Now I put this on twitter, and ever since I've been getting nothing but porn. Shows how misogynistic the people who wrote the algorithm are. And how much they lack a basic understanding of…
Lesson: Never believe anything on TVNZ, Newshub, ZB radio et al. Every poll skewed in interpretation to favour the Nats. Whatshername on TV1… oh yes Jessica Mutch, was positively gleeful with her ‘interpretation’.
Edit: I see Willie Jackson is getting shit for telling the truth on yesterday morning's Q&A.
Very little change – a slight drop for Labour, a slight rise for National. Right parties drawing slightly ahead (ACT 2% up). Greens no change.
NZF edging towards the 5% threshold.
The trend continues with tonight's poll, the left are down and the right are up.
I've been saying it for months, but Three waters will be the death of this government, you could also now put the RNZ/TVNZ merger into that category, given the publics disdain for the policy.
What's more important, forcing this through against the will of the majority and losing the election, only for NACT to reverse these policies. Or could Labour grow a brain, ditch these divisive policies and have a genuine chance of winning next year and hopefully another three budgets, where real transformational change can be delivered.
You won't get both…
Why are the left so willing to die on this hill when so much more could be achieved without it? Is it stubbornness, ideological, or are they really just that stupid?
I watched the Daily Blog Hamilton West Candidates debate tonight. Interesting on many fronts. A couple of times the Labour candidate was booed. The most notable was when she talked about Labours record on mental health. TBH I felt a bit sorry for her.
Yes, you don't often see that in NZ live political debates. Georgie Dansey copped a lot of flak tonight. It wouldn't have mattered who the Labour candidate was, the audience was fired up and ready to vent against the government.
Kharkiv. Cemetery of shells. I am the author of the photo. Please, when you see this photo under a different signature, ask to correct it. We will not build a rule of law by neglecting copyright.
Given the awful publicity about terrible Cost of Living, rising interest rates house values etc etc this poll is quite good for the Government. And the 11% Undecided is significant.
And the constant bad spin by the Media, especially from a "neutral" Jessica, it could be much worse. Optimistic are we.
National and Act increasing their lead with NZ first verging on re-entering parliament. Its now been over six months of national leading Labour. Terrifying.
The government and it's tribal supporters can either go down with the ship and continue denying the Titanic is sinking by defending and apologizing for the govts inaction, out of touch coms and weird priorities during a time of major economic pain in NZ
Or the govt and it's tribal supporters can do some soul searching and start fighting to actually win the next election which is an existential crisis for the left.
Labour supporters with platforms like this blog need to start pushing for the government to actually fight and deliver, not just defend it cos it's our team.
The labour government needs to reset, bad, retake the narrative and start announcing some bold univeral popular, populist reforms and policies that are non inflationary spending just like the Biden administration recently did.
A cheap and extremely popular populist policy would be universal dental at a price of just $1 billion annually it would cement this governments legacy and be a game changer
It would cost 1/5 of the increased tax take we get due to the govt increasing wages but not adjusting the tax thresholds.
Something major and revolutionary like that will take back the narrative and convince the voters that this is more than just a party of tired , visionless technocratic managers and tell the public they actually meant it when they said they'd be transformational.
Enough defending this govt it's time to give constructive criticism and demand they start delivering on their promises to make this country a fairer more equal place (so far they've made it less fair and less equal and NZ already was pretty unfair)
Universal dental is already labour party policy, it is incredibly popular, and if the govt announced something like that the media narrative would be a flurry of excitement, it's time labour and it's tribalist supporters to step up and deliver unless we wanna be outmaneuvered on the left by Joe Bidens democrats who started announcing major policies out of nowhere and changed the narrative and brought out a high turn out.
Lets actually do this. For once.
Orrrrr we can continue being the party of "no" and "can't" and waste a historic majority solely on administrative and bureaucratic reforms that benefit noone and retreat to our echo chambers and fiddle while Rome burns.
Correy, I have made the point previously that the Govt have spent $11.1 billon on the new health authority. Most people don't give a toss about this, but they know about people who can't get into a GPs practice, or young nurses going to Australia or waiting, waiting too long for elective surgery. And they can see that Mike King was able to provide free counselling for many, while the Govts record on this is tardy to say the least.
As I commented earlier on this thread I watched the candidates for Hamilton West tonight, and the Labour woman was booed when she talked about their record on mental health.
I am/was a Labour voter, but I have given up on them. I am profoundly disillusioned and I can't imagine what they could do that would change this.
Establishing the new health entities and addressing cost pressures
Budget 2022 provides the new health entities with $1.8 billion in 2022/23 and an additional $1.3 billion in 2023/24 to address historic and future cost pressures.
This addresses the DHB’s final deficits for 2021/22 and enables the new health entities to increase investment across the system in response to a growing and ageing population, inflation, wage and price pressures, and changes in health technologies and clinical practice.
The funding is part of a total cost pressures allocation of up to $11.1billion over four years, which includes new operational funding of $5.1billion and ‘contingency’ funding of up to $6.0billion.
AJ, good to see the 'real oil' about this so called set-up cost of $11.1b.
First of all it is over 4 years.
I wonder what parts of the $1.8b & the $1.3b for historic and future cost pressures is the set-up cost?
seems to be pretty much operational that I can see
increase investment across the system in response to a growing and ageing population, inflation, wage and price pressures, and changes in health technologies and clinical practice.
Perhaps it is in these figures?
new operational funding of $5.1billion and ‘contingency’ funding of up to $6.0billion.
Nope.
NB over 4 years,
NB 'contingency' does not mean it will be spent. It is good accountancy practice.
Well is it then not lucky that we don't have universal dental care and only those with access to money can afford it. And if you are one of those unfortunate that don't have access to money buy some pliers at Mitre Ten and pull them teeth yourself.
Except that unmet dental needs do have an impact on general health and thus will place strain on the wider health system.
But yeah we would have a shortage of dentists and a free service would result in dentist surgeries establishing client registers and not taking on new people (albeit with a demand for migration of dentists).
One option is to do it all step by step
expand the limited to hospital based treatment service for those with CSC to include checks and preventative work by dentists.
ensure the existing free cover to those under 18 actually delivers.
expand 1 to include those over 65 in aged care, and some of the parents on the lower income levels of WFF.
develop a plan for dental insurance for the next generation.
I wonder just how many health issues are created by not providing affordable dental care.
And two be honest, a regular visit at the dentists – every six month check up and a clean, would not need to be expensive but could save a lot of health dollars down track. Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Diseases etc, soft food – fast food, sugary drinks, etc all that is linked.
It might actually be cheaper to provide fee dental care.
There is literature on this going back more than 50 years, a lot of papers published.
Evidence for a few different viruses being implicated (especially an enterovirus for Type I and Hep C for Type II). Quantum of increased risk looks quite large for these – as in the recent covid findings.
Al-Aly and Yan Xie, an epidemiologist also at the VA St Louis Healthcare System, looked at the medical records of more than 180,000 people who had survived for longer than a month after catching COVID-19. They compared these with records from two groups, each of which comprised around four million people without SARS-CoV-2 infection who had used the VA health-care system, either before or during the pandemic. The pair previously used a similar method to show that COVID-19 increases the risk of kidney disease3, heart failure and stroke4.
The latest analysis found that people who had had COVID-19 were about 40% more likely to develop diabetes up to a year later than were veterans in the control groups. That meant that for every 1,000 people studied in each group, roughly 13 more individuals in the COVID-19 group were diagnosed with diabetes. Almost all cases detected were type 2 diabetes, in which the body becomes resistant to or doesn’t produce enough insulin.
Unfortunately a little inevitable after the less dangerous omicron variant got around the vaccines. The consequence of infection diminishing resistance to other illness (an irony given some claim the vaccines themselves reduced general immunity).
And some forget early research was suggestive that coronavirus infection would lead to quicker ageing/decline in cell regeneration performance.
In the end the one is reminded of the importance of good health – nutrition, exercise and sleep, lifestyle managing stress – strong immunity (supplements of Vitamin D with aging or earlier with colour of skin and sufficiency of zinc for cell health).
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...
Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...
Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...
We see it often enough. A democracy deals with an authoritarian state, and those who oppose concessions cite the lesson of Munich 1938: make none to dictators; take a firm stand. And so we hear ...
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...
Character protections for Auckland’s villas have stymied past development. Now moves afoot to strip character protection from a bunch of inner-city villas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest from our political economy on Wednesday, April 23:Special Character Areas designed to protect villas are stopping 20,000 sites near Auckland’s ...
Artificial intelligence is poised to significantly transform the Indo-Pacific maritime security landscape. It offers unprecedented situational awareness, decision-making speed and operational flexibility. But without clear rules, shared norms and mechanisms for risk reduction, AI could ...
For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feelsAnd not the words of one who kneelsThe record showsI took the blowsAnd did it my wayLyrics: Paul Anka.Morena folks, before we discuss Winston’s latest salvo in NZ First’s War ...
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...
The StrategistBy Sandy Juda Pratama, Curie Maharani and Gautama Adi Kusuma
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...
Last night, the news came through that Pope Francis had passed away at 7:35 am in Rome on Monday, the 21st of April, following a reported stroke and heart failure. Pope Francis. Photo: AP.Despite his obvious ill health, it still came as a shock, following so soon after the Easter ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkThe world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing.This has contributed to a reassessment of ...
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...
The audacity of Don Brash never ceases to amaze. The former National Party and Hobson’s Pledge mouthpiece has now sunk his claws into NZME, the media giant behind the New Zealand Herald and half of our commercial radio stations. Don Brash has snapped up shares in NZME, aligning himself with ...
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Good Friday, 18th April, 2025: I can at last unveil the Secret Non-Fiction Project. The first complete Latin-to-English translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s twelve-book Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology). Amounting to some 174,000 words, total. Some context is probably in order. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) ...
National MP Hamish Campbell's pathetic attempt to downplay his deep ties to and involvement in the Two by Twos...a secretive religious sect under FBI and NZ Police investigation for child sexual abuse...isn’t just a misstep; it’s a calculated lie that insults the intelligence of every Kiwi voter.Campbell’s claim of being ...
New Zealand First’s Shane Jones has long styled himself as the “Prince of the Provinces,” a champion of regional development and economic growth. But beneath the bluster lies a troubling pattern of behaviour that reeks of cronyism and corruption, undermining the very democracy he claims to serve. Recent revelations and ...
Give me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundGive me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundSaid I don't want to leave you lonelyYou got to make me change my mindSongwriters: Tracy Chapman.Morena, and Happy Easter, whether that means to you. Hot cross buns, ...
New Zealand’s housing crisis is a sad indictment on the failures of right wing neoliberalism, and the National Party, under Chris Luxon’s shaky leadership, is trying to simply ignore it. The numbers don’t lie: Census data from 2023 revealed 112,496 Kiwis were severely housing deprived...couch-surfing, car-sleeping, or roughing it on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on a global survey of over 3,000 economists and scientists showing a significant divide in views on green growth; and ...
Simeon Brown, the National Party’s poster child for hubris, consistently over-promises and under-delivers. His track record...marked by policy flip-flops and a dismissive attitude toward expert advice, reveals a politician driven by personal ambition rather than evidence. From transport to health, Brown’s focus seems fixed on protecting National's image, not addressing ...
Open access notables Recent intensified riverine CO2 emission across the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region, Mu et al., Nature Communications:Global warming causes permafrost thawing, transferring large amounts of soil carbon into rivers, which inevitably accelerates riverine CO2 release. However, temporally and spatially explicit variations of riverine CO2 emissions remain unclear, limiting the ...
Once a venomous thorn in New Zealand’s blogosphere, Cathy Odgers, aka Cactus Kate, has slunk into the shadows, her once-sharp quills dulled by the fallout of Dirty Politics.The dishonest attack-blogger, alongside her vile accomplices such as Cameron Slater, were key players in the National Party’s sordid smear campaigns, exposed by Nicky ...
Once upon a time, not so long ago, those who talked of Australian sovereign capability, especially in the technology sector, were generally considered an amusing group of eccentrics. After all, technology ecosystems are global and ...
The ACT Party leader’s latest pet project is bleeding taxpayers dry, with $10 million funneled into seven charter schools for just 215 students. That’s a jaw-dropping $46,500 per student, compared to roughly $9,000 per head in state schools.You’d think Seymour would’ve learned from the last charter school fiasco, but apparently, ...
India navigated relations with the United States quite skilfully during the first Trump administration, better than many other US allies did. Doing so a second time will be more difficult, but India’s strategic awareness and ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is concerned for low-income workers given new data released by Stats NZ that shows inflation was 2.5% for the year to March 2025, rising from 2.2% in December last year. “The prices of things that people can’t avoid are rising – meaning inflation is rising ...
Last week, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment recommended that forestry be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Its an unfortunate but necessary move, required to prevent the ETS's total collapse in a decade or so. So naturally, National has told him to fuck off, and that they won't be ...
China’s recent naval circumnavigation of Australia has highlighted a pressing need to defend Australia’s air and sea approaches more effectively. Potent as nuclear submarines are, the first Australian boats under AUKUS are at least seven ...
In yesterday’s post I tried to present the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement for 2025-30, as approved by the Minister of Finance and the Bank’s Board, in the context of the previous agreement, and the variation to that agreement signed up to by Grant Robertson a few weeks before the last ...
Australia’s bid to co-host the 31st international climate negotiations (COP31) with Pacific island countries in late 2026 is directly in our national interest. But success will require consultation with the Pacific. For that reason, no ...
Old and outdated buildings being demolished at Wellington Hospital in 2018. The new infrastructure being funded today will not be sufficient for future population size and some will not be built by 2035. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Thursday, April 17:Simeon Brown has unveiled ...
Thousands of senior medical doctors have voted to go on strike for 24 hours overpay at the beginning of next month. Callaghan Innovation has confirmed dozens more jobs are on the chopping block as the organisation disestablishes. Palmerston North hospital staff want improved security after a gun-wielding man threatened their ...
The introduction of AI in workplaces can create significant health and safety risks for workers (such as intensification of work, and extreme surveillance) which can significantly impact workers’ mental and physical wellbeing. It is critical that unions and workers are involved in any decision to introduce AI so that ...
Donald Trump’s return to the White House and aggressive posturing is undermining global diplomacy, and New Zealand must stand firm in rejecting his reckless, fascist-driven policies that are dragging the world toward chaos.As a nation with a proud history of peacekeeping and principled foreign policy, we should limit our role ...
Sunday marks three months since Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. What a ride: the style rude, language raucous, and the results rogue. Beyond manners, rudeness matters because tone signals intent as well as personality. ...
There are any number of reasons why anyone thinking of heading to the United States for a holiday should think twice. They would be giving their money to a totalitarian state where political dissenters are being rounded up and imprisoned here and here, where universities are having their funds for ...
Taiwan has an inadvertent, rarely acknowledged role in global affairs: it’s a kind of sponge, soaking up much of China’s political, military and diplomatic efforts. Taiwan soaks up Chinese power of persuasion and coercion that ...
The Ukraine war has been called the bloodiest conflict since World War II. As of July 2024, 10,000 women were serving in frontline combat roles. Try telling them—from the safety of an Australian lounge room—they ...
Following Canadian authorities’ discovery of a Chinese information operation targeting their country’s election, Australians, too, should beware such risks. In fact, there are already signs that Beijing is interfering in campaigning for the Australian election ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). From "founder" of Tesla and the OG rocket man with SpaceX, and rebranding twitter as X, Musk has ...
Back in February 2024, a rat infestation attracted a fair few headlines in the South Dunedin Countdown supermarket. Today, the rats struck again. They took out the Otago-Southland region’s internet connection. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360656230/internet-outage-hits-otago-and-southland Strictly, it was just a coincidence – rats decided to gnaw through one fibre cable, while some hapless ...
I came in this morning after doing some chores and looked quickly at Twitter before unpacking the groceries. Someone was retweeting a Radio NZ story with the headline “Reserve Bank’s budget to be slashed by 25%”. Wow, I thought, the Minister of Finance has really delivered this time. And then ...
So, having teased it last week, Andrew Little has announced he will run for mayor of Wellington. On RNZ, he's saying its all about services - "fixing the pipes, making public transport cheaper, investing in parks, swimming pools and libraries, and developing more housing". Meanwhile, to the readers of the ...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1921ALL OVER THE WORLD, devout Christians will be reaching for their bibles, reading and re-reading Revelation 13:16-17. For the benefit of all you non-Christians out there, these are the verses describing ...
Give me what I want, what I really, really want: And what India really wants from New Zealand isn’t butter or cheese, but a radical relaxation of the rules controlling Indian immigration.WHAT DOES INDIA WANT from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Yesterday, 5,500 senior doctors across Aotearoa New Zealand voted overwhelmingly to strike for a day.This is the first time in New Zealand ASMS members have taken strike action for 24 hours.They are asking the government tofund them and account for resource shortfalls.Vacancies are critical - 45-50% in some regions.The ...
For years and years and years, David Seymour and his posse of deluded neoliberals have been preaching their “tough on crime” gospel to voters. Harsher sentences! More police! Lock ‘em up! Throw away the key. But when it comes to their own, namely former Act Party president Tim Jago, a ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
The call has sent ripples through the veteran community — but behind the protest lies a deeper story of neglect, frustration and a system many say has failed those it was meant to serve.Every year on April 25, politicians and dignitaries stand before the nation, flanked by medals and ...
From real-terms minimum wage cuts to watering down health and safety, the government is subtly chipping away at pay, conditions and many of the other things that make work life-giving, writes Max Rashbrooke. Frogs, it turns out, do notice when they’re being boiled. For years the favourite metaphor for people’s ...
Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee says he believes Te Pāti Māori’s Treaty Principles Bill haka showed “huge disrespect for the Parliament itself”, and disrespect for “some aspects of the Treaty”.Brownlee cannot influence the committee considering potential disciplinary actions against the three Te Pāti Māori MPs who left their seats ...
On a tattered Red Cross map, four nearly-straight pencil lines track north from Capua, near Naples, to Chavari then Ubine. From here, over the border to Breslau in what was then German-occupied Poland, then on to Lübeck, north-east of Hamburg. Above each line a single handwritten word – “Train”, “Train”, ...
After weeks of turmoil in the global markets, economists and commentators have used words like ‘bloodbath’ and ‘carnage’ to describe the world’s financial situation.And while New Zealand often feels relatively cushioned, what happens in the US is inextricably linked to the rest of the world.“It will impact us to some ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 24 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NZ tracks far below the OECD average when it comes to investing in research and science and attempts to catch up just haven’t worked The post NZ’s long-standing R&D target scrapped appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra This election has been lacklustre, without the touch of excitement of some past campaigns. Through the decades, campaigning has changed dramatically, adopting new techniques and technologies. This time, we’ve seen politicians try to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A re-elected Albanese government will take the unprecedented step of buying or obtaining options over key critical minerals to protect Australia’s national interest and boost its economic resilience. The move follows US President Donald Trump’s ...
RNZ Pacific Despite calls from women’s groups urging the government to implement policies to address the underrepresentation of women in politics, the introduction of temporary special measures (TSM) to increase women’s political representation in Fiji remains a distant goal. This week, leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), Cabinet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A re-elected Albanese government will take the unprecedented step of buying or obtaining options over key critical minerals to protect Australia’s national interest and boost its economic resilience. The move follows US President Donald Trump’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Urban flooding is a major problem in the global south. In west and central Africa, more than 4 million people were affected by flooding in 2024. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Just as voting has begun in this year’s federal election, the Coalition has released its long-awaited defence policy platform. The main focus, as expected, is a boost in defence spending to 3% of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Hicks, Lecturer in Law, The University of Melbourne Roberto La Rosa/Shutterstock Snipers in helicopters have shot more than 700 koalas in the Budj Bim National Park in western Victoria in recent weeks. It’s believed to be the first time koalas ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriele Gratton, Professor of Politics and Economics and ARC Future Fellow, UNSW Sydney Pundits and political scientists like to repeat that we live in an age of political polarisation. But if you sat through the second debate between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Research Fellow, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney Kaboompics.com/Pexels There’s no shortage of things to feel angry about these days. Whether it’s politics, social injustice, climate change or the cost-of-living crisis, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University The death of Pope Francis this week marks the end of a historic papacy and the beginning of a significant transition for the Catholic Church. As the faithful around the world mourn his passing, ...
A recent survey, carried out by PPTA Te Wehengarua, of establishing and overseas trained secondary teachers found that 90% of respondents agreed that mentoring had helped their development. ...
Other Honours recipients include country singer Suzanne Prentice, most capped All Black Samuel Whitelock, and Māori language educator and academic Professor Rawinia Higgins. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders University The centre of gravity of Australian politics has shifted. Millennials and Gen Z voters, now comprising 47% of the electorate, have taken over as the dominant voting bloc. But this generational shift isn’t just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Dunley, Senior Lecturer in History and Maritime Strategy, UNSW Sydney National security issues have been a constant feature of this federal election campaign. Both major parties have spruiked their national security credentials by promising additional defence spending. The Coalition has ...
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 In Canada, the governing centre-left Liberals had trailed the Conservatives by more than 20 points in January, but now lead by five ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Narelle Miragliotta, Associate Professor in Politics, Murdoch University Election talk is inevitably focused on Labor and the Coalition because they are the parties that customarily form government. But a minor party like the Greens is consequential, regardless of whether the election ...
Asia Pacific Report The US District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a preliminary injunction in Widakuswara v Lake, affirming the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) was unlawfully shuttered by the Trump administration, Acting Director Victor Morales and Special Adviser Kari Lake. The decision enshrines that USAGM ...
As the PM talks trade with Keir Starmer, his deputy is busy, busy, busy. A prime ministerial speech and free-trade phone tree with like-minded leaders in response to Trump’s tarrif binge impressed many commentators, but not all of them: leading pundit and deputy prime minister Winston Peters was indignant ...
The settlement relates to proposed restructures of the Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora which were subject to litigation before the Employment Relations Authority set down for 22 April 2025. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Campbell Rider, PhD Candidate in Philosophy – Philosophy of Biology, University of Sydney Artist’s impression of the exoplanet K2-18bA. Smith/N. Madhusudhan (University of Cambridge) Whether or not we’re alone in the universe is one of the biggest questions in science. A ...
A free and democratic society must allow citizens to question — especially when it involves influential figures with platforms that reach into education and public life. Dismissing every objection as bigotry is not progress; it’s intimidation. ...
Now I put this on twitter, and ever since I've been getting nothing but porn. Shows how misogynistic the people who wrote the algorithm are. And how much they lack a basic understanding of…
TVNZ poll:
Headline story: Nats plus ACT win.
Real story: Luxon is single-handedly reviving Winston. It didn't seem possible, but the old truth always stands: a vacuum must be filled.
Emptiness is a dumb National strategy, and it's going to cost them.
tinky-linky?
Saw the commentary on TVNZ but not the result. OMG. There’s been a big swing to National. Why?
Picked up RNZ news:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/480135/latest-political-poll-has-labour-national-locked-in-head-to-head-battle
Lesson: Never believe anything on TVNZ, Newshub, ZB radio et al. Every poll skewed in interpretation to favour the Nats. Whatshername on TV1… oh yes Jessica Mutch, was positively gleeful with her ‘interpretation’.
Edit: I see Willie Jackson is getting shit for telling the truth on yesterday morning's Q&A.
Roll on the merger between TVNZ and RNZ.
You might want to check the numbers again Anne
No link yet but Nat up 1% 38% Labour down 1% 33%
Adern leads Luxon as preferred leader approx 29 – 22%
Advantage to the right but after such a piss poor month for the Govt that is not a poor result.
The problem will compound if we continue to have piss poor months.
When Ardern has to intervene – I don't think you can describe Jackson as getting shit for telling the truth.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130674385/pm-steps-in-after-concerns-raised-from-willie-jacksons-rnztvnz-merger-interview
Latest 1 News-Kantar poll is out.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/latest-political-poll-jacinda-ardern-managing-expectations-ahead-of-poll/UYKCDGTKCBADZDKAWECMCZPNCQ/
Very little change – a slight drop for Labour, a slight rise for National. Right parties drawing slightly ahead (ACT 2% up). Greens no change.
NZF edging towards the 5% threshold.
The trend continues with tonight's poll, the left are down and the right are up.
I've been saying it for months, but Three waters will be the death of this government, you could also now put the RNZ/TVNZ merger into that category, given the publics disdain for the policy.
What's more important, forcing this through against the will of the majority and losing the election, only for NACT to reverse these policies. Or could Labour grow a brain, ditch these divisive policies and have a genuine chance of winning next year and hopefully another three budgets, where real transformational change can be delivered.
You won't get both…
Why are the left so willing to die on this hill when so much more could be achieved without it? Is it stubbornness, ideological, or are they really just that stupid?
I watched the Daily Blog Hamilton West Candidates debate tonight. Interesting on many fronts. A couple of times the Labour candidate was booed. The most notable was when she talked about Labours record on mental health. TBH I felt a bit sorry for her.
But yes I think Three Waters is deeply unpopular.
Yes, you don't often see that in NZ live political debates. Georgie Dansey copped a lot of flak tonight. It wouldn't have mattered who the Labour candidate was, the audience was fired up and ready to vent against the government.
Or they could communicate better. Why is 3 waters essential? HOW WILL IT SAVE MONEY? Surely they realise by now that this is crucial?
Lotsa banned cluster munitions.
https://en.missilery.info/missile/uraga/9m27k
https://twitter.com/Liberov/status/1599336173058818049
Given the awful publicity about terrible Cost of Living, rising interest rates house values etc etc this poll is quite good for the Government. And the 11% Undecided is significant.
And the constant bad spin by the Media, especially from a "neutral" Jessica, it could be much worse. Optimistic are we.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130665610/new-poll-shows-national-and-act-in-comfortable-position-to-form-government
National and Act increasing their lead with NZ first verging on re-entering parliament. Its now been over six months of national leading Labour. Terrifying.
The government and it's tribal supporters can either go down with the ship and continue denying the Titanic is sinking by defending and apologizing for the govts inaction, out of touch coms and weird priorities during a time of major economic pain in NZ
Or the govt and it's tribal supporters can do some soul searching and start fighting to actually win the next election which is an existential crisis for the left.
Labour supporters with platforms like this blog need to start pushing for the government to actually fight and deliver, not just defend it cos it's our team.
The labour government needs to reset, bad, retake the narrative and start announcing some bold univeral popular, populist reforms and policies that are non inflationary spending just like the Biden administration recently did.
A cheap and extremely popular populist policy would be universal dental at a price of just $1 billion annually it would cement this governments legacy and be a game changer
It would cost 1/5 of the increased tax take we get due to the govt increasing wages but not adjusting the tax thresholds.
Something major and revolutionary like that will take back the narrative and convince the voters that this is more than just a party of tired , visionless technocratic managers and tell the public they actually meant it when they said they'd be transformational.
Enough defending this govt it's time to give constructive criticism and demand they start delivering on their promises to make this country a fairer more equal place (so far they've made it less fair and less equal and NZ already was pretty unfair)
Universal dental is already labour party policy, it is incredibly popular, and if the govt announced something like that the media narrative would be a flurry of excitement, it's time labour and it's tribalist supporters to step up and deliver unless we wanna be outmaneuvered on the left by Joe Bidens democrats who started announcing major policies out of nowhere and changed the narrative and brought out a high turn out.
Lets actually do this. For once.
Orrrrr we can continue being the party of "no" and "can't" and waste a historic majority solely on administrative and bureaucratic reforms that benefit noone and retreat to our echo chambers and fiddle while Rome burns.
Correy, I have made the point previously that the Govt have spent $11.1 billon on the new health authority. Most people don't give a toss about this, but they know about people who can't get into a GPs practice, or young nurses going to Australia or waiting, waiting too long for elective surgery. And they can see that Mike King was able to provide free counselling for many, while the Govts record on this is tardy to say the least.
As I commented earlier on this thread I watched the candidates for Hamilton West tonight, and the Labour woman was booed when she talked about their record on mental health.
I am/was a Labour voter, but I have given up on them. I am profoundly disillusioned and I can't imagine what they could do that would change this.
https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/what-we-do/budget-2022-vote-health
AJ, good to see the 'real oil' about this so called set-up cost of $11.1b.
First of all it is over 4 years.
I wonder what parts of the $1.8b & the $1.3b for historic and future cost pressures is the set-up cost?
seems to be pretty much operational that I can see
increase investment across the system in response to a growing and ageing population, inflation, wage and price pressures, and changes in health technologies and clinical practice.
Perhaps it is in these figures?
new operational funding of $5.1 billion and ‘contingency’ funding of up to $6.0 billion.
Nope.
NB over 4 years,
NB 'contingency' does not mean it will be spent. It is good accountancy practice.
Collins Dictionary
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/contingency
'1. VARIABLE NOUN
A contingency is something that might happen in the future.
[formal]
I need to examine all possible contingencies.
Synonyms: possibility, happening, chance, event More Synonyms of contingency
A contingency plan or measure is one that is intended to be used if a possible situation actually occurs.
[formal]
We have contingency plans'.
Do I think the talk/rumour of $11.1b set-up costs is incorrect?
Yep
Universal dental would create a massive dentist shortage overnight. That would go nicely with the other health shortages wouldn't it.
Well is it then not lucky that we don't have universal dental care and only those with access to money can afford it. And if you are one of those unfortunate that don't have access to money buy some pliers at Mitre Ten and pull them teeth yourself.
Except that unmet dental needs do have an impact on general health and thus will place strain on the wider health system.
But yeah we would have a shortage of dentists and a free service would result in dentist surgeries establishing client registers and not taking on new people (albeit with a demand for migration of dentists).
One option is to do it all step by step
I wonder just how many health issues are created by not providing affordable dental care.
And two be honest, a regular visit at the dentists – every six month check up and a clean, would not need to be expensive but could save a lot of health dollars down track. Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Diseases etc, soft food – fast food, sugary drinks, etc all that is linked.
It might actually be cheaper to provide fee dental care.
Dude called it.
Be nice to know what the risk of newly diagnosed diabetes is post other viral infections.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1599563767754678273
There is literature on this going back more than 50 years, a lot of papers published.
Evidence for a few different viruses being implicated (especially an enterovirus for Type I and Hep C for Type II). Quantum of increased risk looks quite large for these – as in the recent covid findings.
From here
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00912-y
there were reports about diabetes diagnoses post Covid in people who were previously healthy from the very beginning of the pandemic.
People were being inconvenienced and getting tired of masks and wanted to get back to normal so we traded mask mandates for a tsunami of ill health.
Well done us.
Unfortunately a little inevitable after the less dangerous omicron variant got around the vaccines. The consequence of infection diminishing resistance to other illness (an irony given some claim the vaccines themselves reduced general immunity).
And some forget early research was suggestive that coronavirus infection would lead to quicker ageing/decline in cell regeneration performance.
In the end the one is reminded of the importance of good health – nutrition, exercise and sleep, lifestyle managing stress – strong immunity (supplements of Vitamin D with aging or earlier with colour of skin and sufficiency of zinc for cell health).
Courtesy of vital immune responses likely jiggered for life.
https://twitter.com/fitterhappierAJ/status/1599088361716580352
https://twitter.com/boretrol/status/1599660028436238339
Food Sources
Fortified breakfast cereals.
Pork.
Fish.
Beans, lentils.
Green peas.
Enriched cereals, breads, noodles, rice.
Sunflower seeds.
Yogurt.
Jan Logie announces she's bowing out of politics at the next election.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/12/senior-green-party-mp-jan-logie-announces-she-won-t-stand-in-2023-election.html
bishflap throwing fits all over twitter. off his head!