The bloody cheek of it! I’ve met Nanaia. She has to be one of our most under-rated MPs. She’s intelligent, competent and has the ability to relate to a diverse range of people. She isn’t an attention seeker and she works quietly and effectively behind the scenes.
If I was Nanaia I would want to give that fly-by-nighter, Tuku Morgan a punch in the face. He’s the instigator here. A venomous “greedy brown Tom” who is in it for what he and his cohorts can get out of it.
Edit: If this is the kind of politics the M. P. endorse then I hope they’re knocked out of parliament later this year.
Around 90% of Maori have seen no money or benefits from Treaty settlements for the past ripp-offs by dishonest white settlers …
And then we have the Tuku morgans ….. who put a $89 pair of undies for himself ahead of other uses for Maori money…
Simple proof the guys a wanker … big on greed and self-entitlement …… BM & James should vote for him…. there is an affinity between the three which cuts across race.
Hi sanctuary,I would have thought as class was a bigger group than an individual’s idea of their identity,there was a greater chance of solidarity within a class.
Hi Anne,I have to confess I must be a bit dodge on identity politics too.
My understanding is that it is quite particular and framed by how you view yrself. Often at odds with how others view you.
I realised that. 🙂 I think Sanctuary was talking in terms of “class” as in say… the so called ‘entitled’ upper class (in which some M.P. members seem to see themselves) and the rest of the Maori population who are working class.
“My understanding is that it is quite particular and framed by how you view yrself. Often at odds with how others view you.”
Nope. But I’m not surprised, the debate around IP is pretty fractured now and not conducive to understanding. Unless you hang out with people that value IP 😉
It’s because there is an increasing stoush over ownership of the term and thus what it means varies hugely depending on who you talk to. Carolyn has gotten to the point of finding it a useless term. I vacillate between abandoning it and reclaiming it.
I’ll have a think about writing a definition in a context that will make sense here. Would make an interesting post (although I might have to turn the comments off 😈 )
The Adam Curtis 4 part series century of the self looks at the work of Anna Frued (niece of Sigmund).
The rise of marketers in the age of consumerism took this work and exploited us by telling us we were special, our needs were important, our fears are legitimate and here is a product to meet those fears, needs and wants.
IP comes across as a natural consequence of this conditioning.
Rather than look at what we have in common, we look for what sets us apart.
I look forward to a post.
Would be ironic to have no comments….
There’s an intense fight this coming election over the Māori seats. So, if it’s about social class, it’d about the amounts of working class within those electorates.
I mean, that all people enrolled in Māori electorates will be Māori – obviously. Many are also likely to identify as working class. But working class solidarity within the Māori electorates is not likely to outnumber those whose primary identification is as Māori.
I think/feel he’s the better candidate that’s all, although to be fair I don’t know a lot about Mahuta, and that maybe partly because of Mahuta’s reserved style. The impression I get of Papa is that he’s a great communicator with natural leadership skills and brings a prescence whenever he speaks. I also like how he knows his history.
I totally agree Anne. An ungracious and disrepectful comment indeed. Tuku has an obliging media following. No surprises there, given that anything that portrays Labour in a negative light will be highlighted by our faithful National abiding news casters.
That the now ‘backbencher is devoid of mana’ shows that he and his king place politics over and above familial associations. To say this publicly about a whanau, hapu and iwi member says less about them and much more about her. A personal attack of this nature will not be taken lightly and I hope Maori vote en masse to ensure they don’t make it into Parliament.
She’s not on the back bench. She’s on the front bench of course. And she will be a senior minister in the Lab/Green coalition government. That’s the big lie Tuku Morgan is peddling. I can’t believe the majority of Maori will fall for his sexist crap.
#completely disgusted with tv1 news report on vault7, drop in shill piece lies about status of assange, lies about source of DNC leak, zero fact check , un filtered propaganda!
A protest is being planned for outside Wellington College, to call on the school and New Zealand to address rape culture. A Wellington high school student tells Checkpoint why she plans to attend.
She said the behaviour/comments reported to have been posted by Wellington school boys on facebook, was no surprise to herself or girls she knows. She says it’s a daily experience for her to have boys and men to make rape-type comments to her in the street.
She says that she thinks many men need to look at their own behaviour, because school boys are just copying them.
The author of Raising Boys, Steve Biddulph, tells Checkpoint why so many boys, and men, act in a way that some students from Wellington College have come under fire for.
Some feedback to Checkpoint says it is part of our culture where a PM can harass a woman by pulling her ponytail, and critics get told to lighten up.
Grim listening Caroline, I will stick my neck out and suggest that part of the problem is pornography, from tv and media advertising through to music videos and the free hard core stuff available on any phone/laptop.
Thanks for the link Carolyn, is bloody shocking that this is still happening. Makes me think how are these boys being taught to treat women.. maybe via advertising, music videos, gaming and porn so easily and freely available online?
Wondering where the male role models are within the Government?
Surely the male leaders of our country should be setting an example for young men to follow, or are they part of the problem?
On the up side I’ve certainly seen some wonderful male role models within the opposition parties.
Interesting story regarding ‘rape culture’.
Was at a party, this guy was hitting on all the women there, even the ones who had partners.
It was inappropriate.
So the men took care of that situation, as women DO NOT get hassled at parties, such are the values of the men there towards women. This man was given a very very very stern talking to and removed from the party.
The next day the women from the party were called to gather at the party hostesses home, the touchy feely man in question was taken to the women, all clean shaven and in his sunday best and made to apologise to them all.
Some men do have strong values about respecting women. And it’s nice to know they are sharing their knowledge, lead by example and all that
The whole situation impressed me so very much, kudos to those men at the party for their respect of women, they always look after and look out for the women at parties.
Biker party, great night had by all, it was a great night because we felt safe, it was the bikers that cemented that feeling of safety by the way they dealt with the situation.
Now that’s how to get the chicks 😀 stick up for them. Lesson to be learned there 😀
Yes. On Checkpoint the author talked about the importance of men in the homes being good role models, but also about them needing to have “honest” discussions with their sons about ways to behave with women that are not damaging to the women.
The 16 year old student from Wellington College says she gets the same sorts of comments from men in the street, as from school boys: comments that promote rape culture. And from some men as old as John Campbell ie in their 50s.
For sures. I wonder if some parents really know what their kids are watching, it’s learned behaviour, whether it be on a screen or real people interacting around them.
And it’s the girls too, they see skanky chicks in music videos gyrating in sweet FA and rolling around on the floor and mimic it. And if no one puts them right and explains to them why it’s not acceptable in a way they understand, they will continue to do so.
My youngest watched the 9 – 12 yr olds from a local dance school do a performance at a community event, these young girls were dressed in gold hot pants and tiny crop tops, loads of sexual moves including dry humping the floor. Then my youngest tries to copy them dang.
I’m no prude that’s for sure, but crikey wtf, young dance teacher, brought up with sexual music video’s, dang any local perverts would have been in bliss.
Documentaries at home that encourage discussion seems to bring results at our house, lolz I’ll blindside their friends with one next sleepover lmao.
Sorry, but as one who started secondary teaching in 1970, I think you are both off-beam.
The attitude is started at home in the parents, and grows from there. It always has been so. I remember at secondary school in the early 1960s hearing boys talk that kind of talk. No social media, so no publicity.
This will annoy you even more (maybe): those bad parent types are producing more offspring than good parents do. So the problem gets worse.
Blaming social media and pornography is just the kind of mindless distraction that our neo-liberal masters want you to be distracted by. It suits them.
I still teach, and can assure you that well-parented children handle social media without harm, and probably avoid excessive exposure to pornography, without being harmed by the exposure their curiosity may have led them to.
Same with violence. The vicious cycle all starts with what parents unconsciously teach their kids in early years. Violence in video games or pornography have harmful effects only on people who are already infected with that harm, from parental input. Good children from good parents are incorruptible.
Otherwise, the harm is already done. Squealing about pornography and violence is squealing for an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Too late.
We need good parenting, not a ban on porn or bash-up games.
I just wish I knew how to bring it about. Social justice, a decent living wage for all, and full employment would be much more worth fighting for. But that will not suit our neo-liberal regime.
So I guess we will get more squealing about porn and violence..
Interesting ty In Vino especially with your background in teaching and seeing things unfold over the years.
Maybe we need a parenting channel on the TV rather than a shopping channel? Actually.. that’s not a bad idea. Government funded using a medium that gets obvious results, good old television the drug of a nation.
The differences today are important, i remember one porno magazine that did the rounds, or someone trying to hire a porno video, sheez it was a big deal, required major planning, including how to watch it, whose got a VCR, they were super fancy.
But now days it’s all there and free online. I do think that makes a difference. Grand Theft Auto is a long way removed from Pac Man. There is a ban on porn and bash up games as well as guns in our house. JS
How do you think we could improve parenting in NZ to create change and break the cycles In Vino?
In Vino: Sorry, but as one who started secondary teaching in 1970, I think you are both off-beam.</i.
Really? And where did I particularly condemn pornography? – I merely said it was addressed. And in my previous comment I also referred to the discussion where parents as role models was also addressed.
Blaming social media and pornography is just the kind of mindless distraction that our neo-liberal masters want you to be distracted by. It suits them.
What a muddle of ideas you’ve thrown out.
I’m interested, though, that it is pornography again that is in the firing line with respect to misogyny.
2nd wave feminist tended to be highly critical of pornography – long before the neoliberal shift kicked in. And during the 1990s, with 3rd wave feminism, there was a tendency for many feminists to embrace pornography (or was it erotica?) that was claimed to be produced by and for women.
Actually, the expansion of pornography/erotica into digital media coincided with the neoliberal shift. Like all forms of media, it proliferated with the ability to more easily reproduce such productions. Pornography has probably been caught up in the acceleration of the commodification of everything, rather than being something separate from, or oppositional to neoliberalism.
I don’t know much about the content of pornography. But there were 2 issues raised by the Auckland Grammar teaching:
1. It was claimed pornography objectifies women, and treats them as less than human.
2. It was claimed some guys get addicted to pornography, and then become unable to maintain sexual relationships with real women.
On 1: I am critical of any media content that consistently objectifies women and/or demeans or demonises any section of society: and that includes whenever it happens within G-rated cartoons, sports broadcasts, serious documentaries, mainstream TV dramas, 6pm evening news… and pornography/erotica.
And I think the dominant narratives in most of our media tend to reinforce rape culture. And inter-related with that, is the role models adults set for young people.
On 2: I don’t know anything about addiction to pornography. There seems to be concerns these days about addictions to all kinds of things. I’ll pay attention to anything on addiction that is solidly backed up by research.
That was excellent, wows good on AG, and the discussion it brought about with those young lads, so important. And a subject no doubt many parents would feel rather uncomfortable discussing with their own kids and visa versa, brilliant way to tackle the issue.
Hows that… 60% of boys watch porn weekly, dang. Good on you Auckland Grammar for seeing it as a possible mental health issue meaning it fits within their curriculum, maybe all NZ secondary schools should look at doing the same.
Cinny … what percentage of teenage boys do you think Masturbate each week?? …. hint … they wake up with a hard on each day….
I’m presuming their porn watching would be central to their wanking …
And while we can criticize the lazy spotty Herberts …. for not using their grey matter and imaginations more ….
If you invented a lap top or Tablet that can come into the shower … they will be batting at over 90% in the porn watching stakes.
Electrocution not blindness …. from all that wanking …would be the modern mothers warning.
More seriously …. respectful loving relationships, between them and others in their family home….. gives All young people the best chance when the Hormones start hitting them…. and their own relationships and interactions of a sexual nature begin.
Speaking As a male to Mothers ….. do not underestimate the hormonal and mood swings that teenage boys can go through …. Testosterone is not a easy hormone.
Thank you for your honesty, some things I just simply forget being a woman, like the morning hardon, I really appreciate you being straight up with me, it helps me to understand .
I wonder how many teens have the privacy and safety they need. Like for masturbation with out shame. Cause that’s really important for a number of reasons, as well as having understanding relationships and conversations, rather than turning a blind eye because it feels uncomfortable discussing the human body, and it’s functions.
And the privacy and safety in that respect would be hard to find in some homes. But the internet however, that can be found in most homes. One with out the other could become toxic.
Maybe if we had Parenting TV, it could be a topic for after 8:30pm. These things so need to be talked about, so we can all learn, and they need to be talked about frankly and maturely to help find the best outcomes for our youth.
Such a complex topic. Had a very frank conversation with my man about it yesterday, so many facets, not just the boys but how internet porn can lead to massive confusion for girls too.
It lead us to discussing the education system, we felt that it needs to be changed to include subjects that have only become relevant in the last twenty years with the internet etc as well as subjects that should have been made compulsory years ago like personal finance, how the government works etc etc
No skin off my nose.
Cos, like, you know… the men have every right to tell the woman MP to “step aside” for them – especially on International Women’s Day!
I’m never happy with arrogant, misogynist males who try to put down an admired and respected politician because she happens to be a woman and is willing to stand up and speak for the many disenfranchised people within Maoridom. The people, I might add, for whom the Tuku Morgans of this world don’t give a damm.
I love it when people go “ooooh it’s because she’s a woman”. Without giving any consideration that there could be any other reason for it.
Perhaps if you read what he said –
“We all deserve no less than the best leadership on offer.
“She’s going right back to the backbench now. To me, she’s got no mana in there now,” King Tuheitia said of Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta’s demotion in the party.”
So perhaps it’s her demotion in labour that had something to do with it.
Of course the only reason Andrew little demoted her was because she’s a woman right?
Yeah, James, Little forgot to take into account the inherent sexism and heirachical being of some of the so-called the top Maori. (sarc)
Because maybe he hadn’t encountered it before, and probably wasn’t aware it existed – because he lives in a world where women are treated equally and with respect.
Who invited them in? The Syrian government? (I don’t think so.) What you call that…deploying troops to wage war a foreign country without the express permission or invitation of the government of said country? (Answers on a postcard)
Also sending troops to Kuwait. Could hazard a guess that the Kuwaiti government might have ‘invited’ them.
With each move the violent remnants of ‘western hegemony’ relegates itself to the unwritten history books
The chaotic events now unraveling at such an accelerated pace, indicate to me that humanity is in the midst of tectonic shifts ….
Which way the shift ultimately goes is unclear IMO, but it is with certainty I say the following
Climate Change is not the most pressing issue facing all living beings…in fact CC is relatively a ‘non event’ when compared the imminent threat of complete and utter destruction wrought with WMDs, be they military, financial or technical…
How many more years can the current trajectory be continued before the destructive tipping point is reached, one way or the other..
The timeline is nearer term than any other threat humanity has ever faced
Well, all I know is that the US (NATO member) has illegally deployed armed troops to Syria (allegedly to protect Rojavans) – the same Rojavans that Turkey (NATO member) has illegally deployed troops inside Syria to fight against.
So even ignoring all other spaghetti strands that make for the situation in Syria, I wonder if anyone can tell me how that possibly ends well?
The shareholders in the munitions and arms companies get a return.
If the folk on the ground are with private companies then there are contracts being paid.
Don’t be fretting about civilians, international protocols or any of that lefty stuff. There is money to be made.
You could be right, OneTwo.
Whenever I see the destruction of cities and countries – almost daily on TV news, I wonder how much longer this will continue and what will become of all those millions of people unhoused, and unfed, with the loss of their lands and their livelihoods – where will they all end up, how will they all end up ? ? And does the western world ever think about what the end destruction of places, cities, countries really means ?
Speaking of Syria, I found this to be very interesting and well worth a watch.
Journalist Eva Bartlett: “I’m Back From Syria. The Media Is Lying To You!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUyJV6YaSWY
Google’s computer vision technology is now so good it’s able to find specific objects within a video or group of videos.
[…]
With the tool, you can search one or more videos using keywords and get back a list of results showing you where in the video you can find the objects relevant to your search terms. You can see a bit of Google’s demo of the software onstage at Cloud Next in the video below.
“Foreigners snapped up 362,000 hectares of freehold farm or forestry land and 103,000 ha of leasehold land in 2016, a hefty increase from the year before and higher than the average over the last 10 years.”
“Economist Bill Rosenberg, who conducted the research, said statistics on sales of land to overseas interests were poorly recorded and incomplete.
“Our best estimate is that in 2011 at least 8.7 percent of New Zealand farmland including forestry, or 1.3 million ha, was foreign-owned or controlled and it could have reached 10 percent.”
This was despite former Prime Minister John Key’s assertion in 2014 that foreigners owned only 2 per cent of farm and forestry land.
Rosenberg said CAFCA’s opposition to foreign ownership of land was based on the fact it was “the bedrock of our international competitive advantage” and the benefits were often overstated.
For example, a KPMG report recently showed US investors, who were the largest between 2013-15, invested $4.5 billion, but over the same period they removed $3.2b from New Zealand.”
New Zealand spy agencies and our elite Special Air Service soldiers have long-standing commercial links with a controversial big-data company founded by surprise Kiwi Peter Thiel, the Herald can reveal.
An investigation into Thiel’s links to New Zealand has found his firm Palantir Technologies has counted the New Zealand Defence Force, the Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications and Security Bureau as clients with contracts dating back to at least 2012.
The revelation caused Kennedy Graham, Green Party spokesman for intelligence and security matters, to call for a delay to the passage of the New Zealand Intelligence and Security Bill, which today passed its second and penultimate reading.
Graham said the New Zealand-Palantir connection was “potentially huge” and raised more questions than it answered.
More at the link.
And it’s worth reading Nippert’s tweets on it, too.
WOW! That’s massive. Excellent investigative journalism going on there by Mr Nippert. And thanks Dr Kennedy.
Thanks for the links Carolyn. Will be expecting to see this all over the media in the morning as well it needs to be addressed on the weekend political shows.
I am really pleased that the background to Thiel and his connections to Palantir is finally coming out. Good on Matt Nippert for his perseverance on this issue.
Just saying that I have been pushing the Palantir connections for quite some time here on TS.
My most recent comment on Open Mike on 4 March seems to have gone unnoticed so will repeat here.
I commented on the Thiel posts a few months ago* when it was revealed that he had been given NZ citizenship some years ago. My concern re Thiel was his connections to Palantir with its connections to the Five Eyes spy network, the GCBS etc. – and to US regulatory authorities ($B worth of contracts).
There are also links to several other interesting recent articles on Thiel at the end of the Intercept article.
*Shock – It was only at the end of Jan! Feels like a year ago. The Trump effect.”
My earlier comment 1293097 at the end of Jan is quite long so will not repeat it here, but it contains quite a number of links to other (US) articles on Palantir and its connections to US government (intelligence and other regulatory) agencies that came out after Thiel’s connections to Trump became known.
This comment is not intended as a “I told you so”. Simply that I have been following the Palantir connections to NZ for some years. A bit of a personal fixation.
Absolutely agree re Matt Nippert. I gather that David Fisher is also helping on this issue.
The Palantir connection has been an interest of mine right back to when their name came up in relation to the GCSB and SIS, and the changes to intelligence gathering legislation. Key was up to his ears in the connection IMHO.
Anyway i used to ‘live’ on TS as a reader and occasional commenter, but only pass by from time to time these days and saw your post. Cheers.
I also found this in my rereadings of Wayne’s comment 13.2.1 below Karol’s post. (my bold)
Karol, two interesting posts.
Yes the PM does interact with this group of people. In many respects they are his generation or close to it. He is much more networked into this global group than any other prior NZ PM. His prior job and the level he rose to ensures that. He was involved in the most globally networked part of the economy; global finance and IT. The latter by degrees of connection and their need for huge infusions of capital in order to grow at often exponentional rates
And a significant number of them are really interested in NZ, often for quite eccentric reasons – the billionaires who visit NZ in their private jet and then bike around NZ as an expression of their oneness with nature – work that one out if you can!
So he is certainly going to know those who come to NZ especially if they are from the US, where he PM did a lot of his work. In Peter Theil’s case he has actually become a citizen.
There are quite a few who have exclusive hideaways in Queenstown area and Bay of Islands.
Yes, it is a bit of an unusual part of the zeitgist, but there you are.
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Faith In The Essentials: Fenced-in, almost literally, by motorways. Located, seemingly permanently, at the bottom of politicians’ priority-lists. Heaped with praise for their cultural vibrancy, but not rewarded for it by the presence of white pupils in their public schools, South Aucklanders (like people of colour everywhere) provide their paler ...
Image credit:POLITICAL BLOG I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check this out. After correcting send me the URL ...
Since the pandemic began, the UK government has restricted protests in an effort to contain the plague. But of course, they're plotting to make these restrictions permanent: Concern over the government’s limitation of the right to protest during lockdown continues to mount after it emerged that the home secretary, ...
Completed reads for February: The Dream of Scipio, by CiceroThe Dragon Masters, by Jack Vance The Dream of Scipio is Pearman’s translation. A very quiet month in the reading department… but a truly excellent one in the writing department. Better yet, this was not merely short stories, but solid ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh (Colombia, 18 February 2020) Two soldiers, Jhony Andrés Castillo Ospino and Jesús Alberto Muñoz Segovia, fell into the hands of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN; National Liberation Army). Their capture produced the usual reactions that they had been kidnapped when in fact they were prisoners ...
As much of the world is still implementing lockdowns, including New Zealand, it is a good time to see how Sweden has fared. After being demonised for a year for having relatively moderate restrictions the Swedish death toll is rather much in line with other years. Sweden followed the standard ...
Under The Influence Of The "Governance" Kool-Aid: The furore surrounding Mayor Andy Foster's "review" of the Wellington City Council's "governance" is but the latest example of the quite conscious delegitimization, and sinister re-framing, of spirited political opposition and debate as irresponsible, immature and “dysfunctional”. It shows how very far from ...
Hello there everybody. I’ve been asked by Mr Thinks to come on his blog today and speak my mind about stuff. The government has a lot to answer for. I was sitting there last week as Auckland came out of it’s latest lockdown and I knew the government was making ...
There are times when tikanga needs to be broken for tikanga to survive.I recently gave a presentation on Māori economic history based on my Not in Narrow Seas. Its most important message was that Māori proved to be a very adaptable people continually evolving as new opportunities arose. The European ...
Some of you may remember our blog post "A conundrum: our continued presence on Facebook" in which we detailed our misgivings about and decision to stick with Facebook for the time being. So these latest developments - reposted from the Cranky Uncle homepage - might come as a bit of surprise! ...
Image credit:Quick Data Lessons: Data Dredging Oh dear – another scientific paper claiming evidence of toxic effects from fluoridation. But a critical look at the paper shows evidence of p-hacking, data dredging and motivated reasoning to derive their conclusions. And it was published in a journal shown to be ...
We've had a housing crisis for the past decade, and successive governments have done nothing to solve it. Why not? Bernard Hickey gets it right when he says its all about protecting the rich: The Government is reluctant to push down house prices fearing they'll loses the support of ...
There’s more of the Obama legacy here and Deporter in Chief: Obama chucks out 2,000,000 and Can Trump really deport more people than Obama? and Obama, gay rights and the killing drones ...
My Department Right Or Wrong: Far from “politicians involving themselves in some Corrections matters” being a bad thing, their involvement – along with that of the Ombudsman – constitutes a necessary check upon the unreasonable and unlawful exercise of authority over prison inmates by prison staff. A Corrections Minister who ...
New Zealand is supposed to have a progressive tax system, which taxes people according to their ability to pay. But it turns out that the rich are cheating: The wealthiest New Zealanders pay just 12 per cent of their total income in tax on average, according to research from ...
Ground truths on warming When we think about rapid climate change of the kind we've accidentally unleashed and the warming of Earth systems inherent in the process, we tend to focus on phenomena in order of their immediate tangibility, their drama. Sea ice loss in the Arctic, atmospheric and ocean ...
by Daphna Whitmore The Department of Corrections has called in the police over a pamphlet that supports protests at Waikeria Prison, saying the material might incite another riot. The group People Against Prisons Aotearoa denies it advocates for riots and has said it “encourages persistent, peaceful protest action such as striking from ...
One theme in the literature dedicated to democratic theory is the notion of a “tyranny of the minority.” This is where the desire to protect the interests of and give voice to electoral minorities leads to a tail wagging the dog syndrome whereby minorities wind up having disproportionate influence in ...
I've just lodged my fourth complaint to the Ombudsman for deemed refusal of an OIA request by police this year. That brings their total to four for four - every request I have sent them has not been answered within the legal timeframe, even when they extend it to give ...
Will the health reforms proposed for the Labour Government make the system better or worse? Health commentator Ian Powell (formerly the Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists) gives his analysis of what change is most necessary, and what should be avoided. The review of the Health ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections An off-course polar vortex meandered toward the Mexican border, bringing with it frigid Arctic air rarely seen as far south as Texas. Frozen equipment rendered power generation systems in the state inoperable, forcing grid operators to begin rolling blackouts to customers then left to fend ...
Just as National once produced a “rock star economy” that Grant Robertson rejected as being only for the rich, the Labour Government has produced an economic “bounce back” that leaves out the poor. Branko Marcetic argues for a rise in benefit levels to give the poor a real bounce back. ...
Virginia has voted to abolish the death penalty: State lawmakers gave final approval on Monday to a bill that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people than any other. The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to the ...
Yesterday a New Zealand Judge issued a formal finding that the Department of Corrections had treated prisoners in a cruel, degrading and inhumane manner, illegally detaining them, using excessive force, denying them basic necessities unless they performed degrading rituals of submission first. Some of the conduct appears to be criminal: ...
The Herald reports that there is a "storm brewing for the Climate Change Commission". The "problem"? Polluters are unhappy with its economic projections saying that action will not be as costly as they have previously claimed: Last week a coalition of over a dozen New Zealand business and industry ...
You're Move: What would a genuinely powerful Maori Caucus do? What policies would it insist upon? More to the point, since the single most important question in politics is always “Or you’ll what?”, does the Maori Caucus possess the wherewithal to enforce its demands?THAT LABOUR’S MAORI CAUCUS is potentially powerful ...
This post is a mix of a few recent reports on trends, recent discoveries or developments. Topics covered are the future of work, the geopolitical shift from oil to semiconductors, transition to low carbon futures, disappearing Artic sea ice, and AI in health care. Yesterday’s Gone A Canadian report ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson One of the hottest years in U.S. history, 2020 was besieged by a record number of billion-dollar disasters, led by two of the most dangerous phenomena with links to climate change: wildfires and hurricanes. In its initial U.S. climate summary for 2020, ...
Just because something is bad, doesn’t mean it’s easy to criminalise. Graham Adams argues that the proposed ban on gay conversion therapy is messier than many realise, and he delves into some of the difficulties facing the Government in their promise to legislate. A highly successful petition has inadvertently ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... ‘Absolutely ridiculous’: top scientist slams UK government over coalmineExclusive:Prof Sir Robert Watson says backing of ...
Over the weekend we learned that Turkey plans to deport a New Zealand woman and her children who had fled Syria after previously joing the Islamic State. Which means that Andrew Little's tyrannical Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Act 2019 - rammed through under all-stages urgency on the basis of an ...
The Green Party are calling on the Government to assess how the COVID-19 leave support scheme can be better improved, distributed and enforced so that workers can properly take leave when self-isolating. ...
We know that when our rural communities do well, all of New Zealand benefits. Labour is committed to supporting our regions so that, together, we can achieve even more. Here are just some of the ways we’re backing rural communities. ...
Government data today shows that the wealthiest New Zealanders aren’t paying their fair share of tax, whilst everyone else chips in, Green Party spokesperson on Finance Julie Anne Genter said today. ...
The Green Party welcomes the change in the Reserve Bank’s remit to consider the impacts on housing when making financial decisions, but housing affordability shouldn’t be left to the Reserve Bank, Green Party Co-leader and Housing spokesperson Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Green Party welcomes the passing of the Local Electorate Act Māori Wards Amendment Bill which ensures Māori have a say on local issues across Aotearoa New Zealand. ...
New UMR research reveals that 69 percent of New Zealanders agree that the government should increase the amount if income support paid to those on low incomes or not in paid work. ...
The Green Party are celebrating the Labour Government bringing forward the timeline to ban conversion therapy, and will push to ensure any draft bill properly protects all of our Rainbow communities. ...
The Green Party is joining the call for ‘brave policy action’ to address rapidly increasing inequality in New Zealand, which is likely to be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
Green MPs currently in Auckland, Marama Davidson, Chlöe Swarbrick and Golriz Ghahraman, will remain in Auckland for the next 72 hours. Those in Auckland today for Big Gay Out who have flown home will self-isolate for 72 hours. These decisions will be subject to any new information that may arise ...
It’s Pride month, and as we celebrate our LGBTIA+ community, we’re taking the next steps towards a more inclusive Aotearoa. From investing in mental health services to banning harmful conversion therapy, we’re building a New Zealand where everyone can be safe, healthy and happy. ...
The Government’s Consumer Travel Reimbursement Scheme has helped return over $352 million of refunds and credits to New Zealanders who had overseas travel cancelled due to COVID-19, Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says. “Working with the travel sector, we are helping New Zealanders retrieve the money owed to them by ...
An additional 88,000 students in 322 schools and kura across the country have started the school year with a regular lunch on the menu, thanks to the Government’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme. They join 42,000 students already receiving weekday lunches under the scheme, which launched last ...
New Zealand’s economic recovery has again been reflected in the Government’s books, which are in better shape than expected. The Crown accounts for the seven months to the end of January 2021 were better than forecast in the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). The operating balance before gains ...
More than half of New Zealand’s estimated 12,000 border workforce have now received their first vaccinations, as a third batch of vaccines arrive in the country, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. As of midnight Tuesday, a total of 9,431 people had received their first doses. More than 70 percent ...
The Government is significantly increasing its investment in restoring Central Otago’s waterways while at the same time delivering jobs to the region hard-hit by the economic impact of Covid-19, says Land Information Minister, Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor says two new community projects under the Jobs for Nature funding programme will ...
The Government has confirmed details of COVID-19 support for business and workers following the increased alert levels due to a resurgence of the virus over the weekend. Following two new community cases of COVID-19, Auckland moved to Alert Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand moved to Alert Level ...
The Government remains committed to hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2022 should a decision be made by World Rugby this weekend to postpone this year’s tournament. World Rugby is recommending the event be postponed until next year due to COVID-19, with a final decision to ...
Community and social service support providers have again swung into action to help people and families affected by the current COVID-19 alert levels. “The Government recognises that in many instances social service, community, iwi and Whānau Ora organisations are best placed to provide vital support to the communities impacted by ...
The Government is following through on an election promise to conduct an independent review into PHARMAC, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Andrew Little announced today. The Review will focus on two areas: How well PHARMAC performs against its current objectives and whether and how its performance against these ...
Some of the country’s most forward-thinking early-career conservationists are among recipients of a new scholarship aimed at supporting a new generation of biodiversity champions, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. The Department of Conservation (DOC) has awarded one-year postgraduate research scholarships of $15,000 to ten Masters students in the natural ...
I acknowledge our whānau overseas, joining us from Te Whenua Moemoeā, and I wish to pay respects to their elders past, present, and emerging. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you all today. I am very pleased to be part of the conversation on Indigenous business, and part ...
Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced today that main benefits will increase by 3.1 percent on 1 April, in line with the rise in the average wage. The Government announced changes to the annual adjustment of main benefits in Budget 2019, indexing main benefit increases to the average ...
A Deed of Settlement has been signed between Ngāti Maru and the Crown settling the iwi’s historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The Ngāti Maru rohe is centred on the inland Waitara River valley, east to the Whanganui River and its ...
With a suite of Government income support packages available, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni is encouraging people, and businesses, connected to the recent Auckland COVID-19 cases to check the Work and Income website if they’ve been impacted by the need to self-isolate. “If you are required to ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her condolences at the passing of long-serving former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare. “Our thoughts are with Lady Veronica Somare and family, Prime Minister James Marape and the people of Papua New Guinea during this time of great ...
E te tī, e te tā Tēnei te mihi maioha ki a koutou Ki te whenua e takoto nei Ki te rangi e tū iho nei Ki a tātou e tau nei Tēnā tātou. It’s great to be with you today, along with some of the ministerial housing team; Hon Peeni Henare, the ...
The Government is backing a new project to use drone technology to transform our understanding and protection of the Māui dolphin, Aotearoa’s most endangered dolphin. “The project is just one part of the Government’s plan to save the Māui dolphin. We are committed to protecting this treasure,” Oceans and Fisheries ...
Major water reform has taken a step closer with the appointment of the inaugural board of the Taumata Arowai water services regulator, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. Former Director General of Health and respected public health specialist Dame Karen Poutasi will chair the inaugural board of Crown agency Taumata Arowai. “Dame ...
The newly completed Hibiscus Coast Bus Station will help people make better transport choices to help ease congestion and benefit the environment, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said today. Michael Wood and Phil Goff officially opened the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station which sits just off the ...
New funding announced by Conservation Minister Kiri Allan today will provide work and help protect the unique values of Northland’s Te Ārai Nature Reserve for future generations. Te Ārai is culturally important to Te Aupōuri as the last resting place of the spirits before they depart to Te Rerenga Wairua. ...
Today the Government has taken a key step to support Pacific people to becoming Community Housing providers, says the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. “This will be great news for Pacific communities with the decision to provide Pacific Financial Capability Grant funding and a tender process to ...
Conservation Minister Kiri Allan is encouraging New Zealanders to have their say on a proposed marine mammal sanctuary to address the rapid decline of bottlenose dolphins in Te Pēwhairangi, the Bay of Islands. The proposal, developed jointly with Ngā Hapū o te Pēwhairangi, would protect all marine mammals of the ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges. Two of the appointees will take up their roles on 1 April, replacing sitting Judges who have reached retirement age. Kirsten Lummis, lawyer of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with jury jurisdiction to ...
Government announces list of life-shortening conditions guaranteeing early KiwiSaver access The Government changed the KiwiSaver rules in 2019 so people with life-shortening congenital conditions can withdraw their savings early The four conditions guaranteed early access are – down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder An alternative ...
The Reserve Bank is now required to consider the impact on housing when making monetary and financial policy decisions, Grant Robertson announced today. Changes have been made to the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s remit requiring it to take into account government policy relating to more sustainable house prices, while working ...
The Labour Government will invest $6 million for 70 additional adult cochlear implants this year to significantly reduce the historical waitlist, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Cochlear implants are life changing for kiwis who suffer from severe hearing loss. As well as improving an individual’s hearing, they open doors to ...
The Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill passed its third reading today and will become law, Minister of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. “This is a significant step forward for Māori representation in local government. We know how important it is to have diversity around ...
The Government has added 1,000 more transitional housing places as promised under the Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan (HAP), launched one year ago. Minister of Housing Megan Woods says the milestone supports the Government’s priority to ensure every New Zealander has warm, dry, secure housing. “Transitional housing provides people ...
A second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived safely yesterday at Auckland International Airport, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “This shipment contained about 76,000 doses, and follows our first shipment of 60,000 doses that arrived last week. We expect further shipments of vaccine over the coming weeks,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni has today announced $18 million to support creative spaces. Creative spaces are places in the community where people with mental health needs, disabled people, and those looking for social connection, are welcomed and supported to practice and participate in the arts ...
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little today welcomed Moriori to Parliament to witness the first reading of the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill. “This bill is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work from all the parties involved. “I am delighted to reach this significant milestone today,” Andrew ...
22,400 fewer children experiencing material hardship 45,400 fewer children in low income households on after-housing costs measure After-housing costs target achieved a year ahead of schedule Government action has seen child poverty reduce against all nine official measures compared to the baseline year, Prime Minister and Minister for Child Poverty ...
It’s time to recognise the outstanding work early learning services, kōhanga reo, schools and kura do to support children and young people to succeed, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins says. The 2021 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards are now open through until April 16. “The past year has reminded us ...
Three new Jobs for Nature projects will help nature thrive in the Bay of Plenty and keep local people in work says Conservation Minister Kiri Allan. “Up to 30 people will be employed in the projects, which are aimed at boosting local conservation efforts, enhancing some of the region’s most ...
The Government has accepted all of the Holidays Act Taskforce’s recommended changes, which will provide certainty to employers and help employees receive their leave entitlements, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said the Government established the Holidays Act Taskforce to help address challenges with the ...
The Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and faster than expected economic recovery has been acknowledged in today’s credit rating upgrade. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today raised New Zealand’s local currency credit rating to AAA with a stable outlook. This follows Fitch reaffirming its AA+ rating last ...
Tena koutou e nga Maata Waka Ngai Tuahuriri, Ngai Tahu whanui, Tena koutou. Nau mai whakatau mai ki tenei ra maumahara i te Ru Whenua Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora Tena koutou, Tena ...
The Minister of Justice has reaffirmed the Government’s urgent commitment, as stated in its 2020 Election Manifesto, to ban conversion practices in New Zealand by this time next year. “The Government has work underway to develop policy which will bring legislation to Parliament by the middle of this year and ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Social Development Hon Carmel Sepuloni today launched a new Creative Careers Service, which is expected to support up to 1,000 creatives, across three regions over the next two years. The new service builds on the most successful aspects of the former Pathways to ...
Overseas consumers eager for natural products in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic have helped boost honey export revenue by 20 percent to $425 million in the year to June 30, 2020, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says. “The results from the latest Ministry for Primary Industries’ 2020 Apiculture Monitoring ...
After literally thousands of requests, we’ve finally caved. We’ve decided to rank beans in an arbitrary yet unequivocally correct fashion.A-mung the current chaos of the world we live in, there’s an inherent desire to create order. Some found that order in the first lockdown by cleaning their house or exercising ...
A bar planned for Auckland’s St Kevin’s Arcade is facing opposition from locals concerned about the character of the owner, former Married at First Sight contestant Chris Mansfield, who still faces outstanding domestic violence charges in the US.The two lots inside St Kevin’s Arcade where Chris Mansfield plans to open ...
We thought the Covid messages were clear - but the latest Auckland lockdown has muddied the message. One political strategist says it's been like "putting tomato sauce on ice cream". New Zealand's Covid-19 communications response has been hailed the world over. Its success has catapulted us into the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has a near obsession with control. But suddenly – in the course of only weeks – he has found himself presiding over a government in a shambles, where he is reacting rather than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia A great deal has been written and said in the last few days about the next steps in the historic claim of rape against Attorney-General Christian Porter. There are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carola Garcia de Vinuesa, Professor and Co-Director, Centre for Personalised Immunology, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence, Australian National University Some 90 prominent scientists, including Nobel laureates and other leading Australian and international researchers, today called for convicted child murderer Kathleen Folbigg to ...
The threats to use car bombs at the two mosques that were attacked on 15 March 2019 are especially cruel as we come up to the second anniversary of those attacks. It shows the need for a strong national security system, with clear leadership and direction ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Royal Commission into Aged Care has now delivered its final report, and its findings are an indictment of the inadequacies of the present system. The report calls for a refocus within the aged care ...
Police have arrested two people following an online threat against two Christchurch mosques, Marc Daalder reports Christchurch police say two people arrested over an online threat against two mosques are being cooperative. One of the people arrested, a 27-year-old man, has been charged with threatening to kill. On Sunday, a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Iliadis, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin University The continuing media coverage of rape and sexual assault allegations faced by current and former political figures has put many sexual abuse survivors at risk of being traumatised all over again. Widespread media attention ...
“Thanks to Labour’s bungling bureaucracy, hardworking New Zealanders are locked down with their livelihoods threatened, and the Prime Minister still isn’t telling the truth. It is time for a reset. We need a purpose built, Taiwan-style, Epidemic ...
On the 27 th of February, youth across 7 cities in New Zealand came out in full force to join city-wide marches organized by Rise for Lives (RFL), a youth movement focused on bringing awareness and action for humanitarian causes. Youth members of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Peterson, Associate Professor, Flinders University Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by Benjamin Britten, directed by Neil Armfield, Adelaide Festival. Transfixed, Transported. Transfigured. Three hours pass in the blink of an eye. How did this happen, or was it all just a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Lau, Research fellow, James Cook University Gender influences how people experience and respond to climate change. This is particularly evident in developing nations where women and men adapt to climatic shocks differently. Women work harder and longer, in poorer conditions, while ...
This week on Business is Boring, Billie Jo Hohepa-Ropiha tells Simon Pound about inventing the sewer-safe wet wipe alternative BDÉT.There is a big problem lurking in our sewer pipes. Flushed wet wipes, even the supposedly “flushable” ones, are major contributors to “fatbergs” – huge clumps of wipes and other stuff ...
Over 170 scientists, researchers, local government elected members and officials gathered recently at the LGNZ Climate Change Adaptation Symposium. Discussions uncovered gaps in New Zealand’s adaptation policy and canvassed how the sector can find shared ...
The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa appeared before Parliament’s Justice select committee today on the Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2), a member's bill in the name of Simeon Brown. The bill proposes to allow ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Cantrell, Lecturer in Writing, Editing, and Publishing, University of Southern Queensland Let’s start by putting aside the bugbear that it is even possible to “cancel” children’s author Dr Seuss. As Philip Bump wrote yesterday in The Washington Post, No one ...
Our Beehive Bulletin We spotted the politically alluring word “free” among the latest Beehive announcements. The headline said “Hundreds more schools join free lunches programme”. This was one of two statements from Chris Hpikins since Point of Order last updated its record of of ministerial press statements. The other (in ...
Feel like you’ve already watched everything on the internet this week? Here are eight video series from The Spinoff archive you might have missed.Scratched: Aotearoa’s Lost Sporting LegendsMeet some of the unsung or forgotten legends of New Zealand sport, from Māori tennis legend Ruia Morrison’s Wimbledon run in the 1950s ...
TRIBUTE:By Frank Senge Kolma in Port Moresby Many will now try to recollect some experience, some exchange or brush with the Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare who fell to pancreatic cancer on February 26 after a long checkered career in politics as our founding Prime Minister. That he ...
At first it was about the books, but my relationship with my local library has since become about a whole lot more, writes Briar Grace-Smith, whose feature film Cousins premiered last night.I’ve done my time in libraries around the country, popping in and out of them on writers’ tours ...
The live export ship Ocean Ute is scheduled to arrive at Port Taranaki tomorrow to export thousands of cows. This is the second time Ocean Ute has exported animals from New Zealand this year. Radio New Zealand reported today that a paper has been ...
A View from Afar: Thursday March 4 @ midday (NZDST / Wednesday, 6pm USEST) Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning conduct a deep dive into the largely covert role of private enterprise in the intelligence, conflict, and war markets. Most recently, New Zealanders discovered that its national airline had been ...
Guest Post By Barrie Saunders The departure of Donald Trump from the White House was a victory for the US democratic system, which only just succeeded. If then Vice President Mike Pence had wavered under enormous pressure from President Trump and his cult-like supporters, Joe Biden might not be in ...
The reverential aura enveloping the Ardern government is beginning to fade and ministerial fallibilities are emerging. Just as suddenly, the media are offering some space to critics of the government. Richard Prebble is calling for a Royal Commission into the government’s handling of the pandemic response. ACT’s David Seymour sees ...
South Auckland is flooded with unhealthy food choices, but, as Justin Latif reports, a group of women are ensuring there’s something for those wanting an alternative.One gave up a career in the world of investment banking, while the other, as a single mum to five children, chose to take a ...
New Zealand fell in love with Precious McKenzie at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, and the feeling was so mutual he decided to stay. But the charismatic weightlifter hadn’t always been made to feel so welcome.In an apartheid-era gym advertised as “whites only”, Precious McKenzie was about to break a national ...
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier today released his latest Official Information Act (OIA) and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) data[1]. In the six months from 1 July to 30 December 2020, the Ombudsman received 667 OIA ...
National's proposal to pay full wages for people self-isolating is a welcome one, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “It's a version of what we proposed last year in our first COVID-19 briefing paper ...
The move to level three in Auckland, and level two across the rest of the country, has once more thrown the live arts into disarray. Sam Brooks asked some practitioners to tell us how the pandemic continues to disrupt their work.There’s no doubt that New Zealand has been able to ...
A small Waikato town is pulling together to help improve how Māori are counted in the next census, Stats NZ said today. In Raahui Pookeka, members of a local marae are driving an initiative to improve engagement in the New Zealand census. The initiative, ...
Hamilton residents are being asked to help make sure updated census methodology works by participating in the census test, Stats NZ said today. The test is being run to see how changes made to the collection model used in the New Zealand Census ...
A View from Afar: Thursday March 4 @ midday (NZDST / Wednesday, 6pm USEST) Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will conduct a deep dive into the largely covert role of private enterprise in the intelligence, conflict, and war markets. Most recently, New Zealanders discovered that its national airline had ...
Asia Pacific Report Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman has challenged the contrasting positions taken by the Indonesian government in response to calls to resolve the Papua problem and in its response to the military coup in Myanmar. Koman said Indonesia’s position on the Myanmar coup had been very good, but ...
Asia Pacific Report Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is dismayed by the sudden intensification of the ruling junta’s crackdown on journalists during the past three days, one month after the military coup in Myanmar on February 1, and warns the junta of its responsibility in the eyes of history. In all, ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Rioters described by Papua New Guinea police as “opportunists” taking advantage of the death of Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare have looted shops and destroyed cars in three provinces – Morobe’s Lae, National Capital District (NCD) suburb Gordon and New Ireland’s Kavieng. Shots were ...
By RNZ News New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says the actions of the Destiny Church leaders in leaving Auckland on the eve of the alert level 3 lockdown were “completely irresponsible”. Earlier today it was revealed that church leaders Brian and Hannah Tamaki left Auckland on Saturday night, ...
In its first draft advice delivered to the government in February, the Climate Change Commission recommended the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, with ‘no further internal combustion engine light vehicles imported after 2032’. Gareth Shute asks if this is actually feasible.Transport is responsible for over a fifth of New Zealand’s ...
Unite congratulates Crowne Plaza Auckland, currently an MIQ facility, for making the move to paying their workers the living wage. The welcome increase will provide some relief to workers who are normally paid just above the minimum wage despite ...
In prioritising economic cost and setting far-off targets, the Climate Change Commission has shown a spectacular lack of ambition, argues Adam Currie. “What matters in the end is not targets, which have been set in the past and never met, but the policies to achieve them.”The late Jeanette Fitzsimons wrote this ...
To ensure continuity in the supply chain, the road freight industry needs to know when truck drivers will receive the COVID-19 vaccine, says Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett. Leggett wrote to Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins ...
Last year the Prime Minister laid out an astonishingly simple but extremely effective plan for dealing with the threat Covid19 posed to New Zealand. It was basically to take advantage of our isolated location and seal our borders to keep the virus out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Banki, Senior Lecturer, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney Social media has given us valuable access to the actions of both the military and anti-coup protesters in Myanmar, but a communication blackout may be coming. The country’s military seized control ...
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Greedy brown fat cats prefer class war to the solidarity of identity politics…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/90257182/maori-king-endorses-waikatotainui-chairman-to-political-battle
The bloody cheek of it! I’ve met Nanaia. She has to be one of our most under-rated MPs. She’s intelligent, competent and has the ability to relate to a diverse range of people. She isn’t an attention seeker and she works quietly and effectively behind the scenes.
If I was Nanaia I would want to give that fly-by-nighter, Tuku Morgan a punch in the face. He’s the instigator here. A venomous “greedy brown Tom” who is in it for what he and his cohorts can get out of it.
Edit: If this is the kind of politics the M. P. endorse then I hope they’re knocked out of parliament later this year.
What’s a “greedy brown Tom”?
an Uncle Tom. and I totally agree with you, Anne. power-seeking sexist rant from Tuku and his mouthpiece, the King.
The bloody cheek of it. Having his own view and endorsing somebody anne doesn’t agree with.
Yes, don’t those damn darkies realise we know best? how dare they have their own thoughts and ideas !!!!
hey so cool you are there for “Mr $89 underpants”
Around 90% of Maori have seen no money or benefits from Treaty settlements for the past ripp-offs by dishonest white settlers …
And then we have the Tuku morgans ….. who put a $89 pair of undies for himself ahead of other uses for Maori money…
Simple proof the guys a wanker … big on greed and self-entitlement …… BM & James should vote for him…. there is an affinity between the three which cuts across race.
Hi sanctuary,I would have thought as class was a bigger group than an individual’s idea of their identity,there was a greater chance of solidarity within a class.
I think you are mis-reading what Sanctuary means by “class”.
Hi Anne,I have to confess I must be a bit dodge on identity politics too.
My understanding is that it is quite particular and framed by how you view yrself. Often at odds with how others view you.
Genuinely a bit lost, not agitating at all.
…not agitating at all.
I realised that. 🙂 I think Sanctuary was talking in terms of “class” as in say… the so called ‘entitled’ upper class (in which some M.P. members seem to see themselves) and the rest of the Maori population who are working class.
Perhaps the contrast of entitled vs working isn’t as striking when all identify as Maori.
“My understanding is that it is quite particular and framed by how you view yrself. Often at odds with how others view you.”
Nope. But I’m not surprised, the debate around IP is pretty fractured now and not conducive to understanding. Unless you hang out with people that value IP 😉
I realise u are probably sick to the back teeth of engaging with ignorami (plural?) on this subject, but getting a handle on IP is proving elusive.
True, I don’t mingle with folk who have heard of IP.
It’s because there is an increasing stoush over ownership of the term and thus what it means varies hugely depending on who you talk to. Carolyn has gotten to the point of finding it a useless term. I vacillate between abandoning it and reclaiming it.
I’ll have a think about writing a definition in a context that will make sense here. Would make an interesting post (although I might have to turn the comments off 😈 )
The Adam Curtis 4 part series century of the self looks at the work of Anna Frued (niece of Sigmund).
The rise of marketers in the age of consumerism took this work and exploited us by telling us we were special, our needs were important, our fears are legitimate and here is a product to meet those fears, needs and wants.
IP comes across as a natural consequence of this conditioning.
Rather than look at what we have in common, we look for what sets us apart.
I look forward to a post.
Would be ironic to have no comments….
There’s an intense fight this coming election over the Māori seats. So, if it’s about social class, it’d about the amounts of working class within those electorates.
I pondered this earlier, and perhaps it is a Westminster view that has left/right, instead of what is best for Maori.
I mean, that all people enrolled in Māori electorates will be Māori – obviously. Many are also likely to identify as working class. But working class solidarity within the Māori electorates is not likely to outnumber those whose primary identification is as Māori.
Spot on, well.said.
Rahui Papa has the makings of a superb Māori politician I reckon. I hope he beats Labour in this one.
Hi Maui, is it because he ain’t labour or you regard him as a better prospect than ms Mahuta?
I think/feel he’s the better candidate that’s all, although to be fair I don’t know a lot about Mahuta, and that maybe partly because of Mahuta’s reserved style. The impression I get of Papa is that he’s a great communicator with natural leadership skills and brings a prescence whenever he speaks. I also like how he knows his history.
He features on this interesting video discussion about the New Zealand Wars if youre interested to get an idea of the fella.
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/media-take/S03E004/media-take-extended-series-3-episode-6
Cheers, will give it a lookalike.
Btw I do enjoy media take.
National are trying to divide Maori just like they have divided the rest of New Zealand.
Maori are doing a pretty good job of doing that all by themselves.
I totally agree Anne. An ungracious and disrepectful comment indeed. Tuku has an obliging media following. No surprises there, given that anything that portrays Labour in a negative light will be highlighted by our faithful National abiding news casters.
That the now ‘backbencher is devoid of mana’ shows that he and his king place politics over and above familial associations. To say this publicly about a whanau, hapu and iwi member says less about them and much more about her. A personal attack of this nature will not be taken lightly and I hope Maori vote en masse to ensure they don’t make it into Parliament.
That the now ‘backbencher is devoid of mana’…
She’s not on the back bench. She’s on the front bench of course. And she will be a senior minister in the Lab/Green coalition government. That’s the big lie Tuku Morgan is peddling. I can’t believe the majority of Maori will fall for his sexist crap.
#completely disgusted with tv1 news report on vault7, drop in shill piece lies about status of assange, lies about source of DNC leak, zero fact check , un filtered propaganda!
Outraged!
This interview on Checkpoint tonight, with a female high school student in Wellington, is pretty damning – not just of school boys’ behaviour, but of men’s behaviour too:
She said the behaviour/comments reported to have been posted by Wellington school boys on facebook, was no surprise to herself or girls she knows. She says it’s a daily experience for her to have boys and men to make rape-type comments to her in the street.
She says that she thinks many men need to look at their own behaviour, because school boys are just copying them.
This interview was followed by an author who has written about rape culture, pretty much confirming what the above high school student said.
Some feedback to Checkpoint says it is part of our culture where a PM can harass a woman by pulling her ponytail, and critics get told to lighten up.
Grim listening Caroline, I will stick my neck out and suggest that part of the problem is pornography, from tv and media advertising through to music videos and the free hard core stuff available on any phone/laptop.
Thanks for the link Carolyn, is bloody shocking that this is still happening. Makes me think how are these boys being taught to treat women.. maybe via advertising, music videos, gaming and porn so easily and freely available online?
Wondering where the male role models are within the Government?
Surely the male leaders of our country should be setting an example for young men to follow, or are they part of the problem?
On the up side I’ve certainly seen some wonderful male role models within the opposition parties.
Interesting story regarding ‘rape culture’.
Was at a party, this guy was hitting on all the women there, even the ones who had partners.
It was inappropriate.
So the men took care of that situation, as women DO NOT get hassled at parties, such are the values of the men there towards women. This man was given a very very very stern talking to and removed from the party.
The next day the women from the party were called to gather at the party hostesses home, the touchy feely man in question was taken to the women, all clean shaven and in his sunday best and made to apologise to them all.
Some men do have strong values about respecting women. And it’s nice to know they are sharing their knowledge, lead by example and all that
The whole situation impressed me so very much, kudos to those men at the party for their respect of women, they always look after and look out for the women at parties.
Biker party, great night had by all, it was a great night because we felt safe, it was the bikers that cemented that feeling of safety by the way they dealt with the situation.
Now that’s how to get the chicks 😀 stick up for them. Lesson to be learned there 😀
Good story cinny,
I am more concerned about the male role models in the home than in the government.
Yes. On Checkpoint the author talked about the importance of men in the homes being good role models, but also about them needing to have “honest” discussions with their sons about ways to behave with women that are not damaging to the women.
The 16 year old student from Wellington College says she gets the same sorts of comments from men in the street, as from school boys: comments that promote rape culture. And from some men as old as John Campbell ie in their 50s.
For sures. I wonder if some parents really know what their kids are watching, it’s learned behaviour, whether it be on a screen or real people interacting around them.
And it’s the girls too, they see skanky chicks in music videos gyrating in sweet FA and rolling around on the floor and mimic it. And if no one puts them right and explains to them why it’s not acceptable in a way they understand, they will continue to do so.
My youngest watched the 9 – 12 yr olds from a local dance school do a performance at a community event, these young girls were dressed in gold hot pants and tiny crop tops, loads of sexual moves including dry humping the floor. Then my youngest tries to copy them dang.
I’m no prude that’s for sure, but crikey wtf, young dance teacher, brought up with sexual music video’s, dang any local perverts would have been in bliss.
Documentaries at home that encourage discussion seems to bring results at our house, lolz I’ll blindside their friends with one next sleepover lmao.
Yes, good story, Cinny.
The TV1 news focused on the pornography angle quite a bit tonight. They presented the example of Auckland Grammar where they are having lessons about the problems with pornography. Some of the AG boys talked about it.
Sorry, but as one who started secondary teaching in 1970, I think you are both off-beam.
The attitude is started at home in the parents, and grows from there. It always has been so. I remember at secondary school in the early 1960s hearing boys talk that kind of talk. No social media, so no publicity.
This will annoy you even more (maybe): those bad parent types are producing more offspring than good parents do. So the problem gets worse.
Blaming social media and pornography is just the kind of mindless distraction that our neo-liberal masters want you to be distracted by. It suits them.
I still teach, and can assure you that well-parented children handle social media without harm, and probably avoid excessive exposure to pornography, without being harmed by the exposure their curiosity may have led them to.
Same with violence. The vicious cycle all starts with what parents unconsciously teach their kids in early years. Violence in video games or pornography have harmful effects only on people who are already infected with that harm, from parental input. Good children from good parents are incorruptible.
Otherwise, the harm is already done. Squealing about pornography and violence is squealing for an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Too late.
We need good parenting, not a ban on porn or bash-up games.
I just wish I knew how to bring it about. Social justice, a decent living wage for all, and full employment would be much more worth fighting for. But that will not suit our neo-liberal regime.
So I guess we will get more squealing about porn and violence..
Interesting ty In Vino especially with your background in teaching and seeing things unfold over the years.
Maybe we need a parenting channel on the TV rather than a shopping channel? Actually.. that’s not a bad idea. Government funded using a medium that gets obvious results, good old television the drug of a nation.
The differences today are important, i remember one porno magazine that did the rounds, or someone trying to hire a porno video, sheez it was a big deal, required major planning, including how to watch it, whose got a VCR, they were super fancy.
But now days it’s all there and free online. I do think that makes a difference. Grand Theft Auto is a long way removed from Pac Man. There is a ban on porn and bash up games as well as guns in our house. JS
How do you think we could improve parenting in NZ to create change and break the cycles In Vino?
In Vino: Sorry, but as one who started secondary teaching in 1970, I think you are both off-beam.</i.
Really? And where did I particularly condemn pornography? – I merely said it was addressed. And in my previous comment I also referred to the discussion where parents as role models was also addressed.
Blaming social media and pornography is just the kind of mindless distraction that our neo-liberal masters want you to be distracted by. It suits them.
What a muddle of ideas you’ve thrown out.
I’m interested, though, that it is pornography again that is in the firing line with respect to misogyny.
2nd wave feminist tended to be highly critical of pornography – long before the neoliberal shift kicked in. And during the 1990s, with 3rd wave feminism, there was a tendency for many feminists to embrace pornography (or was it erotica?) that was claimed to be produced by and for women.
Actually, the expansion of pornography/erotica into digital media coincided with the neoliberal shift. Like all forms of media, it proliferated with the ability to more easily reproduce such productions. Pornography has probably been caught up in the acceleration of the commodification of everything, rather than being something separate from, or oppositional to neoliberalism.
I don’t know much about the content of pornography. But there were 2 issues raised by the Auckland Grammar teaching:
1. It was claimed pornography objectifies women, and treats them as less than human.
2. It was claimed some guys get addicted to pornography, and then become unable to maintain sexual relationships with real women.
On 1: I am critical of any media content that consistently objectifies women and/or demeans or demonises any section of society: and that includes whenever it happens within G-rated cartoons, sports broadcasts, serious documentaries, mainstream TV dramas, 6pm evening news… and pornography/erotica.
And I think the dominant narratives in most of our media tend to reinforce rape culture. And inter-related with that, is the role models adults set for young people.
On 2: I don’t know anything about addiction to pornography. There seems to be concerns these days about addictions to all kinds of things. I’ll pay attention to anything on addiction that is solidly backed up by research.
That was excellent, wows good on AG, and the discussion it brought about with those young lads, so important. And a subject no doubt many parents would feel rather uncomfortable discussing with their own kids and visa versa, brilliant way to tackle the issue.
Hows that… 60% of boys watch porn weekly, dang. Good on you Auckland Grammar for seeing it as a possible mental health issue meaning it fits within their curriculum, maybe all NZ secondary schools should look at doing the same.
Cinny … what percentage of teenage boys do you think Masturbate each week?? …. hint … they wake up with a hard on each day….
I’m presuming their porn watching would be central to their wanking …
And while we can criticize the lazy spotty Herberts …. for not using their grey matter and imaginations more ….
If you invented a lap top or Tablet that can come into the shower … they will be batting at over 90% in the porn watching stakes.
Electrocution not blindness …. from all that wanking …would be the modern mothers warning.
More seriously …. respectful loving relationships, between them and others in their family home….. gives All young people the best chance when the Hormones start hitting them…. and their own relationships and interactions of a sexual nature begin.
Speaking As a male to Mothers ….. do not underestimate the hormonal and mood swings that teenage boys can go through …. Testosterone is not a easy hormone.
Thank you for your honesty, some things I just simply forget being a woman, like the morning hardon, I really appreciate you being straight up with me, it helps me to understand .
I wonder how many teens have the privacy and safety they need. Like for masturbation with out shame. Cause that’s really important for a number of reasons, as well as having understanding relationships and conversations, rather than turning a blind eye because it feels uncomfortable discussing the human body, and it’s functions.
And the privacy and safety in that respect would be hard to find in some homes. But the internet however, that can be found in most homes. One with out the other could become toxic.
Maybe if we had Parenting TV, it could be a topic for after 8:30pm. These things so need to be talked about, so we can all learn, and they need to be talked about frankly and maturely to help find the best outcomes for our youth.
Such a complex topic. Had a very frank conversation with my man about it yesterday, so many facets, not just the boys but how internet porn can lead to massive confusion for girls too.
It lead us to discussing the education system, we felt that it needs to be changed to include subjects that have only become relevant in the last twenty years with the internet etc as well as subjects that should have been made compulsory years ago like personal finance, how the government works etc etc
Thanks Anne.
You just reminded me why I will never vote left.
No skin off my nose.
Cos, like, you know… the men have every right to tell the woman MP to “step aside” for them – especially on International Women’s Day!
You should try to be happy more. 🙂
I’m never happy with arrogant, misogynist males who try to put down an admired and respected politician because she happens to be a woman and is willing to stand up and speak for the many disenfranchised people within Maoridom. The people, I might add, for whom the Tuku Morgans of this world don’t give a damm.
I love it when people go “ooooh it’s because she’s a woman”. Without giving any consideration that there could be any other reason for it.
Perhaps if you read what he said –
“We all deserve no less than the best leadership on offer.
“She’s going right back to the backbench now. To me, she’s got no mana in there now,” King Tuheitia said of Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta’s demotion in the party.”
So perhaps it’s her demotion in labour that had something to do with it.
Of course the only reason Andrew little demoted her was because she’s a woman right?
It’s not like this is a surprise- it’s just little read it all wrong.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/74597088/andrew-little-dismisses-impact-of-nanaia-mahuta-demotion-on-maori-support
Yeah, James, Little forgot to take into account the inherent sexism and heirachical being of some of the so-called the top Maori. (sarc)
Because maybe he hadn’t encountered it before, and probably wasn’t aware it existed – because he lives in a world where women are treated equally and with respect.
If this sort of stuff is what Maori politics is about, Im glad Im not Maori
Mabey he just thought she wasn’t that good at her job ?
Just read this … https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/09/us-sends-hundreds-of-marines-to-syria-to-support-fight-against-isis
Who invited them in? The Syrian government? (I don’t think so.) What you call that…deploying troops to wage war a foreign country without the express permission or invitation of the government of said country? (Answers on a postcard)
Also sending troops to Kuwait. Could hazard a guess that the Kuwaiti government might have ‘invited’ them.
With each move the violent remnants of ‘western hegemony’ relegates itself to the unwritten history books
The chaotic events now unraveling at such an accelerated pace, indicate to me that humanity is in the midst of tectonic shifts ….
Which way the shift ultimately goes is unclear IMO, but it is with certainty I say the following
Climate Change is not the most pressing issue facing all living beings…in fact CC is relatively a ‘non event’ when compared the imminent threat of complete and utter destruction wrought with WMDs, be they military, financial or technical…
How many more years can the current trajectory be continued before the destructive tipping point is reached, one way or the other..
The timeline is nearer term than any other threat humanity has ever faced
Within a decade I would say…
Well, all I know is that the US (NATO member) has illegally deployed armed troops to Syria (allegedly to protect Rojavans) – the same Rojavans that Turkey (NATO member) has illegally deployed troops inside Syria to fight against.
So even ignoring all other spaghetti strands that make for the situation in Syria, I wonder if anyone can tell me how that possibly ends well?
The shareholders in the munitions and arms companies get a return.
If the folk on the ground are with private companies then there are contracts being paid.
Don’t be fretting about civilians, international protocols or any of that lefty stuff. There is money to be made.
More or less what ‘gsays’ responded with…although I do not believe it is about money
The circumstances which come from the situation you describe are ‘another brick in the wall’
The multiplier effect ensures an ever accelerating decline to whichever outcome the ‘masses’ allow to eventuate…
I see from your comments on various subjects that you don’t observe events in a vacuum…
They are each and every one a contributer to the multiplier effect
You could be right, OneTwo.
Whenever I see the destruction of cities and countries – almost daily on TV news, I wonder how much longer this will continue and what will become of all those millions of people unhoused, and unfed, with the loss of their lands and their livelihoods – where will they all end up, how will they all end up ? ? And does the western world ever think about what the end destruction of places, cities, countries really means ?
Hi Jenny
IMO if people of ‘the west’ do not take the actions required to halt the actions of their captured governments..
Sooner than later what ‘we’ allowed to happen abroad, will happen inside ‘our” own boarders, and in ways similar or more destructive than is seen now
Violence will always lead to escalated violence…
This is inevitable, as is the threat of continue decemation as the war machine expands around the globe at an increasingly rapid pace!
Speaking of Syria, I found this to be very interesting and well worth a watch.
Journalist Eva Bartlett: “I’m Back From Syria. The Media Is Lying To You!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUyJV6YaSWY
An excellent journalist disseminating crucial information reduced to using outlets associated with David Icke…
It’s going to be all on like Donkey Kong at the Nelson Trolley Derby this weekend.
Green Party candidate Matt Lawrey will be racing against outgoing government minister Dr Custard.
Heats start at 11am this Saturday 11th March, Collingwood St, Nelson
Lawrey for the win!
Ctrl + f for video.
Google’s computer vision technology is now so good it’s able to find specific objects within a video or group of videos.
[…]
With the tool, you can search one or more videos using keywords and get back a list of results showing you where in the video you can find the objects relevant to your search terms. You can see a bit of Google’s demo of the software onstage at Cloud Next in the video below.
http://mashable.com/2017/03/08/google-video-intelligence-api/#dL0VTPgM_8qo
New Zealand continues being sold off at pace by the Nats
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90260050/overseas-investment-office-approves-sharp-increase-in-foreign-land-ownership
“Foreigners snapped up 362,000 hectares of freehold farm or forestry land and 103,000 ha of leasehold land in 2016, a hefty increase from the year before and higher than the average over the last 10 years.”
“Economist Bill Rosenberg, who conducted the research, said statistics on sales of land to overseas interests were poorly recorded and incomplete.
“Our best estimate is that in 2011 at least 8.7 percent of New Zealand farmland including forestry, or 1.3 million ha, was foreign-owned or controlled and it could have reached 10 percent.”
This was despite former Prime Minister John Key’s assertion in 2014 that foreigners owned only 2 per cent of farm and forestry land.
Rosenberg said CAFCA’s opposition to foreign ownership of land was based on the fact it was “the bedrock of our international competitive advantage” and the benefits were often overstated.
For example, a KPMG report recently showed US investors, who were the largest between 2013-15, invested $4.5 billion, but over the same period they removed $3.2b from New Zealand.”
Just online from NZ Herald’s Matt Nippert – he just tweeted that the OIAs on Peter Thiel have just started coming through.
Billionaire Peter Thiel’s secret Kiwi spy links revealed
More at the link.
And it’s worth reading Nippert’s tweets on it, too.
WOW! That’s massive. Excellent investigative journalism going on there by Mr Nippert. And thanks Dr Kennedy.
Thanks for the links Carolyn. Will be expecting to see this all over the media in the morning as well it needs to be addressed on the weekend political shows.
I am really pleased that the background to Thiel and his connections to Palantir is finally coming out. Good on Matt Nippert for his perseverance on this issue.
Just saying that I have been pushing the Palantir connections for quite some time here on TS.
My most recent comment on Open Mike on 4 March seems to have gone unnoticed so will repeat here.
“Peter Thiel Update
I rarely pass by here these days, but thought some here might be interested in this March 3 article.
https://theintercept.com/2017/03/02/palantir-provides-the-engine-for-donald-trumps-deportation-machine/
I commented on the Thiel posts a few months ago* when it was revealed that he had been given NZ citizenship some years ago. My concern re Thiel was his connections to Palantir with its connections to the Five Eyes spy network, the GCBS etc. – and to US regulatory authorities ($B worth of contracts).
There are also links to several other interesting recent articles on Thiel at the end of the Intercept article.
*Shock – It was only at the end of Jan! Feels like a year ago. The Trump effect.”
My earlier comment 1293097 at the end of Jan is quite long so will not repeat it here, but it contains quite a number of links to other (US) articles on Palantir and its connections to US government (intelligence and other regulatory) agencies that came out after Thiel’s connections to Trump became known.
This comment is not intended as a “I told you so”. Simply that I have been following the Palantir connections to NZ for some years. A bit of a personal fixation.
Good that someone’s keeping watch on it.
Nippert is one of the better journalists at NZ Herald.
Absolutely agree re Matt Nippert. I gather that David Fisher is also helping on this issue.
The Palantir connection has been an interest of mine right back to when their name came up in relation to the GCSB and SIS, and the changes to intelligence gathering legislation. Key was up to his ears in the connection IMHO.
Anyway i used to ‘live’ on TS as a reader and occasional commenter, but only pass by from time to time these days and saw your post. Cheers.
Interesting to reread Karol’s post of June 13th, 2013 titled Networks of influence: Key, Peter Thiel & the GCSB
Sorry, I omitted the link to the above
I also found this in my rereadings of Wayne’s comment 13.2.1 below Karol’s post. (my bold)
Part one —–of many.