A Warkworth cake maker has refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. The situation raises the question should she be allowed to discriminate against others on the grounds that she is exercising her rights of religious belief.
For those who occassionally enjoy dark laughter at the truly deserved pain of others, today brings supremely ironic news in the continued culture war on queer people in New Zealand.
Some thoughts on yesterday’s gay pride parade and why National has in the space of 30 years changed from being deeply anti gay rights to being superficially in support.
Written By:
QoT -
Date published:
7:00 pm, November 13th, 2013 - 99 comments
I finally found the words, in a comment at The Standard, to explain something I’ve been feeling for years about the Waitakere Man thesis: I keep thinking about how to express this exact idea: that the whole Waitakere Man myth says way more about Chris Trotter and Josie Pagani’s attitudes towards the working class than […]
At this weekend’s Labour Party Conference there will be a number of interesting constitutional and policy proposals. One of them will try and direct the party’s Moderating Committee to select list candidates who are truly representative of New Zealand society. Some have suggested that this is a radical proposal but you really have to question if this is so …
Written By:
karol -
Date published:
10:00 am, April 17th, 2013 - 115 comments
The marriage equality law will pass it’s final reading in the House tonight. It is a measure of how things have changed. The passing of the law will not bring an end to all prejudices, inequalities and debilitating practices. But, today is a day for celebrating. [Update: Louisa Wall’s speech added.]
Written By:
Zetetic -
Date published:
9:32 am, March 19th, 2013 - 189 comments
So, some Republican Senator has become the first of his ilk to, um, come out in favour of marriage equality after he learned his son is gay. Apparently, this is just lovely. The man wrestled with his prejudices and his Christian love and tolerance won. Yay! Bullshit. This just shows that the black hole where the heart of the Right should be is their inability to empathise.
Written By:
QoT -
Date published:
5:00 pm, January 24th, 2013 - 34 comments
Another day, another bigot trying to derail the marriage equality conversation by bringing up polygamy. Just ignore them, people. Because we’re winning this one.
Written By:
QoT -
Date published:
7:20 pm, November 23rd, 2012 - 82 comments
As the Government Administration Committee hears submissions on the Marriage Equality Bill, one committee member is doing his best to make the whole thing a clear illustration of how pathetic homophobes are.
Written By:
karol -
Date published:
10:53 am, November 16th, 2012 - 46 comments
The left needs to develop a new direction, not merely react to the ruling neoliberal discourses and policies. Under NAct there has been a resurgent masculinisation of politics, and the undermining of democratic processes. How do we work towards a more inclusive, diverse participatory democracy?
Written By:
Zetetic -
Date published:
8:43 am, August 31st, 2012 - 51 comments
Soon, a 18-year old gay man will be able to get married and, then, celebrate by having a drink. If Jacinda Ardern’s Bill passes, he’ll be able to adopt his husband’s child. And, if David Clark’s Bill passes – he can then earn $15 an hour at his minimum wage job! It really is the conservative’s nightmare at the moment. I’m loving it.
Written By:
Eddie -
Date published:
8:23 am, August 28th, 2012 - 33 comments
Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill comes before Parliament tomorrow – there’ll be a rally outside. It should pass comfortably. 61 MPs have said they’ll support it to at least first reading and only quarter of that number say they will oppose it. Many of the 30-odd undecideds will vote no but some will be voting ‘yes’. I think we’ll see about 70 votes in favour.
Written By:
Marty G -
Date published:
7:48 am, February 14th, 2011 - 22 comments
The contrast between Phil Goff and John Key at the Big Gay Out could not have been greater. Key swanned in late, told the crowd the best they could hope for from National was no regressive moves and refused to endorse civil unions. Goff and his posse re-affirmed Labour’s stance against discrimination and committed to progressive leadership.
It’s almost Big Gay Out time again which also means it’s time for some new images of John Key dancing with drag queens and cuddling up to lines of shirtless hunks. I know I’m supposed to admire the fact that a National party PM would take time out of his busy schedule to be seen with us homos but it’s all PR. Key’s record is true blue anti-gay.
Written By:
Zetetic -
Date published:
3:39 pm, January 25th, 2010 - 23 comments
Phew, that was quick. Yesterday John Kingi writes to us about Club Physical promoting homophobic myths. I publish his email. The same day a 300 member Facebook group pops up, and John’s on NewstalkZB and GayNZ. Today, Club Physical’s apologising. A lot of the righties complained that we shouldn’t have posted this. Suspect that deep down they are sympathetic […]
A reader, John, writes: “I’m a member of Club Physical and I was disgusted to see that in their latest E-newsletter (below) sent out to all their members via email address, they are promoting an article from a fringe website that claims eating soy “makes kids gay”. The mere idea that eating something “makes you gay” […]
. . This morning, a little after 4am, Sharlene lost her brave fight against cancer. Rest in peace, Sharlene. You were always one of my brightest stars… . . Advertisements ...
Just Following Orders: None of the awfulness associated with Family Court "Uplift" orders exposed by Melanie Reid and Newsroom would be possible without the active assistance and institutional protection afforded to Oranga Tamariki by the nation’s DHBs. These latter, through ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 9 through Sat, June 15, 2019 Editor's Pick Costa Rica Doubled Its Forest Cover In Just 30 Years! Costa ...
Conflicting Messages: With so few publicly available opinion polls being conducted in this country, we really do need to know how one reputable polling agency can put National on 46 percent, while the other puts it on 37 percent. Nine ...
The End Of Civilisation: Despairing of the major powers ever agreeing to take the steps necessary to slow global warming, The Daily Blog Editor, Martyn Bradbury, has drawn up what amounts to a survivalist agenda for New Zealand. Quite rightly, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeffrey Kiehl Life makes us wake up to needed changes. A visit to the doctor’s office and accompanied tests indicate you have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Your doctor indicates two pathways to ...
New Zealand needs to decarbonise its electricity supply, while also increasing it to cope with the extra demand from electric vehicles. Wind energy is an obvious solution for this: we have an excellent wind resource, and its cheaper than fossil ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The coca issue has gained a new lease of life in Duque’s Colombia, although to be truthful it never really lost its importance to the state. Trump’s scolding of Duque for not doing enough to halt ...
Director-General of OPCW Fernando Arias Gonzales admits Douma engineers report was legit and he was part of the FFM – but attempts to justify suppression of the report. France 24 reports that the head of the Organisation for the ...
When teachers demanded more time and more money to do their jobs, Education Minister Chris Hipkins was adamant: there was no more money and they should expect disappointment. No, after a joint strike and facing five weeks of rolling stoppages, ...
Ecuador's Constitutional Court has legalised same-sex marriage:Ecuador's highest court has approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the traditionally Catholic country. The vote at the nine-member Constitutional Court came as they ruled on the lawsuits by two same-sex couples ...
Arundhati Roy is speaking at the Auckland Writers Festival on July 17. In this interview in The Guardian Roy discusses her writing and political activism. Gary Younge: One of the things I’m intrigued by at this moment is the way ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne The record-breaking 2018 summer heatwave in Japan in which more than 1,000 people died “could not have happened without human-induced global warming”, a study finds. And the extreme heat felt in ...
I've had a bit to say of late about YouTube, its algorithms and the escalating allure of certain facile "creators" to young men. I worry about this stuff. But I think it's also important to acknowledge that the alt-lite and ...
OMV's application for resource consent for drilling offshore exploration wells has highlighted a major flaw in our environmental legislation. Climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, is our most pressing environmental threat. But the EPA, which is deciding the application, ...
I saw an interesting article from FOIMan - a UK-based fredom of information site - on the subject of agencies googling requesters. This is apparently a common practice, but their short advice is "don't": its not just creepy and intimidating, ...
The article below is part of our ‘From the Vaults’ series and first appeared in the fortnightly left-wing NZ paper, Socialist Action, February 10, 1978. We hope to be expanding our Pacific coverage in future. The Republic of Vanuatu came ...
There are a number of ways of reading Sarah Gaitanos’s biography Shirley Smith: An Examined Life. In my view – I knew Shirley a little – she would want to you to read it as her struggle to be recognised, ...
Multiple motivations are behind my various attempts to reduce involvement in online life. The preciousness of time is a big one. The pointlessness of digital feuds is another. The inevitable temptation to meanness is a third.read more ...
Botswana's High Court has ruled that colonial laws outlawing homosexuality are unconstitutional:High court judges in Botswana have ruled that laws criminalising same-sex relations are unconstitutional and should be struck down, in a major victory for gay rights campaigners in Africa. ...
by Don Franks In his June 8th piece “Jacinda Ardern looks unbeatable” journalist Martin van Beynen appeared unbeatable himself – at fawning praise. This week I was reading about John F Kennedy, the American president assassinated in 1963, and saw ...
I am fortunate enough to be a citizen of three countries – New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland – which gives me the right to live in all three places. So, let’s imagine I am a very bad person. ...
We see regular stories from farmers and orchards complaining that no-one wants to work long hours in terrible conditions for poor pay in their shitty industry. And now, its fishers. But in the process, they neatly explain why:"It's a hard ...
New Zealand's largest city has just declared a climate emergency. And its not just a symbolic move:While the declaration is largely symbolic, it signals the start of a more urgent and focussed approach by councillors to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss Political lobbying in the US that helped block the progress of proposed climate regulation a decade ago led to a social cost of $60bn, according to a new study. Environmental economists Dr ...
The Wellbeing Budget opens with, “What is wellbeing?”, a question that has been widely posed and little understood. Treasury says “Wellbeing is when people are able to lead fulfilling lives with purpose, balance and meaning to them.” Long-term challenges facing ...
Who would have thought that so many different groups of public sector workers would have discovered at roughly the same time that they have been underpaid and under-resourced to such an extent? No one doubts that teachers of different kinds ...
by Don Franks Rocket Man is a glitzy spectacle, scooping up on the extravagant showmanship side of Elton John. Two hours of energy and flair. The relentlessly full on song and dance sequences mostly work, especially the fantasy sequence where ...
When National gutted the ETS in 2009, one of the ways they did it was to hand out huge subsidies to big polluters. Now the climate crisis is here, but the polluters want their subsidies to continue:The latest climate pleaders ...
School board of trustees elections were held last week. Unfortunately, NZ Post seems to have sabotaged them:Voting in the triennial elections for most school boards closed at noon on Friday, June 7. But Ponsonby Primary School principal Dr Anne Malcolm ...
Second Time Lucky? Perhaps it was the abject failure of his Destiny NZ Party (2003-2007) which lay behind Brian’s clumsy attempt to relaunch his “brand” by having "Coalition NZ" reach out to those he had so trenchantly attacked in the ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 2 through Sat, June 8, 2019 Editor's Pick White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show Rod ...
Since March 30 2018 Palestinians have protested along the fenced border with Israel calling for a return to the lands they were expelled from in 1948. Israel maintains direct external control over the territory’s air and maritime space, most of ...
I was interviewed as part of an Al Jazeera documentary on the aftermath of the March 15 terrorist attacks in Christchurch. The program is well worth watching because it addresses subjects that most of the NZ media do not want ...
Our fishing industry is pervasively criminal, with widespread under-reporting, dumping, and other illegal behaviour. The most effective way of stopping this crime is to put cameras on fishing boats to watch catches as they are brought aboard, enabling under-reporting, dumping ...
One of the core ideas underlying the Zero Carbon Act is the idea of policy durability: that in order to be effective, climate change policy has to survive multiple changes of government. As a result, the Bill has been watered ...
Saving What We Could: Had the United States and the British Empire not intervened in June 1944, it is almost a certainty that the Red Army would have rolled on all the way to the English Channel. That was not ...
On the Friday morning previous to Budget Thursday, the Prime Minister gave what amounted to a pre-budget speech. It was not welcomed by the listeners, even though most New Zealanders may have found it promising But the audience was from ...
New Zealand is currently in the process of enacting legislation to set us on a pathway to carbon neutrality (except for cows) by 2050. Meanwhile, Chile - not a country we think of as being especially rich - is going ...
How bad is the threat of climate change? Existential risk to civilisation bad:A new climate report co-authored by a former fossil fuel executive has painted a bleak outlook for the future of human civilisation - including nuclear war. Existential climate-related ...
How are people reducing their ecological impact to deal with climate change? In Sweden, they're giving up flying:The number of Swedes taking the train for domestic journeys has risen as plane journeys inside the country have fallen, reflecting rapidly growing ...
The Labour Party has always been an uncomfortable alliance between those on the one hand who are content to seek a politics that declines to accept the infallibility of market-driven outcomes and accordingly seeks to achieve greater social justice within ...
“Keep things as they are,” is always the catch-cry of those who are happy with their lot. “Change is a waste of time” makes sense to those who are doing well and see no reason to disturb their privileged existence. ...
Last month, when the government released its Zero Carbon Bill, I highlighted how it contained an odious expansion of secrecy which throw a veil over practically all decisions made by the Independent Climate Change Commission. I wanted to see how ...
National leader Simon Bridges laid it on pretty think last week when he did his big reveal and showed that the supposed 'hack' of the Treasury website and early release of some Budget information nothing more than some Google searches ...
So, the “Wellbeing Budget” that the New Zealand Government signaled would be a marked shift in the priorities of the country under this Coalition Government has finally come out. What did it tick? What did it steer away from?If ...
Last year, Australian journalist Annika Smethurst broke the news that the government was plotting to allow the Australian Signals Directorate - their equivalent of the GCSB - to spy on Australian citizens and hack their computers. The plans were shelved ...
In 2017, journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey released the documentary No Stone Unturned. The documentary investigated the 1994 Loughinisland massacre in which six people were murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force, a crime for which no-one has ever been ...
NeoLiberal austerity is a cruel policy which robs the state of its ability to help people. In the UK, it is also mass-murder:More than 130,000 deaths in the UK since 2012 could have been prevented if improvements in public health ...
The government's Zero Carbon Bill, which would establish a framework to drive New Zealand towards net-zero emissions of everything but methane by 2050, is currently in select committee. The government is spinning this as an ambitious plan to fight climate ...
Happiness Relocated: The revelation that the model, and her young daughter, whose smiling faces adorned the cover of Grant Robertson's "Wellbeing Budget" had departed New Zealand in search of a better life on Australia's Gold Coast, provided a powerful symbol ...
I first came across the concept of New Times when I was browsing a newsstand at Piccadilly Station in London in October 1988. The words were splashed across the cover of a special issue of what was then the go-to ...
Why are young – and not so young – people becoming more vociferous in their protests about global warming? Why has climate change become a political and partisan issue at democratic elections? Why do ‘greenies’ try to stop the development of new ...
The debate over Budgets in Wellington is the ultimate in beltway-ness. For most New Zealanders settling the teacher and/or junior doctors strikes, making sure healthcare and welfare is funded sufficiently to ensure reasonable access, and other such day-to-day issues are ...
This article by Kenan Malik in 2012 explores the issue of abortion, how it raises profound questions about what it means to be human, about when and how do we become human, about the nature of rights, and about who ...
Thanks to the author of this article for passing it on to us. Ann is a veteran socialist, trade union and lesbian activist in the United States. While she is writing about experiences there, the article is very much relevant ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 26 through Sat, June 1, 2019 Editor's Pick 12 books on how climate change is transforming businesses and the global ...
by Phil Duncan Workers in Argentina have just staged another general strike. It took place on Wednesday (May 29) and saw public transport and airports paralysed, along with banks, hospitals and many shops. Key ports, along with schools and universities ...
Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. But as Stuff points out, jet fuel is exempt from taxes:[A]lthough fuel prices have climbed steadily for the last quarter century, the jet fumes we spew into the skies ...
"...that’s what sets America apart from every other country; we value life. That is what makes us unique.” - Sarah SandersThere is a high level of delusion operating in the White House. The stream of mistruths that come out of ...
Among the provisions in yesterday's Budget was new funding for schools: $150 annually per student. The money is availabe only to decile 1-7 schools and it's specifically intended to reduce the need for those schools to ask for yearly donations ...
Commercial fishing vessels at greatest risk of encountering the rare Māui dolphin will be required to operate with on-board cameras from 1 November, as the next step to strengthen our fisheries management system. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Fisheries Minister ...
A new record for the number of Police officers deployed to the regions in a single year has been created with the graduation today of Recruit Wing 326. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 78 new constables means ...
New Zealand is pushing on with efforts to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share of tax, with the release of proposed options for a digital services tax (DST). In February Cabinet agreed to consult the public on the problem ...
The Children’s Commissioner has announced that his Office will be carrying out a thematic review of Oranga Tamariki’s policies, processes and practice relating to care and protection issues for tamariki Māori aged 0-3 months. ...
The Building Act and Building Code need radical and urgent reform to make them fit for purpose to tackle New Zealand’s housing crisis, says Auckland Mayor Phil Goff. ...
The ACT Party’s 17.5 percent flat tax policy would cause an economic boom and finally bring New Zealand into line with our international competitors' corporate tax rates, says the Taxpayers’ Union . ...
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated (NKII) leaders are pleased to have met today with Ministers Martin, Davis and Mahuta to find solutions to the incident that occurred on the 1st May 2019. Minister Martin has agreed to conduct an inquiry into ...
A report yesterday of a woman, 86, moving because of a 73 percent rent hike illustrates the crisis created by Housing Minister Phil Twyford, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. ...
National Maori Authority puts forward a response to Oranga Tamariki "As this national conversation unfolds - we need to plot a path that sees no more Maori children in care and everything we do and say must always put our ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has come out swinging against ACT MP David Seymour and called him out for his comments when it comes to hate speech: “David Seymour is doing nothing more the running a ...
14th July 2019 was a great day for HB/Gisborne, giving us all a real deep feeling of hope for our future health, wellbeing, safety, security and environmental sustainability for all who call HB our home. This was the first train ...
Tova O’Brien: With me now are survivors of abuse in state care. Tanya Sammons, Tyrone Marks who also sits on the commission’s Survivor’s Advisory Group. Kia ora, kōrua. Thank you very much for joining us. Tanya, perhaps we could start ...
Tova O’Brien: The ACT Party will unveil its grand rebrand at the party conference this weekend, complete with a suite of new policies. David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, hopes it will transform his minor party into a major political ...
The Labour Party-NZ First-Greens coalition government announced on June 10 that New Zealand’s deployment of about 100 soldiers to Iraq will be extended for another 12 months. The deployment of about a dozen troops to Afghanistan will last for at ...
Emissions from cow’s milk here are half the global average. Land use is 1/9th, and water use beats the global average using less than both almond and soy milk. ...
Two weeks after the largest strike in the New Zealand history, proposed settlements and an accord between the Government and teacher unions will be taken to primary teachers and principals for ratification votes next week. ...
If Housing Minister Phil Twyford could do a few basic calculations, he would know that the “build-to-rent” proposal he is looking at would require substantial Government financial support and guarantees to get off the ground, Tenancies War ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee is seeking submissions on the International Treaty examination of the Agreement between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of the People's Republic of China for the Elimination of Double taxation. ...
The Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association of New Zealand (RITANZ) has welcomed news that the Insolvency Practitioners Bill has passed into law on Wednesday, almost a decade after it was first introduced into Parliament. The Insolvency Practitioners ...
International Awareness Day to Stop Live Transport will today see caring Kiwis outside Parliament, speaking out against the cruelty of the live export trade. Animal rights organisation SAFE and more than 50 animal groups globally are highlighting the cruelty ...
Government agencies are experimenting with farmers’ lives in their call for untested CPDs (crush protection devices) to be fitted on ATVs. Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says international research suggest there is no credible ...
Plastic campaigners welcome action on waste today, following an announcement by the Ministry for Environment that it intends to “look into” establishing a bottle deposit scheme. ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that income adequacy, along with the consistent certainty of income, is key to ensuring that children's nutritional needs are met for healthy brain development in their critical early years, and for ensuring that ...
CPAG joins with FinCap and Ngā Tangata Microfinance in calling for the Government to include an interest rate cap in the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill, to complement the Bill’s policy to limit to the total cost of borrowing. ...
The Youth Declaration document from UN Youth New Zealand, created by 250 rangatahi at the Aotearoa Youth Declaration conference outlines the biggest challenges young people see in our society and the solutions they propose to tackle them. ...
Pressuring District Health Boards to reduce their deficits will exacerbate the critical shortfall being experienced in public hospitals dealing with significant increased acute demand, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried ...
“Oh Mike, here you are wading in on the teacher contract negotiations with figures that can politely be called creative and impolitely something else altogether. ...
Fish & Game New Zealand back the call from Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey that research into the levels of nitrates in drinking water is urgently needed after a new study found a correlation of high nitrate ...
Adopting KiwiBuy, a range of programmes enabling Kiwis to own their own home progressively, is being urged on the Government, in a petition launched by Community Housing Providers. The Salvation Army, Housing Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and Community Housing ...
Ever since the newly elected Labour-led Government scrapped the comprehensive fisheries camera programme promised by the National Government, conservation groups have been clamouring for the programme to be reinstated. ...
In response to an investigation led by Newsroom on the uplift of Māori children by Oranga Tamariki, Te Rau Ora CEO Maria Baker has said that Māori already experience disproportionate rates of mental illness, addiction, self-harm and suicide, and with ...
Wednesday, June 12: Drilling in our seabed is about to start for the overseas oil giant OMV, despite the Government ban on new oil and gas permits. ...
Internationally, the Ardern government is seen as a progressive beacon , and its recent budget was watched closely as a milestone in the “year of delivery” for Ardern’s well-being agenda. ...
Thursday, June 13: A drill rig commissioned by oil giant OMV has arrived in New Zealand, a little over a year after the Government issued a ban on new oil and gas exploration permits. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentEducation Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Teacher deadlock proves there’s always ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will J Grant, Senior Lecturer, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University In an ideal world, people would look at issues with a clear focus only on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mihiri Silva, Paediatric dentist, Senior Lecturer and Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute If you imagine a teething child, what do you see? An irritable tot with a fever, in pain, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland This essay is part of a series of articles ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Higher Education Program Director, Grattan Institute Enrolments to Australian public universities boomed during the last decade. This was due to a government policy known as “demand driven funding”, which between ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Slonim, Professor of Economics, University of Sydney Do you think you are paying more than you should for energy, banking, insurance, internet and phone services? You are not alone, and you ...
A commercial pilot academy based at Whanganui Airport has struck a $50 million deal with India's largest passenger airline to train hundreds of pilots. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia When the Australian constitution was written in the 1890s, the authors did not envision an independent nation, but a self-governing dominion of the British ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Australians love our iconic coastal lifestyle. So many of our settlements are spread along our huge coastline. Real estate prices soar where ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University The payment for ecosystem services (PES) model is supporting a new wave of self-determined construction on Aboriginal homelands. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England The New York Times has announced it will no longer be running daily political cartoons in its international edition, amid ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: ACT looks to the past with new policies, unions recommend new pay offer to teachers, and spies keeping oversight watchdog out in the cold.It was probably fitting Richard Prebble was there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government almost certainly would have to obtain the support of Tasmanian crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie to amend or repeal the medevac legislation. Home Affairs ...
Our three month celebrity charity journey is over! Sam Brooks power-ranks the finale of Dancing with The Stars.Can I just say what an honestly strange event the last episode of this kind of reality show is? It’s one hour and 59 ...
From the debating chamber, to estimates hearings, to question time, to a first reading debate, Budget 2019 is all over Parliament at the moment despite being unveiled last month. Here's the financial scrutiny process. ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey borrows a dog and goes on a magical journey. Look, I had extremely high hopes for the day that pets were finally allowed ...
Auckland is great – but, argues Catherine McGregor, Melbourne’s restaurants, cafes and bars still have the edge.Long before ‘cool’ even existed, Melbourne was cooler than wherever you lived. Take it from me: if you’d stopped a 19th century dandy flaneur-ing ...
Auckland musician Joshua Hetherington used to tremble at the thought of reading Ulysses. But in this personal essay published on Bloomsday – the annual celebration of James Joyce – he discovers a kind of spirit guide. ...
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website.Amanda Thompson: A love letter to my crockpotOnce when I was younger and stupider I thought I didn’t need a crockpot. I thought they were the laughable domain of Tupperware-hoarding suburban ...
Seven years on from his arrest, the extradition battle between Kim Dotcom and the United States reached New Zealand’s Supreme Court this week. RNZ‘s Kate Newton went to court to find out whether anyone seems to be winning.Ron Mansfield – ...
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the ...
What was New Zealand’s role in the interception of the Andika, and is the $25 million allocated to preventing asylum-seeker vessels like it really a humanitarian act?In the 2019 “Wellbeing” budget, $25 million was allocated to maritime mass arrival prevention, ...
The silent are silent no more and they are crying for help. There is nowhere for them to go. Jacoby Poulain argues we need a new independent complaints agency for the children's ministry. ...
OPEN LETTER:By Keith Jackson I joined the Australian Journalists Association (now the MEAA – Media Alliance) in, I think, 1971, when I still lived and worked in Papua New Guinea. When I formally retired from paid work a ...
Nicole Tuxford’s death is up there with the worst failures of the justice system in New Zealand history, writes Newshub’s Patrick Gower. Our justice system helped kill Nicole Tuxford. These are extreme and hurtful words to put next to Nicole’s name, ...
David Robie ISBN/code: 9781927184578 Price: $20.00 Publication date: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 Publisher: Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) in association with SciDev.Net and the Pacific Media Centre: Manila and Auckland. “Disaster reporting, ...
The Act Party has announced a new members' bill that would repeal parts of the Human Rights Act, and it says it wants to abolish the Human Rights Commission. ...
Thanks to a eighteen year old book, Critic‘s Charlie O’Mannin briefly became the most powerful male Wiccan in all of North Dunedin. In the depths of time before the world came into being (2001), in a dark and distant land (the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Howard Wiseman, Director, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University The word uncertainty is used a lot in quantum mechanics. One school of thought is that this means there’s something out there in ...
A Fine Balance opens tonight in Auckland, and it marks a historic collaboration between two pillars of Auckland theatre. Sam Brooks talked to two of the team – Prayas president Amit Ohdedar and director Ahi Karunharan – about the show.On paper, ...
Being a big brand, corporate, or government department means restraining yourself on social media, no matter how grievously you feel you’ve been wronged, writes Anna ConnellI used to manage social media for a bank. We had good days and bad ...
The government’s environmental policy is creating major tensions in farming communities. Alex Braae went to a meeting in Taumarunui to see it play out. “We’ve got the get the government’s attention somehow. Okay, we’re not all going to jump on our ...
Dame Lesley Max watched Melanie Reid's baby uplift documentary with a knot in her stomach but urges New Zealanders to move beyond gut-level responses to really seeking solutions. ...
The Sallies are taking on unscrupulous mobile traders with their own rival service. Business editor Maria Slade went out riding with the Good Shop.It’s a freezing cold day with rain going sideways but Savannah is wearing shorts. She’s been vacuuming, ...
Responding to reports that packs of cat-sized rats have taken over Titirangi, Don Rowe travelled to West Auckland to find out the truth.There’s an infestation in Titirangi – and it’s not just white girls with dreadlocks. Rats “the size of ...
FIRST PERSON:By Katie Todd, of RNZ News, reporting outside the High Court in Christchurch The latest chapter in the court proceedings of the accused mosque gunman played out in cold, misty weather in Christchurch today. Reporters and camera ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ray Markey, Emeritus Professor, Macquarie University John Setka’s reported comments about Rosie Batty have the potential to seriously damage the Labor Party and unions generally in the public eye. The Labor Party’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. When you are in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. When you are in the ...
An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those ...
Emily Writes reflects on being out and proud, three years after accepting and embracing her sexuality.In church I listened to sermons about people with the devil in their hearts. People who would go to Hell even if they were good ...
. . This morning, a little after 4am, Sharlene lost her brave fight against cancer. Rest in peace, Sharlene. You were always one of my brightest stars… . . Advertisements ...14 hours ago
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A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 9 through Sat, June 15, 2019 Editor's Pick Costa Rica Doubled Its Forest Cover In Just 30 Years! Costa ...1 day ago
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeffrey Kiehl Life makes us wake up to needed changes. A visit to the doctor’s office and accompanied tests indicate you have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Your doctor indicates two pathways to ...2 days ago
New Zealand needs to decarbonise its electricity supply, while also increasing it to cope with the extra demand from electric vehicles. Wind energy is an obvious solution for this: we have an excellent wind resource, and its cheaper than fossil ...3 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The coca issue has gained a new lease of life in Duque’s Colombia, although to be truthful it never really lost its importance to the state. Trump’s scolding of Duque for not doing enough to halt ...3 days ago
Director-General of OPCW Fernando Arias Gonzales admits Douma engineers report was legit and he was part of the FFM – but attempts to justify suppression of the report. France 24 reports that the head of the Organisation for the ...3 days ago
Arundhati Roy is speaking at the Auckland Writers Festival on July 17. In this interview in The Guardian Roy discusses her writing and political activism. Gary Younge: One of the things I’m intrigued by at this moment is the way ...3 days ago
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne The record-breaking 2018 summer heatwave in Japan in which more than 1,000 people died “could not have happened without human-induced global warming”, a study finds. And the extreme heat felt in ...3 days ago
I've had a bit to say of late about YouTube, its algorithms and the escalating allure of certain facile "creators" to young men. I worry about this stuff. But I think it's also important to acknowledge that the alt-lite and ...4 days ago
There are a number of ways of reading Sarah Gaitanos’s biography Shirley Smith: An Examined Life. In my view – I knew Shirley a little – she would want to you to read it as her struggle to be recognised, ...4 days ago
Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Bristol and Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Antarctica is further from ...5 days ago
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss Political lobbying in the US that helped block the progress of proposed climate regulation a decade ago led to a social cost of $60bn, according to a new study. Environmental economists Dr ...6 days ago
The Wellbeing Budget opens with, “What is wellbeing?”, a question that has been widely posed and little understood. Treasury says “Wellbeing is when people are able to lead fulfilling lives with purpose, balance and meaning to them.” Long-term challenges facing ...6 days ago
Who would have thought that so many different groups of public sector workers would have discovered at roughly the same time that they have been underpaid and under-resourced to such an extent? No one doubts that teachers of different kinds ...7 days ago
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A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 2 through Sat, June 8, 2019 Editor's Pick White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show Rod ...1 week ago
I was interviewed as part of an Al Jazeera documentary on the aftermath of the March 15 terrorist attacks in Christchurch. The program is well worth watching because it addresses subjects that most of the NZ media do not want ...1 week ago
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The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, has been in the news over the past year for its proposals to restructure the number and roles of staff managing its collections. Scientists, both local and overseas, voiced their opposition, and ...2 weeks ago
Last month, when the government released its Zero Carbon Bill, I highlighted how it contained an odious expansion of secrecy which throw a veil over practically all decisions made by the Independent Climate Change Commission. I wanted to see how ...2 weeks ago
So, the “Wellbeing Budget” that the New Zealand Government signaled would be a marked shift in the priorities of the country under this Coalition Government has finally come out. What did it tick? What did it steer away from? If ...2 weeks ago
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Why are young – and not so young – people becoming more vociferous in their protests about global warming? Why has climate change become a political and partisan issue at democratic elections? Why do ‘greenies’ try to stop the development of new ...2 weeks ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 26 through Sat, June 1, 2019 Editor's Pick 12 books on how climate change is transforming businesses and the global ...2 weeks ago
Image credit: Hot Tips to Boost Your Lead Generation Through Blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This ... 2 weeks ago
"...that’s what sets America apart from every other country; we value life. That is what makes us unique.” - Sarah SandersThere is a high level of delusion operating in the White House. The stream of mistruths that come out of ...2 weeks ago
Commercial fishing vessels at greatest risk of encountering the rare Māui dolphin will be required to operate with on-board cameras from 1 November, as the next step to strengthen our fisheries management system. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Fisheries Minister ...1 week ago
Differences in socioeconomic conditions are a major driver of unequal obesity rates among Māori, Pacific and European children, a new study shows. ...46 mins ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Oranga Tamariki's inquiry to an attempt to take a baby from its mother won't be released in full because it'll include private information ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will J Grant, Senior Lecturer, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University In an ideal world, people would look at issues with a clear focus only on ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mihiri Silva, Paediatric dentist, Senior Lecturer and Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute If you imagine a teething child, what do you see? An irritable tot with a fever, in pain, ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland This essay is part of a series of articles ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Higher Education Program Director, Grattan Institute Enrolments to Australian public universities boomed during the last decade. This was due to a government policy known as “demand driven funding”, which between ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Slonim, Professor of Economics, University of Sydney Do you think you are paying more than you should for energy, banking, insurance, internet and phone services? You are not alone, and you ...2 hours ago
A commercial pilot academy based at Whanganui Airport has struck a $50 million deal with India's largest passenger airline to train hundreds of pilots. ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia When the Australian constitution was written in the 1890s, the authors did not envision an independent nation, but a self-governing dominion of the British ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Australians love our iconic coastal lifestyle. So many of our settlements are spread along our huge coastline. Real estate prices soar where ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University The payment for ecosystem services (PES) model is supporting a new wave of self-determined construction on Aboriginal homelands. ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England The New York Times has announced it will no longer be running daily political cartoons in its international edition, amid ...2 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: ACT looks to the past with new policies, unions recommend new pay offer to teachers, and spies keeping oversight watchdog out in the cold.It was probably fitting Richard Prebble was there ...3 hours ago
Many who go through the current family justice system feel alienated and disrespected, an expert panel says. ...4 hours ago
Brown marmorated stink bugs would pose a risk to crops and exports and might ruin red wine if they establish themselves in NZ. ...4 hours ago
Is vaping the answer to New Zealand’s ‘smoke-free by 2025’ campaign? ...5 hours ago
Our three month celebrity charity journey is over! Sam Brooks power-ranks the finale of Dancing with The Stars.Can I just say what an honestly strange event the last episode of this kind of reality show is? It’s one hour and 59 ...13 hours ago
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey borrows a dog and goes on a magical journey. Look, I had extremely high hopes for the day that pets were finally allowed ...16 hours ago
Auckland is great – but, argues Catherine McGregor, Melbourne’s restaurants, cafes and bars still have the edge.Long before ‘cool’ even existed, Melbourne was cooler than wherever you lived. Take it from me: if you’d stopped a 19th century dandy flaneur-ing ...22 hours ago
Auckland musician Joshua Hetherington used to tremble at the thought of reading Ulysses. But in this personal essay published on Bloomsday – the annual celebration of James Joyce – he discovers a kind of spirit guide. ...23 hours ago
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website.Amanda Thompson: A love letter to my crockpotOnce when I was younger and stupider I thought I didn’t need a crockpot. I thought they were the laughable domain of Tupperware-hoarding suburban ...24 hours ago
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In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the ...1 day ago
What was New Zealand’s role in the interception of the Andika, and is the $25 million allocated to preventing asylum-seeker vessels like it really a humanitarian act?In the 2019 “Wellbeing” budget, $25 million was allocated to maritime mass arrival prevention, ...1 day ago
The silent are silent no more and they are crying for help. There is nowhere for them to go. Jacoby Poulain argues we need a new independent complaints agency for the children's ministry. ...1 day ago
OPEN LETTER: By Keith Jackson I joined the Australian Journalists Association (now the MEAA – Media Alliance) in, I think, 1971, when I still lived and worked in Papua New Guinea. When I formally retired from paid work a ...2 days ago
Nicole Tuxford’s death is up there with the worst failures of the justice system in New Zealand history, writes Newshub’s Patrick Gower. Our justice system helped kill Nicole Tuxford. These are extreme and hurtful words to put next to Nicole’s name, ...2 days ago
Thanks to a eighteen year old book, Critic‘s Charlie O’Mannin briefly became the most powerful male Wiccan in all of North Dunedin. In the depths of time before the world came into being (2001), in a dark and distant land (the ...2 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Howard Wiseman, Director, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University The word uncertainty is used a lot in quantum mechanics. One school of thought is that this means there’s something out there in ...2 days ago
A Fine Balance opens tonight in Auckland, and it marks a historic collaboration between two pillars of Auckland theatre. Sam Brooks talked to two of the team – Prayas president Amit Ohdedar and director Ahi Karunharan – about the show.On paper, ...2 days ago
Being a big brand, corporate, or government department means restraining yourself on social media, no matter how grievously you feel you’ve been wronged, writes Anna ConnellI used to manage social media for a bank. We had good days and bad ...2 days ago
The government’s environmental policy is creating major tensions in farming communities. Alex Braae went to a meeting in Taumarunui to see it play out. “We’ve got the get the government’s attention somehow. Okay, we’re not all going to jump on our ...2 days ago
Dame Lesley Max watched Melanie Reid's baby uplift documentary with a knot in her stomach but urges New Zealanders to move beyond gut-level responses to really seeking solutions. ...2 days ago
The Sallies are taking on unscrupulous mobile traders with their own rival service. Business editor Maria Slade went out riding with the Good Shop.It’s a freezing cold day with rain going sideways but Savannah is wearing shorts. She’s been vacuuming, ...2 days ago
The Two Cents' Worth team has gone in search of the answers to their most burning economic questions. ...3 days ago
Governments and unions need to learn from the protracted and conflict-driven teacher negotiations. ...3 days ago
Responding to reports that packs of cat-sized rats have taken over Titirangi, Don Rowe travelled to West Auckland to find out the truth.There’s an infestation in Titirangi – and it’s not just white girls with dreadlocks. Rats “the size of ...3 days ago
Phil Twyford says build-to-rent could be a part of the solution to the housing crisis. Does he have the power to make it work? ...3 days ago
FIRST PERSON: By Katie Todd, of RNZ News, reporting outside the High Court in Christchurch The latest chapter in the court proceedings of the accused mosque gunman played out in cold, misty weather in Christchurch today. Reporters and camera ...3 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. When you are in the ...3 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at batb@theconversation.edu.au. When you are in the ...3 days ago
An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those ...3 days ago
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