crime
Categories under crime
- domestic violence (14)
- police (248)
- prisons (101)
Overblown rhetoric and Laura Norder
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, November 27th, 2022 - 69 comments
This week has seen some extreme rhetoric from various quarters about who to blame for a recent senseless killing. But news that the person arrested had recently been extradited from Australia has shown the rhetoric to be entirely misplaced.
National’s Boot Camps announcement is deeply cynical policy recycling
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, November 21st, 2022 - 28 comments
There should be a law against the cynical recycling of dog whistle policies that everyone knows will not work. Last week’s announcement by National of a boot camp policy is as good an example as you can imagine.
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.
Mark Mitchell is Kim Hilled on National Radio
Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, August 29th, 2022 - 35 comments
National should learn. They should never send an MP into an interview with Kim Hill unless they are completely prepared. As Mark Mitchell learned this morning.
National needs better lawyers
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, June 8th, 2022 - 68 comments
Christopher Luxon this morning called for the police getting warrantless search powers for arms. But the law already allows for warrantless searches where Arms Act violations are suspected.
Why haven’t the police acted?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, February 18th, 2022 - 474 comments
It is day 10 of the Anti vax protest on Parliament’s grounds. More cars are being parked illegally and despite considerable disruption to Wellington’s roading network so far not one car has been towed by the police.
Terrorist attack – Law changes may not have helped deal
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, September 7th, 2021 - 15 comments
A proposed urgent change in the law concerning preparing to commit a terrorist attack may not have stopped the New Lynn attack from happening.
Can The Terror-Injured Citizens Hold the New Zealand Government To Account?
Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, September 5th, 2021 - 57 comments
While Prime Minister Ardern is an empathic Prime Minister, good for the country in a crisis, and is genuinely caring, there’s also a time for citizens to say that the state must pay to right wrongs.
The politics of the New Lynn attack
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, September 4th, 2021 - 111 comments
Early days so far but the New Lynn attack will spark a debate about the adequacy of the country’s terrorism suppression laws and about citizenship rights.
Terrorist attack in New Lynn
Written By: - Date published: 5:44 pm, September 3rd, 2021 - 132 comments
News broke this afternoon of an attack at Countdown Lynnmall where the assailant was shot and six people injured, three critically. Jacinda Ardern and Police Commissioner have just given a stand up conference and have advised that the assailant was ISIS inspired.
Lies damned lies and Crime statistics
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, August 1st, 2021 - 13 comments
It should be an offence for political parties to deliberately misrepresent law and order statistics as National has done this week. It should be an aggravating feature if the party is a conservative party that champions law and order issues. After all fraud is an offence and if we don’t punish it appropriately then everyone will do it.
Rare misstep
Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, July 14th, 2021 - 37 comments
Simeon Brown in his attack on the Government for allegedly funding the Mongrel Mob has shown a disturbing ability to understand how Government works and an even more disturbing inability to perform basic maths.
Government to issue an apology for the dawn raids
Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, June 15th, 2021 - 23 comments
The Government has announced it will publicly apologise for the treatment of Pacific people in the 1970s when they were harassed and discriminated against by the Police because of the place of their birth and the colour of their skin.
C’mon National!
Written By: - Date published: 1:27 pm, May 17th, 2021 - 20 comments
Forlorn for now though they may be, this is the advice National MPs need right now.
Israel commits war crime in Gaza
Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, May 16th, 2021 - 50 comments
The state of Israel has committed a war crime by deliberately targeting and blowing up a Gaza tower that housed civilian residents and the Aljazeera Middle East office.
The biggest grifter
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, April 5th, 2021 - 17 comments
The New York Times is reporting that the Trump Campaign sucked in a whole lot of republican voters by asking for urgent donations but then treating them as regular rather than one off donations unless donors discovered and clicked on a well hidden check box.
Who’s the wokester?
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, February 24th, 2021 - 41 comments
Simon Bridges has repeated claims that Police Commissioner Andy Coster is “wokester” and has underlined how weak National’s caucus discipline is.
Prison conditions
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, January 4th, 2021 - 27 comments
Statements by the Minister for Corrections and Corrections themselves asserting that there had been no complaints about prison conditions at Waikeria, in the face of the Ombudsman’s report, just look to me to be pure sophistry and bullshit. The report on conditions in the high security make grim reading. Even ignoring the inmates protest – I want to protest about the waste of my taxes in providing such a unproductive, inhumane and outright evil environment.
Waikeria Prison
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, January 3rd, 2021 - 95 comments
The stand off at Waikeria Prison between inmates and Corrections staff has attracted two responses from opposition parties, one being constructive and helpful and the other being complete and utter grandstanding.
Trump pardons buddies
Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, December 27th, 2020 - 13 comments
Donald trump has in the past couple of days issued a number of pardons to people including former members of his campaign team, Jared Kushner’s father, a group of contractors involved in the massacre of 14 Iraqi civilians including a 14 year old boy and Ben Carson’s best friend.
No Right Turn: If police think this is lawful and ethical, why did they try to hide it?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, September 1st, 2020 - 42 comments
“The Privacy Commisisoner has said explicitly that any use of facial recognition needs a high level of scrutiny, which for a government agency, effectively means their approval. Police deliberately avoided doing that.”
National’s week from hell
Written By: - Date published: 6:01 pm, August 2nd, 2020 - 34 comments
A review of National’s week which is as bad as any week I can remember.
West Auckland Shooting
Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, June 19th, 2020 - 171 comments
Two police officers have been shot in West Auckland. Is it time to arm the Police?
Strike Force Raptor is no more
Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, June 11th, 2020 - 10 comments
National has backed away from its policy of creating Strike Force Raptor Police Unit, a unit based on an Australian force dedicated to terrorising possible gang members.
Black lives matter Aotearoa version
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, June 10th, 2020 - 53 comments
The Black Lives Matter movement is causing many countries to reflect on their history and practices. And the decision of the police to discontinue the Armed Response Teams Trial and the Childrens Commissioner’s scathing report on Oranga Tamariki’s practices in the uplifting of young children, mostly Maori, from their mothers are examples of the change that is happening.
NZ Police abandon Armed Response Teams
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, June 10th, 2020 - 9 comments
We have a model of policing by consent and that means we need the vast majority of people to see as legitimate the style in which we’re policing and it’s been clear to me that there has not been acceptance of this as an appropriate style of policing in New Zealand. – Police Commissioner Andrew Coster
Black lives matter
Written By: - Date published: 1:09 am, June 6th, 2020 - 106 comments
The civil war may have ended slavery, the civil rights movement may have changed the legal framework ending segregation in the Southern States, but the idea that white people’s lives matter more has survived into the 21st century.
What the Greens did
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 15th, 2020 - 39 comments
A round up of the Green Party’s achievements in the 2020 Budget: funding for nature, the commitment to ending violence, and public housing and insulation. And a look at the pragmatics of what the Greens can currently accomplish.
Viruses love liberty – they can breed more.
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, May 14th, 2020 - 25 comments
Viruses and other diseases simply don’t care about abstractions like ‘human rights’. They just want to breed. We need a better legislative toolkit to deal with epidemics. There is only so long that a draconian state of emergency should be maintained. Like 1918 we need to start thinking about the future Health Act with reserve powers like level 2 and 1. In the meantime, we’ll deal with the virus with this imperfect act as a tool.
Go Joe.
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, May 9th, 2020 - 50 comments
The clock is ticking on Joe Biden.
Phasing into phase 4
Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, March 23rd, 2020 - 147 comments
Heading into phase three, moving into phase four 48 hours later. Here is the video briefing and the quick analysis.
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes on Monday, March 24
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/$, ...7 days ago - Gordon Campbell on Israel’s murderous relapse, and Peters’ sad decline
In the past week, Israel has reverted to slaughtering civilians, starving children and welshing on the terms of the peace deal negotiated earlier this year. The IDF’s current offensive seems to be intended to render Gaza unlivable, preparatory (perhaps) to re-occupation by Israeli settlers. The short term demands for the ...1 week ago - 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 ...1 week 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 ...1 week 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 ...1 week 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 ...1 week 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 ...1 week 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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, ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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, ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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 ...2 weeks 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
- Travelling overseas? You could be at risk of measles. Here’s how to ensure you’re protected
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Archana Koirala, Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist; Clinical Researcher, University of Sydney Julia Suhareva/Shutterstock On March 26 NSW Health issued an alert advising people to be vigilant for signs of measles after an infectious person visited Sydney Airport and two locations ...3 days ago - Gavin Ellis: Forensic detail on NZME but where are the guarantees?
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – KNIGHTLY VIEWS: By Gavin Ellis Excoriating is the word that may best describe expat Canadian James Grenon’s 11-page critique of NZME. His forensic examination of the board he hopes to replace and the company’s performance is a sobering read. You ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hamish McCallum, Emeritus Professor, infectious disease ecology, Griffith University Ken Griffiths/Shutterstock Last week, Queensland Health alerted the public about the risk of Australian bat lyssavirus, after a bat found near a school just north of Brisbane was given to a wildlife ...3 days ago
- Christopher Luxon says Govt has not received proposal on Eden Park stadium upgrade
It comes after Auckland Council voted to endorse an upgraded Eden Park over a new downtown stadium on Thursday. ...3 days ago - The Friday Poem: “discharge notes (ii)” by Amy Marguerite
A new poem by Amy Marguerite, whose debut poetry collection, over under fed, is out now with Auckland University Press. discharge notes (ii) a few years ago i decided i’d write a list of all the women i owe my life to even the women who have hurt me ...3 days ago - The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending March 28
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) The unstoppable Suzanne Collins’ latest return to ...3 days ago
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Troy Rawhiti-Connell talks to Alien Weaponry about living and creating as Māori, and the toxicity of social media. It’s a Friday morning in Tāmaki Makaurau when Lewis de Jong and Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds of Northland metal band Alien Weaponry join our Zoom call. They’re inside their tour bus, somewhere else ...3 days ago
- Fitting the ‘missing puzzle pieces’ – research sheds light on the deep history of social chang...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dylan Gaffney, Associate Professor of Palaeolithic Archaeology, University of Oxford Tristan Russell, CC BY-SA Owing to its violent political history, West Papua’s vibrant human past has long been ignored. Unlike its neighbour, the independent country of Papua New Guinea, West Papua’s ...3 days ago
- Everything you say to an Alexa speaker will be sent to Amazon – starting today
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Reid, PhD Candidate, School of Cybernetics, Australian National University Amazon Amazon has disabled two key privacy features in its Alexa smart speakers, in a push to introduce artificial intelligence-powered “agentic capabilities” and turn a profit from the popular devices. ...3 days ago
- Watch live: Christopher Luxon speaks from South Island Agricultural Field Days
The Prime Minister is joined by Agriculture Minister Todd McClay. ...3 days ago
- Meet the brave New Zealander on the new season of Alone Australia
Tara Ward talks to Shay Williamson, the first New Zealander to compete on the realest reality TV show on our screens. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A new season of Alone – the global survival TV series that takes a group ...3 days ago
- Minister – Hear The Voice Of Health Unions If You Want A Better Health System
We agree with the Minister on one thing - New Zealanders deserve a health system that ensures patients get timely, quality health care, but he’s going about it the wrong way, said National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga ...3 days ago - Trump is interested in joining the Commonwealth. It’s not up to him – or even the king
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Altman, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University It seems Britain has one key inducement to offer US President Donald Trump: a state visit hosted by King Charles. One can only imagine ...3 days ago
- Albanese calls May 3 election, with cost of living the central battleground
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australians will go to the polls on May 3 for an election squarely centred on the cost of living. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Governor-General Sam Mostyn at Yarralumla first thing on Friday morning. ...3 days ago
- View from The Hill: uninspiring leaders, stressed voters and the shadow of Trump make for an uncerta...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The usual story for a first-term government is a loss of seats, as voters send it a message, but ultimate survival. It can be a close call. John Howard risked all in 1998 with ...3 days ago
- Australians almost never vote out a first-term government. So why is this year’s election looking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pandanus Petter, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University Now that an election has been called, Australian voters will go to the polls on May 3 to decide the fate of the first-term, centre-left Australian Labor Party ...3 days ago
- Australia’s embrace of independent political candidates shows there’s no such thing as a safe se...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Visitor, School of History, Australian National University At the last federal election, Australia elected the largest lower house crossbench in its post-war federal history. In addition to four Greens MPs, Rebekah Sharkie from the Centre Alliance and Bob Katter ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University They are neither as leafy nor as affluent as much of the Liberal heartland, but Peter Dutton believes the outer ring-roads of Australia’s capitals provide the most direct route to power. He has ...3 days ago
- Corrugated iron, exotic animals and big name artists: A visit to Gibbs Farm
On rolling hills overlooking the Kaipara Harbour, one millionaire’s vision of exotic animals coexisting with monumental contemporary art has been realised. Gabi Lardies pays a visit. I thought I was so smart and so cheeky or maybe very stupid from sun exposure when I wrote “are exotic animals art?” in ...3 days 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. ...3 days 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 ...3 days 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. ...3 days 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 ...3 days 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 ...3 days 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 ...3 days 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 ...3 days 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 ...3 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, ...3 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. ...3 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. ...3 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 ...3 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 ...3 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. ...3 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 ...3 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. ...3 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. ...3 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 ...3 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. ...3 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. ...3 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 ...3 days ago
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