There are more and more signs a crash is coming.
And China’s problems may be at the heart of it.
Anyone wonder why a former grip has been taken of the leadership as the country slides to becoming a one man dictatorship.
Mist people cannot see the iceberg.
The boat is steaming full steam ahead.
And there are not enough lifeboats.
We learn from history that we do not learn from history.
“China’s Coming Financial Meltdown
Anbang Insurance Group is one of China’s largest and most aggressive financial institutions. It is known for its huge customer base, high leverage, and fast-paced deal making.
At least it was until the Friday before last.
That’s when Anbang was taken over by the Communist Chinese government. You can call that takeover, “a bailout with Chinese characteristics.”
It seems there is a bit to the story of the alleged sexual assaults at the young labour camp.
Jacinda hasn’t done her investigation as yet – but Andrew Kirton who has known about this for some time has confirmed that there was “highly inappropriate behaviour” and that he was disappointed that “an incident like this happened”.
Why hasnt this been passed to the police? (Andrew Kirton – would not confirm that it had been).
“The Labour Party is extremely disappointed that young people attending the Young Labour camp were exposed to highly inappropriate behaviour by an individual who was also at the event.
Young Labour has apologised to the young people involved.
We are extremely disappointed that an incident like this happened at a Labour event and we are working to make sure those involved receive any support they need. We are deeply sorry for the distress that’s been caused. It shouldn’t have happened.”
(more at link..)
Its fantastic that they are owning up and apologising – but really? is a “sorry” enough for a sexual assault on multiple 16yo kids?
So you are all for protecting the abusers by allowing this type of behaviour to lie in the shadows and be covered up? Shame on you for trying to shut down the conversation by framing any effort to be critical of the process political.
It’s behaviour like that that allowed saville to flourish at the bbc.
[You are right on the edge. Nothing Ed has said deserves this sort of spin. Wind it back – MS]
Kirton just said on Checkpoint just now they were following a victim led process. The victim needed to be comfortable with it being reported to the police before that step is taken.
Now this is a hard one – and Im trying to be very careful in my reply as not to upset or anger anyone on here – its a serious question.
If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?
If say someone was aware of the roastbusters – and said to the victims ‘you want to go to the police?’ – and then just did nothing if they didn’t?
Could an organisation not put pressure on a young person NOT to go to the police because (whatever)??? and if they do so – is this not enabling the attacker to carry on with the behaviour. (not saying that this is the case – but in general)
Upshot – I really think that it should be with the police – not the party and the police and the victims should decide what to do.
Well, I’ll wait and see how things pan out. It’s possible the victims have been provided with support by the Labour party, and that they are working towards them being comfortable with notifying police.
Police told Checkpoint that would encourage anyone with info who wishes to discuss it with them to go to them.
But, I don’t have a great deal of faith in the police given how they handled allegations from RoastBuster survivors.
I’ve had the misfortune of working in a place where an employee alleged (to many although not the perpetrator) sexual harassment from the boss. Inquiries were made from their psychiatrist and the police.
Result: nothing happens without complainant pushing charges (they didn’t).
I’m not sure the same applies here but it may very well. I understand the Labour Party would stand behind the alleged victims if they chose to push charges which would be fitting IMO.
Upshot – I really think that it should be with the police – not the party and the police and the victims should decide what to do.
Of course, it should, the whole thing pongs of a coverup, seriously these sexual assaults happened over a month ago and the police hadn’t been informed.
“For their parents not to know there must have been pressure applied to these young people to not say anything.”
That’s an assumptive stretch, BM. Do better.
Many people when sexually assaulted don’t want to tell anybody. A lot of that is due to how we treat victims often going on victim bashing sprees through the MSM instead listening and acting appropriately.
“If say someone was aware of the roastbusters – and said to the victims ‘you want to go to the police?’ – and then just did nothing if they didn’t?”
The victims there did go to the police, and no charges were laid. So that provides context for whether there is a obligation to leap-frog over the victims and go to the police without their input. The trial itself can be a trigger for assault victims, so the decision should primarily be theirs.
I would say, that the first instance should be of supporting the complainants – which includes encouraging police contact if appropriate – is a longer process than finding out and immediately making decisions. There has to be some time given to those assaulted to ensure that a police investigation won’t further add to their emotional burden, at that particular time.
Crawl back under the rock you came from [Edit. Best not to go there Adam – MS] (bm) . How about we let the victims make decisions before we start making accusations.
But that all you do make assumptions and abuse people BM.
The political mistakes and BS will be sorted out. Give the people involved some room before you make judgements.
Fuck off, you disgusting, sexual assault enabling old prick.
[3 month ban. I’ve been watching your trolling since the election, and you appear to bring little to the site now. What is not ok is starting a flame war in a topic of this nature where many people are vulnerable. Throwing accusations around, using sexual assault to Labour-bash, it’s all the same kind of nasty, macho bullshit that makes it really hard to have meaningful conversations about rape culture on TS. – weka]
You have made nothing but allegations without substance. You don’t want solutions, your just trying to score points.
If you want solutions, then let the right people do there jobs and help the people who needs help.
As for accusations. I’d like an apology becasue nothing I’ve said has enabled anyone except those who want to get to the truth without political hacks trying to point score.
Fuck off, you’re saying the labour party are the right people to handle and oversee these sexual assaults?
The same Labour party which was running the camps where these sexual assaults happened?
Shame on you Adam, the only thing you’re interested in here is making sure the Labour party doesn’t get splattered by the fall out of what went on at these camps, no concern of the actual victims.
I’ve never said labour party anything, now your just making shit up. Or as we in the trade call it, your lying to score points.
I’ve said let the right people do their job. The right people would be social workers and counselors train for these events.
I don’t give a rats about the labour party – as you well know. Or are you just trying to score points again.
Your the lowest form of low life BM one who will lie to cover their tracks.
As it stands, we don’t know if it is a Sexual Assault as there have been no charges. All we know is a drink male acted like a complete tosser.
So kindly shut up, let the right people do there jobs so we can know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I know a bit much asking a right wing nutjob to be patient so truth can come out.
Because in the real world people, victims take time to come forward. They don’t work to political hack’s wannabe agendas.
*covering it up IF that is so, Mr. Kirton has made a grievous error of judgment. However James, are you aware that 16 year olds do not have to involve their parents, and no one can over ride that right. Only the Police if some one complains to them.
Now, you are inferring drink was supplied by the organisers. IF that is so, another grievous error.
But, worse, Jacinda Ardern was blidsided by this by journalist, because she had no knowledge of it. That was another grievous error.
Personally I think he may lose his position.
Jacinda was rightly angry. She won’t want it ‘covered up”
There are definitely things here that Labour need to be held account for (without looking too deeply, not dealing with the assaults at the time or giving the victims adequate support, the lack of supervision at the social event, the amount of alcohol involved).
You keep asking about the police, so it’s time for you to educate yourself about why the victims of sexual assault often don’t go to the police. You started this thread reasonably well, but it’s not going to be ok to turn this into an opportunity to Labour-bash nor to sensationalise the situation.
My suggestion in general to the men here who want to have a shit fight about this, is to sit down and shut up, and start listening to what women are saying. Women generally understand what the issues are and how to talk about them without making the conversations unsafe or into flamewars.
again – Im trying to be careful here with my reply – and again being very genuine and not basing or anything …
“You keep asking about the police, so it’s time for you to educate yourself about why the victims of sexual assault often don’t go to the police.”
In this instance – Labour knew that assaults had happened (according to AK). It wasn’t just against one person, but several.
which takes me back to my original post:
“If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?”
And given that the party would have an agenda for this NOT to move forward ?
“Could an organisation not put pressure on a young person NOT to go to the police because (whatever)??? and if they do so – is this not enabling the attacker to carry on with the behaviour”. (AGAIN NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS THE CASE).
Upshot – I really think that it should be with the police – not the party and the police and the victims should decide what to do.
WEKA – given the nature of the topic – I want to be clear that this is a genuine question – not playing a silly game.
I don’t actually care what your reckons are James, because you seem to think that your opinion is the important thing here. I don’t know enough about the situation to make a judgement call on whether the police should have been involved or not. Mostly I would want to hear what the victims have to say about that. As I said, imo you need to educate yourself about rape culture and what going to the police means. Either you don’t, and are expressing opinion from a place of ignorance, or you do and you think your opinion should take precedence over the safety of the people assaulted.
As I also said, Labour have not handled this well on a number of fronts. What they do next is going to be important.
“AGAIN NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS THE CASE”
Then why bring it up? At this stage we don’t know what happened. People will speculate, but there are still considered ways to think about this and then there are inflammatory ways.
If the victims were age ten, I’d right with an automatic parent and police referral.
At sixteen they can probably make their own decisions, if they are treated with repect and will be clearly supported in any decision they made. And as long as everything is documented, there’s no rush to force them into any course of action.
The lack of supervision at the event and the alcohol also need to be actively addressed.
‘James’, like you I’m a positive person in ‘real life’, but here the rwnj commentariat (youself, Tanz, BM, Alwyn, chris73, funstigator, indiana, timeforacupoftea, solkta, Stunned mullet, Puckish Rogue, Alan, Tuppence Shrewsbury, Mikes, Antoine, fisiani (a deleted persona that existed only to adulate Honest John Key), et al. [apologies if I’ve got someone wrong]) bring out the worst in me.
Your morals, and those of other rwnjs, strike me as out-of-whack, with ethical behaviour being ‘for others only’. I sometimes fantasise that most of the many rwnjs infesting The Standard (and there must be dozens of them) are actually one person, seated in a windowless room with a computer and an electronic whiteboard that lists various personas’ characteristics, backstories and where they stand on the rwnj spectrum.
‘Your’ incessant ‘twitting’ is particularly disruptive – today alone you’ve ‘contributed’ 20 ‘twits’; are you paid ‘by the twit’, rather than ‘per word’?
On a serious note, would you (’James’) care to share (briefly) the story of how someone who “left school at 15” became a successful “IT guy”, and more. C’mon, James, let your humble desire to help others inspire our struggling teens –
Genuine apologies to ‘mikes’, ‘solkta’ and anyone else I’ve mis-represented in such ‘black and white’ terms – should have taken the time to do more research.
If I could I would ‘de-list’ mikes/solkta, and add ‘infused’ and (the already gone) ‘Son of Don’.
Also, shouldn’t have let ‘James‘ get under my skin, but he was on the verge of wetting himself over the ‘party political’ dimensions of the assaults, while displaying very little concern (genuine or otherwise) for the victims. Plus the whole ‘Tanz vs Anne vs James’ tit-for-tat nonsense.
I’m going to button it for now – thanks (that’s genuine too) to Weka and other Standard authors/mods.
EDIT: OK my original text just disappeared. This is one disabled person talking about their submission to the euthanasia disabled bill before parliament recently.
‘If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?’
Of course – and do you have any reason to think that has not been the case in this instance?
In fact, I would expect, especially in view of the youthfulness of the victims, to be supportive of whatever action they wish to take.
However, in view of the obnoxious attitude you frequently display on this site, I find it very difficult to believe that your concern, in this case, is genuine
“‘If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?’
Of course – and do you have any reason to think that has not been the case in this instance?”
Yes – I do because labour were aware of it and DIDNT report it to the police!
“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has banned all Government departments from using a firm of private investigators for spying.”
It follows a Newshub investigation that found state-owned insurers Southern Response got the investigators from Thompson and Clark to snoop on victims of the Christchurch earthquake at the taxpayers’ expense.
Ms Ardern says this was “totally inappropriate” and other Government departments should not be using them.”
Now let’s see the government adopt the same approach to Uber, Amazon, AMI, the Australian banks.
Boot them all out.
There’s a difference between using public money to hire private investigators to suppress lawful dissent and the data collection that makes some large tech corporations questionable. Amazon et al don’t have the same duties in respect of the public as a public service.
I imagine that she’d be happy with the process in principle (police do have to investigate groups sometimes) but might consider it an example of particularly poor judgement.
There was an article the other day about why some people confuse the NT sound with the ND sound…I think the former is more common and so our brain assumes that it’s likely to be correct.
There is also no “d” in most (all?) Pacific languages – which came up last week as an explanation as to why Jacinda’s name was spelt with a “t” on banners, media reports etc in some countries visited by the Parliamentary Mission to Samoa, Niue,, Tonga and the Cook Islands last week.
Establish what happened, and support the victims. Yes, there are other concerns (for example, James, with barely concealed glee, considers the story ‘interesting’), but the victims wishes are paramount.
More signs of how climate change is affecting our country.
The Herald calls it weird weather.
Rachel Stewart asks if we’re worried yet.
Catastrophic climate change is here.
“Our barren Alps: Aerial survey shows snow loss ‘incredibly extreme’
After a summer in which which January temperatures were nearly 3C warmer than average, it was expected the glaciers would lose mass and the snowlines would rise. But the results were far more dramatic than any past survey, and showed some of the Alps had barely any fresh snow at all.”
Oh dear, a scandal has broken. Surprise surprise. National would never stoop this low, and they would not hide it from the public and police. Always different when the left do it.
[if you use this as an excuse to bash Labour or the left, you can expect to be banned. Only warning – weka]
eh, what planet are you on ? the chief of defense out rite lied on national tv and now caught out, the innocents in this case lost their lives, yes always different when nats do it.
Well I hope the kids involved get all the support and help they need first and foremost and the guy that did this gets punished accordingly and his name published with victims names and relationship to the crim, if any, suppressed
Apart from anything else, this camp “scandal” business highlights some really, really bad political management from Labour. What on earth was Andrew Kirton thinking when he chose not to inform the PM? What a moron, any half-wit should have been able to work out it isn’t a good look for the PM to hear about such things through the news media.
On the same day you have Jenny Salesa’s office giving a different line to the media on her travel expenses to the PM’s comments at Jacinda news conference.
Both these stories are grist for the mill for our lazy, underfunded, gotcha! MSM.
The only blessing is neither Clare Curran or Poto Williams said something idiotic on the same day.
Labour needs to tighten the messaging discipline big time.
I sense a feeling that “Jacinda should have been told” , I disagree , IMHO it is correct to keep a firewall between the political and organisational sections of the party, Its actually a sign that Kirton might have some smarts.
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
There are more and more signs a crash is coming.
And China’s problems may be at the heart of it.
Anyone wonder why a former grip has been taken of the leadership as the country slides to becoming a one man dictatorship.
Mist people cannot see the iceberg.
The boat is steaming full steam ahead.
And there are not enough lifeboats.
We learn from history that we do not learn from history.
“China’s Coming Financial Meltdown
Anbang Insurance Group is one of China’s largest and most aggressive financial institutions. It is known for its huge customer base, high leverage, and fast-paced deal making.
At least it was until the Friday before last.
That’s when Anbang was taken over by the Communist Chinese government. You can call that takeover, “a bailout with Chinese characteristics.”
https://dailyreckoning.com/chinas-coming-financial-meltdown/
It seems there is a bit to the story of the alleged sexual assaults at the young labour camp.
Jacinda hasn’t done her investigation as yet – but Andrew Kirton who has known about this for some time has confirmed that there was “highly inappropriate behaviour” and that he was disappointed that “an incident like this happened”.
Why hasnt this been passed to the police? (Andrew Kirton – would not confirm that it had been).
Statement from the Labour Party’s General Secretary Andrew Kirton (http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/allegations-of-sexual-assaults-at-young-labour-camp.html)
“The Labour Party is extremely disappointed that young people attending the Young Labour camp were exposed to highly inappropriate behaviour by an individual who was also at the event.
Young Labour has apologised to the young people involved.
We are extremely disappointed that an incident like this happened at a Labour event and we are working to make sure those involved receive any support they need. We are deeply sorry for the distress that’s been caused. It shouldn’t have happened.”
(more at link..)
Its fantastic that they are owning up and apologising – but really? is a “sorry” enough for a sexual assault on multiple 16yo kids?
Ah, so despite your earlier comments,you are politicising this.
I really don’t understand how you avoid getting banned from this site.
Racism yesterday and now using alleged sexual abuse for political gain. You exploit human misery.
Words fail to convey my contempt.
So you are all for protecting the abusers by allowing this type of behaviour to lie in the shadows and be covered up? Shame on you for trying to shut down the conversation by framing any effort to be critical of the process political.
It’s behaviour like that that allowed saville to flourish at the bbc.
[You are right on the edge. Nothing Ed has said deserves this sort of spin. Wind it back – MS]
Read my 2 comment on Open Mike.
I said that the police should investigate and James agreed with me.
Read my comments you nasty troll.
I despise you for the smear you have made against me.
You should be banned for such a statement
I got 3 days for debating Syria.
Your comment about Saville deserves more.
All right.
I do disagree with ed bandying round ban talk because he disagrees with James base position
James has been banned plenty of times.
Everything’s political eddy.
Kirton just said on Checkpoint just now they were following a victim led process. The victim needed to be comfortable with it being reported to the police before that step is taken.
Now this is a hard one – and Im trying to be very careful in my reply as not to upset or anger anyone on here – its a serious question.
If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?
If say someone was aware of the roastbusters – and said to the victims ‘you want to go to the police?’ – and then just did nothing if they didn’t?
Could an organisation not put pressure on a young person NOT to go to the police because (whatever)??? and if they do so – is this not enabling the attacker to carry on with the behaviour. (not saying that this is the case – but in general)
Upshot – I really think that it should be with the police – not the party and the police and the victims should decide what to do.
Well, I’ll wait and see how things pan out. It’s possible the victims have been provided with support by the Labour party, and that they are working towards them being comfortable with notifying police.
Police told Checkpoint that would encourage anyone with info who wishes to discuss it with them to go to them.
But, I don’t have a great deal of faith in the police given how they handled allegations from RoastBuster survivors.
Agreed James-clearly a police matter if the allegations are true.
It would be the same if, for instance, an MP had been assaulting his wife.
Andrew Kirton just said that he understands that the reporting is pretty accurate to what happened (words to that effect)
edit: agree with you on the assault thing – this is NEVER the type of thing that should be handled internally.
My question is, if this happened last month and Ardern has only just found out whats up with party communication?
Surely they have some form of ‘no surprises’ policy?
Also what was Labour thinking supplying copious amounts of alcohol to underage teenagers?
Were the organizers deluded that nothing bad would happen or weren’t aware that they were potentially breaking the law?
Duh.
The left were pretty fast at condemning Key’s penchant for pony tails; time to clean your own house I suggest.
“Also what was Labour thinking supplying copious amounts of alcohol to underage teenagers?”
it looks like people took their own along – not supplied by young labour.
But seems supervision wasnt either.
I’ve had the misfortune of working in a place where an employee alleged (to many although not the perpetrator) sexual harassment from the boss. Inquiries were made from their psychiatrist and the police.
Result: nothing happens without complainant pushing charges (they didn’t).
I’m not sure the same applies here but it may very well. I understand the Labour Party would stand behind the alleged victims if they chose to push charges which would be fitting IMO.
Well, the allegations seem to have been true about the Roastbusters but the police ignored them. They even had outright complaints.
Upshot – I really think that it should be with the police – not the party and the police and the victims should decide what to do.
Of course, it should, the whole thing pongs of a coverup, seriously these sexual assaults happened over a month ago and the police hadn’t been informed.
nor the parents it turns out.
That’s utterly disgraceful.
For their parents not to know there must have been pressure applied to these young people to not say anything.
Heads need to roll.
Can you substitute that allegation BM?
Innuendo in this situations does not help anyone least of all the 16 year olds.
“For their parents not to know there must have been pressure applied to these young people to not say anything.”
That’s an assumptive stretch, BM. Do better.
Are you alleging Labour covered up sexual assault? That’s not an appropriate allegation to be making.
What a load of bollocks.
Many people when sexually assaulted don’t want to tell anybody. A lot of that is due to how we treat victims often going on victim bashing sprees through the MSM instead listening and acting appropriately.
“If say someone was aware of the roastbusters – and said to the victims ‘you want to go to the police?’ – and then just did nothing if they didn’t?”
The victims there did go to the police, and no charges were laid. So that provides context for whether there is a obligation to leap-frog over the victims and go to the police without their input. The trial itself can be a trigger for assault victims, so the decision should primarily be theirs.
I would say, that the first instance should be of supporting the complainants – which includes encouraging police contact if appropriate – is a longer process than finding out and immediately making decisions. There has to be some time given to those assaulted to ensure that a police investigation won’t further add to their emotional burden, at that particular time.
Just listened to the Checkpoint interview.
Labour:
Didn’t tell the police
Didn’t tell the parents of the 16 yo kids
Didn’t tell the PM
But did get advise on how to handle it.
Its starting to look a lot like Andrew Kirton has been trying to cover this up.
Now your just point scoring.
Unseemly.
Do you disagree with me?
BTW – I wrote that after I had just listened to the interview and heard that they had chosen not to inform the parents.
Way to avoid my point.
likewise.
Point scoring, unseemly? you creepy disgusting old shit.
Crawl back under the rock you came from [Edit. Best not to go there Adam – MS] (bm) . How about we let the victims make decisions before we start making accusations.
But that all you do make assumptions and abuse people BM.
The political mistakes and BS will be sorted out. Give the people involved some room before you make judgements.
Fuck off, you disgusting, sexual assault enabling old prick.
[3 month ban. I’ve been watching your trolling since the election, and you appear to bring little to the site now. What is not ok is starting a flame war in a topic of this nature where many people are vulnerable. Throwing accusations around, using sexual assault to Labour-bash, it’s all the same kind of nasty, macho bullshit that makes it really hard to have meaningful conversations about rape culture on TS. – weka]
Oh do grow up BM.
You have made nothing but allegations without substance. You don’t want solutions, your just trying to score points.
If you want solutions, then let the right people do there jobs and help the people who needs help.
As for accusations. I’d like an apology becasue nothing I’ve said has enabled anyone except those who want to get to the truth without political hacks trying to point score.
Fuck off, you’re saying the labour party are the right people to handle and oversee these sexual assaults?
The same Labour party which was running the camps where these sexual assaults happened?
Shame on you Adam, the only thing you’re interested in here is making sure the Labour party doesn’t get splattered by the fall out of what went on at these camps, no concern of the actual victims.
Appalling hypocrisy
I was banned for much much less than this.
How you right wing trolls get away with these levels of abuse beats me.
I’ve never said labour party anything, now your just making shit up. Or as we in the trade call it, your lying to score points.
I’ve said let the right people do their job. The right people would be social workers and counselors train for these events.
I don’t give a rats about the labour party – as you well know. Or are you just trying to score points again.
Your the lowest form of low life BM one who will lie to cover their tracks.
As it stands, we don’t know if it is a Sexual Assault as there have been no charges. All we know is a drink male acted like a complete tosser.
So kindly shut up, let the right people do there jobs so we can know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I know a bit much asking a right wing nutjob to be patient so truth can come out.
Because in the real world people, victims take time to come forward. They don’t work to political hack’s wannabe agendas.
https://thestandard.org.nz/chris-bishops-use-of-snapchat-causes-problems/#comment-1446809
The hypocrisy, as per normal, is coming from the RWNJs as they attack for political point scoring rather than giving a fuck about the victims.
Question for moderators?
So BM can make allegations with no substaine.
Then rather than answer those allegations, all he has chosen to do abuse me with no substance.
No debate, just abuse.
No he can’t, he’s out for 3 months. You can see why in my moderator note above.
Thank-you weka.
Amongst other things, there will be slightly less willy waving for 3 months.
Thanks for responding weka.
I just left for a bit, had enough of the accusations, and rubbish from BM.
just as an aside – I thought it was against the rules to use peoples real name if they choose to use a handle?
Stephen was a reference from Django Unchained.
Sorry – I didnt not make that link
Very unseemly.
We agree – get the police to complete a thorough investigation.
Ardern should have been informed earlier. kirton’s for the high jump, I suspect.
*covering it up IF that is so, Mr. Kirton has made a grievous error of judgment. However James, are you aware that 16 year olds do not have to involve their parents, and no one can over ride that right. Only the Police if some one complains to them.
Now, you are inferring drink was supplied by the organisers. IF that is so, another grievous error.
But, worse, Jacinda Ardern was blidsided by this by journalist, because she had no knowledge of it. That was another grievous error.
Personally I think he may lose his position.
Jacinda was rightly angry. She won’t want it ‘covered up”
“However James, are you aware that 16 year olds do not have to involve their parents, and no one can over ride that right.”
However Patricia are you aware that if you are aware of multiple sexual assaults of 16yo kids – you can just go to the police.
“”Only the Police if some one complains to them.”
Yep – and Labour CHOSE NOT to let the police know about the attacks.
“But, worse, Jacinda Ardern was blidsided by this by journalist”
Sorry – that is not worse than what has happened.
There are definitely things here that Labour need to be held account for (without looking too deeply, not dealing with the assaults at the time or giving the victims adequate support, the lack of supervision at the social event, the amount of alcohol involved).
You keep asking about the police, so it’s time for you to educate yourself about why the victims of sexual assault often don’t go to the police. You started this thread reasonably well, but it’s not going to be ok to turn this into an opportunity to Labour-bash nor to sensationalise the situation.
My suggestion in general to the men here who want to have a shit fight about this, is to sit down and shut up, and start listening to what women are saying. Women generally understand what the issues are and how to talk about them without making the conversations unsafe or into flamewars.
again – Im trying to be careful here with my reply – and again being very genuine and not basing or anything …
“You keep asking about the police, so it’s time for you to educate yourself about why the victims of sexual assault often don’t go to the police.”
In this instance – Labour knew that assaults had happened (according to AK). It wasn’t just against one person, but several.
which takes me back to my original post:
“If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?”
And given that the party would have an agenda for this NOT to move forward ?
“Could an organisation not put pressure on a young person NOT to go to the police because (whatever)??? and if they do so – is this not enabling the attacker to carry on with the behaviour”. (AGAIN NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS THE CASE).
Upshot – I really think that it should be with the police – not the party and the police and the victims should decide what to do.
WEKA – given the nature of the topic – I want to be clear that this is a genuine question – not playing a silly game.
I don’t actually care what your reckons are James, because you seem to think that your opinion is the important thing here. I don’t know enough about the situation to make a judgement call on whether the police should have been involved or not. Mostly I would want to hear what the victims have to say about that. As I said, imo you need to educate yourself about rape culture and what going to the police means. Either you don’t, and are expressing opinion from a place of ignorance, or you do and you think your opinion should take precedence over the safety of the people assaulted.
As I also said, Labour have not handled this well on a number of fronts. What they do next is going to be important.
“AGAIN NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS THE CASE”
Then why bring it up? At this stage we don’t know what happened. People will speculate, but there are still considered ways to think about this and then there are inflammatory ways.
If the victims were age ten, I’d right with an automatic parent and police referral.
At sixteen they can probably make their own decisions, if they are treated with repect and will be clearly supported in any decision they made. And as long as everything is documented, there’s no rush to force them into any course of action.
The lack of supervision at the event and the alcohol also need to be actively addressed.
‘James’, like you I’m a positive person in ‘real life’, but here the rwnj commentariat (youself, Tanz, BM, Alwyn, chris73, funstigator, indiana, timeforacupoftea, solkta, Stunned mullet, Puckish Rogue, Alan, Tuppence Shrewsbury, Mikes, Antoine, fisiani (a deleted persona that existed only to adulate Honest John Key), et al. [apologies if I’ve got someone wrong]) bring out the worst in me.
Your morals, and those of other rwnjs, strike me as out-of-whack, with ethical behaviour being ‘for others only’. I sometimes fantasise that most of the many rwnjs infesting The Standard (and there must be dozens of them) are actually one person, seated in a windowless room with a computer and an electronic whiteboard that lists various personas’ characteristics, backstories and where they stand on the rwnj spectrum.
‘Your’ incessant ‘twitting’ is particularly disruptive – today alone you’ve ‘contributed’ 20 ‘twits’; are you paid ‘by the twit’, rather than ‘per word’?
On a serious note, would you (’James’) care to share (briefly) the story of how someone who “left school at 15” became a successful “IT guy”, and more. C’mon, James, let your humble desire to help others inspire our struggling teens –
Let’s do this 😉
“On a serious note, would you (’James’) care to share (briefly) the story of how someone who “left school at 15” became a successful “IT guy”
Sure. Normal school wasn’t for me.
Self taught – worked extremely hard for a very long time.
Had a natural leaning for IT and an ability to understand business issues and use technology to slove them.
Nice that you have such an interest in me. personally I don’t give you a second thought.
‘James’, thanks for those details, I’ll pass them on. Still on your ‘flame wars’ and ‘personal insults’ hobbyhorse – congrats.
Not putting a second thought into your replies would explain why they make no sense.
I am impressed by your preternatural awareness of envy, jealousy, bitterness and misery in others. Do you know anyone who doesn’t envy you?
Your welcome.
However I said that I don’t give you a second thought (as opposed to my replies as you said).
Said in regard to you obviously having a bit of a crush on me of late (bless).
Anyway- have work in the morning and have to head to the city – so I’m off to bed.
Have a pleasant evening.
‘James’, fascinating that your extra-sensory perceptions now extend to detecting those that have a crush on you – how’s that working out for you?
Don’t understand how you can get up in the morning, what with all those admirers crushing on you – I’m jealous.
Sadly, it seems you have a major crush on The Standard of late. Will just have to grimace and bear it.
You’ve definitely got me wrong, I’ve voter Labor my entire life.
They got solkta wrong too. Probably others.
Genuine apologies to ‘mikes’, ‘solkta’ and anyone else I’ve mis-represented in such ‘black and white’ terms – should have taken the time to do more research.
If I could I would ‘de-list’ mikes/solkta, and add ‘infused’ and (the already gone) ‘Son of Don’.
Also, shouldn’t have let ‘James‘ get under my skin, but he was on the verge of wetting himself over the ‘party political’ dimensions of the assaults, while displaying very little concern (genuine or otherwise) for the victims. Plus the whole ‘Tanz vs Anne vs James’ tit-for-tat nonsense.
I’m going to button it for now – thanks (that’s genuine too) to Weka and other Standard authors/mods.
EDIT: OK my original text just disappeared. This is one disabled person talking about their submission to the euthanasia disabled bill before parliament recently.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/national-video/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503075&gal_cid=1503075&gallery_id=189737
‘If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?’
Of course – and do you have any reason to think that has not been the case in this instance?
In fact, I would expect, especially in view of the youthfulness of the victims, to be supportive of whatever action they wish to take.
However, in view of the obnoxious attitude you frequently display on this site, I find it very difficult to believe that your concern, in this case, is genuine
“‘If you are aware of multiple sexual assaults should a person not have the responsibility to report that to the police (and then the victim/s) could have the opportunity to press charges or not?’
Of course – and do you have any reason to think that has not been the case in this instance?”
Yes – I do because labour were aware of it and DIDNT report it to the police!
This is more like it.
“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has banned all Government departments from using a firm of private investigators for spying.”
It follows a Newshub investigation that found state-owned insurers Southern Response got the investigators from Thompson and Clark to snoop on victims of the Christchurch earthquake at the taxpayers’ expense.
Ms Ardern says this was “totally inappropriate” and other Government departments should not be using them.”
Now let’s see the government adopt the same approach to Uber, Amazon, AMI, the Australian banks.
Boot them all out.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/pm-jacinda-ardern-bans-private-investigators-behind-southern-response-spying.html
Boot out Amazon?
Yeah – that would work – Can you imaging the outcry when everybodys netflix stops working (along with all the other businesses who rely on Amazon)
There’s a difference between using public money to hire private investigators to suppress lawful dissent and the data collection that makes some large tech corporations questionable. Amazon et al don’t have the same duties in respect of the public as a public service.
I would like to know the prime minister’s opinion on the police collecting data around an (a?) euthanasia meeting.
Ok for the state to snoop around the citizenry but not a private company.
I imagine that she’d be happy with the process in principle (police do have to investigate groups sometimes) but might consider it an example of particularly poor judgement.
Funny you should put it like that.
I thought it absolutely lacked principle and agree with you that it was poor judgement.
I’m sure Jacinta doesn’t want any investigations (private or otherwise) into the goings on in her Party. This is the tip of the iceberg apparently…
Jacinta? the rest of your comment is wrong too.
There was an article the other day about why some people confuse the NT sound with the ND sound…I think the former is more common and so our brain assumes that it’s likely to be correct.
There is also no “d” in most (all?) Pacific languages – which came up last week as an explanation as to why Jacinda’s name was spelt with a “t” on banners, media reports etc in some countries visited by the Parliamentary Mission to Samoa, Niue,, Tonga and the Cook Islands last week.
Tim Murphy (Newsroom.co.nz) has just tweeted that”
“hearing word that there may have been issues at previous Labour Youth camps …..”
Oh…. that Tim Murphy? The one who thought he had a “Mother of all stories ” about Winston? That guy?????
The story gets more interesting:
Tim Murphy (Newsroom.co.nz):
‘sexual abuse counselling’ service Andrew Kirton mentions for victims was made available yesterday – Sunday – before the Monday story.
WOW !!!
I’m quite concerned by your excitement.
There are victims here.
You know that, don’t you?
Establish what happened, and support the victims. Yes, there are other concerns (for example, James, with barely concealed glee, considers the story ‘interesting’), but the victims wishes are paramount.
At the bottom of this post are some resources you can use without having to report officially, if you aren’t ready to take that step yet.
More signs of how climate change is affecting our country.
The Herald calls it weird weather.
Rachel Stewart asks if we’re worried yet.
Catastrophic climate change is here.
“Our barren Alps: Aerial survey shows snow loss ‘incredibly extreme’
After a summer in which which January temperatures were nearly 3C warmer than average, it was expected the glaciers would lose mass and the snowlines would rise. But the results were far more dramatic than any past survey, and showed some of the Alps had barely any fresh snow at all.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/102181406/our-barren-alps-aerial-survey-shows-snow-loss-incredibly-extreme
Oh dear, a scandal has broken. Surprise surprise. National would never stoop this low, and they would not hide it from the public and police. Always different when the left do it.
[if you use this as an excuse to bash Labour or the left, you can expect to be banned. Only warning – weka]
Yep Tanz, and the criminal was one drunken yahoo. Not all who were there. One rotten apple perhaps?
It’s only a short read, Tanz, right up your alley…
http://thehandmirror.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/national-party-alleged-rape-culture.html
Translation:
Songtext von Fredrik Vahle
eh, what planet are you on ? the chief of defense out rite lied on national tv and now caught out, the innocents in this case lost their lives, yes always different when nats do it.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/102179541/docked-wages-the-sticking-point-over-lyttelton-port-strike
What’s this negotiation all about (anyone?)
More “flexible” working hours wanted for less pay. The usual.
“Managers” that cannot figure out how many workers they need each day, want the workers to cover the cost of their inability to do their sums.
Well I hope the kids involved get all the support and help they need first and foremost and the guy that did this gets punished accordingly and his name published with victims names and relationship to the crim, if any, suppressed
Apart from anything else, this camp “scandal” business highlights some really, really bad political management from Labour. What on earth was Andrew Kirton thinking when he chose not to inform the PM? What a moron, any half-wit should have been able to work out it isn’t a good look for the PM to hear about such things through the news media.
On the same day you have Jenny Salesa’s office giving a different line to the media on her travel expenses to the PM’s comments at Jacinda news conference.
Both these stories are grist for the mill for our lazy, underfunded, gotcha! MSM.
The only blessing is neither Clare Curran or Poto Williams said something idiotic on the same day.
Labour needs to tighten the messaging discipline big time.
I sense a feeling that “Jacinda should have been told” , I disagree , IMHO it is correct to keep a firewall between the political and organisational sections of the party, Its actually a sign that Kirton might have some smarts.
Except when a journalist starts asking questions
Thats right! and then (given that whatever action was taken will be attacked) its better she did not know