Shane Jones
Categories under Shane Jones
- No categories
Shane Jones’ weird premature budget take
Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, May 14th, 2022 - 11 comments
Former Labour MP Shane Jones has criticised the 2021 budget even though he has no idea what is going to be in it.
Labour’s new Oceans Ministry
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, November 3rd, 2020 - 23 comments
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to rename the Fisheries Ministery to “Oceans and Fisheries” and install David Parker instead of Stuart Nash shows a welcome desire to protect this most precious of resources.
NZ First is in trouble in Northland
Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, August 9th, 2020 - 70 comments
More bad news for NZ First. It looks like their hope that Northland could provide a get out of jail free card is misplaced.
Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton poll released 2020-07-30
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, July 31st, 2020 - 54 comments
Poll analysis and modelling results: Is Colmar Brunton “the real rogue?” Who’s likely in and out for National, Labour, and the Greens on this poll result?
Pollwatch: Reid Research poll completed 2020-07-24
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 pm, July 26th, 2020 - 89 comments
Labour has hit stratospheric highs in the new Reid Research poll at 60.9%, and still have a strong partner in the Greens at 5.7%. Who’s in and out on these numbers? How has Collins performed?
Matthew’s Magic Numbers
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 pm, April 15th, 2020 - 43 comments
Matthew Hooton has tweeted a series of numbers. They add up to good news for the Government.
UPDATE: Curia Polling reckons it’s even better for Labour!
The trouble with MMP
Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, March 3rd, 2020 - 93 comments
The trouble with MMP is that sometimes members of minority parties court media attention by being overtly racist.
Someone should keep a Talley
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, February 26th, 2020 - 15 comments
Radio New Zealand has published details of Talley donations totalling $27,000 being made to the NZ First Foundation.
Pure clear water
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, February 21st, 2020 - 44 comments
It’s probably time to notice why Jones’ Provincial Growth Fund had to step in and provide several million of funding to patch up the water supply emergency in Northland.
Federated Farmers launches petition against its business model
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, January 19th, 2020 - 157 comments
Federated Farmers has started a petition against an educational resource that teaches about climate change and activism because it does not present their industry in a sufficiently positive way.
Slapdown
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, November 7th, 2019 - 66 comments
Jacinda Ardern has publicly slapped Shane Jones down for blatantly racist comments by requiring Immigration Officials to reverse a policy change that was adversely affecting Kiwis who have recently entered into arranged marriages.
Dunedin’s Hillside Rail Workshop
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 4th, 2019 - 15 comments
Good news for Dunedin and the Country as the Government has announced a $20 million upgrade of the Hillside Rail Workshop.
Fonterra failure and Government failure
Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, August 19th, 2019 - 95 comments
Fonterra is dragging New Zealand down, faster and faster. What is this Government going to do?
The hard change of forestry
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, May 18th, 2019 - 98 comments
Forestry is forcing an important tilting point between mitigating climate change and land use, and it’s going to affect the viability of some North Island towns.
Westland Dairy sale
Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, March 20th, 2019 - 30 comments
Westland Dairy has done a deal to sell out to Yili industrial Group of Mongolia. This company is the third largest dairy company in New Zealand.
The SPOTY’s 2018
Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, December 15th, 2018 - 39 comments
Here’s your chance to vote in the Standard’s Politician of The Year awards. The SPOTY’s are recognised worldwide as the leading indicator of political success in NZ and have been awarded annually for over two hundred years.
Now it’s your turn to prick the Thorndon Bubble, dear reader. Who’s your Politician of the Year?
Our rail revival
Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, October 31st, 2018 - 96 comments
Yesterday the government announced that it was reversing the previous government’s decision to kill off the electric trains. The decision is one of many recently made that suggests that the future of rail is bright.
Coalition Problems? Tell ’em they’re Dreaming!
Written By: - Date published: 6:44 pm, September 13th, 2018 - 82 comments
Oh dear. The Winston Peters led governing coalition has completely collapsed and thank God Simon Bridges is there to pick up the pieces. I warned you this would happen! And look! Over there … the sky is falling. Falling, I tells ya!
Business NZ runs bogus poll
Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, September 12th, 2018 - 65 comments
Business NZ has admitted that a poll that it ran was fundamentally flawed but has threatened to go to the ILO about Labour’s rather modest proposed changes to Industrial Relations law. And Radio New Zealand has reported on an industrial dispute involving Sistema plastics where union workers are working 60 hour working weeks without overtime pay on not much more than the minimum wage.
Memo from Crosby Textor – Simon Bridges limo expenses
Written By: - Date published: 7:53 am, August 15th, 2018 - 90 comments
The Standard has unearthed advice provided by Crosby Textor to the National Party concerning the leak of Simon Bridges’ travel information.
Jane Kelsey: Shane Jones’ AirNZ demands would breach the TPPA
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, March 25th, 2018 - 94 comments
“Article 17.4 says the government must ensure that SOEs like Air New Zealand act solely in accordance with commercial considerations, unless there is an explicit public service mandate for services that operate purely within the country. There is no such mandate for Air New Zealand.”
Where is our economic leadership?
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, March 16th, 2018 - 38 comments
This government has not yet developed an economic strategy.
The 2017 General Election electorate expense returns
Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, February 4th, 2018 - 27 comments
Last year’s electorate expense returns have now been made public.
Shane Jones and work for the dole
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, December 4th, 2017 - 94 comments
Shane Jones has muddied a perfectly good job creation policy by talking about work for the dole.
Labour and rural voters
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, November 6th, 2017 - 94 comments
In recent years Labour has allowed National to dominate rural politics. Maybe it is time for Labour to think about reaching out to rural voters and suggest to them that a progressive vote is in their interests.
Ten Reasons for National to do another term
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, October 5th, 2017 - 28 comments
A tongue in cheek list of reasons why it may be best for National to form the next Government.
Election 2017: the battle lines are drawn
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, July 17th, 2017 - 77 comments
The 2017 election campaign has been set alight by the Greens adopting brave policies that Jeremy Corbyn would be proud of and NZ First adopting policies that would meet with Donald Trump’s approval.
He’s baaaack
Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, June 30th, 2017 - 153 comments
Shane Jones will seek to reenter Parliament and has been selected as the candidate for the Whangarei seat. But for New Zealand First.
Will Shane Jones stand for NZ First in Whangarei?
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, September 5th, 2016 - 53 comments
Rumours suggesting that Shane Jones will stand for New Zealand First in Whangarei at the next election have resurfaced.
Unintended Consequences
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, April 1st, 2015 - 148 comments
Winston Peters is poised to announce who will replace him on the NZ First list. It may even be someone who can lead the party after he retires. There’s one really obvious candidate; an ex MP suffering from relevancy deficit syndrome and keen to get back in the political spotlight. It’s ….
NRT: The Jones appointment
Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, June 24th, 2014 - 45 comments
When I first heard of this appointment, I commented that if McCully had offered Jones a briefcase full of cash rather than a specially-created high-paying job to resign, we’d call it what it is: Corruption and bribery of member of Parliament. From what I’ve seen in this release, I stand by that.
Updated: It looks like this appointment either violated the Cabinet Manual or is in violation of the State Sector Act. Whatever way you look at this, the appointment appears to broken some laws. Perhaps some journos would like to look up from bullshit from National’s dirty tricks blogger and care to investigate a real story?
- Despite it all, China dominates Australian trade—again
China has reasserted its dominance over Australia’s export markets, taking a record of almost 1 billion tonnes of mineral resources and agricultural commodities last year, and displacing the trading partners that helped Australia out during ...7 days ago - The five-domains update
Sea state Defence Minister Richard Marles visited the Maldives in early June and announced a present of one Guardian-class patrol boat and hydrographic equipment. They are expected to be delivered in 2026. Australia has an ...7 days ago
- An almost $20 million budget cut to RNZ is met with … near silence
Australia's national broadcaster is called Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It's regularly attacked by Rupert Murdoch's Sky News & Australian broadsheet - as well as Atlas Network think tanks such as IPA - as "wasting taxpayers money" The last Liberal (conservative) leader Peter Dutton also labelled ABC (and the Guardian) as ...7 days ago - Take advantage of these tax credits before Congress kills them
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Republicans in the U.S. Senate are working to pass their version of the budget reconciliation bill before Congress goes on holiday for July 4. As it stands, the bill would terminate most clean energy tax credits long before their original ...7 days ago - Act forces Willis backdown on policy costings unit
Seymour says there is no need for the unit - and he wouldn’t trust what the officials said anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāBriefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, July 3:Deputy PM David Seymour has forced Finance Minister Nicola Willis ...7 days ago - Reflecting on 25 years of UNSC Resolution 1325
The United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda suffers from an ongoing burden: the need for less talk and more action. Invariably, several speakers raise this issue at the Security Council’s annual Open Debate ...7 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on National’s crackdown on shoplifters
Politicians do like being tough on crime. Flexing law and order muscle is a feature of the patriarchal Daddy State, and is beloved by the very same conservatives who deplore the workings of the Nanny State. But tough on which crimes – and even more to the point – tough ...1 week ago - Bookshelf: the secret history of China’s most powerful company
How did a small Shenzhen-based manufacturer of telephone switches defy tough domestic and international competition to become a world leader in telecoms technology? And how did it manage to start producing its own 5G processors ...1 week ago
- Robert Howell – The Climate Catastrophe
Dr Robert Howell UN Secretary General: We are sleepwalking to climate catastrophe. In facing this wake up call, Dr Howell will describe the lessons to be learned from Wesfamers; the work of the External Reporting Board; the National Climate Change Risk Assessment for New Zealanders; and the Dasgupta Review.Dr Robert Howell ...1 week ago - You build prosperity from the ground up, not from the helipad down
FFS, did you see this? I didn’t think he could do worse this year than host Morning Report, but Lord, Paddy Gower is a trier.Stuffed if I’m linking to it. It’s just another contemplation-free, insight-starved Tall Poppy Syndrome is Stopping Us From Being Rich diatribe.Here’s the thing:Prosperity isn't created by ...1 week ago - Why the Coalition should worry less about scholarships and more about Studylink
Hello. My house burnt down on my birthday. Well not down, but it burnt. And I’m currently living in a motel. Forgive me for phoning this one in; a better article is coming. And probably also a poetry substack, whenever I finally get around to it. From: Stephanie Cullen <s.cullen@hotmail.co.nz> Sent: Wednesday, ...1 week ago - Managing the dark side of the critical minerals rush
Australia and its partners must move towards frameworks that manage, rather than merely lament, the negative side-effects of critical mineral extraction. As the world scrambles to meet the demands of a clean energy transition, it’s ...1 week ago
- Israel-Iran war has exposed Russia’s vulnerability
The war between Israel and Iran has brought only short-term gains for Russia. Looking to the longer term, we see much bigger negatives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained that the war had resulted in a sharp ...1 week ago
- Democracy Under Siege: NZ Government Gags Youth MPs
In a development that epitomises authoritarian overreach masquerading as administrative procedure, the Coalition of Chaos government has decided to censor Youth MPs during the 11th Youth Parliament, an event that was meant to amplify the free voices of our young people. The revelation that youth representatives, invited to Parliament to ...1 week ago - Home Affairs should be the great enabler of national resilience
Amid worsening strategic surprise and security fragility, Australia’s national resilience responses are just as important as its defence capabilities. While the original strategic logic for the Department of Home Affairs—the idea of peace, order and ...1 week ago
- Letter to the editor on State housing and broken promises
..2 July 2025The editorKapi Mana News letterstoeditor@stuff.co.nzKia ora,Your story in 'Kapi Mana News' on 1 July, headed "Porirua East social housing developments axed in review" revealed how this government is cutting back on social housing.76 proposed new homes in the Porirua region would have housed around 153 people. These are ...1 week ago - The translation crisis: why our best ideas rarely become national assets
When it comes to innovation, Australia has a strategy problem as much as a delivery problem. The first is about purpose. The second is about execution. I recently argued that Australia’s innovation system lacks the ...1 week ago
- Wednesday 2 July
The PSA says potential plans to privatise New Zealand’s meat inspection service could put food quality and safety at risk. Industrial action at Napier Port has concluded after one week, with a pay deal being reached in principle for about 185 workers. Academic staff and TEU members at the Western ...1 week ago - Behold, another Quarterly Survey of Business Delusion
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Wednesday, July 2:The NZIER’s QSBO survey published yesterday showed businesses remain stubbornly confident about the wider economy and their own businesses, despite their own ‘experienced activity’ in the June quarter being much, much worse than they ...1 week ago - ASPI USA roundtable: How Australia and US can work with Prabowo’s Indonesia
On the Indo-Pacific geopolitics gameboard, Indonesia stands as a potentially pivotal piece—a country whose strategic choices could reshape regional dynamics for decades. Yet, as revealed during a recent panel discussion hosted by ASPI USA, Indonesia ...1 week ago
- Got Milk?
Hi,I got a lot of very intense feedback on social media this week about milk — and I want to talk about it.But first, some quick updates on some other Webworm things.1. The Telepathy TapesYou may recall my story about how the chart-topping podcast The Telepathy Tapes was nothing more ...1 week ago - Fix Poverty, Fix Crime
Learn to love meAnd assemble the waysNow, today, tomorrow and alwaysMy only weakness is a listed crimeBut last night, the plans for a future warWas all I saw on Channel FourShoplifters of the worldUnite and take overShoplifters of the worldHand it over, hand it over, hand it overSongwriters: Johnny Marr ...1 week ago - Not just drones, but massed swarms of them. Defences can’t cope.
A new and sophisticated phase of aerial warfare has emerged from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East over the past month, defined by the systematic use of massed drone saturation attacks. This evolving ...1 week ago
- Fact brief – Are human CO2 emissions driving current global warming?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are human CO2 emissions driving current global warming? While many natural factors influence Earth’s climate, human emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide are driving ...1 week ago
- A short global tour for people who hate socialism
I often make the mistake of reading what other people online have written. This is how I know that I live among many people who violently object to Socialism. Or Communism.Or The Left. These are all terms they throw around so loosely it can seem almost as though they don't ...1 week ago - This is what the IPCA’s anti-protest laws mean
Back in February, the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority issued a radical, out-of-the-blue proposal to ban protests. The core of their proposal was a requirement for protesters to notify police well in advance of any protest action, and to obey whatever conditions police subsequently set or directions they made, with failure ...1 week ago - If this is the Trump Doctrine, Australia had better pay attention
What a week. Swiftly and decisively, and in uniquely Trumpian style, US President Donald Trump has restored US military credibility and deterrence with global repercussions. The always mercurial president is often viewed as non-ideological and ...1 week ago
- As China expands resource control in Myanmar, Australia-India collaboration matters
Myanmar’s rare earth sector has become a geopolitical flashpoint where critical minerals, armed conflict and strategic competition intersect. In 2024, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) suspended mining operations in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State, sharply curtailing ...1 week ago
- National’s flagship telehealth costs Kiwis up to $99 a call as Simeon Brown funds telehealth p...
Leaked documents from Te Whatu Ora showed National planned to pay telehealth providers - including ‘reluctant PHO' Tend Health - between 367% and 433% what it funds struggling GPs for casual patients.The telehealth service is targeted at those not enrolled with a local GP. But as GenPro Chairman Dr Angus ...1 week ago - National is afraid of kids
As the government - or one of its Ministers, anyway - keeps reminding us, Parliament is meant to be a place of free speech, where MPs (but not apparently select committee witnesses) need to be able to robustly criticise government policy and hold Ministers to account. But Youth MPs at ...1 week ago
- Every day is Independence Day in Taiwan
In a speech kicking off his ‘10 Talks on the Country’ series on 22 June, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te declared that Taiwan ‘is of course a country’, citing its democratic system and separate history, and ...1 week ago
- Webworm Meetups: Denver, Chicago, New York
Hi,So I am about to head to to Denver and Chicago for some live Flightless Bird shows (I am so happy with our live guests, you’ll see).(Note, yes, I do want to get to New Zealand with our podcast — and some other places — it just all depends on ...1 week ago - Defying China, Jim Chalmers enforces our critical-minerals red line
Jim Chalmers is enforcing national sovereignty and defying risk of economic intimidation. The treasurer has taken court action to force a China-linked entity to divest from a key rare-earths miner. This is a matter of ...1 week ago
- It’s The Economy, Stupid
Last year in August, I wrote Why More Economic & Social Pain Is Coming For Us All. The short of it was Nicola Willis’s budget approach was inevitably going to cut us off, and force many into economic and social pain. And worse, I kept thinking, “Do they not realise ...1 week ago - ADF must bolster cyber capabilities to maintain combat edge
The Australian Defence Force’s cyber capacity falls short of what would be needed in a scenario where Australia found itself in combat against an adversary with modern military and technological capabilities. The ADF’s establishment of ...1 week ago
- What do the latest WMO temperature projections imply for 1.5C?
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink The WMO recently published their WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update that covers the period from 2025 to 2029. This is a regular assessment of near-term dynamic model projections that assess both the forced climate response and short-term natural variability (e.g. ENSO and AMV). This new update ...1 week ago
- So many extreme weather events, but no mention of climate change
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 1:Extreme floods hit the top of the South Island over the weekend, unleashing a wall of media coverage on the ‘unprecedented’ scale of the disaster, but there was no coverage of modelling showing each ...1 week ago - 2025 Reading List: June (+ Writing Update)
Completed reads for June: Eclogues, by Virgil Georgics, by Virgil The Love-Talker (poem), by Ethna Carbery The Amores, by Ovid The Art of Love, by Ovid Love’s Remedy, by Ovid The Art of Beauty, by Ovid The Heroides (I – XV), by Ovid The Double Heriodes (XVI – XXI), ...1 week ago - Gordon Campbell on what our Labour Party could learn from Zohran Mamdani
Heaven forbid that an abrasive punk duo that calls itself Bob Vylan should lead a hostile chant at the Glastonbury music festival against a military organisation – not a state, not an ethnic group – that has killed tens of thousands of unarmed civilians, and which is enforcing a famine ...1 week ago
- When its foreign ministers meet this week, let the Quad step up
Never mind that the Quad partners have their differences. The meeting of their foreign ministers in Washington on 1 July should be an occasion for the grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States ...1 week ago
- Terrorgram block is a welcome step towards countering violent extremism
The Australian government has listed Terrorgram—a network of violent extremist chatroom-like channels on Telegram—as an official terrorist organisation. Australians found to be part of Terrorgram now face up to 25 years in prison. As an ...1 week ago
- Regulatory Standards Bill could cost up to $60 million a year
Source: Guardian, Photographer: Johan Lolos/RexACT’s “dangerous” Regulatory Standards Bill could cost taxpayers up to $60 million a year upfront, according to Treasury advice released to The Post, under OIA.Even at the most conservative estimate, $18 million a year, Treasury acknowledges there are significant ongoing costs that are still unaccounted for.In ...1 week ago - Japan can help the Pacific become more resilient
Australia’s 2024 national defence strategy describes Japan as an ‘indispensable partner’ for achieving regional peace and security. But the prominence of the growing defence relationship between Japan and Australia, while vital, risks obscuring opportunities to ...1 week ago
- The Science and Mātauranga Māori debate
Professor Kendall Clements of the University of Auckland argues that attempts to conflate traditional Māori knowledge with science debases both. This is a video of a great discussion between Professor Kendall Clements of the University of Auckland and Dr Iona Italia, managing editor and a podcast host at ...1 week ago - Shane Jones is a Fascist
The spectre of authoritarianism rarely announces itself with jackboots and torchlight parades. More often, it arrives draped in the rhetoric of economic necessity, promising prosperity whilst systematically dismantling the institutions that protect democratic accountability. Such is the case with Shane Jones, New Zealand First's Resources Minister, whose latest tirade against regional ...1 week ago
- Monday 30 June
E tū mill union delegate Ian Farall has spoken about the disappointment felt by workers that Kinleith pulp and paper mill in Tokoroa has closed. The government wants to electronically monitor some asylum seekers and migrants, is preparing for mass arrivals of asylum seekers by plane, and is hoping to ...1 week ago
- Critical minerals aren’t a startup game: Australia’s junior miners must grow up
Silicon Valley’s ‘move fast and break things’ mantra might work in software. But when it comes to lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals, where development times average 10 to 15 years, breaking things isn’t ...1 week ago
- Australia’s must make its research security ecosystem work smarter
Since 2018 the Australian government has made serious strides in countering espionage and foreign interference, including introducing policy and legislative reforms aimed at protecting the research and university sector. That was necessary. But seven years on, ...1 week ago
- Don’t Happy, Be Worry
Got trust issues, bad paparazziHalf of the news that act fugaziFamine, but there's snacks at the partyElon Musk and that pack of NazisSome are fighting boredom 'round their houseOthers fight for borders ’round their houseThe fallout's getting sort of scary nowThis New World Order? Tear it downSong: Hilltop Hoods.You’ve probably ...1 week ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #26
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, June 22, 2025 thru Sat, June 28, 2025. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Change Impacts (10 articles) Heatwave in England to bring temperatures above 32°C ...1 week ago
- Government Doesn’t Care About the Nelson-Tasman Flooding
New Zealand’s weather is turning rogue, and the National-led government seems content to sit on its hands. The recent flooding in the Tasman District, which claimed one life and left homes, businesses, and livelihoods underwater, is yet another stark reminder of the escalating climate crisis.This deluge, described by locals as ...2 weeks ago
- Pride Over Fascism
Budapest Pride Event - A Success100,000 defy Atlas Network’s Hungarian dictator Viktor OrbanOrganisers face a 1 year prison sentence. Orban warned police would use facial recognition to penalise attendeesOrban’s right wing populist party outlawed public events by LGBTQ+ communities in March 2025Photograph: Rudolf Karancsi (Source: NPR)The law was “Fast-Tracked”.Photograph: János ...2 weeks ago - Why are Western Leaders Complicit in the Gaza Genocide?
The ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has exposed the profound moral bankruptcy of Western diplomacy, revealing how economic interests and geopolitical calculations have trumped basic human decency. With over 70,000 Palestinians officially dead, 59.1% of them women, children and elderly, NATO nations have demonstrated a stunning inability to deploy the ...2 weeks ago
- Always another question
Thanks to this newsletter I have a connection with all kinds of excellent people who send me all kinds of excellent messages that I appreciate very much indeed.And the more moved I am by them, the longer it can take me to respond. You want to do it justice, you ...2 weeks ago - Peter Thiel is Building an AI Driven Mass Surveillance State
Make no mistake: the United States is constructing the most comprehensive civilian surveillance apparatus in human history. And they're not even trying to hide it anymore. Under the Trump administration's enthusiastic blessing, tech behemoth Palantir Technologies is weaving together the digital breadcrumbs of every American citizen into a single, all-seeing artificial ...2 weeks ago
- Isn’t It Ironic?
And isn't it ironic?Don't you think?Songwriters: Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard.Last week, parliament saw the tragic loss of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp, whose untimely death caused grief across the house. Less shocking, although still surprising, was the announcement that Tanya Unkovich, a NZ First MP, had resigned to ...2 weeks ago - Butter Economics: The Great Kiwi Rip-Off Exposed
The dairy industry's spin machine has been working overtime lately, desperately trying to convince New Zealanders that paying through the nose for butter is somehow good for us.Media personalities like Ryan Bridge and industry apologists such as Dr Jacqueline Rowarth have been peddling this economic fairy tale with all the ...2 weeks ago
- Constraining Fiscal Management
Why Government borrowing is limitedThis column started out to explain how the proposed structural outsourcing of public surgery was partly a consequence of the peculiarities of our fiscal borrowing practices. In summary, the restriction on the government’s debt level means seeking indirect ways to provide the required capital. One way ...2 weeks ago - AUKUS needs a third pillar: space
AUKUS is reshaping Australia’s strategic future, but its vision is incomplete. While the partnership’s first two pillars focus on submarines and advanced technologies, they rely on an often overlooked domain: space. If AUKUS is to ...2 weeks ago
- Building Australian capability in the era of autonomous warfare
Far from being a prospect for the distant future, the era of autonomous systems on (and off) the battlefield is here. Mass is back in warfare, not through much larger armies, but through growing numbers ...2 weeks ago
- This is how 10 year olds talk
1. Who said this, and of whom? Occasionally he stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened.a. Jacinda Ardern, of David Seymourb. Winston Peters, of David Seymourc. Winston Churchill, of Stanley Baldwind. Chris Topher Luxon, of David Seymour2. How old would ...2 weeks ago - This has to stop
Another day, another crony appointment - this time, of former National candidate (and general racist arsehole) Paul Henry to the board of TVNZ. Coming in the wake of revelations that a member of the PM's science and technology advisory council got their job by sending the prime minister a text ...2 weeks ago
- Australia’s innovation gap threatens national safety, not just economic prosperity
From grey zone coercion to regional surveillance competition, the Indo-Pacific is now in live contest. Yet our national innovation posture is not structured to mitigate emerging risks or leverage strategic possibilities. Innovation is now a ...2 weeks ago
- National’s Housing Hypocrisy: New Zealand Pays the Price
While Christopher Luxon's National-led government has been busy patting themselves on the back for delivering a whopping 25 state houses in Rotorua that apparently employed 300 people, they've quietly gone and axed another 70 desperately needed state house builds in Porirua East. Because nothing says "caring about ordinary Kiwis" like ...2 weeks ago
- Agricultural cooperation is in Australia’s and Indonesia’s best interests
Fostering people-to-people links between northern Australia and Indonesia could improve agricultural output in both countries. They share agri-environmental conditions, providing opportunities for enhanced partnership. Such an approach would also progress Australia’s underdeveloped economic ties with ...2 weeks ago
- Peter Bale, without Bernard Hickey this week, joins Cathrine Dyer, Robert Patman, Jonathan Lyons and...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-host Peter Bale talking with regular guests Robert Patman and Cathrine Dyer about the week’s news in geopolitics and climate.This week’s Hoon featured special guests:author, historian and a former colleague from Reuters, former Tehran bureau ...2 weeks ago - Australia’s classification system must balance secrecy and usability
In an era of escalating strategic competition, the effectiveness of Australia’s government and national security apparatus hinges on its ability to use information with precision and agility. Yet, the very systems designed to protect sensitive ...2 weeks ago
- Radio New Zealand Says It Did Nothing Wrong
Hi,Last time I sent you a Webworm, I was on my way to Manchester airport to fly back to the US, as Trump sidestepped Congress to send a barrage of missiles towards Iran. The US Defense Intelligence Agency says Iran’s mission to build a nuclear weapon has only been set ...2 weeks ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #26 2025
Open access notables Increased sea-level contribution from northwestern Greenland for models that reproduce observations, Badgeley et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The Greenland Ice Sheet has been thinning over the past several decades and is expected to contribute significantly to sea-level rise over the coming century. Ice ...2 weeks ago
- Digital dai-ichi: with right balance, Japan can shape its hyperscale future
Japan’s digital rise hinges on adopting hyperscale cloud computing without ceding strategic autonomy—a balance it has yet to strike. Japan’s hyperscale strategy must walk a tightrope—balancing the immense benefits of cloud infrastructure with the imperative ...2 weeks ago
- If language is power, why is Australia going quiet?
In 1992, Paul Keating said, ‘Asia is where our future substantially lies’. Decades later, the rhetoric remains, but the follow-through is still lacking. Despite Australia’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific, our cultural competency is inhibiting our ...2 weeks ago
- The Terminator
This morning I watched The Terminator. This is the original 1984 Terminator where Arnie plays the villain, because, you know, accent. ...2 weeks ago - National’s Fossil Fool Fiasco Betrays Climate Commitments
New Zealand’s National-led government has once again proven its reckless disregard for our planet and our international reputation by abandoning the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), a commitment made in 2021 to phase out fossil fuel production.This incredibly dumb decision, coupled with a $200 million fund to subsidise oil ...2 weeks ago
- US’s Iran strike may have strengthened Tehran’s nuclear resolve
Donald Trump could be having his Mission Accomplished moment. He said in a nationally televised address Saturday night, ‘Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key ...2 weeks ago
- Donald Trump’s Arms Push Betrays Global Needs
Donald Trump’s recent insistence that NATO countries increase military spending to 5% of their GDP is a reckless and self-serving manoeuvre that prioritises warmongering over humanity’s pressing needs. This demand, rooted in Trump’s cosy ties with American weapons manufacturers, threatens to divert trillions from critical global challenges like starvation and ...2 weeks ago
- What is Rocket Lab launching into space and why are people angry about it?
On Friday, picket signs bearing Palestine flags and banners about genocide gathered around three Rocket Lab locations in New Zealand. Why? Rocket Lab, founded in 2006 by Sir Peter Beck, is often lauded in New Zealand for catalysing our space industry. Today it still leads the sector, one with a ...21 hours ago - How fried chicken food truck YFC ran afoul of KFC’s trademark lawyers
Explainer: Why does a giant global corporation care so much about the logo being used by a young Christchurch entrepreneur? ...21 hours ago - Watch live: Submitters speak at Regulatory Standards Bill hearing day 3
ACT leader and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour says the bill aims to improve lawmaking but critics argue the opposite. ...22 hours ago
- ‘Fuckity, fuckity, fuck’: The many riches of the Outrageous Fortune swear jar
Outrageous Week continues as Alex Casey celebrates Aotearoa’s sweariest show. Content note: This article contains many, many, many swear words. You have been warned. When co-creator of Outrageous Fortune James Griffin stood up to address the cast and crew at the series wrap of the beloved show in 2010, he ...22 hours ago
- Key Orange Roughy Population On Verge Of Collapse: Government Considers Closure
The scientific report from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), released last week, indicates that the fishery, known as East and South Chatham Rise (ESCR) is in a dire state, with over 80% of the original orange roughy population wiped out. ...22 hours ago - Greek and Roman nymphs weren’t just sexy nature spirits. They had other important jobs too
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kitty Smith, PhD Candidate in Classical Greek and Roman History, University of Sydney Acteon, having accidentally seen the goddess Diana and her nymphs bathing, begins to change into a stag. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. George S. Amory, Object Number: ...23 hours ago - How student games of SkyCity blackjack spiralled into $1m Watercare fraud
Shyamal Shah was introduced to a private poker ring, drawn in deep, then shown graphic photos of men assaulted for not paying their debts The post How student games of SkyCity blackjack spiralled into $1m Watercare fraud appeared first on Newsroom. ...23 hours ago - American science is in crisis. It’s a great opportunity for Australia to snap up top scientists
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Walker, Visiting Fellow, National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Stellalevi / Getty Images Science in the United States in in trouble. The National Science Foundation, a key research funding agency, has suffered devastating funding cuts ...23 hours ago
- Some young people sexually abuse. Here’s how to reduce reoffending by up to 90%
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jesse Cale, Associate Professor of Criminology, Deputy Director Research (Griffith Youth Forensic Service), Griffith University When we think about who’s responsible for sexual abuse in Australia, we usually picture adults. But young people are responsible for a substantial proportion of sexual offences ...23 hours ago
- XFG could become the next dominant COVID variant. Here’s what to know about ‘Stratus’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Griffin, Professor, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The University of Queensland visualspace/Getty Images Given the number of times this has happened already, it should come as little surprise that we’re now faced with yet another new subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus ...23 hours ago
- Can a pizza box go in the yellow bin – or not? An expert answers this and other messy recycling qu...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pooria Pasbakhsh, Research Fellow in Polymer Upcycling, The University of Melbourne ViDCan/Shutterstock Have you ever gone to toss something into the recycling bin – a jam jar, a pizza box, a takeaway container encrusted with yesterday’s lunch – and wondered if ...23 hours ago
- Another OCR cut justified as households, businesses struggle – Kiwibank chief economist
"We need to be running, not crawling out of this recession," Kiwibank's chief economist says. ...23 hours ago
- Taxpayers’ Union Applauds Christchurch Mayor Backing Rates Cap
Taxpayers’ Union, Investigation Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said: “Councils have been using ratepayers as a bottomless ATM. It’s refreshing to see a mayor finally admit that the current model is broken and something needs to change.” ...24 hours ago
- Why economists are betting on the OCR holding steady today
Inflation uncertainty is driving expectations that the Reserve Bank will hit pause on cash rate cuts, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. RBNZ set to keep cash rate steady The Reserve Bank is widely expected to push ...1 day ago
- Anti-red tape bill a health risk, doctors say
The ACT Party's "red tape-busting" Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB) threatens to harm patients by undermining the public health system, health experts are warning. ...1 day ago
- AI is driving down the price of knowledge – universities have to rethink what they offer
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Dodd, Professional Teaching Fellow, Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau For a long time, universities worked off a simple idea: knowledge was scarce. You paid for tuition, showed up to lectures, completed assignments and eventually earned a credential. ...1 day ago
- Some people with disabilities still terrified of leaving their homes after Covid discrimination
An advocate says some people with disabilities faced discrimination because they were often mask or vaccine exempt. ...1 day ago
- Senior doctors’ union welcomes Health NZ U-turn on axing Wellington Hospital maternity beds
Health NZ says it will no longer go ahead with a trial to use maternity and gynaecology beds for emergency department overflow. ...1 day ago
- Ghost bus: why is Motu Move taking so long to arrive in Canterbury?
The new public transport payments were supposed to be operating in Canterbury already. What’s happened? Last year, people in Canterbury were expecting a subtle, but useful, change to how they use public transport: the advent of the Motu Move system, which would allow Cantabrians to tag on to the bus ...1 day ago
- Regulatory Standards Bill hearing, day two: ‘Just good law-making’ or ‘Act’s ideological fet...
Day two of select committee hearings into the Regulatory Standards Bill saw submissions from the Taxpayers’ Union, Tania Waikato and the Greater Wellington Regional Council. It was another quiet morning in select committee room four on Tuesday, and for the second consecutive day, no committee members from NZ First showed ...1 day ago
- This Wellington sea wall shows how our heritage rules are broken
The government wants to make it easier to remove protections on heritage buildings – but more change is needed. The Oriental Parade sea wall is a long, concrete barrier that curves around the stretch of Oriental Bay. It’s a critical piece of infrastructure, first built in the 1920s to protect ...1 day ago
- Lianne Dalziel: ‘I’d never have got my operation in broken public health system’
Comment: Risks associated with using private hospitals to reduce public sector waiting lists for planned surgery The post Lianne Dalziel: ‘I’d never have got my operation in broken public health system’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Wellington Combined Taxi shareholders approve sale to Auckland co-op
Court action and increasing competition saw the well-known taxi company put into voluntary administration in 2024 The post Wellington Combined Taxi shareholders approve sale to Auckland co-op appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Book of the Week: Nadine vs impatient Pākehā climate change activists
I find myself instinctively reaching for the new essay collection Slowing the Sun by Nadine Hura on two significant occasions. The first was under the blanket of Mount Manaia, the mountain on my Ngāpuhi side, the night before mum received her moko kauae. Mum is the first in six generations ...1 day ago
- What the Covid-19 inquiry is teaching us
Comment: As the dust continues to settle from the peak pandemic years, New Zealand is taking a long, hard look in the mirror. The first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 Lessons Learned has been delivered, and it offers an unflinching account of our preparedness, decisions, and ...1 day ago
- Titanium could double value of Taranaki seabed mine
Unknown recovery rates for titanium dioxide saw it excluded from an economic impact assessment, while NZ’s share of mineral export value is questioned The post Titanium could double value of Taranaki seabed mine appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- There’s still time to get off this energy-hungry train
Opinion: Those of us who are old enough will remember how the windscreens of our cars would be covered in insects after a long drive through the countryside. If we travelled overseas, we could visit wilderness that lacked roads and wild animals seemed plentiful. This has changed, as humans expand ...1 day ago
- Mushroom murder could mean life behind bars
It is the triple-murder case that captivated a global audience – a sleepy Australian town, a family Sunday lunch, and a deadly beef Wellington. Now, after a marathon two-month trial involving more than 50 witnesses, four days of closing arguments and seven days of jury deliberations, Erin Patterson has been ...1 day ago
- The silent cost of hearing loss and how to slow it down
He describes them as “hard-headed deniers” but spends a lot of time thinking about how he can win them over. James Whittaker wants to improve hearing health in New Zealand and a big part of that is convincing the deniers that wearing hearing aids can prolong good health. Whittaker is the ...1 day ago
- Human rights body hooked by phishing scam
Already under pressure from the Government and with an increasingly tight budget, the Human Rights Commission is pinged for financial errors The post Human rights body hooked by phishing scam appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- ‘No secret society’: how women in sport learn best
Over the past few years, gendered learning has been organically woven into initiatives for women in high performance sport – not just to support women, but to strengthen the entire sports system in Aotearoa. We spoke to three wāhine leading the charge: Helene Wilson (netball coach and Women in High ...1 day ago
- Academic slams NZ government over ‘compromised’ foreign policy
Asia Pacific Report A prominent academic has criticised the New Zealand coalition government for compromising the country’s traditional commitment to upholding an international rules-based order due to a “desire not to offend” the Trump administration. Professor Robert Patman, an inaugural sesquicentennial distinguished chair and a specialist in international relations at ...1 day ago
- Covid inquiry hearings: No decisions yet on which politicians will appear
The Royal Commission investigating New Zealand's Covid-19 pandemic response has not made any decisions about which leaders and politicians will appear for a public healing. ...1 day ago
- Public servants’ views on staffing, stress and job satisfaction revealed in new survey
The Public Service Census is a voluntary survey that 44,737 out of more than 65,000 public servants took part in. ...2 days ago
- How Are Designated Terrorist Entities Selected In New Zealand? Here’s What You Need To Know
Explainer - The Proud Boys are no longer a terrorist entity in New Zealand. But how does a group get designated as terrorists in the first place? ...2 days ago
- Interest rates are on hold at 3.85%, as the Reserve Bank opts for caution over mortgage relief
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney Thurtell/Getty Images The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept the cash rate at 3.85%, after cutting it in February and May. Those earlier moves were aimed at supporting the economy as ...2 days ago
- The US has high hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, but Israel’s long-term aims seem far less peaceful
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University US President Donald Trump has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House, where he has declared talks to end the war in Gaza are “going along very well”. ...2 days ago
- What makes a good AI prompt? Here are 4 expert tips
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra Peter, Director of Sydney Executive Plus, Business School, University of Sydney FOTOSPLASH/Shutterstock “And do you work well with AI?” As tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems become part of everyday workflows, more companies ...2 days ago
- Saying goodbye is never easy: why we mourn the end of our favourite TV series
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Gerace, Senior Lecturer and Head of Course – Positive Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Netflix Has the ending of Squid Game left you feeling downhearted? The South Korean megahit struck a nerve with audiences worldwide, with millions logging in to Netflix to ...2 days ago
- Wellington mayoral candidate says cap on rates would reduce accountability
Andrew Little says a government rates cap would undermine the democratic relationship between mayor and councillors and residents. ...2 days ago
Recent Comments