you couldn’t make this shit up
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Let’s do the time warp again
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, October 26th, 2023 - 39 comments
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary Winston Peters has accused Jacinda Ardern of hiding the fact that her office received the Christchurch Massacre shooter’s manifesto shortly before the massacre occurred.
National’s credibility problem
Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, October 6th, 2023 - 31 comments
National has suffered further damage to its credibility with its promise of a $250 tax cut per fortnight for an average family only being realised if that family spent at least $300 per week on childcare and was a two income family with each adult earning between $53,500 and $66,000.
National really, really needs New Zealand to be in a recession
Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, September 24th, 2023 - 22 comments
After Stats NZ shot down National’s claim that the country is in recession National pirouetted by claiming that New Zealand WILL be in recession in the near future and that the Reserve Bank has predicted this. But according to the Reserve Bank this may not be true …
TVNZ concludes that Luxon’s pants may have been on fire
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, September 21st, 2023 - 39 comments
Fact checking by TVNZ has determined that much of what Christopher Luxon said in the recent leader’s debate was not true.
Semour is more like Rimmer than Mandela
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 pm, August 26th, 2023 - 17 comments
David Seymour reached more absurd levels of idiocy this week with a suggestion that if he was alive Nelson Mandela would be an Act supporter.
David Seymour should be ashamed
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, August 18th, 2023 - 103 comments
David Seymour yesterday hit a new low in race baiting when he said that “in my fantasy we’d send a guy called Guy Fawkes in [to the ministry of Pacific Peoples] and it’d be all over”.
Nanny state National wants to ban cell phones at schools
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, August 10th, 2023 - 62 comments
National has this propensity of announcing policies that scratch conservative itches, cost nothing and hog media attention. Yesterday we had a classic example of this as they announced that cell phones would be banned at schools.
You can never, ever, have too many Teslas
Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, June 21st, 2023 - 55 comments
Fresh from news that Christopher Luxon ordered a State supplied Tesla when his household already owns one comes news that the household Tesla was upgraded, and that the clean car discount was obtained.
National keeps making shit up
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, May 1st, 2023 - 33 comments
National has been caught out misrepresenting official data by claiming that 19,000 nurses had left public health when they knew that the figure includes transfers between health boards and the number of employed nurses actually increased by 4,108.
National’s weird tenancy policy announcement
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, April 30th, 2023 - 73 comments
This week Chris Bishop announced National’s landlord policy and made the extraordinary claim that making evictions of tenants easier was a progressive pro tenant policy.
Making s%*t up
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 15th, 2023 - 41 comments
Is it just me or is Mike Hosking becoming more unbalanced? The recent misrepresentation of a speech from Deborah Russell would suggest that he is getting worse.
Why is everything always Jacinda’s fault?
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, January 10th, 2023 - 57 comments
Son of former National MP and former Political reporter and currently self branded travel reporter Brook Sabin has produced potentially the most ridiculous article of the year by blaming the Government for not sorting out Auckland Airport’s baggage handling problems. And we are only 10 days in.
Federated Farmers – climate change “probably” exists
Written By: - Date published: 11:35 am, December 23rd, 2022 - 49 comments
Federated Farmers leader Andrew Hoggard thinks that climate change is probably happening but we will have to wait 50 to 100 years to see the effects.
Male privilege is a fragile thing
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, October 28th, 2022 - 22 comments
Golriz Ghahraman wanted Parliament to condemn the Iranian Government’s oppression of women’s rights. David Seymour moved to block the motion because Golriz had raised points of order against him during a previous speech. Fancy putting your hurt feelings in front of making a statement of support and principle.
Newshub’s incredibly bad gang take
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, September 6th, 2022 - 55 comments
Yesterday the Government announced a slate of new powers designed to address gang violence. Newshub chose that day to imply that Labour was soft on gangs because a gang member said on social media not to vote for National.
Luxon goes to Te Puke Hawaii
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 27th, 2022 - 58 comments
The question of what has happened to Christopher Luxon was answered yesterday in a shambolic messy way that must have National operatives in despair.
Mansplaining Luxon
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, June 30th, 2022 - 14 comments
Fresh from his attempt to alienate the female vote by being equivocal on if a National Government would move to restrict access to abortions yesterday Christopher Luxon compounded things by purporting to speak for all women.
BusinessNZ has been telling porkies about fair pay agreements
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, June 13th, 2022 - 10 comments
BusinessNZ’s attempt to put New Zealand on the ILO naughty list because of fair pay agreements has failed.
The prospects of a snap election
Written By: - Date published: 2:18 pm, June 10th, 2022 - 85 comments
Various media and the National Party are speculating that there may be an early election. What are the chances of one being called?
Latest poll result – all steady but the Herald needs an English lesson
Written By: - Date published: 8:11 pm, May 3rd, 2022 - 109 comments
The latest Reid Research poll result has been released. Basically it reflects other polls that have been recently conducted. But the Herald have chosen to suggest it shows a dramatic change.
Luxon’s triple backward summersault on Labour Day
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, April 21st, 2022 - 72 comments
In the space of one day Chris Luxon called repeatedly for the scrapping of Labour Day as a holiday then confirmed that a future National Government would not do this and said that his earlier comment was facetious.
Is Act buying social media followers?
Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, April 8th, 2022 - 14 comments
Hot on the heels of news that Act has recently received a number of significant donations comes news that it may have spent some of these funds on buying social media followers following news that Seymour’s Instagram followers jumped from 23,800 to 72,600 in one day.
Bad Covid takes
Written By: - Date published: 3:11 pm, December 19th, 2021 - 130 comments
There seems to be a correlation between commentators who have both Herald and Newstalk ZB exposure and how really bad their Covid takes are.
Stop being a dick Barry
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, November 23rd, 2021 - 54 comments
At yesterday’s post Cabinet Press Conference Barry Soper overtalked a number of reporters, demanded answers to his questions, and then stormed out of the press conference. And then immediately wrote a piece accusing Jacinda Ardern of overtalking reporters …
Astroturfers of the world unite
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, November 20th, 2021 - 52 comments
Two days before what is claimed will be the mother of all protests links between the Groundswell organisation and the Taxpayers Union have been discovered.
Shock horror, Ardern chooses to keeps her mask on
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, November 11th, 2021 - 79 comments
Barry Soper has accused the Prime Minister of, wait for this, not taking her mask off when she was inside visiting a vaccination centre in South Auckland.
The Entrust election debacle
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, October 31st, 2021 - 56 comments
National aligned C&R has shown how bad it is at running elections by running an election where less than one in ten eligible people voted.
Who are these angry Aucklanders?
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, October 3rd, 2021 - 243 comments
This weekend there have been two attempts to undermine the current Auckland Covid lock down. Brian Tamaki’s was not the most ludicrous.
Dirty Politics does not work any more
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, September 11th, 2021 - 83 comments
Egged on by a shock horror smear campaign on Cameron Slater’s latest post Judith Collins has attacked Dr Siouxsie Wiles by fat shaming her.
Covid and the media
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, August 29th, 2021 - 54 comments
This week there has been some argy bargy between the Twitterati including the Waitakerati and the media on coverage of Covid in Aotearoa with elements of the media complaining that the criticisms are unjustified. A brief review of some of the offerings this week would suggest otherwise.
The mysterious socialist hermit kingdom
Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, August 25th, 2021 - 111 comments
Various commentators including Nigel Farage have claimed that New Zealand’s Covid elimination strategy is a failure. Our death rate and the possibility that we can again return to a normality that other nations can only aspire to suggests they are wrong.
- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #12
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 16, 2025 thru Sat, March 22, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...6 days ago - Bullying a Chess Bot: More Martinian Shenanigans
In recent months, I have garnered copious amusement playing Martin, chess.com’s infamously terrible Chess AI. Alas, it is not how it once was, when he would cheerfully ignore freely offered material. Martin has grown better since I first stumbled upon him. I still remain frustrated at his capture-happy determination to ...6 days ago - Indian Summer
Every time that I see ya,A lightning bolt fills the room,The underbelly of Paris,She sings her favourite tune,She'll drink you under the table,She'll show you a trick or two,But every time that I left her,I missed the things she would doSongwriters: Kelly JonesThis morning, I posted - Are you excited ...6 days ago - Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to March 23
Long stories shortest this week in our political economy: Standard & Poor’s judged the Government’s council finance reforms a failure. Professional investors showed the Government they want it to borrow more, not less. GDP bounced out of recession by more than forecast in the December quarter, but data for the ...6 days ago - Making sense of it all
Each day at 4:30 my brother calls in at the rest home to see Dad. My visits can be months apart. Five minutes after you've left, he’ll have forgotten you were there, but every time, his face lights up and it’s a warm happy visit.Tim takes care of almost everything ...7 days ago - A Response to ACT’s MRA-Style Rant
On the 19th of March, ACT announced they would be running candidates in this year’s local government elections. Accompanying that call for “common-sense kiwis” was an anti-woke essay typifying the views they expect their candidates to hold. I have included that part of their mailer, Free Press, in its entirety. ...1 week ago - Spread a Little Happiness
Even when the darkest clouds are in the skyYou mustn't sigh and you mustn't crySpread a little happiness as you go byPlease tryWhat's the use of worrying and feeling blue?When days are long keep on smiling throughSpread a little happiness 'til dreams come trueSongwriters: Vivian Ellis / Clifford Grey / ...1 week ago - Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Saturday, March 22
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...1 week ago - Siding with the Right Of the Right
ACT up the game on division politicsEmmerson’s take on David Seymour’s claim Jesus would have supported ACTACT’s announcement it is moving into local politics is a logical next step for a party that is waging its battle on picking up the aggrieved.It’s a numbers game, and as long as the ...1 week ago - Jam tomorrow, butter next week
1. What will be the slogan of the next butter ad campaign?a. You’re worth itb. Once it hits $20, we can do something about the riversc. I can’t believe it’s the price of butter d. None of the above Read more ...1 week ago - Why Do Cryptocurrencies Appear to Be So Valuable?
It is said that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. That may be an exaggeration but an even better response is to point out economists do know the difference. They did not at first. Classical economics thought that the price of something reflected the objective ...1 week ago - Awful optics: political fighting in Taiwan stalls part of defence budget rise
Political fighting in Taiwan is delaying some of an increase in defence spending and creating an appearance of lack of national resolve that can only damage the island’s relationship with the Trump administration. The main ...1 week ago - The Independent Intelligence Review is finally out, and it’s a worthy sequel
The unclassified version of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review (IIR) was released today. It’s a welcome and worthy sequel to its 2017 predecessor, with an ambitious set of recommendations for enhancements to Australia’s national intelligence ...1 week ago
- Law, culture, and the OIA
Yesterday outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier published a report, Reflections on the Official Information Act, on his way out the door. The report repeated his favoured mantra that the Act was "fundamentally sound", all problems were issues of culture, and that no legislative change was needed (and especially no changes to ...1 week ago - A new US humanitarian agency must operate without political blinders
The United States government is considering replacing USAID with a new agency, the US Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance (USIHA), according to documents published by POLITICO. Under the proposed design, the agency will fail its ...1 week ago
- Worming Through Dangerous Times
1 week ago - Why is the Govt so afraid of borrowing?
Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Professional investors who are paid a lot of money to be careful about lending to the New Zealand Government think it is wonderful place to put their money. Yet the Government itself is so afraid of borrowing more that it is happy to kill its own ...1 week ago - The future of the Combined Space Operations initiative
As space becomes more contested, Australia should play a key role with its partners in the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) initiative to safeguard the space domain. Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States signed the ...1 week ago
- Dave’s Cats
Ooh you're a cool catComing on strong with all the chit chatOoh you're alrightHanging out and stealing all the limelightOoh messing with the beat of my heart yeah!Songwriters: Freddie Mercury / John Deacon.It would be a tad ironic; I can see it now. “Yeah, I didn’t unsubscribe when he said ...1 week ago - Friday 21 March
The PSA are calling the Prime Minister a hypocrite for committing to increase defence spending while hundreds of more civilian New Zealand Defence Force jobs are set to be cut as part of a major restructure. The number of companies being investigated for people trafficking in New Zealand has skyrocketed ...1 week ago - Weekly Roundup 21-March-2025
Another Friday, hope everyone’s enjoyed their week as we head toward the autumn equinox. Here’s another roundup of stories that caught our eye on the subject of cities and what makes them even better. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Connor took a look at how Auckland ...1 week ago - A special Hoon with Michael Wolff, author of four books on Donald Trump
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking with special guest author Michael Wolff, who has just published his fourth book about Donald Trump: ‘All or Nothing’.Here’s Peter’s writeup of the interview. Hoon: Trumpism ...1 week ago - Hoon: Trumpism dies with Trump says Wolff
1 week ago
- The ADF reserve system is obsolete. We need a dramatically expanded force
Australia needs to radically reorganise its reserves system to create a latent military force that is much larger, better trained and equipped and deployable within days—not decades. Our current reserve system is not fit for ...1 week ago
- Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Friday, March 21
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...1 week ago - Against All Reason: William Blake and the Private Fantasy Mythology
I have argued before that one ought to be careful in retrospectively allocating texts into genres. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) only looks like science-fiction because a science-fiction genre subsequently developed. Without H.G. Wells, would Frankenstein be considered science-fiction? No, it probably wouldn’t. Viewed in the context of its time, Frankenstein ...1 week ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #12 2025
Open access notables The severe 2020 coral bleaching event in the tropical Atlantic linked to marine heatwaves, Rodrigues et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Marine heatwaves can amplify the vulnerabilities of regional marine ecosystems and jeopardise local economies and food resources. Here, we show that marine heatwaves in the tropical ...1 week ago
- Elbridge Colby’s vision: blocking China
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...1 week ago
- China’s military spending rises should prompt regional budget responses
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...1 week ago
- Pressure grows for commonsense correction on safe local speeds
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...1 week ago
- Luxon’s Guests.
Speilmeister: Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...1 week ago - S&P downgrades 18 councils, blaming Govt
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest: Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...1 week ago - Recession ends – Economic challenges remain
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...1 week ago
- Maybe there’s a connection?
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...1 week ago
- I, too, got a few things wrong
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...1 week ago
- Commandments & Cures
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...1 week ago - Australia needs greater defence self-reliance, and extra funding
Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...1 week ago
- Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Thursday, March 20
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...1 week ago - Gordon Campbell on Winston Peters’ bad trip, and the return of the PPPs zombie
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...1 week ago - Climate Fresk – a neat way to make the complexity of climate change less puzzling
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of "Climate Fresk" and at a guess, this will also be the case for many of you. I stumbled upon it in the self-service training catalog for employees at the company I work at in Germany where it was announced ...1 week ago
- Japan and Australia can fill each other’s defence gaps
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...1 week ago
- Submission on the Draft Biometric Processing Privacy Code
The NZCTU strongly supports the OPC’s decision to issue a code of practice for biometric processing. Our view is that the draft code currently being consulted on is stronger and will be more effective than the exposure code released in early 2024. We are pleased that some of the revisions ...1 week ago
- Eggs in more baskets: diversify Australian agricultural exports away from US
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...1 week ago
- The Fisheries Reform Scam – Sam Woolford
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system. Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by the High Court ruling that the ...1 week ago - Climate Change: Failed again
In what has become regular news, the quarterly ETS auction has failed, with nobody even bothering to bid. The immediate reason is that the carbon price has fallen to around $60, below the auction minimum of $68. And the cause of that is a government which has basically given up ...1 week ago
- Trump’s tariffs challenge India’s economic balance
US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump announced that his reciprocal tariffs—matching other countries’ tariffs on American goods—will go into effect on 2 April, ...1 week ago
- NZ’s First #MeToo Case Wants To Practise Law Again
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...1 week ago - Climate sceptic ACT MP attacks National
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest: ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...1 week ago - Libertarian Jesus
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...1 week ago - People matter—especially when frigate crews are too small
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...2 weeks ago
- Auckland’s Western Line: Walking and cycling catchments
This is a guest post by Peter Bisley. It previously appeared on his substack, and is republished here by kind permisison. How can active transport connections maximise City Rail Link benefits City Rail Link successfully ran a test train last month on the 3.45km line under central Auckland, ahead ...2 weeks ago
- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Wednesday, March 19
Mōrena. Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, ...2 weeks ago - Unity is the answer to Europe’s defence woes
US President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt ...2 weeks ago
- Australian politics needs clearer national security boundaries
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...2 weeks ago
- Government must act decisively and ban engineered stone
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have reiterated their call for Government to protect workers by banning engineered stone in a submission on MBIE’s silica dust consultation. “If Brooke van Velden is genuine when she calls for an evidence-based approach to this issue, then she must support a full ban on ...2 weeks ago
- Tuesday 18 March
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...2 weeks ago
- First-person view drones: transitioning from sport to battle
It’s one thing for military personnel to hone skills with first-person view (FPV) drones in racing competitions. It’s quite another for them to transition to the complexities of the battlefield. Drone racing has become a ...2 weeks ago
- ‘There are no exemptions. Just eat it.’
Seymour says there will be no other exemptions granted to schools wanting to opt out of the Compass contract. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest: David Seymour has denied a request from a Christchurch school and any other schools to be exempted from the Compass school lunch programme, saying the contract ...2 weeks ago - Nuclear Ukraine: Budapest Memorandum – what it says and is it relevant?
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ... 2 weeks ago - A Palate Cleanser
Edit: The original story said “Palette Cleanser” in both the story, and the headline. I am never, ever going to live this down. Chain me up, throw me into the pit.Hi,With the world burning — literally and figuratively — I felt like Webworm needed a little palate cleanser at the ...2 weeks ago
- Do Americans really want urban sprawl?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler (Image credit: Antonio Huerta) Growing up in suburban Ohio, I was used to seeing farmland and woods disappear to make room for new subdivisions, strip malls, and big box stores. I didn’t usually welcome the changes, but I assumed others ...2 weeks ago
- Myanmar’s desperate condition: fragmentation, drugs, money-laundering and more
Myanmar was a key global site for criminal activity well before the 2021 military coup. Today, illicit industry, especially heroin and methamphetamine production, still defines much of the economy. Nowhere, not even the leafiest districts ...2 weeks ago
- The Hardest Word
What've I gotta do to make you love me?What've I gotta do to make you care?What do I do when lightning strikes me?And I wake up and find that you're not thereWhat've I gotta do to make you want me?Mmm hmm, what've I gotta do to be heard?What do I ...2 weeks ago - Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Tuesday, March 18
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...2 weeks ago - Gordon Campbell On Luxon’s Survival Chances, And The India FTA
Whenever Christopher Luxon drops a classically fatuous clanger or whenever the government has a bad poll – i.e. every week – the talk resumes that he is about to be rolled. This is unlikely for several reasons. For starters, there is no successor. Nicola Willis? Chris Bishop? Simeon Brown? Mark ...2 weeks ago
- It’s been done before: pay for more defence spending with debt
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...2 weeks ago
- Feedback on work with engineered stone and materials containing crystalline silica
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...2 weeks ago
- Big deal
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...2 weeks ago - A Return to a US Gilded Age?
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...2 weeks ago - France is prominent in efforts to shape Syria’s future, again
As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...2 weeks ago
- “Capital poor”
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...2 weeks ago
- Pictures Tell The Story
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...2 weeks ago - High-impact climate risks, low-probability? Think again
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...2 weeks ago
- Daddy
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...2 weeks ago - Monday 17 March
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...2 weeks ago
- New climate target ‘below expectations’ of partners, government warned
The government was told its climate target for 2035 was "below expectations" for a developed country. ...1 day ago - Reliable science takes time. But the current system rewards speed
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Chin, Senior Lecturer, College of Law, Australian National University P.Cartwright/Shutterstock Lately, there have been many headlines on scientific fraud and journal article retractions. If this trend continues, it represents a serious threat to public trust in science. One way to ...1 day ago - The Coalition wants to increase Medicare psychology rebates from 10 to 20 sessions. Here’s what ha...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Enticott, Associate Professor, Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Monash University Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock The most disadvantaged Australians have long experienced higher rates of mental illness than the broader population. But they also access fewer mental health services. ...1 day ago
- How can I tell if my child is too sick to go to school?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Sturgiss, Professor of Community Medicine and Clinical Education, Bond University Chay_Tay/Shutterstock As a GP and mum to two boys I have many experiences of trying to navigate the school morning when my boys aren’t feeling well. It always seems ...1 day ago
- 25 years into a new century and housing is less affordable than ever
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Housing and Economic Security, Grattan Institute Of all the problems facing Australia today, few have worsened so rapidly in the past 25 years as housing affordability. Housing has become more and more expensive – to rent or ...1 day ago
- Why Muslims often don’t celebrate Eid on the same day – even within one country
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zuleyha Keskin, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Charles Sturt University Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Eid is a special time for Muslims. There are two major Eid celebrations each year: Eid al-Fitr is celebrated at the end of Ramadan, the month of ...1 day ago
- Out of the internet and into the page: books for teenage boys
Hit Netflix series Adolescence has sparked conversation about reading the internet versus reading novels. What is the state of teen reading in Aotearoa? And what are the books that might lure our boys back to the page? One of the many questions the profoundly effective Adolescence has raised is the ...1 day ago - The abysmal state of palliative care for children in New Zealand
The Children’s Commissioner describes the current situation as “untenable, inequitable and inadequate”, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ‘Untenable, inequitable and inadequate’ Earlier this week, RNZ’s Anusha Bradley reported that the country’s only publicly funded paediatric palliative care ...2 days ago
- Eden Park lives another day, to repay Aucklanders $48m
Analysis: A fancy new stadium for the Auckland waterfront has yet again been vanquished by the wily ageing edifice in Mt Eden, but ratepayers aren’t yet off the hook.Eden Park ‘won’’ the’ milestone vote by Auckland councillors, who for now will put no money into its development project. But, essentially, ...2 days ago - Study examines how health issues affected four former prime ministers’ performance
A New Zealand Medical Journal article highlights leaders with diminished capacity leading to reckless decision-making. ...2 days ago
- Nicola Willis to announce government plans to encourage third supermarket competitor
RNZ understands Nicola Willis' announcement on Sunday won't confirm who the third competitor might be. ...2 days ago
- Finding palliative care for our baby in a ‘luck of the draw’ health system
Amid rising concerns over the state of paediatric palliative care in New Zealand, Emma Gilkison reflects on the short life of her son Jesús Valentino, who died with the people who loved him best, comfortably and with the care he needed – yet this happened in spite of, not because ...2 days ago
- Is Tamatha Paul in ‘la-la land’? Here’s what the evidence says
Three criminologists explain how a history of negative experiences of policing will affect how some communities view the police – and it’s crucial that the opinions of these communities are heard. Over the last day, a media frenzy has erupted over Green Party MP for Wellington Central Tamatha Paul’s comments ...2 days ago
- Bowel cancer doesn’t care about politics
Opinion: The Govt’s failure to account for Māori and Pacific health stat when it set a blanket screening age is a failure of leadership. Here’s how we can fix it. The post Bowel cancer doesn’t care about politics appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- This week’s bestselling books – March 28
NONFICTION1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)The book that just won’t stop selling – a testament to Latour’s courage as a WWII spy in occupied France, and to Dobson’s skill at telling the story.2 Unveiled by Theophila Pratt (David Bateman, $39.99)3 Retirement ...2 days ago
- House prices: A bump not a jump
Amid the many moving parts and risks, the overall vibe of NZ’s housing market seems to be tilting in the direction of our long-held view. This being the case, we haven’t messed with it. We continue to pick around a 7 percent lift in national house prices this year.It’s a ...2 days ago
- Kiribati dodges aid cuts in NZ review
The small Pacific nation avoids its worst-case scenario after a presidential snub The post Kiribati dodges aid cuts in NZ review appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- Historians go head-to-head over constitution, Treaty
Ngāi Tahu’s court claim demands law changes that would require the judiciary to overstep its bounds, a constitutional historian says.The tribe’s umbrella body, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, and individual leaders have taken legal action against the Attorney-General in a bid to get the Crown to recognise its rangatiratanga (chiefly ...2 days ago
- Social licence ‘critical’ for aquaculture as Tasmanian industry cops govt protection
NZ King Salmon says it isn’t interested in making a buck off millions of fish deaths in Australia’s Macquarie Bay The post Social licence ‘critical’ for aquaculture as Tasmanian industry cops govt protection appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 28 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, Friday 28 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- New campaign aims to tackle rising sideline abuse in sport
A survey of New Zealand coaches and referees on sideline behaviour in children’s team sports has revealed disturbing results.Released by Aktive, the Regional Sports Trust for the wider Auckland region, the survey revealed more than 60 percent had witnessed inappropriate behaviour at least once or twice a season and most ...2 days ago
- Treaty principles report will exclude thousands of public submissions
New Zealanders put forward an unprecedented 300,000 written submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill. Now many are at risk of being deleted from the record. The post Treaty principles report will exclude thousands of public submissions appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- Grattan on Friday: an ‘arms race’ of promises as prime minister set to call election
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Oops. Anthony Albanese’s own department pre-empted its boss on Thursday. Some unfortunate official, pressing the wrong button, posted on X that the government was in “caretaker” mode, although the prime minister had not yet called ...2 days ago
- Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan doctoral candidate has warned that indigenous noken-weaving practices back in her homeland are under threat with the world’s biggest deforestation project. About 60 people turned up for the opening of her “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” exhibition by ...2 days ago
- Grattan on Friday: an ‘arms race’ of promises as prime minister set to call election on Friday
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Oops. Anthony Albanese’s own department pre-empted its boss on Thursday. Some unfortunate official, pressing the wrong button, posted on X that the government was in “caretaker” mode, although the prime minister had not yet called ...2 days ago
- Dutton unveils plan to force more gas into Australian market and expand production in major pre-elec...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says a Coalition government would introduce a long-awaited gas reservation scheme, in a budget reply speech that puts energy policy firmly at the centre of the ...2 days ago
- Albanese to call election on Friday as Dutton pledges fuel tax relief and national gas plan
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese is set to announce on Friday that Australians will go to the polls on May 3, after he makes an early morning visit to Governor-General Sam Mostyn. The prime minster’s timing means Thursday ...2 days ago
- Albanese to call election on Friday as Peter Dutton announces a plan to protect gas supply for Austr...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese is set to announce on Friday that Australians will go to the polls on May 3, after he makes an early morning visit to Governor-General Sam Mostyn. The prime minster’s timing means Thursday ...2 days ago
- We calculated how much Dutton’s excise cut would save you on fuel – and few will save as much as...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Daria Nipot/Shutterstock The opposition has unveiled its response to Labor’s A$17 billion “top-up” tax cuts outlined in Tuesday night’s federal budget: cheaper fuel for Australians. Opposition ...2 days ago
- Ambitious Teen Eager To Bring Māngere’s Voice To Parliament
Marques is the youngest student to be selected for Youth Parliament, a nationwide development opportunity for those aged 16-18 to experience the political process and represent their communities. ...2 days ago - The House: Urgency gives and urgency takes away
Parliament spent much of this week debating bills under urgency. The government can get more done in the House that way, but it also slows down progress in committees. ...2 days ago
- Voice of America took jazz behind the Iron Curtain. Now, its demise signals the end of US soft power
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Hammond, PhD Student, Flinders University Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has adopted a heavy-handed approach to cutting any perceived wasteful spending in the US government. One of the more recent institutions targeted by Trump’s team, Voice of ...2 days ago
- Not just the stadium: what Brisbane Olympic organisers are planning for
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By H. Björn Galjaardt, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Brisbane was awarded the Olympics and Paralympics more than 1,300 days ago, and much has happened in between. On Tuesday, upbeat Queensland premier David Crisafulli revealed the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games ...2 days ago
- Alone Australia is back. An expert explains what happens to your body and mind when you’re starvin...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, Edith Cowan University SBS Publicity Alone Australia is back this week for a third season on SBS. And its ten contestants are learning what it means to be really hungry. They’ve been dropped ...2 days ago
- Keith Rankin Analysis – Learning the correct lessons from World War Two in Europe
2 days ago
- This budget’s tax tinkering isn’t the same as meaningful tax reform. Here’s why
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristen Sobeck, Research Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Miha Creative/Shutterstock Labor’s tax changes this week do not tackle tax reform, or why we desperately need it. They only address the amount collected ...2 days ago
- The Glass Menagerie: the haunting beauty of Tennessee Wiliams’ play endures in this Sydney revival
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Prudence Upton Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is widely regarded as one of America’s greatest playwrights. A prolific and unabashedly autobiographical writer, Williams’ career spanned four decades of the 20th century. ...2 days ago
- Bishop says $150m for community housing providers levels playing field with Kāinga Ora
Housing Minister Chris Bishop says the funding boost for the agency will level the playing field with Kāinga Ora. ...2 days ago
- When a 1-in-100 year flood washed through the Coorong, it made the vital microbiome of this lagoon h...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Keneally, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Microbiology, University of Adelaide Darcy Whittaker, CC BY You might know South Australia’s iconic Coorong from the famous Australian children’s book, Storm Boy, set around this coastal lagoon. This internationally important wetland is ...2 days ago
- The Bureaucracy Is Still Bloated — This Ain’t No Fiscal Diet
“The Government needs to go full cold turkey and ditch the extra public servants. Trimming a little off the top won’t cut it. Nicola must show she’s serious in Budget 2025 and bring staffing at least back to 2017 levels." ...2 days ago
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