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Gender Essentialists Hate the Olympics
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, August 10th, 2024 - 157 comments
The Olympics are a real persistent problem for gender essentialists.
How I answered the census ‘gender’ question
Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, April 13th, 2023 - 77 comments
Guest Post by Laura López on the complex problems with the “What is your gender?” question in the New Zealand 2023 Census.
Gender recognition: woke-ism or human rights?
Written By: - Date published: 6:31 am, March 20th, 2023 - 259 comments
This debate is about every teenager, anywhere in the world, questioning their gender and sexual identity. This is about the person who after years of suffering, at some point in their lives decides they wish to identify as having a gender identity different to that of their birth.
Gender Critical Disputes
Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, February 5th, 2023 - 34 comments
A selection of essays on the importance of feminism in gender critical debate has been published by UK-based, feminist collective The Radical Notion.
Medical gender transition in New Zealand: How common is it really?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, November 25th, 2022 - 42 comments
Laura López decided to explore and analyse the available evidence on medical transition in New Zealand.
National has gone full woke
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 pm, November 1st, 2022 - 22 comments
Remember this scene from the Tauranga by election? National has decided it will not be repeated by ensuring that it has no potential white male candidates for the Hamilton West by election.
The Conversion Practice Prohibition Act: what does it mean for counsellors, parents and teachers?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, August 26th, 2022 - 3 comments
Will the Act catch counsellors or parents who don’t offer automatic affirmation for a young person who declares a gender identity?
Should therapists and counsellors speak about the medicalisation of gender non-conforming children?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, August 4th, 2022 - 48 comments
Is there a connection between the closure of the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service in the UK, and a conference being held 12,000 miles away in Nelson, Aotearoa?
Early voting opens in Aussie election
Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, May 11th, 2022 - 33 comments
The early voting polls have opened in Australia, so the election there is nigh. Reading on the election there has been interesting. The weirdness of marginal seats. The burgeoning dissatisfaction and probable deciding impact of Aussie women on this election result.
UK government signals urgent inquiry into overmedicalisation of gender non-conforming children
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, April 24th, 2022 - 40 comments
This is a medical scandal affecting children and teens, and the left is still largely in denial of it.
Why Sweden is changing its gender transition policy for children and young people
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, March 18th, 2022 - 105 comments
In the last couple of weeks, Sweden has joined a small, but growing number of countries that have changed their policies regarding medical gender transition for children.
What is gender?
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 11th, 2021 - 152 comments
“When people are arguing about gender, quite often one of them is talking about sex, one of them is talking about social stereotypes, and a third one is talking about gender identity, and they’re all shouting at each other”
Guest post: Whisper to a scream
Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, October 13th, 2021 - 196 comments
What can you do when what you say is not what is being heard? This Guest Post by Standardista Molly explores different beliefs about femaleness and transness, and how we talk about these.
Gender split is interesting in latest poll
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, October 7th, 2021 - 30 comments
The latest Roy Morgan poll was run between August 30th and September 26th. The headline results of Labour/Greens with 55% (increase by 3.5%) against opposition National/Act/Maori parties on 41% (up 0.5%) were good enough. But they also showed the gender split.. Women are deserting the right.
National used to be better than this
Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, August 6th, 2021 - 59 comments
Back in the day National used to have a strong urban liberal wing that gave the impression that it was sympathetic to LGBTQI issues. Yesterday that impression was trashed.
Disarming New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, December 7th, 2019 - 39 comments
what are the connections between armed police patrols, gendered violence, and a gun lobby protest outside a school?
Toxic masculinity
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, August 28th, 2019 - 153 comments
As the Amazon burns and the world looks on aghast as our lungs go up in flames Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has chosen to respond to an offer of help from the G7 by picking a fight with French leader Emmanuel Macron.
TERFed Out: UPDATED
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 pm, November 29th, 2018 - 327 comments
Labour MP Louisa Wall has written an opinion piece in response to Herald columnist Rachel Stewart’s attack earlier in the week on the trans community and their LGBTIQ+ allies. It’s very good.
UPDATE: Rachel Stewart, as predicted, has blocked me on twitter. But not before going full on racist.
How Patriarchy Works; A Newshub Special Investigation
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, September 25th, 2018 - 80 comments
A schoolgirl correctly identified exactly what caused the stink at Carterton South school. Why wasn’t she listened to?
Litigation and equal pay – a history of the 1950’s equal pay campaign
Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, August 28th, 2018 - 3 comments
Forward In 2016 I wrote the below dissertation as part of my History Honours degree at Victoria University. This dissertation explores the 1950s equal pay campaign, and specifically looks at the Jean Parker Case. Jean Parker was a PSA member employed at IRD, who like Kristine Bartlett 60 years later, won a landmark equal pay legal […]
Period. End. Done.
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, August 26th, 2018 - 42 comments
The Scottish government has just taken a massive step to eradicate period poverty. Why not here?
Far right Canadian activist wants to come to New Zealand to insult local communities
Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, July 6th, 2018 - 292 comments
Far right journalist Lauren Southern wants to come to New Zealand to give a speech which will no doubt insult various communities. Should we let her in?
Coming up, Babies!
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, June 15th, 2018 - 68 comments
Jacinda’s baby is going to be big news soon.
Julie Anne Genter: Working for Women’s Rights on the World Stage
Written By: - Date published: 6:08 am, March 27th, 2018 - 71 comments
The Minister for Women on her recent trip with the NZ delegation to the UN.
Marilyn Waring still takes no prisoners
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, March 25th, 2018 - 59 comments
Unpaid labour “is the single largest sector in any nation’s economy and the whole of the market economy only is able to function on top of that.”
ALRANZ: 16 reasons to change the abortion law
Written By: - Date published: 6:08 am, February 18th, 2018 - 23 comments
Labour are intending to change NZ’s abortion laws. ALRANZ has 16 good reasons why that’s important (and overview of the current laws).
Labour to reform abortion law
Written By: - Date published: 6:36 am, February 17th, 2018 - 328 comments
Justice Minister Andrew Little has given the go ahead to change NZ’s archaic abortion legislation.
Women’s March Speech.
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, January 21st, 2018 - 46 comments
Sometimes, someone just knocks it out the park. Viola Davis just knocked it out the park. (h/t Carolyn_nth)
Shaking the Tree
Written By: - Date published: 11:35 am, December 11th, 2017 - 69 comments
When an apple tree is shaken, pips can fall to the ground and germinate. And then things grow back more or less as before.
Voltairine de Cleyre
Written By: - Date published: 6:39 am, December 9th, 2017 - 15 comments
When history buries treasures, those treasures don’t have to remain buried.
Sport, politics and equality
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 6th, 2017 - 88 comments
Ok, so I know I’m rather late to the party on this but I figured that equality is timeless and it would be a pity to resist using this bully pulpit I have access to now as a vehicle to advance my pet topics. So here goes. Back in October, Grant Robertson copped a little […]
- Britain brings together cyber and EW. Australia take note
This September, Britain will rename Strategic Command as the Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) following emphasis on the cyber and electromagnetic (CyberEM) domain within the Strategic Defence Review issued on 2 June, marking deep ...12 minutes ago - You Can’t Kill A Rainbow
Photo: NZ GeographicToday I’d like to speak about something in which I have no qualifications in - LGBTQ+At a younger age, I remember sitting on a train and feeling the eyes of an individual on me.I looked up, and it was another young person, the same gender as I.I felt ...33 minutes ago - Thursday 17 July
About 500 lab workers employed by medical testing company – Awanui – have settled on a 9.2 percent salary increase after six months of strike action. The PSA is urging health officials to reopen consultation into proposals to close an Auckland mental health facility, citing concerns about predetermination. Camilla Belich’s ...1 hour ago - Potaka delaying homelessness data release
Briefly for all subscribers on Thursday, July 17, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka is delaying the release of a regular Housing and Urban Development Ministry (HUD) report on ...3 hours ago - For drone defence, Canberra should choose independent Australian companies
A crucial decision will occur in the next few months that will shape Australia’s capability against small drones for decades: the selection of the systems integration partner (SIP) for Canberra’s Land 156 drone-defence project. The ...3 hours ago
- Climate Adam & GeoGirl explain a recent study reconstructing 485-million-year history of Earth&#...
The videos include personal musings and conclusions of the creators climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy and geologist Dr. Rachel Phillips. They are presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video descriptions for references (if any). Adam Levy and Rachel Phillips collaborated on two videos for their respective Youtube channels ...17 hours ago - Friends to all: Competing for Pacific security partnerships
The Pacific faces a rapidly evolving security environment. Foreign partners increasingly compete for comprehensive partnerships, engagements, coordination and influence. Security risks are also evolving, with a greater emphasis on climate- and disaster-driven security threats, and ...18 hours ago
- Hope has no expiry date
19 hours ago - It looks like the US has just pulled Indonesia into South China Sea cooperation
Has Indonesia just promised closer security cooperation with the United States in return for tariff concessions? There are strong reasons to think so—and, if it has, it has put itself in awkward spot, one that ...19 hours ago
- Demonstrating sovereignty, not declaring it, is what matters. Demonstrate it in northern Australia
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s six-day visit to China, now underway, comes on the heels of two other critical moments: the cancellation of a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the ...20 hours ago
- ACT means secrecy
Back in April an OIA request exposed the absurd cost of ACT's charter schools - five times more per student than the government spends on public schools. ACT obviously didn't like that, but they have a solution: keep the number of students secret: The seven charter schools set up ...20 hours ago - Submission guide: Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025
When the National-led Government passed the Equal Pay Amendment Act under urgency in May this year, they did so without consulting the working women affected. The People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity has been formed by 10 former MPs from across the political spectrum to examine the changes made to ...21 hours ago
- Reserve Bank planned spending: 12% up on 2023/24
Yesterday’s post focused on the puzzling events around the adoption of last year’s Reserve Bank budget: the board planned to spend massively above what the Funding Agreement had allowed and for reasons still totally obscure neither Treasury nor the Minister of Finance raised any concerns whatever. A few months ...24 hours ago - Bishop wants a growth economy that isn’t just a housing market with bits tacked on
Bishop wants to change zoning and building rules to increase housing supply, but now 2/3 of builders report they are significantly affected by housing project suspensions or cancellations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāBriefly for all subscribers on Wednesday, July 16, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and ...24 hours ago - Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. First up is the first reading of Debbie Ngarewa-Packer's Resource Management (Prohibition on Extraction of Freshwater for On-selling) Amendment Bill, and then it's the second readings of Tracey McLellan's Evidence (Giving Evidence of Family Violence) Amendment Bill and Camilla Belich's Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) ...24 hours ago
- The future of US facilities in northern Australia
As the Indo-Pacific becomes the defining theatre of 21st-century strategic competition, northern Australia has emerged as a crucial area for US force projection and deterrence. But while their presence offers undeniable strategic value, it also ...1 day ago
- Winston Revels As Seymour Cowers
Liveliness..Summary Headlines TodayGuy BodyConstruction industry falters big time under NationalNational Coalition oversees 17,000 job losses in construction over the last 18 months. Kāinga Ora axed hundreds more building developments this year that would have seen 3500 new homes built, including cancelling 40 new Northland projects. Construction is New Zealand’s fifth ...1 day ago - Wednesday 16 July
New Zealand’s construction industry is emerging from one of its toughest periods, with more than 17,000 jobs lost over the past 18 months. Penny Simmonds is confident her approach to polytechnics will not impact training in the regions, pushing back on criticism from the TEU. David Seymour has been given ...1 day ago
- Play the Game
Open up your mind and let me step insideRest your weary head and let your heart decideIt's so easy when you know the rulesIt's so easy, all you have to do is fall in loveSongwriter: Freddie Mercury.Yesterday afternoon, in a parallel reality, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon fronted the media with ...1 day ago - A national innovation mandate would drive ideas to capability
Across recent debates about sovereignty, capability and technological competition, one thing is clear: Australia does not lack ideas. What it lacks is an innovation system capable of converting those ideas into deployable capability. Previous analysis ...1 day ago
- The heat is starting to go on Luxon
The Government is coming under increasing pressure to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Accord. It is caught, alone and at odds with its two coalition partners and left to make some very hard political decisions. Both ACT and New Zealand First want out of the Paris Accord. Meanwhile ...1 day ago - The EU Was Always Anti-British
...1 day ago - Flightless Bird: Denver Photos
Hi,Here are some photos from our Flightless Bird live show in Denver, taken by Andrew Rowley. From our shownotes, this may help explain what the photos are all about!This week’s Flightless Bird is Live From Denver! Rob and David explore the sights and sounds of Denver, CO, presenting their findings ...1 day ago - The Mystery of the Nineteen Bells – To Be Reprinted
2025 has been a year where some of my long-neglected literary pieces have, at last, found a home. That trend continues today – though in this case it is not an unpublished work, but rather a text that first saw light in March 2018. The magazine that published it – ...2 days ago - China is still coercing Australia—with implicit threats
Look beyond the so-called stabilisation of diplomatic ties between Australia and China. Look beyond Beijing’s lifting of trade bans and its ending of the freeze on ministerial dialogue that began in 2020. China’s unfair trade ...2 days ago
- Fact brief – Did CO2 contribute to early 20th century warming?
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. Did CO2 contribute to early 20th century warming? Warming from 1920 to 1940 was influenced by both natural dynamics or “forcings” as well ...2 days ago
- Australia wins by committing to Horizon Europe
The race for dominance in certain technologies sits at the core of the ever-intensifying competition for strategic advantage, and Australia is part of this dynamic. It will have to remain competitive and avoid becoming a ...2 days ago
- Was MethaneSAT Deliberately Compromised?
New Zealand’s MethaneSAT, launched with fanfare in March 2024 to tackle methane emissions, has become a troubling case study in corporate overreach and government opacity. The satellite’s abrupt failure in June 2025, attributed to a mysterious loss of power, raises serious questions about the role of Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), ...2 days ago - This industry should be destroyed, not subsidised
The health insurance industry is parasitic on our public health system, taking people's money, providing them with th easy, cheap stuff, then sending them straight back into the public health system for anything which might cost them money. But not enough people are buying it anymore. So they're doing what ...2 days ago
- Australia must fight for its voice in the Indo-Pacific
The battle for hearts and minds in the Indo-Pacific is being fought not on traditional battlefields, but in the digital realm where truth and falsehood collide at the speed of light. As authoritarian regimes weaponise ...2 days ago
- Health NZ Caught Faking Wait Times
In a nation that prides itself on fairness and transparency, the National-led coalition’s handling of New Zealand’s health system is nothing short of a scandalous betrayal. Reports emerging from Nelson Hospital suggest Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) may have instructed hospitals to concoct “ghost appointments”, non-existent bookings designed to ...2 days ago
- What were the Minister and Treasury doing?
Four weeks ago I noted that I was going to be tied up for the following couple of weeks. Between a busy trip to Papua New Guinea, the extremely dubious governance of the Reserve Bank superannuation scheme, various family members coming to stay, and a health relapse all that turned ...2 days ago
- Compensating Criminals & Animal Abusers: A Dystopian Future
ACT already planning to compensate property owners under the RSBACT’s Nicole McKee is obtaining advice on how to compensate bitcoin ATM owners1, under the Regulatory Standards Bill framework, as the government plans to ban crypto ATMs. The Ministerial Advisory Group on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime noted these ATMs are ...2 days ago - Tuesday 15 July
The TEU is calling the government’s disestablishment of Te Pūkenga a “disaster for regional New Zealand”. ASMS and NZNO have accused Nelson Hospital of booking patients for appointments that didn’t exist to make their numbers look better. The RMTU says it was not consulted on KiwiRail’s melatonin ban, and the ...2 days ago
- Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace: A Resource for New Zealand Trade Unions
SUMMARY This resource has been developed to support trade union organisers dealing with the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. It outlines existing laws and organising tools relevant to AI and how collective bargaining can be used to ensure workers benefit from and are not harmed by AI. ...2 days ago
- South Pacific threats are rising. JORN now needs to look eastwards
Australia’s eastern maritime approaches haven’t got much attention since World War II. Defence policy has tended to look northwards and westwards. So, too, do the three great Jindalee over-the-horizon radars that we have deep inland. ...2 days ago
- Women, Peace and Security is more than a side quest
Somewhere between the fifth email about rescheduled meetings and the third cup of coffee, another email arrives. It’s about Women, Peace and Security (WPS). A few people skim it. One or two frown: ‘Didn’t we ...2 days ago
- Look Who’s Back…
Sharp and open, leave me aloneAnd sleeping less every nightAs the days become heavier and weightedWaiting in the cold lightA noise, a scream tears my clothes as the figurines tightenWith spiders inside themAnd dust on the lips of a vision of hellI laughed in the mirror for the first time ...2 days ago - Manufacturing, services & retail mired in recession
The services sector joined the manufacturing sector in contracting in June,and retail sales have fallen 7.5% in inflation-adjusted terms in the last two years.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāBriefly for all subscribers for at 7 am on Tuesday, July 15, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other ...2 days ago - Gordon Campbell On Ducking The Costs Of Climate Change
Looking for consistency in all things is said to be the hallmark of a small mind. Duly noted, but the Luxon government’s stance on climate change does seem strikingly inconsistent. For starters, New Zealand claims to still be committed to the emissions targets contained in the Paris Accords, but the ...2 days ago - Update on Texas flooding
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler My heart is breaking for the tragedy that’s unfolding in central Texas right now. At present, more than 70 people have died in the flooding in the Texas Hill Country. Given the widespread interest in this event and numerous requests ...3 days ago
- Cost of Defence’s roadmap for spending 3 percent of GDP on defence
The current debate on Defence funding, sparked by our 29 May report The Cost of Defence: ASPI Defence budget brief 2025–2026, and a subsequent US request for Australia to spend more, has swung between a ...3 days ago
- Chain gang
This is really nice. Three hundred people in Melbourne formed a human chain in the rain to help a bookshop move house.Hill of Content has been selling books on Bourke Street for more than a century. When it came time to relocate, they asked their community: Would you possibly be ...3 days ago - In the fight against drugs, Australia should follow the money
Australia is losing the fight to disrupt illicit drug supply chains, not for lack of effort, but because we need additional weapons and new approaches. Despite record-breaking seizures and sophisticated policing, national wastewater data tells ...3 days ago
- Bookshelf: Taiwan’s journey to geopolitical hotspot
The US administration is still formulating its Indo-Pacific policy, but recent indications suggest that it will take a tough stance on Taiwan. At the Shangri-La Dialogue, held in Singapore from 30 May to 1 June, ...3 days ago
- A step towards freedom in Kanaky
Last year, New Caledonia burned after colonial France attempted to renege on a hard-won decolonisation deal and unilaterally impose constitutional changes without the consent of Kanaks. But now, after months of negotiations, France has finally consented to a further devolution of power, making Kanaky a state within France: One ...3 days ago
- The Moral Abyss of Concentration Camps
The concept of detention centres and concentration camps is a grim spectre in human history, a mechanism of dehumanisation and control that has no place in a civilised world. These camps, defined as large-scale detention sites where civilians are imprisoned without due process based on ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs, ...3 days ago
- Black Nykövä: Accepted
New story acceptance! My 1,000-word dark fantasy piece, Black Nykövä, has been accepted by Exquisite Death for their November issue (https://www.exquisitedeathezine.com/fiction.html)
This one has the distinction of being my first published fiction set ... 3 days ago - Luxon, back from a week’s holiday, comes back swinging
It’s hard not to see the contradictions in National Party policies and statements.Last week on Q&A with Jack Tame, Paul Goldsmith - the Minister who wants Te Reo Māori gone - told Maiki Sherman that National was getting tougher on crime by for example, fining shoplifters of up to $1000 ...3 days ago - Shane Jones’ Sky News Lies
In a cringe-worthy spectacle, Shane Jones, New Zealand First’s shameless spruiker for the oil and gas industry, slithered onto Sky News Australia on Friday, peddling lies so brazen that they would have collapsed under even a whiff of scrutiny.By blaming renewable energy like solar and wind for New Zealand’s exorbitant ...3 days ago
- India, Australia collaborate on critical minerals for renewable energy and climate action
India and Australia are reinforcing their partnership on critical minerals to secure supply chains and enable the global transition to clean energy. This strategic collaboration recognises that lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements and similar resources ...3 days ago
- Women Rise Up: 2025 Women’s Council Conference
On July 4 and 5, NZCTU Women’s Council welcomed over 120 wāhine toa at the biennial Women’s Conference “Women Rise Up” at the Lower Hutt Event Centre. The programme was designed around “anger, hope, action.” We wanted members to leave feeling connected, well-equipped and confident to organise and use ...3 days ago
- Monday 14 July
More than 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora have voted to strike for 24 hours of what they say is a failure by Health NZ to address their safe staffing concerns. Erica Stanford has unveiled a plan to double the economic benefits brought into ...3 days ago
- A studiously ignored problem: force projected from Australia must go through Indonesia
While the United States spends billions on military infrastructure from Guam to Darwin, one crucial enabler of Indo-Pacific deterrence remains noticeably underdeveloped: rights to pass through Indonesia. The sea and air space of the archipelago ...3 days ago
- Rolling Stone Gets Hoaxed about a Hoax
Hi,Last week legendary music magazine Rolling Stone, home to some quite amazing journalism over the years, blasted an exclusive story:If you just woke up from a decade long coma, that headline would make very little sense. If you missed it, last month a band called “Velvet Sundown” appeared on Spotify, ...3 days ago - Slash blamed in climate change-free flash-flood coverage
Briefly for all subscribers for at 6am on Monday, July 14, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:Another slash catastrophe unfolded over the weekend in the Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman region as the second ‘one-in-one-hundred-year’ flash flood ...3 days ago - David Seymour Can’t Handle the United Nations Jandal
David Seymour, who is unfortunately the current Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, despite only receiving 8% of the party vote, is having another whinge about people disagreeing with him. This time it's the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, who recently issued a ...3 days ago
- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #28
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 6, 2025 thru Sat, July 12, 2025. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Change Impacts (6 articles) DeBriefed 4 July 2025: Trump `megabill` guts clean ...4 days ago
- The Malign and Indifferent Goeteia of Faerie: Tolkien and AI
Redoubtable YouTuber GirlNextGondor has put out a detailed look at how Tolkien might have viewed contemporary AI. It’s well worth watching: GirlNextGondor, to her credit, looks beyond the standard notion that Tolkien’s knee-jerk response would have been abject horror, and engages with the question through ...4 days ago - Managed Retreat gets Mentioned in the News
The Nelson Tasman region, battered by relentless storms, stands as a stark reminder of New Zealand’s vulnerability to climate-driven disasters. The floods of June and July 2025, which inundated homes, crippled infrastructure, and forced evacuations in areas like Tapawera and Motueka Valley, have exposed the government’s woeful inaction on flood ...4 days ago
- Statesmanship
In our democracy, former leaders usually fade into the background after they lose power. Occasionally, they might pop up when compelled to by what they see happening, offering the benefit of their years. Usually, this occurs after a couple of changes in government, when they’re no longer closely associated with ...4 days ago - What if there’d been no vaccine?
It was pretty damn impressive how swiftly they managed to produce a vaccine for COVID. Not soon enough to save all those lives in New York and London and Milan, but enough to get back comparatively soon to something like normal.Feels a bit comical now to recall how fondly some ...4 days ago - DOGE is Legally Liable for Texas Drownings
In a world increasingly battered by the ferocity of climate-driven storms, the catastrophic Texas floods of July 2025 stand as a grim testament to governmental negligence. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the previous stewardship of Elon Musk and propelled by Donald Trump’s administration, slashed funding and staffing to critical ...4 days ago
- Since Australia hosts US facilities, we need a joint war plan
Australia hosts several joint Australian-American facilities and provides the US with privileged access to a range of functions that are performed at Australian facilities. As a consequence, Australia is deeply integrated into US strategies of ...5 days ago
- Could NZ First vs ACT blow up the coalition over the Regulatory Standards Bill?
Briefly for paying subscribers at 7am on Saturday, July 12, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:Tension is mounting in Cabinet between ACT and NZ First over the Regulatory Standards Bill, with Winston Peters ...5 days ago - Is Progress Progressive?
We should not assume that all adopted innovations are progressive. Jonathon Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’ illustrates that sometimes they require social measures to enhance well being.The Anxious Generation is a book which probably everyone engaging with adolescents should read. Haidt’s thesis is that smartphones replacing flip phones led to a ...6 days ago - National security isn’t what it used to be—and that’s the point
All prime ministers and presidents frequently tell us that national security is the top priority for government, but does the public see it the same way. And does that matter? When people think of national ...6 days ago
- No one told us life was gonna be this way
1. What has been named 2025 NZ Tree of the Year?a. Tane Mahutab. The Chook Treec. Steven Adamsd. The Bucket Fountain2. The botanical name for macrocarpa, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa, means: a. Large-fruited western cypressb. Tree most likely to crush your shedc. Will not lay eggs no matter how much you trim ...6 days ago - ASPI Defence Conference: Industry, policy and national resilience
Concerns about the strength of Australia’s defence industrial base were central to the industry policy panel at ASPI’s 2025 Defence Conference. The defence industrial base—a network of domestic and foreign industries, companies, research institutions and ...6 days ago
- Elon Musk’s Anti-Woke Grok AI Backfires
In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Elon Musk’s Grok, developed by xAI, has sparked heated debate. It’s not for its promised “truth-seeking” prowess but for its alarming descent into extremism. Designed to counter what Musk perceived as the “woke” leanings of other AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Grok’s recent updates ...6 days ago
- Ray Chung – Arsehole of the Week
In the murky world of local politics, few things reek as badly as Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung’s despicable conduct. His smearing email, circulated to fellow councillors in early 2023, peddling baseless and salacious gossip about Mayor Tory Whanau, is not just a personal attack, it’s a grotesque abuse of ...6 days ago
- Collateral benefit: space launch centre’s sensors will plug Cape York gap
Australia’s northern approaches are increasingly contested, yet the airspace over Cape York remains under-monitored and operationally thin. But only for the moment. Civilian sensors will close the gap. My company, Space Centre Australia, has begun ...6 days ago
- For smuggled drones, China wouldn’t be as soft a target as Russia
Ukraine did it. Israel did it. Could Taiwan do it? If China attacks Taiwan, could the island unleash smuggled drones on Chinese territory against high-value targets? Maybe, but China has long been aware of the ...6 days ago
- Economic Bulletin June July 2025
We have two feature articles in this edition. In the first, Morgan James-Tresidder, the new pay equity lead at the NZCTU, sets out why pay equity is such a critical tool for advancing working women’s interests, and outlines how unions are fighting back against the government’s retrograde changes to the ...6 days ago
- Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Cathrine Dyer, Jonathan Boston & Wolfgang Rack ‘Hoon’ around the...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking with regular guest about the week’s news in geopolitics and climate, along with special guests Professor Jonathan Boston from Victoria University of Wellington and Professor Wolfgang Rack from University ...6 days ago
- Communities Can’t Foot the Bill for Climate Crisis
Te Pāti Māori sends aroha to whānau, and communities impacted by the recent severe weather across Nelson Tasman, Banks Peninsula, Northland and beyond. While dozens of people are still unable to return home, National and Labour are already hinting at a Climate Adaptation plan that would see impacted communities pay ...21 hours ago
- Making New Zealand and New Zealanders Safer
New Zealand First knows how important law and order is to the quality of life that hardworking Kiwi battlers expect and deserve. This remains a priority, and we are delivering on our coalition commitments to make our communities and neighbourhoods safe. Our investment in Police with an extra 500 officers, ...1 day ago - Minister must back regional vocational education with real support
The Government’s move to re-establish ten polytechnics fails to ensure the thriving, future-focussed vocational education sector Aotearoa deserves. ...2 days ago - Submissions show overwhelming opposition to RSB
The Green Party is calling on Cabinet to stop the Regulatory Standards Bill, after only 19 of a total 208 submissions heard over the course of last week’s submissions process supported the Bill. ...3 days ago
- An update on Winston’s War on Woke & June wrap up
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. During the month of June, we made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand. An update on Winston's War on Woke ...6 days ago
- Green Party won’t contest Tāmaki Makaurau by-election
After careful consideration, the Green Party will not stand a candidate in the upcoming Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. ...6 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori Announces Award-Winning Broadcaster Oriini Kaipara to Contest Tāmaki Makaurau By-El...
Te Pāti Māori have confirmed the selection of celebrated broadcaster and longtime West Auckland advocate Oriini Kaipara (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi) as its candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. Oriini’s deep whakapapa to Tāmaki Makaurau is grounded in her upbringing at Hoani Waititi Marae, where she was ...6 days ago
- OPED – Mark Patterson: “Do something about the bloody trees”
“Do something about the bloody trees” would be the most common refrain I hear around Clutha and when travelling about rural New Zealand. Forestry has been, and is, a legitimate land use option for farmers and forestry companies. Always has been, always will. Sensible farmers have incorporated planting out of ...7 days ago
- OPED – Jenny Marcroft: Supporting our oyster farmers
Most of us who live in the Mahurangi region are well aware of the ongoing challenges faced by oyster farmers because of multiple significant sewage spills into Mahurangi Harbour. Watercare’s sewerage network in Warkworth is infiltrated with stormwater following rainfall, resulting in overflows into the Mahurangi River and the wider ...1 week ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Protect New Zealanders’ Ability to Use Cash
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would protect New Zealanders’ ability to use cash. The Bill will provide for the enduring use of cash as a private, accessible, and reliable method of payment. “People who rely on cash due to barriers to digital banking deserve ...1 week ago
- New study shows speed of Antarctic ice melt, Govt fans climate flames
As the Government pulls out of global climate commitments, a significant new report shows that sea ice around Antarctica is melting at unprecedented speed. ...1 week ago
- Family Boost announcement does little to boost families
Today’s announcement on the Family Boost scheme is little more than tinkering around the edges while real issues in the ECE system are ignored, says the Green Party. ...1 week ago
- Serious Response to Serious Problems
As New Zealand has positively responded to the crack down on gang patches there has been a growing recognition of the influence of organized crime on our communities. New Zealand First continues to be focused on all aspects that undermine the safety and security in our neighbourhoods, businesses, and ...2 weeks ago
- NZ First Bill: Only Official New Zealand Flag to Fly on Government Buildings
New Zealand First has today introduced a member's bill which would make it law that government buildings can only display the official flag of New Zealand. “Government buildings are for all New Zealanders and should not be hijacked to force cultural, woke, or divisive political ideology down the throats of ...2 weeks ago
- Healthy Homes standards need more teeth
With mandatory Healthy Homes standards coming into effect for all tenancies tomorrow, the Green Party is calling for a new Rental Warrant of Fitness system to give the new standards true effect. ...2 weeks ago
- Is our mental health determined by where we live – or is it the other way round? New research shed...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hobbs, Associate Professor and Transforming Lives Fellow, Spatial Data Science and Planetary Health, Sheffield Hallam University Photon-Photos/Getty Images Ever felt like where you live is having an impact on your mental health? Turns out, you’re not imagining things. Our new ...23 minutes ago - The hows, whys and WTFs of bringing the moa back from the dead
What do Peter Jackson, an iwi research centre and a Texas-based biotech firm have in common? They’re working together on plans to ‘de-extinct’ Aotearoa’s famous giant bird. Mirjam Guesgen explains what’s going on. The internet is fluttering with the news that a Texas-based company will bring back moa in Aotearoa ...30 minutes ago - Union For Local Government Workers Supports LGNZ Recommendations To Improve Voter Turnout
Private companies should not be running local body elections, it is not appropriate for something so important to the functioning of local democracy, said PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...33 minutes ago - Travel Diary: A winter weekend in Melbourne – the next best thing to European summer?
Rebecca Murphy recaps her first trip overseas with her husband, and first time out of the country since the Covid-19 lockdowns. No hot girl summer for me, no sipping Chablis in France with the warm sun on my back. Instead, it was a long weekend in Melbourne to get a ...42 minutes ago
- Better Awareness Of Local Body Candidates Will Lift Voter Turnout
Voters need to be able to easily access information on who is standing for election, what they stand for, and what they hope to achieve if elected. LGNZ is partnering with Policy.nz as an interim measure to improve local elections in 2025. ...2 hours ago
- Help Me Hera: My friends don’t seem to remember my birthday
Should I confront them about it, or is it time to make new friends? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Kia ora Hera, It’s my birthday tomorrow and none of my friends have reached out to make birthday plans with me. I planned a lovely weekend spending Saturday ...2 hours ago
- The secret stories of trees are written in the knots and swirls of your floorboards. An expert expla...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne Magda Ehlers/Pexels, CC BY Have you ever examined timber floorboards and pondered why they look the way they do? Perhaps you admired the super-fine ...2 hours ago
- Tasmania is limping towards an election nobody wants. Here’s the state of play
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hortle, Deputy Director, Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania In the darkest and coldest months of the year, Tasmanians have been slogging through an election campaign no one wanted. It’s been a curious mix of humdrum plodding laced with cyanide ...3 hours ago
- What is astigmatism? Why does it make my vision blurry? And how did I get it?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Ground Picture/Shutterstock Have you ever gone to the optometrist for an eye test and were told your eye was shaped like ...3 hours ago
- From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Ronnie Yoshiko Fujiyama: how electric guitarists challenge expectation...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janelle K Johnstone, Associate Lecturer Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, PhD Candidate School of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University American gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe playing a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar on stage in 1957. Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty ...3 hours ago
- ‘Dramatic shift’ that could leave KiwiSaver members better off
The proportion of KiwiSaver in funds with high volatility has quadrupled in three years. ...4 hours ago - Walls go back up as open-plan classroom experiment falls flat
Once hailed as the future of education, the cavernous classrooms are finally being scrapped after years of complaints, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. End of the open-plan era The Ministry of Education will no longer build ...4 hours ago
- Emissions Trading Scheme incentivising whole farm conversions into forestry, farmers say
But a forestry group has hit back saying it's not the only reason sheep numbers are declining. ...4 hours ago
- Criminologist fears electronic tagging of migrants ‘going to get huge’
The government has introduced legislation that would allow electronic monitoring of migrants and asylum seekers who pose a security risk, or might run away. ...4 hours ago
- How reforesting the Port Hills could help prevent another devastating fire
Prone to fires and erosion, Christchurch’s Port Hills were once covered in native bush, as hard as that is to imagine now. Dozens of community planting projects are the beginning of a return to a forested future. The Port Hills are visible from almost every part of Christchurch, buttressing the ...6 hours ago
- Where do I send conservatives the bill for climate change?
In the 40 years since the world was first alerted to climate change, right-wingers have consistently been the ones most opposed to doing anything about it. And if there’s one thing that conservatives like, it’s personal responsibility. It seems almost impossible to believe, but until two years ago New Zealand’s ...6 hours ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 17 July
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, Thursday 17 July appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago - Govt to explore sharing GST with councils next year
Giving local authorities a portion of tax collected on new residential builds would provide an enduring and predictable solution for infrastructure funding, says David Seymour The post Govt to explore sharing GST with councils next year appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago
- How friendly fire torpedoed a mayoral campaign
It was shaping up to be a rather dull, straightforward mayoral race. The current Wellington Mayor, Tory Whanau, had quietly opted not to stand again, without fuss, making room for a new frontrunner in former Labour minister Andrew Little. The focus was on rate rises, the golden mile, bike lanes, ...6 hours ago
- Seven-month delay shows gas ban repeal isn’t PM’s top priority
Comment: PM says gas ban stands in the way of lower energy prices – but repealing it doesn’t seem to be a priority The post Seven-month delay shows gas ban repeal isn’t PM’s top priority appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago
- Book of the Week: When white liberalism gets fed up with the oppressed
Racism is a topic we talk about a lot in our house. Covid brought two extra mouths to our dinner table. Holly, whose whakapapa includes Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, then 19, joined us because science has yet to find a way to keep two 19 year olds in love ...6 hours ago
- How do the world’s wealthiest families invest?
The 2025 UBS Global Family Office Report offers some fascinating insights into how the world’s wealthiest families think about risk, time and opportunity. UBS, a financial services firm, captured the views of 317 family office clients. The average net worth of participating families was US$2.7 billion, with their family office ...6 hours ago
- Govt needs creative solutions to rising house insurance costs
Opinion: Govt needs to look at short-term impact of rising insurance costs and property owners’ ability to pay The post Govt needs creative solutions to rising house insurance costs appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago
- Govt winds up council reform storm
Analysis: It’s a sentiment likely to set pulses racing among the current crop of Government ministers. In 2010, four-term councillor Bryan Cadogan aimed to unseat sitting Clutha mayor Juno Hayes by running on a platform of tying rates to inflation and focusing on core services. Cadogan won by 354 votes, ...6 hours ago
- What’s good for the gander is good for the goose
The Remuneration Authority uses comparators to set the pay for MPs – so why not for nurses, teachers and librarians? The post What’s good for the gander is good for the goose appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago
- Daily crossword, Thursday 17 July
The post Daily crossword, Thursday 17 July appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago
- Mini crossword, Thursday 17 July
The post Mini crossword, Thursday 17 July appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 hours ago
- Legislation that lets workers talk about salaries likely to pass into law
The Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill has passed its second reading. ...6 hours ago
- Ministry feared costs of $60m a year to review laws under Regulatory Standards Bill
But David Seymour says the estimate speaks to the agency's productivity, and suggests AI could pick up some of the work. ...6 hours ago
- MBIE warns it will need 100-300 extra staff to review current laws under Regulatory Standards Bill
But David Seymour says the estimate speaks to the agency's productivity, and suggests AI could pick up some of the work. ...6 hours ago
- Ken Henry urges nature law reform after decades of ‘intergenerational bastardry’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide Former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has warned Australia’s global environmental reputation is at risk if the Albanese government fails to reform nature laws this term. In his speech to the National ...14 hours ago
- David Robie: New Zealand must do more for Pacific and confront nuclear powers
Rongelap Islanders on board the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior travelling to their new home on Mejatto Island in 1985 — less than two months before the bombing. Image: ©1985 David Robie/Eyes of Fire He accused the coalition government of being “too timid” and “afraid of offending President Donald Trump” ...14 hours ago
- First-hand view of peacemaking challenge in the ‘Holy Land’
Occupied West Bank-based New Zealand journalist Cole Martin asks who are the peacemakers? BEARING WITNESS: By Cole Martin As a Kiwi journalist living in the occupied West Bank, I can list endless reasons why there is no peace in the “Holy Land”. I live in a refugee camp, alongside families ...15 hours ago
- Politics with Michelle Grattan: Malcolm Turnbull on Australia’s ‘dumb’ defence debate
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government remains in complicated territory on the international stage. It has to tread carefully with China, despite the marked warming of the bilateral relationship. It is yet to find its line ...15 hours ago
- Minister Judith Collins hospitalised after ‘nasty bout of vertigo’
She says she spent the night in Wellington Hospital but is now back home and "on the mend". ...15 hours ago
- Government launches $500k support package for flood-hit farmers in Tasman
Tasman's mayor warned the total repair bill from the back-to-back floods was likely to exceed $100 million. ...15 hours ago
- Why is Israel bombing Syria?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University Conflict in Syria has escalated with Israel launching bombing raids against its northern neighbour. It follows months of fluctuating tensions in southern Syria between the Druze minority and forces aligned with the new ...16 hours ago
- Government shuts the door on open-plan classrooms
The government has called a halt to building open-plan classrooms, even though most teachers who actually use the structures believe their students benefit from them. ...17 hours ago
- NZ Jewish Council Clarifies Position: Advocating For Safety And Accountability, Not Censorship
Our call was, and remains, for a coordinated, principled, and effective government response to antisemitism, following recent actions taken by the Australian Government. ...19 hours ago
- Retail crime advisory group costs $500k in three months
The government is defending the amount of money spent on its retail crime advisory group, but Labour says it is a hard sum of money to stomach. ...19 hours ago
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