australian politics
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Climate change – the right schemes and the left despairs
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 2nd, 2020 - 27 comments
The Australian Liberal Government has signalled a movement away from solar and wind power to untested technologies including carbon capture, hydrogen and lithium. Meanwhile the woman who led the negotiations for the Paris Agreement is calling for civil disobedience to force institutions to respond to the climate crisis.
Do not deport your people and your problems to New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, February 29th, 2020 - 53 comments
Jacinda Ardern has trashed traditional notions of how New Zealand Australia relations are conducted when making the clear point that Australia should not be exporting Australian made problems who are barely kiwis to New Zealand.
The death of Holden
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, February 18th, 2020 - 43 comments
Thousands of households across New Zealand heard the announcement of the complete death of the Holden marque this week, as the death of one of the greatest binaries and one of the most closely teased and contested brands of all: Holden versus Ford.
The right is splintering on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, January 23rd, 2020 - 70 comments
The right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier. And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.
Australian fires and the climate crisis everybody wanted to ignore
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, January 7th, 2020 - 51 comments
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog
Australia is no longer the lucky country
Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, January 6th, 2020 - 112 comments
Australia is arguably no longer the lucky country. And if it does not resolve its addiction to coal it may not have a future.
He wasn’t here to help us, was he
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, January 4th, 2020 - 80 comments
The utter failure of the Australian Prime Minister to lead during the bushfire crisis reminds us that it’s care for our children and communities that drives climate action. When people mobilise politicians will follow.
Goodbye 2019
Written By: - Date published: 3:04 pm, January 1st, 2020 - 8 comments
Throughout the world 2019 was the worst year for the left since 1979. What will 2020 bring?
What Cheeto, Bojo and Scomo are up to
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, December 21st, 2019 - 76 comments
It has been a tough week for conservative leaders with Trump impeached and the evangelical magazine Christianity Today calling for his resignation, Johnson in the UK announcing voter fraud measures reminiscent of the American deep South, and in Australia Morrison being criticised for missing in action, upstaged by a 13 year old girl and pushing through protection for religious bigotry that Israel Folau would be pleased with.
How to counter angry boomer campaigns
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, December 17th, 2019 - 154 comments
The UK election was won not by Russian bots but by older voters with limited technical skills circulating poorly designed ads. What can be done in New Zealand to counter what is clearly a right wing campaign tactic?
Strike Force Raptor for the win
Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, November 28th, 2019 - 40 comments
National has proposed significant changes to the Criminal Justice system to create a Police group without evidence that it works, and that if enacted would make our prisons less safe and plug holes in our law that do not exist.
Learning to win fast
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, November 12th, 2019 - 53 comments
While Australia burns its conservative politicians still refuse to accept the enormity of the climate crisis and are acting to hinder and prevent measures that need to be taken to address what is a clear threat to the country’s future.
NZ First Youth drags party screaming and kicking into 20th century
Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, October 21st, 2019 - 24 comments
At New Zealand First’s weekend conference the party’s youth wing has forced the party to rethink its ultra conservative view on pill testing services being offered at festivals.
Australia gets tough on climate change activists
Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, October 17th, 2019 - 22 comments
Following on from Weka’s post yesterday concerning attacks on the right to protest in the United Kingdom, Australia has also shown a concerning tendency to attack and undermine that most important of rights.
Burning down the house
Written By: - Date published: 5:03 pm, October 15th, 2019 - 28 comments
Why is it that conservative politicians throughout the world engage in rhetorical attacks on laws that in many situations actually serve important purposes?
Lying : the preferred denier behavior
Written By: - Date published: 3:45 pm, September 22nd, 2019 - 26 comments
In a striking example of the typical climate change denier, the “Australian Young Coal Coalition” released a photo bemoaning the mess left by friday’s climate change strike rally in Hyde Park. Pity that it was a lying fake. Being put out by climate change deniers, of course it was just a lie. That is all […]
China, Climate Conference, and New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 18th, 2019 - 4 comments
At the United Nations Climate Action Summit next weekend the question may be asked what would happen if China stopped buying Australian coal?
Legitimate target, daft war
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, September 16th, 2019 - 30 comments
The war that Saudi Arabia and its allies has been waging against the Houthi side in the civil war in Yemen took a interesting turn yesterday. Houthi claimed an attack on Saudi oil processing facilities using drone strikes. It is likely to significantly reduce the output of the Saudi exports for a while as the […]
The Far Right’s Winning Narrative Superiority
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, September 7th, 2019 - 132 comments
Why is the right winning so many elections?
NRA: a international terrorist organisation
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, September 6th, 2019 - 22 comments
I was joyful to see that the San Francisco board of supervisors has declared what I have long thought; that the National Rifle Association in America has for many years been acting as a terrorist organisation. We should add them to our register of terrorist organisations as well.
Cmon Aussie …
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, August 18th, 2019 - 54 comments
In the last week Australia has insulted Pacific nations by refusing to commit to a 1.5 degree maximum increase in global temperatures and by claiming that Pacific Islands will be fine because they can pick Australia’s fruit. And Alan Jones has almost lost his job through misogynist attacks on Jacinda Ardern.
Slowing economy?
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, August 14th, 2019 - 39 comments
In May this year the New Zealand Treasury was projecting growth accelerating from 2.4% to 3% in 2019-20 while the Reserve Bank has pessimistically cut interest rates to 1%. Both can’t be right.
Nuclear chickens coming home?
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, August 8th, 2019 - 30 comments
The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty between the United State and Russia signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987 formally ended on August 2nd. On Sunday the new US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper dined privately with Winston Peters. Before and during his trip to the Pacific, Mark Esper called for placement of intermediate-range US missiles in Asia.
Arnhem Land and Ihumātao
Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, August 5th, 2019 - 44 comments
A Recent High Court decision in Australia suggests that protection of indigenous land rights may be better than we think.
Dutton engages in weaponised brutality
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, August 1st, 2019 - 63 comments
Australia is responding to New Zealand’s concern at the forced repatriation of New Zealand citizens from Australia who fall foul of the law by dramatically increasing the potential for this to occur.
The weasel accurately dissects National.
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, July 26th, 2019 - 36 comments
Matthew Hooton has a piece on National’s chances in the next election this morning entitled as “National stumbling to defeat”. Personally I think he is a PR weasel who is on the border to dirty politics. But he did cover the salient points that will be on the mind of the National party conference.
Australian right wing commentators suffer from deranged Jacinda syndrome
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, July 24th, 2019 - 76 comments
Australian right wing commentators are losing their shirts at the thought that Jacinda Ardern may be in the running for a Nobel Peace prize.
National supports 47% tax rate for top income bracket *
Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, July 5th, 2019 - 25 comments
* this is one possible interpretation for National’s praise of the Morrisonn Government’s change to Australian tax system.
FiveEyes on our elections
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 am, June 12th, 2019 - 94 comments
Andrew Little’s letter to the Select Committee on election interference puzzled me – it seemed to be out of the blue and not particularly relevant to our system. Then I read about a meeting on the Gold Coast last year and it became clear as to why – FiveEyes pressure.
Government under FiveEyes
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, June 7th, 2019 - 11 comments
Australian Federal Police chief Neil Gaughan told media after raiding the ABC that “if police did not investigate the leaking of classified information, Australia would no longer be entrusted by FiveEyes partners with intelligence that saves lives.” FiveEyes didn’t save Muslim lives in Christchurch.
The Coming Global Economic Slowdown and New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, June 3rd, 2019 - 49 comments
With the United States – China trade war well underway, the sick chaos of Brexit is shrinking the U.K. economy and slowing much of Europe’s economy, and smaller economies such as that of Mexico in the crosshairs through further politically manufactured trade disputes, the second half of this year looks for New Zealand nowhere near as rosy as the first half.
- Vanuatu quake: Rescue teams continue Port Vila hunt for survivors
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific news editor There are conflicting reports of the official death toll from this week’s massive earthquake in Vanuatu as rescue teams continue to scour the rubble for survivors. On Tuesday, the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office reported 14 deaths. It said four people had been ...4 days ago - Hipkins’ letter to BlackRock boss over SolarZero liquidation goes unanswered
A letter sent by Opposition leader Chris Hipkins to BlackRock asking for assistance to ensure 160 terminated SolarZero staff are paid what they are owed has been met with silence.Hipkins sent a letter to David Giordano, BlackRock’s managing director of climate infrastructure, on December 4, one week after news broke ...4 days ago - International student numbers in Australia will be controlled by a new informal cap. Here’s how it...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Hurley, Associate Professor and Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Paper Cat/ Shutterstock The federal government has found a new way to manage the number of international students in Australia. It has instructed immigration officials to prioritise student visa applications ...4 days ago
- Government Legislation On Academic Freedom Sign Of New Hope For Universities
Legislation changes announced by the Government today signals that academic freedom can still be restored to university campuses. New Zealand universities have consistently shown they’re not fulfilling their obligations to uphold academic freedom; this ...4 days ago - National, Labour blame each other – but is the Reserve Bank responsible for GDP fall?
The last two quarterly figures for the economy are the worst since the late 2021 Covid-19 lockdowns. ...4 days ago - New Zealand Economy In Freefall While The Government’s Books Burn
...4 days ago
- Survey Shows Government Lacks Mandate To Repeal Live Export Ban
“Sending live animals on boats into volatile conditions to destinations with poor animal welfare standards is not progressive, lucrative, or likely to stimulate the economy,” says SPCA Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Arnja Dale. ...4 days ago
- Bill To Increase Penalties For Slavery Welcome, But Doesn’t Go Far Enough
World Vision New Zealand welcomes the introduction of a Private Members’ Bill to increase penalties for slavery offenses, but warns it does not go far enough to address weaknesses in New Zealand’s modern slavery and trafficking laws. ...4 days ago
- Politics with Michelle Grattan: Chalmers says the budget’s better than it was; Taylor says it’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Appropriately, we finish our podcast for 2024 talking to Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his shadow, Angus Taylor because, as the saying goes, “it’s the economy, stupid!” This week’s mid-year budget update showed Australia’s economy ...5 days ago
- Treaty Principles Bill A Threat To The Rights Of Children In Aotearoa
Teresa Tepania-Ashton, Director of Advocacy at UNICEF Aotearoa, says it is critical that New Zealanders who care about children participate in the submissions process and identify the risk to the rights of tamariki. ...5 days ago
- PM skipping Waitangi appearance ‘a good first step’ – hīkoi organiser
"There's no point in speaking to ears that will not listen to mine," Eru Kapa-Kingi says. ...5 days ago
- YouTube populists are driving South Korea’s political instability. It’s a warning for the rest o...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Koskie, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Media and Communications, University of Sydney In the space of three weeks, South Korea has seen a brief declaration of martial law, its sudden repeal and the impeachment of its president, Yoon Suk Yeol. One ...5 days ago
- When medals matter most: high-performance sport funding risks a return to the ‘win at all costs’...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Gender, University of Waikato Getty Images On the face of it, New Zealand’s new high-performance sport funding model announced yesterday is an increase on the previous round. But it is ultra-focused on already ...5 days ago
- The Essure contraceptive device left some women with chronic pelvic pain. Why did their class action...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Bonython, Associate Professor of Law, Bond University ben bryant/Shutterstock The Victorian Supreme Court recently dismissed a class action on behalf of more than 1,400 women who received Bayer’s Essure contraceptive device. The decision attracted significant publicity, including criticism ...5 days ago
- Menstrual cups are safe and sustainable – but they can be tricky for first-time users, our new stu...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Hennegan, Senior Research Fellow; Co-Head, Global Adolescent Health Working Group, Burnet Institute Iryna Inshyna/Shutterstock Many young women and other people who menstruate are turning to menstrual cups to manage their periods. In 2021, my colleagues and I surveyed 15- ...5 days ago
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will not attend Waitangi at all next year
He says he has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. ...5 days ago
- Can you run through airport security for love? Leave a child home alone? Here’s what the law says ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia 20th Century Studios/IMDB It’s the time of year when many of us return to our favourite Christmas fables to get into the festive spirit. While film often ...5 days ago
- Why does family violence increase during the festive season? Here are 3 contributing factors
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Summerell, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide Shutterstock While the holiday season is supposed to be a happy time, evidence suggests it’s one of the worst times of year for domestic and family ...5 days ago
- A world on fire: the World Bulletin year in review
Looking back at the events that made headlines around the globe in 2024. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be hard pressed to think of a grimmer year than ...5 days ago - Government to change free speech rules for universities
The coalition's proposal will also prohibit unis from adopting positions on issues that don't relate to their "core functions". ...5 days ago
- From garlic to parsley, new research reveals the herbs and spices Australians love most
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia Herbs and spices have been used in cooking for centuries. They add flavour, aroma and colour to foods and have long been used for health ...5 days ago
- Keith Rankin Essay – Judaism, Antisemitism, and Israel
Analysis by Keith Rankin. To understand antisemitism, we need a meaning for ‘semitism’, and another -ism to contextualise semitism. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Literally, semitism means the promotion of the Semitic people, whoever ...5 days ago
- Former Defence Minister Peeni Henare calls Vanuatu flight woes ’embarrassing
A Hercules plane carrying urban rescue staff to Vanuatu was stranded in New Caledonia after an engine fault. ...5 days ago
- The Spinoff’s favourite movies of 2024
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- NZ’s dairy industry faces an uncertain future – its fate now lies in its ability to adapt
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milena Bojovic, PhD Candidate, Macquarie University William West/AFP via Getty Images New Zealand’s dairy sector faces an uncertain future due to several challenges, including water pollution, high emissions, animal welfare concerns and market volatility. All of these issues are building ...5 days ago
- Call for entries: Rod Oram Memorial Essay Prize
Calling all young writers!To honour our great friend and esteemed colleague, Rod Oram, we are calling for essays from young people campaigning for a more equitable, sustainable and compassionate world.Rod Oram was a revered journalist and environmentalist, known for his rigorously researched and passionate commentaries on business, government and wider ...5 days ago
- Banger alert: the song of the summer is ‘Harty Māori Stylez’
Espresso this, Not Like Us that. There will be only one true song of Aotearoa’s summer: Harty Māori Stylez by Te Kura Reo Rua o Waikirikiri. This summer, as you cruise coast to coast, you’re going to need an anthem to soundtrack your movements. A song that encapsulates the feeling ...5 days ago
- GMO Bill Creates More Societal Division
Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) last week completed another two days with Ministers, political leaders, Ministries and primary sector leaders sharing science knowledge, societal concerns, economic impacts and trade findings. ...5 days ago
- Lake Alice redress payments won’t have sway on what other survivors receive
Lead minister of the government's response to abuse in care Erica Stanford said Cabinet looked at this case very separately. ...5 days ago
- Help Me Hera: I hate spending Christmas with my in-laws
I grew up in a family where Christmas was all about tradition and hospitality. My husband’s family takes a different approach. How do I get over my resentment and have a nice day? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera The Christmas I had growing up was always quite lovely, ...5 days ago
- AI will continue to grow in 2025. But it will face major challenges along the way
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daswin de Silva, Professor of AI and Analytics, Deputy Director of the Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University cybermagician/Shutterstock In 2024, artificial intelligence (AI) continued taking large and surprising steps forward. People started conversing with AI “resurrections” ...5 days ago
- Fifty years ago, Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin. The lessons from it have still not been learnt
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Farram, Associate Professor in North Australian and Regional Studies (History), Charles Darwin University It is hard to comprehend the force with which Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin early on Christmas Day, 1974. It was so ferocious that it killed 66 people, partly ...5 days ago
- Australia has an ongoing GP shortage. Why can’t we just train more GPs?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Harrison, Senior Lecturer, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney NotarYES/Shutterstock If you have Australia is critically short of GPs – and the shortfall is growing, predicted to be 8,600 GPs by 2048. So why can’t we just train ...5 days ago
- Could NZ’s two kākā subspecies actually be remnants of a more diverse species? Here’s why we n...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Knapp, Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology, University of Otago Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images As many Wellingtonians will know, kākā can be trouble. New Zealand’s pesky forest parrots have expanded throughout New Zealand’s capital city since they were reintroduced 22 ...5 days ago
- More than 1,300 Hajj pilgrims died this year when humidity and heat pushed past survivable limits. I...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Ramsay, Research Affiliate in Climate Adaptation, Monash University Every year, hundreds of thousands of Muslims undertake the Hajj –the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca. In 2024, the pilgrimage took place in mid-June, the start of the Saudi summer. But this year, ...5 days ago
- How a Cold War satellite and Robert Menzies changed the way Australian schools are funded
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Clark, Adjunct Professor of History, University of Adelaide Prime Minister Robert Menzies during the 1963 federal election campaign. Image courtesy of the National Archives of Australia. NAA: A1200, L46014 As students and teachers prepare to go on holidays, there’s a ...5 days ago
- Where does Santa live? It’s a trickier question to answer than you may think
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcus Harmes, Professor in Pathways Education, University of Southern Queensland Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland. Roman Babakin/Shutterstock Sending a letter to Santa can be difficult as no one can agree on where exactly Santa lives. Several countries are competing to ...5 days ago
- Winston Peters spends much of year’s last speech criticising Te Pāti Māori, Waititi breaks i...
Watch: "Have a good Christmas, 'cos you'll need it sunshine," the NZ First leader said in a rowdy final debate in the house. ...5 days ago
- The year in five news events
For the penultimate Bulletin of 2024, editor Stewart Sowman-Lund flicks back through some of the biggest headlines of the year. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...5 days ago
- Swimming loses public funding but elite duo protected
High Performance Sport New Zealand will invest $162.8m into 36 national sporting organisations and athletes over the next four years, up from $131m in the four years leading up to this year’s Paris Olympics.From March next year, nearly $41 million per annum will go directly to national sports organisations for ...5 days ago
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