grant robertson
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The end of Ruthenasia
Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, May 21st, 2021 - 61 comments
National presented a particularly glum picture in Parliament yesterday. And it was not only the realisation that Judith Collins is out of her depth. It was because this budget spells the end of Ruthenasia.
Budget 2021
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, May 20th, 2021 - 71 comments
Headline change, budget is lifting weekly main benefit rates by between $32 and $55 per adult to tackle inequality and child poverty, as well as reinstating the Training Incentive Allowance.
Government backs away from public service wage announcement
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, May 12th, 2021 - 34 comments
Some good news from yesterday. The Government has decided to walk back earlier comments suggesting a wage freeze for teachers and nurses.
About the public service pay freeze
Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, May 6th, 2021 - 45 comments
A few of us on the left have issues with the public service wage freeze announced yesterday. By setting the salary level so low, at $60,000 per annum, the threat is that previous gains for teachers and nurses will be undermined.
About Grant Robertson’s bright line tax statement
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, March 28th, 2021 - 217 comments
Media has been abuzz with comment about how last election Grant Robertson has backtracked on a promise on not extending the bright line test. Should politicians stick to their pronouncements no matter what? Or should they change their minds if circumstances demand a change in course?
The Unbearable Lightness of the Bright-Line Test
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, March 13th, 2021 - 96 comments
The bright-line test is a red herring and does nothing to deter housing speculation.
Senior Business Leaders Call Out To Government. Again
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, March 3rd, 2021 - 41 comments
Senior business leaders have called for more openness and clarity from the Government on its plan for getting New Zealand to “COVID normal”. But have failed to say what they would do to contribute or what they are doing to help.
Time to do something about poverty
Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, February 23rd, 2021 - 77 comments
In recent news Standard and Poors has improved New Zealand’s credit rating because of its success in handling Covid, and a vast majority of kiwis support the Goverment increasing income support for those on low wages or not in paid work. The Government has the budget space and the majority’s backing to do something about poverty.
Is New Zealand’s The Best Little Economy In The World?
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, January 26th, 2021 - 53 comments
New Zealand is the best-managed country in the world. And currently has one of the best economies.
Must New Zealand Pay Back All This Public Debt?
Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, December 20th, 2020 - 22 comments
Without much fanfare, Minister Robertson has used 2020’s crisis to bury the historic scourge of monetarism and within it the excuses of the governments that used it as a pretext to sell off our key government income generators.
The Government’s finances are in very good shape
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, December 17th, 2020 - 66 comments
The Government’s finances are in remarkably good shape. Who would have predicted that dealing properly with a global pandemic would have had better results for the economy than timidly dealing with it and trying to ensure that economic activity continued? But by international levels our Government debt is already low and maybe now is the time to spend on vital areas such as poverty, climate change and the housing crisis.
Time’s up Labour
Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, November 20th, 2020 - 114 comments
It’s not possible to resolve New Zealand’s housing and poverty crises from within a neoliberal frame. Change is going to have to be driven from outside of parliament.
C’mon Grant
Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, November 18th, 2020 - 51 comments
This government must demonstrate that it has the ability to lead the New Zealand economy where it has stated it wants it to go. It does not want more headlines like the average house in Auckland now being priced at $1 million.
COVID19 Vaccine and New Zealand’s K-Shaped Recovery
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 11th, 2020 - 36 comments
IF the discovery of a potential Covid vaccine looks like a new dawn, let’s not forget that this is the accelerating point of the K-shaped recovery New Zealand have been dreading. Our already rich are on the line heading upwards. They are getting richer because of a range of our Government policies.
Labour’s cabinet
Written By: - Date published: 1:48 pm, November 2nd, 2020 - 78 comments
Some details of the new Cabinet announced today by Jacinda Ardern.
Show us the plan Labour
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, October 22nd, 2020 - 154 comments
Labour want to govern based in stability for all New Zealanders, but how does that work when your grand narrative has massive plot holes around ending poverty?
Paul Goldsmith should stop digging
Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, October 3rd, 2020 - 80 comments
Paul Goldsmith has shown yet again his complete inability to understand how Government finances work by claiming there is a $10 billion dollar hole in Labour’s fiscal plan where there is none.
Mood of the Boardroom: National is toast
Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, September 28th, 2020 - 45 comments
The NZ Herald Mood of the Boardroom finance election debate should be for National what it is like attending a Living Wage campaign meeting for Labour. They should be at home and the participants should be solidly behind them. But not this year.
Paora Goldsmith is National’s $4 billion dollar man
Written By: - Date published: 4:17 pm, September 20th, 2020 - 116 comments
Paul Goldsmith has blighted National’s campaign launch by making a $4 billion dollar mistake in National’s budget costings.
Grant Robertson’s crisis leadership
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, September 16th, 2020 - 22 comments
Much has rightly been made of the leadership quality of Prime Minister Ardern this year. But the PREFU results announced today shows that Minister of FInance Grant Robertson is by a long way the most effective Minister of Finance we have had since Dr Michael Cullen.
The PREFU is much better than National wanted
Written By: - Date published: 4:33 pm, September 16th, 2020 - 51 comments
The Prefu is out! And it is not as scary as National would have wanted.
Labour’s two tier welfare plans
Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, September 5th, 2020 - 74 comments
As the covid crisis deepens Labour appear to be committed to entrenching the underclass and giving a helping hand to the middle class.
Why you should vote Labour this election
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 11th, 2020 - 146 comments
Four very good reasons why you should vote Labour in this election.
Wellington Central: Should Grant Robertson Stand Aside?
Written By: - Date published: 2:12 pm, July 19th, 2020 - 47 comments
Should Labour’s Grant Robertson stand aside in Wellington Central to guarantee the Greens are available to be a coalition partner?
Muller is floundering
Written By: - Date published: 9:39 pm, June 30th, 2020 - 47 comments
Todd Muller had a bad day yesterday with adverse confidential National polling leaked to the media and with Grant Robertson and Winston Peters showing in the house that Muller’s denial that he had proposed opening up the border with China was simply not correct.
Angry Ardern
Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, June 11th, 2020 - 86 comments
A challenging post where Ad challenges Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Government to do more.
Work ideas
Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, May 22nd, 2020 - 28 comments
Jacinda Ardern has floated the idea of a four day working week and Grant Robertson wants to change the future of work. Maybe they should get on and do it.
Budget 2020
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, May 14th, 2020 - 89 comments
The budget site is up and running. Some links here along with Robertson’s speech. This post may get updated if authors feel like it. Otherwise commenters can praise or criticize. Preferably constructively rather than with mindless waffle.
It’s the end of main stream media as we know it …
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 63 comments
The Covid-19 lock down has and will tip media companies already struggling to survive into closure.
Relentless negativity
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, March 18th, 2020 - 57 comments
Simon Bridges has been criticised for his relentless negativity towards the Government’s urgent Covid-19 budget response and for playing politics as usual at a time when unity is required.
Is this the next GFC?
Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, March 17th, 2020 - 24 comments
The Minister of Finance says that we are facing the worst of any of the scenarios that they had been preparing for. In response the government’s rescue package is bigger than anything New Zealand has ever seen.
- A long-overdue apology
The New Zealand government is going to formally apologise for the "dawn raids" which targeted Pacific peoples in the 1970's. Good. Terrorising people on the basis of their race was wrong and something which should be a lasting shame to New Zealand. But there's another wrong they need to apologise ...14 hours ago - Climate Change: The return of feebateThe government has resurrected its feebate policy to lower transport emissions, taxing dirty vehicles to subsidise clean ones. Good. We've known for a long time that passive measures such as fuel economy ratings and up-front labelling of lifetime costs weren't enough, and neither was the ETS (which adds just a ...17 hours ago
- National wants to convert farms into pine forests
It really hasn’t been a good time on the opposition benches lately. Not only have we had the various National Party scandals to ensure a decline in their public support, they’ve also entirely misread the room when it comes to the Climate Change Commission’s final report and the Government’s Clean ...18 hours ago - Government for sale againWhen the National Party ran a "Cabinet Club", selling personal access to Cabinet Ministers in exchange for large donations, I called it Government for Sale. Now the Labour party is doing the same thing: The Labour Party is selling tickets to a “business conference" featuring the prime minister and ...19 hours ago
- Nobody Owns The Christchurch Tragedy.
Mass Outpourings Of Love And Solidarity: In excess of 20,000 Wellingtonians gathered at the basin Reserve in mid-March 2019 to reaffirm Prime Minister Ardern's "They are Us" response to the Christchurch Mosque Shootings. The opponents of the "They Are Us" movie project would rather the world was not reminded of ...19 hours ago - 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #24
Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 7, 2021 through Sat, June 12, 2021 This week it was somewhat tricky to identify suitable articles for sharing which is why the list ended up shorter than it usually is. Articles Linked to ...1 day ago - Hoping For Divine Intervention.By Any Chance, Are These Two Related? Climate Change Commission Chair, Rod Carr, and Michelangelo's Jehovah. Is that the message hidden in the CCC's report? That only divine intervention can save the planet from the effects of anthropogenic global warming?ROD CARR reminds me of God. Seriously, that beard. From a ...2 days ago
- Re-Writing The Rules of the Game: Where Chile is Leading, Can Aotearoa-New Zealand Follow?People Power: Ending neoliberalism requires massive and militant action on the ground. Between 2019 and 2020, the young and the poor made Chile ungovernable. Engaging in running battles with the Police and facing-down the army’s bullets, they rendered the political class and its mainstream media mouthpieces increasingly irrelevant to what ...2 days ago
- National is falling apartYou’ve really got to wonder what possessed MP Simon Bridges to blatantly lie about gang violence he claimed to have witnessed yesterday.Perhaps he was just a bit desperate for some attention being that the headlines haven’t be very flattering for the National Party lately.His belief that misleading the public and ...2 days ago
- How Are We Progressing with the War on Poverty?
Child Poverty Levels Are only Slowly Coming Down, What Next?Having settled on its macroeconomic settings, the Government then has to decide what to do with its revenue. In the 2021 Budget; it was largely committed to rolling forward existing spending, together with meeting some necessary commitments like dealing with covid ...3 days ago - They Are Us film should be madeRose Byrne to play Jacinda Ardern in controversial movie ‘They Are Us’Framing is always an important aspect of media reports, especially when it comes to politics. In fact the way a story is framed can often determine whether a topic gains popular support or receives widespread public outrage.That’s been the ...3 days ago
- The police lied to ParliamentEarlier today I blogged about the Ombudsman's final opinion on an OIA request for the police's "emissions-free fleet" strategy, in which the Ombudsman found that there never was such a strategy, and that the police repeatedly lied in an effort to hide that fact. But it turns out that I'm ...3 days ago
- Spanish and Ukranian translations of The Debunking Handbook 2020Since its publication last October, The Debunking Handbook 2020 has already been translated into 11 languages. Some of the translations have been created by volunteers who also help with Skeptical Science translations while others have been provided by outside or mixed teams. The Spanish translation was created by ...3 days ago
- Tolkien and Anime: A Helm Hammerhand Adaptation
Now this is something I truly was not expecting. Warner Brothers is producing an Anime Movie of the story of Helm Hammerhand, titled The War of the Rohirrim:https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lord-of-the-rings-anime-movie-in-the-works-from-new-line-warner-animation-group-1234965985/ My first instinct was to check the date. No, not 1st April. This is for real: a Tolkien story – one ...4 days ago - There was never an “emissions-free fleet” strategyLast month, I did a post about my efforts to excavate the Police's "emissions-free fleet" strategy, and how my OIA request had been extended "for consultations", whizzed past its extended deadline, then refused as it would "soon be publicly available". My complaint to the Ombudsman gained an attempted explanation from ...4 days ago
- As more climate migrants cross borders seeking refuge, laws will need to adapt
Katharine M. Donato, Georgetown University; Amanda Carrico, University of Colorado Boulder; and Jonathan M. Gilligan, Vanderbilt University Climate change is upending people’s lives around the world, but when droughts, floods or sea level rise force them to leave their countries, people often find closed borders and little assistance. Part ...4 days ago - Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s relationship with Saudi Arabia faces increasing scrutiny
While New Zealand’s problematic but lucrative relationship with China gets lots of attention, there’s another important and similar relationship with Saudi Arabia that gets less attention. International analyst Geoffrey Miller explains why Riyadh is too important for Wellington to ignore. New Zealand’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Barney Riley, ...4 days ago - The Irish lough that offers a window into the deep seaJames Bell, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Rob McAllen, University College Cork, and Valerio Micaroni, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Deeper than most scuba divers can safely work and above where most underwater robots are designed to descend lie some of the most ...4 days ago
- The economics of killing HuntlyRNZ reports that Genesis Energy's use of coal has spiked over the past few years, as they use to burn it rather than pay for gas: New Zealand has significantly increased its use of coal in recent years, despite its status as the worst, most polluting fossil fuel on ...4 days ago
- Media Link: “A View from Afar” on NZ security strategy and the end of neoliberalism in South Ame...
I have not had much time to blog in recent weeks but continue the weekly series of podcasts with Selwyn Manning. This week we discussed efforts to develop a comprehensive national security strategy for New Zealand that goes beyond Defense White Papers and annual reports from various security agencies, then ...4 days ago - Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – Reforming the Official Information Act is a democratic test for...In promising to be New Zealand’s most open and transparent government ever, Labour has one key challenge: reform the Official Information Act. This vital piece of machinery for democracy is in terrible disrepair, and the Government has promised to rewrite it for the modern age, but so far are stalling ...4 days ago
- Hard Questions – Hard Answers.4 days ago
- Ian Powell: Lessons for NZ from Cuba, the Covid-19 vaccine powerhouse?What can New Zealand learn from Cuba about fighting Covid-19? Plenty, especially in terms of producing vaccines, according to Health commentator Ian Powell. As the Medical Director for the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Dr Bryan Betty is an important leadership voice for general practitioners. He is also ...4 days ago
- Daniel Greene and the Mechanics of Writing Sex ScenesYouTube fantasy commentator Daniel Greene has weighed in with a discussion of poorly written genre sex scenes: Now, the examples Greene cites are indeed poorly written… but they are not the sort of thing I see in published fantasy literature. Greene’s examples actually smack of fan-fiction, whereas ...4 days ago
- Another sign of MBIE’s captivityWhen the government asks the public to conserve electricity, its usually because we're on the edge of a supply crisis, and its necessary to ensure our own lights will stay on. And when it does that, people generally buy into it, because they can see the reason. But last month, ...5 days ago
- A republic is demographicly irresistableVia New Zealand Republic: younger kiwis support a republic (where "younger" is basicly "people under 50"): There's a bit more on NewsHub here. This is basicly like the support graph for Scottish independence, which seems to have become demographicly irresistable. Sadly, Jacinda Ardern - who implicitly claims to be ...5 days ago
- Good riddance to the Tasman MillLast night Norske Skog announced it will close the Tasman Mill at the end of the month, with the loss of 160 jobs. Good. This mill is a major source of emissions, and in 2019 we subsidised it to the tune of 238342 tons - meaning it was about 0.3% ...5 days ago
- Speaker: Adventures In Gender Identity
It started during a recent visit to a gynaecologist. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I felt an intense discomfort as I picked up my prescription and I knew immediately that this was gender dysphoria. I’d experienced it many times before but my understanding of it in the past was so narrow and ...5 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #23, 2021LIfe cycle analysis of "Dirk" Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a method used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product through its life cycle encompassing extraction and processing of the raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use, recycling, and final disposal. From: Journal of Environmental Management, 2010. -- Science Direct Continuing with getting ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: ScammedReading the Climate Change Commission's final advice, the obvious question is why their budgets are so much higher than those proposed in their draft (by about half a year's emissions over 14 years)? Simple: we're being baseline-scammed. The draft report set its budget based on 2018 emissions: But the ...6 days ago
- Musings on J.K. Rowling and That Issue
Oh dear. Today I will tentatively offer some thoughts on that issue that has been rumbling along for some time. J.K. Rowling’s truly… interesting… obsession with transgenderism. I realise that I am coming rather late to the subject, but honestly Rowling’s tendency for outbursts means that the issue will ...6 days ago - A mini-Official Secrets Act for the Reserve BankThe Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill. Part of the bill is a new confidentiality clause, restricting publication or disclosure of information obtained using the bank's information-gathering powers. The first-reading version was actually good, with explicit recognition of the OIA. So ...6 days ago
- Genomic solutions for a plant taonga: a high-quality rewarewa genomeIllustration credit: “Seven Sisters, Knightia excelsa” Jennifer Duval-Smith By Plant & Food Research High Quality Genomes project co-leader David Chagné The completion of the native rewarewa (Knightia excelsa) tree genome sequence is demonstrating New Zealand is now taking charge of producing genomes on its native species. These are species that ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: Committing to failure againThe Climate Change Commission released its final advice to the government today, and the media is full of reports about how "ambitious" it is. Bullshit. Because when you look at the budgets - the only thing in the entire document that actually matters and has legal weight - they tell ...6 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – Jacinda Ardern’s opaque government by PROne of the most important, and scathing, critiques of Jacinda Ardern’s Government was published this week by senior political journalist Andrea Vance. She reveals how the current administration has become adept and determined at keeping information secret and the public in the dark about crucial issues. You can read her ...6 days ago
- Member’s DayToday is a Member's Day, the first since the Budget. Unfortunately it looks like most of the time will be taken up with boring committee stages. First up is Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki's District Court (Protection of Judgment Debtors with Disabilities) Amendment Bill, followed by Louise Upston's Rights for Victims of Insane ...6 days ago
- A Failure of Tone: The National Party’s Week of Woe.Tone Deaf? From a party-political point of view (and what other point of view should a National Party MP be taking?) Paul Goldsmith’s comments regarding the “benefits” of colonisation merely played into the fast-solidifying narrative of National being a stale white bread party that can’t get out of its own way ...6 days ago
- How virus detectives trace the origins of an outbreak – and why it’s so trickyMarilyn J. Roossinck, Penn State Every time there is a major disease outbreak, one of the first questions scientists and the public ask is: “Where did this come from?” In order to predict and prevent future pandemics like COVID-19, researchers need to find the origin of the viruses that ...7 days ago
- Self-inflicted “poverty”Nurses are going on strike tomorrow in pursuit of better pay and higher staffing levels. So why isn't the "Labour" government paying them properly? Apparently, they're pleading poverty: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the nurses’ union wanted a 17 per cent pay increase for all nurses, but the Government ...7 days ago
- Surrendered IIGood news on the climate front: OMV's surrender of its exploration permits in the Great South Basin, announced last December, has finally gone through. But there's other good news as well: from the sudden hole in NZPAM's permit map, they've also surrendered a pair of permits - 51906 (Matuku) and ...7 days ago
- From smallpox to polio, vaccine rollouts have always had doubters. But they work in the endDavid Isaacs, University of Sydney In 2019, before COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten greatest threats to global health. Every year, vaccination saves around 4-5 million lives, although a further 1.5 million lives could be saved annually with improved global ...7 days ago
- How much is the Greens’ reputation worth?$54,000, apparently: The Green Party says it won’t return two five-figure donations from a woman convicted of animal neglect which required several horses to be put down. Three weeks before being sentenced in the District Court for animal neglect described by the SPCA as amongst the worst it had ...7 days ago
- Power from the ocean: can we use bio-fouling organisms to help extract energy from waves?Craig Stevens, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Louise Kregting, Queen’s University Belfast, and Vladislav Sorokin, University of Auckland People living near the coast are familiar with the power of ocean waves. What we see when a typical wave breaks on a beach is the endpoint of a global ...7 days ago
- Cooling effect of clouds ‘underestimated’ by climate models, says new studyThis is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Ayesha Tandon Clouds could have a greater cooling effect on the planet than climate models currently suggest, according to new research. The paper, published in Nature Climate Change, aims to correct a “long-standing” and “unaddressed” problem in climate modelling – namely, that existing models ...7 days ago
- Perilous Treasures – acceptedIn a good bit of news, I’ve had another short story acceptance. My 1750-word (loose) Historical-Fiction piece, Perilous Treasures, will feature in the upcoming Summer Solstice edition of Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/). This one is a fictional elaboration on an earlier blog post of mine, specifically about ...1 week ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Update #23Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 30, 2021 through Sat, June 6, 2021 This week we included links to some older videos which we think are still valuable because they provide some good basic information about climate science, like Kerry ...1 week ago
- The Adventures of Not-Annalax: A D&D Interlude
Session forty-nine. Recall the terrible situation the party was in at the end of the previous session: Annalax and Elknel fleeing for their lives through the forest, with the rest of the party being dragged away by Nightmare Creatures. Well, the DM had a cunning plan on how ...1 week ago - Unpacking Peggy McIntosh’s Knapsack
This article in Quillette by William Ray takes a look at the origins of the concept of white privilege. Ray was a volunteer in an imperialist army in the former Yugoslavia where he saw up close the horrors of identity politics being played out. [White Privilege is] the unquestioned and unearned ...1 week ago - Update of NZ fluoridation review timely and useful
Image credit: Kurt:S/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). An updated New Zealand scientific review of community water fluoridation (CWF) finds that CWF in New Zealand is safe and effective. The new review, Fluoridation: an update on evidence, was published by the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Juliet Gerrard FRSNZ HonFRSC. It examines ...1 week ago - Who Poses the Bigger Threat: The Far Right, Or the Far Left?1 week ago
- Tampering with Tradition: The Regent Booksale On the Move
First Scribes Bookshop closing… now changes are afoot with the famous Regent Booksale. Clearly, second-hand book purchases in Dunedin will never be the same again.
I have written before about my annual midnight visit ... 1 week ago - A Boringly Benign Economy or Going Through a Concerning Climacteric?
What was the big change the Treasury saw in its budget 2021 forecasts?For much of the time, an economy is in a boringly benign phase. New Zealand seems to be in one at the moment. This is not the way the commentariat present it. To grab your attention they magnify ...1 week ago - Climate Change: Dereliction of dutyBefore the pandemic, air travel was one of the fastest growing causes of greenhouse gas emissions. Fully half of those emissions are caused by a global elite of super-emitting frequent flyers, so the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's proposal in February to discourage it with distance-related departue taxes seems like ...2 weeks ago
- We performed magic tricks on birds to see how they perceive the worldElias Garcia-Pelegrin, University of Cambridge Magic tricks can teach us about how the brain works. Magic capitalises on very specific blind spots in people’s attention and perception so the techniques that magicians use to trick audiences are particularly interesting to psychologists like me. Misdirection, for example, relies on the ...2 weeks ago
- How well your immune system works can depend on the time of dayAnnie Curtis, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences When microorganisms – such as bacteria or viruses – infect us, our immune system jumps into action. It’s highly trained to sense and eliminate infections and clear up any damage caused by them. It’s typically assumed our immune systems work ...2 weeks ago
- Rugby, concussions and duty of care: why the game is facing scrutinySeema Patel, Nottingham Trent University There’s growing concern about concussion-related injuries in contact sports like rugby and American football. Several high-profile collisions between participants and a growing body of research about their impact have drawn attention to the adequacy of the safety protocols in place to protect players. Since ...2 weeks ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – The Low standards in the National PartyThe National Party has a major problem with standards, especially amongst its MPs and election candidates. The latest controversies involve the resignation of their longest-serving MP Nick Smith over an employment dispute, and allegations of abhorrent behaviour by election candidate Jake Bezzant. The party has been beset by a series ...2 weeks ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Trends emerge in New Zealand’s relations with ChinaNew Zealand’s evolving foreign policy – especially with China – is put under the microscope by international analyst Geoffrey Miller who says it’s important to look at the longer-term trends than just the latest twist in the story. This week’s meeting between Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison in Queenstown was ...2 weeks ago
- Liam Hehir: Reforming the National PartyThe National Party is currently facing questions about the quality control processes in its candidate selection. Liam Hehir reports on his experience at the grass roots of the party, and puts forward some suggestions for reform. On the question of whether the National Party has a culture problem, ...2 weeks ago
- This is obsceneWe all know multinational corporations cheat on their taxes, using complicated legal arrangements to funnel money through different jurisdictions to avoid paying anything to support the societies that host them. How obscene are such arrangements? This obscene: An Irish subsidiary of Microsoft made a profit of $315bn (£222bn) last ...2 weeks ago
- The change we need to seeTwo big transport announcements from the government this morning: first, they're killing Mill Road, another bloated superhighway with a terrible BCR. Secondly, Auckland will get a second harbour bridge for bikes and pedestrians. The net effect: fewer cars, more bikes in Auckland. This is the sort of change we need ...2 weeks ago
- Whakaari tragedy: court case highlights just how complex it is to forecast a volcanic eruptionShane Cronin, University of Auckland and David Dempsey, University of Canterbury While today’s pre-trial hearing over the Whakaari White Island tragedy revealed most of the 13 parties charged have yet to enter pleas, there is no disputing the basic facts. The December 9 2019 eruption struck when 47 people ...2 weeks ago
- Review: The Republia Times (2012)Many moons ago, I reviewed the original Crisis in the Kremlin (1991) and its 2017 re-make. Then I did The ReDistricting Game (2007), the availability which has, alas, suffered with the demise of Flash. Time for a review of another amusingly political video-game: The Republia Times.2 weeks ago
- The Many Faces Of Racial Terror.
Tulsa's Greenwood District Burning, 1 June 1921. In a frenzy of race hatred, a veritable army of whites descended on the prosperous African-American neighbourhood of Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and laid it waste. As many as 300 African-Americans were murdered by the rampaging white mobs, who came against their fellow citizens with ...2 weeks ago- Sucking Up and Kicking Down: The NZ Media Covers the Queenstown Summit.
Steady-On, Cobber: After the vicious attack on New Zealand’s prime minister and foreign policy, broadcast on Channel Nine’s “60 Minutes” programme, during which this country was accused of selling its soul and abandoning its Australian “mate” for a mess of Chinese pottage, most Kiwis would have greeted the Aussie media ...2 weeks ago- Jean Drage: Reviewing local government
Local government is about to go through a major reorganisation that will affect all our lives, with the Government’s three-year independent review into the future for local democracy. Researcher Jean Drage calls for some urgent debate about exactly what is needed from local government, and she warns against New Zealand ...2 weeks ago- Climate Change: No wiggle room
Farmers are constantly whining at the thought of having to take even minimal measures to reduce emissions. But according to Climate Commissioner Rod Carr they no longer have any choice: Dr Carr told hundreds of people - including farmers - at an agricultural climate change conference in Wellington today ...2 weeks ago- An accomplice to war crimes
That's the only way to describe MFAT, who are merrily approving weapons exports to help the United Arab Emirates' ongoing crimes against humanity in Yemen: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade approved the export of weapons systems sent to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite officials warning they ...2 weeks ago- Josh Van Veen: A Tale of two parties
On 22 May 1942, a failed prime minister sat down to record what would become one of the most influential and celebrated political speeches in Australian history. The previous year Robert Menzies had dramatically resigned after Federal MPs vetoed his grandiose plan to leave Australia and sit in Winston ...2 weeks ago- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #22, 2021
CO2 and staple crop nutritional quality Dr. Kristi Ebi leads a diversely skilled author team to lend us a thought-provoking tap on the shoulder concerning our lack of full understanding of how increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will affect primary sources of food, particularly grains, and how we ...2 weeks ago- New Zealand relies on scientific research for good policy. It’s a pity the budget didn’t reflect...
Nicola Gaston, University of Auckland New Zealand’s government has been praised for listening to scientists as it continues to pursue its COVID-19 elimination strategy. But it’s difficult to find any signs of significant investment in science in the recent budget — or in fact previous budgets. It was with ...2 weeks ago- The real challenge to COVID-19 vaccination rates isn’t hesitancy — it’s equal access for Māor...
Jesse Whitehead, University of Waikato; Kate C. Prickett, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, and Polly Atatoa Carr, University of Waikato Reports of potentially higher rates of vaccine hesitancy among Māori and Pacific populations have seen the government target COVID-19 vaccine and information campaigns at those communities. ...2 weeks ago- This is what institutional racism looks like
Last month, a man was arrested for threatening to kill National MP Simeon Brown. Over the weekend a second man was arrested on the same charge. This is appropriate: threatening to kill is a criminal offence, and threatening to kill an elected representative an offence against democracy. But it appears ...2 weeks ago- Shakespeare in Sitcom: Upstart Crow (2016-2018?)
Over the past week, I have finished a re-watch of Upstart Crow, the BBC’s three-season sitcom based around William Shakespeare. I think it holds up pretty well – in fact, I enjoyed it more this time than the first time, since I was not dealing with the problem of ...2 weeks ago- We should not tolerate parties which tolerate this
In the wake of National MP Nick Smith's resignation on Monday night, people have finally been talking about what a scumbag he was. Newshub reports that his behaviour was an open secret around Parliament, something everyone knew about but no-one talked about, with people saying (anonymously, for fear of repurcussions): ...2 weeks ago - The Many Faces Of Racial Terror.
- Dawn Raids apology welcomed, needs to be backed up with amnesty
The Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka Māori and Pasifika Caucus welcomes an announcement today by the Prime Minister to apologise for the Dawn Raids. ...14 hours ago - Making cleaner cars accessible to more Kiwis
Today, we’re taking action in line with the advice of the Climate Change Commission to reduce our carbon footprint, so future generations have a fair go. Our Clean Car package, announced this morning, delivers on our promise to cut transport emissions. It will make it easier to make the switch ...2 days ago - Green Party set to deliver open letter to Immigration Minister with 17k signaturesThe Green Party will deliver its open letter asking the Minister for Immigration to fix the broken immigration system next week. ...3 days ago
- Dr Elizabeth Kerekere receives her COVID-19 vaccinationToday, Green Party MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere received her COVID-19 vaccination from Tamaiti Whāngai COVID-19 vaccination centre, which had its official opening yesterday. ...5 days ago
- Our action on climate changeIn 2019, we established the Climate Change Commission to provide independent advice on climate change action and to hold this Government and future Governments to account. Today, the Commission's final advice was released. It sets out the total amount of global warming pollution Aotearoa must cut by 2035 to be ...6 days ago
- Our action on climate changeIn 2019, we established the Climate Change Commission to provide independent advice on climate change action and to hold this Government and future Governments to account. Today, the Commission's final advice was released. It sets out the total amount of global warming pollution Aotearoa must cut by 2035 to be ...6 days ago
- It’s time to get behind our nursesThe Green Party supports the 30,000 nurses striking today for better pay and safer working conditions. ...6 days ago
- Celebrating our oceansAotearoa New Zealand is surrounded by Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean. The ocean is central to our identities and to our ecosystems. The Big Blue both isolates us from other countries and connects us to our Pacific neighbours. We have the seventh largest maritime area in the world, ranging from ...6 days ago
- Caring for the land, caring for peopleHere in New Zealand, we have a remarkable natural environment, with unique ecosystems and native species. It’s taken millions of years for Aotearoa to develop this precious environment – and it’s up to us to protect it! In collaboration with communities across the country, we’re doing just that. ...1 week ago
- Caring for the land, caring for peopleHere in New Zealand, we have a remarkable natural environment, with unique ecosystems and native species. It’s taken millions of years for Aotearoa to develop this precious environment – and it’s up to us to protect it! In collaboration with communities across the country, we’re doing just that. ...1 week ago
- How much do you know about Aotearoa’s unique environment?Test your knowledge this World Environment Day! Think you’re a nature super-fan? Can’t tell a kauri from a kāmahi? To celebrate World Environment Day this week, we’ve put together a quiz to test how much you know about Te Taiao. Flex your nature muscles or learn something new about the ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman receives her COVID-19 vaccinationToday Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman, who is immunocompromised, received her first COVID-19 vaccination at the Auckland CBD vaccination centre. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens welcome Auckland walking and cycling bridge, call for more climate focusThe Green Party is welcoming the Government’s renewed commitment to safe walking and cycling across the Waitematā Harbour, but warning that new highway investment puts our response to the climate change emergency at risk. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens call for Facebook to be held accountable for role in spreading disinformationThe Green Party is calling on the Government to hold Facebook accountable for its role in enabling behaviour which threatens democracy, by strongly regulating data privacy and the spread of dangerous disinformation. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens call for more protection of native whitebait species at risk of extinctionThe Green Party is pleased to see new whitebaiting measures, announced today, to establish a more consistent management regime across the country, but we must go further, faster, to protect our native taonga. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens’ Māori Caucus Te Mātāwaka call for Matariki Ahunga Nui to be expanded in school curricul...The Green Party are calling for an expansion of the current school curriculum on Matariki, so that a deeper understanding of how it relates to managing and harvesting food is explored. This push comes at the start of the Matariki season, the final year before it is set to become ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party launches petition for publicly-owned public transportThe Green Party is launching a petition calling on the Government to remove legislative barriers to public ownership of our public transport depots, vehicles and services. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens urge Government to stick to no new mines commitment in stewardship land review and reclassifi...The Green Party is urging the Government to stick with its 2017 commitment to no new mines on public conservation land, as the Government speeds up the review and reclassification process for stewardship land, which comprises a third of the public conservation estate. ...2 weeks ago
- Five things you might have missedYou’ve probably already heard that last week the Government released this year’s Budget. It’s something we’re really excited about (and if you are too, you can read more here), because we know it’s a key part of our plan to secure a strong COVID recovery. ...3 weeks ago
- Farewelling sports administrator and philanthropist Sir Eion Edgar
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson today expressed his sorrow at the passing of Sir Eion Edgar – a leading sports administrator and celebrated philanthropist who has made a significant impact both within and beyond the sport sector. “Sir Eion’s energy, drive and generosity has been truly immense. He leaves ...13 hours ago - Government to apologise for Dawn RaidsThe Government will make a formal apology for the wrongs committed during the Dawn Raids of the 1970’s. Between 1974 and 1976, a series of rigorous immigration enforcement policies were carried out that resulted in targeted raids on the homes of Pacific families. The raids to find, convict and deport overstayers ...14 hours ago
- Humanitarian support for Bangladesh and MyanmarForeign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta today announced that New Zealand is providing NZ $8.25 million in humanitarian assistance to support refugees and their host populations in Bangladesh and to support humanitarian need of internally displaced and conflict affected people in Myanmar. “Nearly four years after 900,000 Rohingya crossed the border ...15 hours ago
- Feedback sought on future of housing and urban developmentNew Zealanders are encouraged to have their say on a long-term vision for housing and urban development to guide future work, the Housing Minister Megan Woods has announced. Consultation starts today on a Government Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development (GPS-HUD), which will support the long-term direction of Aotearoa ...20 hours ago
- Clean car package to drive down emissionsNew rebates for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles start July 1 with up to $8,625 for new vehicles and $3,450 for used. Electric vehicle chargers now available every 75km along most state highways to give Kiwis confidence. Low Emission Transport Fund will have nearly four times the funding by 2023 ...2 days ago
- Progress towards simpler process for changing sex on birth certificatesThe Government is taking the next step to support transgender, non-binary and intersex New Zealanders, by progressing the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill, Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti announced today. “This Government understands that self-identification is a significant issue for transgender, non-binary and intersex New Zealanders, and ...2 days ago
- Crown speeds up engagement with takutai moana applicantsThe Crown is taking a new approach to takutai moana applications to give all applicants an opportunity to engage with the Crown and better support the Māori-Crown relationship, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little says. Following discussions with applicant groups, the Crown has reviewed the existing takutai moana application ...3 days ago
- Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (AODT) Court opensThe Minister of Justice, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister for Courts, Aupito William Sio, have welcomed the opening of a new Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (AODT) Court in Hamilton. The AODT Court (Te Whare Whakapiki Wairua) addresses situations where substance abuse and offending are intertwined. “New Zealanders have told ...3 days ago
- EU and UK FTAs top of list for first ministerial trip since COVID-19Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor today announced details of his planned visit to the United Kingdom and European Union next week, where he will hold trade and agriculture discussions to further New Zealand’s economic recovery from COVID-19. The visit will add political weight to ongoing negotiations with both the EU ...3 days ago
- Arihia Bennett to chair Royal Commission Ministerial Advisory GroupTe Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu chief executive Arihia Bennett MNZM has been appointed chair of the newly appointed Ministerial Advisory Group on the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch mosques. “Twenty-eight people from diverse backgrounds across Aotearoa have been selected for the ...3 days ago
- Speech to the New Zealand Medical Association General Practitioners' Conference, RotoruaKi ngā pou maha o te whare hauora o Aotearoa, kei te mihiTo the pillars of our health system I acknowledge/thank you Ki te ope hapai hauora o roto o tēnei rūma, kei te mihi To our health force here in the room today, I acknowledge/thank you He taura tangata, ...4 days ago
- Karangahape Road upgrades are streets aheadThe upgrades to Karangahape Road makes the iconic street more pedestrian and cycle-friendly, attractive and environmentally sustainable, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said at the formal celebration of the completion of the Karangahape Road Enhancements project. The project included widening footpaths supporting a better outdoor dining ...4 days ago
- Speech to APEC business eventE ngā tumu herenga waka, ākina ā ngaru, ākina ā tai ka whakatere ngā waka ki te whakapapa pounamu, otirā, ki Tamaki o ngā waka Tena koutou katoa… To the great leaders assembled, who guided your waka through turbulent times, challenging waters and you continue to navigate your respective waka ...4 days ago
- Pause on Quarantine Free Travel with Victoria extendedFollowing an assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak in greater Melbourne, New Zealand’s Quarantine Free Travel pause with Victoria will continue for a further seven days, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. There are now 93 cases associated with the outbreak in greater Melbourne, spread over four clusters. Contact tracing efforts ...5 days ago
- Supplier Diversity Aotearoa Summit: Navigate 2021*** Check with delivery *** A mihi to all who have contributed to making today a success – starting with you! As you have explored and navigated government procurement today you will hopefully have reflected on the journey of our people so far – and how you can make a ...5 days ago
- Pukemiro School to closePukemiro Primary School near Huntly will close following years of declining roll numbers, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “I’ve consulted with the School Commissioner, and this decision acknowledges the fact that the few remaining students from last term are now settled at other nearby schools. “I want to thank ...5 days ago
- Govt acts to protect NZers from harmful contentNew Zealanders will be better protected from harmful or illegal content as a result of work to design a modern, flexible and coherent regulatory framework, Minister of Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti announced today. New Zealand currently has a content regulatory system that is comprised of six different arrangements covering some ...5 days ago
- Consultation on exemption of new builds from proposed tax rulesThe Government has today confirmed new builds will be exempt from planned changes to the tax treatment of residential investment property. Public consultation is now open on details of the proposals, which stop interest deductions being claimed for residential investment properties other than new builds. “The Government’s goal is to ...5 days ago
- Speech for Predator Free 2050 ConferenceIntroduction E ngā mana E ngā reo E ngā iwi Tēnā koutou katoa Ka huri ki ngā mana whenua o te rohe nei. Tēnā koutou He mihi hoki ki a tatou kua tau mai nei i raro i te kaupapa o te rā Ko Ayesha Verrall toku ingoa No ...5 days ago
- New stock exchange to help grow small businessesA new share trading market, designed as a gateway to the NZX for small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has been granted a licence by the Government. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister, David Clark said Catalist Markets Ltd will provide a simpler and more affordable ‘stepping stone’ for SMEs to raise capital. “This ...5 days ago
- Visa extensions provide certainty to employers and 10,000 visa holdersChanges to onshore visas will provide employers and visa holders with more certainty, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has announced. Around 10,000 Working Holiday visas and Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) work visas due to expire between 21 June 2021 and 31 December 2021 will be extended for another six months to ...5 days ago
- Border class exceptions approved for more farm workers and vetsThe Government has approved border class exceptions for an additional 200 dairy workers and 50 veterinarians to enter New Zealand, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “It is clear from conversations with the dairy and veterinarian sectors that they are facing workforce pressures. These border exceptions will go a long ...5 days ago
- More freezers and South Island hub to support vaccine roll-outA South Island hub and 17 new ultra-low temperature freezers will help further prepare New Zealand for the ramp up of the vaccination programme in the second half of this year, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. The new freezers arrived in New Zealand on 27 May. They’re currently being ...6 days ago
- Speech at the release of Climate Change Commission's final adviceGood morning – and thank you Prime Minister. Over the last three and half years we have been putting in place the foundations for a low-carbon Aotearoa that will be a catalyst for job creation, innovation, and prosperity for decades to come. In that future, many of our everyday tasks ...6 days ago
- Achievable blueprint for addressing climate change releasedReport says Government making good progress on emissions reduction, but more action required Meeting climate targets achievable and affordable with existing technology Economic cost of delaying action higher than taking action now Benefits from climate action include health improvements and lower energy bills All Ministers to help meet climate targets ...6 days ago
- Speech to release of Climate Commission final reportA few years ago in a speech in Auckland, I compared climate change to the nuclear free movement of roughly four decades ago. And I did so for a few reasons. Firstly, because the movement of the 1980s represented a life or death situation for the Pacific, and so does ...6 days ago
- Appointment of Judge of the High CourtAuckland Barrister Michael Robinson has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Robinson graduated with a BA and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1996, and commenced practice as a solicitor with Brookfields in Auckland. In 1998 he travelled to London ...6 days ago
- Government takes action to improve protections for subcontractorsThe Construction Contracts (Retention Money) Amendment Bill – which provides greater financial protection for subcontractors, has passed its first reading today. The Bill amends the retention provisions in the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA) to provide increased confidence and transparency for subcontractors that retention money they are owed is safe. ...7 days ago
- 1 million more Pfizer doses to arrive in JulyPfizer has scheduled delivery of an estimated 1 million doses of vaccine to New Zealand during July, COVID1-9 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “These consignments will double the total number of Pfizer doses we have received this year to more than 1,900,000 – enough to fully vaccinate almost 1 ...7 days ago
- Long-term home of the Independent Children’s Monitor identifiedThe Independent Children’s Monitor (Te Mana Whakamaru Tamariki Motuhake), which is currently located within the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), will become its own departmental agency within Government. “Following the recommendations of several reviews, Cabinet agreed in 2019 to build a significantly expanded independent monitor for children in care,” Carmel ...7 days ago
- Racing Integrity Board members announcedThe new Racing Integrity Board will be up and running from July 1 to ensure high standards of animal welfare, integrity and professionalism in the racing industry. Racing Minister Grant Robertson today announced the appointments to the new Board: Sir Bruce Robertson KNZM – Chair Kristy McDonald ONZM QC Penelope ...7 days ago
- Govt crackdown on organised crime continuesA major operation against multiple organised crime groups with international links will make a significant dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks, Police Minister Poto Williams says. “I want to take an opportunity to congratulate the Police for their role in Operation Trojan Shield. This ...7 days ago
- Farm planning framework supports farmers into the futureA new framework, agreed between Government and industry, will make it easier for farmers and growers to integrate future greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater regulatory requirements into their farm planning, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “The Good Farm Planning Principles Guide out today, provides guidance for how farmers can organise ...7 days ago
- Enhanced Task Force Green Approved for CanterburyThe Government has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to the Canterbury floods. The Minister of Social Development and Employment, Hon Carmel Sepuloni says $500,000 will be made available to help with the clean-up. The flooding in Canterbury has been a significant and adverse event damaging farmland, homes, roads ...7 days ago
- Connecting rangatahi to the soilA Jobs for Nature project to raise 480,000 native plants in nurseries across South Auckland will provide work for communities disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19, Acting Conservation Minister Ayesha Verrall says. The Mana in Kaimahi project is being run by Te Whāngai Trust Board and will establish ...7 days ago
- Roll out of high-resolution elevation mapping beginsThe first tranche of mapping data from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)-LiDAR project is now available to the public from Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. LiDAR data, which creates 3D baseline elevation information, will deliver multiple uses over the coming decades to councils and regional industries. “This mapping ...1 week ago
- Champions of Pacific education rewarded in Queen’s Birthday HonoursMinister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio said the Queen’s Birthday 2021 Honours list show that across Aotearoa New Zealand there were many champions of Pacific education. “Education is so vital to the success of Pacific people that it’s truly fitting that a number of educators have been honoured this ...1 week ago
- PM congratulates Queen’s Birthday Honours recipientsPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the Queen’s Birthday 2021 Honours List. “This group represents decades of services across many areas, and those honoured highlight how many New Zealanders are going above and ...1 week ago
- Change of status for Rangiriri kuraA change of status for Te Kura o Rangiriri sees it become a designated character school within the Māori-medium network, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis announced today. “This kura has been providing Māori immersion learning since 2003 in the historic town of Rangiriri, so I’m delighted that it is ...1 week ago
- APEC trade ministers’ unite on COVID-19 vaccine steps and rejuvenating the WTOAPEC trade ministers today committed to speeding up the cross-border flow of vaccines and related goods to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. This followed the completion of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting chaired by Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor early this morning. “As we face the ...1 week ago
- Finishing Auckland and fixing New Zealand
A big bang approach may yet be possible in reforming local councils nationwide - including the so-called super city of Auckland, writes Mark Thomas ...7 mins ago - We won't stop until white saviour film shut down
A proposed film about the March 15 attacks seeks to whitewash the murder of 51 people and the permanent scars left on so many more. It must be shut down, writes Guled Mire. When news emerged last week about the making of a grotesque, white innocence film fetishising Prime Minister Jacinda ...7 mins ago - A dream of peanut butter
The maker of one of New Zealand's great nutty pastes on how his empire began I bought two bags of raw peanuts, took them home, and shook them out onto an oven tray. The warm, satisfying aroma of roasting peanuts took me right back to winter afternoons in Pakuranga. Mum ...7 mins ago - National Party all out of love for returning MP
National MPs have spoken out about Harete Hipango, saying she will be more hinder than help to the embattled party. ...7 mins ago - Dangerous mould found in leaky mental health units
Black mould has been detected in four Auckland mental health units with weathertightness problems. The fungus could reach unsafe levels ‘at any moment’, the DHB has warned. Routine testing is being carried out for stachybotrys, or black mould, in four buildings at the Mason Clinic, the regional forensic psychiatric service run ...7 mins ago - Newsroom's daily sudoku, Tuesday 15 June
...7 mins ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 15 June
Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...7 mins ago - Dawn Raids apology: 'I do not want my children to be shackled by that pain'
The Government has announced it will formally apologise for the Dawn Raids. Parliament's Pasifika MPs share their reactions and memories with Newsroom At the Auckland Town Hall on June 26, the Government will apologise for a policy Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said caused "deep wounds" for New Zealand's Pasifika communities. ...7 mins ago - NZOC encourages athlete vaccination, but won’t require it
Without clear rules about the need for a vaccine before Tokyo, the New Zealand Olympic Committee can only hope its athletes are vaccinated When the New Zealand Olympic team arrives in Tokyo, 98 percent will have been vaccinated. At least that’s what the New Zealand Olympic Committee expects. But although vaccinations ...7 mins ago - Newsroom daily crossword, Tuesday 15 June
...7 mins ago - Signal lifts female awareness while waiting for Tokyo nod
While gutsy weightlifter Megan Signal waits to hear if she's off to her first Olympics, she's helping aspiring female athletes bridge the knowledge gap around wellness and support. Megan Signal knows more than most what pushing your body to the limit can achieve. The Olympic weightlifting hopeful will soon find out ...7 mins ago - Emergency housing: Police documents point to increasing concern over crime
Internal police documents show emergency housing has been flagged as an area of increasing concern, but neither they nor the government will reveal the full extent of the problem. ...9 mins ago - Why the same mid-market EV costs over 50% more in New Zealand
A popular electric SUV costs the equivalent of $52,000 in Canada; here in New Zealand, the same model’s price tag is closer to $80,000. Why the huge difference?As part of its wider climate programme the government will start subsidising many new electric vehicles coming into the country with a cheque ...27 mins ago - That was awkward. Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy, reviewedA new biography of the prime minister was written by two authors trying hard to tell the story of a country without visiting it. The errors are troubling, and so is some of the sourcing, writes Toby Manhire.There are worse problems to have than a queue of people wanting to ...33 mins ago
- Ali Mau on being harassed and outed by the gossip pagesGossip Week: In the late 2000s, Ali Mau couldn’t leave the house without being followed by paparazzi. She tells Alice Webb-Liddall about the impact gossip mags have had on her life, and how the traumatic experience has made her a better journalist.All week, The Spinoff is taking a look at ...36 mins ago
- Housing the mentally ill when the roof is caving in
In a time when the country is concentrating on well-being, our mental health facilities are crumbling and overcrowded. One phrase you come across a lot in the health sector is ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’. It’s an easy metaphor, communicating an idea that crops up a lot: trying ...37 mins ago - The Kiwi tech company easing chronic pain with brain training
One in five NZers suffer from chronic pain, so a Kiwi company is using EEG technology to help patients retrain their brains ...37 mins ago - Damien O'Connor herding towards trade consensus
The trade minister on China, winning consensus and a world beyond FTAs. ...37 mins ago - View from The Hill: Biloela family to be released but Hawke has yet to reveal the terms
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Biloela Tamil family will finally be released from detention. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will announce this on Tuesday, but we have yet to learn the terms of that release. There are several options. These ...5 hours ago - Netanyahu leaves behind a complex legacy in Israel. His successor will need to deliver change — an...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ran Porat, Affiliate Researcher, The Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Israel’s 36th government was approved today, with a slim majority of 60–59 in the Knesset (parliament). The new prime minister is the leader of ...8 hours ago
- NZ to formally apologise for Dawn Raids against Pacific IslandersRNZ News New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will make a formal government apology for the 1970s Dawn Raids against Pacific Islanders on June 26 at a commemoration event in the Auckland Town Hall. She made the announcement today alongside Pacific Peoples Minister ‘Aupito William Sio. Ardern said there was ...9 hours ago
- Review: The Block NZ is back – and the same as it ever wasAfter a two year break, The Block NZ is back. Tara Ward watches the first episode of the new season to find out what drama lies ahead. The Block NZ returns to Three tonight, and host Mark Richardson is promising big things. Season nine will be “bigger and tougher than ever”, ...10 hours ago
- The ocean and a question of legal personhood
Victoria University of Wellington's Petra Butler asks if the ocean should be awarded legal personality akin to New Zealand’s Te Awa o Whanganui or Te Urewera The ocean is a continuous body of saltwater that covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. It holds about 1.34 billion cubic kilometres ...14 hours ago - Government to formally apologise for Dawn Raids – Jacinda ArdernThe prime minister will deliver an official apology from the government for the 1970s Dawn Raids on 26 June. ...14 hours ago
- Vape Flavour Petition Dismissed Despite Mounting Evidence
<img src="https://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/2106/28ae42f0e8b371999782.jpeg" width="720" height="720"> Fifteen months after a Parliamentary petition supporting ongoing access to vape flavours closed, and nearly a year after ...14 hours ago - On the Dawn Raids and apologies – a Polynesian Panther writesJacinda Ardern has announced the government will make a formal apology for the Dawn Raids of the 1970s. It promises to be a critical part of healing the relationship between the state and the Pacific peoples of Aotearoa, writes Dr Melani Anae, who joined the Polynesian Panthers in 1971.On June ...14 hours ago
- Watch live: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to announce details on Dawn Raids apologyThe prime minister is expected to announce a date for an official apology from the government over the 1970s Dawn Raids. ...15 hours ago
- G7 showed that post-Trump, the world has shiftedSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Vice-chancellor’s fellow, La Trobe University What a difference a year makes in international diplomacy. A year ago, then-US President Donald Trump was obliged to abandon his plans for a G7 summit at the presidential retreat of Camp David outside Washington. ...15 hours ago
- Consultations begin on proposals to penalise some vehicle owners and to rewrite matters of public re...
Various consultations were triggered in weekend announcements from the Beehive, among them a consultation on government proposals to hasten the public’s purchase of low-emission vehicles to help meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target (and – of course – “to create jobs to support the economic recovery”). Among the proposals ...15 hours ago - Mataura aluminium dross: Finance Minister defends agreeing to $10m indemnityThe government faced paying $10 million to get rid of 10,000 tonnes of hazardous waste in Mataura. ...15 hours ago
- 10 x 100: What do followers of celebrity culture think about the world of gossip?Gossip Week: In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. To mark the historic first ever Spinoff Gossip Week, we’ve gone to Facebook users who follow celebrity news.1. Are you a gossip?You might think that our hundred-strong cohort of celeb-news fans ...16 hours ago
- Another Firearm Pointed At Police – Govt Needs To ActThe increase in the frequency of firearms being pointed at police should be ringing alarm bells for the government to make a move on arming police before it's too late, says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “A person has allegedly ...16 hours ago
- 105 more covid cases in Fiji – 98 linked to existing clustersBy Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva Fiji’s Health Ministry has announced 105 new covid-19 cases as the pandemic crisis worsens. Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 98 of the cases recorded yesterday were linked to existing clusters, while links to seven more cases were still under investigation. He said new cases ...17 hours ago
- ‘Deeply misleading’ NZ covid-19 leaflets cause distress to at-risk residentBy Katie Doyle, RNZ News reporter A Christchurch woman is furious a flyer from the New Zealand disinformation group Voices For Freedom ended up in her letterbox. It contains nine false or misleading claims about covid-19 and the vaccine, and asks readers “are you fed up with covid yet?” The ...17 hours ago
- NFP leader Prasad warns against Fiji ‘catastrophe’ by stubborn governmentAsia Pacific Report newsdesk The leader of Fiji’s opposition National Federation Party has condemned the government’s strategy for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as having “failed” and warns it will lead to “catastrophic results”. “The government plan is complacent and short-sighted,” said Professor Biman Prasad in a statement tonight in ...17 hours ago
- High profile lawyer faces fresh fraud, money laundering charges in PNGRNZ Pacific A prominent Australian lawyer, Greg Sheppard, has been arrested by Papua New Guinean police and is facing a range of fraud charges. Sheppard, a principal of Young & Williams Lawyers, was arrested on Tuesday in Port Moresby. He was charged with two counts of misappropriation and another two ...17 hours ago
- Nine reasons why Jakarta has branded Papuan armed rebels as ‘terrorists’By Benny Mawel in Jayapura The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) believes that the Indonesian government has nine motives behind the branding of National Liberation Army of West Papua as terrorists. Executive director Markus Haluk of ULMWP said this during a seminar and book discussion about Demanding Dignity, ...17 hours ago
- Fiji disaster unfolds as nation breaks daily covid record with 94 new casesBy Barbara Dreaver, 1 NEWS Pacific correspondent A disaster is unfolding in Fiji as covid-19 cases continue to escalate – 94 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest recorded daily number to date. That is the highest ever daily total for the country, and health experts have told 1 ...17 hours ago
- Marape tells PNG police they should be ‘doing their job’ over sorcery killingsBy Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Prime Minister James Marape says Papua New Guineans who continue to commit crimes under the pretext of “sorcery” must be arrested and charged by police. Marape was responding to questions asked by The National in relation to the death of Mary Kopari who was ...17 hours ago
- They are (using) us: ‘How is it okay for others to profit off our pain?’COMMENT: By Saziah Bashir It was announced yesterday that Australian actress Rose Byrne will star as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in an upcoming movie about the response to the Christchurch mosque terror attacks of 15 March 2019, titled They Are Us. The movie will be directed by New ...17 hours ago
- International Migration: April 2021 – Infoshare TablesInternational migration statistics give the latest outcomes-based measure of migration, which includes estimates of migrants entering or leaving New Zealand. Key facts The comparisons between the April 2021 and 2020 months and years use the latest provisional ...19 hours ago
- A glossary of New Zealand gossipGossip Week: Need a refresher on the who, what and why of local gossip? We’re here to help. All week The Spinoff is taking a look at the role of gossip in Aotearoa’s past, present and future – read our Gossip Week content here. Ali Mau In the late 2000s, broadcaster Ali ...19 hours ago
- Housing tax rules: Govt urged to delay bringing in new legislationA tax expert says the law should come into force at the start of April next year - six months later than it is due to come into effect. ...20 hours ago
- More, faster: How NZ Post is learning, growing and evolvingAfter a year like no other, NZ Post is preparing to move its brand firmly into the future. Russell Brown met a few of the organisation’s key decision makers to find out how and why.This content was created in paid partnership with NZ Post. It might seem like stating the ...21 hours ago
- National: EV scheme 'takes from the poor to give to the rich'The government is being accused by National of acting like a "reverse Robin Hood" with its latest electric vehicle rebate scheme. ...21 hours ago
- New Zealand Walking Summit – 25 – 25 June 2021We are pleased to let you know that the programme for our third New Zealand Walking Summit to be held in Wellington on 24 – 25 June 2021 is online. The Summit will focus on some of the key issues for 2021 and beyond, including the Climate Change ...21 hours ago
- Do aliens exist? We asked five expertsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noor Gillani, Deputy Editor, Science and Technology Shutterstock Speculation has been rife about the contents of an unclassified report set to be released later this month from the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) task force. The document, expected to ...21 hours ago
- Forget Charles — an Australian republic hinges on the model we adopt, not the monarchSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia Mark Marlow/ EPA/AAP Today, many Australians are enjoying a public holiday. For republicans, days off are great, but celebrating the queen’s birthday rather than an Australian achievement is bizarre. Without constitutional change, ...21 hours ago
- Is it worth selling my house if I’m going into aged care?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Colin Zhang, Lecturer, Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics, Macquarie University Shutterstock For senior Australians who cannot live independently at home, residential aged care can provide accommodation, personal care and general health care. People usually think this is expensive. ...21 hours ago
- Even without new fossil fuel projects, global warming will still exceed 1.5℃. But renewables might...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sven Teske, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock The International Energy Agency (IEA) last month made global headlines when it declared there is no room for new fossil fuel investment if we’re to avoid catastrophic ...21 hours ago
- From 13 unis to 1: why Australia needs to reverse the loss of South Asian studiesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Jeffrey, Professor of Geography, The University of Melbourne Wikipedia South Asia is crucial to the future of Australia. But Australia has just one (small) program focused on South Asian studies across its many universities. This has not always been ...21 hours ago
- Can Bitcoin become a real currency? Here’s what’s wrong with El Salvador’s crypto planSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society and NATSEM, University of Canberra Salvador Melendez/AP Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, has got himself a pair of laser eyes – on his Twitter profile at least. ...21 hours ago
- Book review: Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate rigorously critiques Bruce Pascoe’s ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Judith Nicholls, Honorary Senior Lecturer, ANU, Australian National University Reconstruction of traditional dwelling, Lake Condah, 2020. Photo: Peter Sutton Eminent Australian anthropologist Peter Sutton and respected field archaeologist Keryn Walshe have co-authored a meticulously researched new book, Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? ...21 hours ago
- Live updates, June 14: ‘Very soon’ – PM not involved in mosque attack movie, but won’t sign ...Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for June 14, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.55am: ‘Very soon’ – PM not involved in mosque attack movie, but won’t sign petition ...22 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Emissions levy or new tax by stealth?Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A rebate scheme for electric vehicles has been labelled a ‘new tax’ by the Opposition, the backlash to a film about the Christchurch mosque attack continues, and concern Melbourne’s Covid outbreak could still get worse. ...22 hours ago
- Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day Marred As Live Export Ships Make Their Way To AotearoaToday for Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day, people around the world are pressuring their governments to end the live export trade. While the export of livestock by sea is ending in Aotearoa, the Government has yet to announce the date ...23 hours ago
- Millions mount up in public media revamp
Close to six million dollars is being spent this year on designing the future of Radio NZ and TVNZ and the culture ministry is staffing up with contractors to advance the project ...24 hours ago - Inflation fears stall markets worldwide
Business & Investing: Investors' nerves over inflation risks hold many markets flat, Plus NZ GDP figures out this week ...24 hours ago - NZ on track for predator-free targets
A new report is giving hope to conservationists hoping to stem New Zealand's biodiversity crisis It’s been five years since the Government launched its ambitious goal of ridding the country of rats, possums, and mustelids by 2050. The programme aimed to move from piecemeal local projects to a strategic nationwide ...1 day ago - Sir Russell Coutts’ water take goes to hearing
An English aristocrat, worth more than $1 billion, is among the opponents of a high-profile water consent. David Williams reports The battle over a water-take consent involving yachting great Sir Russell Coutts enters a critical phase this week. An Otago Regional Council hearing starts tomorrow in Queenstown to consider whether ...1 day ago - Rehoming greyhounds no sure bet for animal welfare issues
Greyhound ‘rehoming’ has become a critical component of the racing industry’s social licence, but what we don't know is how poorly equipped many ex-racing greyhounds are to cope with the expectations placed on them as pets Negative reports of greyhound racing in New Zealand have prompted Sport and Racing Minister Grant Robertson to launch a review into ...1 day ago - Newsroom daily crossword, Monday 14 June
...1 day ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 14 June
Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...1 day ago - A brief history of Lorde, Tayi and Dylan (Thomas)
A definitive and sometimes desperate top 10 listicle of New Zealand authors who have in some which way crossed over into popular music 1. Tayi Tibble. The world woke up on Friday morning to the freshly dropped music video Solar Power, the first new song from Lorde in three years ...1 day ago - Kamo Black Sticks factory turns out a bright new star
Just 19, Katie Doar has grabbed the attention of the hockey world with her silky skills, and is on her way to her first Olympics in Tokyo alongside her childhood idol, Stacey Michelsen. The latest Olympian to come out of Kamo’s Black Sticks factory, Katie Doar is already a bit of a legend. To ...1 day ago - Newsroom's daily sudoku, Monday 14 June
...1 day ago - Stop Labour’s Car Tax: New Campaign Launching 14 JuneThe Taxpayers’ Union is set to launch a new campaign to stop Labour’s unfair, uneconomic, and unenvironmental tax scheme on family cars and utes to fund electric vehicles and the wealthy elite for zero environmental benefit. The campaign’s petition, ...1 day ago
- Why we’re talking about gossip all week on The SpinoffFeatures editor Alex Casey introduces Gossip Week, a week-long content series exploring the role of gossip in Aotearoa’s past, present and future. “Gossip is a plague worse than Covid. Worse. Let’s make a big effort: no gossiping!” – Pope Francis, 2020A thousand apologies to this Pope, but all week long The ...1 day ago
- Police alcohol advice amounts to victim blaming, say criticsWhile women push back against victim-blaming narratives, NZ Police promote outdated and harmful alcohol messaging. New Zealand has come a long way since a university suggested women wear running shoes and carry whistles to evade rapists in 2014. It’s been more than a decade since the Louise Nicholas case, which sparked a ...1 day ago
- The cycling debate is not about lycra. It’s about powerLabelling cyclists as ‘rats’ and ‘cockroaches’ is giving environmental sociologist and cycleway user Kirsty Wild deja vu.When white men start using a bike, I often think they experience a sort of status shock. They see what marginalisation feels like: the dehumanisation, the fear, the threat of violence. If you ride ...1 day ago
- Slow medicinal cannabis growth dims investor excitement
After bullish enthusiasm for medicinal cannabis stocks, expectations lower for the sunrise industry. ...1 day ago - Government lagging on review of proactive releases
Transparency assessment and one-stop-shop are more than 18 months behind schedule. ...1 day ago - Govt imposes a bugger of a levy on new diesel and petrol utes
New clean car scheme will raise more in levies from New Zealanders who buy petrol and diesel cars than it will pay out in subsidies for electric vehicles. Bugger! Kiwis who buy a Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger or other petrol and diesel vehicles next year are projected to pay $125 to ...1 day ago - The future is 15-minute neighbourhoods not $150m ghost airports
Fifteen-minute neighbourhoods can be great places to live, testing our will to solve the housing crisis ahead of developing transport infrastructure for the wealthy. ...1 day ago - The green move that cuts deep
Moves to protect New Zealand's biodiversity have West Coast farmers feeling under attack as they're dictated to over what they can do with their land. Are they carrying the can for the rest of us? Katie Milne looks over eight hectares of precious native forest from her lounge room on ...1 day ago
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