People who rent their home shouldn’t have to get sick or complain before the safety of their home is tested and guaranteed.
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Comrade Chris and the politics of the warm inner glow
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, November 9th, 2022 - 127 comments
Left wing contrarian Chris Trotter has made some outlandish claims about Jacinda Ardern’s recent conference speech.
Kelvin Davis – if not now then when?
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, November 7th, 2022 - 32 comments
The text of an excellent speech given by Kelvin Davis to the Labour Party conference on climate change.
National’s relentless negativity
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, November 5th, 2022 - 86 comments
National’s recent press releases show that its approach to politics will be relentlessly negative, with no idea of what it will do as an alternative or how it will fund changes.
Comrade Chris wants to solve Aotearoa’s housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, September 28th, 2022 - 64 comments
Something unusual has happened. Chris Bishop, or as we should now call him Comrade Chris, has come out fully in favour of a vast expansion of the provision of social housing for kiwis.
Labour poised to resolve housing supply crisis
Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, August 25th, 2022 - 89 comments
It is possible that within the next year New Zealand’s housing supply crisis will be resolved.
Labour’s “tenant tax” is neither a tax nor for tenants
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, August 22nd, 2022 - 33 comments
National’s media spin team is at it again claiming that removing interest rate deductibility for landlords is a “tenant tax” when it is neither a new tax nor for tenants.
The Auckland Mayoralty campaign
Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, May 15th, 2022 - 9 comments
The Auckland mayoralty campaign promises to be a fascinating contest between a right winger promising to spend $1.5 million on the campaign and wants to turn sprinklers on the homeless and Efeso Collins who promises to run an inclusive respectful campaign.
What Can Be Saved?
Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, April 29th, 2022 - 157 comments
The tide of this government is running out. There’s 18 months left in the term. What would you save?
The battle lines for the next election
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, April 18th, 2022 - 79 comments
Despite Labour seeing the country through the biggest public health threat seen in the last century and despite improving numbers of houses and a reduction in child poverty some on the left are buying into National’s despair lines. And the issues on which the next election will be fought are becoming clearer.
Can this government get re-elected?
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, February 13th, 2022 - 34 comments
Where will the votes come from to get Labour a third term?
And what have they done anyway?
Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, February 2nd, 2022 - 107 comments
With Ardern getting a good-old media beat-down, remember here’s how to change a country for good like no one else but Labour can.
What about those neat capital gains on housing, eh?
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, January 14th, 2022 - 184 comments
Labour are doing the things about the housing crisis they said they would. It’s not working.
ANZ Bank clearly believes that greed is good
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 29th, 2021 - 131 comments
ANZ Bank has just announced a $1.92 billion profit for the year to September 30, 2021. This is about 1% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
In December 2022 We Will Be …
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, October 25th, 2021 - 15 comments
A year ago we were preparing for the America’s Cup and threading our way through the latest crisis quite well. What will we be planning next year?
Why Can’t We Do More?
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, October 16th, 2021 - 35 comments
The Government’s dramatic action taken over the past 18 months to respond to Covid and the population’s overwhelming support suggests that it should be taking similar drastic action to address poverty and climate change.
Why aren’t Labour acting on the housing crisis?
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, July 27th, 2021 - 68 comments
Bernard Hickey calls Labour’s inaction a scandal, and it’s hard to disagree.
Greens: a Warrant of Fitness for rental homes
Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, July 23rd, 2021 - 118 comments
The Rock is moving
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, June 22nd, 2021 - 5 comments
Since real estate is that machine that relentlessly powers our society and most of our economy, it’s already worth checking whether this governments’ recent policy changes are starting to have some of its intended effects.
Housing, an update of sorts
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 18th, 2021 - 31 comments
Anarkaytie writes about the history of the housing crisis in New Zealand and how tiny housing provides some of the solutions.
Too much too far?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 23rd, 2021 - 97 comments
As we lead up to Budget 2021, there’s much more shape to the whole direction of this government.
National’s housing policy
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, April 16th, 2021 - 30 comments
National has released its housing policy and the proposals are predictable. Free up more land, loosen up the RMA, and require Councils in high growth areas to urgently review their district plans.
About Grant Robertson’s bright line tax statement
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, March 28th, 2021 - 217 comments
Media has been abuzz with comment about how last election Grant Robertson has backtracked on a promise on not extending the bright line test. Should politicians stick to their pronouncements no matter what? Or should they change their minds if circumstances demand a change in course?
The housing crisis and the Government’s response
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, March 25th, 2021 - 163 comments
The Government’s housing policy announcements have been attacked by the right and landlords as being an attack on rights and business, and by elements of the left for being too timid. Which suggests that the announcements are quite well pitched.
Government announces plan to help first-home buyers maintain the housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, March 23rd, 2021 - 226 comments
Labour disappoints again. Individual investment rights trump collective responsibility for people having homes.
Something big but not like that
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, March 23rd, 2021 - 41 comments
I am going out on a limb here but I think that Comrade Chris Trotter suggesting that Jacinda Ardern may resign as Prime Minister may be overhashed.
National and the Greens on how to solve the housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, March 17th, 2021 - 71 comments
Over the past week National and the Greens have released housing policy designed to address the country’s current housing crisis. National’s are tired and either reflect what is already happening or reinforce their doctrinal view of the world. The Green’s proposals are more radical and reflect steps that Micky Savage and the First Labour Government took in 1935.
The Unbearable Lightness of the Bright-Line Test
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, March 13th, 2021 - 96 comments
The bright-line test is a red herring and does nothing to deter housing speculation.
So, You Want To Buy Your First Home?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 7th, 2021 - 75 comments
Money does not grow on trees, it grows on houses. It is pure magic!
No Right Turn: One way of fixing the housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, January 14th, 2021 - 63 comments
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation
The Government’s finances are in very good shape
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, December 17th, 2020 - 66 comments
The Government’s finances are in remarkably good shape. Who would have predicted that dealing properly with a global pandemic would have had better results for the economy than timidly dealing with it and trying to ensure that economic activity continued? But by international levels our Government debt is already low and maybe now is the time to spend on vital areas such as poverty, climate change and the housing crisis.
How can NZ incomes be lifted to match housing costs?
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, December 12th, 2020 - 68 comments
Not a vague let’s raise wages and benefits explanation, but an in-depth, number crunching, evidence-driven explanation. Where is it?
- 2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 27, 2022 thru Sat, Dec 3, 2022. Story of the Week #ClimateScam: denialism claims flooding Twitter have scientists worried Many researchers are fleeing the platform, unnerved by the surge in climate misinformation ...2 hours ago - New paper: A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticismThis is a quick summary about the newly published paper "A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticism" by Matthew J. Hornsey and Stephan Lewandowsky. It leverages a thread tweeted by Stephan Lewandowsky shortly after publication as well as a mention in Doug Bostrom's and Marc Kodack's New Research Week ...2 days ago
- The Coming Recession?
Is leaving inflation fighting to the Reserve Bank all we can do?We are making sacrifices to restrain climate change, not because the particular climate is what we want, but because if it starts changing too quickly, our current way of life is unsustainable. Similarly the current price level may not ...2 days ago - Climate Change: More subsidised pollution
Back in 2020, the government realised that the industrial allocations in the ETS - supposed to protect large polluters from unfair competition from countries who didn't pay for their carbon - was overallocated. They were giving away too many free credits, resulting in windfall gains to polluters. So, they started ...2 days ago - Still asleep at the wheelA couple of months ago, I asked various government agencies whether they had produced any advice on the impacts of Long Covid, and was shocked to learn that they hadn't. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has been keeping an eye on this issue, and in an article today, he reports that the ...2 days ago
- On Entrenchment: The Politics of Anti-Privatisation
I was not wanting to wade into New Zealand’s little furor about the proposed Three Waters reform. To be honest, Labour has brought this one on themselves – the task of cleaning up this country’s waterways really ought to be funded via the resources (financial or otherwise) of the ...2 days ago - The Masque of the Covid Breath: Testing Positive
Well, it had to happen eventually. A week ago, someone I live with tested Covid positive, and despite my best efforts (testing every day), today I finally succumbed. That dreaded second line on the RAT showed up bright and red. It’s a decent effort, of course… making it ...2 days ago - Entrenching entrenchmentLast week, Parliament passed a rare entrenchment clause, protecting water assets from being sold by future governments without a referendum. As a supporter of anti-privatisation as a constitutional principle, I don't really have a problem with this - the supermajority which passed it represents a broad consensus across Aotearoa, and ...2 days ago
- Parliament’s Collective Failure To Defend The Constitution.
Unbitten: It is one of the oddest and most worrying aspects of the events surrounding Green MP Eugenie Sage’s late-night attempt to re-write the constitutional convention on entrenched legislation while a weary House of Representatives was sitting under Urgency. Sherlock Holmes’ famous observation concerning the dog that did not bark, ...2 days ago - Gordon Campbell on why the SIS need operational ground rules
This is bad, right? Apparently the SIS used its powers illegally when it raided journalist Nicky Hager’s cell phone and extracted information that still failed to identify one of the key sources for Hager’s 2011 book Other People’s Wars. In that book, Hager had revealed hitherto unknown aspects of New ...2 days ago - Bryce Edwards: Clawing back $7bn of corporate welfare
The taxpayer is short of billions of dollars that were overpaid to businesses during Covid according to Christchurch philanthropists Grant and Marilyn Nelson. They are taking legal action against state agencies to push them to recoup up to $7bn that was wrongly paid out to wealthy employers who didn’t need ...2 days ago - Legal Beagle: The Entrenchment Angle We All Missed
I have a basically finished 800-word article on the entrenchment issue that is now unneeded. Dean Knight’s tweets, my tweets, and the open letter of the group of legal academics published by the New Zealand Herald say almost all that needs to be said on the manner in which the ...2 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2022Open access notables: Kunio Kaiho is a leading expert on past extinction events. In Extinction magnitude of animals in the near future just published in Nature Scientific Reports, Kaiho draws on mechanisms of prior mass extinction events to prognosticate on what effect Homo bolidus [our term] might impose on Earth's species. "It depends," ...2 days ago
- Media Link: AVFA on protests in China and Iran.
This week in “A View from Afar” Selwyn Manning and I try to provide a conceptual/analytic backdrop to the protests in the PRC and Iran. The thrust is that although there are similarities as well as differences between them, each confrontation involves a strategic game between the protestors and regime ...3 days ago - Open Government: Not achievedNewsroom reports on the reaction from civil society organisations to Labour's new draft Open Government Partnership National Action Plan, and its pretty scathing: The Government’s claims to greater openness and transparency have yet again been called into question, with New Zealand’s latest open government plan containing proposals “so weak ...3 days ago
- Climate Change: Be careful what you wish forThroughout the (misnamed) he waka eke noa process, farmers have insisted on farm-level pricing, largely as a way of getting more subsidies for their pollution - and sadly, Labour looks set to give it to them. They're already complaining about the "bureaucratic nightmare" - a nightmare entirely of their own ...3 days ago
- Reported backThe Justice Committee has reported back on the Electoral Amendment Bill. The bill implements the recommendations of the Ministry of Justice consultation on election funding - the one where the Ministry of Justice conspired with the labour party to keep its highly influential submission totally secret - and the Labour-dominated ...3 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Nicky Hager strikes a win for media freedom and democracyDo New Zealand state spies unlawfully surveil the government’s political critics? Do they spy on critical journalists? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. And yesterday the government domestic security agency was forced to apologise for one instance when they were caught spying on investigative journalist Nicky Hager. The New Zealand Security ...3 days ago
- 2022 General Reading: November (+ Old Phuul update)Completed reading for November: The White People and Other Weird Stories (collection), by Arthur Machen Not So Barren Or Uncultivated: British Travellers in Finland 1760-1830, by Tony Lurcock J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead Legends of Aotearoa (collection), edited by ...3 days ago
- Publishing a long overdue explainer about a scientific consensusRecently, we happened upon a neat and detailed article, explaining what a scientific consensus is. This made us realize, that - even though we have a lot of material about the consensus - we were lacking an explainer about what a scientific consensus actually is. We have now remedied this ...4 days ago
- The SIS: spying on the government’s political criticsThe big worry about the SIS and GCSB is that they will be used to spy on the government's political critics. Whenever this worry is expressed, the spies and their Ministers say that of course that would never happen. The problem? It has: Journalist Nicky Hager will receive $66,000 ...4 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on the gaslighting about inflationReportedly, we’re going to need to have a recession next year in order to curb our wild spending habits and bring inflation under control. According to some economists, we’ve all been spending our hefty wage rises so freely that up to 50,000 of us may have to lose our jobs ...4 days ago
- Political Roundup: 30 November 2022Items of interest and importance today THREE WATERS Jane Patterson (RNZ): Three Waters anti-privatisation blunder adds to storm of controversy Jo Moir (Newsroom): The chaos behind the Greens’ controversial Three Waters amendment Emile Donovan (RNZ): The problem with entrenching party policy Thomas Cranmer: Mahuta ditches ‘no surprises’ policy Anne Salmond ...4 days ago
- Has Labour Become A Co-Governed Party?The Power Of Two: It is possible that, formally or informally, the Labour caucus arrived at its own version of co-governance. What the Māori caucus decide upon as its priorities are not to be overridden or gainsaid by the broader Labour caucus’s Pakeha majority. An arrangement of this sort would ...4 days ago
- Hope Defeats Hate.Third Time Winner: Daniel Andrews’ Victorian victory is of a piece with the general failure of the American Right to achieve the gains it was expecting in the recent mid-term elections. Generally speaking, voters not already addicted to the Right’s ideological Kool-Aid find very little to like about candidates who ...4 days ago
- We need greater transparency on party fundingYesterday Max Rashbrooke and Lisa Marriott released their report on political party funding. The gist of it can be gathered from the title: Money for Something. Big donors are donating big money for big influence over policy, and the current regime seems designed to facilitate rather than prevent this ...5 days ago
- Political Roundup: 29 November 2022Items of interest and importance today POLITICAL FINANCE, PARLIAMENT, VOTING AGE Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Big money donors get access to PMs and party leaders – report Anna Whyte (Stuff): Political donations: Identity over $1,500 should be disclosed, new report recommends Brent Edwards (NBR): Research reveals influence bought through political donations Jem ...5 days ago
- How 2022 has substantially, and favorably, changed global climate outlookThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Anew analysis by the Global Carbon Budget, published in the journal Earth System Science Data, shows global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have fully recovered from the temporary dip driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, setting new records in 2021 and 2022. But it’s not ...5 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on entrenchment, and being ‘soft on crime’Good grief. Is it really a grave misuse of power to entrench safeguards against the irreversible sale of key public assets? Hardly. If this country has learned anything over the past 40 years, it should be that New Zealand has suffered lasting economic and social damage from the previous sales ...6 days ago
- Entrenching anti-privatisationLast week, Labour put the House into urgency to push on with its legislative agenda. Part of this included the committee stage of the three waters bill, and something unusual happened: they passed an entrenchment clause protecting the bill's anti-privatisation clause - meaning that a future government would need the ...6 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: The Misuse of power to entrench Three Waters legislationWhen governments become tired and lose their popularity – usually in their third term – they often become desperate to get their way and prone to misusing their power. This is currently in evidence with the Labour Government’s push to lock in elements of their Three Waters reform programme by ...6 days ago
- Revenge and rage optics continues to dominate the politics of the Right, even here. All voters deser...
The vapid cycle of self-serving performative rage when it suits… the screaming for repeal here, there and everywhere… the constant calls from columnists and the airwaves to “be angry”, for the public to just get up and be “stomping mad!”… Of course, none of this is the stuff from ...7 days ago - Top tweets on the Government’s Three Waters law entrenchmentCatching up on constitutional developments while I’ve been deep in the marking cave. And this one is a doozy — and perhaps concerning? An SOP entrenching a point of policy (ownership/control of water assets) was agreed, ie 60% majority needed to repeal.https://t.co/GRRXrmr6ZW pic.twitter.com/sm4MCOD85w — ᴅʀ ᴅᴇᴀɴ ...7 days ago
- A Strange Hill To Die On.Last Stand? Has Labour’s caucus chosen the Government’s deeply unpopular Three Waters policy as the hill upon which it will stand and die? And, if that is the case, then – why?CURIA RESEARCH recently conducted a poll in the Napier electorate. Bad news for Stuart Nash, the Labour incumbent, whose ...7 days ago
- 2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 20, 2022 thru Sat, Nov 26, 2022. Story of the Week The Art at COP27 Offered Opportunities to Move Beyond ‘Empty Words’ In Egypt, visitors encountered creative works about climate anxiety, sustainability ...1 week ago
- Revisiting the Big Three of Weird Tales: H.P. Lovecraft, C.A. Smith, and R.E. Howard
My October 2022 reading was marked by a reacquaintance with old-school Pulp Fantasy and Horror, specifically a binge through the collected works of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard. Two of those three are still well-known names among fantasy readers, but in the first half of ...1 week ago - Open Government: Another farceYesterday the government released its draft Fourth Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2023-24 for consultation. Like previous versions, the plan was meant to be "co-created" with civil society. And like previous versions, that obligation seems to have been observed mainly in the breach, with the government conducting a series ...1 week ago
- The Crypto Casino
Financial activity is too often gambling. Cryptocurrencies are the latest example.Gambling is a zero sum game: the proceeds of the winners are offset by the losses of the losers. That statement is not quite true because typically there is someone between taking a margin on each transaction. Patrons leave a ...1 week ago - Bryce Edwards: Why Labour capitulated on hate speech lawsThe Labour Government is currently fighting on multiple fronts that threaten its popularity in the run-up to next year’s election. Therefore, when a call had to be made about whether to push through divisive and poorly-designed hate speech laws, there really was no decision for Justice Minister Kiri Allan to ...1 week ago
- Josh Van Veen: Wayne Brown’s first monthWayne Brown has been Mayor for a month, and already he has done more to change Auckland than Phil Goff did in six years. The changes began even before Brown was sworn in. Only hours after the election results were announced on 8 October, the Chair of Auckland Transport Adrienne ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2022Open access notables: Web bulb temperatures verging on unsurvivable are creeping into our world and heading toward familiar. That's the lesson we can infer from Dong-Quan & Sun's Effects of anthropogenic forcing and atmospheric circulation on the record-breaking welt bulb heat event over southern China in September 2021. Analyzing an event including 32.8°C the authors find: ...1 week ago
- An engineered recession is class warfareThe Reserve Bank has just come out and admitted that they are engineering a recession to protect the rich: The Reserve Bank is deliberately engineering a recession to reign back inflation after being slow to raise interest rates, Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr admitted to a select committee on ...1 week ago
- That’s no how you do democracyLast night, the English Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish government cannot hold an independence referendum. Having said that Scotland is not a colony, they then turned around and effectively said that they are, by forbidding them from holding a democratic vote on their own constitutional arrangements unless another country ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell on the centre-right’s internal ructionsFor donkey’s years, political commentary has been all about the binaries: left/right, Labour/National, government/opposition, she said/he said. Yet currently, a lot of the fascinating conflict is occurring amidst the centre-right. That’s because National, ACT and New Zealand First all happen to be fishing in the same pond for cranky and ...1 week ago
- Bryce Edwards: Politicians and the Reserve Bank are being blamed for an escalating economic crisisWill the looming economic recession kill off Labour’s re-election chances? Is the Reserve Bank making things worse? And could a National Government do any better? These are some of the big political questions floating around after the full extent of the economy’s plight was made clear by the Reserve Bank ...1 week ago
- Josephine Varghese: From Obama to Sunak–do representational milestones mean anything more than sym...New Zealand media have recently discussed two major representational milestones in politics. Firstly, New Zealand Parliament achieving 50% women’s representation with the induction of Labour list MP Soraya Peke-Mason. Secondly, Rishi Sunak becoming the UK’s first non-White Prime Minister. Major media outlets have been celebrating these events as watershed moments ...1 week ago
- Gustavo Petro and the Civic – Military Campaigns
Gearóid Ó Loingsigh looks at the new government in Colombia and how it talks of peace while increasing militarisation The Petro–Márquez government is one which proposes to bring us to what they term Total Peace. The term and the proposal as such have been subjected to justifiable criticism, not least ...1 week ago - Labour attacks LGOIMA – in secretToday the government used urgency to introduce a new Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Bill. The bulk of the bill deals with land information memorandums (LIMs), requiring local authorities to notify of natural hazards and granting them immunity for doing so in good faith (hopefully forestalling lawsuits by ...2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: Fixing the Crown Minerals Act?Back in August, the High Court ruled that the Zero Carbon Act isn't worth shit and that the government can continue to approve new fossil fuel exploration without having to consider climate change. The core of the problem is the Crown Minerals Act, and in particular its purpose: "to promote ...2 weeks ago
- The True Cost
It is hard to take seriously the voices of those currently asserting that Brexit has come with a considerable economic cost. Where were those voices at the very beginning of what became the Brexit saga, when we were assured that membership of what was then the Common Market would produce ...2 weeks ago - Political Roundup: 23 November 2022Items of interest and importance today VOTING AGE Henry Cooke (Guardian): New Zealand’s supreme court has forced voting age on to agenda, exposing absurd arguments for status quo Henry Cooke: The only reasonable argument for retaining the voting age Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Local election voting age looks set to change ...2 weeks ago
- Phil Ferguson: a firsthand account of the Irish strugglePhil Ferguson is a founding editor of Redline and was a regular contributor. He has been out of action for the past year after suffering a stroke. He is learning to walk again and hoping to get back to writing. Tim Leadbeater sat down with Phil to talk about topics ...2 weeks ago
- The Most Pertinent Question.Why Now? As Rebecca Wright pointed out to Justice Minister, Kiritapu Allan, on Newshub Nation, a great deal of political travail could have been avoided by the Labour Government if they’d simply accepted the Royal Commission’s recommendation to extend the already existing legal protections against the incitement of racial hatred ...2 weeks ago
- FinallyAt the 2020 election, Labour promised to regulate property managers. Now, they're finally doing it: The Government’s announcement that rental property managers will be regulated has left the industry asking for more detail, and tenants calling for landlords to be regulated too. Regulating property managers was one of the ...2 weeks ago
- Young people must be allowed to vote
Let me just start out by saying that young people must be allowed to vote. Not because they are more enlightened than previous generations, but because the earlier people become voters, the more likely they will continue to participate in democracy.We have a serious problem in New Zealand with low ...2 weeks ago - How to counter holocaust denial – a particular type of hate speech
Plebity – a left free speech website looks at how to ‘counter hate speech with more speech’. This excellent article addresses one of the points discussed in the interview with Daniel Ben-Ami about how tolerance doesn’t mean silently allowing bad ideas or adopting a relativist outlook. WHAT DOES IT MEAN, ...2 weeks ago - Bryce Edwards: The High barriers to lowering the voting ageSixteen-year-olds aren’t about to get the right to vote anytime soon. Despite yesterday’s Supreme Court declaration that a voting age of 18 violates the Bill of Rights, there are still many barriers to get over before the voting age could be lowered. In fact, as a best-case scenario, youth voting ...2 weeks ago
- The Iran protests and the battle for Women’s RightsIn this Free Speech Union podcast Daphna Whitmore speaks with Dr Forough Amin about what’s happening in Iran after two months of growing protests across the country. Forough is a women’s rights activist and the founder of the Iranian Women in NZ Charitable Trust. Forough discusses the dire state of ...2 weeks ago
- The Sagas and Fairy Tales of the South Pacific: Maori Legends, as collected by Sir George Grey (1855...
As a Pakeha New Zealander who spent the majority of his school-level education in the lower North Island in the 1990s, I received a smattering of Maori cultural infusion. I learned how to count to ten in Maori, learned the names of colours, some rudiments of pronunciation from singing ...2 weeks ago - A victory for democracy!Today, the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Make it 16 Inc v AG, declaring that the law forbidding 16 and 17 year olds from voting was inconsistent with the right to be free from discrimination, and that it had not been justified under the BORA. Its a ...2 weeks ago
- Gordon Campbell on Qatar, Joyce Carol Oates and Mimi ParkerThe FIFA World Cup has kicked off amid laments about Qatar’s terrible human rights record, and FIFA’s greed in awarding them the Cup hosting rights in the first place. The criticism raining down on Qatar over its murderous treatment of migrant workers errs and its persecution of its LGBT community ...2 weeks ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Does New Zealand need to up its game with World Cup host Qatar?As the FIFA World Cup gets underway in Qatar, it is worth looking at the state of New Zealand’s wider relationship with the host nation. While New Zealand often likes to think of itself as a small country, it comfortably outranks Qatar in both size and population. In terms of ...2 weeks ago
- Elizabeth Rata: The Curriculum, intelligence, and democracyThe intelligence of the New Zealand population increased during the 20th century. Nutrition played its part but so too did education. Young people were taught the abstract knowledge of academic subjects and in the process developed secondary intelligence. Since the 1990s, the emptying out of prescribed academic knowledge from the ...2 weeks ago
- Where are Ukrainian refugees going? – an update
A temporary tent camp set up for Ukrainian refugees in Donetsk, in Russia’s Rostov region near the Russian-Ukrainian border, June 22, ... 2 weeks ago - If It Ain’t Broke, Why Fix It?Still Going Strong: Why has the Minister of Justice cobbled together a group of “progressive” academics, most of whom subscribe to the core beliefs of Māori nationalism, “decolonisation”, and te Tiriti revisionism, to “review” our political system? In the absence of any convincing evidence that our electoral machinery is “broke”, ...2 weeks ago
- 2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 13, 2022 thru Sat, Nov 19, 2022. Story of the Week Is COP27 the End of Hopes for Limiting Global Warming to 1.5 Degrees Celsius? The climate talks are going into overtime ...2 weeks ago
- Labour grovels to the bigotsIn the wake of the March 15 terror attack, the inquiry recommended tougher hate-speech laws. And after dragging their feet on it for a full year, the government has basicly said "fuck that": The Government has drastically watered down its hate speech reforms, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said on Saturday. ...2 weeks ago
- Are We in a Stagflation?
Recently, I have often been asked whether we (New Zealand or the World) are experiencing a stagflation. There is no meaningful ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. You have to define the term before deciding what is going on.Rutherford once said there were only two kinds of science: stamp collecting and physics. ...2 weeks ago - More police racismThe police annual report was released this month, with the usual statutory information on surveillance warrants and DNA samples. And it turns out there's some shocking evidence of racism among the latter: The proportion of youth DNA samples collected by police that belong to rangatahi Māori continues to rise, ...2 weeks ago
- The Political MinefieldPoor Christopher Luxon. His lack of political experience (and judgment) is constantly being highlighted – not least by his recent foray into the treatment of child criminality. So keen was he to draw attention to his assertion that “Labour is soft on crime” that he was prepared to run the ...2 weeks ago
- Media Link: “AVFA” on US midterms and Trump’s return.After a small hiatus due to Covid hitting my household, Selwyn Manning and I resumed our weekly ” A View from Afar” podcast series with an analysis of the 2022 US midterm results and a look at what Trump’s decision to run for president again means for the GOP. You ...2 weeks ago
- Bryce Edwards: National wants to brand the Govt as soft on crimeAs Government politicians put the boot into National’s bootcamp announcement yesterday, Christopher Luxon would have been celebrating. His populist announcement wasn’t only designed to scratch an electoral itch, but to cynically trap his opponents into looking soft on crime. And it probably worked. Soon after announcing his policy for bootcamps ...2 weeks ago
- Free Speech to fight anti-SemitismFree Speech Union member Daphna Whitmore talks with Daniel Ben-Ami, an author, and journalist based in London. His website “The Radicalism of Fools” https://www.radicalismoffools.com/ aims to develop a better understanding of anti-Semitism and its root causes. Daniel talks about different forms of anti-Semitism from the right and the left. He explains ...2 weeks ago
- Hello, do you know the difference? The Raytheon, Goldman Sachs Left is not the LeftThe left free speech site Plebity has published this handy chart. When you say left, you probably aren’t actually talking about the left. Find another name. Or at least understand the difference between the woke left and the traditional left which although largely silenced does still exist. Here is a ...2 weeks ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2022Notables: Presence or absence of stabilizing Earth system feedbacks on different time scales Arnscheidt and Rothman confirm the stabilizing effect of carbonate geochemistry on Earth's climate, at least on "short" timescales. More provocatively: "We have shown that the observations are inconsistent with a dominant stabilizing feedback on the longest time scales ...2 weeks ago
- Further action to tackle crime and keep our communities safe
Every community in New Zealand should be a safe place to live, work and raise a family. Our Government is focused on tackling the complex issues that cause crime while also making sure that appropriate consequences are in place. ...3 days ago - Backing farmers with a strong record on tradeAs countries around the world continue to face economic challenges, there is real reason for New Zealand to be optimistic about the future – and our primary sector is at the heart of that. ...4 days ago
- US court decision shows need for stronger protection of Māui dolphin
A decision by a United States Court to ban seafood imports from New Zealand shows the Government needs to do more to protect Māui dolphins. ...5 days ago - NZ needs strong protection against water privatisationNew Zealanders deserve strong protection against the future privatisation of water assets, the Green Party says. ...6 days ago
- Political parties call for action on IranParties from across Parliament have come together to call on the Government to take decisive action to hold those responsible for violence and human rights violations in Iran to account. ...1 week ago
- Social workers need to see pay equity immediatelyThe Green Party is welcoming today’s announcement that pay equity will be extended to more social workers, and urges the Government to work with unions to get this sorted as quickly as possible. ...1 week ago
- Case for excess profit tax on banks clearer than everThe Government should adopt an excess profits tax and use any revenue raised to help people make ends meet, following the rise in the Official Cash Rate today. ...2 weeks ago
- Easing the pressure on New ZealandersSince taking office in 2017, our Government has worked hard to lift wages and make life more affordable for New Zealanders, as we move forward with our plan to create economic security for all. ...2 weeks ago
- Crown mineral change does not go far enoughLong overdue changes to the Crown Minerals Act are a welcome step in the right direction but the Government needs to go further to end the nonsensical search for fossil fuels. ...2 weeks ago
- Healthy Homes for all means a WOF and Landlord RegisterThe Government’s decision to exclude landlords from property management regulations means more than half of Kiwi rentals will be left out in the cold. And, where they’re kicking the can down the road on Healthy Homes Standards, the Government falls short on the basics that a Rental Warrant of Fitness ...2 weeks ago
- Time to extend the voting ageThe Green Party is calling on the Government to take immediate action to lower the voting age to 16. ...2 weeks ago
- Supporting Kiwi kids this Children's DayOur Government has put the wellbeing of children at the heart of everything we do. As we celebrate World Children’s Day, we’re taking a look at some of the ways Labour is working to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. ...2 weeks ago
- Hate speech change welcome, but still leaves communities at riskThe Green Party welcomes hate speech reform to protect religious groups, but is concerned that the exclusion of gender, rainbow, and disability communities sends a signal that these groups are less deserving of protection. ...2 weeks ago
- Young people deserve betterThe National Party’s plan to put children into military boot camps is so flawed it is dangerous. ...2 weeks ago
- Thousands more homes under LabourWe’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party solution better for Māori voters, not deal with NationalAn agreement between Labour and National misses an historic opportunity to make our democracy more accessible for Māori voters. ...3 weeks ago
- Govt must extend Samoa visa changes to all Pacific countriesThanks to Green Party pressure, visitors from Samoa can soon travel to Aotearoa without a visa – a right that should be extended to every Pacific country. ...3 weeks ago
- A cheaper, faster, better resource management systemOur Government is delivering a new resource management system that will better protect the environment while cutting red tape, lowering costs and speeding up the time it takes to approve new homes and infrastructure projects. ...3 weeks ago
- Nature missing in RMA reformThe Government has missed a crucial opportunity to redesign the resource management system with climate and nature at its heart. ...3 weeks ago
- Govt continuing to prioritise high income earners in immigration systemThe resumption today of the parent visa category needs to be followed by an end to the Government’s unfair salary based family reunification policy. ...3 weeks ago
- Supporting more Kiwis into jobsWe’re helping more Kiwis into work, to help support whānau, grow our skilled workforce and secure our economy for future generations. During our time in Government, we’ve delivered record low unemployment rates, as well as a steady fall in the number of New Zealanders receiving a main benefit, and we’re ...3 weeks ago
- Government to remove entrenchment from Three Waters legislation
The Government will fix the Water Services Entities Bill this week by removing the entrenchment clause that was voted on during committee stages, Leader of the House Chris Hipkins announced today. “It was a mistake to put the entrenchment clause in and the Government will fix the issue as soon ...54 mins ago - Joint statement: Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister ConsultationsAustralian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong welcomed Aotearoa New Zealand's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta to Canberra today for biannual Australia – Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations. The Ministers acknowledged the unique strength of the relationship between Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, reaffirmed the shared ...2 days ago
- Funding boost for kaupapa Māori response to homelessnessAssociate Minister of Housing (Homelessness) Marama Davidson has announced a significant funding boost today for kaupapa Māori approaches that support whānau into housing. $24.7 million will be allocated to support the delivery of He Ara Hiki Mauri – a tangata whenua-led response to homelessness. “Homelessness is not inevitable. By working ...2 days ago
- Appointment of Judge of the High CourtAuckland barrister David Gary Johnstone has been appointed a judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Johnstone graduated from the University of Auckland in 1991 with a BCom/LLB(Hons), and joined Bell Gully as a solicitor, practising in general commercial litigation. During 1993 and 1994 he studied at the ...2 days ago
- New mental health facility a step closer for GisborneHealth Minister Andrew Little was at Gisborne Hospital today to mark the next step of Te Tairāwhiti’s new Te Whare Awhiora mental health facility build. The Health Minister turned a sod to mark the start of groundworks at the site, in preparation for the placement of a mauri stone. “The ...2 days ago
- More rural broadband for regional communitiesNew contracts will improve around 30,000 broadband connections in rural homes and communities Govt on track to see 99.8% of all New Zealanders receive access to improved broadband as a result of various connectivity programmes by the end of 2023, including those targeting rural regions Applications open for one-off ...2 days ago
- Tauranga region to benefit from new funding and financing toolTauranga will be the first region to use a new Government tool to raise funding for much-needed infrastructure. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be used to raise finance from private markets, which is then repaid via the levy on those who benefit from the infrastructure. The finance raised by ...2 days ago
- New committee established to drive better public health outcomesSome of the country’s most difficult health issues will be tackled by a newly established public health advisory committee, whose members have now been appointed. Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall says the new Public Health Advisory Committee will investigate and help address long-term health challenges facing Aotearoa. “We ...2 days ago
- Government and sector back innovative regional and wool projects$2.17 million for new food and fibre ventures in Taranaki $2.24m to develop high-value, sustainable cashmere industry $233,000 to prototype an acoustic, knitted textile product from strong wool for high-end commercial and residential interiors. $530 million co-invested with business through the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund The Government closes ...2 days ago
- Statement on the death of Sir Murray HalbergNew Zealand has lost one our true sporting icons with the passing of Sir Murray Halberg, Grant Robertson, Minister of Sport and Recreation said today. “Sir Murray was an extraordinary athlete. His gold medal in the 5000m at the Rome Olympic Games in 1960 has been immortalised as part of New ...3 days ago
- Ministerial talks in Canberra to progress trans-Tasman relationshipThe importance of cooperation in the Pacific to support the region’s recovery and resilience will be a focus of formal talks in Canberra tomorrow between the Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Australian counterpart Penny Wong. Nanaia Mahuta will meet Senator Wong for the second formal Foreign Ministers’ Consultations following ...3 days ago
- Iwi and Government partnership delivers more rental homes for Pāpāmoa whānauAssociate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare attended the official opening of 10 new rental homes built for working whānau of Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore in Pāpāmoa today. “The Bay of Plenty region is one of many regions facing significant housing challenges and this Government is taking action by ...3 days ago
- Government investment to support growth of Māori businesses and jobs in the primary sectorTotal exports by Māori businesses have grown by 38% since 2017 to $872 million, with the majority from the food and fibre sector Launch of Rautaki mo te Taurikura action plan to support the continued growth of Māori food and fibre sector Support for Māori agribusiness innovation and workforce development ...3 days ago
- Government to address child abuse system failingsThe Government is adopting the majority of recommendations from an independent review into the actions of government agencies leading up to the death of 5-year-old Malachi Subecz, Minister for Children Kelvin Davis announced today. Following Malachi’s murder at the hands of his caregiver in 2021, Dame Karen Poutasi was appointed ...3 days ago
- More tools to help Police deal with fleeing driversIncrease the maximum driver licence disqualification period for a second offence of failing to stop or remain stopped, from 12 months to between 12 months and 24 months; Amend the Sentencing Act 2002 so that a vehicle can be forfeited on conviction for failing to stop. Offenders could have their ...3 days ago
- Govt books solid as global situation worsensThe Crown accounts are in a solid position thanks to the Government’s careful financial management through a deteriorating global environment. For the four months to the end of October, the Operating Balance before Gains and Losses (OBEGAL) recorded a deficit of $2.8 billion, $274 million lower than forecast at Budget ...3 days ago
- Expanded Dental Grants Available From Today· Increased Special Needs Grants for dental treatment are available to eligible New Zealanders available from today · New criteria means more Dental Treatment covered · People can now receive more than one grant in a year (any 52-week period), up to the maximum of $1,000 · Recent increases to ...3 days ago
- Exports tracking towards new record high growthPrimary industry exports to reach new record high of $55 billion in 2023 Forecasts $2.9 billion higher than in June 2022 Tracking strongly towards a 4 per cent increase in the year ending June 2023, despite global downturn New Zealand’s record food and fibre export revenue is projected to reach ...3 days ago
- New guidance for climate action at the local levelThe Government has released new guidance to support stronger links between New Zealand’s climate change goals, and local and regional planning. From today, it has become a legal requirement for local governments to consider the Government’s National Adaptation Plan and Emissions Reduction Plan when preparing or changing regional policy statements, ...4 days ago
- World-first bedside blood test good for people, good for health systemA single blood test that can diagnose heart attacks in minutes instead of hours, saving the health system millions of dollars and getting patients treated faster, is being rolled out in New Zealand hospitals, says Health Minister Andrew Little. “This research, led by emergency doctors at Christchurch Hospital, is ground-breaking,” ...4 days ago
- New rongoā workstream announced alongside Therapeutic Products BillA new workstream has been established within government to consider how rongoā might be protected in legislation. This comes as the Therapeutic Products Bill is introduced in Parliament today, Associate Minister for Health (Māori) Hon Peeni Henare said. “Under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Crown has an obligation to actively ...4 days ago
- Therapeutic Products Bill introducedLegislation to modernise the way medicines, medical devices and natural health products are regulated has been introduced in Parliament today. The Therapeutic Products Bill replaces the Medicines Act 1981 and Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 with a comprehensive regulatory regime that is fit for the future. Health Minister Andrew Little said ...4 days ago
- New Climate Action Centre to support farmers maintain international edgeNew Climate Action Centre launched to support farmers reduce ag emissions through R&D investment 50:50 joint venture between Government and agribusiness to accelerate product development First Centre projects launched to get farmers the emissions reducing tools sooner Indicative funding commitment rising to $35 million per year by Joint venture partners, ...4 days ago
- Progress on firearms register and safety authorityThe launch today of a new firearms regulator to ensure the legitimate possession and use of firearms, and an online portal to apply for licences, marks a significant step towards modernisation and improvements in gun safety, Police Minister Chris Hipkins says. Police is moving from being an administrator of ...4 days ago
- Government sets out next steps for on-farm sequestration strategyGovernment to work with primary sector on developing a sequestration strategy Government confirms today it will bring all scientifically robust forms of sequestration into the Emissions Trading Scheme, starting from 2025. This will be done at full value, rather than at a discount, so farmers can realise the true potential ...4 days ago
- Prime Minister concludes bilateral talks with Finnish PMPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin have concluded their first in person bilateral meeting in Auckland this morning. The Prime Ministers reiterated how their respective countries shared similar values and reflected on ways to further strengthen the relationship between New Zealand and Finland. “New Zealand and Finland ...4 days ago
- Plan to boost value & lift sustainability of NZ forestry sectorSector ITP to grow domestic processing and low-carbon wood products Grow the wood processing sector by 3.5 million cubic metres (25%) by 2030 Grow export earnings from value-added wood products by $600 million by 2040 Increase the use of domestic timber in construction by 25% by 2030 The Forestry and ...4 days ago
- Government supports more energy-saving projects to help more Kiwis save money17 community energy-saving education projects share $1.7 million Builds on success of previous Government projects that have supported more than 13,000 households and 440 energy education events with more than 80,000 LEDs distributed Helping households to reduce their energy bills and make their homes warmer and more energy-efficient, is the ...4 days ago
- Govt funds new 80-bed mental health unit for CanterburyThe Government has granted final approval for a new 80-bed acute mental health facility at the Hillmorton Hospital campus, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “This is the second stage of Hillmorton’s major infrastructure redevelopment programme and is one of the largest investments ever made in New Zealand’s mental health infrastructure ...4 days ago
- Māori education momentum rolls on with new wharekuraA new Year 1-13 wharekura will extend Māori Medium Education into Porirua West from 2027, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “The establishment of Te Kākā Kura o Ngāti Toa Rangatira will over time provide a local option for up to 200 tamariki and rangatahi on the western side ...5 days ago
- Easing administrative burden on farmers through new integrated farm planning projects37 new investments to simplify planning and reduce paperwork for farmers and growers Targeted projects for Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui, West Coast, Canterbury, and Otago Resources, a digital wallet and template tools to help farmers develop and integrate their farm planning. The Government is ...5 days ago
- New Commerce Commission Chair appointedCommerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Dr David Clark has today announced the appointment of Dr John Small as the new Chair of the Commerce Commission. “Dr Small has made a valuable contribution to a broad range of the Commission’s work in his roles as associate member and member, which he ...5 days ago
- Realising housing dreams for the Kāpiti CoastMuch needed public housing is on the way for the Kāpiti Coast thanks to the Government’s purchase of a large vacant plot of land at 59-69 Raumati Road in Raumati Beach. “This purchase will ultimately mean more families have a place to call home and demonstrates our commitment to resolving ...5 days ago
- Decarbonisation industry milestone reached in TimaruA pioneering boiler conversion project is now up and ready to go, using woodchips to make potato chips, while slashing emissions. “McCain’s newly converted coal boiler will reduce CO2 emissions at its Timaru factory by 95% and is an excellent example of the great climate gains we can achieve through ...5 days ago
- Fiftieth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations With ChinaChinese Embassy Reception Te Papa, Wellington Tēnā koutou katoa, Da jia hao Let me first acknowledge Ambassador Wang Xiaolong, thank you for the invitation this evening, it is a pleasure to be here. I would also like to acknowledge current and former Parliamentary colleagues, as well as members of ...6 days ago
- Govt keeps AM on the air in NorthlandMinister of Broadcasting and Media Willie Jackson and Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty today announced a $1.48 million package to fund the repair and replacement of three transmission masts in Northland to ensure AM radio can stay on air in the region. “This funding will secure the reinstatement of ...6 days ago
- Multi million dollar package to tackle retail crime and reoffendingA multi million dollar package to tackle retail crime and reoffending is the most significant crime prevention financial package in recent memory New fog cannon subsidy scheme set up. Government to provide $4000 for all small shops and dairies in New Zealand who want a fog cannon installed, with shops ...6 days ago
- Funding boost to support NZ’s game development industryNew Zealand’s game developers will receive an immediate funding boost to help support the growth of local studios beyond the current Dunedin centre. “New Zealand’s game development sector has been rapidly growing. The latest data from the New Zealand Game Developers Association shows the total revenue for the industry is ...6 days ago
- A new strategy for Pacific housingNew and existing housing initiatives are being brought together to improve home ownership for Pacific people said Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. Fale mo Aiga: Pacific Housing Strategy and Action Plan 2030, launched today, is the Government’s targeted response to the housing challenges faced by Pacific Aotearoa. Minister ...6 days ago
- Government takes action on pay parity for healthcare workersThousands of frontline community health workers – including nurses in aged-care facilities - are in for a pay rise as the Labour Government takes action on pay parity in the health sector. “I’m pleased to announce that Cabinet has agreed to on-going funding of $200 million a year so that ...6 days ago
- 45 years of Radioactive.FM
John Campbell, Samantha Hayes and Tova O’Brien remember the Wellington radio station where their careers began. John Campbell was studying English at Victoria University in the late ’80s when he fell in with a group of people working at Wellington radio station RadioActive. He and his friend Jim Scott began ...2 hours ago - Essay on Sunday: Where women were cloaked in shameAs demonstrators continue to risk and lose their lives challenging Iran’s regime, Aida Tavassoli recalls the shame and rage she felt growing up under it – and urges the world to support the protests. I have a picture of my mum, dad, my sister, and me outside our home. It’s ...3 hours ago
- NZ Chinese local community protests against China lockdowns, ‘dictatorship’
By Lucy Xia, RNZ News journalist More than 200 people from Aotearoa New Zealand’s Chinese community gathered for a vigil at Auckland’s Aotea Square last night to mourn the lives lost under China’s stringent covid-19 lockdowns and to call for an end to the country’s “Zero Covid” policy. The unprecedented ...8 hours ago - Three waters: Law Society urges Nanaia Mahuta to remove entrenchment provision
The Law Society has lambasted a provision in three waters legislation making it more difficult to privatise water assets. ...12 hours ago - ‘Tourists buzzing’ in resorts and islands as Fiji welcomes back visitorsBy Rachael Nath, RNZ Pacific journalist A year after re-opening its borders, Fiji has recorded an injection of F$805 million into its economy from international visitor arrivals between April and August. After shutting its borders for almost two years at the height of the covid-19 pandemic, Fiji has welcomed 520,000 ...14 hours ago
- Pro-independence groups want Kanak flag for New Caledonia’s official flagThe French flag and the Kanak independence ensign . . . flown together since 2011. Image: 123rf/RNZ Pacific The territorial government of New Caledonia debated the introduction of an official regional flag in 2008, as required by the Nouméa Accord. In July 2010, the New Caledonian Congress voted ...14 hours ago
- Lowering the voting age: It all works better when everyone feels involvedOpinion: Democracy is a lot like helping out around the house - as soon as the kids show the slightest bit of interest, they should be heartily encouraged, Michele A'Court writes. ...20 hours ago
- How to improvise your way through the silly season, according to the expertsAlex Casey talks to the women behind Sleigh!, the Basement’s fully improvised Christmas show, about how to think on your feet this Christmas. Improvised comedy is just like jazz, says Alice Canton. “In order to be a good improviser in jazz you need to know scales, you need to know ...21 hours ago
- A new era of dining for AotearoaThe fair pay agreement legislation, passed in October, has the potential to transform our local dining culture. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. It’s been just over a month since the fair pay agreement legislation, one of the biggest shake ups to employment law in ...22 hours ago
- THOMAS CRANMER: Questions remain over the appointment of Tuku Morgan
Many questions remain unanswered about the appointment of Tuku Morgan to his new Three Waters role, and the reforms are set to speed up once this Bill is passed into law. THOMAS CRANMER writes – Four weeks after Tuku Morgan issued a press statement confirming that he had been ...22 hours ago - Government agency call holding times double that of private businesses – Consumer NZConsumer New Zealand compared hold times for 16 government agencies, and found the average wait was 25 minutes - but it took four calls and two-and-a-half hours to reach Immigration. ...23 hours ago
- Focus on Politics: Hamilton West offers teaser for 2023 electionPolling for the Hamilton West by-election closes in a week. Political Reporter Anneke Smith takes the pulse of the bellwether electorate. ...23 hours ago
- A rolling disasterWhat sort of self-respecting adult woman doesn’t know how to roll a joint? An adult woman like Sharon Lam. If you are like me then you will have, for much of your life, based your definition of an independent woman on Destiny’s Child’s ‘Independent Woman Part I’. An independent woman ...1 day ago
- Inside Woof, the little bar that goes hardThe Dunedin bar has grabbed headlines throughout the year, but what has it taken to keep the doors open? Sam Brooks talks to Woof’s co-owners about running Ōtepoti’s hottest venue. There are a lot of bars in Dunedin. Throw a stick in the Octagon, and you’ll hit a bevy of ...1 day ago
- Questions remain over how Three Waters anti-privatisation clause got past ministersLabour's top brass somehow missed the memo at their caucus meeting last week that the Three Waters amendment they were backing was a constitutional bear trap. ...1 day ago
- World Cup: what body type works best for football? A professor of biomechanics explainsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Blazevich, Professor of Biomechanics, Edith Cowan University If you’ve been watching the World Cup, you might have marvelled at the physical fitness and skill of these elite players. How can they run and run and run for so long? What ...2 days ago
- The government will not send out Yes and No case pamphlets ahead of the Voice to Parliament referend...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney The Albanese government proposes to ditch the “Yes/No” case pamphlets that are ordinarily posted to voters before a referendum. Is this a good idea, and what, if anything, should replace it? What changes ...2 days ago
- Keith Rankin Essay – Using the Sex Industry to Critique Textbook EconomicsAnalysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Economics is a profound and important discipline. But its practice is prone to self-censorship, and still reflects in large part its (Victorian era) glory days ...2 days ago
- The Black Ferns are going on a victory tourThe Black Ferns are hitting the road around Aotearoa in the aftermath of their winning performance in the recent Rugby World Cup. According to Stuff, the team will travel to Ōmokoroa next Monday, then onto Hamilton next Tuesday, New Plymouth next Wednesday, Palmerston North next Thursday, and Christchurch and Wellington ...2 days ago
- The Basement Christmas show Sleigh is warm, fuzzy – and oh so funnyAfter a Covid-imposed hiatus in 2021, the annual Basement Theatre Christmas show returned to Auckland this week – and this time, it’s fully improvised. The Spinoff was there to check out Sleigh on opening night. Lots of laughs, even for the Christmas cynics Much like my fellow Spinoffers writing below, ...2 days ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Comeuppance’ by Kerry DaltonA new poem by Paekākāriki poet Kerry Dalton. Comeuppance All week a seal has come into our house through the cat door. Three times we returned him to the sea, thinking he had got lost. But he came back. Then we got the DOC ranger involved, who put him into ...2 days ago
- Govt highlights benefits for Tauranga in funding deal – but (in smaller type) beneficiaries learn ...Buzz from the Beehive Geography, ethnicity and your occupation will determine the extent to which you might benefit from the latest hamper of goodies to be distributed by the Beehive. But be warned. Being a beneficiary may result in levies being imposed. Roughly interpreting the latest announcements, the ...2 days ago
- Lehrmann trial discontinued: when prosecution isn’t in the public interestSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Burgin, Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Swinburne University of Technology ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shane Drumgold today announced that the charges against Bruce Lehrmann, the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019, have been ...2 days ago
- The ‘greatest film of all time’: Chantal Akerman’s win shows a generational shift is taking pl...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben McCann, Associate Professor of French Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles – Chantal Akerman’s 1975 hypnotic study of a mother performing domestic chores in microscopic detail – has just been crowned the ...2 days ago
- New Zealand’s Real-terms Trauma: Inflation Wiping Out Pay Rises As Cost Of Living Bites
New research reveals looming ‘salary stand-off’ as candidates promise to walk away over pay packets that fail to keep up with soaring costs Almost four in five (79%) white collar workers are warning they expect to start looking for a new job ...2 days ago - The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending December 2The 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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $23) A gem of a ...2 days ago
- Fresh developments on climate change measures in the dairy industry: a wake-up call to farmers
The NZ dairy industry faces climate change hurdles beyond the levies the Ardern government has indicated it will impose on farms. Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell drew attention to them when he told an interviewer at the Fieldays at Mystery Creek the giant dairy co-op and its farmers risk not ...2 days ago - A China-backed dam in Indonesia threatens a rare great ape – and that’s just the tip of the iceb...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Divya Narain, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland James Askew/SOCP handout In 2017, scientists described a new species of great apes – the Tapanuli orangutan. The species, found in the Batang Toru ecosystem of North Sumatara, Indonesia was listed ...2 days ago
- Iranian-Kiwi Community Press ReleaseMinister Hon Nanaia Mahuta responded today to earlier demands made on the government by the Iranian-Kiwi community of Aotearoa New Zealand (the Community). In an official meeting with the Minister on November 9, 2022, the Community demanded the government ...2 days ago
- What I learned from Michael Meredith about low-stress Christmas cookingOn Christmas Day, save your stress levels for arguing politics with Uncle Martin and let the dinner preparation be a smooth-running joy. One of Aotearoa’s top chefs showed Wyoming Paul how that’s done. It’s undeniable: supermarkets are stacked to the gills with pavlovas and Christmas mince pies, tinsel is adorning ...2 days ago
- Test your knowledge with The Friday Quiz!It’s Friday, it’s a quiz – it’s The Friday Quiz. Test yourself below. ...2 days ago
- Happy West Papua Day – and the brutal truth about where we are nowCOMMENTARY: By Yamin Kogoya On 30 June 2022, the Indonesian Parliament in Jakarta passed legislation to split West Papua into three more pieces. The Papuan people’s unifying name for their independence struggle — “West Papua” — is now being shattered by Jakarta’s draconian policies. Under this new legislation, the two ...2 days ago
- Taxpayers’ Union Board Adopts New Mission For New Zealand’s Most Popular UnionThe Taxpayers’ Union ’s Board has formally adopted a new mission to guide the work of New Zealand’s most popularly supported political centre-right pressure group. Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Transparency, which the Union adopted in 2018, ...2 days ago
- The Block, but better: Everything you need to know about House Rules NZWhat’s the new show replacing The Block NZ in 2023? Tara Ward explains. It all starts now…or does it? Earlier this week Three announced the postponement of The Block NZ 2023, due to the “challenging” housing market. It’s no surprise after October’s heartbreaking Block NZ auctions, when only two of ...2 days ago
- Wayne Brown suggests Auckland Airport share sell off plan to cut ratesAuckland’s mayor has proposed selling off 18% of the council’s shares in Auckland International Airport with the aim of raising nearly $2 billion. Wayne Brown said it would mean cutting next year’s rate raise by almost a third. “Next year, Auckland ratepayers are set to fork-out $88 million in debt servicing ...2 days ago
- The bumper 2022 Christmas tech gift guidePersonalised watches, connected toys and foldable flip phones: there are tech gifts to suit every family member. Yes, even grannie. After several years of Covid disruptions and supply chain delays, this was the year when tech companies began releasing full, unbridled, no-holds-barred product ranges again. From big companies to small ...2 days ago
- Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The plan for a second trial of Bruce Lehrmann has been dropped after expert medical advice warned it posed a “significant and unacceptable risk” to Brittany Higgins’ life. The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, ...2 days ago
- Why does lightning zigzag? At last, we have an answer to the mysterySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Lowke, Adjunct Research Professor of Physics, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has seen lightning and marvelled at its power. But despite its frequency – about 8.6 million lightning strikes occur worldwide every day – why lightning proceeds in ...2 days ago
- The world finally has its first ‘parastronaut’. Can we expect anyone to be able to go to space o...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Moore, Professor, School of Engineering and Technology, CQUniversity Australia NASA astronaut Winston E. Scott on an EVA in 1996. NASA JSC The European Space Agency made history last week with the announcement of the first “parastronaut”, 41-year-old UK citizen John McFall. ...2 days ago
- Ethnic community media can play a key role in a crisis – but it needs our supportSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wilfred Yang Wang, Lecturer in Media & Communications Studies, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock The recent Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories? report on diversity in Australian newsrooms revealed some grim, but unsurprising figures. The report found most television news ...2 days ago
- Kim Jong Un wants North Korea to be a nuclear superpower – the real risk is a regional arms raceSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato The recent claim by Kim Jong Un that North Korea plans to develop the world’s most powerful nuclear force may well have been more bravado than credible threat. But that doesn’t mean it can ...2 days ago
- Commissioner Marks International Day Of Persons With DisabilitiesThe Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner says health and disability services must be responsive to the needs and aspirations of disabled people and tāngata whaikaha. Rose Wall’s call comes as the United Nation’s International Day of Persons with ...2 days ago
- September 2022 Quarter Gross Domestic Product And COVID-19 – MethodsSeptember 2022 quarter gross domestic product and COVID-19 provides technical users with information about our approach to measuring the impact of COVID-19 in the forthcoming release of Gross domestic product: September 2022 quarter (scheduled for 15 December ...2 days ago
- Temporary Disruption To GoBay And MyWay Services As Bus Drivers Attend A Union Stop Work MeetingGoBay bus services and MyWay on demand services will experience additional temporary disruptions due to drivers attending a union stop work meeting in Clive next Monday 5 December from 6.30am-11am. These temporary disruptions are in addition to the reduced ...2 days ago
- Political editors panel: Slip-ups and course correctionsMorning Report - RNZ and Stuff's Political Editors Jane Patterson and Luke Malpass assess errors from the Labour and National leaders on Three Waters, superannuation and more. ...2 days ago
- Mental Health And Addiction Workers Not Prioritised In Pay Parity AnnouncementMental health and addiction community sector peak body organisation, Atamira Platform, are disappointed that mental health and addiction workers are excluded from the first round of priority funding for pay parity in the funded health sector, as announced ...2 days ago
- Deaf Community To Receive More Support In The 2023 CensusAn ambitious project to translate all the 2023 Census questions into New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) will help the Deaf Community participate more easily in the census next March, Stats NZ said today. Once completed, more than 80 NZSL videos ...2 days ago
- Rising Import Prices Drive Increase In Trade DeficitThe total trade deficit increased in the September 2022 quarter to $7.5 billion, driven by increases in import prices, Stats NZ said today. Compared with the September 2021 quarter, total imports of goods and services rose $5.6 billion (23 percent) ...2 days ago
- The UN committee against torture has found Australia still has work to doSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreea Lachsz, PhD Candidate, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock Content warning – this article discusses acts of violence, suicide, and deaths in custody. Australia appeared before the United Nations Committee against Torture on November 15 and 16 2022. This UN ...2 days ago
- The strange joy of stacking (and re-stacking) the dishwasherWashing dishes by hand is rightly romanticised. But the miracle that is the household dishwasher is a gift – a game, a puzzle, a perfect hobby, writes Duncan Greive. You’ll always find me in the kitchen at parties, re-stacking the dishwasher. It takes a certain level of familiarity with the ...2 days ago
- Listen: How do we keep elderly renters out of poverty?We hear a lot about young people struggling with housing affordability, but much less is spoken of how the housing crisis will impact pensioners. A new report shows we’re at serious risk of doubling the number of retirees facing rent and mortgage stress by 2048. While the debate around who ...2 days ago
- The tragedy of Malachi Subecz should prompt change, but not like thisThe report into Malachi’s tragic death recommends a new law that will negatively impact Māori while failing to fix our broken system. Yesterday saw the release of another review into Oranga Tamariki, this one focused on the circumstances leading to the death of Malachi Subecz, the five year old killed ...2 days ago
- Immigration NZ says Dizzee Rascal is approved to perform hereDizzee Rascal is approved to perform at Rhythm & Vines under the country’s visa waiver program, says Immigration NZ, and his right to headline two festivals won’t be revoked despite the rapper’s assault conviction earlier this year. Controversy has erupted over Dizzee Rascal’s upcoming summer festival appearances after he was ...2 days ago
- Territories free to make their own voluntary assisted dying laws, in landmark decision. Here’s wha...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben White, Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Voluntary assisted dying will soon be an option for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, now the Senate has just ...2 days ago
- Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Clawing back $7bn of corporate welfareAnalysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Clawing back $7bn of corporate welfare Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. The taxpayer is short of billions of dollars that were overpaid to businesses during Covid according to Christchurch philanthropists Grant and Marilyn Nelson. They are taking legal action against state agencies to push ...2 days ago
- Whakatōhea Have SpokenŌpōtiki, 2 December 2022: The people of Te Whakatōhea have spoken, the release of the results in the historic vote on the Whakatōhea Settlement are below. Whakatōhea 2022 settlement results Āe/Yes 67.01% Kāo/No 32.21% For full results of the Whakatōhea ...2 days ago
- Kindergarten Teachers Reject Government OfferThousands of kindergarten teachers from across Aotearoa have resoundingly rejected their collective agreement offer from the Ministry of Education and kindergarten associations. NZEI Te Riu Roa members covered by the Kindergarten Teachers' Collective ...2 days ago
- The Bulletin: An ‘invisible child’Stuff’s Michelle Duff reports on the investigation into the death of Malachi Subecz. Dame Karen Poutasi’s report identified critical gaps in the system that rendered Malachi an “invisible child” who was failed by multiple agencies and his community. The government has accepted nine of the 14 recommendations made by Poutasi. Minister ...2 days ago
- The public health case for Three WatersSix public health experts mount their case for Three Waters with a reminder that the genesis of the reforms was a campylobacteriosis outbreak that killed four people, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday morning, sign up here. Public ...2 days ago
- Malachi Subecz: Te Pāti Māori calls out lack of urgency to act on changesTe Pāti Māori has accused the government of being bereft of leadership and in a "state of paralysis" over its response to the murder of five-year-old Malachi Subecz. ...2 days ago
- There’s a serious ethical problem with some sunscreen testing methods – and you’re probably no...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Loughran, Director Radiation Research and Advice (ARPANSA), and Adjunct Associate Professor (UOW), University of Wollongong frantic00/Shutterstock As summer approaches, we need to start remembering to slip on sun-protective clothing, slop on sunscreen, slap on a hat, seek shade where ...2 days ago
- Fifty years ago, the new Whitlam government removed the luxury sales tax on the pill. It changed Aus...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Arrow, Professor of History, Macquarie University Broad Agenda Amid the scale and sweep of the list of decisions made by the Whitlam government in their first week in office, most people remember the big changes: freeing all draft resisters ...2 days ago
- 50 years ago today, Gough Whitlam was elected. There are some lessons for Albanese in what came nextSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Byrne, Honorary Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne David Crosling/AAP On December 2 1972, after 23 years in opposition, Gough Whitlam led the Labor party back to government. What followed was three tumultuous years ...2 days ago
- Ventilation reduces the risk of COVID. So why are we still ignoring it?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lidia Morawska, Professor, Science and Engineering Faculty; Director, International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (WHO CC for Air Quality and Health); Director – Australia, Australia – China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management (ACC-AQSM), Queensland University of Technology ...2 days ago
- 54% of projects extracting clean energy minerals overlap with Indigenous lands, research revealsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Kemp, Professor and Director, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of Queensland An Indigenous person in Indonesia protests against a copper and gold mine. Charles Dharapak/AP Vast quantities of minerals are needed to accelerate the transition to a clean ...2 days ago
- A push to raise the school starting age to 6 sounds like good news for parents, but there’s a catc...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Niland, Lecturer in Early Childhood, University of Sydney The decision about whether to send a child to school “early” or “hold them back” can be a tortuous one for families who have a child born in the first half of the ...2 days ago
- Half a century on, it’s time to reassess the Whitlam government’s economic legacySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra National Archives of Australia/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA After leading the Australian Labor Party to its first federal election victory in 23 years, Gough Whitlam wasted no ...2 days ago
- This year you chose what you listened to – but so did SpotifySpotify doesn’t just influence the listening habits of its vast audience, but even the way some musicians create music. Shanti Mathias takes a look at the musical behemoth that strives to give everyone everywhere everything. Spotify released its annual Wrapped promotion yesterday, as it does every December. If you spend ...2 days ago
- Pensioner poverty has changed the retirement debateWe hear a lot about young people struggling with housing affordability, but much less is spoken of how the housing crisis will impact pensioners. A new report shows we’re at serious risk of doubling the number of retirees facing rent and mortgage stress by 2048. While the debate around who ...2 days ago
- All 54 classic Whittaker’s flavours ranked from worst to bestWho knew there were so many flavours? Madeleine Chapman ranks them all. This ranking has been a long time coming. When I initially thought to rank chocolate blocks, I planned to rank all the chocolate blocks, as is right. But when factoring in Cadbury, Nestle, Whittaker’s, Tony’s, Lindt plus all ...2 days ago
- Vision New Zealand Launches Young Vision“I am delighted to announce that Vision New Zealand will be launching Young Vision, the youth arm of our political party tonight, Friday 2nd December, Lower Hutt Town Hall at 7.30pm”. Said Hannah Tamaki leader of Vision New Zealand. Vision New Zealand ...2 days ago
- Substantial Support For Lowering The Voting Age For Local Government Elections01 December Yesterday 66 Local Government Elected Members sent an open letter to Cabinet calling on them to allow a separate vote on the voting age for local elections, and urging Parliament to pass that vote. This comes at the same time as Porirua City ...2 days ago
- Pacific marks 61st year flying of Papua’s banned Morning Star flagBy Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Reports of threats by Indonesia against “Free West Papua” activists have come to light on the anniversary of the first raising of West Papua’s emblem of independence. “The security level is increased, they send direct threats, phone calls or SMS and in the past ...2 days ago
- Grattan on Friday: To have the best chance of success, the Voice must be sold to voters as a positiv...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Mick Tsikas/AAP Australia has only a year or less to get itself ready to vote on one of the most significant constitutional referendums in its history – to insert an Indigenous Voice into ...2 days ago
- Banning menthol cigarettes and more health warnings are only the start. Australia could look to NZ f...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Coral Gartner, Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame, The University of Queensland Pawel Czerwinski/Unsplash, CC BY-SA This week’s announcement of a raft of new tobacco control measures – including banning menthol products and proposing health ...3 days ago
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