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- David Farrar (98)
- dpf (194)
Taking out the trash – Whaleoil site sold to Blomfield
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, August 9th, 2019 - 67 comments
Matt Blomfield has brought the Whaleoil site from the official assignee. This fulfills a long held wish of, not only Matt, but a whole pile of people that this arsehole-run paid-for defamation lying site have damaged over the years. Chapter 27 of the Margie Thompson’s Whale Oil book is now available online…
Whale Oil – the book
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, May 29th, 2019 - 15 comments
Whale Oil by Margie Thomson is about the Blomfield vs Slater case. Lost by Cameron Slater because after 7 years of trying to delay it, he was unable to mount a credible defense before a judge. But there is a lot of detail behind that that is worrying in an internet age..
I agree with DPF
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, May 14th, 2019 - 95 comments
David Farrar has written saying that National should not underestimate Jacinda Ardern and describes a recent performance at an InternetNZ meeting as highly impressive.
Should white supremacists be preferred over ISIS?
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, April 27th, 2019 - 117 comments
According to media sources in the United States Twitter won’t autoban white supremacists because too many GOP Politicians would be banned.
DPF does the right thing
Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, March 18th, 2019 - 101 comments
Kiwiblog comments have been turned off as David Farrar grapples with how to handle a crisis concerning hate speech.
Human Rights decision is quite pointed
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, March 13th, 2019 - 13 comments
A decision released yesterday by the Human Rights Review Tribunal that went against Cameron Slater is very clear. The gratuitous publication of personal details on its own simply isn’t newsworthy in any news medium. The topic has to actually be newsworthy to get the exemption in the Privacy Act for news mediums.
Cameron Slater slithers into bankruptcy
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, February 27th, 2019 - 51 comments
Yesterday Cameron Slater announced that he would be seeking bankruptcy. It is unlikely to help him to avoid the stress of dealing with the legal consequences. The three current defamation cases that he is defending so badly have very little to do with money and a lot to do with making sure neither he nor any other arsehole dares to use his vile tactics again.
Karma Cameleon
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, January 21st, 2019 - 120 comments
Cameron Slater is seriously ill. The Whale Oil blog will carry on without him, but in the meantime, Cam is asking for help.
Family First thinks there is a Cafe porn watching crisis
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 19th, 2019 - 104 comments
Family First thinks that there is a crisis of porn watching at cafes. And has commissioned Curia to see if others think the same.
Farrar criticises Genter for not solving National’s transport safety mess quickly enough
Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, January 5th, 2019 - 119 comments
David Farrar has accused Julie Anne Genter of saying she can do nothing about the road safety when she said nothing of the sort.
The Standard a decade on
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 28th, 2018 - 113 comments
LPrent and I had the chance recently to talk about the Standard and how it is going.
Bryce Edwards: Just another political simpleton
Written By: - Date published: 1:33 am, November 5th, 2018 - 68 comments
I can only describe Bryce Edwards spin about what a “The Standard” post means is that it is complete bullshit. This site is not the editorial and political monolith. But what else do you expect from a political simpleton with a limited understanding of actual debate. Like Mike Hosking, he is far more suited to a broadcast medium where he doesn’t get robust debate on their inane explanations of real world politics.
The Taxpayers’ Union’s identity problem
Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, October 3rd, 2018 - 45 comments
David Fisher in the Herald has reported that the Taxpayer’s Union has used numerous fictitious identities to make Official Information Act requests.
Meka had to go
Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, September 21st, 2018 - 137 comments
Jacinda Ardern has made the right call by sacking Meka Whaitiri as a Minister.
The right work themselves into a frenzy about Ardern and Curran
Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, September 7th, 2018 - 65 comments
The latest right wing beat up is that Jacinda told a porkie this morning to Chris Lynch on Newstalk ZB. A closer inspection reveals that nothing of the sort happened.
Farrar peddles climate change denial nonsense
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, September 3rd, 2018 - 151 comments
David Farrar has posted a guest post by climate change denialist Bryan Leland where he has criticised the Royal Society of New Zealand for accepting that climate change is an actual phenomenon.
The future of blogging in Aotearoa New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, August 19th, 2018 - 54 comments
Morgan Godfery of the excellent Maui Street blog has relaunched his blogsite and made it subscriber based. Is this the future of blogging in Aotearoa New Zealand?
What has happened to Simon Bridges?
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, July 19th, 2018 - 42 comments
You would think that while Jacinda Ardern takes time out to properly introduce baby Neve to the world opposition leader Simon Bridges would be striding throughout the country like a colossus and really make a name for himself. But of late he has been rather invisible.
The extent of the right to free speech
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, July 8th, 2018 - 354 comments
Lauren Southern’s cancelled lecture has caused some debate about what freedom of speech is, is it absolute, and if not where is the line to be drawn?
Blogs and the Political Establishment
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, July 4th, 2018 - 43 comments
Being in the thick of student politics in the mid 2000s, I was around just at the very beginning of social media.
Doofus of the week June 24, 2018
Written By: - Date published: 12:44 pm, June 24th, 2018 - 37 comments
The latest in an occasional series where we celebrate the horrendously awful and bizarre behaviour of political figures both locally and overseas.
Doofus of the week – June 3, 2018
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, June 3rd, 2018 - 44 comments
Finalists this week are David Farrar for recklessly misrepresenting Labour’s view on the three strikes repeal proposal, Judith Collins for thinking a two year old photo used on the Standard was a current photo and evidence of the police being politicised and Paula Bennett for at the same time not knowing and knowing but being unable to do anything about the terrorising of state house tenants. And the winner is …
Labour does not want to let them all out
Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, June 1st, 2018 - 170 comments
Andrew Little has proposed the repeal of the irrational three strikes law. But signs are that National will not engage in a reasoned debate about what the law should be.
So there was sewage leaking into Middlemore hospital’s walls
Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, May 4th, 2018 - 87 comments
In further horror news about our health system the leaks of sewage into the walls of Middlemore Hospital has been confirmed and its discovery occurred in 2010. And in 2015 the chair of cash strapped Canterbury DHB signed a Ministry of Health drafted letter saying it did not need further funding despite an urgent need for further funds.
The political honeymoon that keeps on ending
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, April 18th, 2018 - 43 comments
Media pundits are claiming on the evidence offered by one poll that the Government’s political honeymoon is over. But the same claim was made four months ago.
Daily Review 03/04/2018
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, April 3rd, 2018 - 73 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Du Plessis-Allan jumps the shark
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, March 18th, 2018 - 87 comments
Heather Du Plessis-Allan has suggested that there is a power struggle happening in the Labour Party. Without the benefit of things normally considered to be important elements of an argument, those things being facts.
Who will be National’s next leader?
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, February 14th, 2018 - 77 comments
Following Bill English’s resignation the question is who will be National’s next leaders. The Standard authors have put their heads together and come up with some suggestions.
Was the political hit on Chris Bishop an inside job?
Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, February 12th, 2018 - 158 comments
The disclosure of Chris Bishop’s snapchat engagement with young teenage females raises the question of who leaked the information to the media and why.
Shock horror right wing think tank thinks NZ not very democratic
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, January 18th, 2018 - 74 comments
National’s cheerleaders are pushing an international report which suggests that New Zealand’s democratic system is only slightly better than average in world terms. But the organisation behind the report and the methodology used need some checking.
The right loses its shit after a public servant accidentally tweets from the wrong account
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, December 26th, 2017 - 111 comments
An accidental tweet from a Government account has led the right to claim the existence of all sorts of conspiracies.
- How to fight back against Trump’s tariffs
In the US, the Trump regime is busy imposing tariffs on its neighbours and allies, then revoking them, then reimposing them, permanently poisoning relations with Canada and Mexico. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on agricultural goods, which will affect Aotearoa's exports. National's response? To grovel for an exemption, ...6 days ago - Global & Corporate Takeover of New Zealand Continues In Plain Sight
Troy Bowker’s Caniwi Capital’s Desmond Gittings, former TradeMe and Warehouse executive Simon West, former anonymous right wing blogger / Labour attacker & now NZ On Air Board member / Waitangi Tribunal member Philip Crump, Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon who used to run vaccine critical, Treaty of Waitangi critical, and trans-rights ...6 days ago - Fixing school lunches
The free school lunch program was one of Labour's few actual achievements in government. Decent food, made locally, providing local employment. So naturally, National had to get rid of it. Their replacement - run by Compass, a multinational which had already been thrown out of our hospitals for producing inedible ...6 days ago
- New procurement rules hurt low-income workers
New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “The Minister of Finance Nicola Willis has proposed a new rule saying that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in ...6 days ago - Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. First up is the Auckland Harbour Board and Takapuna Borough Council Empowering Act Amendment Bill, a local bill to alter the purposes for which some land in Auckland can be used. Following that is the third reading of Camilla Belich's Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment ...6 days ago
- The US dividing Russia from China? Forget about it
The Trump administration’s effort to divide Russia from China is doomed to fail. This means that the United States is destroying security relationships based on a delusion. To succeed, Russia would need to overcome more ...6 days ago - Wednesday 12 March
Māori workers now hold more high-skilled jobs than low-skilled jobs with 46 percent in high-skilled jobs, 14 percent in skilled jobs, and 40 percent in low-skilled jobs. Resource teachers of literacy and Te Reo Māori are “devastated” by a proposal from the Education Minister to stop funding 174 roles from ...6 days ago
- Power of persistence: Australian technology addresses challenge of space monitoring
Knowing what is going on in orbit is getting harder—yet hardly less necessary. But new technologies are emerging to cope with the challenge, including some that have come from Australian civilian research. One example is ...7 days ago
- Maximising the value from our investment in the City Rail link
This is a guest post by Malcolm McCracken. It previously appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible and is shared by kind permission. New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL), is expected to open in 2026. This will be an exciting step forward for Auckland, delivering better ...7 days ago - Luxon wants media to celebrate National’s homelessness achievements more
“The reality is I'm just saying to you I'm proud of the work we're doing. We're doing a great job”, said Luxon, pushing back at Auckland Council’s reports of rising homelessness and pleas for help. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest: Christopher Luxon denies his Government caused a ...7 days ago - Travel Advisory
Should I stay, or should I go now?Should I stay, or should I go now?If I go, there will be troubleAnd if I stay, it will be doubleSo come on and let me knowSongwriters: Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.Christopher,Tomorrow marks seventeen months since the last election. We’re ...7 days ago - Auckland homelessness up 53% in 4 months, Wellington up 40% year on year
Homelessness in Auckland has risen by 53% in 4 months - that’s 653 people living in cars, on streets and in parks.The city’s emergency housing numbers have fallen by about 650 under National too - now at record lows.Housing First Auckland is on the frontlines: There is “more and more ...1 week ago - More than ever, airpower will depend on sharing data. Watch Sweden
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring ...1 week ago
- All in all another brick in the wall of money
Only two more sleeps to the Government’s Jamboree Investor Extravaganza! As a proud New Zealander I’m very much hoping for the best: Off-shore wind farms! Solar power! Sustainable industry powered by the abundant energy we could be producing!I wonder, will they have a deal already lined up, something to announce ...1 week ago - Australia needs to manufacture change to ensure national security
After decades of gradual decline, Australia’s manufacturing capability is no longer mission-fit to meet national security needs. Any whole-of-nation effort to arrest this trend needs to start by making the industrial operating environment more conducive ...1 week ago
- This is why we have juries
Back in October 2022, Restore Passenger Rail hung banners across roads in Wellington to protest against the then-Labour government's weak climate change policy. The police responded by charging them not with the usual public order offences, but with "endangering transport", a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years in ...1 week ago
- Luxon’s economy focus at odds with voters
Luxon’s popularity continues to fall, and a new survey shows voters rank fixing the health system as the top priority. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: National’s pollster finds Christopher Luxon has fallen behind Chris Hipkins as preferred PM for the first ...1 week ago - Tuesday 11 March
The CTU is calling for an apology from Nicola Willis after her office made a false characterisation of CTU statements, which ultimately saw him blocked from future Treasury briefings. New data shows that Māori make up 83% of those charged under new gang laws. Financial incentives are being offered to ...1 week ago
- Protected: Fight Back Together May Day 2025 Resources
This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: The post Protected: Fight Back Together May Day 2025 Resources appeared first on NZCTU. ...1 week ago
- Australia needs to prevent cybercrime, not just react to it
Australia’s cyber capabilities have evolved rapidly, but they are still largely reactive, not preventative. Rather than responding to cyber incidents, Australian law enforcement agencies should focus on dismantling underlying criminal networks. On 11 December, Europol ...1 week ago
- The National Hurricane Center set an all-time record for forecast accuracy in 2024
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Finally, there’s some good news to report from NOAA, the parent organization of the National Hurricane Center, or NHC: During the highly active 2o24 Atlantic hurricane season, the NHC made record-accurate track forecasts at every time interval (12-, ...1 week ago - Societal resilience is the best answer to Chinese warships
The Australian government has prioritised enhancing Australia’s national resilience for many years now, whether against natural disasters, economic coercion or hostile armed forces. However, the public and media response to the presence of Chinese naval ...1 week ago
- Upper Habour Bus change a step towards rapid transit
It appears that Auckland Transport is finally set to improve Auckland’s busiest non-frequent bus route, the 120. As highlighted in my post a month ago on Auckland’s busiest bus routes, the 120 is the busiest route that doesn’t already run frequently all day/week and carries more passengers than many other ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Stubborn Refusal To Invest For Growth
Economists have earned their reputation for jargon and tunnel vision, but sometimes, it takes an someone as perceptive as Simplicity economist Shamubeel Eaqub to identify something simple and devastating. As he pointed out recently, the coalition government is trying to attract foreign investment here to generate economic growth, while – ...1 week ago - 5 Extraordinary Revelations From Deloitte’s Health NZ Review
Opinion & AnalysisSimeon Brown, left, and Deloitte partner David LovattIn September 2024, Deloitte Partner David Lovatt, was contracted by the National Government to help National ostensibly understand “the drivers behind HNZ’s worsening financial performance”.1 i.e. deficit.The report shows the last version was dated December 2024.It was formally released this week ...1 week ago - All the Toey Horses
This cobbled-together government was altogether more the beneficiary of Labour getting turfed out than anything it managed to do itself. Even the worthless cheques they were writing didn't buy all that much favour.How’s it all looking now?Shall we take a look at a Horizon poll?The Government’s performance is making only ...1 week ago - Aotearoa should sign the Disappearance Convention
There's horrible news from the US today, with the Trump regime disappearing Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student, for protesting against genocide in Gaza. Its another significant decline in US human rights, and puts them in the same class as the authoritarian dictatorships they used to sponsor in South ...1 week ago
- Judging their own case
Yesterday National announced plans to amend the Public Works Act to "speed up" land acquisition for public works. Which sounds boring and bureaucratic - except its not. Because what "land acquisition" means is people's homes being compulsorily acquired by the state - which is inherently controversial, and fairly high up ...1 week ago
- Leadership Problems.
Contenders: The next question after “Will Luxon really go?” is, of course, “Will that work?” The answer to that question lies not so much in the efficacy of Luxon’s successor as it does in the perceived strength of the Centre-Left alternative.AT LEAST TWO prominent political commentators are alluding publicly to the ...1 week ago - It’s Only Natural
Ice will melt, water will boilYou and I can shake off this mortal coilIt's bigger than usYou don't have to worry about itIt's circumstantialIt's nothing written in the skyAnd we don't even have to trySongwriters: Neil Finn / Tim Finn.Preparing for the future.Many of you will be familiar with the ...1 week ago - On the way ahead
In my post last Thursday I offered some thoughts on changes that should be initiated by the government in the wake of the Governor’s surprise resignation. (Days on we still have no real explanation as to why he just resigned with no notice, disappearing out the door and (eg) leaving ...1 week ago - Chinese navy transit: opinions in The Strategist
In late February a Chinese navy flotilla including a cruiser, a frigate and a replenishment ship began to circle Australia, conducting a live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea along the way. The Strategist featured ...1 week ago
- China’s navy sends a steady drumbeat of ships around Australia
China’s deployment of a potent surface action group around Australia over the past two weeks is unprecedented but not unique. Over the past few years, China’s navy has deployed a range of vessels in Australia’s ...1 week ago
- Owners of compulsorily acquired non-iwi land to be stripped of appeal rights
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: Within months and before Parliamentary approval is obtained, the Government plans to strip non-Maori landowners of the right to use the Environment Court to stop compulsory acquisition for fast-track projects and big new motorways.The Government also wants to buy off landowners ...1 week ago - The Last Video Shop
Hi,When I was 16 (pimples, braces, painfully awkward) — I applied for a job at Video Ezy.It’s difficult to describe how much I wanted this job. Video Ezy was my local video shop in Tauranga, and I’d spend hours of my teenage life stalking through those aisles, looking at the ...1 week ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #10
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 2, 2025 thru Sat, March 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...1 week ago
- Thinking about life in a nuclear armed crowd.
The title of this post comes from Albert Wohlstetter’s 1976 seminal essay Moving Towards Life in a Nuclear Armed Crowd. In that essay he contemplated a world in which several nations had nuclear weapons, and also the strategic logics governing their proliferation, deployment and use (mainly as a deterrent). For ...1 week ago - A soliloquy for the week to March 9
Adrian Orr resigned unexpectedly and immediately on Wednesday, giving no explanation for departing three years before the end of his second term. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: David Seymour’s lunch programme came under increasing scrutiny;Adrian Orr resigned unexpectedly after clashing with Nicola Willis ...1 week ago - On Sunday
You've got to live, lady liveDo the tongue rollGive me joyBut don't kiss me too fastSong: Th’ Dudes.Good morning, all. After another heavy week of less-than-positive news, it’s time for something silly: the old standby of memories and questions.I can’t face writing about any more terrible people this week. I usually ...1 week ago - Fact brief – Is Greenland losing land ice?
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. Is Greenland losing land ice? Data from satellites and expeditions confirm Greenland has been losing land ice at an accelerating rate for decades. ...1 week ago
- A letter
After the Reserve Bank’s appearance on 20 February at the Finance and Expenditure Committee (the Governor, his macro deputy Karen Silk, and his chief economist Paul Conway) on the previous day’s Monetary Policy Statement, I wrote a post here about it, focused on a number of areas in which Orr, ...1 week ago
- Australia’s defences must be ready in two years. Here’s what to do
Beijing deployed a naval task group to the waters around Australia for three related reasons. First, to demonstrate the reach and potency of Chinese sea power and to put Australia on notice that it is ...1 week ago
- True Faith
That's the price that we all payAnd the value of destiny comes to nothingI can't tell you where we're goingI guess there was just no way of knowingSongwriters: Bernard Sumner / Gillian Lesley Gilbert / Peter Hook / Stephen Eric Hague / Stephen Paul David Morris.What an eventful week it’s ...1 week ago - Trump’s speech to Congress: America First in trade and alliances
In what might have been the longest presidential address to Congress in American history—an hour and forty minutes without intermission—President Donald Trump delivered a performance on Tuesday night that was simultaneously grandiose, confrontational, optimistic and ...1 week ago
- Can We Ignore the Environment?
Peter Frankopan’s The Earth Transformed: An Untold History is a compelling account of the interaction between humans and the environment. We would be unwise to ignore it. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Oxford professor of history Peter Frankopan was initially widely admired. But critics point ...2 weeks ago - A loss in Europe is a loss in the Indo-Pacific
The United States shocked the world last week with President Donald Trump’s very public rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This was followed by a US pause on military aid and some intelligence sharing with ...2 weeks ago
- International Women’s Day 2025: progress and possibilities
International Women’s Day (IWD) serves as both a celebration of progress and a reminder of the ongoing challenges women face worldwide. Across national security, diplomacy, human rights and digital spaces, women continue to break barriers. ...2 weeks ago
- Bernanke on inflation targeting
Former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (and FOMC), Ben Bernanke, was yesterday the first of two keynote speakers at the Reserve Bank’s conference to mark 35 years of inflation targeting, which first became a formalised thing here in New Zealand. He indicated that he’d be speaking about ...2 weeks ago
- From home to horror: the association between domestic violence and terrorism
Domestic violence is an under-recognised early indicator of terrorism. It is not a reliable solitary indicator, but when observed alongside risk factors, it can prompt authorities to take a closer look at a potential terrorist. ...2 weeks ago
- You say socialist like it’s a bad thing
1. The Government is bringing back what to Health New Zealand?a. Buckb. Sexyc. The arrangement they dumped nine months ago2. Patient advocate and health campaigner Malcolm Mulholland said Commissioner Levy's time would be remembered as what?a. The Good Placeb. The Bad Placec. Absolute havoc and mayhem3. The government also announced ...2 weeks ago - Submit!
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill. Submissions are due by 1:00pm Thursday, 17 April 2025 (note unusual time!), so in practice you need to get it done by 16 April. You can submit at the link above. If ...2 weeks ago
- Want change? Don’t vote Labour
The current National government is one of the worst in Aotearoa's history. And because of this, its also one of the most unpopular. A war on Māori, corrupt fast-track legislation, undermining the fight against climate change, the ferry fiasco, the school lunch disaster... none of these policies are making friends. ...2 weeks ago
- The Quad can help Australia monitor China’s naval behaviour
Australia should enlist partners in the Quad to help address China’s increasingly assertive naval behaviour in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad may be slow in moving into security roles, but one militarily useful function that it ...2 weeks ago
- How Australia is advancing gender equality in the Indo-Pacific
Women’s rights and protections are regressing on the international stage, from the Taliban’s erasure of women from public life to US President Donald Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric and decision to suspend USAID. Against this backdrop, Australia’s ...2 weeks ago
- Friday 7 March
E tū, representing many of NZME’s journalists, says it is “deeply worried” by a billionaire’s plans to take over its board. They are also concerned that NZ Post call centre jobs are gradually shifting to the Philippines as a cost-cutting measure. APEX have announced that more than 850 lab staff ...2 weeks ago
- Weekly Roundup 6-March-2025
The first Friday of March, and it’s definitely been madder on the transport network this week. Here’s some things we saw this week that were interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday Connor did a deep dive into Auckland’s speed limit reversals. For Tuesday saw Connor follow ...2 weeks ago
- As Trump sacks scientists, Australia should hire them. US drain is our brain gain
US President Donald Trump, his powerful offsider Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are slashing public spending in an effort to save US taxpayers anywhere between US$500 billion and US$2 trillion. Caught ...2 weeks ago
- Truth Is a Beautiful Thing
Miles and miles on my ownWarm with shame, I follow onA language to find hard to hearNot to understand, just disappearCould you take my place and stand here?I do not think you'd take this painYou'll be on your knees and struggle under the weightOh, the truth would be a beautiful ...2 weeks ago - Winston taunts Luxon: ‘I made him PM’
“I made him the Prime Minister”, said Winston Peters, leaning into his “kingmaker” role. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: Winston Peters believes he made Christopher Luxon PM and therefore didn’t have to tell him about sacking Phil Goff, which Luxon ...2 weeks ago - Luxon’s Untenable Grasp
Yesterday, after kids got “steam burns” from hot school lunches, came the news of a kid in Gisborne who suffered “second degree burns” after opening one of the school lunches and accidentally splashing some on their leg.The student had to be rushed to A&E at the hospital, but it’s horrific ...2 weeks ago - The Hoon around the week to March 7
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and Elaine Monaghan on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; and, on ...2 weeks ago
- Trump’s UN vote a defining act that points to day of reckoning for NZ
Of all the headline-making, world-reshaping actions of the second Trump administration thus far, perhaps the most defining is the United States’ vote against the resolution condemning Moscow’s invasion and supporting Ukraine’s territorial authority. The US has used its security council veto and superpower heft in questionable ways before, but this ...2 weeks ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #10 2025
Open access notables Snow Mass Recharge of the Greenland Ice Sheet Fueled by Intense Atmospheric River, Bailey & Hubbard, Geophysical Research Letters: Atmospheric rivers (ARs) have been linked with extreme rainfall and melt events across the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS), accelerating its mass loss. However, the impact of AR-fueled snowfall has ...2 weeks ago
- If Trump’s US abandons liberal idealism, others must pick up the baton
Donald Trump’s description of himself during last week’s excruciating Oval Office meeting as a ‘mediator’ between Russia and Ukraine was revealing even by the standards of the past six weeks. It showed an indifference to ...2 weeks ago
- Trump is making the mistake that FDR shunned
In April 1941, Charles Lindbergh, the America First Committee’s most prominent leader, outlined his position that Nazi Germany’s victory was inevitable, that the United States should stay neutral and that Britain was ‘a belligerent nation’ ...2 weeks ago
- Canadian Billionaire James Jim Grenon launches NZME Board Takeover
National Business Review has this scoop todayLet’s not belabour it.He wants all NZME directors to be replaced by himself, three new nominees, and one existing NZME Director.Grenon’s link to publications such as Centrist and News Essentials are note worthy.Those publications for all intensive purposes present a very alt-right view of ...2 weeks ago - The value of Ukraine’s critical minerals is overstated
Anyone involved in Australia’s critical minerals industry would be rolling their eyes at the transaction still reported to be under consideration between Ukraine and the United States. US President Donald Trump was initially asking for ...2 weeks ago
- Today’s fake news
Collins Unveils Very Special FrigateJudith Collins today announced a bold plan to address the navy’s billion dollar headaches.We’re so short of sailors that we’ve had to tie up half the fleet, and as if that wasn’t enough, our allies have been heavying us to upgrade the boats. Well, that would ...2 weeks ago - Many Reasons Adrian Orr Resigned
ANALYSIS / OPINION -Why Central Bankers MatterI remember the day that Lehman Brothers fell. LB was a global financial services behemoth. Fourth largest investment bank in the world. Founded in 1850. The brand smelt of prestige and calibre.But their demise in 2018 - caused by shoddy risk management practices and ...2 weeks ago - Trump’s upending of US intelligence: implications for Australia
Australia has no room for complacency as it watches the second Trump Administration upend the US Intelligence Community (USIC). The evident mutual advantages of the US-Australian intelligence partnership and of the Five Eyes alliance more ...2 weeks ago
- Thursday 6 March
Port workers in Lyttleton are warning that a proposal to cut jobs at the port will lead to more workplace deaths. The Government is doubling the number of nurse practitioners able to train in GP clinics, to 120 every year. They have also announced plans to lower the age for ...2 weeks ago
- Indonesia steps up defence relationships, but stays non-aligned
Indonesia has recognised that security affairs in its region are no longer business as usual, though it hasn’t completely given up its commitment to strategic autonomy. Its biggest step was a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) ...2 weeks ago
- Trump has cut funding for transgender mice. The only problem? The mice aren’t transgender.
What a world we live in. It sounds like a satire piece, or perhaps a headline for some alternative universe where Stuart Little was a documentary. Source: TransVitaeSadly, it’s not. It’s a stunning indictment that the leader of the free world either can’t, or doesn’t, read. Yesterday in Congress, Donald ...2 weeks ago - Adrian Orr Jumps
I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowningThere's no one here to saveWho cares if you disagree?You are not meWho made you king of anything?So you dare tell me who to be?Who died and made you king of anything?Songwriters: Sara Beth Bareilles.It’s hard to be surprised ...2 weeks ago - Britain’s cut to foreign aid undermines threat prevention
Britain’s decision to cut foreign aid to fund defence spending overlooks the preventive role of foreign aid. It follows the pause and review of USAID activities and is an approach to foreign aid that Australia ...2 weeks ago
- Why build nuclear power in place of old coal, when you could have pumped hydropower instead?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Weber, Research Officer for School of Engineering, Australian National University Phillip Wittke, Shutterstock Australia’s energy policy would take a sharp turn if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election. A Dutton government would seek to build seven nuclear power plants ...13 hours ago - ASIC puts payday lenders on notice they may be breaching the law
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeannie Marie Paterson, Professor of Law (consumer protections and credit law), The University of Melbourne Late last week, corporate watchdog the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued a warning to lenders that provide high-fee small-amount loans – known as payday lenders ...13 hours ago
- Streaming, surveillance and the power of suggestion: the hidden cost of 10 years of Netflix
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc C-Scott, Associate Professor of Screen Media | Deputy Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching, Victoria University Shutterstock This month marks a decade since Netflix – the world’s most influential and widely subscribed streaming service – launched in Australia. Since ...13 hours ago
- Politics live: ACT to run in local elections, Winston Peters meets US officials
And Christopher Luxon says he won't be cracking down on Sikh protesters in New Zealand. ...13 hours ago - Too many catching Covid-19 in hospital, experts say – but precautions being rolled back
Hospital-acquired infections are a billion-dollar burden and cause more disability than road crashes. Why aren't we doing more to prevent them? ...14 hours ago
- Will next summer be just as intolerable for townhouse dwellers?
Around 70% of New Zealanders find their homes too hot at least some of the time in summer. Those in townhouses are suffering much more than most, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A summer of broiling ...14 hours ago - Stop waiting for a foreign hero: NZ’s supermarket sector needs competition from within
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa M. Katerina Asher, Retail Academic Researcher, PhD Candidate & Sessional Academic, University of Sydney non c/Shutterstock New Zealand’s concentrated supermarket sector is back in the spotlight after Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she was open to offering “VIP treatment” to ...14 hours ago
- Bug drugs: bacteria-based cancer therapies are finally overcoming barriers
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University Lightspring/Shutterstock Imagine a world where bacteria, typically feared for causing disease, are turned into powerful weapons against cancer. That’s exactly what some scientists are working on. And they are beginning to unravel ...14 hours ago
- Christian nationalism in the U.S. is eerily reminiscent of ‘dominionist’ reformers in history
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary K. Waite, Professor Emeritus, Early Modern European History, University of New Brunswick In this etching from Dutch theologian Lambertus Hortensius’ 1614 book ‘Van den oproer der weder-dooperen,’ Anabaptists warn the residents of Amsterdam of the coming vengeance of Christ in 1535. ...14 hours ago
- Rwanda has moved people into model ‘green’ villages: is life better there?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Allyn Dale, Director of the MA in Climate and Society program at the Columbia Climate School, Columbia University After the devastating 1994 genocide, Rwandans returning from the violence established homes and began farming where they could find land. Since then, ...14 hours ago
- What is the rules-based order? How this global system has shifted from ‘liberal’ origins − and...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College Global order? Put a pin in it. Getty Images The phrase “international rules-based order” has long been a fixture in global politics. Western leaders often use it to describe a framework of rules, norms ...14 hours ago
- Indian PM Narendra Modi alleges ‘anti-India activity’ in New Zealand
The Indian prime minister's comments created a moment of disagreement during an otherwise warm meeting with Christopher Luxon. ...15 hours ago
- India’s PM says Luxon will support action against Sikh separatists in NZ
It started with a hug.On the steps of Hyderabad House in Delhi, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon leaned in first. Once Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced his new friend, the pair walked the flag-adorned lawn, and Luxon patted Modi on the back one, two, three, four times. .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title ...15 hours ago - Peters in Washington: ‘Some of us saw the certainty of change’
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says his Washington meetings are extraordinarily important in the global economic circumstances. ...15 hours ago
- The art of tiptoeing around Donald Trump
Former New Zealand ambassador to the US Tim Groser explains the tightrope walk of pleasing the US president. ...16 hours ago
- What you missed from Whangārei District Council’s extraordinary fluoridation meeting
Whangārei District Council reaffirmed its defiance of the government’s fluoridation order on Monday, despite mounting costs, legal threats and a bitterly divided chamber. Whangārei District Council (WDC) spent Monday afternoon in what may be one of the most chaotic and heated council meetings in recent memory. After months of defiance ...16 hours ago
- The Fold: Why the golden age of advertising never really existed
Media strategist, advisor and author Kevin Chesters joins Duncan Greive for a deep dive into advertising, creativity and the demise of the monoculture ahead of his appearance at AXIS Speaks in Tāmaki Makaurau. Kevin Chesters has 30 years of experience leading strategy on both agency and client sides, serving ...16 hours ago
- Digital twins: Next-gen crash test dummies for healthcare
Professor David McGiffin knows his trade. A top Australian heart-lung researcher and a retired head of cardiothoracic and transplant surgery at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, McGiffin has seen huge advances in his field over a long and distinguished career.Listen to the podcast But one thing that remains unsolved ...16 hours ago
- Putin’s dangerous war games
Comment: Russia’s four-yearly training exercises have become genuinely dangerous events The post Putin’s dangerous war games appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- Will a white knight ride to the Herald’s rescue?
MediaRoom column: A wider play for the Herald owner is possible; Plus, machines take over the Herald site. And a new media trust survey. The post Will a white knight ride to the Herald’s rescue? appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- After Orr: time to rethink imported banking rules
Analysis: By cherry-picking standards from abroad, politicians risk undermining regulatory effectiveness and Reserve Bank credibility The post After Orr: time to rethink imported banking rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- Fisheries minister attacks own ministry’s data as ‘demonstrably false’
Shane Jones joined the fishing industry in disputing official figures but provided no evidence to back up his claims The post Fisheries minister attacks own ministry’s data as ‘demonstrably false’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- Diplomacy skills polished as world leaders wait out Trump
Two months into US President Donald Trump’s presidency, leaders around the world are picking their battle strategies: butter him up, or speak truth to power?To date, New Zealand has largely steered clear entirely, treading a careful line. Earlier this month, Winston Peters fired Phil Goff from his position as High ...16 hours ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 18 March
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 18 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- Fomison, by his friend/gofer/lackey
Mark Forman’s exemplary new biography, Tony Fomison: Life Of The Artist, has been published after 12 years of research and writing – and over those long years I’ve diligently answered Mark’s emails on his subject. Between 1985–1989, I was Tony Fomison’s friend/gofer/lackey/ Sancho Panza/Sundance Kid/Boswell/Baldrick.I look back on my time ...16 hours ago
- Police ‘urgently’ need more info on risky Bitcoin ATMs
Crime using cryptocurrency machines is on the rise in other countries and cops want to understand their use in NZ The post Police ‘urgently’ need more info on risky Bitcoin ATMs appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- Daily crossword, Tuesday 18 March
The post Daily crossword, Tuesday 18 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...16 hours ago
- Windbag: The conundrum of the Wellington waterfront fences
Seven people have died on the Wellington waterfront since 2006. What should be done about it? In 2021, 30-year-old Sandy Calkin died in Wellington Harbour after a night drinking with friends in the city centre. A coroner’s report into Calkin’s death, released last week, confirmed the cause of death was ...16 hours ago
- You’ve heard of the Big Bang. Now astronomers have discovered the Big Wheel – here’s why it’...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Themiya Nanayakkara, Lead Astronomer at the James Webb Australian Data Centre, Swinburne University of Technology The Big Wheel alongside some of its neighbours. Weichen Wang et al. (2025) Deep observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an exceptionally ...21 hours ago
- Luxon meets with Modi in India: ‘We believe in policies of development’
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has won facetime and favour with global heavyweight Narendra Modi on a frenetic full day in India, where both pledged greater military cooperation. ...22 hours ago
- Luxon meets Modi in India: ‘We believe in policies of development’
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has won facetime and favour with global heavyweight Narendra Modi on a frenetic full day in India, where both pledged greater military cooperation. ...22 hours ago
- New Zealanders Urge Winston Peters To Speak Up For Palestine In His Meeting With The US Secretary Of...
Open letter requesting government action on the future of Gaza ...24 hours ago - Fijian academic says PM’s plans to change constitution ‘might take a while’
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor A Fijian academic believes Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s failed attempt to garner enough parliamentary support to change the country’s 2013 Constitution “is only the beginning”. Last week, Rabuka fell short in his efforts to secure the support of three-quarters of the members of Parliament ...24 hours ago
- Japanese encephalitis has claimed a second life in NSW and been detected in Brisbane. What is it?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Webb, Clinical Associate Professor and Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney encierro/Shutterstock A second man has died from Japanese encephalitis virus in New South Wales on March 6, the state’s health authorities confirmed on Friday. Aged in his 70s, the ...1 day ago
- Coalition promises Australian version of United States’ RICO act to target CFMEU
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has announced a Coalition government would introduce legislation, based on an American law used to pursue the Mafia, to enable police to target the “kingpins” of criminal organisations such as outlaw ...1 day ago
- Non-compete agreements and other restraints can end up hurting Australian workers – and all of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula McDonald, Professor of Work and Organisation, Queensland University of Technology Twinsterphoto/Shutterstock Australian workers have to overcome some significant barriers in navigating their careers. Some may lack the training or work experience opportunities needed to make themselves stand out and ...1 day ago
- Many of history’s deadliest building fires have been in nightclubs. Here’s why they’re so dang...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne A fire at a nightclub in North Macedonia has killed at least 59 people and injured more than 150. The blaze broke out at the Pulse ...1 day ago
- Trump is surveying Australian academics about gender diversity and China – what does this mean fo...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Senior Lecturer (Law), Southern Cross University Shortly after taking office, US President Donald Trump issued executive orders banning federal funding on so-called “woke” research. This is part of his broader ban on all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, ...1 day ago
- Serwah Attafuah: a powerful and most welcome voice in contemporary Australian art
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic Redfern, Associate Professor, School of Art, RMIT University Serwah Attafuah, The Darkness Between The Stars, JOAN. Landscape still. Courtesy of the artist. Virtuosic digital artistry is on show in Serwah Attafuah’s installation The Darkness Between the Stars, currently showing at ACMI. ...1 day ago
- Haeata Community Campus wants to ditch free school lunch provider
Last week, the school was delivered 600 meals that arrived "completely frozen". ...1 day ago
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