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Trade retaliation
Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, August 3rd, 2016 - 50 comments
The Nats are in a difficult spot here, no doubt about it. The weak steel is a serious issue and it should be investigated. But their usual tactics of deny and lie have been caught out yet again.
Listen to Nick Smith trying to defend fudged foreign ownership data
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, August 2nd, 2016 - 22 comments
Anyone who believes the Nats’ figures needs to listen to yesterday’s interview – Why won’t Nick Smith answer this one simple question? Excellent work from Garner.
CYF massively underfunded
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, July 26th, 2016 - 28 comments
National pays electoral homage to our vulnerable children. They talk a big game about putting “the needs of our most vulnerable children and families at the centre of decisions”. Their actions tell a different story – of under-funding at CYF and falling numbers of social workers.
Predator free a fantastic goal – but…
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, July 26th, 2016 - 231 comments
Feel-good promises for 2050 are easy. Add this one to the list with a cycleway the length of NZ, a secret plan to end Japanese whaling, the War on P, our emissions reduction (hah!) targets, plans to be a “financial hub”, the promise of pandas, and so on and so on.
Who could build social housing?
Written By: - Date published: 6:47 am, July 25th, 2016 - 226 comments
The plan to have the private sector build social housing appears to be a flop. We need a large, well resourced organisation to take on the task of building these desperately needed houses. Wherever will we find one?
Oram – seven warning signs for the economy
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, July 24th, 2016 - 23 comments
Rod Oram’s Sunday Star-Times, reprinted on Facebook here, adds yet another voice to the chorous of economic warnings: “Our Road Runner economy is zooming towards the cliff-edge”…
Auckland without workers
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, July 19th, 2016 - 73 comments
The unaffordability of Auckland housing is now seriously impacting even moderately well paid professions. As these trends continue, how is Auckland going to cope without without workers?
O’Sullivan and Watkins – warnings to the Nats
Written By: - Date published: 7:08 am, July 18th, 2016 - 196 comments
Even National’s fans are worried for them these days. The “third termitis” meme is becoming well established.
Nats abandon social housing target
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, July 15th, 2016 - 22 comments
As part of their “comprehensive” response to the housing crisis, the Nats are backing off their promise to increase the number of social housing places. Great news for those families sleeping in cars tonight.
Do you pray to take on crushing debt for the rest of your life?
Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, July 13th, 2016 - 89 comments
Pathetic tinkering with loan limits does nothing realistic for first home buyers, but it does add more fuel to the debt fire. We need to actually build some affordable houses. If only there was a party that would do that…
Nats on HNZ dividend – Yes! No! Maybe!
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, July 12th, 2016 - 62 comments
That’s three positions in 2 days. Stay tuned to see what these headless chooks come up with tomorrow!
Reserve Bank gives Key the fingers on housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, July 8th, 2016 - 14 comments
In The Herald Liam Dann asks – Did the Reserve Bank just give two fingers to the Prime Minister?. That would be a “yes”.
Housing bubble inflating faster – Key’s panic now obvious
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, July 6th, 2016 - 157 comments
The housing bubble is inflating faster than ever, and Key is visibly panicking. His political problem is insoluble and his electoral problem is about to get worse.
A week at Te Puea Marae
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, July 4th, 2016 - 8 comments
Unlike our “government”, Te Puea Marae is trying to do something practical for the homeless. Madeleine Chapman spent a week volunteering there, and wrote about it for The Spinoff. Note that The Warehouse will match donations made through Spinoff.
Billion dollar boondoggle
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, July 3rd, 2016 - 112 comments
In an effort to be seen to be doing something about a housing crisis that they say doesn’t exist, the Nats have offered to lend councils $1 Billion that they can already borrow. Homeless families will also be offered a free deckchair on the Titanic to re-arrange as they please.
No accountability under Key
Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, June 24th, 2016 - 63 comments
Rebstock’s report into into leaks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been absolutely torn apart by the Ombudsman, with multiple serious flaws identified. This morning Key expressed his continuing confidence in Rebstock. Of course.
ECAN turning a blind eye
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, June 21st, 2016 - 41 comments
Is ECAN just another typical Nat party fuckup, or are they deliberately turning a blind eye?
I think we can all agree that Paula Bennett is the real victim here
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, June 18th, 2016 - 56 comments
Te Puea Marae, whose only “crime” in this the Brighter Future was to try and help the homeless, “has fears of ‘smear campaign’ “. Naturally Paula Bennett is the real victim here. And furthermore, it’s all Labour’s fault.
Housing policy omnishambles rolls on
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, June 16th, 2016 - 64 comments
The government that will pay you $5000 to leave Auckland and $3000 to move to Auckland has been selling state houses so recklessly that it is now considering building temporary ones. Headless chickens make more sense.
Key on Pulse nightclub massacre
Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, June 14th, 2016 - 83 comments
Police undermined by their own minister
Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, June 11th, 2016 - 100 comments
Good piece by Jo Moir on Stuff this morning, about National’s train-wreck week. Follow it up with Andrew Geddis on the legality of the Collins blurt.
Banks act on housing affordability crisis (while National sits on its hands)
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, June 10th, 2016 - 144 comments
Despite Key’s barnstorming 2007 speech on the housing affordability crisis, National these days prefer to deny that it exists. Apparently fed up with waiting for the government to take action, banks are moving to reduce their risk and limit foreign buyers.
FIFY: Bennett too embarrassed to visit marae
Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, June 9th, 2016 - 72 comments
National’s lies, damn lies and statistics on housing
Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, June 9th, 2016 - 43 comments
The housing crisis is not going away, and National needs to offer something better than lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Stick a Fork in Him, He’s Dunne
Written By: - Date published: 6:57 pm, June 1st, 2016 - 140 comments
The Labour/Greens electoral pact spells the end of the line for Parliament’s most self serving MP, Peter Dunne. National have a choice to make; stand down in Ohariu or stab him in the back. And then there’s the equally supine Maori party. Te Ururoa Flavell’s hold on his seat is also shaky. No Flavell, no Maori Party.
No Mates National. The Brighter Future just arrived!
The Mother Budget
Written By: - Date published: 6:21 pm, May 26th, 2016 - 89 comments
There are budgets and there are budgets. And for all the presence or absence of bright ideas, there’s a budget that threatens to subsume all others…
National standards – a failed crusade
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, May 3rd, 2016 - 260 comments
National told us “New Zealand elected a Government that promised to introduce national standards so that every single child could read, write, and do maths when they left school.”
House Tales.
Written By: - Date published: 3:01 pm, March 22nd, 2016 - 32 comments
If ‘home is where the heart is’ then what’s the story when everything’s heartless?
Todd Barclay imploding in Clutha-Southland
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, March 8th, 2016 - 170 comments
High profile electorate resignations, a Parliamentary Services investigation, talk of a selection challenge – Todd Barclay has made a real mess of the gift of Clutha-Southland. What a surprise.
National willfully stupidly blind on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, November 20th, 2015 - 98 comments
As the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warns of the risks of sea level rises and recommends action, National are clear that they will take none. They are determined to leave all the risks and costs of climate change to future governments.
- ‘What’s good for Māori is good for everyone’ – hīkoi ends with peaceful pr...
The capital turned into a sea of black, white and red today, as more than 42,000 people supporting te Hīkoi mō te tiriti overflowed Parliament's grounds and onto the streets. ...4 days ago - Bunnings breached privacy law by scanning customers’ faces – but this loophole lets other shops ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margarita Vladimirova, PhD in Privacy Law and Facial Recognition Technology, Deakin University Nils Versemann/Shutterstock Hardware giant Bunnings breached the privacy of “likely hundreds of thousands” of Australians through its use of facial recognition technology, the Privacy Commissioner ruled today. “Individuals who ...4 days ago - Could keeping native species as pets save them from extinction? Here’s why it’s not that simple
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meg Edwards, Lecturer in Wildlife Science, University of Southern Queensland Captive squirrel glider Author provided, CC BY Humans have been turning wild animals into pets for thousands of years. Pets – animals kept for companionship, not for food or work – were ...4 days ago
- Why did the US change its mind on Ukraine firing missiles into Russia? And will it impact the war?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Richardson, Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies, Australian National University The lifting of US restrictions on the use of ATACMS ballistic missiles by Ukraine may help it repel Russian forces trying to retake Russian territory seized by Ukraine earlier this year. ...4 days ago
- Albanese government gives firm ‘no’ to joining UK-US agreement to advance nuclear technology
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has been put on the spot by a new agreement – which it has declined to join – signed by the United Kingdom and the United States to speed up the deployment of ...4 days ago
- The government wants to keep cash alive for buying essentials. Here’s why it’s such a challenge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Worthington, Adjunct Professor, Swinburne University of Technology Cre8tive Images/Shutterstock Cash usage has fallen off a cliff in Australia, but the federal government says it must have a future. So, it’s going to mandate one. The Australian government will require ...4 days ago
- Time for soldiers to do civilian work extended until mid-February
The government has notified Parliament it is extending the time soldiers will be filling in for their striking non-uniformed colleagues until Valentines Day. ...4 days ago
- Live: 42,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament
By mid-afternoon today 42,000 people gathered at the Parliamentary precinct and the surrounding streets, police say. ...4 days ago
- Hīkoi day 9: 35,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill protest reaches Parliament
RNZ News More than 35,000 people today gathered as Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hīkoi mō te Tiriti overflowed from Parliament’s grounds and onto nearby streets in the capital Wellington Pōneke. Eru Kapa-Kingi told the crowd “Māori nation has been born” today and that “Te Tiriti is forever”. ACT leader David Seymour ...4 days ago
- Hīkoi not representative of New Zealand, David Seymour says
Seymour came out of the Beehive today to acknowledge the hīkoi and wave at the protesters - but retreated inside after just a few minutes. ...4 days ago
- Alan Jones once seemed unassailable. What ended it was a peculiarly Sydney story of media, politics ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne For decades it seemed Alan Jones was unassailable. A finding against him of professional misconduct by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (2000); a finding that he incited hatred, serious contempt ...4 days ago
- Daily smoking rates flat-line, youth vaping keeps rising – NZ Health Survey
Daily smoking rates have flat-lined after dramatic falls in previous years, while vaping among younger people continues to rise. ...4 days ago
- Watch: Traffic-stopping haka breaks out during hīkoi to Parliament
Vehicles were barred from entering the intersection as a group of men performed the haka to a crowd of hundreds of onlookers. ...4 days ago
- Hīkoi to Parliament: The families taking part and why
The hīkoi is a family affair, with tamariki everywhere; pepe sleeping in carts and buggies or tugging their cousins' hair. ...4 days ago
- The best signs from the final day of the Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi
How many ways can you say you’re pissed off? A good protest sign signifies all the things you want to say at a demonstration: I’m here, I care and I’ve found the most fed up/witty/creative way to express this. And after a week of nationwide protests for the Toitū Te ...4 days ago - Pike River: 14 Years On And Far Too Many Of Us Are Being Injured At Work
"The Minister’s actions on health and safety show the Minister has failed to understand the lessons of Pike River. Instead of boosting health and safety at work, her party and her Government are looking for ways to water down the protections it has delivered." ...4 days ago - Live: 35,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament
Hīkoi mō te Tiriti is heading for Waitangi Park and heavy traffic through the CBD is expected ahead of the evening commute. ...4 days ago
- Dunedin Hospital protesters rally to support campaign
About 1000 people turned up to hear why building the hospital as planned, was important. ...4 days ago
- Watch: ‘Kill the bill, kill the bill’ – David Seymour walks out, waves to proteste...
The ACT leader was met with chants of "Kill the bill, kill the bill" when he walked out of the Beehive, before waving to the crowd and returning inside. ...4 days ago
- Livestream: 35,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament
The Treaty Principles Bill's architect made a brief appearance, and was met with chanting, as 35,000 people protesting overflowed from Parliament's lawn. ...4 days ago
- Public humiliation is still a common teaching tool in medical education. Here’s how it leaves pati...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolyn Heward, Lecturer, Clinical Psychology, James Cook University Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Imagine being questioned about complex technical knowledge in front of your peers, supervisors, and members of the public – knowing that a wrong answer could lead to public ridicule. ...4 days ago
- Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti: The final day march to Parliament in photos
It was an early start for thousands as the hīkoi sets off for its final destination - the grounds of Parliament. ...4 days ago
- It’s clear footy has an Indigenous participation problem, and the AFL draft is only part of the so...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chelsey Taylor, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of Technology From revolutionary Geelong ruckman Graham “Polly” Farmer, to the electrifying Krakouer brothers (Phil and Jim) at North Melbourne, through to modern stars such as Charlie Cameron, Adam Goodes, Lance Franklin and Eddie Betts, Indigenous ...4 days ago
- What our politicians’ signatures tell us about their personalities
We asked a handwriting expert to analyse the scrawls of our elected officials. Here’s what they said. Recently I received a press release from the trio of ministers – Simeon Brown, Shane Jones and Chris Bishop – tasked with overseeing the government’s controversial fast-track consenting bill. The press release itself ...4 days ago
- Livestream: 19,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament
'The energy, the power-it's palpable here on the ground,' an MP says as a sea of red, black and white flags sorrounds the Beehive. ...4 days ago
- Education minister says kids should be in school instead of at hīkoi
But the son of a haka expert, travelling down with students from Huntly, says "this is all part of our learning, this is their school". ...4 days ago
- Basic rules for screen time at a young age can help reduce childhood obesity – new research
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ladan Hashemi, Senior Research Fellow in Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Childhood obesity is a growing concern worldwide. But in New Zealand it’s a particularly pressing issue. With one of the highest rates in the OECD, about one ...4 days ago
- Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi mō te Tiriti at Parliament
Thousands have marched through the streets of a capital and to the Beehive. ...4 days ago
- Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity Says “Toitū Te Tiriti!”
Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity supports te hikoi and says Toitū te Tiriti! Māori never ceded sovereignty! ...4 days ago
- Video: Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke reacts to haka heard around the world
In the face of criticism, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke says there was definitely a moment of 'what just happened?', after the House was suspended during voting. ...4 days ago
- Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi at Parliament
'The energy, the power-it's palpable here on the ground,' an MP says as a sea of red, black and white flags makes its way to the Beehive and crowds line the streets. ...4 days ago
- Review: Camping is the hyper horny, extremely silly play we need right now
Almost a decade ago, Camping dazzled with four relative unknowns in a tiny venue. Now it returns, with an all-star cast on a bigger stage. Does it still deliver? The original run of Camping, on stage at The Basement, is the funniest and most kinetically bizarre show I’ve seen in ...4 days ago
- ‘We don’t even have a CT scan here’: Dunedin Hospital protesters rally
About 1000 people turned up to hear why building the hospital as planned, was important. ...4 days ago
- Biggest Ever Community Petition, With Over 200,000 Signatures, Opposes Treaty Principles Bill
The country has spoken. This Bill is a bad faith attempt to revoke the Government’s commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and it’s visible to not just Aotearoa, but the world. ...4 days ago
- Justice Committee Calls For Submissions On The Principles Of The Treaty Of Waitangi Bill
The committee is intending to complete hearings by the end of February 2025. Further decisions about hearings will be made and communicated in due course. ...4 days ago
- To build support, it might be time for the Greens to hang up their movement-style approach to politi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Narelle Miragliotta, Associate Professor in Politics, Murdoch University State and territory elections held in 2024 have not delivered the electoral and legislative gains the Greens would have hoped for or expected. Of the elections conducted this year, the Greens’ performance was, ...4 days ago
- Australia’s new anti-vaping program in schools is a good step – but education is only part of th...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonine Jancey, Academic and Director Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, Curtin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Last week, the federal government announced a plan to roll out an anti-vaping program in schools across the country. The education program, ...4 days ago
- We pay less for houses in one-in-100 year flood zones – but overlook risks of more devastating flo...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Song Shi, Associate Professor, Property Economics, University of Technology Sydney If you’re buying a house near a river or on a floodplain, you will likely come up against the question of flood risk. We usually talk about this in terms of chance. ...4 days ago
- What was the deal with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra’s ‘situationship’?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Dunn, Lecturer in Classics, University of Tasmania Carl Gottlieb Venig/Wikimedia The Egyptian queen Cleopatra is often associated with glamorous beauty routines, deadly snake bites, lavish banquets and torrid affairs with some of the most notorious men in Roman history. ...4 days ago
- The cost of being: An ‘anti-capitalist’ barista and tutor renting in Wellington
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 23-year-old explains why she’s been working since she was 11. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 23. Ethnicity: Cambodian Chinese. Role: Barista, tutor, campaigner, ...4 days ago
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