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Signals
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 16th, 2017 - 124 comments
The politics of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Missing voices
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, April 20th, 2017 - 39 comments
Former Trump supporter speaks Her Truth
#Trumpcare
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, March 16th, 2017 - 22 comments
The proposed Republican replacement of Obamacare will, surprise surprise, result in lower benefits, reduced coverage and a tax cut for the wealthy.
More Multi-millionaires than ever!
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, January 16th, 2017 - 98 comments
In this glorious ‘go ahead’, ‘get ahead’ land of opportunity…
Chloe King – John Key, I am a low waged worker, and neither “lazy” nor “drug addled”
Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, September 9th, 2016 - 254 comments
Blogger and social activist Chloe King, one of the hundreds of thousands of low waged workers in this country was devastated by John Key’s comments suggesting that she and others were lazy and had no work ethic. This is her response.
Race, Class, Global Warming and Democracy.
Written By: - Date published: 1:06 pm, September 7th, 2016 - 18 comments
Nothing and no-one is separate in this world. Nothing and no-one is more important than anything else or anyone else; no voice greater and no voice lesser.
New Zealand’s most shameful secret: ‘We have normalised child poverty’
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, August 16th, 2016 - 175 comments
Fuck the whole “Brighter Future” New Zealand.
House Tales.
Written By: - Date published: 3:01 pm, March 22nd, 2016 - 32 comments
If ‘home is where the heart is’ then what’s the story when everything’s heartless?
Glasses and Brick Walls (& woods and trees).
Written By: - Date published: 9:41 pm, March 21st, 2016 - 47 comments
The thing about not having great sight is that sometimes you don’t really see things coming.
The mantra of ‘Poor Choices’
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, December 12th, 2015 - 195 comments
It is that time of year when poor people realise just how poor they really are – the season for giving, the season to be jolly. Well that may be so for some of us, but some people will be working on Christmas day instead of spending time with loved ones. These will probably be […]
There is Hope.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 10th, 2015 - 65 comments
Anarchism, past and present.
Food Bank Charity
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, October 30th, 2015 - 97 comments
Guest post from Kōrero Pono on the politics and ethics of food banks.
The problem is child poverty not CYF
Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, September 28th, 2015 - 33 comments
The Rebstock Panel inquiry could be read to confirm that Child Youth and Family is unable to perform its job properly because of it is not properly resourced to provide the job. But it is clear that National is loathe to provide it with any more resources. And the elephant in the room is that the Government fails to understand that escalating child poverty is the cause the crisis.
John Key’s brighter future is not for everyone
Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, August 20th, 2015 - 46 comments
While beneficiary numbers decrease the incidence of beneficiaries being trespassed and the numbers of pregnant women living homeless is increasing. Are we really seeing things improve or are more and more people falling through the cracks?
Dear NZ Labour. Listen up.
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 12th, 2015 - 48 comments
For the sake of reference – Nye Bevan was a Labour mp and the architect of the British NHS. Michael Sheen’s speech was a defense of that institution, but the underpinning message is, well…
Pillock of the week
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 24th, 2015 - 47 comments
Although John Key clearly wins the award this week for unbecoming insensitive and bizarre behaviour there is a media figure who did their best to provide him with competition. And it is not Rachel Glucina.
Politician salary rises and the minimum wage increase
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 27th, 2015 - 106 comments
John Key has yet again asked the Remuneration Authority to limit the increase in MPs pay. And yet again they have said that the law required them to make the decision they did. So MPs get a hefty raise at the same time that the minimum wage is raised slightly. And the media report Key’s comments sympathetically. He is the Prime Minister. If anyone can change the law he is the person best placed.
War HUH!
Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, February 13th, 2015 - 417 comments
NZ is again being asked to go to war in Iraq. The Clark Labour Government said no a decade ago, but in 2015 there may be a compelling reason to join the fight; this time it’s the right thing to do. New Standard author te reo putake puts the case for NZ entering the battle against ISIS.
One word away from needing food parcels
Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, December 24th, 2014 - 71 comments
The smug middle class National voter seems oblivious to how close they are to financial hardship…
Murders out west
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, June 12th, 2014 - 203 comments
Four alleged murders out west in the past month have caused a great deal of soul searching. What is going wrong? What can we do to prevent any further tragic loss of life?
September 18th
Written By: - Date published: 7:36 pm, April 8th, 2014 - 46 comments
The 18th of September 2014 is a big day.
On that day, people living in Scotland will decide if they want to become citizens in a nation that will have reclaimed its sovereignty.
How to build better beggars
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 1st, 2014 - 35 comments
In the United States, the street beggars have great patter. Despite what South Park would have us believe, when you walk down the main street of a major city, you don’t get hordes of people shiftlessly shaking cups at you, asking for “change?” There are a few. But far more often, there’s a story. I […]
State of Nations
Written By: - Date published: 6:11 pm, January 29th, 2014 - 24 comments
This post isn’t a ‘contrast and compare’ piece on the policy announcements of National, the Greens and Labour. Enough to say that National are pursuing privatisation while both Labour and Green are at least trying to do good things.
Shame about the reality of the bigger picture then.
Trickleup
Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, January 26th, 2014 - 207 comments
There has been an abundance of research showing that communities and societies function better when their resources are shared around. But the need to persuade ordinary people that this is so is the most important thing to achieve. Because without popular support attempts to change the current system are bound to fail.
Less (inequality) is more….
Written By: - Date published: 7:19 pm, January 25th, 2014 - 39 comments
John Key seems to be trying to fudge the evidence of the damaging inequalities in NZ. I recap Bunji’s 2010 series of posts on The Spirit Level showing the benefits of a more equal society. Will this be addressed by Cunliffe and Turei this long weekend?
Spot the difference! Stating the nation
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, January 23rd, 2014 - 97 comments
[Updated] Speeches: Key (today ZB Transcript). PM’s speech – untruths, misdirections & corporatisation of education – comment added. Cunliffe on Monday, on greater opportunities for all Kiwis. Metiria Turei’s speech, Sunday – will talk education, environment. Peters responds to Key. Greens response – education. Cunliffe’s Stand-up – audio.
Poverty, women & rape culture
Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, November 19th, 2013 - 130 comments
In our highly gendered socio-economic system that has institutionalised poverty, gendered violence, sexual violence and rape culture, low income women are multiply disadvantaged. Trigger warning: This post addresses some difficult and sensitive issues about poverty, women and rape culture. Subsequent comments will be tightly moderated.
Shhh! It’s the ‘P’ word.
Written By: - Date published: 5:01 pm, November 18th, 2013 - 339 comments
You don’t have to be white and male and financially wealthy to assume a prominent position within systems of patriarchy, but it helps. And you don’t have to be financially strapped and black and female to feel the full weight of patriarchy always pressing down on you, but it helps.
The magical world of New Zealand’s, Neo-Liberal right wing.
Written By: - Date published: 6:06 am, August 1st, 2013 - 82 comments
It has been obvious that some people live in a different world than the rest of us. One where Chicago school economics, work! One where you save the village by blowing it up! One where global warming can be stopped, Canute like, by legislation. One where dropping wages and giving everything to bloated financiers, makes […]
#voteWTF – Wednesday 19 June, 8:30pm, TV3
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, June 16th, 2013 - 26 comments
On this coming Wednesday’s episode of The Vote – our monthly break from the awfulness that I hear is 3rd Degree – a very angry-making important moot is to be discussed: Our kids – The problem’s not poverty, it’s parenting. Do you agree? I first heard of this on Twitter, was informed of this, and […]
The disconnected: the future of the left?
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, April 18th, 2013 - 42 comments
The current direction of Key’s government, and the challenging circumstances of the 21st century create a need for urgent attention to the form of a new left politics; one that embraces the working class, trade union solidarity, gender, diversity & the emerging “precariat”.
- Gender quotas weed out incompetent men – study
Does a new study answer an old debate? Photo: 123rf New research from the London School of Economics has found gender quotas can weed out “mediocre men” from politics and business. The merits of quotas and targets ...1 hour ago - OIA timeliness complaints
Official Information Act requests are supposed to be responded to "as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working days after the day on which the request is received". But as we all know, delays ...2 hours ago - The British used waterboarding in Northern IrelandIts long been known that the British government used torture in Northern Ireland during "the troubles". The Five Techniques were the subject of a case before the European Court of Human Rights, and it has since emerged that (contrary to ...3 hours ago
- Hard News: Blockchain, what is it?
Many people will have heard Blockchain or “distributed ledger technology” and some may have dismissed it as hype – especially when you hear claims that Blockchain is possibly the most important IT invention of our age. But no matter what ...4 hours ago - What Kiwirail is investing their budget money in
In the government’s budget last month, they allocated $450 million to Kiwirail over the next two years $450 million of that funding will be invested in KiwiRail over the next two financial years. “KiwiRail has achieved significant productivity and efficiency ...5 hours ago - The heart in the horror of Spookers
It's the largest haunted attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, an Auckland institution and, now, a film. We talk to director Florian Habicht about the people and the past of Spookers. Photo: Greta Anderson If you’ve ever been to Spookers, you’ll ...5 hours ago - Hard News: How journalism looks nowThere is more than one thing to be taken from the BBC Panorama programme London Tower Fire: Britain's Shame. The first is, of course, its damning indictment of the authorities whose catastrophic failure of care allowed so many people to ...5 hours ago
- Climate change: To the courts!There's an interesting case in court today: student Sarah Thomson is challenging the government's climate change target:Sarah Thomson, 26, will have her case against Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett for the perceived failure to set emissions targets that reflect the ...5 hours ago
- Not grovelling after allLast week, after a report in Stuff, I accused the Labour Party of grovelling to the almighty cow by backing away from resource rentals for water. But it turns out they were misreported:“It was reported following my speech to Federated ...6 hours ago
- Growing up at Granddad’s – A Matāriki story
As we walk forward into new beginnings, Matāriki reminds us of our past, loved ones who are no longer with us and the memories we shared with our whānau. Chev Hassett shares his story. With the whānau back ...6 hours ago - The racist right wing
7 hours ago - Corbyn at Glastonbury
Although this video of Jeremy Corbyn speaking at Glastonbury has already torn up lefty Twitter and Facebook, it deserves all the plugging it can get: The full text is here, and it’s a demonstration of how to communicate progressive values ...9 hours ago - Reviewing the OECD’s economic reviewThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the ‘rich countries club’, conducts an economic survey of its members. They just published their latest (2017) edition for New Zealand, which makes for some interesting reading. While the OECD’s reviews reflect its ...10 hours ago
- National Party Congress breakout: How to Deal with a Scandal
This weekend many hundreds of National Party delegates have descended on Wellington for the party’s pre-election congress. Apart from sounding slightly rude, this gathering is designed to pump the troops before the cut and thrust of this year’s, undoubtedly, turgid ...23 hours ago - TV Commercials – How Bad Are They?
When my wife and I returned home from England 23 years ago, one aspect of New Zealand life we noticed was the length of the commercial breaks on television. I could get down to the end of a long drive ...1 day ago - Do We Have to Put Up with Mike Hosking?Why do so many people dislike Mike Hosking? On the face of it, he has everything needed to host a successful daily television show. He is nice-looking (if you like that sort of thing), articulate and intelligent (or passably intelligent ...1 day ago
- Sunday readsA few pieces that caught my eye this week. Bec Shaw: Fat of the Furious I couldn’t write about what happened at the time because I felt so despairing when Roxane Gay discussed how humiliated the incident made her feel. ...1 day ago
- Sunday reading 25 June 2017
Welcome back to Sunday reading. It’s been a pretty interesting week in New Zealand politics, if you’ve been reading. But that’s not what this is about, so we’re not going to talk about it. Here’s a thought-provoking factoid about technological ...1 day ago - 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #25
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. Editor's Pick From heatwaves to hurricanes, floods to famine: seven climate change hotspots Global warming will not affect everyone equally. Here we look ...2 days ago - Foot in Mouth Award – Nicky Wagner, because disabilities issues are such a drag on a nice day
. . Bennett had it (and probably still does)… . . Key had it; . . … still had it; . . Aaron Gilmore had it; . . Steven Joyce has it; . . Alfred Ngaro has it; . . ...2 days ago - Opinion: I would never listen to any of my employees
By Winston Peters. By my count, it’s been four days since the Prime Minister and his smarmy little yuppie were exposed for what they are: liars, crooks, filthy, cronyistic, career-politician peddlers of self-interested rubbish. One of them is gone and ...2 days ago - Todd Barclay, Bill English and the OUTRAGE that is the Labour PartyThis week has been an interesting week in New Zealand politics. Here at MyThinks we thought we would ask our alt-right correspondent Richard Sevenhouses to pen a few words on his thoughts. Over to you Dick. This week started out ...2 days ago
- National penalising Kiwi homebuyers
The National led government appears to not give a damn that the levels of home ownership in New Zealand are continuing to decline.After much public and media concern about housing, the government through the Reserve Bank changed lending criteria in ...2 days ago - This is why they can’t have nice things
Earlier this year I bought the book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign for my Dad. Here's how one reviewer opens his account of that account:read more ...2 days ago - Nick Smith lied about combustible panels in NZ
The Grenfell Tower fire, which has caused many more deaths than the 79 currently confirmed, was thought to have started because of a faulty refrigerator. However the cause of the fire spreading so quickly has been identified as substandard combustible cladding, ...2 days ago - Christie’s law based on court incompetency
The killing of Christie Marceau was a very terrible thing, not least of all because it could have been prevented if the court system wasn't incompetent. Amongst other things, that’s one of the findings the inquest into her murder should ...2 days ago - Flashback Saturday: “What’s wrong with this picture?”
This post originally appeared in June 2012. Now I’m sure many of you will assume that this post is going to be about the old thing on rails in the middle of this picture but that isn’t what interests me ...2 days ago - A call to Israelis to disrupt the occupation
An Israeli sniper aiming at Palestinian protestors with live ammunition during confrontations following a protest against the occupation and in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, 26 May. Two weeks ...2 days ago - Trumpwatch – How Elon Musk can overcome Trump’s climate-change obstinacy. . Fun Fact #1: “According to an ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880. Two-thirds of ...3 days ago
- If North Korea didn’t exist the US would create itUS naval carrier taking part in manoeuvres off coast of Korea; Photo by JO JUNG-HO / Yonhap via AP) by Nizar Visram IN its latest move early June 2017, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution drafted ...3 days ago
- Correcting the wrongs of the pastGermany is to pardon and compensate victims of a Nazi-era anti-homosexual law: Germany’s parliament has voted to quash the convictions of 50,000 gay men sentenced for homosexuality under a Nazi-era law that remained in force after the second world war. ...3 days ago
- Farewell Gchat. Now we have to Hangout.
We pay tribute to the home of inane online chat. The sun has almost set on Gchat. Photo: 123rf On Monday, millions of office workers will wipe away a tear as instant messaging system Gchat is shut ...3 days ago - Grenfell Tower: the voice of a firefighterThis piece of writing is up on the Facebook ‘Save the Fire Service’ page and begins with ‘”Sent to us at STUKFS, powerful and emotional story from a firefighter who attended Grenfell Tower” (STUKFS is Save the UK Fire Service); ...3 days ago
- New Zealand votes against international lawOver fifty years ago, Britain stole the Chagos Islands and forcibly expelled their inhabitants to Mauritius to make way for a US military base. Since then, they've been fighting for justice through the UK courts, and most recently at the ...3 days ago
- Pull the other oneIssues around illegal interception of communications have been prominent in the media over the last few years. There's the Kim Dotcom case, of course, and all the GCSB's shennanigans around driftnetting communications (including those of New Zealanders) from our Pacific ...3 days ago
- East-West questioned in ParliamentThe East-West Link has been in the news a bit recently, such as on TV3’s The Nation on Saturday where Simon Bridges received a grilling about the business case. Cam has also written recently about the economics of the project and ...3 days ago
- French elections: Macron’s hollow ‘majority’by René Gimpel And so it came to pass – the prodigal obtained his majority. Emmanuel Macron, youngest French president and elected to public office for the first time, last year conjured up ex nihilo a political party, ...3 days ago
- The End of a Promising CareerMy twenty years in parliamentary politics taught me that, contrary to the opinions of many, most politicians pursue a political career for other than exclusively self-serving reasons. Most genuinely want to serve their fellow citizens or believe that they can ...3 days ago
- Unpaid, unhappy and over here – Labour’s intern scandal explained
What a mess. The gates of Awataha Marae, where the interns were staying. Photo: Mihingarangi Forbes/RNZ . WHAT WAS THE INTERNSHIP SCHEME? About 85 interns from overseas arrived in New Zealand to join the ...3 days ago - No comparison in substandard housing
The hypocrisy of the right wing concerning substandard accommodation couldn’t be more apparent this week. Happy to try and take the focus off of their Todd Barclay problem, the right wing propagandists are clearly overreacting to Labour’s voluntary overseas student's ...3 days ago - Hard News: Friday Music: Digging ASMRA week ago today on Lorde Listening Day, the singer and producer Chelsea Jade (who has a good new tune out, see below) tweeted that she was "getting ASMR shivers cascading down my skull from ella's voice all through this ...3 days ago
- Keeping up with the Kontentsphere
Has another week passed you by with nary a fleeting glance at the weird and wonderful world of online content? Do you quake with fear at the prospect of rolling up to yet another Friday drinks with no idea what’s ...3 days ago - Bill English must resign
The Todd Barclay debacle highlights just how dishonest many right wing politicians really are. For over a year Bill English and the National party maintained a lie, even reselecting Barclay knowing that he had committed a potential crime.Yesterday, the NZ ...3 days ago - Twitter is ridiculing ‘racist propaganda’ Hobson’s Pledge
Don Brash-led trust is stepping up its campaign to abolish what it claims is Māori favouritism. Straight in the fire. Photo: Twitter / Vincent O'Malley A group targeting what it says is rife “race-based privilege” in New ...3 days ago - London’s new transport strategy
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, recently released his new transport strategy and – in short – it looks fantastic. Crucially, the strategy recognises that transport is – literally – a means to an end and it really focuses on the ...3 days ago - What’s that banner up the top all about?Whether you visit Pundit frequently or just stop by now and then, you might have noticed recently a new banner across the top of the site and a bright red button on the right hand panel. They're there because the ...4 days ago
- Claiming that Listerine alleviates cold symptoms is false: To repeat or not to repeat the myth durin...
With terms such as “post-truth” and “fake news” becoming increasingly prominent in the media and public discourse, the ability to effectively correct inaccurate information has never been more pertinent. Unfortunately, the task of correcting misinformation is far from trivial. In ...4 days ago - The Scalise Shooting: this solves nothing!. . A few days ago; Congressman Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, was in critical condition on Wednesday night after he and three others were shot as they practiced for a charity baseball ...4 days ago
- Todd Barclay made decision to resign after listening to himself on dictaphone
Barclay says hearing himself “say things” was the “final straw.” Embattled National MP Todd Barclay resigned yesterday over allegations that he had maliciously recorded one of his staffers, Glenys Dickson. The scandal also landed the Prime Minister, Bill English, in ...4 days ago - Social Detox: On addiction, recovery and refusing to be compliant
Social Detox: On addiction, recovery and refusing to be compliantDay One I am writing this to you from Puna Whakataa, which is a Social Detox unit in Auckland, New Zealand, and what this means is that I have decided my ...4 days ago - US politics: with or without Trump, the ruling class assault proceeds on workersby The Spark The Trump administration might be mired in multiple investigations. A special prosecutor appointed by Trump’s own Department of Justice might be investigating Trump himself. The U.S. news media might obsess over Trump’s every rant on Twitter. ...4 days ago
- Guest Post: Education Amendment Bill – A Call to Action
The Education Amendment Bill is set to create great damage to tertiary education, in the guise of equity. In brief, it proposes equal funding to private and public tertiary institutions, for comparable programmes. This means public money goes to support private tertiary ...4 days ago - The schlocky and the gory and the cult.
A dive into New Zealand’s B movie past. A still from Death Warmed Up. On Tuesday, 22 people will cram into a small room with the best view in Wellington to watch a film called This ...4 days ago - Keep it Public
The Green Party strongly supports the Tertiary Education Unions call to #KeepitPublic Keep what public? Out quality tertiary education system that National is trying to open up to more private for-profit providers with a new law change. The (Tertiary Education ...4 days ago - There is corruption in New ZealandIts commonly believed that New Zealand is not a corrupt country. But that belief is wrong, according to a new study by Deloitte's:[A]ccounting firm Deloitte's latest bribery and corruption survey has found that about 20 percent of New Zealand companies ...4 days ago
- Oh What a Tangled Web WeWeave…
...4 days ago - Labour grovels to the almighty cowFarmers are destroying our environment, sucking our rivers dry and filling them with cowshit, while poisoning underground aquifers. So naturally, Labour wants to let them off paying for any of that:Labour has dropped its 2014 election policy to charge a ...4 days ago
- Boo hooFaced with the undeniable degradation of its rivers and lakes due to intensive dairy farming, ECan is finally planning to do something about it by imposing nutrient limits. Naturally, farmers hate the idea, claiming that it will put them out ...4 days ago
- The latest Labour muppetryLast week, the Labour Party announced a policy aimed at reducing the number of foreign students in New Zealand. Meanwhile, it turns out they've been using foreign students on their campaign - and mistreating them:A group of 85 Labour Party ...4 days ago
- Unlocking the Western City Centre – Federal St Laneway Stage 3
As part of the City Centre Masterplan, a laneway circuit was proposed. A circuit of laneways around the city would be upgraded to help unlock the city making it a more vibrant place for residents, tourists, workers & visitors. This while ...4 days ago - Twenty-four hours to have your say on National’s new tertiary education lawThere are only 24 hours left to have your say on a new law that will funnel public money into private, profit-making tertiary education institutions. It takes less than three minutes to make a submission to the Select Committee of MPs ...4 days ago
- New international student wellbeing strategy offers littleA new government International Student Wellbeing strategy sets lofty objectives for supporting overseas students, but provides little new information about how its broad vision will be achieved. Launched last week by Tertiary Education Minister, Paul Goldsmith, the strategy says the wellbeing of international ...4 days ago
- Another for-profit provider found plagiarisingThe New Zealand Qualifications Agency (NZQA) has told an international school in Auckland that it can no longer enrol new students after finding the institution was passing students with plagiarised assessments. More than 150 international students enrolled at the Imperial College ...4 days ago
- Otago university confirms plans to cut 13 jobsThe University of Otago is proposing to cut 13 full-time equivalent jobs from its School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences, management confirmed this week. Almost one third of academic full-time equivalent positions are expected to be cut, reducing the number ...4 days ago
- Additional funding announced for industry trainingWork-based training received a boost this week with the announcement that an extra $7 million will be made available for the Industry Training Fund. Tertiary Education Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Tertiary Education Minister Louise Upston told the Industry Training Federation Workforce Development ...4 days ago
- Groser and GCSB damage international reputation
We all know that Tim Groser is a complete tool and wasn’t suitable to head the World Trade Organisation. It was in fact his own bloated ego that promoted him for the job, a job that he thankfully failed to ...4 days ago - The Singles Life: The eerie defiance of Mermaidens
Welcome to weekly series The Singles Life, where known experts Katie Parker and Hussein Moses peruse, ponder and pontificate on the latest and (maybe) greatest in New Zealand music. Gussie Larkin and Lily Paris-West of Mermaidens. Wellington act ...4 days ago - Making PT hard
Over recent years public transport has clearly improved, as can be so easily observed by looking at the ridership figures. Yet, while it has improved and more improvements are on the way, it often feels like the system is let ...4 days ago - Gordon Campbell on the fallout from the Barclay tape
First published on Werewolf Todd Barclay – soft exit or hard exit? Anyone feeling that the watchdog roles of the media and Parliament have seen justice done to the scoundrel behind the taping scandal…well, maybe they should think again. This ...5 days ago - Identity politics – the beginning of the end?by Daniel Lopez In 2015, Rachel Dolezal, who had for years passed as black, was exposed as having Caucasian parents. She was accused of blackface and epitomising white privilege. Unsurprisingly, she was ruined. In a recent autobiography, she defined herself ...5 days ago
- To lead on climate, leave the ivy tower
America’s top universities expend considerable efforts to lead in the rankings, but last week they fell short—missing a critical opportunity to show moral leadership on climate change. If top schools want to lead on climate action, they should join the “We ...5 days ago - Is the pot plant recording?
...5 days ago - Green Party will repeal solar taxIt’s ridiculous for an electricity distribution monopoly to apply a charge on solar panels but worse than that, it’s harming our effort to tackle climate change. Hawke’s Bay lines company Unison last year announced a new solar charge for their ...5 days ago
- Tobacco Company Moves to Distance Itself From MP
Tobacco company Philip Morris is moving to distance itself from Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay, who once worked for it. Some people believed that Mr Barclay had been a high-ranked executive or spin doctor for the tobacco giant, but a Philip ...5 days ago - Treasury and the OIAHow does Treasury handle OIA requests? Someone is using FYI, the public OIA request system, to ask agencies for their OIA processes as part of a wider research program. Treasury's response to this request is here, and the documents they ...5 days ago
- Bill English must be upfront about his involvement in Barclay scandal
Bill English’s explanations that he was on the periphery of the long running employment dispute involving Todd Barclay don’t stack up, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister claims to have been a bystander, but we know he was ...3 hours ago - Labour will not resile from royaltiesLabour believes cleaning up our rivers so that they are clean enough to swim in is the most important freshwater issue for this election, but that it is also fair that a royalty should be charged where public water is ...1 day ago
- With friends like Hone, who needs enemies?With less than three months until the election, Hone Harawira has delivered another blow to the Māori Party’s flagship policy of Te Ture Whenua Māori reform and the already unstable MANA-Maori Party alliance, says Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “On The ...1 day ago
- Shifty Bill jumps the sharkBill English's claim today that it has never been established that Todd Barclay's recordings of his staff took place is bizarre and shows a complete lack of honesty and leadership, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. "Todd Barclay told Bill ...2 days ago
- Te Ture Whenua – gone by lunchtime?Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has to front up about yesterday’s mysterious withdrawal of Te Ture Whenua Bill from Parliament’s order paper, says Labour’s Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. “Has he lost his way and has decided to run ...3 days ago
- Bill English ignorance of law beggars beliefFor Bill English to claim he and others in the National Party didn’t realise the law may have been broken in the Todd Barclay taping scandal is simply not credible, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister ...3 days ago
- Government ignored advice on Pacific people’s superannuationThe Government ignored advice from the Ministry of Pacific Peoples that raising the Superannuation age of eligibility would have a ‘disproportionately high impact’ on Pacific people, says Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson Aupito William Sio. “The Ministry for Pacific ...3 days ago
- Bill English misleads Parliament on Police statementBill English's attempt to restore his damaged credibility over the Todd Barclay affair has backfired after his claim to have "reported" Mr Barclay's actions to Police has proven not to be true, says Labour MP for Wellington Central Grant Robertson. ...4 days ago
- Keep it Public
The Green Party strongly supports the Tertiary Education Unions call to #KeepitPublic Keep what public? Out quality tertiary education system that National is trying to open up to more private for-profit providers with a new law change. The (Tertiary Education ...4 days ago - This ‘technical error’ is hurting big timeJonathan Coleman cannot resort to his ongoing litany that the Ministry of Health’s $38 million budget blunder is an error on paper only, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark. “He might keep saying it’s a ‘technical error’ but the reality ...4 days ago
- Labour to invest in public transport for Greater ChristchurchLabour will commit $100m in capital investment for public transport in Greater Christchurch, including commuter rail from Rolleston to the CBD, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. “As the rebuild progresses, there are huge opportunities for Greater Christchurch, but ...4 days ago
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- TOP’s Mika on Labour bringing in unpaid overseas studentsOpportunities Party Auckland Central Candidate Mika responds to Labour Party bringing in unpaid overseas students. ...3 days ago
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- Emily Writes on the couch with a clinical psychologist
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes is an anxious mess, which is why she’s constantly talking about mental health in mothers and the need to get help if you need it. She recently spoke to a clinical psychologist who specialises in ...3 days ago - All the music-related bits of Dominic Hoey’s novel Iceland (and a playlist!)Dominic Hoey shares the music-related parts of his new novel Iceland and makes a playlist so you can play along while reading.Music features heavily in my novel Iceland and since we’re living in the future, I thought I’d put together ...3 days ago
- The Unity Books best-selling chart for the week ending June 23The best-selling books at the two best bookstores known to God. WELLINGTON UNITY1 The Whole Intimate Mess: Motherhood, Politics & Women’s Writing by Holly Walker (Bridget Williams Texts, $15)“There is nothing normal about crawling up the hallway, screaming and hitting yourself ...3 days ago
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