Daily review 07/12/2022

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, December 7th, 2022 - 151 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

151 comments on “Daily review 07/12/2022 ”

    • weka 1.1

      it's been here for a while. As some of us keep banging on about 😉

      • Nic the NZer 1.2.1

        Correction, he described them as "pretty and small minded", according to the Herald. I think he might have been making a blonde joke actually.

    • Anker 1.3

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018757712/the-science-of-transgender-women-in-sport

      And this by sports scienctist Ross Tucker.

      "The scientific biologicaldifference between men and women are so large they would render women irrelevant at elite level"

      "There are 10,000 men who are faster than the fastest woman in the world over 100 metres. That group of men includes 14 – 15 year olds"

      So just roll over sportswomen and accomodate these male bodied atheletes.

      • SPC 1.3.1

        The inclusion is at the community level, it might not even include domestic competition at the regional or inter-provincial level (as/when these are pathways for athletes to international competition).

    • Nic the NZer 1.4

      In sporting parlance this is known as a "hospital pass" onto the clubs and codes under sport-nz. Basically it'll be fine as long as any trans athletes taking this up are not very skilled, but if they are then there will be some media attention and protest on these codes and clubs which implemented the policy. And you'd be a bit daft as a code to push ahead with advertising your new participation policy, as that might attract some testing of the new entry threshold.

      • Anker 1.4.1

        Nic, I disagree that this will be fine as long as trans and non binary atheletes are not very skilled. A case in point is Kate Wetherley, a mountain biker who rode in the mens competition up until around 18 years.
        At local level even mediocre trans women are creating issues for women in sport. I know of two women who have left their chosen community sport because of sustaining injuries due to biological males being allowed to compete with them. I believe this will be the tip of the ice berg.

        To quote Kate "people said that we're coming in and ruining the sport, but there are way bigger isues that women in sport face" Thanks Kate for mansplaining to us that the cyclists who know they are being cheated out of a win, face far bigger issues. Kate was a mediocre cyclist when racing in the male category and now is robbing women of titles in the womens section. The arrogance and entitlement is astounding.

        Its hard to see how many of the left, who supposedly champion women's rights, are so firmly behind this and the message to women is, "come on be kind, don't be petty"

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-10944351/Kate-Weatherly-Transgender-mountain-biker-issues-message-haters.html

        • Nic the NZer 1.4.1.1

          By not very skilled, I mean not really capable of winning in women's events.

          • Anker 1.4.1.1.1

            I might have misinterpreted what you were saying Nic. My apologies.

            • Nic the NZer 1.4.1.1.1.1

              No apologies necessary. Its actually above my expectations when anybody pays attention to anything I say anyway, and in this case provided a pretty good example of what I was describing.

        • SPC 1.4.1.2

          At local level even mediocre trans women are creating issues for women in sport. I know of two women who have left their chosen community sport because of sustaining injuries due to biological males being allowed to compete with them. I believe this will be the tip of the ice berg.

          I have heard of a case in the UK of women being injured at rugby team training. The sport here will be able to take account of this in formulating policy. If they do not do so, this will impact how successfully they build the game at community level.

      • SPC 1.4.2

        The only obligation on sports clubs is to accept law as to "gender self ID", just as everyone else will have to. Clubs however are free to limit inclusion based on player safety – this would involve physical contact sport.

        • Nic the NZer 1.4.2.1

          So the only real obligation here is, if some male team decides its playing in the woman's grade this season, then they absolutely have to be believed as genuine when they say their players are all 'non-binary'?

          • SPC 1.4.2.1.1

            I would presume the constraints then would be

            1. they are identifying that way on the field and 24/7 52 weeks as well.
            2. the sport allows “transgender” women to compete in the sport (as regards to player safety).
            • Visubversa 1.4.2.1.1.1

              Really? That is called "gatekeeping" these days. The only thing they have to do (under Self ID) is to open their mouths and recite the magic words "I identify as –". Look at Alex Drummond in the UK. No diagnosis, no hormones, no surgery – he does not even have to shave off his beard. Identifies as a woman – and as a lesbian.

              Alex Drummond

              • Nic the NZer

                This Alex Drummond looks like a budding Rhythmic Gymnast to me.

              • SPC

                No. The UK (maybe soon England and Wales and NI as Scotland is currently legislating self ID) does not have self ID as its legal standard (we do), so such a person would not be able to play in women's sports in England ….

                Even here, with self ID, sports could require some evidential proof (such as documentation of women's ID – drivers license/passport/changed birth certificate).

            • Nic the NZer 1.4.2.1.1.2

              I mean it seems a bit onerous expecting sporting clubs to be monitoring their participants for a full year around competition. Couldn't they just, you know, like show the club their entire browser history, or something non invasive instead?

              • SPC

                Self ID law allows a person to obtain women's identity documentation such as drivers license/passport/changed birth certificate.

                • Nic the NZer

                  Athletes will not need to “prove or otherwise justify their gender, sex or gender identity”, said Sport NZ in its release on Tuesday. – From the Stuff article at 1.

                  Hmmm, doesn't sound like Sports NZ is actually saying that. If they were saying that I think it would hardly be notable, because you have then some clear guide lines for sports codes and clubs to follow, e.g If they have a certificate/documentation then they can enter. But the way they are saying it seems more like the well known "don't ask, don't tell" army policy with sporting codes and clubs expected to wear any flak which results from that going wrong.

                  • SPC

                    The change from test (medical – diagnosis and assisted transition etc) , to no test occurred with self ID. This is all the wording really refers to. It is the direction to them/sports bodies after the parliamentary legislation enabled self ID.

                    • Nic the NZer

                      Really? Because one could clearly and simply say that as "sporting codes and clubs will not reject the gender recognition documentation issued by parliament".

                      I'm getting more of an "If they sign up for womans sport that shouldn't be challenged by anyone" vibe from the Sport NZ statement.

                      Actually I think my club might have had to ask if a couple of boys had been signed up for girls grades by accident, which they were (refunds were issued). Got a bit lucky there, I guess.

                    • SPC

                      Not when the sporting bodies are free to decide on their own safety criteria.

                    • Nic the NZer

                      That seems to confuse the issue further. Now the sporting codes are expected to create some kind of player safety statement to justify excluding trans women (and non-binary, whatever that actually means) from participating in the women's category. Apparently they should do this even if its just unfair, because Sport NZ doesn't present any other grounds for rejecting this participation (like maybe its considered unfair).

                      But somehow this still applies even though NZ parliament passed legislation allowing self ID and some of these potential participants can have documentation indicating they should be in that category.

    • SPC 1.5

      1. It's an acknowledgment that international level sport rules are set according to fair competition

      2. It's a direction to local sports administration as to community level sport – it speaks to how any participation is to be managed (self ID as is this is current government policy society wide).

      3. It allows individual sports to determine its own rules with regard to player safety.

      4. It does not make any sport funding conditional on allowing transgender players.

      Transgender athletes will be able to participate in sport in the gender they identify with, and will not need to “prove or … justify” their identity according to new guiding principles released by Sport New Zealand.

      The principles only apply to community level sport – not elite level sport – but it will be up to sports bodies to define where and how the trans athletes will participate.

      Sports bodies will not lose funding if they do not adopt the principles within their inclusion and diversity policies, and some organisations may have policies that reflect safety over inclusion, Sport New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle said.

      • Craig H 1.5.1

        Nicely put. Also, as a longtime sports administrator, the Human Rights Act does not automatically allow separate divisions within sports for women, nor for girls under 12 in any sport, so there will be sports e.g. motor racing where this debate doesn't really apply. That doesn't prevent having women's and girls' competitions/divisions in those sports/ages as measures to promote equality e.g. increase participation to equal levels, but it's not blanket by any means.

  1. weka 2

    I'm not a parent, but it's hard to understand how parents would risk this child's life in this way. Even if they believe that blood from vaccinated people might cause harm to their child, this is still a far lesser harm than death.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/480297/high-court-takes-guardianship-of-sick-baby-at-the-centre-of-dispute-over-donor-blood

    • Anne 2.1

      Touché.

      I suppose the media will be out there in full force filming the inevitable protests of VFF and other attention seeking cults. Given they only represent around 1 to 2% of the population they should be ignored. Their views have been well and truly trashed.

    • gsays 2.2

      Just having a wee korero with the 'health professional I see most often' about this issue.

      Jehova's Witnesses aren't down with blood transfusions. I understand they are able to 'bank' their own blood and use that. There is 'the precedent' already established that some naysayers, on this issue are keen to avoid.

      I figure this is a fairly complex and nuanced issue and I am wary of those with black and white views on it – from either side of the debate. Just another unintended consequence that is not on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission.

      • weka 2.2.1

        and if anti-vaxers want to have that special privilege they need to do the mahi of lobbying the government to have that system set up (which also means making a coherent case). But individuals demanding this is problematic because of the precedent it sets for individuals demanding this.

        Do JW's have this concession because religious belief is protected in law?

        • gsays 2.2.1.1

          TBF, the pfizer drug has been thrust upon us.

          Tad unfair of you to have expected them to organise and legitimise their position by now, in these turbulent times. They are parents of twins after all.

          As to the JW's I'm not sure how their 'privelege' come about.

          • pat 2.2.1.1.1

            "They are parents of twins after all."

            ????

          • weka 2.2.1.1.2

            Tad unfair of you to have expected them to organise and legitimise their position by now, in these turbulent times. They are parents of twins after all.

            I wasn't saying the parents should organise that. I'm saying that if antivaxers want this special provision they need to organise and lobby. Otherwise what is being suggested is that any time someone wants special treatment, they should get it.

            • Andy 2.2.1.1.2.1

              They did organise and lobby, and they had their own blood donors available and ready.

              I was watching a presentation yesterday about Statins and how pharma pushes them. Some were even advocating for putting Statins in the public water supply at one point.

              Some day the public might actually thank these so-called "anti-vaxxers" for standing up to corporate tyranny.

              Apparently, according to this presenter I refer to, this dates back to Reagan liberalising the pharma industry and letting them conduct their own clinical trials.

              • weka

                They did organise and lobby, and they had their own blood donors available and ready.

                reread what I said. It's not what you are talking about.

                Funnily enough, I didn't see the anti-vaxxers organising around the statin all those years when overmedicalisation was happening.

              • Shanreagh

                Having been a blood donor like my father, when we were both diagnosed as having familial high cholesterol, it was not the fact that we had both been placed on statins that was the reason why we were deemed unsuitable to continue as blood donors.

                The reason we were unsuitable was the fact of the diagnosis of familial high cholesterol. The medication we took to control it did not figure.

                In our diagnosis, and with my decision to have the vaccine there was no corporate tyranny exerted. I think you are drawing a long bow to suggest that I would ever have anything to thank anti vaxxers for.

                I always get all sides and make my own decisions on medical procedures and did not need tor read an array of conspiracy theories to get the other side.

                • weka

                  Andy wasn't talking about blood donation, he was referring to the overprescribing of statins generally.

                  • Shanreagh

                    I realise that but having got it wrong about statins it was on the cards that he would say next that having statins is accepted in blood donations, so beware!

                    The myth making about what shows up, in our blood and for how long is something the anti vaxxers and gullible others are getting wrong, as the court case with the wee baby shows.

                    Statins are as a help against heart disease (CVD) .

                    Whether to take statins if prescribed and whether to have a vaccination is ultimately a personal decision to be made with the very best information on both sides.

                    I don't class scare tactics against the covid vaccine and statins as being the very best information.

                    I class as scare tactics unlinked statements saying that 'they' were thinking of putting statins in the water.

                    I have found several articles about statins and have linked to the latest

                    https://bigthink.com/health/statins-drinking-water-wonder-drugs/

                    • Andy

                      <em> I realise that but having got it wrong about statins it was on the cards that he would say next that having statins is accepted in blood donations, so beware! </em>

                      Ahem are you referring to me? What did I get "wrong" about Statins, exactly?

                      I was relaying a claim made by someone else.

                    • weka []

                      Ahem are you referring to me? What did I get “wrong” about Statins, exactly?

                      You’ve been asked to provide evidence for your assertion that someone wanted to put statins in the water supply. Please prvice this evidence now. You will be in premod until both Incog and myself are satisfied. You’ve been here long enough to know two things. One is the standard of debate we expect (provide evidence for claims of fact). Two, mods hate our time being wasted by people who should know better.

                    • Andy

                      @weka, the claim that "someone wanted to put Statins in the water" was made by Dr. Maryanne Demasi in this presentation:

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzTjPuikhQE

                      She did some work for Australian ABC but her program was canned because of "misinformation"

                      I don't have any source for that claim, other than it came from Dr Demasi.

                      Particular points:

                      2:34 Debates about putting Statins in the water, and as condiments in burgers.

                      8:27, Statin Wars, Industry Bias

                      Take it or leave it. It's someone's presentation.

                    • weka []

                      thank-you. Next time please provide the link and points upfront. Making a note in the back end. You have a lot of form for this and the mods are sick of chasing it up.

                    • Incognito []

                      @ 3:00:

                      I’ve even interviewed people who’ve participated in debates in the US about putting statins in water supply.

                      Unnamed people [plural?] in unspecified debates [plural?] that is now put into a context to suit a narrative.

                      Take it or leave it. It’s someone’s presentation.

                      Nope, that’s not an option, as you used it to make and support your own conspiracy claims in this forum. You don’t get to wash your hands off this that easily and you’ll stay in Pre-Mod for a little longer.

                  • Andy

                    Thank you Weka, that is correct.

                    I was also making the point that it was Reagan (allegedly) that introduced legislation to allow pharma to conduct their own clinical trials.

                    The conflict of interest should be clear.

                    My point specifically is nor pro/against statins or any other meds, but the regulatory capture that is exercised by pharma

                    • Shanreagh

                      Can you actually link to what you were talking about please. It certainly read to me that you were critical of statins and was trying to link 'tyranny' in the pharma involvement in statins/vaccines. If you were not trying to make a point that big bad pharma was involved in vaccines and statins then what was the link/point?

                      I was watching a presentation yesterday about Statins and how pharma pushes them. Some were even advocating for putting Statins in the public water supply at one point.

                      Some day the public might actually thank these so-called "anti-vaxxers" for standing up to corporate tyranny.

                      Apparently, according to this presenter I refer to, this dates back to Reagan liberalising the pharma industry and letting them conduct their own clinical trials.

                    • Shanreagh

                      Re the alleged conflict of interest with Reagan.

                      I was also making the point that it was Reagan (allegedly) that introduced legislation to allow pharma to conduct their own clinical trials.

                      The conflict of interest should be clear.

                      Why should this be clear? Did Reagan have shares in the pharmaceutical companies involved?

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 2.2.2

        JWs also have their religious views bypassed by courts from time to time, for the benefit of their children.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 2.3

      Rational balancing of risk is the #1 thing antivaxxers aren't that good at, it seems to me.

      i.e.
      ‘Weird, evidence-free theory of possible danger(?) from blood products from vaccinated people, theory refuted by credible experts”

      vs

      “immediate danger of death without surgery, confirmed by all involved”

      Which to choose…??????

      • RedLogix 2.3.1

        That is not the choice they are making. The parents appear to understand the risk to their child perfectly well – and seem to have made all reasonable efforts to organise an alternative donor source.

        • Nic the NZer 2.3.1.1

          I doubt they are thinking in terms of risk at all.

          1) The baby already received one transfusion from NZ blood during previous surgery.

          2) It really didn't need to be present in the court for the hearing (against medical advice).

          • RedLogix 2.3.1.1.1

            I doubt they are thinking in terms of risk at all.

            Having had two children who both required major surgery as infants I can viscerally relate to how they are thinking at the moment.

            If you have ever had to hand over your 18 month old baby daughter to a surgeon to have her eye removed (retina blastoma) you might have some inkling as to the anxiety and grief they are going through.

            Now toss in a gratuitously sadistic High Court proceeding for good measure, not to mention being shat on by armchair authoritarians all over social media – and the answer I come up with is trauma.

            • Ad 2.3.1.1.1.1

              Most real response I've seen all day.

              Today we also heard of a Maori woman who in the course of a 2 minute phone call was advised that she had Stage 3 cancer, would require fast aggressive surgery, and massively invasive chemo.

              It makes news frankly because the poor management can be couched in unimpeachable Maori values, and so the system sits up and takes notice. Good on her as well for getting the story.

              The fact that the child's surgery came to a court case indicates a massive relationship failure on the part of the health professionals. It is their job to take the intensely vulnerable couple through the procedure and care, not the other way round.

              • RedLogix

                Thanks Ad. Typing that very personal comment above stirred up old memories – and I've been here long enough to know when I have said my piece and to leave it at this.

            • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.1.1.1.2

              Now toss in a gratuitously sadistic High Court proceeding featuring a King's Counsel who manages to conflate parents' valid concerns with racism…

              He suggested if such a request was granted, it opened the door to other requests that were theoretically possible to achieve – such as requesting blood from a specific ethnicity but ethically and clinically bankrupt.

              ”There’s also a slippery slope element to it,” he said. ”We have been there before as a society.”

              https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/donor-blood-battle-crowds-gather-outside-auckland-high-court-ahead-of-hearing/DSTVOUSPWBAF3FLGJAAR7Q6CBI/

              …we have more than trauma.

              Things have got seriously weird. It seems to have escaped the notice of the armchair authoritarians that NZ Blood Service does impose mandatory stand down periods after certain vaccines…up to 28 days…yet none for the new and novel Covid products whose long term effects are unknown.

              https://www.nzblood.co.nz/become-a-donor/am-i-eligible/detailed-eligibility-criteria/?filter=V#Vaccination

              You'd think that they would would be extra cautious wouldn't you?

              • Nic the NZer

                NZ Blood Service imposes stand down periods following certain "live virus" vaccines. Those are known to pose a risk as for a period of time those viruses can end up in the blood stream, which could later cause complications for a recipient of blood.

                Were as the implementation of "extra cautious" your proposing would have resulted in highly limited blood collection for a period of months (probably years if Sue Gray gets to say whos blood to collect) and for no particular reason.

                I'm sure unnecessary blood shortages are not something NZ Blood Service considers a reasonable outcome.

                • Shanreagh

                  NZ Blood Service imposes stand down periods following certain "live virus" vaccines.

                  The Covid vaccine is not a live vaccine.

                  • Nic the NZer

                    Yes, that's correct. NZ Blood Service doesn't impose a stand-down period for vaccines in general, just the problematic ones for blood donation.

                • Rosemary McDonald

                  Blood shortages!!!

                  An intelligent medical/public health system could have anticipated this outcome and advised the government that the Pfizer product should be recommended only to those in the known 'at risk' categories for negative outcomes of Covid 19.

                  (Especially since the 'prevention of transmission' promise was…optimistic.)

                  Like the very elderly and those with co- morbidities. Most likely those who are not able to donate blood anyways.

                  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19latestinsights/deaths

                  Leaving the rest of us to catch it and develop long lasting immunity.

                  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35380632/

                  Tragically, it is too late now. Its not as if they can suck the stuff out.

                  Way to go Science!

                  • Nic the NZer

                    Look, I have absolutely no doubt that if some nutter like yourself was put in charge of policy for NZ Blood Service (or other aspect of the NZ health system) you could quite capably run it into the ground within a year or so, causing massive harm and public health disaster. Fortunately for us there is no way that's happening.

                    That leaves this particular policy disaster as merely a product of your imagination, which I hope you will agree is a good thing.

        • AB 2.3.1.2

          The parents appear to understand the risk to their child perfectly well

          No they don't. They have vastly over-estimated the risk of their child receiving donated blood from a Covid vaccine recipient. This risk is near-zero and yet they are ranking it as the highest risk of all. Their risk-assessment has been poisoned by the deliberate politicisation of the pandemic. If they get their wish, it opens the door to unsustainable and unscientific cherry-picking of blood donors by recipients.

          • Tony Veitch 2.3.1.2.1

            yes

          • Francesca 2.3.1.2.2

            Wouldn't have happened if they'd just quietly acceded to the parent's wishes and got on with saving the baby, after all, that is the prime issue, isn't it?

            Who blew it up out of the water by stubbornly refusing a very simple and doable procedure that the parents were happy with

          • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.1.2.3

            This risk is near-zero

            I am sure you have evidence to support this? May we see it?

            • AB 2.3.1.2.3.1

              It's the absence of evidence to the contrary, bolstered by the consensus of expert medical opinion which is usually our most reliable guide in the face of uncertainty. Medical opinion is not infallible – I am not gullible about these things, having first-hand experience of wrong and (perhaps) deliberately deceptive medical advice. However, we discovered its deceptiveness by consulting other medical opinion, so the general rule of thumb remains a good one. Absolutists who demand impossible certainty usually end up in a deep hole.

              • RedLogix

                Absolutists who demand impossible certainty usually end up in a deep hole.

                Yes – while we are both coming from different angles here, I think we can both agree on this.

                As I get older I find myself listening to people who I know I do not agree with – but finding they have something worth listening to all the same.

      • Graeme 2.3.2

        There's also a whole lot of other evidence based items / products that go into the patient's body during surgery other than blood products.

        The actual risk from many of those is many times greater than than the actual demonstrated risk of mrna vaccines, let alone blood from someone vaccinated 12 months ago. Not to mention the probabilities of probably hundreds of potential adverse outcomes from the procedure the we mite is about to undergo to hopefully save and extent it's life.

        How the hell do we turn this mass hysteria around.

        • RedLogix 2.3.2.1

          If anyone gave more fucks for the wee mites life than protecting the 'safe and effective' vaccine narrative – the medics involved would have quietly accepted the parents donor offer and gotten the job done by now.

          • Incognito 2.3.2.1.1

            You’ve got your narratives all wrong.

            • RedLogix 2.3.2.1.1.1

              I am the one dealing with a serious, life threatening autoimmune condition – triggered by the vaccines. I don't demand anyone share my perspective, but equally I am not going to be lectured to by authoritarian ideologues who are motivated primarily to protect a political narrative.

              • Andy

                @Redlogix I'm very sorry to hear of your condition and I wish you well for the future.

                I agree with you here. The government could have de-escalated this early on by agreeing to the parents demands early on, flew under the radar and got it all hushed up.

                Instead the authorities have opened up the wounds from 12 months ago and got the people all riled up.

                The mother (interviewed by Alex Jones, no less) stated that she is a midwife that was marched off her job because of the mandates, and that she is currently unable to leave the hospital ward with her baby.

                I can't see this ending well

                • Shanreagh

                  Why would the authoritie have agreed to something like this had huge risks for the supply of blood for the future.

                  I actually don't think that it is up to parents to impose their will on a person who is too young to make their own decisions. The parents should be making a separate decision, based on different facts for their child not blindly following their own views. These may be fine for an adult to rationalise but another person…….no. Children are not 'owned' by their parents.

                  We have discussed this before
                  .https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-12-2022/#comment-1924279

                  ” It is one thing to have these beliefs as an adult with only one adult, you, to look after but once you have another person who is totally reliant on you and no voice of their own it is quite another thing. The ethical questions need framing differently.

                  The fact that she is a health professional makes it even more concerning. Is she also a follower of Andrew Wakefield and will the baby be vaccinated against measles/mumps/rubella?”

                • AB

                  If someone of Maori descent turns up and demands no blood from Pakeha donors, will you support them too Andy? Should this be quietly resolved and their wishes accommodated? What if a gay person demands no blood from straight donors, or an anti-5G activist demands no blood from people living near cellphone towers, a Labour voter demands no blood from Nat voters? Should we let a thousand forms of such nuttiness bloom – will you pay more tax to fund the army of loathed 'bureaucrats' making it all work?

                  Now sure – that's a slippery slope argument and nobody has actually done those things yet. But big, critical systems can't open themselves up to precedents that might compromise their operability.

                  • Andy

                    In response to your concerns, NZ Blood did have a procedure whereby you could fill in a form and apply for Directed Blood Donation

                    (i.e a specific person/persons for the donation)

                    I provided a link from Web Archive in this comment

                    .https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-07-12-2022/#comment-1925050

                    I should also add that the archive also has a page that discourages this.

                    I have no idea why the page was deleted from NZ Blood. perhaps cost cutting.

                    Presumably there is cost and time associated with screening blood, but I have blood tests every 6 months or so as a regular health check, so it can't be that hard or require a huge infrastructure to support it.

                  • Shanreagh

                    The couple with the guy speaking must be some of the most unhealthy pale looking people I have seen for a while. Are they ill?

                    • joe90

                      Are they ill?

                      They certainly look like they've been in a very dark rabbit hole for quite some time.

                    • Shanreagh

                      Those are the parents. Good grief they both look like they need a course of YIM, my mother's oft used go to for 'peaky' children.

                    • Andy

                      "The couple with the guy"

                      You mean Baby W's parents talking with Alex Jones?

                    • Shanreagh

                      Yes, very poorly looking. Yes Andy I now find these are the baby's parents.

                    • swordfish

                      .
                      @Shanreagh

                      (In reply to your reply to me below)

                      just being able watch.

                      That sentence means remarkably little to me, I'm afraid.

                      Normally I'd respond to your key point but I remember … not all that long ago … two very reasonable women on this site politely took issue with a line of argument you were pursuing … and, it seems, you were left in shock, felt violated & invalidated … in fact you went as far as suggesting you'd been personally 'Colonised' by these two very respectful (indeed remarkably restrained) women & there was some implication that you felt you'd metaphorically been kidnapped, thrown onto a sailing ship & then subsequently sold into white slavery among 17th century Moroccan Sultans on the Barbary Coast.

                      I wouldn't want to put you through that sort of Emotional Genocide all over again by taking issue with something you’ve said.

                      It’s clearly a tragic life of eternal Martyrdom for affluent Woke [… deleted]

                      [lprent: If you’d like me to make some comments about your parents, who I don’t know, then please carry on the the way of that last paragraph. I suspect you didn’t know Shanreagh’s parents any more than I know yours. But I suspect that your parents would have something to say about raising an arsehole who’d sneer at someone you don’t know, about something you have no idea about. Apparently because you have a some (probably pommy) weird class presumptions about boarding schools in NZ. ]

                    • Andy

                      They might look unwell for a number of reasons

                      (a) they are parents of young twins

                      (b) one of the twins has a serous heart condition

                      (c) they claim to be locked in the hospital (unlikely but they won't leave their baby)

                      (d) there are undergoing a court case

                      (e) there is intense media scrutiny

                      It might also be the lighting in the hospital room.

                      So whatever you think of this couple, they have reasonable grounds to look unhealthy.

                    • Incognito []

                      It could be the infamous hospital food 😉

                  • swordfish

                    .

                    Spare me the moral lecturing from a wannabe terrorist like Kemara. Dubious AF.

                    • Shanreagh

                      He's not supporting these crazies. His coverage of the protest at parliament was very informative, just being able watch.

                    • Shanreagh

                      The coverage of the protest by Te Taipo went most days and the ability to see action, 'just be able to watch' as I put it, as it happened with minimal 'interpretation' was valuable. But I guess that such is your long standing (personal?) animus for the guy that anything valid and valuable like this is not valid and valuable in your eyes.

                      My comment was very mild and not deserving of a response such as yours.

              • Ad

                Yes and respect.

                You are and have been for many years one of the most thoughtful and principled commentators we have had here.

                I've noticed you do less of the long form responses and of course no posts, but still continue anyway.

                You carry a lot of grief, but still have a lot of dignity anyway.

                I sincerely hope you get to wind back from full time work as soon as you can so you can focus on taking care of yourself and t hose immediately around you.

                Our family are in the similar position of providing massively for an older relative and doing it for years.

                You are a good person and you have my full support.

                • Shanreagh

                  @Swordfish

                  Can you please stop the ad hominems.

                  I am not sure what the paragraph below is all about. I have only ever said I went to boarding school. You know nothing about my personal financial circumstances, I always get confused with your rendering of woke, My dad never lived in the UK to vote Tory and the tax reference is head scratching.

                  These flights of fantasy of yours that seem for some reason to have me in their sights are uncalled for.

                  It’s clearly a tragic life of eternal Martyrdom for affluent Woke ex-boarding school girls who’s fathers voted Tory because they had to put tax concessions first.

                  • Shanreagh

                    @Swordfish

                    I am sill awaiting your response on this posting, preferably you have thought better of these ad hominem attacks on me. Could you please confirm. You said, when this was raised earlier, that you had looked at your posts and some were troll-like.

                    I do not know what I have done to cause this personal invective, apart from existing. Could you please let me know. I post views.

                    It is as if you have some personal animus against me and/or my family. As my father died in 1993 and my mother in 2010 is is longstanding. I cannot conceive of either of them doing anything to cause this. I have always been respectful of you and your views.

              • Anker

                Sorry to hear that RL.

                That is bloody awlful. I hope you are doing o.k.

                Really value your contribution on the Standard, particularly your expertise when it comes to discussing Three Waters

                • RedLogix

                  Thanks. None of us are getting younger and I am not alone here at TS in dealing with the challenges that tend to come along with it.

                  Although this is a condition I will likely have to manage the rest of my life, thanks to working with an excellent Functional Medicine specialist here in Australia (all via telehealth) things have stabilised for the time being.

                  I have a good science education, worked in heavy industry technical roles all my life, and have defended the scientific method here many, many times from those who would undermine or misrepresent it. Yet at the same time I would counsel others to be aware that such a powerful tool is also prey to being misused – and that it is a mistake to imagine that everything science tells us must always be correct or complete.

                  Especially not in medicine.

              • Francesca

                All the best to you Red, one of the least ideologically captured writers here, always with a fair and open mind

                I wish the best of outcomes for you

              • That is very sad Red and bad luck. I also had a reaction severe enough to need a hospital admission for my second different vaccine. To protect many, some of us have lasting damage. Mine breathlessness after myocardia, but your auto immune reaction would be far more serious and dangerous. Kind regards for good control, and I must add the Aussie health system does great work. Perhaps we need Medicare, though the tech bungle has been awful.

              • swordfish

                .

                but equally I am not going to be lectured to by authoritarian ideologues who are motivated primarily to protect a political narrative.

                Spot on.

                • Shanreagh

                  Hard to know, SF what it refers to though. When I first read it it seemed an overreaction to the discussion and rereading I still don't understand it.

                  The ideologues in this case are the Gunns and Greys and the family of Baby W of this world. Most of the rest of us are agog/angry/sick at the lengths that a family would put the youngest and most sick person in their family through to make a point.

                  One of the Drs involved said that Baby W could have had the op by now. We find now that he has already had a blood transfusion with the so-called concerning blood.

                  I really hope that the baby will not be affected by the delay or the jaunts to the court.

                  Personally I find the actions of the parents not brave or thoughtful but unspeakably cruel and deluded. The child is not their property to be used to further their own views or those of Gunn/Grey.

                  Grey/Gunn who are the ones to be concerned about, not fellow posters, whatever their views, on TS.

              • Incognito

                “Nobody knows the risk of a little delay in the heart surgery as against the risk of providing blood which the parties now all agree may contain some residual traces of mRNA from the vaccine… or the spike protein or the other factors that we know… can cause myocarditis and death,” she [Sue Grey] said.

                https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/12/06/decision-in-baby-blood-guardianship-case-reserved/

                This is the counter-narrative that makes one’s blood boil [pun intended], that somehow blood and blood products provided through NZBS are unsafe. This is plain fearmongering and a NZ Court ruled it was unfounded and baseless, as it was not supported by medical/scientific evidence.

                • mauī

                  I'm not sure why it would make your blood boil.. There are still many questions surrounding how blood is affected by the vaccine, the science is not hard to track down. There's every reason for caution, and every reason to investigate what is happening in blood.

                  As they say the "truth" doesn't mind being questioned. However there's little of that occurring within the NZBS or Starship.

                  • Robert Guyton

                    There are questions surrounding everything. Should we call a halt on every level while we sort this stuff out?

                    No.

                    • RedLogix

                      I guess the answer depends on whether anyone is willing to take responsibility some years down the track if it turns out there is a problem.

                      It isn't as if Big Pharma has not had a history of disasters, litigation and fines – often decades after the product was first released.

                    • Robert Guyton

                      "Big Pharma has not had a history of disasters, litigation and fines "

                      Yes, they have. Also, they have a history of marvellous success and the saving of lives uncounted, as I'm sure you, Red Logix, as a promoter of the technological, will attest.

                      Your truculence around the situation of the heart-baby and her flakey-as-fek parents is..incongruous with your previously elegantly-explained position, imo.

    • gsays 2.4

      The other question I have is how come we are talking about this?

      By that, which party put this is the open?

      Is it any of yours or my business?

      • Anker 2.4.1

        gsays that is a reasonable question.

        I particularly wondered how the media got hold of information that the parents took an anti vaxer, who spouted consiracy theories at the medics.

        • Andy 2.4.1.1

          I read on Stuff yesterday that "cell phones emitting radiation" is a conspiracy theory.

          I'm wondering how two way radio communication works, but I don't like to ask too many questions .

          [Given your history of spreading mis- and dis-information on this forum I have to ask you to provide a link to Stuff and explain the context of your selective quoting and the relevance to this discussion thread. You are in Pre-Moderation until I have seen a satisfactory response from you – Incognito]

          • Shanreagh 2.4.1.1.1

            I think you can help yourself re radiation by wearing a tinfoil hat as they did at the protest where the rebar in the concrete blocks was emitting radiation.

            As far as two way radio communication is concerned if you get out of the way of direct rays emitted by people speaking on phones to other people you will be OK.

            Going along Lambton Quay at lunchtime while others are walking along having catch-ups on their phones may be problematic with all the ducking and diving but I am sure it can be avoided by staggering your lunch hour to 4.00pm or similar. Or staggering the lunch hour PLUS wearing a tinfoil hat might solve the problem?

            wink

          • Incognito 2.4.1.1.2

            Mod note

          • Andy 2.4.1.1.3

            Here is the quote I was referring to

            The sovereign citizen phenomenon has different factions, but its followers generally believe they can pick and choose which laws apply to them. This only seemed to get her in trouble in early 2021, when Rayner, who believed the unfounded conspiracy theories that cellphones emitted radiation and 5G towers were “death towers”, refused to display a QR code at her cafe for Covid-19 contact tracing

            https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/130672251/fivestar-coffee-one-day-behind-bars-the-next-whys-this-cafe-owner-in-jail

            EDIT – the relevance to the thread is that the media’s definition of “conspiracy theories” seems pretty ill-defined.
            Like, actual facts are now “conspiracy theories”

            [Thank you for the link and the context, which makes things a lot clearer and much less ambiguous than your lazy comment.

            This thread is not about the media’s definition of “conspiracy theories”, pharma, statins, or cell phone emissions. Your comments amount to diversion trolling – Like, actual facts are now “conspiracy theories” – which is disrupting the discussion of the topic started by weka @ 2. If you want to start a new topic, then do so and see how far you get and how long you’ll last. This is your warning, and you stay in Pre-Mod for now to make sure that you’ve understood this – Incognito]

      • Shanreagh 2.4.2

        This is a case of intense and singular public interest as it is a challenge to the ethos that the NZ Blood Transfusion Service works under. It is this that keeps all of us safe should we need blood transfusions as donations are able to be sourced according to demand, in relatively short time frames etc.

        I totally support it being out in the open (subject to the not naming of the child/parents).

      • weka 2.4.3

        The other question I have is how come we are talking about this?

        By that, which party put this is the open?

        Is it any of yours or my business?

        That shouldn't be too hard to look up, but almost certainly it's the parents that went to the media.

        There are reasonably high public interest reasons for us to be discussing the issue in public.

    • Shanreagh 2.5

      The baby has already had one transfusion with so-called 'bad' blood.

      My concern is with the future and these parents. With their child now possibly getting another transfusion and that even though there is thorough screening will these parents treat their child differently ie because of their belief that the blood is unclean and that therefore that he is unclean of something?

      I would hate for this to happen but we have stories of parents who treat children badly as they believe they have bad spirits or are evil.

      The child has already had their surgery delayed.

      • Nic the NZer 2.5.1

        They should definitely keep the child away from baby lambs and other household pets until its fully recovered.

        • Shanreagh 2.5.1.1

          I was always advised that babies should not be going out and about until after they had had the first vaccines on the immunisation schcdule.

          This baby has been trotted around to the court etc. I would not think the courthouse with the many different types of people and differing health status would have been a good place for a sick baby to be.

          • Belladonna 2.5.1.1.1

            Mmmm. I see lots of very young babies at crowded venues with lots of potentially infectious people around them. And, last week saw a baby/toddler with a nasal gastric tube (so presumably with a significant medical issue) at a local food court.

            I think that different people have different perceptions of risk. Much like the co-sleeping debate….

  2. Roy Cartland 3

    Reply to 1.

    Why can't it just be another category? "Other" or"prefer not to say", like on a census form? Everyone's happy.

    (ps, I know how the reply button works, thanks; but on a mobile, the comment area won't let me input text for some reason.)

  3. gsays 4

    Minister Megan Woods, chickens and roosting.

    Despite the Minister being in favour of supporting the refinery by underwriting a deal to keep it going for 5-10 years, "But it is understood Woods’ idea for those negotiations was not ultimately endorsed by fellow ministers."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126866243/government-decided-not-to-follow-through-on-idea-of-talks-to-save-refinery

    In an RNZ interview, she accepted the advice of 'advisors' so job done. Refinery closed.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018833819/energy-minister-megan-woods-on-nz-s-fuel-security

    A refinery, by the way, that we used to own, till the 4th Labour Government sold it off.

    Who are these advisors? Is there a consequence for their shit advice?

    • Peter 4.2

      Was the 4th Labour Government the one with Douglas and Prebble in it? So I expect we'll see a Herald column from Prebble rubbishing the closure of Marsden Point and blaming the Government for it.

      And no doubt their Act mates will be on about how the Government should have done this and done that.

      • gsays 4.2.1

        I care less about those pollies we could name.

        I wanna see some mandarins get squeezed.

        • Shanreagh 4.2.1.1

          Really those 'mandarins' who carry out Govt Policy? Those ones?

          Those 'mandarins who work with legislation that does not give discretion? Those ones?

          Why would we want to change our Westminister style of govt so you could take a pot shot at someone doing their job?

          You have the wrong targets in your sights.

          • gsays 4.2.1.1.1

            That’s my point, these folk are far from sight.
            In this example they are not following Govt. Policy, they are advising the minister. Advising her to lessen our resilience and independence.

            • Shanreagh 4.2.1.1.1.1

              Advice is one thing and good PS always give a range of options, but decision making by a Minister is another process.

              It is a complete 'no-no' for single option advice to go up to a Minister.

              It is different if the Minister is acting under explicit legislation, here to give advice outside of what is contemplated by the legislation is a 'no-no'

              '

  4. arkie 5

    Julie Anne Genter lays out the inequities of our current economic system and highlights some policy alternatives:

    https://vimeo.com/778716671

  5. SPC 6

    The 2020 Abrahamic Accords – restoring relations between the governments of the nations Morocco, UAE and Bahrain and Israel and a reality check at the World Cup with the people of ME.

    Recent polling shows that ordinary citizens in many Arab countries, including those that participated in the Abraham Accords, disapprove of formalizing ties with Israel.

    “There is clearly not much love in the Arab world for Israel,” wrote the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington-based risk consultancy that focuses on the region. “The decades of humiliation, resentment, and anger which many Arabs feel toward Israel cannot simply vanish with the signing of such normalization agreements.”

    The present

    For years, most Arab governments conditioned normalization with Israel on the advent of a separate Palestinian state. But the process to create that state has effectively collapsed, while Israel’s new far-right government contains numerous politicians who oppose any scenarios in which Palestinian statehood could ever be viable.

    The Israeli perspective

    That’s a view recognized by some in Israel. “After the Abraham Accords were signed with several Arab countries in 2020, rightist pundits claimed that the Palestinians’ fate no longer interests other Arabs,” wrote Uzi Baram in left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “They didn’t bother to read the article in the agreement stating that their fulfillment requires establishing a Palestinian state.”

    The Arab

    “Ordinary Arabs are against this occupation and see it as inhuman and unacceptable,” said Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor of history and contemporary politics at Qatar University.

    Zweiri said the political tenor of the tournament in Qatar has offered a clear message not just to the United States and Israel, but to Arab governments that also seem intent on obscuring the political priorities of Palestinians. The presence of Palestinian flags at stadiums was “not organized by states, but something genuine from within the people themselves,” he said.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/06/world-cup-arab-world-rallies-palestinian-cause/

    It was sort of inevitable since the recent restoration of Netanyahu to power in the most right wing government in their nations history, ending the brief period of coalition governance including an Arab party for the first time. In some ways, it's a bit like the let diplomatic down after the failure of the 2000 peace talks (followed by Israeli disengagement and Palestinian intifada).

  6. SPC 7

    Taiwan based TMS is tripling its planned investment in Arizona to $60B (chip production).

    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63883047

  7. gsays 8

    Now that I am 3 home bruise deep, this is jolly entertaining.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kopKWvpEfs

  8. joe90 9

    DPR separatist Igor Strelkov (Girkin), sentenced to life in prison by the ICC for the downing of MH17 and the deaths of all 298 passengers and crew, went to Moscow.

    .

    Strelkov Igor Ivanovich I am in Moscow. Attempt No. 3 to take a direct part in the hostilities against the armed forces of respected Kyiv partners (they are now referred to in the reports of the Ministry of Defense as some kind of "militants") did not end in success, although it was very close to that. Briefly, without details:

    […]

    https://t.me/strelkovii/3492

    google translate

    […]

    https://t.me/strelkovii/3493

    google translate

    Strelkov Igor Ivanovich

    And now also briefly on the impressions of the trip, which was fruitless, but not without benefit (since my eyes and ears remained with me, and my head is also still working).

    Naturally, I intend to keep the vast majority of my impressions and conclusions to myself. In order, so to speak, "not to discredit". Positive impressions – I will share in the upcoming (hopefully) video conferences. But there are not too many of them – in relation to the negative ones.

    And now I will only note that the basis of all our "increasing victories" on the fronts and directions of the NMD is the deepest crisis of strategic planning. Simply put, the troops are fighting "by inertia", not having the slightest idea of the ultimate strategic goals of the current military campaign and only guessing about the vague plans of the command for such grandiose senseless gestures as the construction of a completely insane in uselessness (but wildly expensive in terms of execution cost) Surovikin Lines.

    In most parts of the RF Armed Forces, soldiers and officers do not understand: for what, for what and for what purposes they are fighting in general. For them, a mystery – what is the condition for victory or just a condition for ending the war? And the authorities of the Russian Federation are not able to explain this to them, since setting a clear goal for the NWO means "limiting room for maneuver" – that is, losing the opportunity to declare the goals of the NWO as achieved at any moment that the Kremlin leaders consider convenient. (For the thousand and first time, I remind you that the passionately desired “reconciliation with partners,” for which many steps are being taken to this day that demoralize society and the army, is unattainable in principle, but the Kremlin and Staraya Square do not want to believe in it).

    Such sentiments specifically in the troops lead to apathy. Apathy, on the other hand, leads to a drop in morale and the fulfillment of the tasks set "for show" and "slip of the sleeves", without a real interest in their successful result. So – in the army of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (and parts of the Armed Forces of the LDNR, although there the fighters have much more motivation) apathy prevails.

    The absence of a clear military-political strategy does not allow the military to develop tactics that will contribute to its implementation. In the meantime – "on a whim" – the RF Armed Forces are preparing for a protracted positional war, building long-term structures along the entire front in the style of "a la the Mannerheim Line" (does not pull on the "Maginot Line"). The fact that following the strategy of a protracted war is suicide for the Russian Federation (and its authorities and elites, too, by the way) – I wrote back in 2014, but I said (more than once or twice) – from the very beginning of the current campaign.

    Therefore, watching how the enemy slowly (and without encountering any opposition) implements his own strategic tasks with the complete passivity of the military and political authorities of the Russian Federation, I do not expect anything good at the front in the coming weeks.

    And, yes, – the so-called. "Ukraine" will NOT freeze in winter, will NOT rebel and will NOT fight worse. Vice versa. Its soldiers, who have already believed in their strength as a result of the autumn victories of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and are fully supported by NATO, will only fight harder and harder against the "Muscovites", avenging the hardships that their relatives and friends in the rear are forced to bear. And they will be met only by apathetic performance of duty, behind which many fighters and commanders have long been looming the unresolved question: "What are we doing here, if Moscow is most concerned with the implementation of" grain deals ", the unhindered pumping of ammonia through Odessa and the" price ceiling " on gas and oil supplied to numerous Western partners?

    https://t.me/strelkovii/3495

    google translate

  9. Blazer 10

    Today is the 8th of December 2022….WTF!

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    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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