe attack on Parliament has been bailed to a secure mental health unit. ...6 days ago
- Film review: in My Salinger Year, hope and optimism win outSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Maxwell, Professor, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne Review: My Salinger Year, directed by Philippe Falardeau In 2014, Joanna Rakoff published a memoir, My Salinger Year, recounting the events of the year she spent working as a “Girl Friday” ...6 days ago
- Seymour is saying the most as the pollies thrust and parry on the pros and cons of Covid policies
The tightening of the border to keep new strains of Covid-19 at bay and demands to hasten the Covid-19 vaccination programme have dominated political debate – at least insofar as press statements provide a measure – in recent days. Opposition parties have been much busier than the government – or ...6 days ago - Enjoy them while you can? The ecotourism challenge facing Australia’s favourite islandsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management, University of South Australia I fell for Kangaroo Island from my first visit. I recall standing on a headland on the island’s southern coast, near Remarkable Rocks (a popular tourist site), and being awestruck by ...6 days ago
- How internet sleuths are tracking down the Capitol insurrectionistsIn the wake of the Capitol invasion and riot, a Twitter-based, crowd-sourced effort to uncover the perpetrators’ identities swung into action. Dylan Reeve, who is involved in the efforts, explains how Open Source Intelligence works, and who it’s helped bring to justice so far.The recent events in Washington DC were ...6 days ago
- The Norse myths behind the tattoos worn by the Capitol riot’s ‘QAnon Shaman’The tattoos on the chest of a prominent participant in last week’s Capitol invasion and riot are Norse symbols now used to indicate adherence to far-right politics, writes an expert in Old Norse mythology.The defining image of the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 was undoubtedly that of ...6 days ago
- What’s at stake for NZ in Australia’s case against China at the World Trade Organisation?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato With the relationship between China and Australia souring in the past six months, New Zealand’s response will need to be nuanced and careful, but also principled. First and foremost, we must ensure the dispute ...6 days ago
- NZ far-right Twitter accounts suspended
As part of its crackdown on far-right and QAnon-related activity, Twitter has suspended the accounts of a number of local far-right activists, Marc Daalder reports Days after removing outgoing United States President Donald Trump from its platform, Twitter's crackdown on far-right and QAnon-related accounts has reached New Zealand's shores. In ...6 days ago - Dietary Requirements: The lockdown sourdough phenomenonSummer reissue: What is sourdough and why did so many people become obsessed with it during lockdown? This month’s Dietary Requirements podcast cracks open the starter to investigate.First published September 11, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members ...6 days ago
- National backtracks on support for Trump's NZ staffer Chris LiddellThe National Party has rescinded its backing for Chris Liddell to take over as secretary-general of the OECD given the recent rioting at the United States Capitol. ...6 days ago
- Local right-wingers caught up in global purge of Twitter accountsSeveral prominent Twitter users on the fringe of right-wing politics in New Zealand have had their accounts suspended amid a wider clampdown by the social media giant. Twitter has suspended the accounts of several prominent members of the right-wing fringe of New Zealand politics, amid a broader crackdown following last ...6 days ago
- Doctors In Training Settle For Improved Working Conditions Over Pay In The Wake Of COVID-19Doctors in Training negotiate a MECA focusing on improved conditions, reflecting the difficult financial times The Specialty Trainees of New Zealand (STONZ) says its new collective agreement with District Health Boards recognises the exceptional ...6 days ago
- We warned Kelvin Davis about the Waikeria uprisingWho could have predicted the stand-off at Waikeria prison? Absolutely anyone, writes Emilie Rākete of People Against Prisons.The Waikeria uprising protesters have come down safely from the rubble of the prison unit they destroyed. The last smouldering embers have been extinguished. As a member of the prison abolitionist group People ...6 days ago
- New Zealand 'pushing the odds toward warmer' – climate scientistThe government needs to take practical action on climate change as the country gears up for warmer years in the future, a climate science professor says. ...6 days ago
- Church leader defends decision to exclude politicians from huiThe Rātana Church will have an opportunity to sort out its long-running problems by deciding not to host politicians this month, its chairman says. ...6 days ago
- Big Business pulls the plug on donations to Republicans who bridled at BridenFollow the money, urged a character in the 1967 film All the President’s Men on the Watergate saga – it’s advice well worth heeding today, a week from the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Several major US companies, including Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Airbnb, Mastercard, Verizon and Dow, the chemical company. ...6 days ago
- What I learned growing up daughter of an ‘extreme’ conservation activistWhen Pete Bethune was bitten by a venomous snake in the Costa Rican jungle a couple of weeks ago, it was far from his first brush with death. Here the Kiwi conservationist’s daughter, Danielle Bethune, reflects on what she’s learnt from her unconventional father. “You haven’t lived until you have ...6 days ago
- Gender Curriculum Rejected, Support For Opt-In Sex Ed – PollA new nationwide poll has found increasing opposition to gender ideology being taught to children in schools, and increasing support for sex education in general to be opt-in, rather than the current status of opt-out. The poll also found support for ...6 days ago
- Artificial intelligence can deepen social inequality. Here are 5 ways to help prevent thisSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tiberio Caetano, Chief Scientist, Gradient Institute, University of Sydney From Google searches and dating sites to detecting credit card fraud, artificial intelligence (AI) keeps finding new ways to creep into our lives. But can we trust the algorithms that drive it? As ...6 days ago
- You could break espionage laws on social media without realising itSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Kendall, PhD Candidate in Law, The University of Queensland Did you know you could be charged with spying if you connect with someone who turns out to be a foreign spy on LinkedIn? Apparently, not enough of us do. Australia’s domestic ...6 days ago
Recent Comments