human rights

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Simon Bridges, Conversion Therapy and free speech

Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, February 6th, 2021 - 22 comments

Simon Bridges has shown he wants to continue to fight the culture wars on the conservative side by claiming that preventing christian extremists from engaging in conversion therapy is a breach of their freedom of expression.

The twitter purge

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, January 14th, 2021 - 109 comments

Over the past few days Twitter has suspended not only Donald Trump’s twitter account but 70,000 accounts world wide many associated with the propagation of Qanon conspiracies.

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

 

No extradition for Assange

Written By: - Date published: 12:27 am, January 5th, 2021 - 104 comments

Great news. While unexpected, Nicky Hager who was an expert witness for Assange at the trial, thought this might be a possibility when he spoke to the Fabian Society in November. More details tomorrow.

Update: Bail application to be heard on Wednesday London time.

Nanaia Mahuta – Peacebroker

Written By: - Date published: 6:07 pm, December 16th, 2020 - 22 comments

“Do I believe that there might be an opportunity for New Zealand to create a different environment and have a conversation? Yes, I do.” Nanaia Mahuta told Reuters on Tuesday the country would be willing to help negotiate a truce between neighbouring Australia and regional heavyweight China, who are caught in an escalating trade and diplomatic spat. Great idea.

The boy from Matamata

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, October 28th, 2020 - 43 comments

Trump deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell, who is also a Kiwi, has announced his candidacy to be head of the OECD.  The Greens have announced their opposition because he has been part of inhumane decisions and also decisions that undermine international institutions.  The right back him because he is a kiwi.  What should Labour do?

The Covid Court Case

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, August 20th, 2020 - 30 comments

The High Court has ruled that for technical reasons during the first nine days of the lockdown statements that New Zealanders were legally required to remain at home were incorrect.

Black lives matter

Written By: - Date published: 1:09 am, June 6th, 2020 - 106 comments

The civil war may have ended slavery, the civil rights movement may have changed the legal framework ending segregation in the Southern States, but the idea that white people’s lives matter more has survived into the 21st century.

Stunned Muller

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, June 3rd, 2020 - 85 comments

Todd Muller thinks it is up to Donald Trump to decide if Donald Trump is a racist.

Twitter takes on Trump

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, May 30th, 2020 - 77 comments

Donald Trump is engaged in an escallating war with Twitter after the Social Platform hid one of his tweets calling for Minneapolis rioters to be shot.

No Right Turn on scrutiny of the COVID-19 Bill

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, May 21st, 2020 - 8 comments

Hopefully, this post-legislative scrutiny will provide a chance to correct any excesses.

Oh Sweden

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, May 16th, 2020 - 108 comments

Just when we thought liberal democracies meant real freedom was an absolute written into human rights stone, by mid-March this year almost all OECD countries had implemented the most draconian reversal of lockdowns on every single human to combat Covid19. Except Sweden. How is it working out?

Draconian Tourism or no Tourism?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 27th, 2020 - 192 comments

If overseas tourists want to visit NZ, they may have to give up a little bit of their privacy to keep all of us safe.

The “Others”.

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, April 25th, 2020 - 20 comments

“Othering” has long been a staple of Governments that want to remain in power for the benefit of an Oligarchy, an “Elite”, a small ruling class, or the ones with, “the money”. Deflecting blame for economic and social issues on, an ethnicity, a class, the elderly, the poor, the young, the unemployed, young solo mothers, the disabled, immigrants, or any other convenient group that can be demonised. Very soon more of us may become the “others” we didn’t care about.

Pandemics and our privacy

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, April 22nd, 2020 - 43 comments

The Ministry of Health is checking with the GCSB to enable full tracing of people to slow further outbreaks. Should we be afraid?

Quick Snippets

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 7 comments

The joys of bread rising far to fast through a warm autumn night is…this post.

M.I.A. Joe

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, March 22nd, 2020 - 19 comments

America has a question.

Do not deport your people and your problems to New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, February 29th, 2020 - 53 comments

Jacinda Ardern has trashed traditional notions of how New Zealand Australia relations are conducted when making the clear point that Australia should not be exporting Australian made problems who are barely kiwis to New Zealand.

Bridges will talk tough to the Philippines but not China

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, January 20th, 2020 - 18 comments

Simon Bridges is visiting the Philippines.  And unlike his recent trip to China this time he has decided to talk tough to the local leaders about human rights.

McClay accused of supporting China’s mass detention of muslims

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, January 17th, 2020 - 51 comments

Freedom House has criticised National MP Todd McClay for reinforcing Chinese descriptions of the mass imprisonment of Muslim minorities as vocational training centres.

Little announces changes to Prisoner voting rights

Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, November 26th, 2019 - 44 comments

Andrew Little has announced a review of prisoner voting rights to overturn National’s law change which the Courts have ruled to be in breach of fundamental rights and unjustified. Simon Bridges has announced that National will reverse any such law change. And he has topped this off by proposing that Tauranga City Council should prosecute and fine beggars and homeless people.

British Justice tortures Assange

Written By: - Date published: 4:14 am, October 26th, 2019 - 36 comments

Craig Murray reports on the horror of Julian Assange’s treatment by British so-called “justice.” Read it and don’t weep. You can see why Murray resigned from the UK foreign service; their diplomacy is just as bad.

Australia gets tough on climate change activists

Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, October 17th, 2019 - 22 comments

Following on from Weka’s post yesterday concerning attacks on the right to protest in the United Kingdom, Australia has also shown a concerning tendency to attack and undermine that most important of rights.

The Free Speech Coalition goes to court

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, September 5th, 2019 - 70 comments

Jordan Williams and the Free Speech Coalition are in the High Court protecting the rights of Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux to express views the details of which Mr Williams does not know.

Dutton engages in weaponised brutality

Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, August 1st, 2019 - 63 comments

Australia is responding to New Zealand’s concern at the forced repatriation of New Zealand citizens from Australia who fall foul of the law by dramatically increasing the potential for this to occur.

Results matter

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, June 21st, 2019 - 29 comments

Everyone knows that getting employers to increase rates of pay and improve conditions of work takes real pressure and the only real way working people can exert pressure, in the unbalanced relationship that exists between individual employees and employers, is by acting together; collectively. And that’s what we’ve been doing week in, week out and getting real results.

The Hong Kong protest worked

Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, June 16th, 2019 - 20 comments

Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, has permanently suspended the legislative proposal to enable extradition of Hong Kong people to among other places mainland China.

Government under FiveEyes

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, June 7th, 2019 - 11 comments

Australian Federal Police chief Neil Gaughan told media after raiding the ABC that “if police did not investigate the leaking of classified information, Australia would no longer be entrusted by FiveEyes partners with intelligence that saves lives.” FiveEyes didn’t save Muslim lives in Christchurch.

 

Bene bashing

Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, June 1st, 2019 - 101 comments

National has engaged in the most crass form of beneficiary bashing in opposing Government changes to the benefit system announced in the budget and passed under urgency.

Reflections on Free Speech and Public Discourse

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 15th, 2019 - 119 comments

Silencing dissonant voices only leads to more and stronger dissonant voices and further radicalisation.

The power of compassionate politics

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, March 20th, 2019 - 205 comments

Jacinda Ardern has shown over the past week that she is one of the country’s best leaders.

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