Joe Biden
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Trump loses the presidency, but Trumpism lives on
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 am, November 19th, 2020 - 8 comments
The reality is that the United States is a poor example of a functioning democracy in 2020.
What should the left make of the US election result?
Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, November 10th, 2020 - 76 comments
Now the dust is settling on the US election result the one question I have is why was it even close?
Lawyers, guns and money
Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, November 9th, 2020 - 51 comments
Over in the United States of America the country is descending into chaos. But so far the farcical type of chaos as opposed to the violent type of chaos and this is a good thing.
Donald Trump’s letter to Joe Biden
Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, November 8th, 2020 - 19 comments
It is customary for outgoing Presidents to leave for the incoming President a short letter of introduction. The Standard has managed to obtain a early draft copy of Donald Trump’s letter to Joe Biden drafted while he was playing golf.
If Biden wins, then what?
Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, November 7th, 2020 - 39 comments
I hope that I am not tempting fate by saying this but a Biden presidency seems almost inevitable. But presuming he prevails the transition is going to be one of the most difficult and most important in America’s history.
On the US election.
Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, October 30th, 2020 - 30 comments
This year forecasting the U.S. election has an interesting additional element, with Trump and the Republican Party gearing up to steal the election if it is not a landslide for their opponents. It is going to be difficult with Joe Biden currently estimated at a 89% probability of winning the electoral college.
US v China: new Cold War or new Opium War?
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, August 25th, 2020 - 23 comments
The Trump administration has declared war on China, and there is much speculation in the punditry as to whether or not this is a new Cold War similar to that waged post World War 2 against Russia. In my opinion, the 19th century Opium Wars may offer a more appropriate analogy, albeit with a likely different outcome.
What Might A Democratic Party-Dominated U.S. Foreign Policy Do?
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, August 19th, 2020 - 24 comments
Inasmuch as tiny, distant New Zealand need worry about the foreign policy of the United States, it’s worth a drill into what a Democratic Party dominated United States foreign policy might look like.
Biden/Harris
Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, August 12th, 2020 - 53 comments
Joe Biden announces his VP pick.
Go Joe.
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, May 9th, 2020 - 50 comments
The clock is ticking on Joe Biden.
- Outliving his usefulness.
With his whining about the “stolen” election, Drumpf does not appear to understand a basic rule of politics: politicians are only valuable because of their utility to others. Once they stop being useful they become expendable, and political utility never lasts forever. With his transactional approach to everything, Drumpf should ...27 mins ago - Climate Change: Hurry up and wait
Parliament is currently debating the declaration of a climate emergency. As part of this, the government is announcing that the public service will be carbon neutral by 2025. Which is fine, but on a similar scale to electric buses. Sure, it'll help (because every little bit helps). But its somewhat ...1 hour ago - Climate Change: Wellington failsLast year, Wellington City Council declared a climate emergency and committed to reducing emissions by 43% by 2030, as an interim step towards a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. So how are they going to get there? According to their own plans, they're not: Last year, Wellington ...4 hours ago
- To Apologise For Your Country's History, Is To Admit That You Don't Understand it.
Retrospective Moralising: Ideas that have, generation after generation, been ingrained in the minds of children by their parents, taught in school textbooks, and articulated forcefully by teachers, preachers, politicians and journalists of every stripe, are extremely hard to kill. All the more so when the identity of those to whom ...7 hours ago - I Published a Fake Paper in a ‘Peer-Reviewed’ Journal
Bradley Allf Back in April, I received a strange email from a pair of academic journals inviting me to submit my research to one of their latest issues. The email was written in a jarring mix of fonts, and riddled with formatting mistakes and bungled idioms. The editor who ...10 hours ago - Sagan om ringen (1971): The Swedish Lord of the Rings
As I have previously noted, I have a fondness for truly obscure Tolkien screen adaptations. Sure, there are Rankin-Bass and Bakshi, but while they have been eclipsed by Peter Jackson, no-one can call them unknown. The 1966 Snyder Hobbit, the 1985 Soviet Hobbit, and the 1993 Finnish Lord of ...10 hours ago - Raise trust taxes too!The government today will introduce a bill to create a new top tax rate for those earning over $180,000 a year. This is good, but there are concerns that a large number of those affected will cheat, and funnel their income through trusts and other vehicles in order to evade ...1 day ago
- Why the way we approach transgender and non-binary healthcare needs to changeRona Carroll, University of Otago Demand for healthcare for transgender people is on the rise in New Zealand but training for health professionals to develop basic competencies is lagging behind. There is little teaching on gender and sexuality at either of New Zealand’s medical schools. It’s partly due to lack ...1 day ago
- Climate Change: Europe must defend itself in courtThe European Court of Human Rights has fast-tracked a case by young climate change activists challenging whether European states are doing enough on climate change. And now, 33 countries are going to have to defend their policies in court: In a sign of the urgency of the climate crisis, ...1 day ago
- November ’20 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking
Image credit: Blogging for business: Your questions answered I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check this out. After ...1 day ago - Ancient sponges or just algae? New research overturns chemical evidence for the earliest animalsLennart van Maldegem, Australian National University; Benjamin Nettersheim, Max Planck Institute; Christian Hallmann, Max Planck Institute; Ilya Bobrovskiy, California Institute of Technology, and Jochen Brocks, Australian National University Sponges are the simplest of animals, and they may stand at the root of all complex animal life on Earth, including us ...1 day ago
- Bioethicists, Scientists and Politicians; Decision Making in a PandemicDr Ben Gray* To date New Zealand has come through the pandemic well. The role of political leadership and scientific input has been well covered. Part of this success was built upon having a clear ethical framework for managing a pandemic that had been developed in advance following the SARS ...1 day ago
- Fighting climate change: Cheaper than 'business as usual' and better for the economy
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections and has been adopted as the rebuttal to the myth 'climate change solutions are too expensive' at the short URL sks.to/costs The often-repeated and seldom-challenged view that climate change solutions are expensive and uneconomical has long dampened public support in the U.S. for even ...1 day ago - 2020 Just Reading: November
Completed reads for November: Nutcracker, by E.T.A. HoffmannThe Mask of Anarchy, by Percy Bysshe ShelleyFire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones Hoffman’s Nutcracker is Ralph Manheim’s translation (illustrated by Maurice Sendak). ** A very quiet month in the reading department, though I made some decent progress with writing. ...2 days ago - What did we actually vote for and give a mandate to?
Well it may be 2020 but, looking around, this blogger is really connecting to the mindset my Great Grandmother had when she ran a boarding house for workers to escape to, in between fighting extremely hard against Governments and their many enforcers almost exactly a century ago, and why ...2 days ago - Labour finally does the right thingThe government has finally introduced a bill to double sick leave entitlements to ten days a year. Good. But its worth remembering that despite a global pandemic raging, Jacinda Ardern originally ruled this out, just as she has ruled out wealth taxes or a capital gains tax. Its unclear whether ...2 days ago
- Ready to be let down.The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the Christchurch terrorist attacks has tabled its report with the Governor General and Minister of Internal Affairs. The Report will be introduced to parliament and released to the public before Christmas. In the lead up to its release the office of the Department ...2 days ago
- The wrong conclusionBack in September, we learned (thanks to a whistleblower) that the SIS had looked the other way on child abuse. Today, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security released their report on the issue. Their verdict is basicly the Scottish one: "not proven". Why? Because there are no records showing the ...2 days ago
- Blaming anyone but themselvesLabour is increasingly under pressure over its refusal to implement a wealth tax or similar solution to end house hoarding. Their answer? Blame the public: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is putting some onus on the public for the housing crisis, saying the Government had tried taxation to ease the ...2 days ago
- 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #48Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Saudis and Europeans reach compromise on climate as G20 projects unity EU leaders endorsed Riyadh’s contentious “circular carbon economy” vision ...2 days ago
- Sport Must Be the Winner
The All Blacks’ win last weekend against the Pumas, and their reminder to us of how good they can be, brought a great deal of pleasure to thousands of kiwis. But we have also had evidence over recent days and weeks that sport is not always a generator of sweetness ...2 days ago - Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s surprising relationship with the Middle East
Geoffrey Miller looks at New Zealand’s growing relationship with the Middle East and North Africa – and contemplates its future Amidst New Zealand’s level 4 coronavirus lockdown in March, all but a handful of the country’s troops stationed in Iraq returned home, three months earlier than scheduled. The New Zealand ...3 days ago - And Then There Were Four: Book Publishing and Oligopoly
Most people would be surprised to learn that there are only five major English-language book publishers on the planet. Book-publishing isn’t as glamorously naughty as, say, the oil industry, so this concentration of industry power largely exists outside popular consciousness. Besides, the existence of imprints (trade names) disguises ...4 days ago - Media reaction: Boris Johnson’s ‘10-point’ net-zero plan for climate changeThis is a re-post from Carbon Brief The UK prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a long-awaited “10-point plan” laying out measures to scale up the nation’s climate ambition. These policy proposals and funding packages have been framed as a means to create jobs, promote a “green recovery” from Covid-19 and help ...5 days ago
- The secret advice on Labour’s RMA “fast-track”Back in June, Labour steamrolled the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Bill into law, using urgency and a sham select committee process which left too little time for submitters to respond effectively. The law created a separate "fast-track" process for resource consents for "shovel-ready" projects, which cuts the public out of ...5 days ago
- Transformation or Progress?
Why this government will not be transformative; do we want it to be?Half of the current cabinet could not vote in the 1990 election when the neoliberal government, among other things, attacked the foundations of the welfare state – an attack which has not been reversed. Only a quarter could ...5 days ago - Always more fish in the sea? Maybe not
The recent article by Andrea Vance on Stuff , ‘The way we protect the oceans is badly outdated. Will the Government change that?’ is timely, but needs further unpacking. For this is an important issue.In it, she rightly claims “We are far behind the rest of the world and failing ...5 days ago - Climate Change: Calling us on our bullshitUnder Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand is - rhetorically at least - pretending to be a leader on climate change. Meanwhile, our emissions keep going up and up, with the second-highest percentage increase among Annex I countries. And now, our friends are finally calling us on our bullshit: New Zealand's ...5 days ago
- Labour sells out kiwisSo, Labour has given in to the whining from farmers, and will be allowing 2,000 RSE workers into the country to pick their fruit, though with tighter conditions: they'll have to be paid a living wage and employers must pay for their quarantine. Which sounds good, until you remember that ...5 days ago
- Up and Down with COVID-19: Could President Trump Be Right (Twice!) In The End?
We all witnessed President Trump in denial about COVID-19 at his political rallies. The mantra 'we have turned the corner' ('bigly', no doubt!), became a daily diet for Trump's base in the final days of the US presidential campaign, notwithstanding overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Similarly, he promised that a ...5 days ago - The Second Term (With Apologies To William Butler Yeats)Yearning and yearning for a comforting liarThe people will not hear the truth, nor trust the truth-teller;Stories fall apart, the centre is not real;Mere dull geometry to gull a duller world.Our poll-driven narrative is loosed, but everywhereThe target audience refuses to be wowed.The best shun social-media, while the worstStill tweet ...5 days ago
- Spit & Polish: A National Party Story.Consensus Politician: Following his victory in the 1960 general election, National’s second prime minister, Keith Holyoake, stretched himself out like a smug family cat over the sunny years of the early 1960s and purred. THERE’S A STORY about the National Party that always struck me as important. It concerns National’s ...5 days ago
- A Caucus Of Velvet Gloves.Uniformly Diverse: There is one very simple reason why this government, comprised overwhelmingly of members of the Professional-Managerial Class, will find it almost impossible to understand what the bottom half of New Zealand society needs: because it is supremely confident that it already does. NEW ZEALAND now boasts one of ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: An emergencySome good news today: Parliament will declare a climate emergency next week: The Government has revealed plans to pass a climate change emergency motion in Parliament next week. An attempt was made to pass one last term but NZ First opposed it. The motion itself would have no practical ...6 days ago
- NZDF should not be allowed to handle this in-houseYesterday we learned that an NZDF soldier with links to Nazi groups has been charged with espionage (along other things) and will be prosecuted via court-martial. Whether the charges are justified is for a court to determine, but it seems deeply inappropriate to use a military court for this. The ...6 days ago
- 5 reasons why banishing backpackers and targeting wealthy tourists would be a mistake for NZJames Higham, University of Otago and Hazel Tucker, University of Otago Raise your hand if you’ve ever travelled for weeks or months as a backpacker on a limited daily budget. Keep your hand up if you were made welcome in the places you visited on your OE, enjoyed chance encounters ...6 days ago
- The Adventures of Annalax: Volume XIIISo… Ember the Demon Thing. Not nice. Not nice at all. Annalax asked Alan the Wizard if he knew anyone who could possibly deal with this mess. Alan said a certain unhinged female acquaintance near the Mountains of Madness might have the sufficiently dodgy knowledge to pull it ...7 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47, 2020"Don't make us stop the car." Climate change of a different kind: Examining the climate effects of a regional nuclear weapons exchange using a multiscale atmospheric modeling approach, investigated by Wegman, Lundquist et al. There's good news: the main proximate cause of the resulting global mess might last only about 4 ...7 days ago
- Taking the pissWhile the borders are closed, employers can still get visas for "essential" workers. But some of the jobs deemed "essential" don't seem to be: Applications were approved for 633 different jobs ranging from low skilled roles including taxi driver, cafe worker and cleaner, through to highly skilled jobs such ...1 week ago
- A Parliament that sounds like AotearoaI'm watching the swearing in of MPs today on Parliament TV, and pleased to hear the linguistic diversity in our Parliament. In addition to a good number of MPs doing their oaths or affirmations in Te Reo, there's also been Samoan, Tongan, Dutch, Korean, plus (as best as I can ...1 week ago
- Changing stuff…By Professor Peter Dearden, Director Genomics Aotearoa Science is an excellent way of allowing us to question test and understand the world we live in. But that knowledge also provides us with something else; the ability to change things, to solve problems, and to make life on earth a bit ...1 week ago
- Letter to the Reserve Bank
This is how you fix something. ...1 week ago - Gas-powered cars: Beginning of the end in California?This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman Can California really do it? Can it completely ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in 15 years – 15 years – and lead the country toward a fossil fuel-free future? Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom says so. In a ...1 week ago
- The COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa/NZ: A brief photo-essay with 10 photosLuke Pilkinton-Ching, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson In this photo-essay of the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa/NZ, each photo is accompanied by a brief comment on the pandemic impact or response. In some instances these images reflect success factors such as the relatively early introduction of border controls and the ...1 week ago
- A Phuulish Fellow Turns Five Years OldOn 25th November, 2015, this humble blog made its debut. Five years to the day later… it has evolved into something I could not have predicted. In the early days, of course, it was primarily about my own writing, and thoughts on the wider fantasy genre. Since then ...1 week ago
- Why some people find it easier to stick to new habits they formed during lockdownMatthew Jenkins, University of Otago and Elaine Hargreaves, University of Otago Periods of lockdown represent a massive disruption to people’s daily routines, but they also offer an opportunity to establish new habits. Our research focus is on what motivates people to change their behaviour, particularly when it comes to physical ...1 week ago
- ‘Courageous’ investment means innovation stays in NZ, not sold off overseasJessica C Lai, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Jesse Pirini, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand is in an economic recession and the government is trying to spend its way through it with direct investment to boost the economy and jobs. At ...1 week ago
- Aches on a plane – new findings on in-flight Covid transmissionOne of the good things about New Zealand pursuing an elimination strategy for Covid-19 (aside from the obvious) is that we are able to help answer some of the questions there are about how the SARS-CoV-2 virus transmits between people. Take air travel. As many people in the US start ...1 week ago
- Reading the roomIt looks like the government has finally read the room on the housing crisis, with Finance Minister grant Robertson writing to the Reserve Bank to tell them to start looking at controlling house prices: Finance Minister Grant Robertson has told Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr that it’s time to ...1 week ago
- Why the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is now a global game changerMichael Head, University of Southampton In the long dark tunnel that has been 2020, November stands out as the month that light appeared. Some might see it as a bright light, others as a faint light – but it is unmistakably a light. On November 9, Pfizer announced the interim ...1 week ago
- Graeme Edgeler: The Vague promise of a better tomorrow: Why a three-year Parliamentary term is good ...New Zealand is not the only country with a three-year term of Parliament, but there aren’t many others. Most countries have longer terms, with theoretically less of a democratic check on political power. Most other countries also have some combination of: a bicameral legislature, a supreme constitution, strong judicial review ...1 week ago
- “Goodfellas”: The Neoliberal National Party Shows Its Ugly Face.Unaccountable? A reasonable National Party member might have anticipated that a president who led his party to the second-worst defeat in its history would feel obliged to fall upon his sword in recognition of the scale of his failure. Such a member would have been disappointed. Peter Goodfellow (above) was ...1 week ago
- Big Eye Wide, But ShutA few days ago the US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the decommissioning of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. This story has been the subject of items in the mass media around the globe, and also in New Zealand. Cables supporting the massive horns and radio receivers above ...1 week ago
- From revolution to narcissism
For much of the 20th century the progressive movement was focused on real and crucial issues. What is called progressive now is a farce. ...1 week ago - The Church of Woke...1 week ago
- 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #47Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Warm Arctic, Cold Continents? It Sounds Counterintuitive, but Research Suggests it’s a Thing Scientists suspect that rapid warming in the ...1 week ago
- Ardern’s crocodile tears won’t fix the housing crisisPeople are getting very grumpy at the government's refusal to act on the housing crisis. Jacinda Ardern's response? To tell everyone she cares,/A>: Jacinda Ardern says one of the things that sets her Government apart from the National Party is Labour's concern over skyrocketing house prices. The median house ...1 week ago
- Victoria University of Wellington Alumni post-election panel discussionThe landmark 2020 New Zealand general election is going to be discussed and analysed for many years to come. for an early attempt at making sense of the results, VUW hosted a panel discussion on 4 November for Alumni to watch and participate in. The panel was chaired by Bryce ...1 week ago
- Modernity Bias: Daniel Greene’s Top Fantasy CharactersYouTuber Daniel Greene has put out a list of his personal favourite fantasy characters: It’s a decent enough list, for the most part (confession time – I have never read a Sanderson book). And it’s a purely subjective question anyway, what with different people having different preferences. ...1 week ago
- SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are about to ruin stargazing for everyoneSamantha Lawler, University of Regina I walk outside my rural Saskatchewan house before dawn and look up, expecting to have my breath taken away by the sheer number of stars overhead. I’m a professional astronomer, but I still appreciate naked-eye stargazing as much as an eager child. This is the ...1 week ago
- Hitler’s PlaybookNo one can now doubt that Donald Trump is making a determined and sustained attempt to overturn the result of a democratic election and to defy the will of the people. He is clearly determined to hold on to power, whatever the verdict delivered by the ballot box – even ...1 week ago
- 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #472020A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 15, 2020 through Sat, Nov 21, 2020 Editor's Choice The 'market' won't save us from climate disaster. We must rethink our system Expecting the free market to fix global warming ...1 week ago
- Capital Vol. 3 lectures: The Falling Rate of Profit
– Transforming Industry to Empire
This is the fifth lecture in the lecture series by Andy Higginbottom on superexploitation. Part one of the lecture series is here, part two is here, part three is here and part four here. (Unfortunately the first minute of the lecture where the content of the lecture is outlined was not recorded.) ...2 weeks ago - Ken Can’t Count: No, the New Zealand Election Wasn’t Rigged
As tempting as it may be to snigger at unsubstantiated allegations of United States election fraud… New Zealand can’t be smug. Every country has its dingbats, and 2020 has shown that we are no exception. I mention this, because over the past month or so, a committed little collection ...2 weeks ago - Meeting The Overwhelming Quantum Of Need: A Modest Proposal For Ending New Zealand’s Housing Crisi...Deja Vu: Architectural drawing of the planned mass housing development planned for Auckland in the mid-1940s. IT COULD BE DONE. This government could make a serious attempt to house the 20,000 people waiting for social housing before the next election. It would, however, require them to do something they have, ...2 weeks ago
- How to choose the right Christmas gift: tips from psychological researchAdrian R. Camilleri, University of Technology Sydney Christmas is a time of celebration, relaxation and gift giving. But choosing gifts can also make it a time of stress and anxiety. The wrong gift can actually do more harm than good. Here is some advice, based on decades of research, on ...2 weeks ago
- Fleeing to the Dawn: Published2020 has been rather quiet on the short story front, but I have found a home for another of my pieces. A 1700-word fantasy (arguably getting into vignette territory), titled Fleeing to the Dawn, is now out as part of the Autumn 2020 edition of Shorts Magazine. The ...2 weeks ago
- Observations of past climate change help rule out natural causes of current climate changeThis post is an updated intermediate rebuttal to the myth "climate is changing now because climate has always changed". It was written by Scott Knapp as part of the George Mason University class Understanding and Responding to Climate Misinformation, combining climate science and communication best practices to debunk common climate myths. The total rate of global ...2 weeks ago
- As Safe As Houses?
Stein’s law says that if something cannot go on forever, it wont. But does a speculative bubble matter? The cryptocurrency bubble can be left to itself (tax evasion and criminal transactions aside). Why shouldn’t we do the same for housing? There are two general reasons why we should be concerned ...2 weeks ago - Good riddanceAustralian polluter Beach Energy has announced that it is cancelling plans to drill off Dunedin next year. The exploration permit in question, 38264, has a "drill or drop" requirement and has to drill an exploratory well by October 2021. But more importantly, it expires in November 2021. PEPANZ, the polluter ...2 weeks ago
- Repairing a hole in the wall with the diffusion equationLast week child number 1 managed to put a hole in a plasterboard (‘gib’) wall. I wasn’t in the room at the time, but I believe it had something to do starting at one end of the house, running down the corridor, through the bedroom doorway, doing a forward flip ...2 weeks ago
- Andy Asquith, Andrew Cardow, and Karen Webster: What ever happened to local government?We would like to congratulate Nanaia Mahuta on her promotion to the role of Foreign Minister – an important historic move. We are delighted both to see some stability in the local government portfolio holder and to see it held by someone senior in the cabinet rankings. For once we ...2 weeks ago
- The Political Economy Of Pride And Prejudice.For The Few, Not The Many: In the face of this widening gulf between the rich and the poor, successive New Zealand governments have opted for the same role that Jane Austen chose to play while her beloved England busied itself defeating Napoleon Bonaparte and the revolutionary egalitarian impulses he ...2 weeks ago
- What is causing the increase in atmospheric CO2?This post is an updated intermediate rebuttal to the myth "CO2 increase is natural, not human-caused". It was written by Erika Harrington as part of the George Mason University class Understanding and Responding to Climate Misinformation, combining climate science and communication best practices to debunk common climate myths. Atmospheric CO2 has increased by more ...2 weeks ago
- Obvious questions for the NZDFToday the Brereton report on war crimes by the Australian SAS was released, finding that Australian SAS troops had murdered 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners of war, with various actions taken to cover up the crimes. A special prosecutor will be appointed, and 25 soldiers have been referred for prosecution. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party to abstain from tax changes that will worsen house crisis in absence of tax on assets
The Green Party will abstain from a bill that will make slight changes to income tax brackets. ...6 hours ago - Legal drug checking this festival season will help protect our young people: Green PartyThe Green Party are glad to see urgent law changes to ensure legal drug checking services by this summer festival season. ...1 day ago
- “The Government books are doing better than expected”: Grant Robertson on our economic r...
This week we presented the audited Government accounts for the year to 30 June 2020. These always take a while to be audited and published. But this year, with all that is been happening they cover a time that seems long ago! ...5 days ago - Greens call for decent working conditions for all horticulture workersThe Green Party is calling on the Government to ensure all people working in horticulture are paid liveable wages and have access to quality accommodation. ...5 days ago
- SPEECH: Opening the 53rd ParliamentE aku hoa i te ara o te whai, Kia kotahi tā tātou takahi i te kō, ko tōku whiwhi kei tō koutou tautoko mai. ...6 days ago
- Oranga Tamariki head should question whether she has trust of Māori communities“When considering whether to resign, Oranga Tamariki head Grainne Moss should question whether communities on the ground, particularly Māori, have trust and faith in her to do the job”, Green Party Māori Development spokesperson Dr Elizabeth Kerekere said today. ...6 days ago
- Green Party welcome Adrian Orr’s full and frank advice on taxWe welcome Adrian Orr signalling that he will provide advice to the Finance Minister on fiscal measures, include tax changes, to cool the housing market, Green Party Finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said today. ...6 days ago
- “We can do better”: Kelvin Davis talks tackling racism in education"Racism exists – we feel little and bad." Those were the unprompted words of one student during an interview for the Education Matters to Me report produced by the Children’s Commissioner in 2018. ...1 week ago
- Green Party respond to Government review of housing settingsIt is a positive step that the Government is looking at options to take the heat out of the housing market, and has written to the Reserve Bank to that effect, but they must be open to using all the tools available to them, Green Party Co-leader and spokesperson on ...1 week ago
- Speeding up recovery: fast-tracking projects to boost jobs, build housesWe’ve announced three additional projects to go through the fast-track resource consenting process. Read below for a quick rundown of what these projects are, what the fast-tracking process means, and why the Government is using fast-tracking as one way to create jobs sooner and accelerate our economic recovery from COVID-19. ...1 week ago
- Reports of prisoner abuse show need for prisons rethink and independent oversightReports of an asthmatic woman being bombed in her cell with pepper spray, being forced to lie face down on the ground to be fed, and having to show used sanitary items to guards to receive more, shows obscene human rights violations that need addressing, Green Party Corrections and Human ...1 week ago
- Green Party announce portfolio reshuffle with talented and energised caucus teamThe Green Party Co-leaders have announced their portfolio reshuffle for the 53rd Parliament. “The Green Party caucus offers a breadth of talent and energy to the Parliament this term. In ten MPs you have a small business owner, a human rights lawyer, an academic, a climate negotiator, a transport planner, ...1 week ago
- Nearly 50 percent increase in Kiwi apprenticesAs we recover and rebuild from COVID-19, we’re investing in major shovel-ready and long-term infrastructure projects up and down the country – creating thousands of jobs in the trades nationwide. ...2 weeks ago
- Celebrating World Children's DayThis World Children’s Day, we’re taking a look at all the ways we’re working to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. ...2 weeks ago
- Report of alleged war crimes by Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan a distressing reminder of th...The Green Party strongly condemns the revelation of alleged war crimes by the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan, with an alleged unlawful killing of 39 people by 25 Special Forces personnel. ...2 weeks ago
- SPEECH: 10th Anniversary of Pike River tragedyTēnei te mihi ki a tātau katoa e huihui nei i tēnei rā I greet us all who are gathered here today ...2 weeks ago
- Greens commit to ensuring strong oceans protection this termThe Green Party will work with Labour this term to ensure better protections for our oceans, Green MP Eugenie Sage said today. ...2 weeks ago
- Kiwis deserve fair prices at the supermarket2020 has been a tough year. Not only has COVID-19 presented unique challenges to the way we work, play and socialise, for many Kiwis the pandemic has also meant more of a strain on the back pocket. ...2 weeks ago
- Auckland COVID-19 case shows need for extended sick leave before busy Christmas periodThe case of an Auckland city worker heading to work with COVID-19 symptoms shows the need for urgent extended sick leave, Green Party Workplace Relations spokesperson Jan Logie said today. ...2 weeks ago
- Meet our new MPsWondering who our new Labour MPs are? We asked our 23 new Caucus members to share a little about themselves and the experience they will be bringing to Parliament... ...3 weeks ago
- Public sector to be carbon neutral by 2025
Public sector to be carbon neutral by 2025 Immediate focus on phasing out largest and most active coal boilers Government agencies required to purchase electric vehicles and reduce the size of their car fleet Green standard required for public sector buildings The Government has launched a major new initiative to ...2 hours ago - Government fulfils election undertaking on new top tax rateThe Government will today keep its election promise to put in place a new top tax rate of 39 per cent on income earned over $180,000. “This will only affect the top two per cent of earners. It is a balanced measure that is about sharing the load so everyone ...3 hours ago
- Sir Robert Martin re-elected to UN CommitteeNew Zealand welcomes the news that Sir Robert Martin has been re-elected to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni. “Sir Robert has been a lifetime advocate for persons with disabilities and his experience brings a ...4 hours ago
- New rules to protect Kiwis from unaffordable loansThe Government is making sure all consumers who borrow money get the same protections, regardless of where they get their loans. “Building on the work to crack down on loan sharks last year, we’re now making the rules clearer for all lenders to help protect borrowers from unaffordable loans” ...8 hours ago
- New visitor attraction to boost tourismThe opening of the first major new tourism attraction since the global outbreak of COVID-19 closed borders to international travellers will provide a welcome boost to visitor numbers in our largest city, says Tourism Minister Stuart Nash. Mr Nash has this afternoon taken part in the official opening ceremony of ...1 day ago
- Govt moves on drug checking to keep young New Zealanders safer this summerThe Government will pass time limited legislation to give legal certainty to drug checking services, so they can carry out their work to keep New Zealanders safer this summer at festivals without fear of prosecution, Health Minister Andrew Little says. Next year the Government will develop and consult on regulations ...1 day ago
- Public Service Commissioner reappointedMinister for the Public Service Chris Hipkins announced today that Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes CNZM has been reappointed for three years. The Public Service Commissioner is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. “Mr Hughes’ reappointment reflects the need for strong leadership and continuity to ...1 day ago
- Pōwhiri marks the start of a critical year for APECNew Zealand kicked off its APEC host year today, with a pōwhiri taking place on Wellington’s waterfront with local iwi Te Atiawa, and a number of Government ministers welcoming representatives from the other 20 APEC economies. “APEC is a hugely important international event, and New Zealand is hosting amidst the ...1 day ago
- Speech at APEC 21 Opening Pōwhiri9am, Tuesday 1 DecemberTe Whare Waka o Pōneke, Wellington Central He Mihi Kei aku rangatira no ngātapito e whā o te ao huri noa, tātou e huihui mai nei. Tēnā rā kōutou katoa. He tangiapakura ki ngā tini aituā kei waenganui i a tātou, ka tangi tonu te ngākau ki ...1 day ago
- Government extends business debt relief to October 2021To assist with the ongoing economic recovery from COVID-19, rules allowing affected businesses to put their debt on hold have been extended by 10 months. “New Zealand’s economy is recovering better than we expected, but the impacts of the pandemic are far-reaching and some businesses need continued support to keep ...1 day ago
- Bill introduced to support workers with 10 days sick leaveThe Government is delivering on a key commitment by introducing a Bill to Parliament to expand sick leave entitlements from five days to ten days a year, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced today. “COVID-19 has shown how important it is to stay at home when people are ...2 days ago
- Progress on pay equity for DHB staffToday’s initial agreement between DHBs and the PSA on pay equity for clerical and administration staff is an important step toward better, fairer pay for this crucial and largely female workforce, Health Minister Andrew Little says. If ratified, the agreement between the Public Service Association and the country’s 20 District ...2 days ago
- Iconic Milford Track officially reopensOne of New Zealand’s premier hikes and a cornerstone of the Te Anau community, the Milford Track has officially reopened, “From today, hikers booked on the popular Great Walk will be able to complete the walk end-to-end for the first time since early February,” Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan says. ...2 days ago
- Support for farmers beefed up ahead of La NiñaFurther funding for feed support services and new animal welfare coordinators will help farmers who continue to feel the effects of an extended drought, says Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor. “In March this year, I classified the drought in the North Island, parts of the South Island and the Chathams ...4 days ago
- Next steps for Christchurch Hospital campus redevelopmentCanterbury DHB will be better placed to respond to future demand for services and continue to deliver high quality care, with the next stage of the campus redevelopment programme confirmed, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Government has approved $154 million in funding for the construction of a third tower ...5 days ago
- Five Power Defence Arrangements Defence Ministers’ Joint StatementThe Defence Ministers from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom reaffirmed their nations’ continued commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), and commended the achievements over the past 49 years as the FPDA moves towards its 50th Anniversary in 2021. The Ministers recognised the FPDA’s significant role ...5 days ago
- Jobs for Nature funding protects health of Hawke’s Bay waterwaysA joint Government and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council project will invest $4.2 million to protect local waterways, enhance biodiversity and employ local people, Environment Minister David Parker announced today. Over two years, the Hāpara Takatū Jobs for Nature project will fence 195km of private land to exclude stock from vulnerable ...5 days ago
- New Year border exception for seasonal workers in the horticulture and wine industries2000 additional RSE workers to enter New Zealand early next year employers must pay these workers at least $22.10 an hour employers will cover costs of managed isolation for the RSE workers RSE workers will be paid the equivalent of 30 hours work a week while in isolation From January ...5 days ago
- Government increases support for New Zealanders to work in seasonal jobsThe Government is offering further financial support for unemployed New Zealanders to take on seasonal work. These new incentives include: Up to $200 per week for accommodation costs $1000 incentive payment for workers who complete jobs of six weeks or longer increasing wet weather payments when people can’t work to ...5 days ago
- Government receives Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mos...Minister for Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti has today received the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques, and will table it in Parliament on Tuesday December 8. “I know this will have been a challenging process for whānau, survivors and witnesses of the terrorist attack ...6 days ago
- New Zealand Government to declare a climate emergencyThe Government will declare a climate emergency next week, Climate Change Minister James Shaw said today. “We are in the midst of a climate crisis that will impact on nearly every ...6 days ago
- Call for urgent action on Pacific conservationA declaration on the urgency of the global biodiversity crisis and the need for immediate, transformative action in the Pacific was agreed at a pan-Pacific conference today. The 10th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas is taking place this week across the Pacific. Minister of Conservation Kiritapu ...6 days ago
- Speech from the throneE aku hoa i te ara o te whai, Kia kotahi tā tātou takahi i te kō, ko tōku whiwhi kei tō koutou tautoko mai. Ko tāku ki a koutou, hei whakapiki manawa mōku. He horomata rangatira te mahi, e rite ai te whiwhinga a te ringatuku, me te ringakape ...6 days ago
- Keynote address to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand conferenceSpeech to the CAANZ conference - November 19, 2020 Thank you, Greg, (Greg Haddon, MC) for the welcome. I’d like to acknowledge John Cuthbertson from CAANZ, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue Naomi Ferguson, former fellow MP and former Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne, other guest speakers and CAANZ members. I ...1 week ago
- Expert independent advisory group appointed to strengthen the future of Māori broadcastingA panel of seven experts are adding their support to help shape the future of Māori broadcasting, Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson has announced today. “Today I will meet with some of the most experienced Māori broadcasters, commentators and practitioners in the field. They have practical insights on the ...1 week ago
- Government to review housing settingsNew Zealand’s stronger-than-expected economic performance has flowed through to housing demand, so the Government will review housing settings to improve access to the market, the Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “Our focus is on improving access to the housing market for first home buyers and ensuring house price growth ...1 week ago
- Crown accounts reflect Govt’s careful economic managementThe better-than-expected Crown accounts released today show the Government’s careful management of the COVID-19 health crisis was the right approach to support the economy. As expected, the Crown accounts for the year to June 2020 show the operating balance before gains and losses, or OBEGAL, was in deficit. However that ...1 week ago
- Community launch marks next step in addressing racism in educationThe launch of Te Hurihanganui in Porirua today is another important milestone in the work needed to address racism in the education system and improve outcomes for Māori learners and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis says. Budget 2019 included $42 million over three years to put Te Hurihanganui ...1 week ago
- Government to consider recommendations on DNA use in criminal investigationsThe Minister of Justice has received the Law Commission’s recommending changes to the law governing the way DNA is used in criminal investigations. The report, called The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations – Te Whahamahi I te Ira Tangata I ngā Mātai Taihara, recommends new legislation to address how ...1 week ago
- Speech to Wakatū Nelson regional hui on tradeFirst, I want to express my thanks to Te Taumata for this hui and for all the fantastic work you are doing for Māori in the trade space. In the short time that you’ve been operating you’ve already contributed an enormous amount to the conversation, and developed impressive networks. I ...1 week ago
- Speech to Primary Industries SummitThank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about the significant contribution the food and fibres sector makes to New Zealand and how this Government is supporting that effort. I’d like to start by acknowledging our co-Chairs, Terry Copeland and Mavis Mullins, my colleague, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, ...1 week ago
- Fast track referrals will speed up recovery and boost jobs and home buildingThe Government is taking action to increase jobs, speed up the economic recovery and build houses by putting three more projects through its fast track approval process. “It’s great to see that the fast-track consenting process is working. Today we have referred a mix of potential projects that, if approved, ...1 week ago
- Papakāinga provides critically needed homes in HastingsA papakāinga opened today by the Minister for Māori Development the Hon Willie Jackson will provide whānau with much needed affordable rental homes in Hastings. The four home papakāinga in Waiōhiki is the first project to be completed under the ‘Hastings Place Based’ initiative. This initiative is a Government, Hastings ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand ready to host APEC virtuallyPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern took over the leadership of APEC earlier today, when she joined leaders from the 21 APEC economies virtually for the forum’s final 2020 meeting. “We look forward to hosting a fully virtual APEC 2021 next year. While this isn’t an in-person meeting, it will be one ...2 weeks ago
- Revival of Māori HorticulturistsThe rapid revival of Māori horticulture was unmistakeable at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy Awards, with 2020 marking the first time this iconic Māori farming event was dedicated to horticulture enterprises. Congratulating finalists at the Awards, Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said growing large-scale māra kai is part of Māori DNA. ...2 weeks ago
- Emergency benefit to help temporary visa holdersFrom 1 December, people on temporary work, student or visitor visas who can’t return home and or support themselves may get an Emergency Benefit from the Ministry of Social Development, Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced today. Previously, temporary visa holders in hardship because of COVID-19 have had ...2 weeks ago
- School sustainability projects to help boost regional economiesForty one schools from the Far North to Southland will receive funding for projects that will reduce schools’ emissions and save them money, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This is the second round of the Sustainability Contestable Fund, and work will begin immediately. The first round announced in April ...2 weeks ago
- Farmer-led projects to improve water health in Canterbury and OtagoMore than $6 million will be spent on helping farmers improve the health of rivers, wetlands, and habitat biodiversity in Canterbury and Otago, as well as improving long-term land management practices, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Four farmer-led catchment group Jobs for Nature projects have between allocated between $176,000 and ...2 weeks ago
- Tupu Aotearoa continues expansion to Pacific communities in Nelson, Marlborough, Tasman & Northl...Pacific communities in Nelson, Marlborough, Tasman and Northland will benefit from the expansion of the Tupu Aotearoa programme announced today by the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. The programme provides sustainable employment and education pathways and will be delivered in partnership with three providers in Northland and two ...2 weeks ago
- New primary school and classrooms for 1,200 students in South IslandEducation Minister Chris Hipkins unveiled major school building projects across the South Island during a visit to Waimea College in Nelson today. It’s part of the Government’s latest investment of $164 million to build new classrooms and upgrade schools around the country. “Investments like this gives the construction industry certainty ...2 weeks ago
- ‘WTF?’: newly discovered ghostly circles in the sky can’t be explained by current theories, an...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ray Norris, Professor, School of Science, Western Sydney University In September 2019, my colleague Anna Kapinska gave a presentation showing interesting objects she’d found while browsing our new radio astronomical data. She had started noticing very weird shapes she couldn’t fit easily ...13 mins ago - Former PNG PM O’Neill to stand trial over Israeli generators purchaseBy RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea’s former Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, has been committed to stand trial for charges of misappropriation and official corruption A Waigani Committal Court magistrate Tracey Ganaii yesterday found there was sufficient evidence on the two charges. They relate to the state purchase of two generators ...28 mins ago
- What it will take for Govt to be carbon neutral by 2025?
Analysis: The Government has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2025. What will it take to meet that goal? Marc Daalder reports Potentially overshadowed by the symbolic - but legally toothless - declaration of a climate emergency was the Government's pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2025. This picks up ...31 mins ago - Mercury Welcomes Government's Electric Vehicle Initiative
2 December 2020 – The Government’s commitment to require its agencies to purchase electric vehicles for their fleets is a welcome tangible step towards New Zealand’s decarbonisation ambitions, says Mercury chief executive Vince Hawksworth. “This ...31 mins ago - Seventy Workers Losing Jobs As Christchurch Loses Clothing Manufacturer Deane ApparelWell-established New Zealand clothing manufacturer Deane Apparel have today confirmed their intention to close their manufacturing plant in Russley, Christchurch, which will lead to around 70 job losses among their predominantly female workforce and ...51 mins ago
- Public Servants Welcome Govt Commitment To Climate ActionThe Public Service Association welcomes the government’s declaration of a climate emergency, and supports the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in the public service itself by 2025. Requiring agencies to buy electric vehicles and achieve a ‘green ...54 mins ago
- Unions Support Declaration Of Climate EmergencyNew Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff today supported the Prime Minister’s Announcement of a climate change emergency, saying it signaled a more urgent move to a Just Transition for people working in carbon-based industries. ...1 hour ago
- Oxfam Reaction To NZ Government’s Declaration Of Climate EmergencyIn response to the New Zealand government’s move to declare a climate emergency, Oxfam New Zealand’s Campaigns Lead Alex Johnston said: “It’s significant to see the New Zealand government formally recognise the urgency of our climate crisis, ...1 hour ago
- Rort Confirmed: Dawn Freshwater Must Pay Back The Full Value Of Her Discounted RentResponding to the Auditor-General’s report on the University of Auckland’s decision to purchase a $5 million mansion in Parnell for its Vice-Chancellor, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “The Auditor-General’s judgment ...1 hour ago
- Home Alone at 30: how one case of parental neglect led to (hilariously) painful outcomesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Sparkes, Senior Lecturer (Media Studies and Production), University of Southern Queensland What was filmmaker John Hughes thinking when he made Home Alone? His previous films were either about awkward teens finding their way in the world (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s ...1 hour ago
- Māori wards petition delivered to Parliament: 'Not a case of if, but when'
Activists have delivered a petition to MPs urging them to get rid of legislation that enables referenda on Māori wards. ...1 hour ago - It is a climate emergency, now let’s act like itGreenpeace is claiming the Government’s symbolic declaration of climate emergency as a "win for people power", but is challenging Jacinda Ardern and her Government to follow through quickly with policy and action to cut New Zealand’s ...2 hours ago
- Climate emergency declaration by New Zealand government includes commitment to 2025 targetsNew Zealand's government is set to commit to going carbon neutral by 2025 when it declares a climate emergency this afternoon. ...2 hours ago
- The type machine: A review of Tom Sainsbury’s Field Guide
Books editor Catherine Woulfe reads New Zealanders: The Field Guide, by comedian and sometime Paula Bennett impersonator, Tom Sainsbury. We begin as we shall end: with blather.Hi guys! My name is Tom Sainsbury and I am very excited to meet you … through this book. You’re probably thinking, ‘Who the hell ...2 hours ago - WWF-New Zealand Reaction To Government's Climate Change Emergency Declaration...2 hours ago
- Why that last episode of The Mandalorian was so goodThat Star Wars show just had an episode that was a stone cold killer. According to José Barbosa, you can thank director Dave Filoni’s animation background for that.[Spoilers for episode five of The Mandalorian follow, if you care about that sort of thing]The year 2019 brought many TV streaming joys ...2 hours ago
- Inquiry Into The University Of Auckland’s Decision To Purchase A House In ParnellIn November 2019, the University of Auckland purchased a house in Parnell in Auckland. The University said the house would be used for accommodation by the Vice-Chancellor, business-related operations, and functions. The house cost about $5 million, and ...3 hours ago
- Beware the dragon: What the Australia-China trade war means for NZ
Australia cannot win its trade war with China. The only question is how much it will lose, and what that might mean for New Zealand. In case anyone in New Zealand has missed it, Australia is now under sustained attack from China. That attack takes two forms – trade sanctions ...3 hours ago - ‘Nobody checked on us’: what people with disability told us about their experiences of disasters...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Villeneuve, Associate Professor, University of Sydney Australians with disability are disproportionately affected by disasters such as fire, floods, cyclones and heatwaves. Yet we rarely hear their perspectives and insights on what’s needed to ensure they’re not left stranded when disaster strikes. ...3 hours ago
- 6 things to watch for as Australia crawls out of recessionSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janine Dixon, Economist at Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University Our economy has grown in the September quarter (the three months to September) after two quarters of going backwards. Using the literal meaning of recession, we are no longer in one – ...3 hours ago
- Jacinda Ardern: NZ’s declaration of a climate emergencyToday in parliament, Jacinda Ardern will move a notice of motion declaring a climate emergency and a series of other steps including ‘becoming a carbon-neutral government by 2025’. Here is the full text of the motion.To move that this House: declare a climate emergency, following the finding of the Intergovernmental ...3 hours ago
- One weird trick to make enormous profits without paying taxSo is capital gains tax a good idea or…? Depends who you ask, but this Auckland house (Janaye Henry) that just made $140,000 in a year makes a pretty strong case for why it might be good, actually.As your average Auckland house, I’ve got to say 2020 has been pretty ...3 hours ago
- Educators Back Call For Urgent Action On Child Poverty...4 hours ago
- JustSpeak Responds To Call For Sentencing And Parole Change Petition From Diane HuntToday Diane Hunt, mother of police officer Constable Matthew Hunt, delivers a petition to parliament asking for changes to the Sentencing Act 2002 and Parole Act 2002, whereby anyone convicted of murdering a police officer would receive a mandatory ...4 hours ago
- 39,000 strong petition presented to ParliamentTaonga honouring 33 police officers killed in the line of duty presented to Hon Mark Mitchell MP and Hon Poto Williams MP. (Source: Supplied) The mother of slain police officer Constable Matthew Hunt, Diane Hunt, presented a 39,000 strong petition to ...4 hours ago
- Musicians across Pacific stage virtual Wan Musik Wan Sing for West Papua’s freedomCOMMENT: By Luisa Tuilau and Ronny Kareni As West Papua’s Morning Star flag marks its historic 59th anniversary today on December 1, the Wan Musik Wan Sing virtual concert for West Papua has brought together artists from across our solwara with a Song for Freedom that traverses a sonic celebration ...4 hours ago
- Why New Zealand is ideally placed to broker a truce between China and the Five Eyes allianceSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato With tension escalating between China and members of the Five Eyes security alliance, most recently over a Chinese tweet that used a doctored image to attack Australia, New Zealand is arguably in a prime ...5 hours ago
- Effects Of COVID-19 On Trade: 1 February–25 November 2020 (provisional)Effects of COVID-19 on trade is a weekly update on New Zealand’s daily goods trade with the world from 1 February 2020. Comparing the values with previous years shows the potential impacts of COVID-19. The data is provisional and should be regarded ...5 hours ago
- Union Calls On Parliament To Declare Debt EmergencyThe Taxpayers’ Union is calling on MPs to declare a “Debt Emergency” to recognise New Zealand's largest ever government deficit and $128 million in weekly borrowing. Spokesman, Jordan Williams, said:“Regardless of the result of today’s ‘Climate ...5 hours ago
- What I learned about Christmas by watching too many Christmas moviesIt’s December. You know what that means? Christmas is here. You know what else that means? Christmas movies are here. Sam Brooks has watched all the Christmas movies on Neon, here’s what he learned from them.‘Tis the jolly season! There’s no better time of year than to turn up the ...5 hours ago
- Children’s Commissioner Is A Pointless Taxpayer-funded LobbyistThe Children’s Commissioner could help young New Zealanders by retiring, says the Taxpayers’ Union in response to the Commissioner’s 2020 Child Poverty Monitor . Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The Children’s Commissioner’s solutions ...5 hours ago
- Give power to Māori and marginalised communities and we’ll get through the climate emergencyToday, our parliament will declare a climate emergency. Three young climate leaders say it’s a grim marker of the scale of human-caused planetary collapse, but we need to ensure the government does not sacrifice the important for the urgent. Historically, emergencies have failed to prioritise equity and fairness when the underlying ...6 hours ago
- Infrastructure Sector’s Top Issues And Priorities For The New Government“The infrastructure sector remains hopeful that the Government can deliver on its vision for New Zealand, but quick action on strategy, planning, skills and funding commitment is required,” says Hamish Glenn, Policy Director at Infrastructure New ...6 hours ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – December 02 2020Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Climate change Richard Harman: Now the hard part on climate change is about to begin Jamie Morton (Stuff): What does declaring a ‘climate emergency’ actually do? Robert McLachlan (The Conversation): Climate ...7 hours ago
- Inside the Stuff apologyStuff’s Pou Tiaki editor Carmen Parahi rallied her troops for what would become the ‘Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono’ project on a Saturday, and pitched the idea to Stuff’s CEO the very next day. She tells Leonie Hayden about what happened next.On Monday the media-consuming public awoke to a surprise ...7 hours ago
- National Party opposes climate emergency declaration and festival drug check lawNational Party leader Judith Collins says declaring a climate emergency can mislead people, and a law allowing drug checks at festivals over summer is only providing a false sense of security. ...7 hours ago
- Aurecon’s Just Imagine Blog Publishes A New Ebook And Audiobook On SustainabilityAre we lost in our journey towards a sustainable future? Perhaps Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz can help us. Aurecon’s award-winning blog Just Imagine has recently published a new ebook and its first audiobook titled Just Imagine: what lies at the ...8 hours ago
- New rules for money lenders aims to protect all consumersThe government is continuing its crackdown on loan sharks, introducing new rules to protect against unaffordable loans. ...8 hours ago
- False flag: The Mercy Pictures furore and the dangerous power of artThe fallout from the Mercy Pictures exhibition People of Colour continues to inflame the Aotearoa art world. Here, art writer and former gallerist Sarah Hopkinson attempts to understand the often contradictory values that produced Mercy Pictures, and what the tumult means for the future of the industry.In October I attended ...8 hours ago
- COVID has left Australia’s biomedical research sector gasping for airSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gina Ravenscroft, Research Fellow, University of Western Australia While COVID-19 has highlighted the value of medical research, it has unfortunately also seriously disrupted it. Lack of funding is driving members of Australia’s once-vibrant virology research community out of the sector, and forcing ...8 hours ago
- What will Australia’s COVID vaccination program look like? 4 key questions answeredSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allen Cheng, Professor in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Monash University The Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca/University of Oxford groups have all recently announced their COVID vaccine candidates have demonstrated high levels of efficacy in phase 3 trials. These developments have focused attention on how ...8 hours ago
- Why there’s a lot more to love about jacarandas than just their purple flowersSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Every spring, streets across Australia turn purple with the delicate, falling flowers of jacarandas. This year, they’ll likely be flowering over Christmas. The colour of the flowers is often debated – is it indigo, ...8 hours ago
- A year without NAPLAN has given us a chance to re-evaluate how we gauge school qualitySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Monash University This has been a year of schools closing and a rapid switch to online learning. It’s also been a year with no NAPLAN. The cancellation of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy ...8 hours ago
- How Australian vice-chancellors’ pay came to average $1 million and why it’s a problemSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Rowlands, Associate Professor in Education Leadership, Deakin University Australia and the UK experience regular annual outrage over vice-chancellors’ pay. This is unsurprising – in Australia their average pay at the 37 public universities topped A$1 million in 2019. Those at prestigious ...8 hours ago
- What did COVID do to rental markets? Rents fell as owners switched from AirbnbSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Buckle, Research Associate in Housing Studies, University of Sydney COVID-related travel restrictions and the sudden drop in tourism provided an ideal natural experiment to examine the impact of shifts in the supply of short-term rental accommodation. Our research, released today, found ...8 hours ago
- Not all blackened landscapes are bad. We must learn to love the right kindSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Smith, Professor of Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University The devastation wrought by last summer’s unprecedented bushfires created blackened landscapes across Australia. New life is sprouting, but with fires burning again in New South Wales and Queensland ...8 hours ago
- Pharmac boss to talk with Crohn's sufferers protesting for drug funding
The head of the Government's drug-buying agency is to talk with Crohn's sufferers, who are petitioning for more drug funding. ...9 hours ago - 10,000 Strong Petition Calls For Government To Give Māori Wards A Fair GoActionStation and Te Rōpū Tautoko Māori will deliver two petitions in support of Māori wards today at midday. The petitions will be presented in a public event to Labour MP Tāmati Coffey. The petitions have been signed by over 10,000 people ...9 hours ago
- Live updates, December 2: New report details child poverty damageWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for December 2. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.30am: New report details child poverty damageOne in five children are living in income poverty, and without significantly increased government intervention that is likely to get worse.That comes from a new report from the Child Poverty Monitor, ...9 hours ago
- China 'surprised' NZ expressed concern over falsified photo of Australian soldierA spokesperson for China's foreign ministry says the official's tweet of a digitally-altered image depicting an Australian soldier has nothing to do with New Zealand. ...9 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Council considers rates hit to cover CovidGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Council considers rates hit to cover Covid, revenue minister fires warning shot over trusts, and some common sense on drug law reform.Auckland Council is set to lose a billion dollars in revenue, and they’re planning on asking ratepayers to pay ...10 hours ago
- Child Poverty Monitor Launch And Technical ReportBold action needed to prevent worsening of child poverty after Covid-19 One in every five children in Aotearoa New Zealand is living in income poverty, with bold action needed to prevent Covid-19 making low income and hardship even worse, according to ...10 hours ago
- Child Poverty Monitor Launch And Technical ReportBold action needed to prevent worsening of child poverty after Covid-19 One in every five children in Aotearoa New Zealand is living in income poverty, with bold action needed to prevent Covid-19 making low income and hardship even worse, according to ...10 hours ago
- Sophie's Choice: The big job ahead of Sky boss
Sky has appointed Sophie Moloney as its new CEO following Martin Stewart’s surprise exit after less than 2 years at the helm. Mark Jennings looks at the implications for the pay TV network. Martin Stewart swept into New Zealand and the Sky TV CEO role bursting with energy and ...10 hours ago - Ministers at odds over need to further Whakaari / White Island investigationMinisters are offering differing views over the need for an independent investigation into the Whakaari/White Island rescue and recovery mission. ...10 hours ago
- Sky TV drops another bombshell
A swift change of CEO at Sky TV, plus New Zealand backs Australia over doctored Chinese photo ...11 hours ago - Phil Twyford takes leave from Parliament as wife diagnosed with cancerLabour Minister Phil Twyford will be on leave from Parliament for the foreseeable future as his wife has been diagnosed with cancer. ...11 hours ago
- Foster couple pursuing legal action
Oranga Tamariki faces further court action over its controversial removal of children from a foster couple, Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner report The couple at the centre of Newsroom’s latest video that shows Oranga Tamariki removing their foster children are pursuing legal action against the agency. “We believe they’re in ...11 hours ago - Putting an end date on the pandemic
The University of Otago's Philip Hill estimates the pandemic will be over by the third weekend of September next year. Here he explains the global vaccination 'tapestry' that needs to take place in order for that to happen. I was at an event in late July where Professor Michael Baker ...11 hours ago - Thousands could lose insurance due to climate change
Tens of thousands of New Zealanders could find themselves living in flood-prone homes without insurance in 30 years' time. ...11 hours ago - Higher wages: If not now, when?
We have been a low wage, low productivity economy for too long but Covid could be the impetus for new, inclusive, policy settings that change that ...11 hours ago - From Here to Maternity: The sports Mumback
In the fourth and final part of our From Here to Maternity series, Kiwi athletes talk about how motherhood has made them stronger, smarter and experts at time management. When Kayla Whitelock discovered a "big hole" where her abs should have been while working out with the Black Sticks before the ...11 hours ago - Diversity is good, but …
In New Zealand’s currently diverse Parliament and Cabinet, it will be interesting to see those who more readily succumb to the collective institutional pressures they will continue to face, and those who try to remain true to themselves, writes Bob Gregory The greater diversity now displayed in Parliament and Cabinet ...11 hours ago - The dangers of Trumpism without Trump
Donald Trump's power is dwindling, but the passion of the 74 million Americans who backed him may not. ...11 hours ago - Big private childcare company grows while teachers struggle
The country’s second-largest early childhood education business comes out better off, thanks to the wage subsidy. ...11 hours ago - Jehan Casinader is alive and well
Reverend Frank Ritchie reviews a book on mental illness by journalist Jehan Casinader Attending a media event last year, I had a chance to chat with a seasoned journalist. I told him what I do and he mentioned to me one of our nation’s well-known tragedies that he had covered ...11 hours ago - NZ's year in 'virtual' spotlight begins
As New Zealand prepares for a year of digital diplomacy through its hosting of the APEC Forum, two crucial partners are in conflict - and at risk of drawing our government into the fray The year from hell still has 30 agonising days to go, but for New Zealand’s foreign policy ...11 hours ago - A day to define Jacinda Ardern’s second termThreads of a political career, woven together: climate change, child poverty and global leadership.Within weeks of a history-making victory, Jacinda Ardern and the Labour party face a growing list of demands. Local government is in disarray, the housing market is out of control and the spotlight is once again on ...12 hours ago
- What happened when I took a dodgy pill at Rhythm and VinesPill testing at music festivals is set to become law as legislation begins a rush through parliament in time for the start of festival season. It’s a change welcomed by Courtenay Chenery, who remembers how a rogue pill led to the most miserable New Year’s of her life. “Hey Dad…I’m ...12 hours ago
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Disharmony, an attempted coup, nasty texts, childish comments and calling in the big guns - what on earth has been going on at the fractured Tauranga City Council? Tauranga's 151,300 residents are without a leader and facing a fiscal hole of $2 billion after a turbulent year marked by bitter infighting ...12 hours ago - China hits out again – then tells Australia to fix the relationshipSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Chinese embassy has suggested the Morrison government is trying to “stoke domestic nationalism” in its denunciation of an offensive Chinese tweet depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to a child’s throat. In a ...18 hours ago
- Tight deadline for bills to pass as the House resumesThe House - Drug testing at festivals, a new tax bracket, more sick leave, and a quicker change in Covid-19 alert levels will be worked under urgency this week at Parliament. ...20 hours ago
- Australia can repair its relationship with China, here are 3 ways to startSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Conley Tyler, Research Fellow, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne China has certainly got Australia’s attention with a highly inflammatory tweet from a government spokesperson. It has provoked the desired reaction — a storm of outrage. Read more: Australia demands apology ...22 hours ago
- Academics, journalists, students raise Papuan flag in NZ ‘solidarity’ gesturePacific Media Watch Newsdesk Academics, journalists and students today raised the West Papuan flag – an act banned in Indonesia and punishable by up to 15 years in jail – at a Pacific Media Centre-hosted symposium in Auckland today. The protest marked the 59th anniversary of the day West Papuans ...22 hours ago
- Australia can repair its relationship with China, here are three ways to startSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Conley Tyler, Research Fellow, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne China has certainly got Australia’s attention with a highly inflammatory tweet from a government spokesperson. It has provoked the desired reaction — a storm of outrage. Read more: Australia demands apology ...23 hours ago
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