humour
Categories under humour
- caption contest (153)
- parody (32)
- Satire (282)
Trump it up
Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, September 12th, 2019 - Comments Off on Trump it up
Found on facebook and featuring the work of an anonymous genius …
The Civilian has a fish-hook
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, September 6th, 2019 - 2 comments
The Civilian is New Zealand’s pre-eminent source of online news, and indeed the purest form of news that you can consume without having an apoplectic seizure. Today they detail the course of a vaccination on live TV. Please put your hot drinks down before reading.
Labour reduces the number of cats getting stuck in trees every month
Written By: - Date published: 4:04 pm, August 17th, 2019 - 14 comments
Meanwhile, National signalled they need a hand with statistics, and the public gladly stepped up.
Simon Bridges wants a new Digital Media advisor
Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, August 6th, 2019 - 21 comments
A slight rewrite of an ad currently on Parliament’s careers website.
Memo from Crosby Textor – fake news
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, August 2nd, 2019 - 19 comments
The Standard has obtained an internal memo from CTF Partners (formerly Crosby Textor) where it responds to allegations that it is a kindergarden for the rich children of Conservative Party donors, has engaged in misogynist behavior and ran anti and pro cycle astroturf campaigns to get a cycleway moved from near a client’s business premises to near an opponent’s premises.
Aussies – utterly predictable right down to the last words.
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, July 14th, 2019 - 30 comments
It isn’t often that I read a sports story. My view was that if you aren’t doing a sport, then what is the point in watching others doing it? Work on something that you can do. However a title on an aussie ABC article caught me – “New Zealand earn genuine respect”. Now that was unusual…
Clever visual satire on a millionaire beggar
Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, July 6th, 2019 - 15 comments
Scott Marsh does a great depiction of Israel Folau’s essential ethics. Check out some of Scott’s other art as well.
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 3:41 pm, July 5th, 2019 - 32 comments
Keep it seemly …
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, April 16th, 2019 - 33 comments
Keep it seemly.
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 3:11 pm, March 8th, 2019 - 36 comments
Keep it seemly.
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, January 7th, 2019 - 74 comments
Keep it seemly …
On the first day of leakmas …
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, December 10th, 2018 - 46 comments
Overheard at a Press Gallery BBQ …
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, December 5th, 2018 - 34 comments
Keep it seemly.
Memo from Crosby Textor – National’s leak problem
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, December 5th, 2018 - 23 comments
The Standard has been leaked an internal memo from Crosby Textor to the National Party concerning its current situation.
Tweet of the year
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, November 13th, 2018 - 15 comments
There is still seven weeks of this year left but it appears likely that the tweet of the year has been tweeted.
Simon Bridges wants a new senior social media advisor
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 6th, 2018 - 36 comments
Simon Bridges has advertised for a Senior Social Media advisor.
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, October 21st, 2018 - 29 comments
Keep it seemly.
Trademe advertises National List MP position for sale
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, October 19th, 2018 - 17 comments
Some wag on Trademe has advertised National Party list positions for sale.
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 5:20 pm, October 4th, 2018 - 48 comments
Keep it seemly
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, September 20th, 2018 - 61 comments
Keep it seemly …
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, July 29th, 2018 - 76 comments
Keep it seemly …
Do republicans really want to arm infants?
Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, July 16th, 2018 - 17 comments
It appears that Sacha Baron Cohen has succeeded in getting prominent Republicans to say stupid things about arming kids.
Caption contest
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, June 11th, 2018 - 38 comments
Keep it seemly.
National tags parody account in Northcote by election tweet
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, May 31st, 2018 - 6 comments
The difference between running a professional well organised campaign and a chaotic shambles can be slight.
#twyfordaccusations
Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, May 26th, 2018 - 52 comments
The Twitter hashtag #twyfordaccusations has been set up to allow people to speculate on what other nefarious allegations will be made against Phil Twyford by Judith Collins.
Doofus of the week – May 20, 2018
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, May 20th, 2018 - 20 comments
Aaron Schlossberg, American Attorney and Trump Supporter, and someone who thinks people speaking Spanish to each other in a New York restaurant poses some sort of existential threat to the Union is this week’s doofus of the week.
Young man there’s no need to feel down
Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, May 14th, 2018 - 248 comments
The person in control of Christchurch Stadium’s PA system has performed the most outstanding burn on Israel Folau’s homophobic beliefs.
Nearly time for the Bionic Beaver
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, May 5th, 2018 - 10 comments
Like everyone these days, I live in a range of widespread cultures. There are always interesting shock effects when one culture runs into another. Like the Bionic Beaver…
Freedom of Speech and Expression
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, April 24th, 2018 - 47 comments
Bollocks and bullshit lands on shits and giggles.
Doofus of the week – April 7, 2018
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, April 8th, 2018 - 17 comments
Another easy decision. Gerry Brownlee wins for overseeing a $210 million blow out in EWC’s liability for Christchurch earthquake re-repair work and for being upset when Megan Woods called him on it.
Tax is violence
Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, April 5th, 2018 - 56 comments
Can we please now save David Seymour from his violent oppression and relieve him of his tax-funded salary?
- Gordon Campbell On Why Having Elections Less Often Is A Bad Idea
Are we feeling the country is in such capable hands, that we can afford to take a longer break between elections? Outside the parliamentary bubble and a few corporate boardrooms, surely there are not very many people who think that voters have too much power over politicians, and exert it ...2 weeks ago - Trump, political partisanship, and world peace
2 weeks ago - United States of betrayal II
Like everyone else outside Russia, I watched Saturday morning's shitshow between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in horror. Sure, the US had already thrown Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's theft of land - but there's a difference between that, and berating someone in front of the ...2 weeks ago - To avoid a Ukraine-style quid pro quo, Australia needs to work with the US on critical minerals
With Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington is operating under a hard-nosed, transactional framework in which immediate returns rather than shared values measure alliances. For Australia, this signals a need to rethink its ...2 weeks ago - Seein’ double with the wrong one
Poor Bangladesh. Life is not easy there. One in five of its people live below the poverty line. Poor Bangladesh. Things would surely be even tougher for them if one billion dollars were disappear from their government’s bank deposits.In 2016, it very nearly happened. Perhaps you've heard of the Lazarus ...2 weeks ago - Economic Bulletin January/February 2025
Welcome to the January/February 2025 Economic Bulletin. In the feature article Craig surveys the backwards steps New Zealand has been making on child poverty reduction. In our main data updates, we cover wage growth, employment, social welfare, consumer inflation, household living costs, and retail trade. We also provide analysis of ...2 weeks ago - Amusing ourselves to death
Forty years ago, in a seminal masterpiece titled Amusing Ourselves to Death, US author Neil Postman warned that we had entered a brave new world in which people were enslaved by television and other technology-driven ...2 weeks ago
- An inappropriate candidate
Last month I dug into the appointment of fossil-fuel lobbyist John Carnegie to the board of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Carnegie was rejected as a candidate in two appointment rounds, being specifically not recommended because he was "likely to relitigate board decisions, or undermine decisions that have been ...2 weeks ago
- Canadian billionaire linked to right wing websites buys a near 10% of NZME shares
James “Jim“ Grenon, a Canadian private equity investor based in Auckland, dropped ~$10 million on Friday to acquire 9.321% of NZME.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Grenon owns one of the most expensive properties in New ...2 weeks ago - The US is gone—Europe must replace it
Donald Trump and JD Vance’s verbal assault on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office will mark 28 February 2025 as an infamous moment in US and world history. The United States is rapidly ...2 weeks ago - What Are We Defending?
Following Our Example: Not even the presence of Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea will generate the sort of diplomatic breach the anti-China lobby has been working so assiduously for a decade to provoke. Too many New Zealanders recall the occasions when a New Zealand frigate has tagged along behind ...2 weeks ago - A Mixed Bag of Media.
Well you can't get what you wantBut you can get meSo let's set out to sea, love'Cause you are my medicineWhen you're close to meWhen you're close to meSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Jamie Hewlett.Morena, I’m a little out of the loop when it comes to current news stories, which is ...2 weeks ago - Or not
“Time has come for a four-year term of govt”, or so declared the editorial in yesterday’s Sunday Star-Times. I voted against the idea in the 1990 referendum, and would do so in any conceivable future referendum. If history is anything to go by, a four-year parliamentary term seems a ...2 weeks ago - House of cards: northern Australia’s liquid fuel resilience
Northern Australia’s liquid fuel infrastructure is the backbone of defence capability, national resilience, and economic prosperity. Yet, it faces mounting pressure from increasing demand, supply chain vulnerabilities and logistical fragilities. Fuel security is not just ...2 weeks ago
- Monday 3 March
A new survey of health staff released by the PSA outlines the “immeasurable pain” of restructuring and cost cutting at Health New Zealand, including cancelled surgeries, exploding wait lists and psychologists working reception. Treasury Secretary Iain Rennie has issued a stark warning: New Zealand needs to get its public finances in ...2 weeks ago
- The battle for the internet
Democracies and authoritarian states are battling over the future of the internet in a little-known UN process. The United Nations is conducting a 20-year review of its World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), a ...2 weeks ago
- Fixing the Kafkaesque speed rule impacts in Auckland
Last week, Auckland Transport released the list and map showing which streets and roads must have their speed limits increased due to the new Setting of Speed Limits 2024 rule from central government. As things currently stand, none of these changes will be consulted with the communities they impact. And ...2 weeks ago - Why the housing market is just not firing up
There is an ongoing standoff between sellers who don’t want to take less than top dollar and buyers cautious about overpaying, while at the same time rental property investor demand is sliding. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, my top six news items in Aotearoa’s political economy around ...2 weeks ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #09
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 23, 2025 thru Sat, March 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...2 weeks ago - Brothers in Arms.
Now the sun's gone to hellAnd the moon riding highLet me bid you farewellEvery man has to dieBut it's written in the starlightAnd every line in your palmWe're fools to make warOn our brothers-in-armsWritten by Mark Knopfler.“Where are the adults when you need them?” I thought. “Shouldn’t there be adults?”It ...2 weeks ago - A soliloquy for the week to March 2
The Electricity Authority has proposed forcing the big four gentailers to offer the same hedging contracts and prices for wholesale electricity to their smaller competitors as they offer their own retailing arms internally. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things that stood out to me ...2 weeks ago - What Can We Do Again?
What America Can Teach Us Here Yesterday Trump and his Peter Thiel affiliated Vice President, J.D Vance, berated Ukrainian President Zelensky in the White House.This came weeks after lying about Zelensky - claiming among other lies, that Ukraine started the war with Russia. It did not.Zelensky lamented that Trump was ...2 weeks ago - It should take about a month
The great problem you’re facing this month is very often not the one you’ll be worrying about a year from now.I find this notion reassuring. I lean upon it. But lately, given what the hell has been going on in the world, not so much.Perversely yesterday’s White House spectacle reinstated ...2 weeks ago - Fact brief – Are high CO2 levels harmless because they also occurred in the past?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are high CO2 levels harmless because they also occurred in the past? While the Earth adapted to high carbon dioxide levels in the ...2 weeks ago
- 2025 Reading List: February (+ Writing Update)
Completed reads for February: He Who Shrank, by Henry Hasse The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus The Maracot Deep, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Poseidon’s Paradise: The Romance of Atlantis, by Elizabeth Birkmaier The Hairy Monster, by Neil Miller The Spider, by Arthur Edward Chapman The Canterville Ghost, by ...2 weeks ago - Forty years of floating
Last year there was interesting new book out made up of 29 collected short papers by (more or less) prominent economists given at a 2023 conference to mark Floating Exchange Rates at Fifty. The fifty years related to the transition back to generalised floating of the major developed world currencies ...2 weeks ago
- Hyundai back in running to build two new Cook Strait Interislander ferries – after Willis canc...
Quick update here on the ferries cancellation saga, now led by Winston Peters.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.RNZ:The giant Korean ship builder Hyundai could be back in the running to build two new Cook Strait ...2 weeks ago - China wins from Australian overreaction to warship presence
The deployment of a Chinese naval task group in our region is clearly aimed at sending a message and testing Australia’s responses—not only on the military front, but socially and politically. The worst misstep would ...2 weeks ago
- Dawn chorus for Saturday, March 1
Pans to replace development contributions with pre-set development levies and to give councils powers to set targeted rates won’t be finalised until well into 2026. Meanwhile, the Waikato District Council has stopped accepting new building consents for Pokeno because of wastewater infrastructure shortages. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories ...2 weeks ago - Independence under Merz is entirely possible
Could 23 February 2025 become known as Europe’s Independence Day? It might as well be if the winner of Germany’s election, Friedrich Merz, has his way. It was striking that Merz, the quintessential German Atlanticist ...2 weeks ago
- Marjen van den Belt – Pollute and Pay
Marjen is an ecological economist with 28 years' experience gained through research, teaching, advising, consulting, management, enterprising and governance in settings ranging from local to global. She is a ministerial appointment to the Lincoln University Council and a member of the Edmund Hilary Fellowship and a previous Chief Economist for ...2 weeks ago - Trump’s AI strategy puts the Indo-Pacific at a crossroads
The United States’ refusal to sign the recent AI Action Summit declaration should be seen as a strategic shift rather than a diplomatic snub to the rest of the world. AI is as much about ...2 weeks ago
- The Cult of Generic Management
As Lady Bracknell almost said, ‘to lose one may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.’ And so a second Government Statistician has made a hasty exit, The official reason in each case was the management of the population census but the cult of generic management ...2 weeks ago - I cannot live with this man I cannot live without him what even is this life
Questions 1. What French expression best characterises this weeks’ intimate encounter between Old Mate Grabaseat and Mike Answer-the-fricken-question-for-the-love-of-me Hoskinga. Ménage à Trumpb. Folie à deuxc. Amour foud. None of the above all of the above I cannot live with this man I cannot live without him what even is this ...2 weeks ago - States vulnerable to foreign aggression embrace the cloud: lessons from Taiwan
Taiwan is among nations pioneering the adoption of hyperscale cloud services to achieve national digital resilience. The island faces two major digital threats: digital isolation, in which international connectivity is intentionally severed or significantly degraded ...2 weeks ago
- What does David Seymour have against kids?
Newsroom’s Fox Meyer wrote a good piece yesterday on the Compass school lunches contract, unveiling its terms, and revealing the government stumped up an extra $8.9m “bonus” to meet requirements.This means the per school lunch cost is now a minimum of just under $4 - excluding the large number of ...2 weeks ago - Mogami class offers strong technical advantages in Australia’s frigate competition
Japan’s Mogami class is clearly the best choice for Australia’s general-purpose frigate program. Compared with its very capable competitor, the Meko A-200 from Germany, the Mogami design needs a smaller crew, offers deeper magazines and ...2 weeks ago
- The geography of American power
The United States is a secure power. Situated in a hemispheric citadel, and protected by wide oceans, the US could comfortably withdraw from being the arbiter of the geopolitical fate of Eurasia and still enjoy ...2 weeks ago
- Govt eyes big new infrastructure levies, but no value-capture rates
Will a Government-set and regulated system of infrastructure levies replace council-set development contributions and open up new land supply for housing? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things that stood out to me in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February ...2 weeks ago - Friday 28 February
The Government is set to announce a levy system and new rules around housing infrastructure aimed at making housing developments and transport corridors more financially attractive to councils. The job market is potentially showing signs of recovery according to more positive advertising data which shows the rate of decline has ...2 weeks ago
- Meta’s Waterworth cable project is about geopolitics and geoeconomics
Announced on 14 February, Meta’s Project Waterworth is not just proposed to be the world’s longest submarine cable but reflects ever-shifting geopolitical and geoeconomic landscapes. It presents a great opportunity for Australia to collaborate more ...2 weeks ago
- Weekly Roundup 28-February-2025
It’s Friday and we’re are the end of February already meaning here comes March Madness. Here too are some of the things that caught our attention this week. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered parts of a fantastic speech by Chris Bishop. Tuesday had Matt ...2 weeks ago
- The Glowing Light of You, the Reader
Hi,Because the Webworm community is consistently a glowing light in my life, I wanted to share a few insights readers shared about Franks Ogilvie, the feral law firm that sent a threatening legal letter to Kiwi health professionals.(A lot of you asked for a copy of the original threatening letter, ...2 weeks ago
- The Letter
Hi,Quite a few readers have asked to see a copy of the original letter Stephen Franks of Franks Ogilvie law sent out to various New Zealand health practitioners.So, here is a copy.I am not going to do a fact check here, but would advise you keep these emojis in mind ...2 weeks ago - The Hoon around the week to Feb 28
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: on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II politicial landscape; and, on the week in ...2 weeks ago - China stands aside, now its Peters v the Cook islands Premier
It is now clear that the Government is singling out Cook Islands Premier Mark Brown as the person to blame for the Islands signing three partnership agreements with China. China itself appears to be standing aside. After a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday night, Foreign Minister Winston Peters even got ...2 weeks ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #9 2025
Open access notables A twenty-first century structural change in Antarctica’s sea ice system, Raphael et al., Communications Earth & Environment: From 1979 to 2016, total Antarctic sea ice extent experienced a positive trend with record winter maxima in 2012 and 2014. Record summer minima followed within the period 2017-2024, raising ...2 weeks ago
- US-Russia negotiations won’t bring peace to Ukraine
Will US President Donald Trump be able to forge a peace between Russia and Ukraine, or are we facing a repetition of the infamous Munich Agreement? When Britain and France forced Czechoslovakia to cede the ...2 weeks ago
- Scholarly Link: The Comparative Notebook.
I am pleased that the under-recognized scholar (and previous co-author of mine) Kate Nicholl has decided to join Substack and publish her thoughts on comparative politics. By using Substack she wants to bridge the gap between scholarly articles and opinion editorials (op eds). Her gift as a writer is to ...2 weeks ago - Join us at 5pm for this week’s Hoon
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...2 weeks ago - Strategic and industrial factors favour Japan for Australia’s frigate project
It’s not just technical naval capability. Australia has persuasive geostrategic and industrial reasons for choosing Japan over Germany as its partner in building as many as 11 general-purpose frigates in a priority defence program. The ...2 weeks ago
- Still against a four-year term
It must be bad idea week at the Beehive. Yesterday, they were promoting vigilantism - a policy hated by everybody except the very worst people in the world. And today, they've announced that they're going to proceed with ACT's weird four-year-term bill, which would make the length of the parliamentary ...2 weeks ago
- Thursday 27 February
Fleur Fitzsimons has been appointed as the new National Secretary of the PSA. The Government has confirmed it will amend the Crimes Act to give all citizens greater ability to arrest or detain thieves stealing from retail stories amid an increase in retail crime – the move is opposed by ...2 weeks ago
- US cuts to science and technology could fast-track China’s tech dominance
Is the United States now trying to lose the technology race with China? It certainly seems to be. The race is tight, and now the Trump administration is slashing funding for the three national institutions ...2 weeks ago
- ASPI USA roundtable: Trying to understand US economic statecraft
Governments are outraged, industry leaders are keeping a low profile, and economists and analysts are confused as they work to understand how the Trump administration’s approach can make the United States simultaneously safer, stronger and ...2 weeks ago
- Negative police officers to date – Sunny Kaushal & Paul Goldsmith want ‘5 million Ki...
Sunny Kaushal - National Party member and donorThere are few things that make me viscerally irritable in politics, but seeing the government proposing citizens’ arrest as a method to curtail crime - while losing more police officers than it can hire because it’s unwilling to pay for professionals - does ...2 weeks ago - Seymour’s late, missing, discarded, allergic, nutritionless, dangerous & skimpy school lun...
Seymour has broken the first rule of modern focus-group and poll-driven politics: never alienate the soccer and netball ‘moms’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things that stood out to me in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 26:A crescendo ...2 weeks ago - Been Caught Stealing?
I've been caught stealin', once when I was 5I enjoy stealin', it's just as simple as thatOh well, it's just a simple factWhen I want something, man, I don't wanna pay for itHow much would you pay to change the law to whatever you want it to be? Probably quite ...2 weeks ago - Why is such rank dishonesty tolerated?
“We were one of the first central banks in the world to be tightening; we were one of the first central banks in the world to be easing” Those were Adrian Orr’s words last Thursday to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee at their hearing on the Bank’s latest Monetary Policy ...2 weeks ago
- Auckland, what is it good for?
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel …and what can we do to increase its success? Here at Greater Auckland it is axiomatic that cities are, or at least can and should be, forces for good for their inhabitants and host nations. This of course explains ...2 weeks ago
- A Westless world
Each February, members of the transatlantic strategic community head to Munich to discuss the state of international security, making the Munich Security Conference a not-to-be-missed event on the foreign-policy calendar. This was true even during ...2 weeks ago
- At last, some good news.
Things are starting to come right for the Government. Though recent polling has placed it behind Labour and the Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, keeps tripping up in public, the economy is picking up, which may be enough to stop further poll falls. Better still for National, it is picking up ...2 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell On School Lunches, And The Coalition Government Eating The Young
The school lunches saga gets worse by the day. Bland, repetitive menus, failures in heating, failures in timely delivery, failures to deliver halal meals that are truly halal, endangering children who have known allergies by giving them food that may contain the triggering ingredients, etc etc. It’s not as if ...2 weeks ago
- Supermarket Self-Checkouts Are Limiting Your Personal Liberties
The New Zealand Supreme Court describes detention as the “most punitive and most liberty-depriving” of the penalties the law can impose. Because of this, they have always been incredibly careful to give a wide interpretation and hefty weight to the right not to be arbitrarily detained. This is an interpretation ...2 weeks ago - Some US allies contribute, some loaf. Here’s a numerical assessment
Which US allies have paid their bills, as President Donald Trump would see things? Which, having given the United States little support in return for its security guarantee, now risk losing it? The short answer, ...2 weeks ago
- The profits must be protected!
If there’s any one person to be praised for finding receipts and sticking them in this government’s complacent face, that person would be Craig Renney.His most recent effort is a thorough rebuttal of some tough-on-crime puffed-chest- beating that went like this:You can find the full rebuttal here but the essence ...2 weeks ago - Europe is only as weak as it thinks it is
Europe has just held a rapid-fire series of high-profile summits. Following the Paris AI Action Summit and the Munich Security Conference, European leaders gathered for two emergency meetings in Paris to address the disturbing signals ...2 weeks ago
- Empty vessel and strategic disruptor?
I have been trying to make sense out of the shifts in US foreign policy under Trump 2.0. I understand his admiration for authoritarians and supination to Putin (which I believe is because Putin has dirt on him), and I also understand the much vaunted “transactional” nature of his view ...2 weeks ago
- Citizen’s arrest powers will put workers in harm’s way
The Government’s announcement to change citizen’s arrest powers shows workers will bear the brunt of their lack of a plan to deal with retail crime, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “If the proposed changes to citizen’s arrests laws are any indication of what is to come, there ...2 weeks ago
- A reversal on secrecy?
For the past few years I've been waging war on secrecy clauses, submitting at select committee where clauses in legislation seem to over-ride the Official Information Act. One of the drivers of this was a 2014 decision by the Ombudsman (unpublished, but posted here), where they interpreted an exemption in ...2 weeks ago
- Cycleways only COST 1% of the entire transport budget and reap significant benefits economically, en...
This morning I saw a line on social media that got my attention —"More cycle and walking lanes that nobody uses to kill economy. Absolute genius!”But cycle ways only cost 1% of the entire transport budget!That's not what is killing the economy.Business liquidations are at a 10 year high. Unemployment ...2 weeks ago - ASEAN cyber norms need broad stakeholder engagement
As Malaysia assumes the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2025, the government wants to make its mark on the region’s cybersecurity cooperation framework. Malaysia is keen to develop the third iteration ...2 weeks ago
- Te Hā Noa 101: Victoria Street explained
Recently, Auckland’s Mayor Wayne Brown expressed bewilderment in a social media post about the current changes to Victoria Street in the city centre. “Welcome to Cone Central,” he says, adopting the universally recognised arms-wide position of exasperation, and gesturing around him at the works under way. “Nobody knows what it’s ...2 weeks ago
- Is compulsory saving the answer?
Economic growth – and the lack of the sustained productivity growth that underpins it – is again briefly in focus. 70 years of relative economic decline still shows no sign of being durably reversed, but the last few years have been particularly tough and there is an election next year, ...2 weeks ago
- National doesn’t want you to know what people think of the Regulatory Standards Bill
Back in January the government held a public consultation on its draft Regulatory Standards Bill. The bill is a piece of neoliberal bullshit which seeks to bind all future lawmaking to some highly contentious (and not public accepted) Libertarian ideological principles, in an effort to deter future lawmaking with the ...2 weeks ago
- Tonnes of microplastics infiltrate Australia’s agricultural soils each year, study shows
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shima Ziajahromi, Advance Queensland Research Fellow, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University Gary D Chapman/Shutterstock Compost applied to agricultural soils in Australia each year contains tonnes of microplastics, our research has revealed. These microplastics can harm soil and plant health and eventually ...2 days ago - The rate of sports betting has surged more than 57% – and younger people are betting more
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ferdi Botha, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne Australia already has the highest gambling losses globally. Now, new data show that between 2015 and 2022, the number of Australian men involved in sports betting ...2 days ago
- Winston Peters rejects claims his party has diversity requirements
Peters argues the requirements are rife in the public sector, but that's news to Public Service Minister Judith Collins. ...2 days ago - What is hepatitis B, the virus at the centre of the recent hospital infection alert?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Pamela Au/Shutterstock News that a health worker at a Sydney hospital’s birth unit was infectious with hepatitis B for more than a decade has led to a health alert for mothers and ...2 days ago
- Government Cleaners, Security Guards, And Caterers Counting On NZ First
Our position is clear – this procurement rule must not be scrapped. It’s a practical way for the Government to improve lives and show these workers that they are valued, says Gina Lockyer, Executive Director of the Living Wage Movement. ...2 days ago - 10% of free school lunches not delivered on time
It comes after the collective's main food provider Libelle opted for liquidation due to financial problems. ...2 days ago
- 100 Christian leaders’ open letter calls for NZ humanitarian visas for trapped Gaza families
Asia Pacific Report An open letter signed by 100 Christian leaders, calling for the granting of humanitarian visas to Aotearoa New Zealand for families of Palestinians trapped in Gaza has been handed over on the steps of Parliament. The letter was presented yesterday on Ash Wednesday to opposition Labour Party ...2 days ago
- New Zealand has not joined the ‘coalition of the willing’, Judith Collins says
The government says New Zealand is not among about 15 countries that have committed to join the coalition of the willing on Ukraine. ...2 days ago
- A lunar eclipse is on tomorrow – NZ and parts of Australia are in for a spectacle
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Hill, Honorary Fellow at University of Melbourne and Senior Curator (Astronomy), Museums Victoria Research Institute As the full moon rises tomorrow (Friday March 14), it will be a special sight for those in Aotearoa New Zealand. It will also be worth ...2 days ago
- The High Court made a landmark decision on native title law. Here’s what it means
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bethany Butchers, Associate Lecturer in Law, University of Newcastle Shutterstock Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name of a deceased person. The High Court of Australia has handed down a landmark judgement on native ...2 days ago
- Victims of sexual violence often feel they’re the ones on trial. Independent lawyers would help
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Iliadis, Associate professor, Deakin University Shutterstock The Australian Law Reform Commission has launched its final report on how the justice system deals with sexual violence. The Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence report found there are widespread ...2 days ago
- Tory Whanau considered quitting Wellington mayoralty while ‘humiliated’
Tory Whanau opens up about being "humiliated in front of the whole country" and gaining a thick skin. ...2 days ago
- Generative AI and deepfakes are fuelling health misinformation. Here’s what to look out for so you...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University Chay_Tee/Shutterstock False and misleading health information online and on social media is on the rise, thanks to rapid developments in deepfake technology and generative artificial ...2 days ago
- What it’s like to be a hearing child of deaf parents
An autobiographical theatre show tells Jodee Mundy’s experience being a CODA – a child of deaf adults – and reveals many shortcomings of a world designed for the hearing. When Jodee Mundy was five, she got so caught up staring at a Barbie in its box with a tennis racquet ...2 days ago - Syria faces a crossroads as violence escalates
Comment: A sliver of hope for a progressive shift in the Middle East emerged when the brutal Assad regime was finally overthrown in Syria on December 8 last year. Three months later, Syria’s fragile steps toward a better future are torn between historically positive and alarmingly tragic developments.The hope comes ...2 days ago - Aboriginal bands, experimental dance and a Hindu epic: the highlights of Perth Festival 2025
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan W. Marshall, Associate Professor & Postgraduate Research Coordinator, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University Big Name, No Blankets. James Henry/Perth Festival In the Perth Festival exhibitions brochure, artistic director Anna Reece noted that the city is “uniquely positioned ...2 days ago
- Working dogs and horses have tax-deductible upkeep. But Australia’s thousands of working cats go u...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacquie Rand, Emeritus Professor of Companion Animal Health, The University of Queensland Angelica Pasquali/Shutterstock Cats and milk often go hand in hand in popular culture. But on dairy farms, cats do much more than enjoy a saucer of milk – their ...2 days ago
- Infrastructure summit: Italian business among potential bidders for building Northland Expressway
Some attendees are already showing strong interest in the government's plans for Public Private partnerships, the Finance Minister says. ...2 days ago
- Whānau Ora changes puts decade of relationship building at risk – commissioning agency chair
Chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said they only received verbal confirmation of the commissioning agency changes. ...2 days ago
- Chief Ombudsman Publishes OIA And LGOIMA Complaints Information For July To December 2024
The number of complaints about the way government agencies handle OIA requests continues to trend upwards. In the most recent six-month period, the Ombudsman received 1,029 complaints, a rise from 946 in the previous half year. ...2 days ago
- Lost in translation: The real cost of a ‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum
With our English curriculum facing a rewrite, a deeper question emerges: is this about knowledge or control? As a confident speaker of two languages – English and te reo Māori – I often find myself grappling with how history is conveyed. I believe being multilingual sharpens my ability to detect ...2 days ago
- NZ might soon be in firing line for US tariffs in Trump’s trade war – economist
New Zealand might soon be in the firing line for US tariffs amid an escalating global trade war, an economist is warning. ...2 days ago
- Luxon’s Investment Claims Undermined By Breaches Of Free Trade Agreements
Questions on New Zealand’s commitment to the environmental chapters have already been raised in the UK and EU Parliaments. ...2 days ago
- Curious Kids: what was the biggest dinosaur that ever lived?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago Getty Images What actually was the biggest dinosaur? – Zavier, 14, Tauranga, New Zealand. Great question Zavier, and one that palaeontologists (scientists who study fossil animals and plants) are interested ...2 days ago
- Echo Chamber: Who’s in charge? And what country is this?
With several key players away, parliament’s B team put on a confusing and unorganised performance at yesterday’s question time. Prime minister Chris Luxon missed Wednesday’s question time because he was in Auckland preparing for his big international investment summit. Several other senior ministers were also absent, practising their speeches and ...2 days ago
- Jacinda Ardern writes children’s book about parenting while being prime minister
The book is a celebration of the relationship between working mothers and their children. ...2 days ago
- Parliament brings electronically-monitored bail law into line with practice
Under urgency, parliament has updated the law on electronically-monitored bail, bringing it into line with actual practice. ...2 days ago
- PM tells investors NZ is a safe haven in a volatile world
Analysis: It’s not a criticism of Donald Trump’s tariffs, per se. Christopher Luxon wouldn’t make the same mistake that his Government has already sacked its UK High Commissioner over. But the Prime Minister is now on stage at his infrastructure investment summit at the Park Hyatt on Auckland’s waterfront, unapologetically highlighting ...2 days ago
- We tracked the mental health of trans and gender-diverse Australians for over 20 years. And we’re ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne The mental health of trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians is worse than the general population and the gulf is getting wider. Our new study, published ...2 days ago
- Help Me Hera: How do I relax after an ugly divorce?
I’ve met someone new, but I’m haunted by the ghost of my last relationship. This week’s question comes from Instagram. We accept questions of all shapes and sizes, emailed to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera How to calm tf down and feel safe/relaxed in your first relationship after a very not nice ...2 days ago
- Cleaner hits out at Willis’ plan to scrap Living Wage for new contracts
The proposal sends a message that people like him don't matter, Liam Saw says. ...2 days ago
- Independent MPs are elected for a reason – hung parliaments may be precisely what voters want
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Signing off his 26-year parliamentary career three years ago, the retiring Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon lamented a power imbalance that allowed the majority party routinely to railroad the national legislature. In a refreshingly ...2 days ago
- Luxury hiking developments look picture-perfect, but could stop everyday Australians from accessing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascal Scherrer, Associate Professor, Southern Cross University Leah-Anne Thompson/Shutterstock Luxury hiking developments are popping up around Australia – fancy lodges, hot showers and extensive walking infrastructure. While many opt for these deluxe alternatives to a backpack and tent, they can also ...2 days ago
- ‘They eat snacks during class and swing on chairs’: the worrying, sexist behaviour of some young...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Adelaide Shutterstock/ Matej Kastelic Editor’s note: this article contains examples of offensive and abusive language. Researchers have been reporting a disturbing rise in sexist, misogynist behaviour from students in school ...2 days ago
- How AI images are ‘flattening’ Indigenous cultures – creating a new form of tech colonialism
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John McMullan, Screen Production Lecturer, Murdoch University It feels like everything is slowly but surely being affected by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). And like every other disruptive technology before it, AI is having both positive and negative outcomes for society. ...2 days ago
- World-first analysis of seabirds who’ve eaten plastic reveals slow, insidious health impacts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Lavers (Métis Nation ᓲᐊᐧᐦᑫᔨᐤ), Lecturer in Ornithology, Charles Sturt University Ingested plastic recovered from one of the shearwater chicks included in the study. Jennifer Lavers We all know microplastics are bad for the environment and our health, but do we really ...2 days ago
- Teens planning to go into trades deserve better deal from school system, career advisors say
School careers advisors say schools and the qualification system were too focused on the 30 percent of teens who went to university. ...2 days ago
- Trans and non-binary New Zealanders earn less and are more likely to be unemployed – new study
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Plum, Senior Research Fellow, Auckland University of Technology Atstock Productions/Shutterstock Trans and non-binary people in New Zealand and elsewhere can be the targets of harmful rhetoric and violence. Recent research found one in five trans and non-binary people in ...2 days ago
- Government sets out its wares for global infrastructure investors
A two-day summit aimed at wooing some of the world’s most powerful financial institutions kicks off in Auckland today, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Global financial firms descend on Auckland for government summit Today marks the ...2 days ago
- Who is Marco Rubio and what can Winston Peters expect from their DC meeting?
The foreign minister is set to sit down with his US counterpart as Ukraine talks and a reported bust-up with Elon Musk linger in the air. Fresh from vanquishing the woke, Winston Peters heads to the US today for a burst of whistlestop diplomacy, beginning at the UN in New ...2 days ago
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