Daily review 09/12/2024
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5:30 pm, December 9th, 2024 - 12 comments
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- From home to horror: the association between domestic violence and terrorism
Domestic violence is an under-recognised early indicator of terrorism. It is not a reliable solitary indicator, but when observed alongside risk factors, it can prompt authorities to take a closer look at a potential terrorist. ...12 minutes ago - You say socialist like it’s a bad thing
1. The Government is bringing back what to Health New Zealand?a. Buckb. Sexyc. The arrangement they dumped nine months ago2. Patient advocate and health campaigner Malcolm Mulholland said Commissioner Levy's time would be remembered as what?a. The Good Placeb. The Bad Placec. Absolute havoc and mayhem3. The government also announced ...19 minutes ago - Submit!
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill. Submissions are due by 1:00pm Thursday, 17 April 2025 (note unusual time!), so in practice you need to get it done by 16 April. You can submit at the link above. If ...2 hours ago - Want change? Don’t vote Labour
The current National government is one of the worst in Aotearoa's history. And because of this, its also one of the most unpopular. A war on Māori, corrupt fast-track legislation, undermining the fight against climate change, the ferry fiasco, the school lunch disaster... none of these policies are making friends. ...3 hours ago
- The Quad can help Australia monitor China’s naval behaviour
Australia should enlist partners in the Quad to help address China’s increasingly assertive naval behaviour in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad may be slow in moving into security roles, but one militarily useful function that it ...3 hours ago
- How Australia is advancing gender equality in the Indo-Pacific
Women’s rights and protections are regressing on the international stage, from the Taliban’s erasure of women from public life to US President Donald Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric and decision to suspend USAID. Against this backdrop, Australia’s ...5 hours ago
- Friday 7 March
E tū, representing many of NZME’s journalists, says it is “deeply worried” by a billionaire’s plans to take over its board. They are also concerned that NZ Post call centre jobs are gradually shifting to the Philippines as a cost-cutting measure. APEX have announced that more than 850 lab staff ...6 hours ago - Weekly Roundup 6-March-2025
The first Friday of March, and it’s definitely been madder on the transport network this week. Here’s some things we saw this week that were interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday Connor did a deep dive into Auckland’s speed limit reversals. For Tuesday saw Connor follow ...8 hours ago - As Trump sacks scientists, Australia should hire them. US drain is our brain gain
US President Donald Trump, his powerful offsider Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are slashing public spending in an effort to save US taxpayers anywhere between US$500 billion and US$2 trillion. Caught ...8 hours ago
- Truth Is a Beautiful Thing
Miles and miles on my ownWarm with shame, I follow onA language to find hard to hearNot to understand, just disappearCould you take my place and stand here?I do not think you'd take this painYou'll be on your knees and struggle under the weightOh, the truth would be a beautiful ...8 hours ago - Winston taunts Luxon: ‘I made him PM’
“I made him the Prime Minister”, said Winston Peters, leaning into his “kingmaker” role. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: Winston Peters believes he made Christopher Luxon PM and therefore didn’t have to tell him about sacking Phil Goff, which Luxon ...9 hours ago - Luxon’s Untenable Grasp
Yesterday, after kids got “steam burns” from hot school lunches, came the news of a kid in Gisborne who suffered “second degree burns” after opening one of the school lunches and accidentally splashing some on their leg.The student had to be rushed to A&E at the hospital, but it’s horrific ...11 hours ago - The Hoon around the week to March 7
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and Elaine Monaghan on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; and, on ...11 hours ago - Trump’s UN vote a defining act that points to day of reckoning for NZ
Of all the headline-making, world-reshaping actions of the second Trump administration thus far, perhaps the most defining is the United States’ vote against the resolution condemning Moscow’s invasion and supporting Ukraine’s territorial authority. The US has used its security council veto and superpower heft in questionable ways before, but this ...18 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #10 2025
Open access notables Snow Mass Recharge of the Greenland Ice Sheet Fueled by Intense Atmospheric River, Bailey & Hubbard, Geophysical Research Letters: Atmospheric rivers (ARs) have been linked with extreme rainfall and melt events across the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS), accelerating its mass loss. However, the impact of AR-fueled snowfall has ...19 hours ago - If Trump’s US abandons liberal idealism, others must pick up the baton
Donald Trump’s description of himself during last week’s excruciating Oval Office meeting as a ‘mediator’ between Russia and Ukraine was revealing even by the standards of the past six weeks. It showed an indifference to ...21 hours ago
- Trump is making the mistake that FDR shunned
In April 1941, Charles Lindbergh, the America First Committee’s most prominent leader, outlined his position that Nazi Germany’s victory was inevitable, that the United States should stay neutral and that Britain was ‘a belligerent nation’ ...22 hours ago
- Canadian Billionaire James Jim Grenon launches NZME Board Takeover
National Business Review has this scoop todayLet’s not belabour it.He wants all NZME directors to be replaced by himself, three new nominees, and one existing NZME Director.Grenon’s link to publications such as Centrist and News Essentials are note worthy.Those publications for all intensive purposes present a very alt-right view of ...22 hours ago - The value of Ukraine’s critical minerals is overstated
Anyone involved in Australia’s critical minerals industry would be rolling their eyes at the transaction still reported to be under consideration between Ukraine and the United States. US President Donald Trump was initially asking for ...23 hours ago
- Today’s fake news
Collins Unveils Very Special FrigateJudith Collins today announced a bold plan to address the navy’s billion dollar headaches.We’re so short of sailors that we’ve had to tie up half the fleet, and as if that wasn’t enough, our allies have been heavying us to upgrade the boats. Well, that would ...23 hours ago - Many Reasons Adrian Orr Resigned
ANALYSIS / OPINION -Why Central Bankers MatterI remember the day that Lehman Brothers fell. LB was a global financial services behemoth. Fourth largest investment bank in the world. Founded in 1850. The brand smelt of prestige and calibre.But their demise in 2018 - caused by shoddy risk management practices and ...24 hours ago - Trump’s upending of US intelligence: implications for Australia
Australia has no room for complacency as it watches the second Trump Administration upend the US Intelligence Community (USIC). The evident mutual advantages of the US-Australian intelligence partnership and of the Five Eyes alliance more ...1 day ago
- Thursday 6 March
Port workers in Lyttleton are warning that a proposal to cut jobs at the port will lead to more workplace deaths. The Government is doubling the number of nurse practitioners able to train in GP clinics, to 120 every year. They have also announced plans to lower the age for ...1 day ago
- Indonesia steps up defence relationships, but stays non-aligned
Indonesia has recognised that security affairs in its region are no longer business as usual, though it hasn’t completely given up its commitment to strategic autonomy. Its biggest step was a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) ...1 day ago
- Trump has cut funding for transgender mice. The only problem? The mice aren’t transgender.
What a world we live in. It sounds like a satire piece, or perhaps a headline for some alternative universe where Stuart Little was a documentary. Source: TransVitaeSadly, it’s not. It’s a stunning indictment that the leader of the free world either can’t, or doesn’t, read. Yesterday in Congress, Donald ...1 day ago - Adrian Orr Jumps
I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowningThere's no one here to saveWho cares if you disagree?You are not meWho made you king of anything?So you dare tell me who to be?Who died and made you king of anything?Songwriters: Sara Beth Bareilles.It’s hard to be surprised ...1 day ago - Britain’s cut to foreign aid undermines threat prevention
Britain’s decision to cut foreign aid to fund defence spending overlooks the preventive role of foreign aid. It follows the pause and review of USAID activities and is an approach to foreign aid that Australia ...1 day ago
- $11 billion and out
I’d been thinking last week of writing a post looking ahead to the end of Adrian Orr’s term (due to have run until March 2028) and offering some thoughts on structural changes the government should be looking to make, to complete and refine the Reserve Bank reform programme kicked off ...1 day ago - Defence, not more assertive cyber activity, is the right response to Salt Typhoon
The ongoing Salt Typhoon cyberattack, affecting some of the United States’ largest telecoms companies, has galvanised a trend toward more assertive US engagement in the cyber domain. This is the wrong lesson to take. Instead, ...1 day ago
- Time of Use charging progresses – but will it actually lead anywhere?
On Tuesday the long awaited Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in parliament and now heads off to select committee for public submissions. This is the legislation that enables Time of Use charging schemes – what’s typically known as congestion pricing – to ...1 day ago
- Will Adrian Orr’s replacement unleash a new mortgage war?
RBNZ governor Orr is now gone and using up his leave before the formal end of his employment, but does this mean we might see a new 2004-style ‘unbeatable’ mortgage war and another credit-fuelled housing price boom? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong story short: Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr ...1 day ago
- Gordon Campbell On Why GP Practices Are In Crisis
In a week when PM Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Simeon Brown have been blowing their own trumpets about how supportive they are of GPs, and how they are offering “all New Zealanders” more “choice” in how they access primary health care blah blah blah…. Can we please have some ...2 days ago - Climate Adam: Protecting our Planet from President Trump
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy and climate communicator Becky Hoag. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). In just a few weeks President Donald Trump has done everything he can ...2 days ago
- Trump’s challenge to international order
US President Donald Trump has cast serious doubts on the future of the postwar international order. In recent speeches and UN votes, his administration has sided with Russia, an aggressor that launched a war of ...2 days ago
- When dealing with China, Australia must prioritise security over economics
China’s economic importance cannot be allowed to supersede all other Australian interests. For the past couple of decades, trade has dominated Australia’s relations with China. This cannot continue. Australia needs to prioritise its security interests ...2 days ago
- No-one knows what he’ll do next
Troubling times, surreal times. So many of us seem to be pacing our exposure to it all to preserve our sanity. I know I am.A generous dose of history podcasts and five seasons in a row of The Last Kingdom have been a big help. Good will hand evil a ...2 days ago - A recipe for waste
With the Trump regime in the US causing growing global instability, the government is banging the drum about increasing defence spending. And this morning we have a bunch of defence lobbyists pushing to double the size of the navy to four frigates, at a cost of $8 billion. Which sounds ...2 days ago
- School meals as human capital investment.
Although I do not usually write about NZ politics, I do follow them. I find that with the exception of a few commentators, coverage of domestic issues tends to be dominated by a fixation on personalities, scandals, “gotcha” questioning, “he said, she said” accusations, nitpicking about the daily minutia of ...2 days ago - Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism
That’s the title of a 2024 book by a couple of Australian academic economists, Steven Hamilton (based in US) and Richard Holden (a professor at the University of New South Wales). The subtitle of the book is “How we crushed the curve but lost the race”. It is easy ...2 days ago
- Overseas investment is getting riskier. The government needs to step up
Australian companies operating overseas are navigating an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape where economic coercion, regulatory uncertainty and security risks are becoming the norm. Our growing global investment footprint is nationally important, and the Australian government ...2 days ago
- A Few Sandwiches Short Of A Picnic
You're like MarmiteFickle to meMixed receptionNo one can agreeStill so saltyDarkest energyThink you're specialBut you're no match for meSong by Porij.Morena, let’s not beat about the bush this morning, shall we? You and I both know we’re not here to discuss cornflakes, poached eggs, or buttered toast. We’re here for ...2 days ago - Luxon trusts Seymour & Trump
2 days ago - In case we forgot, Typhoon attacks remind us of China’s cyber capability—and intent
Australians need to understand the cyber threat from China. US President Donald Trump described the launch of Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot, DeepSeek, as a wake-up call for the US tech industry. The Australian government moved ...2 days ago
- Meeting the government’s new PT fare revenue targets
It appears that Auckland Transport have finally realised the trouble the public transport system faces with the proposed requirements from the NZTA to hike how much public transport funding comes from users and other PT related revenue. In November a discussion document was released that focused on setting new higher ...2 days ago
- The Child Psychologist Who Loved Compliance
This Webworm deals with religious trauma. Please take care when reading and listening. I will note that the audio portion is handled gently by my guests Michael and Shane. Hi,I usually like to have my thoughts a little more organised before I send out a Webworm, but this is sort ...2 days ago
- Letter to Minister Van Velden; re Destiny Church & response
..From: Frank MacskasySent: Tuesday, 25 February 2025 12:37 PMTo: Brooke van Velden <Brooke.vanVelden@parliament.govt.nz>Subject: Destiny Church/GangKia Ora Ms Van Velden,Not sure if you're checking this email account, but on the off-chance you are, please add my voice to removing Destiny Church/Gang's charity status.I've enquired about what charities do, and harassing and ...3 days ago - China’s naval deployment should invigorate Australia’s election debate
The Australian government’s underreaction to China’s ongoing naval circumnavigation of Australia is a bigger problem than any perceived overreaction in public commentary. Some politicisation of the issue before a general election is natural in a ...3 days ago
- As ordinary as they come
Oh hi, Chris Luxon here, just touching base to cover off an issue about Marie Antoinette.Let me be clear. I never said she ate Marmite sandwiches and I honestly don’t know how people get hold of some of these ideas. I’m here to do one thing and one thing only: ...3 days ago - Southeast Asia grapples with AI influence on elections
Artificial intelligence is becoming commonplace in electoral campaigns and politics across Southeast Asia, but the region is struggling to regulate it. Indonesia’s 2024 general election exposed actual harms of AI-driven politics and overhyped concerns that ...3 days ago
- Tuesday 4 March
The Commerce Commission is investigating Wellington Water after damning reports into its procurement processes. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says parents who are dissatisfied with the new school lunch programme should “make a marmite sandwich and put an apple in a bag”. Health Minister Simeon Brown says overseas clinicians may be ...3 days ago
- The Politics of Ostracism.
Ruled Out: The AfD, (Alternative für Deutschland) branded “Far Right” by Germany’s political mainstream, has been ostracised politically. The Christian Democrats (many of whose voters support the AfD’s tough anti-immigration stance) have ruled out any possibility of entering into a coalition with the radical-nationalist party.THAT THERE HAS BEEN A SHIFT towards the ...3 days ago - The Marmite Sandwich Video
School lunches plagued with issues as Luxon continues to defend Seymour Today, futher reports on “an array of issues” with school lunches as the “collective nightmare” for schools continues. An investigation is underway from the Ministries of Primary Industries after melted plastic was consumed by kids in Friday’s school lunches ...3 days ago
- Meet Dr. Christopher Luxon
Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis tour a factory. Photo: NZMEMountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Last week, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Mike Hoskings that nurses could easily replace general practitioners (GPs) - a ...3 days ago - A complete fiasco
When National cancelled the iRex ferry contract out of the blue in a desperate effort to make short-term savings to pay for their landlord tax cuts, we knew there would be a cost. Not just one to society, in terms of shitter ferries later, but one to the government, which ...3 days ago
- China is on course for a prolonged recession
The risk of China spiralling into an unprecedentedly prolonged recession is increasing. Its economy is experiencing deflation, with the price level falling for a second consecutive year in 2024, according to recent data from the ...3 days ago
- Hands of Love
You know he got the cureYou know he went astrayHe used to stay awakeTo drive the dreams he had awayHe wanted to believeIn the hands of loveHands of loveSongwriters: Paul David Hewson / Adam Clayton / Larry Mullen / Dave Evans.Last night, I saw a Labour clip that looked awfully ...3 days ago - Cuts to U.S. weather and climate research could put public safety at risk
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson One month into the new Trump administration, firings of scientists and freezes to U.S. research funding have caused an unprecedented elimination of scientific expertise from the federal government. Proposed and ongoing cuts to agencies like the National ...3 days ago
- An administered, unnecessary & counter-productive inflation shock
Counter-productive cost shifting: The Government’s drive to reduce public borrowing and costs has led to increases in rates, fees and prices (such as Metlink’s 43% increase for off-peak fares) that in turn feed into consumer price inflation. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, my top six news items ...3 days ago - For a faster solution to nearby maritime threats, look to the Australian Army
China’s not-so-subtle attempt at gunboat diplomacy over the past two weeks has encountered various levels of indignation in Australia and throughout the region. Many have pointed out that the passage of a three-ship naval task ...3 days ago
- Guide: Actions you can take on the speed limit increases
This Currently, the government is moving into the implementation phase of its disastrous decision to reverse speed limit reductions across the country, in most cases regardless of whether communities want to do so. In Auckland, it’s a Kafkaesque nightmare, with perverse outcomes all over the map. Meanwhile, communities, schools, and ...3 days ago
- The Campaign The Left Need To Run
The left — or the center left, in more fragmented multi-party systems like New Zealand — are faced with what they feel is an impossible choice: how to run a campaign that is both popular enough to be voted on, while also addressing the problems we face? The answer, like ...4 days ago - Gordon Campbell On Why Having Elections Less Often Is A Bad Idea
Are we feeling the country is in such capable hands, that we can afford to take a longer break between elections? Outside the parliamentary bubble and a few corporate boardrooms, surely there are not very many people who think that voters have too much power over politicians, and exert it ...4 days ago
- Trump, political partisanship, and world peace
4 days ago- United States of betrayal II
Like everyone else outside Russia, I watched Saturday morning's shitshow between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in horror. Sure, the US had already thrown Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's theft of land - but there's a difference between that, and berating someone in front of the ...4 days ago- To avoid a Ukraine-style quid pro quo, Australia needs to work with the US on critical minerals
With Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington is operating under a hard-nosed, transactional framework in which immediate returns rather than shared values measure alliances. For Australia, this signals a need to rethink its ...4 days ago- Seein’ double with the wrong one
Poor Bangladesh. Life is not easy there. One in five of its people live below the poverty line. Poor Bangladesh. Things would surely be even tougher for them if one billion dollars were disappear from their government’s bank deposits.In 2016, it very nearly happened. Perhaps you've heard of the Lazarus ...4 days ago- Economic Bulletin January/February 2025
Welcome to the January/February 2025 Economic Bulletin. In the feature article Craig surveys the backwards steps New Zealand has been making on child poverty reduction. In our main data updates, we cover wage growth, employment, social welfare, consumer inflation, household living costs, and retail trade. We also provide analysis of ...4 days ago- Amusing ourselves to death
Forty years ago, in a seminal masterpiece titled Amusing Ourselves to Death, US author Neil Postman warned that we had entered a brave new world in which people were enslaved by television and other technology-driven ...4 days ago- An inappropriate candidate
Last month I dug into the appointment of fossil-fuel lobbyist John Carnegie to the board of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Carnegie was rejected as a candidate in two appointment rounds, being specifically not recommended because he was "likely to relitigate board decisions, or undermine decisions that have been ...4 days ago- Canadian billionaire linked to right wing websites buys a near 10% of NZME shares
James “Jim“ Grenon, a Canadian private equity investor based in Auckland, dropped ~$10 million on Friday to acquire 9.321% of NZME.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Grenon owns one of the most expensive properties in New ...4 days ago- The US is gone—Europe must replace it
Donald Trump and JD Vance’s verbal assault on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office will mark 28 February 2025 as an infamous moment in US and world history. The United States is rapidly ...4 days ago- What Are We Defending?
Following Our Example: Not even the presence of Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea will generate the sort of diplomatic breach the anti-China lobby has been working so assiduously for a decade to provoke. Too many New Zealanders recall the occasions when a New Zealand frigate has tagged along behind ...4 days ago- A Mixed Bag of Media.
Well you can't get what you wantBut you can get meSo let's set out to sea, love'Cause you are my medicineWhen you're close to meWhen you're close to meSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Jamie Hewlett.Morena, I’m a little out of the loop when it comes to current news stories, which is ...4 days ago- Or not
“Time has come for a four-year term of govt”, or so declared the editorial in yesterday’s Sunday Star-Times. I voted against the idea in the 1990 referendum, and would do so in any conceivable future referendum. If history is anything to go by, a four-year parliamentary term seems a ...4 days ago- House of cards: northern Australia’s liquid fuel resilience
Northern Australia’s liquid fuel infrastructure is the backbone of defence capability, national resilience, and economic prosperity. Yet, it faces mounting pressure from increasing demand, supply chain vulnerabilities and logistical fragilities. Fuel security is not just ...4 days ago- Release: Labour welcomes reinstatement of Heath NZ board
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...1 hour ago - NZ’s Public Health system dealt yet another blow
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...3 hours ago - Release: Chris Hipkins’ State of the Nation address
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning. ...5 hours ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...5 hours ago - Release: Labour outlines priorities of next Govt
The next Labour Government will prioritise jobs, health and homes so Kiwis and Kiwi businesses have the opportunity to thrive. ...5 hours ago
- Release: Refreshed team to drive Labour’s 2026 priorities
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has unveiled a new economic team as part of a caucus reshuffle. ...5 hours ago
- Release: Labour calls for end to police referrals to Destiny programmes
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...1 day ago
- Good Riddance: Prebble Resigns from Waitangi Tribunal
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...2 days ago
- Release: Labour calls on Govt to condemn Israel’s aid blockade
The National Government needs to publicly condemn Israel’s cutting off of aid supplies to the war-ravaged people of Gaza. ...2 days ago
- Release: Mark Mitchell missing in action
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...3 days ago
- Release: Fewer houses, consents down under National
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...3 days ago
- Govt urged to rule out any involvement in AUKUS
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...4 days ago
- Release: PSA survey proves Govt’s cuts are hurting patients
The National Government’s decision to cut jobs and freeze recruitment of health care workers is hurting frontline services and harming patients. ...4 days ago
- Government levels another blow at kaupapa Māori education
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...7 days ago
- Release: Labour PR: More clarity needed for homebuyers
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...7 days ago
- Greens welcome pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and call for council to work constructively with m...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...1 week ago
- The week in review
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand. Winston representing New Zealand Winston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt abandons retailers with citizen’s arrests
The Government’s expansion of citizen’s arrest powers leaves retailers on their own to deal with crime on their premises. ...1 week ago
- Co-Leaders announce plans to launch Green Budget this year
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...1 week ago
- State of the Planet speeches, 2025
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...1 week ago
- Release: Millions spent to rehash bad ideas on retail crime
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with mana whenua of Lake Rotokākahi
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...1 week ago
- Report highlights urgent need for “life-changing” free dental care
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...1 week ago
- Release: Overhaul of Overseas Investment Act a Fire Sale of Kiwi Assets
The Government’s reckless overhaul of the Overseas Investment Act is a fast track for foreign investment at the expense of Kiwi interests. ...2 weeks ago
- MP Views: The Golden Age, The Red Band Cavalry, Fluoride, and Social Media
The Golden Age There has been long-standing recognition that New Zealand First has an unrivalled reputation for delivering for our older New Zealanders. This remains true, and is reflected in our coalition agreement. While we know there is much that we can and will do in this space, it is ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Call for Destiny Church to lose charity status
Labour Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford has written to the charities regulator asking that Destiny Church charities be struck off in the wake of last weekend’s violence by Destiny followers in his electorate. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Two Labour members’ bills drawn from ballot
Bills by Labour MPs to remove rules around sale of alcohol on public holidays, and for Crown entities to adopt Māori names have been drawn from the Members’ Bill Ballot. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt losing police faster than it can hire them
The Government is falling even further behind its promised target of 500 new police officers, now with 72 fewer police officers than when National took office. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Child poverty reduction must remain a priority
The latest child poverty statistics show child poverty reduction must remain a priority for the Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Static child poverty stats highlight need for urgent action
This morning’s Stats NZ child poverty statistics should act as a wake-up call for the government: with no movement in child poverty rates since June 2023, it’s time to make the wellbeing of our tamariki a political priority. ...2 weeks ago
- Right to Repair Bill passes significant step
Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees Right to Repair Amendment Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament this evening. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Rate cuts highlight Willis’ economic blunders
Today’s Official Cash Rate cut is good news for borrowers, but also a symptom of rising unemployment and an economy in recession. ...2 weeks ago
- NZers didn’t need this much pain to reduce OCR
Today’s OCR cut will fail to soothe the long-term pain Christopher Luxon’s Government is inflicting upon our communities. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: ACT taps out of Treaty Principles Bill submission process
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt funding for biodiversity an embarrassment
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: University cuts on the cards under National
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...3 weeks ago
- New Zealand stands with Ukraine, three years after illegal Russian invasion
As the world marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. “Russia’s illegal invasion has brought three years of devastation to Ukraine’s people, environment, and infrastructure,” Mr Peters says. “These additional sanctions target 52 ...2 weeks ago - Going for Growth: Overseas investment changes to drive higher wages
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced the Government’s plan to reform the Overseas Investment Act and make it easier for New Zealand businesses to receive new investment, grow and pay higher wages. “New Zealand is one of the hardest countries in the developed world for overseas people to ...2 weeks ago
- Minister going to Australia for aged care meetings
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- United States of betrayal II
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5 days free after killing a CEO and a backpack full of monopoly money – sheesh this case gets stranger by the day.
Atlas/Tax Dodgers Union barred from Treasury event, attempt to smear the CTU for the decision:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/council-of-trade-unions-economist-craig-renney-blocked-from-treasury-event/NX6DRD5OJJHRZJSMWDVR24TLLA/
How does Jordan the wasted pig know that Graig Renney wasn't barred to balance the Atlas/TPU rejection, rather than the other way around as he claims?
I can't see why either the Tax-Payers Union or the CTU should be attending the lock-up.
The reason for the people getting a heads-up is so that they are able to give accurate advice to their clients when the stuff goes public. They can read all the material and ask questions of the Treasury Officials to make sure that they clearly understand what is going on.
Neither the Tax-Payers Union nor the CTU need to be there.
I think they are being sensible in reducing the ranks of those at the lock-up to those who have to pass on accurately the story immediately after it is announced.
I guess Farrar and Williams are kicking themselves for calling it a Union. They thought they were being clever and now they are being slapped in the face, hard.
The subconscious irony.
Doesn't the CTU have "clients" tens of thousands of them, whose interests can depend on "accurate advice".
Whereas the tax dodgers association is simply a ginger group.
Disgraced, conflicted, and corrupt pollster David Farrar once again manufactures a huge outlier for ACT at 13% while an equivalent poll by an organisation which is signed up to the industry code of practice and very recently won top awards from the Research Association of NZ, has ACT at 8%.
Farrar has inflated the ACT result by 160% for political purposes. He did this around Waitangi Day earlier this year and he's doin it now to try to seed momentum for his master's failed and racist bill. That Farrar and Curia are both pollster and aggressive political activist leaves them wide open for scrutiny, accusation, and conclusion.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/1news-verian-poll-shows-te-pati-maori-getting-boost/5EG5ANQEZBAYPKFEEDHEQC7FSU/
The Taxpayers Union gets the poll result it wants because it pays for the poll. The TU is funded by the Atlas Network, tobacco, liquor and sugar retailers.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/517506/jordan-williams-on-why-the-taxpayers-union-went-to-panama-to-debate-vaping
Farrar has got away with his rubbish for too long. The MSM should be calling this out not blithely reporting it as gospel.
Curia is still held up alongside legitimate polling companies as reputable, reliable, and impartial but by definition it is not. The massive funding boost enjoyed by the TPU in the last three years since National imploded has allowed Farrar to push Curia's brand. With Curia 'trusted and respected', Farrar uses manufactured poll results to steer a particular political narrative.
However, people are starting to look at the rot under the veneer. We simple commenters can help by documenting and discussing. I believe some journalists do read this forum.
And the fact NZH picks the Curia poll as the one to headline.
Reddit/new zealand comment had this great wiki link aggregating all NZ political poll results. Here.
I suggest we all go there in future to judge political polling trends.
It shows an obvious dip for nats and a big rise for labour (and their respective coalition partners) in the last 2 months.
The link the Reddit thread is to the Wikipedia page, Opinion polling for the next NZ general election. It's a very useful page and it's great to see a qualifier on that page describing Farrar's dodgy polling practice loud and clear.
Very strange to have a post-Cabinet press conference where the PM repeatedly says that he doesn't talk about decisions made in Cabinet.
I assume most people know the political play here, but for anyone who hasn't worked it out:
1. There will be an announcement shortly about the Cook Strait ferries.
2. The announcement will leave the government with egg on face, after the hasty cancellation and fudged promises a year ago.
3. So the playbook says, do not let the PM be the face of bad news. Therefore avoid answering Qs about it at the weekly press conference. Entirely reasonable questions, by the way.
4. When the announcement is made and the Qs come flooding in (cost? delay? etc), the PM will be elsewhere.
5. It's Christmas! Politics? Yawn. Luxon will be available to sing Snoopy songs or other seasonal silliness, but not take Qs about billions of tax dollars.
Unfortunately for him, all those questions will still be waiting for him after the summer holiday.