The latest tidbit re the delays in putting cameras on the fishing boats shows once again we need to get quota away from the likes of talleys and into the hands of guys like this https://betterfish.co/.
He has a 24/7 live stream on his boat works hard to minimize by catch etc this is the type of fishing we need to have here.
I am disappointed the Labour and the Greens haven't rammed the cameras on boats through tbh hell even the Nats are in favour….
I doubt the nat's are in favour of camera's, after all peter goodman their party president is a large shareholder with Sanfords.
Do you have a link to confirm the nat's standing on camera's on commercial vessels please?
Cool link re Better Fishing, sadly Karl is a small drop in the bucket however, only 15T of catch annually is peanuts, sorry to say. He hauls 10T of flats per year, so he will just be fishing in the bay and probably doing the Tuna run during the season.
It looks like Karl is part of an inshore fleet, such vessel's usually only have up to three people max onboard. But it's a good start if he can get the other small boats to do the same. Unfortunately that will be near on impossible.
Karl is in Napier (small fleet there), the thing is in Nelson, Talley controls the inshore fleet, they unload to and are paid by Talleys. The exception being Guyton's who unload to sell at their own store. I'm pretty sure Sealord have no inshore fleet.
To understand the scope, Port Nelson is the largest fish unloading wharf in Australasia, and Talleys is the largest fish unloading facility at Port Nelson.
No all this govts doing !!!! Have to find someone else to blame 🤫
"One of Mr Nash’s first moves when he became the Fisheries Minister was to put the brakes on the rollout of electronic monitoring of the commercial fishing fleet."
gerry browlie is nat party spokesperson for fisheries, has he commented on the subject matter in recent days?
It appears that when the nat’s tried to roll it out they failed too…. did one of Talleys donations get in the way again? After all the nat’s gave PT a knighthood.
You appear to be unable to understand that National has not been in government for 21/2 years and that the current government is the issue.
So what has caused Labour to stall what was already in progress multi times !!
And here I thought you were just a shallow cheerleader but now I see what you are inferring, that Labour is tight with a certain industries that pays its way??? What a shock 🤑
I do, but take note of the apologist passive tone towards the current govt.
They are certainly superior to the current Nats, but that reason enough to demand more from this government. And this is another example of where this government fails again to deliver.
The Apologist for Wholesale Plunder Minister for Fisheries Nash was conniption inducing on the radio this morning. I came in part way through where he was saying it isn't as simple as putting a Go-Pro on a pole.
I would settle for that at the moment, at least until Megan Woods can come and sort out this mess as well.
If Nash knew what went on at sea he would understand why the need for cameras and why the fishers are dead against it.
Megan is awesome, I've a massive amount of respect for her.
Another thing about the fishing industry…… they won't want to listen to a woman, that's just how it is in that industry. It's sad but it's true.
EDIT – Having worked in the industry and knowing what I do, is why I’m so pissed off about this. Camera’s are needed on vessels, and it’s not such a big deal to install them. Just do it during survey or over the Christmas layup. Crikey if you can have stereo speakers on deck what’s the problem with having a camera. It’s not like they can’t send data, they’ve got satellite phones on board aka ‘gold phones’
That's the bit that had me spitting my muesli, the excuses and obfuscation from that mealy mouthed public servant. Small businesses, costs $25,000 and other stuff drowned out by his backing alarm.
Clearly became a tad impotent as he had been caught big-mouthing.
The other thing about having Megan Woods involved is the 'big swinging dick' boys coterie carry on would fail to cut the mustard.,
Yes it was, Grant did an excellent job of presenting the National Party for what they are, and also informing the country of the parties plans and achievements like the 6 months parental leave introduction.
I had to go in for minor surgery today and while under the knife had an interesting political discussion with the surgeon.
He said he was going to party vote Green this election and further added that he wanted to see the end of NZ First because they would act as a brake on any Labour Green government.
Which left me rather astounded. Making a sweeping generalisation, I assumed that because surgeons would be rather well paid they must therefore favour the Natz.
So, based on this very limited anecdotal evidence, Labour Greens in a landslide in September.
I would be amazed at any Health Professionals through out NZ who doesn’t 't vote Labour actually……….They must all be thanking their lucky stars for this govt and not the Nats given the state of Covid in the world
Yes. Possibly. One consultant I have known for a decade once spontaneously opined to us how he did not understand how that could happen. He worked in the Public Hospital 100% of his time and earned more than enough to keep his family here in NZ and support elderly relatives overseas. "A man cannot serve two masters.." He reckoned that was one of the major problems with our system…we''re simply not a large enough population to support two systems.
1/3rd wouldn't surprise me. More than half of surgeons voting on the left would though. GPs might be more likely to be liberal especially with the change in demographics of people getting into med school in recent decades. Would be interesting to see any research on this.
Nurses on the other hand, I would expect most to be left wing voters. Same with social workers, midwives, therapists.
it is always risky to make assumptions and generalise about any cohort….id expect that the split in any profession largely follows the national average
I'm a lurker here but but not commented previously.
Just to add that I'm a health professional and wouldn't dream of having anyone else in charge of the country but Labour. If greens got in too, even better.
It’s a policy that doesn’t currently have any champions within parliament, potentially giving TOP an edge for the enthusiastic niche of voters who back the idea. The Greens recently released a policy around a Guaranteed Minimum Income, which Simmons said had some merit, even if he thought TOP’s version was better.
The UBI policy had resonated most “among people working in the gig economy, and that is more likely to be younger people. All the stats show they’re the people working multiple jobs. So I think people in that position get it.” Comparing the two policies, he said “the key difference is around incentives to work. The GMI is clearly better for beneficiaries and people who aren’t working, but it will turn the welfare trap into the welfare grand canyon, effectively.”
He said a UBI by contrast would allow people to live comfortably, while not penalising them for increasing their work hours. “The GMI is a better version of the current benefit system. A UBI is a whole new welfare system for the 21st century and the gig economy,” he added.
The most important aspect of a UBI that people who don't understand easily is that it has to be seen as part of the tax system. It's not 'another form of welfare'.
And while there is merit in the Green's GMI that is essentially what it is, welfare on steroids, with all the attendant problems that brings.
For UBI to be any good, it still has to have welfare bolted on or it will either be insufficient for the disabled (for example) or hard to sell as the nominal tax take is too much.
Australia will be armed with long-range missiles for the first time as part of a $270 billion build-up of the Defence Force over the next decade as the Morrison government looks to keep up with the regional arms race being fuelled by China's militarisation.
some will be more than happy….and some will be vehemently opposed, just as would be the case here….the fact is that it isnt something subject to public opinion
The joke of the day has to be the Australian PM who thinks they need to be armed to the teeth in case there is a misjudgement. This from the master of misjudgement!
We should be following their lead. The world has proven itself not to be the benign place we thought it was twenty years ago and thus we need to build up our capacity to defend ourselves.
Why hasn't our little slice of paradise been 'rushed' by a 'big bad' recently? Maybe I'm naive, but IMHO we should prioritise health and biosecurity over military prepareness. It's likely NZ will face multiple threats from animal/plant pathogens and invasive non-human species, not to mention the guaranteed on-going epidemics of obesity, diabetes, alcoholism et al., before a 'big bad' changes our lifestyles forever.
Yes, also a perfect time for the police to take over, the illumanati (sp???) and any other paranoid conspiracy theory. If China, Martians whatever wanted to invade us or Aus we'd both be fucked, whether we had big guns or not, it's a delusion to think more weapons makes us safe. FFS we have a Chinese spy in our parliament.
Why hasn't our little slice of paradise been 'rushed' by a 'big bad' recently?
In 1914 or 1939 nobody had been attacked recently either. Didn't stop the wars from starting.
but IMHO we should prioritise health and biosecurity over military prepareness.
It's not an either/or option. We should be doing both. Both are options that a country wishes it never needed but is sorry not to have them when they're needed.
"In 1914 or 1939 nobody had been attacked recently either. Didn't stop the wars from starting."
Has there been any analysis of how more (or less) government spending on NZ’s military forces would have influenced the starting and ending of WWI/WWII?
I'm not saying NZ should ignore military defence, just that we face many potential (non-military) threats that we might actually be able to do something about – why not prioritise those?
Because the world is getting closer and closer to a hot war. That's what the Australian PM said and I agree. The actions of both the US and China are pushing us that way and when it happens we’re either going to be ready for it or get run over by it.
Different priorities – fair enough. Personally I don't believe military spending by NZ in preparation for a hypothetical future 'hot war' would be money well spent. I'd like to believe that it's still a matter of 'if' rather than 'when', but do understand the appeal of a 'hot war' to incompetent (using Covid-19 metrics as a yardstick) leaders such as Bolsonaro, Johnson and Trump, and there are precedents. Xi and Putin will share some blame, no doubt.
Is it a binary? Might NZ prepare for and still be "run over" in a 'hot war'? Still, better to have punched above our weight and lost, going forward…
In the face of a full on invasion, you might as well save the money that would be spent on purchasing half a dozen jet fighters that would be shot down in half an hour, and buy every inhabitant an ak47, a wheel barrow full of ammo, and instructions on how to fight a war of resistance VC style.
Buying any jet fighters would be a really stupid thing to do for NZ.
Equipping NZ with a lot of long range anti-air and anti-ship missiles and effective orbital surveillance of our seas, on the other hand, would work wonders.
Especially if we developed the capability to produce them here from local resources.
That's why it made sense back in the day for HC to scrap the strike force.
I'll be interested in how you make your pitch to left wing voters to start a missile defence program. It doesn't sound like a vote winner when the levels of poverty are still so high and in need of urgent attention.
Orbital satellites sound great, but I reckon a space force would rock it (lol) more.
Edit:
I’d rather we spent the money on finding cheap, clean energy sources and give it away to everyone, after all, any war is going to come down to resources and/or supremacy over the resources.
It doesn't sound like a vote winner when the levels of poverty are still so high and in need of urgent attention.
Poverty levels will, inevitably, go down as more people are engaged in work. It's a major reason why many nations have engaged in ramping up military spending throughout the ages.
Hell, the US still does and it has a law that says that all parts of military gear be made in the US that's been there since the 1930s. WWII really was the instrument to end the Great Depression.
Still, poverty is a direct result of capitalism and its need for cheap labour and so if we really want to do something about poverty then we need to do something about capitalism.
No, my answer to poverty is to eliminate the cause of poverty – capitalism.
And, as I pointed out, even if we don't have 'weapons of death' everyone else will which means, quite simply, that we won't be able to defend ourselves from them.
The world is not benign and no amount of wishing is going to make it so.
The confrontation over the Malaysian drill ship wasn't the first act of aggression by the Chinese government in the region in 2020.
The year began with a standoff in the Natuna Islands on the far southern end of the South China Sea, territory claimed by China and Indonesia. Vessels from both countries were involved in the standoff, which began when Chinese fishing vessels started to operate inside Indonesia's exclusive economic zone.
That's very definitely the first steps of war by China and its about time the rest of the world called it such.
And it would be money excellently spent as it would bolster our local industry while preparing us for the worst. The old saying comes to mind:
If you want peace, then prepare for war.
Many people seem to have fallen into the delusional belief that if we want peace then we should get rid of all our guns – while everyone else keeps theirs. This only makes it easier for any of the others to wage war on us while not keeping us at peace.
No, it really is still hypothetical (for now), although "hypethetical" is a fun typo. Amazing though that a 'hot war' hasn't already erupted in the three-and-a-half weeks since that CNN piece was written.
Slightly concerned by your vision of a 'hot war' precipitated by Chinese aggression as an imminent certainty, and the idea that others (?) want “to wage war on us“. Have you considered a career in diplomacy, or the NZSIS?
NZ First have become the NZ equivalent of the National Party of Australia – Fiercely producerist. Their stance against overseas ownership and immigration wilts under serious scrutiny given that they fully support overseas control of exotic forests, and the continued use of cheap Filipino labour on our farms and rest homes, while thousands of New Zealanders are still either unemployed or underemployed.
I voted for NZF in 2002 and 2011. Never again will I fall for their BS.
Only thing that worries me about NZ First leaving is their votes will go to the New Conservatives, who are bascially the Christian Taliban.
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Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
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The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
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The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
The latest tidbit re the delays in putting cameras on the fishing boats shows once again we need to get quota away from the likes of talleys and into the hands of guys like this https://betterfish.co/.
He has a 24/7 live stream on his boat works hard to minimize by catch etc this is the type of fishing we need to have here.
I am disappointed the Labour and the Greens haven't rammed the cameras on boats through tbh hell even the Nats are in favour….
PT won't give up quota that's for certain.
I doubt the nat's are in favour of camera's, after all peter goodman their party president is a large shareholder with Sanfords.
Do you have a link to confirm the nat's standing on camera's on commercial vessels please?
Cool link re Better Fishing, sadly Karl is a small drop in the bucket however, only 15T of catch annually is peanuts, sorry to say. He hauls 10T of flats per year, so he will just be fishing in the bay and probably doing the Tuna run during the season.
It looks like Karl is part of an inshore fleet, such vessel's usually only have up to three people max onboard. But it's a good start if he can get the other small boats to do the same. Unfortunately that will be near on impossible.
Karl is in Napier (small fleet there), the thing is in Nelson, Talley controls the inshore fleet, they unload to and are paid by Talleys. The exception being Guyton's who unload to sell at their own store. I'm pretty sure Sealord have no inshore fleet.
To understand the scope, Port Nelson is the largest fish unloading wharf in Australasia, and Talleys is the largest fish unloading facility at Port Nelson.
No all this govts doing !!!! Have to find someone else to blame 🤫
"One of Mr Nash’s first moves when he became the Fisheries Minister was to put the brakes on the rollout of electronic monitoring of the commercial fishing fleet."
https://www.nzgeo.com/audio/govt-considering-ditching-fishing-boat-camera-plans/
https://www.national.org.nz/watered_down_cameras_on_boats_disappointing
gerry browlie is nat party spokesperson for fisheries, has he commented on the subject matter in recent days?
It appears that when the nat’s tried to roll it out they failed too…. did one of Talleys donations get in the way again? After all the nat’s gave PT a knighthood.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/317999/fish-boat-cameras-fail-in-first-months
You appear to be unable to understand that National has not been in government for 21/2 years and that the current government is the issue.
So what has caused Labour to stall what was already in progress multi times !!
And here I thought you were just a shallow cheerleader but now I see what you are inferring, that Labour is tight with a certain industries that pays its way??? What a shock 🤑
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/110279240/cameras-on-fishing-boats-delayed-angering-greens-and-greenpeace
You really don't understand what I'm inferring, do you?
The fishing industry needs an overhaul, and that needed to happen more than a decade ago, national did bugger all about it.
I'm disappointed re the government and the current situation around camera's on vessels.
I do, but take note of the apologist passive tone towards the current govt.
They are certainly superior to the current Nats, but that reason enough to demand more from this government. And this is another example of where this government fails again to deliver.
Or an example of NZ First influence.
I'm reasonably happy with our government, but I'm meows over this and would rather have a government without winston and shane involved.
The
Apologist for Wholesale PlunderMinister for Fisheries Nash was conniption inducing on the radio this morning. I came in part way through where he was saying it isn't as simple as putting a Go-Pro on a pole.I would settle for that at the moment, at least until Megan Woods can come and sort out this mess as well.
If Nash knew what went on at sea he would understand why the need for cameras and why the fishers are dead against it.
Megan is awesome, I've a massive amount of respect for her.
Another thing about the fishing industry…… they won't want to listen to a woman, that's just how it is in that industry. It's sad but it's true.
EDIT – Having worked in the industry and knowing what I do, is why I’m so pissed off about this. Camera’s are needed on vessels, and it’s not such a big deal to install them. Just do it during survey or over the Christmas layup. Crikey if you can have stereo speakers on deck what’s the problem with having a camera. It’s not like they can’t send data, they’ve got satellite phones on board aka ‘gold phones’
That's the bit that had me spitting my muesli, the excuses and obfuscation from that mealy mouthed public servant. Small businesses, costs $25,000 and other stuff drowned out by his backing alarm.
Clearly became a tad impotent as he had been caught big-mouthing.
The other thing about having Megan Woods involved is the 'big swinging dick' boys coterie carry on would fail to cut the mustard.,
Shane Jones was on RNZ this evening making excuses for the fishing industry and the Minister. He is good at spinning the BS, give him that
Grant Robertson's General Debate speech today was very entertaining.
Yep and the National caucus looked rather grim …
https://twitter.com/GregPresland/status/1278186568520351745
Todd Muddler channelling Jacob Rees-Mogg there.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UOgBUeYlrPM/hqdefault.jpg
Born 2 Rule.
Yes it was, Grant did an excellent job of presenting the National Party for what they are, and also informing the country of the parties plans and achievements like the 6 months parental leave introduction.
He really needed a 'there is no spoon' in there.
I had to go in for minor surgery today and while under the knife had an interesting political discussion with the surgeon.
He said he was going to party vote Green this election and further added that he wanted to see the end of NZ First because they would act as a brake on any Labour Green government.
Which left me rather astounded. Making a sweeping generalisation, I assumed that because surgeons would be rather well paid they must therefore favour the Natz.
So, based on this very limited anecdotal evidence, Labour Greens in a landslide in September.
Those damn drugs!
I would be amazed at any Health Professionals through out NZ who doesn’t 't vote Labour actually……….They must all be thanking their lucky stars for this govt and not the Nats given the state of Covid in the world
Yeah, good point. All doctors would be well aware we'd dodged massive canon fire!
Health professionals tend to be liberal and they realise the advantage of a collective approach to society.
Are you serious?
I assumed that because surgeons would be rather well paid they must therefore favour the Natz.
So. Can I assume you were under the knife of a private surgeon? One not working in the Public Health system?
Probably works in both.
Yes. Possibly. One consultant I have known for a decade once spontaneously opined to us how he did not understand how that could happen. He worked in the Public Hospital 100% of his time and earned more than enough to keep his family here in NZ and support elderly relatives overseas. "A man cannot serve two masters.." He reckoned that was one of the major problems with our system…we''re simply not a large enough population to support two systems.
I'd be willing to bet that more surgeons vote on the right than on the left. It's just a class thing.
Im not so sure. The serving ethos is really strong. Same with lawyers, a good third of them are lefties. But accountants and used car salespeople …
1/3rd wouldn't surprise me. More than half of surgeons voting on the left would though. GPs might be more likely to be liberal especially with the change in demographics of people getting into med school in recent decades. Would be interesting to see any research on this.
Nurses on the other hand, I would expect most to be left wing voters. Same with social workers, midwives, therapists.
it is always risky to make assumptions and generalise about any cohort….id expect that the split in any profession largely follows the national average
My brother thinks accountants tend to be left while economists tend to be right.
Speaking of class, surgeons go by Mr because doctors considered them to be blue collar/manual workers.
This surgeon sounds like a wonderful man, thank you Tony.
I know a surgeon who is, and has been for as long as I have known him, (10 years) an active member of the Green Party.
I'm a lurker here but but not commented previously.
Just to add that I'm a health professional and wouldn't dream of having anyone else in charge of the country but Labour. If greens got in too, even better.
Onya Stan.
Lurk all you like Stan.
TOP opportunist compares UBI & GMI: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/01-07-2020/explosive-start-for-opportunities-party-campaign-as-candidate-takes-dispute-public/
Good spotting and a useful comparison.
The most important aspect of a UBI that people who don't understand easily is that it has to be seen as part of the tax system. It's not 'another form of welfare'.
And while there is merit in the Green's GMI that is essentially what it is, welfare on steroids, with all the attendant problems that brings.
For UBI to be any good, it still has to have welfare bolted on or it will either be insufficient for the disabled (for example) or hard to sell as the nominal tax take is too much.
Too good.
Are Australians OK with this ?!!!
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/new-missiles-for-defence-in-270b-arms-build-up-20200630-p557kg
some will be more than happy….and some will be vehemently opposed, just as would be the case here….the fact is that it isnt something subject to public opinion
In general yes. Australian's are generally not so helplessly naive as Kiwis are when it comes to defense.
More a consequence of geography, than leftie virtue signalling.
The joke of the day has to be the Australian PM who thinks they need to be armed to the teeth in case there is a misjudgement. This from the master of misjudgement!
We should be following their lead. The world has proven itself not to be the benign place we thought it was twenty years ago and thus we need to build up our capacity to defend ourselves.
Why hasn't our little slice of paradise been 'rushed' by a 'big bad' recently? Maybe I'm naive, but IMHO we should prioritise health and biosecurity over military prepareness. It's likely NZ will face multiple threats from animal/plant pathogens and invasive non-human species, not to mention the guaranteed on-going epidemics of obesity, diabetes, alcoholism et al., before a 'big bad' changes our lifestyles forever.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Yes, also a perfect time for the police to take over, the illumanati (sp???) and any other paranoid conspiracy theory. If China, Martians whatever wanted to invade us or Aus we'd both be fucked, whether we had big guns or not, it's a delusion to think more weapons makes us safe. FFS we have a Chinese spy in our parliament.
In 1914 or 1939 nobody had been attacked recently either. Didn't stop the wars from starting.
It's not an either/or option. We should be doing both. Both are options that a country wishes it never needed but is sorry not to have them when they're needed.
Has there been any analysis of how more (or less) government spending on NZ’s military forces would have influenced the starting and ending of WWI/WWII?
I'm not saying NZ should ignore military defence, just that we face many potential (non-military) threats that we might actually be able to do something about – why not prioritise those?
Because the world is getting closer and closer to a hot war. That's what the Australian PM said and I agree. The actions of both the US and China are pushing us that way and when it happens we’re either going to be ready for it or get run over by it.
Different priorities – fair enough. Personally I don't believe military spending by NZ in preparation for a hypothetical future 'hot war' would be money well spent. I'd like to believe that it's still a matter of 'if' rather than 'when', but do understand the appeal of a 'hot war' to incompetent (using Covid-19 metrics as a yardstick) leaders such as Bolsonaro, Johnson and Trump, and there are precedents. Xi and Putin will share some blame, no doubt.
Is it a binary? Might NZ prepare for and still be "run over" in a 'hot war'? Still, better to have punched above our weight and lost, going forward…
In the face of a full on invasion, you might as well save the money that would be spent on purchasing half a dozen jet fighters that would be shot down in half an hour, and buy every inhabitant an ak47, a wheel barrow full of ammo, and instructions on how to fight a war of resistance VC style.
Buying any jet fighters would be a really stupid thing to do for NZ.
Equipping NZ with a lot of long range anti-air and anti-ship missiles and effective orbital surveillance of our seas, on the other hand, would work wonders.
Especially if we developed the capability to produce them here from local resources.
That's why it made sense back in the day for HC to scrap the strike force.
I'll be interested in how you make your pitch to left wing voters to start a missile defence program. It doesn't sound like a vote winner when the levels of poverty are still so high and in need of urgent attention.
Orbital satellites sound great, but I reckon a space force would rock it (lol) more.
Edit:
I’d rather we spent the money on finding cheap, clean energy sources and give it away to everyone, after all, any war is going to come down to resources and/or supremacy over the resources.
Poverty levels will, inevitably, go down as more people are engaged in work. It's a major reason why many nations have engaged in ramping up military spending throughout the ages.
Hell, the US still does and it has a law that says that all parts of military gear be made in the US that's been there since the 1930s. WWII really was the instrument to end the Great Depression.
Still, poverty is a direct result of capitalism and its need for cheap labour and so if we really want to do something about poverty then we need to do something about capitalism.
Great, if your answer to poverty is the world chock full of weapons of death, I'll book a front row seat on the hustings.
No, my answer to poverty is to eliminate the cause of poverty – capitalism.
And, as I pointed out, even if we don't have 'weapons of death' everyone else will which means, quite simply, that we won't be able to defend ourselves from them.
The world is not benign and no amount of wishing is going to make it so.
It's really not looking that hypethetical:
That's very definitely the first steps of war by China and its about time the rest of the world called it such.
And it would be money excellently spent as it would bolster our local industry while preparing us for the worst. The old saying comes to mind:
If you want peace, then prepare for war.
Many people seem to have fallen into the delusional belief that if we want peace then we should get rid of all our guns – while everyone else keeps theirs. This only makes it easier for any of the others to wage war on us while not keeping us at peace.
No, it really is still hypothetical (for now), although "hypethetical" is a fun typo. Amazing though that a 'hot war' hasn't already erupted in the three-and-a-half weeks since that CNN piece was written.
Slightly concerned by your vision of a 'hot war' precipitated by Chinese aggression as an imminent certainty, and the idea that others (?) want “to wage war on us“. Have you considered a career in diplomacy, or the NZSIS?
NZ First have become the NZ equivalent of the National Party of Australia – Fiercely producerist. Their stance against overseas ownership and immigration wilts under serious scrutiny given that they fully support overseas control of exotic forests, and the continued use of cheap Filipino labour on our farms and rest homes, while thousands of New Zealanders are still either unemployed or underemployed.
I voted for NZF in 2002 and 2011. Never again will I fall for their BS.
Only thing that worries me about NZ First leaving is their votes will go to the New Conservatives, who are bascially the Christian Taliban.