I watched part of Amy Adam’s press conference this afternoon and was amused to hear her say – and I paraphrase – I grew up in Auckland and married a Canterbury sheep farmer so I can identify with both urban and rural life styles… I’m a mother of two wonderful children so I understand what it is like to be a parent and I believe I am the best candidate to represent all NZers and their aspirations blah, blah…
Hmmm. So does that mean if you’re not married and you don’t have any children for whatever reason… and maybe you’re old and gave up on aspirations a long time ago, and you don’t own a sheep farm and… maybe you’re too poor to own anything at all (as we have seen by the rapidly increasing homeless numbers) then I guess in Amy’s book you’re not a NZer and therefore you don’t count?
And to add insult to injury to those of us who might not fully comply with her perception of a NZer, her little band of supporters, Nikki Kaye, Maggie Barry and Chris Bishop were all nodding their heads furiously as she said it.
TVNZ 1 NEWS Wendy & Simon I spotted a difference with the Antarctic Orca the bull Whales have a small dorsal all the bull ORCA I have seen had huge dorsal fins bent over. They are a separate spices we need to study them more and try and preserve there habitat they are a beautiful creature
Ka pai. Ka kite ano P.S I tried to post this half a hour ago the sandflys have hacked my mokos tablet
You know if you spin a coin on a flat surface and it spins and whirs about and then slowly winds down to a wah wah wah wah wah wah….and then tink, it stops and flops flat. Well that is what we are watching with the Nats leadership contest.
The good thing about this Nat. skirmish is that the Greens can quietly get on with choosing their co-leader without all the hype and media inspired false divisions within the party which don’t actually exist.
I’m guessing LL also objects to pet cats, fish, the use of blue tack /gas heaters/ “structures” like tents in the backyard and random men visiting at night.
Basically, it’s about summer clerk interns at a law firm, during “a recent summer”. It’s am on-going investigation, both by the police and, as investigative journalists, by Newsroom’s Melanie Reid and Sasha Borissenko
It could be hashtagged as #NotYouToo_Russell_McVeagh_UnnamedLawyers
Newsroom has learned of a pattern of sexually inappropriate behaviour towards the female students that saw our leading universities intervene, at least one report made to the police and a later reform of the clerk programme including a ban on alcohol and the launch of a helpline for them to seek support.
…
Five women among the 10 clerks on the programme who were offered full-time clerk positions at the end of the summer declined Russell McVeagh’s offer, a highly unusual outcome.
The firm promotes itself as the country’s premier law firm and “New Zealand’s legal employer of choice”.
Newsroom understands two older male lawyers who were the subject of clerk and university concern are now working in different roles, but one has at times continued on Russell McVeagh work in his area of expertise.
So some young women who work very hard, have great results, significant social skills and should be up for a significant career, intern with a law firm where at least some of the older male staff seem to see them as nothing more than a new bunch of fresh meat.
What a horrible start – designed to humiliate them – when they find the firm is more interested in “looking up their dress so to speak” than their brains and ability.
And the rest of the place looked the other way or were rendered powerless to confront it even though it looks like a lot of them knew about it.
And no amount of spinning and “damage control” from the partners and law school deans, speaking out, who say changes have been made – but we note there is little detail of these wonderful changes – and window dressing with their statements dribbling false empathy for these women – can hide the fact that it was their offices and their workplace culture that created it and we can assume that they are just trying to protect their income & status .
What are they trying to say – they don’t run their own offices – give me a break!
But I can’t say I’m surprised given that the whole of the legal system defaults to a the “a male view of reasonable” and routinely minimizes or dismisses matters of concern to women
Nor can we expect the Firms corporate clients to take a stand either, after all a major bank and a government owned airline have appointed the pony tail puller to their boards. The whole system is riddled with it
I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.So I did.Turning on payments seemed like the ...
Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances:The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for ...
Australia should buy equipment to cheaply and temporarily convert military transport aircraft into waterbombers. On current planning, the Australian Defence Force will have a total of 34 Chinook helicopters and Hercules airlifters. They should be ...
Indonesia’s government has slashed its counterterrorism (CT) budgets, despite the persistent and evolving threat of violent extremism. Australia can support regional CT efforts by filling this funding void. Reducing funding to the National Counterterrorism Agency ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Resource Management (Prohibition on Extraction of Freshwater for On-selling) Amendment Bill (Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) The bill does exactly what it says on the label, and would effectively end the rapacious water-bottling industry ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
Foreign aid is being slashed across the Global North, nowhere more so than in the United States. Within his first month back in the White House, President Donald Trump dismantled the US Agency for International ...
Nicola Willis has proposed new procurement rules that unions say will lead to pay cuts for already low-paid workers in cleaning, catering and security services that are contracted by government. The Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill passed its third reading with support from all the opposition parties and NZ ...
Most KP readers will not know that I was a jazz DJ in Chicago and Washington DC while in grad school in the early and mid 1980s. In DC I joined WPFW as a grave shift host, then a morning drive show host (a show called Sui Generis, both for ...
Long stories shortest: The IMF says a capital gains tax or land tax would improve real economic growth and fix the budget. GDP is set to be smaller by 2026 than it was in 2023. Compass is flying in school lunches from Australia. 53% of National voters say the new ...
Last year in October I wrote “Where’s The Opposition?”. I was exasperated at the relative quiet of the Green Party, Labour and Te Pati Māori (TPM), as the National led Coalition ticked off a full bingo card of the Atlas Network playbook.1To be fair, TPM helped to energise one of ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkGood data visualizations can help make climate change more visceral and understandable. Back in 2016 Ed Hawkins published a “climate spiral” graph that ended up being pretty iconic – it was shown at the opening ceremony of the Olympics that year – and ...
An agreement to end the war in Ukraine could transform Russia’s relations with North Korea. Moscow is unlikely to reduce its cooperation with Pyongyang to pre-2022 levels, but it may become more selective about areas ...
This week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme. Financing vs funding: a quick explainer The key word in the sentence above is financing. It is important ...
In a month’s time, the Right Honourable Winston Peters will be celebrating his 80th birthday. Good for him. On the evidence though, his current war on “wokeness” looks like an old man’s cranky complaint that the ancient virtues of grit and know-how are sadly lacking in the youth of today. ...
As noted, early March has been about moving house, and I have had little chance to partake in all things internet. But now that everything is more or less sorted, I can finally give a belated report on my visit to the annual Regent Booksale (28th February and 1st March). ...
Information operations Australia has banned cybersecurity software Kaspersky from government use because of risks of espionage, foreign interference and sabotage. The Department of Home Affairs said use of Kaspersky products posed an unacceptable security ...
The StrategistBy Linus Cohen, Astrid Young and Alice Wai
One of the best understood tropes of screen drama is the scene where the beloved family dog is barking incessantly and cannot be calmed. Finally, somebody asks: What is it, girl? Has someone fallen down a well? Is there trouble at the old John Key place?One is reminded of this ...
The ’ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, plays a significant role in the global cocaine trade and is deeply entrenched in Australia, influencing the cocaine trade and engaging in a variety of illicit activities. A range of ...
In the US, the Trump regime is busy imposing tariffs on its neighbours and allies, then revoking them, then reimposing them, permanently poisoning relations with Canada and Mexico. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on agricultural goods, which will affect Aotearoa's exports. National's response? To grovel for an exemption, ...
Troy Bowker’s Caniwi Capital’s Desmond Gittings, former TradeMe and Warehouse executive Simon West, former anonymous right wing blogger / Labour attacker & now NZ On Air Board member / Waitangi Tribunal member Philip Crump, Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon who used to run vaccine critical, Treaty of Waitangi critical, and trans-rights ...
The free school lunch program was one of Labour's few actual achievements in government. Decent food, made locally, providing local employment. So naturally, National had to get rid of it. Their replacement - run by Compass, a multinational which had already been thrown out of our hospitals for producing inedible ...
New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “The Minister of Finance Nicola Willis has proposed a new rule saying that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in ...
The Trump administration’s effort to divide Russia from China is doomed to fail. This means that the United States is destroying security relationships based on a delusion. To succeed, Russia would need to overcome more ...
Māori workers now hold more high-skilled jobs than low-skilled jobs with 46 percent in high-skilled jobs, 14 percent in skilled jobs, and 40 percent in low-skilled jobs. Resource teachers of literacy and Te Reo Māori are “devastated” by a proposal from the Education Minister to stop funding 174 roles from ...
Knowing what is going on in orbit is getting harder—yet hardly less necessary. But new technologies are emerging to cope with the challenge, including some that have come from Australian civilian research. One example is ...
This is a guest post by Malcolm McCracken. It previously appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible and is shared by kind permission. New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL), is expected to open in 2026. This will be an exciting step forward for Auckland, delivering better ...
“The reality is I'm just saying to you I'm proud of the work we're doing. We're doing a great job”, said Luxon, pushing back at Auckland Council’s reports of rising homelessness and pleas for help. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest:Christopher Luxon denies his Government caused a ...
Should I stay, or should I go now?Should I stay, or should I go now?If I go, there will be troubleAnd if I stay, it will be doubleSo come on and let me knowSongwriters: Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.Christopher,Tomorrow marks seventeen months since the last election. We’re ...
Homelessness in Auckland has risen by 53% in 4 months - that’s 653 peopleliving in cars, on streets and in parks.The city’s emergency housing numbers have fallen by about 650 under National too - now at record lows.Housing First Auckland is on the frontlines: There is “more and more ...
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring ...
Only two more sleeps to the Government’s Jamboree Investor Extravaganza! As a proud New Zealander I’m very much hoping for the best: Off-shore wind farms! Solar power! Sustainable industry powered by the abundant energy we could be producing!I wonder, will they have a deal already lined up, something to announce ...
After decades of gradual decline, Australia’s manufacturing capability is no longer mission-fit to meet national security needs. Any whole-of-nation effort to arrest this trend needs to start by making the industrial operating environment more conducive ...
Back in October 2022, Restore Passenger Rail hung banners across roads in Wellington to protest against the then-Labour government's weak climate change policy. The police responded by charging them not with the usual public order offences, but with "endangering transport", a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years in ...
Luxon’s popularity continues to fall, and a new survey shows voters rank fixing the health system as the top priority. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: National’s pollster finds Christopher Luxon has fallen behind Chris Hipkins as preferred PM for the first ...
The CTU is calling for an apology from Nicola Willis after her office made a false characterisation of CTU statements, which ultimately saw him blocked from future Treasury briefings. New data shows that Māori make up 83% of those charged under new gang laws. Financial incentives are being offered to ...
Australia’s cyber capabilities have evolved rapidly, but they are still largely reactive, not preventative. Rather than responding to cyber incidents, Australian law enforcement agencies should focus on dismantling underlying criminal networks. On 11 December, Europol ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Finally, there’s some good news to report from NOAA, the parent organization of the National Hurricane Center, or NHC: During the highly active 2o24 Atlantic hurricane season, the NHC made record-accurate track forecasts at every time interval (12-, ...
The Australian government has prioritised enhancing Australia’s national resilience for many years now, whether against natural disasters, economic coercion or hostile armed forces. However, the public and media response to the presence of Chinese naval ...
It appears that Auckland Transport is finally set to improve Auckland’s busiest non-frequent bus route, the 120. As highlighted in my post a month ago on Auckland’s busiest bus routes, the 120 is the busiest route that doesn’t already run frequently all day/week and carries more passengers than many other ...
Economists have earned their reputation for jargon and tunnel vision, but sometimes, it takes an someone as perceptive as Simplicity economist Shamubeel Eaqub to identify something simple and devastating. As he pointed out recently, the coalition government is trying to attract foreign investment here to generate economic growth, while – ...
Opinion & AnalysisSimeon Brown, left, and Deloitte partner David LovattIn September 2024, Deloitte Partner David Lovatt, was contracted by the National Government to help National ostensibly understand “the drivers behind HNZ’s worsening financial performance”.1 i.e. deficit.The report shows the last version was dated December 2024.It was formally released this week ...
This cobbled-together government was altogether more the beneficiary of Labour getting turfed out than anything it managed to do itself. Even the worthless cheques they were writing didn't buy all that much favour.How’s it all looking now?Shall we take a look at a Horizon poll?The Government’s performance is making only ...
There's horrible news from the US today, with the Trump regime disappearing Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student, for protesting against genocide in Gaza. Its another significant decline in US human rights, and puts them in the same class as the authoritarian dictatorships they used to sponsor in South ...
Yesterday National announced plans to amend the Public Works Act to "speed up" land acquisition for public works. Which sounds boring and bureaucratic - except its not. Because what "land acquisition" means is people's homes being compulsorily acquired by the state - which is inherently controversial, and fairly high up ...
Contenders: The next question after “Will Luxon really go?” is, of course, “Will that work?” The answer to that question lies not so much in the efficacy of Luxon’s successor as it does in the perceived strength of the Centre-Left alternative.AT LEAST TWO prominent political commentators are alluding publicly to the ...
Ice will melt, water will boilYou and I can shake off this mortal coilIt's bigger than usYou don't have to worry about itIt's circumstantialIt's nothing written in the skyAnd we don't even have to trySongwriters: Neil Finn / Tim Finn.Preparing for the future.Many of you will be familiar with the ...
In my post last Thursday I offered some thoughts on changes that should be initiated by the government in the wake of the Governor’s surprise resignation. (Days on we still have no real explanation as to why he just resigned with no notice, disappearing out the door and (eg) leaving ...
In late February a Chinese navy flotilla including a cruiser, a frigate and a replenishment ship began to circle Australia, conducting a live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea along the way. The Strategist featured ...
China’s deployment of a potent surface action group around Australia over the past two weeks is unprecedented but not unique. Over the past few years, China’s navy has deployed a range of vessels in Australia’s ...
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: Within months and before Parliamentary approval is obtained, the Government plans to strip non-Maori landowners of the right to use the Environment Court to stop compulsory acquisition for fast-track projects and big new motorways.The Government also wants to buy off landowners ...
Hi,When I was 16 (pimples, braces, painfully awkward) — I applied for a job at Video Ezy.It’s difficult to describe how much I wanted this job. Video Ezy was my local video shop in Tauranga, and I’d spend hours of my teenage life stalking through those aisles, looking at the ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 2, 2025 thru Sat, March 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
The title of this post comes from Albert Wohlstetter’s 1976 seminal essay Moving Towards Life in a Nuclear Armed Crowd. In that essay he contemplated a world in which several nations had nuclear weapons, and also the strategic logics governing their proliferation, deployment and use (mainly as a deterrent). For ...
Adrian Orr resigned unexpectedly and immediately on Wednesday, giving no explanation for departing three years before the end of his second term. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: David Seymour’s lunch programme came under increasing scrutiny;Adrian Orr resigned unexpectedly after clashing with Nicola Willis ...
You've got to live, lady liveDo the tongue rollGive me joyBut don't kiss me too fastSong: Th’ Dudes.Good morning, all. After another heavy week of less-than-positive news, it’s time for something silly: the old standby of memories and questions.I can’t face writing about any more terrible people this week. I usually ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Greenland losing land ice? Data from satellites and expeditions confirm Greenland has been losing land ice at an accelerating rate for decades. ...
After the Reserve Bank’s appearance on 20 February at the Finance and Expenditure Committee (the Governor, his macro deputy Karen Silk, and his chief economist Paul Conway) on the previous day’s Monetary Policy Statement, I wrote a post here about it, focused on a number of areas in which Orr, ...
Beijing deployed a naval task group to the waters around Australia for three related reasons. First, to demonstrate the reach and potency of Chinese sea power and to put Australia on notice that it is ...
That's the price that we all payAnd the value of destiny comes to nothingI can't tell you where we're goingI guess there was just no way of knowingSongwriters: Bernard Sumner / Gillian Lesley Gilbert / Peter Hook / Stephen Eric Hague / Stephen Paul David Morris.What an eventful week it’s ...
In what might have been the longest presidential address to Congress in American history—an hour and forty minutes without intermission—President Donald Trump delivered a performance on Tuesday night that was simultaneously grandiose, confrontational, optimistic and ...
Peter Frankopan’s The Earth Transformed: An Untold History is a compelling account of the interaction between humans and the environment. We would be unwise to ignore it. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Oxford professor of history Peter Frankopan was initially widely admired. But critics point ...
The United States shocked the world last week with President Donald Trump’s very public rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This was followed by a US pause on military aid and some intelligence sharing with ...
International Women’s Day (IWD) serves as both a celebration of progress and a reminder of the ongoing challenges women face worldwide. Across national security, diplomacy, human rights and digital spaces, women continue to break barriers. ...
Domestic violence is an under-recognised early indicator of terrorism. It is not a reliable solitary indicator, but when observed alongside risk factors, it can prompt authorities to take a closer look at a potential terrorist. ...
1. The Government is bringing back what to Health New Zealand?a. Buckb. Sexyc. The arrangement they dumped nine months ago2. Patient advocate and health campaigner Malcolm Mulholland said Commissioner Levy's time would be remembered as what?a. The Good Placeb. The Bad Placec. Absolute havoc and mayhem3. The government also announced ...
The current National government is one of the worst in Aotearoa's history. And because of this, its also one of the most unpopular. A war on Māori, corrupt fast-track legislation, undermining the fight against climate change, the ferry fiasco, the school lunch disaster... none of these policies are making friends. ...
Australia should enlist partners in the Quad to help address China’s increasingly assertive naval behaviour in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad may be slow in moving into security roles, but one militarily useful function that it ...
Women’s rights and protections are regressing on the international stage, from the Taliban’s erasure of women from public life to US President Donald Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric and decision to suspend USAID. Against this backdrop, Australia’s ...
E tū, representing many of NZME’s journalists, says it is “deeply worried” by a billionaire’s plans to take over its board. They are also concerned that NZ Post call centre jobs are gradually shifting to the Philippines as a cost-cutting measure. APEX have announced that more than 850 lab staff ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.Winston representing New ZealandWinston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...
As the world marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. “Russia’s illegal invasion has brought three years of devastation to Ukraine’s people, environment, and infrastructure,” Mr Peters says. “These additional sanctions target 52 ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced the Government’s plan to reform the Overseas Investment Act and make it easier for New Zealand businesses to receive new investment, grow and pay higher wages. “New Zealand is one of the hardest countries in the developed world for overseas people to ...
Associate Health Minister Hon Casey Costello is traveling to Australia for meetings with the aged care sector in Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney next week. “Australia is our closest partner, so as we consider the changes necessary to make our system more effective and sustainable it makes sense to learn from ...
The Government is boosting investment in the QEII National Trust to reinforce the protection of Aotearoa New Zealand's biodiversity on private land, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. The Government today announced an additional $4.5 million for conservation body QEII National Trust over three years. QEII Trust works with farmers and ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin JohnstoneNotes from The Edge of the Narrative MatrixActing on orders from the White House, immigration agents arrested a Columbia University graduate for deportation due to his leadership of campus protests against Israel’s genocidal atrocities in Gaza ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australian politicians on both sides of the house say protectionist policies are bad, right? That Australia, as a country, believes in and benefits from trade being as free as possible. But what about some ...
Parliament has debated its inquiry into the 2025 Budget Policy Statement. The government side was evangelical on growth, but the numbers did not suggest a promised land. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Professor of Sustainability, Environment & Education, Southern Cross University Many children in Queensland and northern New South Wales have had their lives disrupted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Schools were closed (about 14 were still shut as of Thursday afternoon), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra On current opinion polls, we are looking at a very close race at the May election. As voting day draws near, Peter Dutton will face more forensic questioning about his policies and how he would ...
While Rodrigo Duterte may still command support from his core base in the Philippines, something has clearly shifted. Yet the power he did wield haunts the nation as it awaits his trial at the International Criminal Court and it renews speculation about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who also has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noel Morada, Visiting Professor, Nelson Mandela Centre, Chulalongkorn University; and Research Fellow, Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, The University of Queensland Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Old, Associate Professor in Biology, Zoology and Animal Science, Western Sydney University Wombat joeys are dependent on their mothers for up to two years.Tom Wayman/Shutterstock It was hard to watch. In a now-deleted Instagram reel, American influencer Sam Jones is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Martín-Francés, Postdoctoral Fellow, PalaeoDiet Research Lab, Monash University The newly found fossil (right) alongside a mirrored reconstruction (left).Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA / Elena Santos / CENIEH In a system of caves in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain, nearly 50 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne The recent rollover of two army trucks carrying Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel responding to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred was unprecedented for a domestic emergency operation. Thirty-two ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shima Ziajahromi, Advance Queensland Research Fellow, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University Gary D Chapman/Shutterstock Compost applied to agricultural soils in Australia each year contains tonnes of microplastics, our research has revealed. These microplastics can harm soil and plant health and eventually ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ferdi Botha, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne Australia already has the highest gambling losses globally. Now, new data show that between 2015 and 2022, the number of Australian men involved in sports betting ...
Our position is clear – this procurement rule must not be scrapped. It’s a practical way for the Government to improve lives and show these workers that they are valued, says Gina Lockyer, Executive Director of the Living Wage Movement. ...
Asia Pacific Report An open letter signed by 100 Christian leaders, calling for the granting of humanitarian visas to Aotearoa New Zealand for families of Palestinians trapped in Gaza has been handed over on the steps of Parliament. The letter was presented yesterday on Ash Wednesday to opposition Labour Party ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Hill, Honorary Fellow at University of Melbourne and Senior Curator (Astronomy), Museums Victoria Research Institute As the full moon rises tomorrow (Friday March 14), it will be a special sight for those in Aotearoa New Zealand. It will also be worth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bethany Butchers, Associate Lecturer in Law, University of Newcastle ShutterstockAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name of a deceased person. The High Court of Australia has handed down a landmark judgement on native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University Chay_Tee/Shutterstock False and misleading health information online and on social media is on the rise, thanks to rapid developments in deepfake technology and generative artificial ...
An autobiographical theatre show tells Jodee Mundy’s experience being a CODA – a child of deaf adults – and reveals many shortcomings of a world designed for the hearing. When Jodee Mundy was five, she got so caught up staring at a Barbie in its box with a tennis racquet ...
Comment: A sliver of hope for a progressive shift in the Middle East emerged when the brutal Assad regime was finally overthrown in Syria on December 8 last year. Three months later, Syria’s fragile steps toward a better future are torn between historically positive and alarmingly tragic developments.The hope comes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan W. Marshall, Associate Professor & Postgraduate Research Coordinator, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University Big Name, No Blankets.James Henry/Perth Festival In the Perth Festival exhibitions brochure, artistic director Anna Reece noted that the city is “uniquely positioned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacquie Rand, Emeritus Professor of Companion Animal Health, The University of Queensland Angelica Pasquali/Shutterstock Cats and milk often go hand in hand in popular culture. But on dairy farms, cats do much more than enjoy a saucer of milk – their ...
The number of complaints about the way government agencies handle OIA requests continues to trend upwards. In the most recent six-month period, the Ombudsman received 1,029 complaints, a rise from 946 in the previous half year. ...
With our English curriculum facing a rewrite, a deeper question emerges: is this about knowledge or control? As a confident speaker of two languages – English and te reo Māori – I often find myself grappling with how history is conveyed. I believe being multilingual sharpens my ability to detect ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago Getty ImagesWhat actually was the biggest dinosaur?– Zavier, 14, Tauranga, New Zealand. Great question Zavier, and one that palaeontologists (scientists who study fossil animals and plants) are interested ...
With several key players away, parliament’s B team put on a confusing and unorganised performance at yesterday’s question time. Prime minister Chris Luxon missed Wednesday’s question time because he was in Auckland preparing for his big international investment summit. Several other senior ministers were also absent, practising their speeches and ...
Analysis: It’s not a criticism of Donald Trump’s tariffs, per se. Christopher Luxon wouldn’t make the same mistake that his Government has already sacked its UK High Commissioner over. But the Prime Minister is now on stage at his infrastructure investment summit at the Park Hyatt on Auckland’s waterfront, unapologetically highlighting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne The mental health of trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse Australians is worse than the general population and the gulf is getting wider. Our new study, published ...
I’ve met someone new, but I’m haunted by the ghost of my last relationship. This week’s question comes from Instagram. We accept questions of all shapes and sizes, emailed to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera How to calm tf down and feel safe/relaxed in your first relationship after a very not nice ...
The fracture lines are visible now. So many hats in the ring. Where is the popcorn?
Have they said how long it’s going to take? (she asked hopefully).
I thought a couple of weeks.
Two weeks.
I watched part of Amy Adam’s press conference this afternoon and was amused to hear her say – and I paraphrase – I grew up in Auckland and married a Canterbury sheep farmer so I can identify with both urban and rural life styles… I’m a mother of two wonderful children so I understand what it is like to be a parent and I believe I am the best candidate to represent all NZers and their aspirations blah, blah…
Hmmm. So does that mean if you’re not married and you don’t have any children for whatever reason… and maybe you’re old and gave up on aspirations a long time ago, and you don’t own a sheep farm and… maybe you’re too poor to own anything at all (as we have seen by the rapidly increasing homeless numbers) then I guess in Amy’s book you’re not a NZer and therefore you don’t count?
She’s certainly covering all the blue bases, lol. Who cares about everyone else?
That’s how it came across to me.
And to add insult to injury to those of us who might not fully comply with her perception of a NZer, her little band of supporters, Nikki Kaye, Maggie Barry and Chris Bishop were all nodding their heads furiously as she said it.
Unashamedly they’re only interested in Blue Zealanders.
It’s often nauseating witnessing those sycophantic nodding idiots, Tim Macindoe used to give himself whiplash when Key verbalised his mangled mind.
Why should anyone care about their silly leadership game, it’s not like their party members are trusted to make the choice for them.
I think she has 5 farms.
Maybe that makes her know 5 times more than other farmers….
The mother of two children bit is considered necessary by the Right in order to beat Ardern in an election
I was disappointed that Adams didn’t go the whole hog:
“I’ve proven to be unethical as a Minister and I look forward to using those skills in the top job for all New Zealanders.”
TVNZ 1 NEWS Wendy & Simon I spotted a difference with the Antarctic Orca the bull Whales have a small dorsal all the bull ORCA I have seen had huge dorsal fins bent over. They are a separate spices we need to study them more and try and preserve there habitat they are a beautiful creature
Ka pai. Ka kite ano P.S I tried to post this half a hour ago the sandflys have hacked my mokos tablet
You know if you spin a coin on a flat surface and it spins and whirs about and then slowly winds down to a wah wah wah wah wah wah….and then tink, it stops and flops flat. Well that is what we are watching with the Nats leadership contest.
Probably a two-headed coin too
Judith Regina on both sides.
Toby Manhire tweet:
a response:
RNZ Tweet:
Lol
Still laughing after watching that Bridges interview on Andarko with a John Campbell.
The last exchange was priceless:
Campbell: Name me one person in Kaikoura who supports what you’re doing.
Bridges: No, no John I can’t.
The good thing about this Nat. skirmish is that the Greens can quietly get on with choosing their co-leader without all the hype and media inspired false divisions within the party which don’t actually exist.
that’s a good point.
A strong and harsh cigarette that’s not to most peoples taste.
A blended cigarette that has over tones of harshness and undertones of blandness.
A simply harsh cigarette that’s like smoking a bridge wrapped in wet rice paper.
It’s the complete lack of mandatory warnings on the packaging that concerns me the most.
This is why renters need more rights
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/property/101422274/mum-forced-to-leave-rental-after-injured-daughter-not-accepted-by-landlady
I’m guessing LL also objects to pet cats, fish, the use of blue tack /gas heaters/ “structures” like tents in the backyard and random men visiting at night.
Geezuz!!
This on Newsroom – May have just been published this evening:
Basically, it’s about summer clerk interns at a law firm, during “a recent summer”. It’s am on-going investigation, both by the police and, as investigative journalists, by Newsroom’s Melanie Reid and Sasha Borissenko
It could be hashtagged as #NotYouToo_Russell_McVeagh_UnnamedLawyers
Russell McVeagh law firm was also donkey deep in the Winebox scandal.
Winston waited a long time for some of these characters to unravel.
So some young women who work very hard, have great results, significant social skills and should be up for a significant career, intern with a law firm where at least some of the older male staff seem to see them as nothing more than a new bunch of fresh meat.
What a horrible start – designed to humiliate them – when they find the firm is more interested in “looking up their dress so to speak” than their brains and ability.
And the rest of the place looked the other way or were rendered powerless to confront it even though it looks like a lot of them knew about it.
And no amount of spinning and “damage control” from the partners and law school deans, speaking out, who say changes have been made – but we note there is little detail of these wonderful changes – and window dressing with their statements dribbling false empathy for these women – can hide the fact that it was their offices and their workplace culture that created it and we can assume that they are just trying to protect their income & status .
What are they trying to say – they don’t run their own offices – give me a break!
But I can’t say I’m surprised given that the whole of the legal system defaults to a the “a male view of reasonable” and routinely minimizes or dismisses matters of concern to women
Nor can we expect the Firms corporate clients to take a stand either, after all a major bank and a government owned airline have appointed the pony tail puller to their boards. The whole system is riddled with it
“…designed to humiliate them ….”
beg to differ…if its ‘designed’ for anything its to bolster the self esteem of ageing insecure ego-manics…as it ever was
that too
“Perhaps most notably though, since 2010 we reduced the number of children living in material hardship by 135,000.”
– National’s social development spokeswoman Louise Upston in the face of the worst ever NZ in which to raise children.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/101441491/national-says-salvation-army-poverty-report-shows-improvement-others-scathing
That is Louise lala land denial