Sadly, too many people will skip or skim over that Adam.
Reporting on Venezuela, as Abby Martin points out, is coming from the same play-book as that used in the Ukraine and Syria. It’s all fucking fucked and I can’t really see a solution. People ‘don’t want to know’ and immediately go on a kind of rabid offensive against any common sense or any pointing to ‘small t’ truths.
Things are only going to change if or when a critical mass of people hesitate long enough to realise that those who push these “official enemy” lines are the ones who are most assuredly not on our side; that the ones they push these lines against often have interests far more in tune with our own than they do.
Referring to the original use of the screenshot, the Blackadder punchline is something like:
“My husband sits on a spike, and I sit on my husband… because two spikes would be indulgent”.
Anyone else wondering when the Lib Dems will rise up like comic book heroes to “save” Britain from a DUP/Tory deal?
And wondering how many of those liberal lackeys in UK Labour will jump ship and join with them to give the whole shit sandwich a dusting of vomit inducing centrist pragmatism?
The Lib Dems only said they would do no deals…I’m fairly sure they didn’t say they wouldn’t back either party. Two entirely different kettles of fish and deals aren’t necessary under the current UK Parliamentary system.
Yes, the LIb Dems would be dicing with oblivion if they backed the Tories in any way whatsoever after their coalition of the recent past.
But the liberal play book…hold up the fear (DUP + NI hitting the fan) and then the “grown up” solution of heroically disaffected Labour MPs + Lib Dems ride in at the last minute; the lesser evil defeating the fearful one.
What’s the bet when all has been said and done, we will learn that since the advent of this neo-liberal age… the loosening of building regulations, cost cutting measures, poorer quality materials and a lack of fire alarms and sprinklers were the basic cause of this horrific inferno in London:
So, the building was built in 1974. but there’s also this in the article you linked to.
Grenfell Tower underwent a two-year £10m refurbishment as part of a wider transformation of the estate, that was completed last year.
Work included new exterior cladding and a communal heating system.
The 24-storey tower, containing 120 flats, is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) on behalf of the council.
The local Grenfell Action Group had claimed, before and during the refurbishment, the block constituted a fire risk and residents had warned that access to the site for emergency vehicles was “severely restricted”.
The BBC has been unable to contact the property’s management company in the hours since the fire.
The local resident group had a far greater understanding of the risks than the managers/authorities or anyone supposedly in charge. Just one of the damning statements they made. So tragic.
ACM cladding. That stuff is cheap nasty shit. Council fuckwits saving a buck.
Oh ACM is basically two thin layers of ali with polyethylene core. well know for fires. Easy and cheap to use. Looks great too.
by using it as overcladding it sounds like they formed a chimney for the fire to spead up the outside of the building within the cladding, while the fire was feeding on the cladding itself.
I think there is good and bad ACM cladding. The good stuff has a core that is at least a 70% incombustible makimg it hard to burn and the bad stuff like you say.
Could have written this myself; albeit from the pov of a kiwi who has moved to Aus:
I always knew New Zealand was not as economically robust as Australia, and I did expect to experience a slight change in my general financial state of affairs. However, I wasn’t prepared for the poverty and ever-growing inequality that I see around me – in my own backyard and, no doubt, throughout the whole country.
A lot of people do it tough here. Wages are far lower than in Australia – fact – and the cost of living is higher, in my experience. The job market seems tougher and the “assistance” from the Government less effective and harder to obtain for people in genuine need (again, my perception – I’m sure there will be plenty of opposing commenters on this one – judge away!).
The most difficult and bitter pill to swallow for me is the dreadful housing situation and the fact that thousands of New Zealanders do not have a roof over their heads and a place to call home.
Get that … lower wages AND a higher cost of living. That lines up directly with my experience; every trip we make back home is a bit of a shocker in the wallet dept.
It’s not all a whinge .. far from it. The writer also sees some very profound positives that makes it worthwhile:
Before moving here, I idealised New Zealand as an almost-perfect country and thought I knew exactly what it would be like to live here. Whilst this picture-perfect mirage was shattered and my ignorance revealed a beautiful but flawed reality, I would not take back my choice to move here for the world.
I love this country and I am extremely proud to now be a citizen of New Zealand. At the same time, I also acknowledge that it is not perfect and we have a long way to go in some areas to address our social and economic issues.
We Kiwis need to roll our sleeves up – all of us. We have work to do!
The Australian economy isn’t looking too good at the moment though, I reckon the Aussies are about to go through a massive change similar to what we went through in the 1980’s.
Living far beyond their means the Aussies, those halcyon days of the Chinese buying everything Australia could dig out of the ground has finished and they ain’t coming back.
Yes, it’s a trap for governments and individuals. The golden rule is to live within your means and they were. Like an individual, they needed a ‘get out with your shirt if the wheels fall off.” plan. It’s tricky to get that right, to seamlessly scale down. Most of us find preparing for crap times in the future tough. ‘Crack another bottle.’
Dracoland is a great idea, we’ve tried lots of variations, when it’s overlaid with human nature it fails.
The way we’re doing things now is not right either, capitalism is not fabulous Draco, far from it. Looking around the globe, thumbing through the history books, so far it looks like the best of a bad bunch.
We just need to adjust it so that the honey is more widespread. That doesn’t mean chucking it out, it means sculpting it to suit us all.
Instinct does not apply to a species that can make intelligent choices.
The way we’re doing things now is not right either, capitalism is not fabulous Draco, far from it. Looking around the globe, thumbing through the history books, so far it looks like the best of a bad bunch.
You’re obviously not actually reading them. Capitalism, throughout the last 5000 years of recorded history, has destroyed every single society that it arose in and it’s doing the same again because of the greed and hubris of the capitalists – the greed and hubris you display on a daily basis.
We are all tuned into our unique frequency of W11 FM. What’s in it for me? We are all subjected to the pull of greed, it’s just the scale that varies.
I’m sure you can quote passages that support your views all day long Draco, it doesn’t make them the universal truth. If I was so inclined I could provide counter claims and we could bounce other peoples’ opinions between us ad infinitum.
Where and when do you think your model for our society has worked best? Capitalism eventually fails, yes all things have a life span. But jeeez things are crook in Venezuela. I’d suggest we’re seeing human instinct at play.
My greed? Being a capitalist doesn’t make me any more or less greedy than you. Outcomes geared to inputs does not necessarily lead to greed. I haven’t got your money Draco, you’ll need to organise your own, you’ll die waiting for our society to bankroll your ‘nice to haves’.
I reckon that a person living willingly in a capitalist society, behaving as a capitalist is greedier by definition that someone living in certain non-capitalist societies, particularly tribal societies that value sharing highly and actively discourage greedy behaviour.
Yes, I see your point but I wonder if in a tribal setting the outcome sought is more one of survival. Warm clothes, a roof and a full belly. Where as in our society we’re concerned about replacing cambelts and getting to a family Xmas gathering in Wellington.
I suspect tribal communities over the eons have enjoyed far more opportunities for leisure and the pursuit of entertainment than we enjoy now, meaning they could have coveted stuff, but didn’t, as their society was mature and had worked out that greed and acquisition equals eventual destruction. We’ve not cottoned on to that yet, but we will, ’cause, eventual destruction. Some can see it already, but their voices are being drowned out by those with a vested interest and those who have become addicted.
Moderated and regulated ‘ capitalism’ is not an evil , however , neo liberalism / globalism is. And that’s where so much of this division happens.
I prefer moderate nationalism – the bane of both the neo liberal and the extreme left – such as Draco.
And to understand how both camps have been royally played like fools , – perhaps we should be directing our attention towards those who really are the culprits.
This , on an annual meeting of the Bilderbergers in Virginia , USA , for example. Something for everyone here , – both the leftist and the capitalist to take home. Watch and learn.
Bilderberg Elites Panic As Trump Dismantles Climate Change Hoax …
Video for climate change bilderberg you tube▶ 7:48
There are more ways for our nation to plug into vibrant inflation in the housing sector than applying taxes. The word ‘tax’ induces those that could vote left to offer a tiny reflex gasp.
If our government is going to help out those that had no insurance on their place, doesn’t it make sense for them to hold the book on the lot? Another 2 bob in the sock.
Put the house on a massive flip flop by Bling and his zero government cronies on royalties for water exporters.
They are getting a hiding in the polls on this and this government is a poll driven government; always was, and always will be.
I do hope a reporter asks Bling why the massive turn-around in their belief that ‘no-one owns water’. Not holding my breath, in fact Jenna Lynch will probably gush over the government’s rethink, calling it savvy politics.
Muttonhead,
Jenna Lynch, blah,blah,blah, Jenna Lynch blah,blah, blah. This article was not even written by her. You have an uneasy fascination about her, as I said yesterday stop your bullying and grow the fuck up.
People go to university for years to study this stuff so at the risk of being a dummy.
Does the problem shape up like this: We spend our money, it flits offshore and becomes an asset elsewhere.
Do we turn neoliberalism around by making our spend do more for our nation? Is that the issue? Is that why our nation is supposedly travelling really well and we’re all eating dogfood?
It’s really the banks. Inflating the capital value of everything makes us all broke by generations. Farmers are debt slaves to the banks. Fishermen were wiped out by the capitalization of their asset as quota, and even the companies who acquired the asset struggle to pay for it. Ordinary city folk are looking at 30 years of two incomes to pay off a house, when the halflife of a good job is about 18 months. And all the margins on that – the profits – flow overseas – they are not reinvested here except at extractive interest rates.
The cure is Candide’s – il faut cultiver notre jardin. No cut for the neoliberals in that – but good health, local employment, environmental sustainability.
Certainly – restrict the market access of foreign banks & make local ones socially responsible. But the amount of capital rorted out of NZ will take generations to rebuild or replace if more strenuous measures are not taken.
Fascinating story in the Guardian, a study of the distribution of tax evasion according to wealth (something that is inherently difficult to study, but the authors have put some real effort in).
The more wealthy you are, the more you evade tax. While most reports on inequality only look at tax data. So inequality is considerably worse than generally reported, when tax evasion is included in the calculation.
Are we see nation states begin looking at the wealthiest globally and asking why they don’t live where they earn? First they came for the migrants the the rustication for going after the richest?
We surveyed candidates on their attitudes to issues facing the Western Bay Region, find out what they think: “Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues ...
Please spread widely, and sign, to support science and rationalism over the new irrationalism sweeping universities and institutions. PROJECT NETTIE Sexual reproduction, the generation of offspring by fusion of genetic material from two different individuals, evolved over 1 billion years ago. It is the reproductive strategy of all higher animals ...
Just when I was thinking that Palmerston North's mayoral race (which includes a convicted child molester / public wanker and a convicted child beater) was the worst in the country, Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere opened his mouth:Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is being slammed for using the words "sieg ...
We reprint below an article from the excellent website the Economics of Imperialism by Tony Norfield This is an update of the statistics for my Index of Power, using data for 2018-19 and discussing what a country’s ranking reflects. The major change is that China’s rank has shifted up and ...
The All Blacks have been, for more than a century, arguably the most successful International sports team in the world. But they are more than that; even for those Kiwis who are immune to the charms of rugby (and there are more than a few), the All Blacks are ambassadors ...
Alone, Alone, All, All, Alone: To argue that the Prime Minister is the victim of her advisers’ failure to keep her informed may offer Jacinda some measure of exoneration – but only at the cost of casting her as a hopeless political ingénue. A star-dusted muppet, whose only purpose is to ...
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...
I don't want to give pblicity to certain parts of the internet that are better left to fester in their own irrelevance (I know, a bit like this place) but the listing of Chris Trotter as a 'author' on Cameron Slater's spinoff website, the BFD requires some explanation.Now, I don't ...
The text below is a Twitter thread by Heather Heying that explains the essence of sexual reproduction and it long evolutionary history. She is an evolutionary biologist and a “professor-in-exile” after she and her husband, Bret Weinstein, stood up to supporters of an enforced “Day of Absence” for white staff and teachers ...
With crunch time for new Zealand climate policy approaching, most of the New Zealand media have got on board with a global reporting effort to cover the issue. There's one strand of stories today about polling and what it shows about changing public attitudes to the crisis, but the strand ...
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...
Current and former NZDF top brass are being publicly grilled this week by the hit and run inquiry over their public responses to allegations of civilian casualties. Previously, they've claimed there were no casualties, a position which led them to lie to Ministers and to the public. Now, they're saying ...
by Rafael D. Quiles (gender-critical gay man from Puerto Rico) The writing on the wall is right in people’s faces and people just don’t see it or don’t want to. What could actually possess a heterosexual male to want to feminize himself and claim that he is a lesbian? Because ...
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...
by the Redline blog collective At Redline we are very saddened to hear of the death of Magdalen Burns who passed away on the morning of Friday, September 13 (British time). Magdalen was a great fighter for the rights of women in general and lesbian women in particular, a defender ...
The Brexit issue has certainly brought with it a series of apparently difficult constitutional issues, many of them concerning the respective roles of the executive and parliament. Most of them arise because of the unwillingness of MPs, despite their professions to the contrary, to be bound by a constitutional rarity ...
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...
The government has released its Arms Legislation Bill, containing the second tranche of changes to gun laws following the March 15 massacre. And it all looks quite sensible: a national gun register, higher penalties for illegal possession and dealing, tighter restrictions on arms dealers and shooting clubs, and a shorter ...
Private prisons are a stain on humanity. Prison operators explicitly profit from human misery, then lobby for longer prisons terms so they can keep on profiting. And in the US, prison companies run not only local and state prisons, but also Donald Trump's immigration concentration camps. Faced with this moral ...
When National was in power, they were very keen on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) - basicly, using private companies to finance public infrastructure as a way of hiding debt from the public. They were keen on using them for everything - roads, schools, hospitals. But as the UK shows, that "service" ...
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...
by Philip Ferguson Much of the left, even people who formally identify as marxists, have collapsed politically in the face of postmodern gender theory of the sort pioneered by American philosopher Judith Butler. For Butler even biological sex is socially constructed. “If the immutable character of sex is contested, perhaps ...
The media is reporting that the (alleged) Labour party sexual assaulter has resigned from their job at Parliament, which means hopefully he won't be turning up there making people feel unsafe in future. Good. But as with everything about this scandal, it just raises other questions. Most significantly: why the ...
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...
Property developers think there is an "oversupply" of houses in Auckland:High turnover rates and falling prices may be a sign that there are too many new houses going in to some parts of Auckland, commentators say. [...] Property developer David Whitburn said there was a "bit of an oversupply" in ...
Labour Party president Nigel Haworth resigned yesterday over the party's sexual assault scandal. But while that's good news, its unlikely to take away the stench of a coverup. Because according to Paula Bennett in Parliament yesterday, pretty much everyone in the Prime Minister's office was involved as well:I have been ...
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...
There has been a lot of talk about Boris Johnson wanting an election, and he has blustered with great gusto about 'chicken' Jeremy Corbyn refusing one, but I think there are many reasons why he is secretly glad he has been refused the opportunity:The Tories are an utter rabble,tearing themselves ...
Scottish appeal court judges have declared that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the run-up to the October Brexit deadline is unlawful. The three judges, chaired by Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, overturned an earlier ruling that the courts did not have the powers to interfere in the prime ...
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...
I understand there's some stuff going round about how the SIS "was removed from the list of public offices covered by the Public Records Act in 2017". The context of course being their records derived from US torture, which will be disposed of or sealed. The good news is that ...
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ...
Australia is burning down again, and meanwhile its natural disaster minister is denying climate change:Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”. Clarifying earlier comments that the question is “irrelevant” when considering the Coalition government’s response to ...
Auckland Philippines Solidarity is excited to host Professor Judy Taguiwalo for a speaking tour of NZ in September. She is a well-known activist in the Philippines and was a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship. Professor Taguiwalo briefly served as a Cabinet member under President Duterte but was forced from ...
This open letter to the Green Party was penned after an opinion piece by Jill Abigail, a feminist and founding member of the party, was censored by the Greens’ leadership. (Redline has reprinted her article here).The intolerance of the Green Party leaders and their acceptance of the misogyny of gender ...
Today is a Member's day, and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill continues its slow crawl through its committee stage. They're spending the whole day on it today, though the first hour is likely to be spent on voting left over from last time. After that they'll move on ...
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. So how's that going? I was curious, so I asked for all advice about the proposal. ...
As the Brexit saga staggers on, the focus is naturally enough on the Prime Minister and his attempts to achieve Brexit “do or die”. But the role played by the Leader of the Opposition is of almost equal interest and complexity. The first problem for Jeremy Corbyn is that he ...
Last week, English Prime Minister Boris Johnson boldly declared that he would rather die be dead in a ditch than delay Brexit. Unfortunately for him, the UK parliament accepted the challenge, and promptly dug one for him. The "rebellion bill" requires him to ask for and secure yet another temporary ...
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...
by Daphna Whitmore Every Sunday for the past two months unionists from First Union, with supporters from other unions, have set out to the Ihumatao land protest, put up gazebos and gas barbeques, and cooked food for a few hundred locals and supporters who have come from across the country. ...
Newsroom today has an excellent, in-depth article on pine trees as carbon sinks. The TL;DR is that pine is really good at soaking up carbon, but people prefer far-less efficient native forests instead. Which is understandable, but there's two problems: firstly, we've pissed about so long on this problem that ...
Canan Kaftancioglu is a Turkish politician and member of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Like most modern politicians, she tweets, and uses the platform to criticise the Turkish government. She has criticised them over the death of a 14-year-old boy who was hit by a tear gas grenade during ...
Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has published their report on whether the SIS and GCSB had any complicity in American torture. And its damning. The pull quote is this:The Inquiry found both agencies, but to a much greater degree, the NZSIS, received many intelligence reports obtained from detainees who, ...
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...
For most of the time I was a British MP, my party was out of government – these were the Thatcher years, when it was hard for anyone else to get a look-in. As a front-bencher and shadow minister, I became familiar with the strategies required in a parliamentary democracy ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On August 29th a video in which veteran FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) commander Iván Márquez announced that they had taken up arms again was released. There was no delay in the reaction to it, from longtime Liberal Party figure and former president Uribe, for ...
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...
No-one on the anti-capitalist left in this country today puts forward a case that Labour is on the side of the working class. There are certainly people who call themselves ‘socialist’ who do, but they are essentially liberals with vested interests in Labourism – often for career reasons. Nevertheless, there ...
When National was in government and fucking over the poor for the benefit of the rich, foodbanks were a growth industry. And now Labour is in charge, nothing has changed: A huge demand for emergency food parcels means the Auckland City Mission is struggling to prepare for the impending arrival ...
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...
Today the government released its Action Plan for Healthy Waterways, aimed at cleaning up our lakes and rivers. Its actually quite good. There will be protection for wetlands, better standards for swimming spots, a requirement for continuous improvement, and better standards for wastewater and stormwater. But most importantly, there's a ...
Today I appeared before the Environment Committee to give an oral submission on the Zero Carbon Bill. Over 1,500 people have asked to appear in person, so they've divided into subcommittees and are off touring the country, giving people a five minute slot each. The other submitters were a mixed ...
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ...
So, those who “know best” have again done their worst. While constantly claiming to be the guardians of democracy and the constitution, and respecters of the 2016 referendum result, diehard Remainers (who have never brought themselves to believe that their advice could have been rejected) have striven might and main ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning why, for the second time, Jacinda Ardern has appointed a Crown-owned company Chief Executive to Chair her “Business Advisory Council”, following her announcement that Mercury CEO Fraser Whineray ...
Responding to the Government’s decision to give around $300 million to Amazon as a sweetener for filming a TV series in New Zealand, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “As a matter of simple waste, this is striking, ...
I am very pleased with Air New Zealand’s Decision to backdown and withdraw their application to trademark into a logo Kia Ora. I said at the time that it was an ill conceived idea and poorly thought out – more importantly it should never have been ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa members will be joining with others across the union movement by wearing black and white in support of pay equity on Suffrage Day tomorrow, and urging the Government to commit to a settlement for teacher aides this year. ...
Yesterday’s announcement from the Minister for Immigration, to improve temporary work visas for migrant workers, provides some positive changes but more detail is needed. The Council of Trade Unions fundamentally supports the principle of making ...
FIRST Union today welcomed Westpac’s public admission of the significant gender pay gap in its workforce and reiterated its call for employers to work with unions to close this disparity, arguing that this work must begin at the bottom of the pay ...
Changes to the work visa system announced by the Minister of Immigration are not all positive for employers or migrants, comments Ms June Ranson, chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) , a leading voice in the ...
The Dairy Workers Union (DWU) has welcomed the announcement from dairy company, Synlait, that they will be boosting parental leave entitlements significantly for working parents. ...
In June, the Children’s Commissioner announced a thematic review into Oranga Tamariki’s policies, processes and practice relating to care and protection issues for tamariki Māori aged 0-3 months. Today the Children’s Commissioner has released the full ...
“Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues of the Western Bay region. We believe that this is ...
In response to DairyNZ's attempt to dismiss an economic report that highlighted dairy's role in the New Zealand economy is only three per cent of GDP, Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says: "If DairyNZ wishes to reject a report ...
Kiingi Tuuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has successfully guided the mana whenua of lhumaatao to reach a consensus on the future of their whenua. ...
Two activists disguised as shareholders interrupted the AGM of a gold mining company in central Auckland this morning to inform shareholders their plans to mine for gold in conservation estate in the Karangahake Gorge were unwelcome. ...
The Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) has been labelled ‘NATO’ (no action, talk only) when it comes to child mental health, with just 0.6 full time staff (24 hours per week) for inpatient child psychology and just 0.8 full time staff ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has awarded three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union , in partnership with the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance , has today published this year's Ratepayers' Report – online local government league tables – at www.ratepayersreport.nz . ...
NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small welcomes the news New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with US President Donald Trump in New York next week. ...
The recent NZIER report trivialises the significant role the dairy sector plays in New Zealand’s economy – and fails to look at the specifics of the Government’s freshwater package, according to DairyNZ. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said ...
This week, the New Zealand Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will jointly host a seminar on tackling the global spread of illicit weapons. ...
In a landmark judgment issued this morning, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Southern Response Concealment Class Action will proceed issued on an "opt out” basis. ...
Mainstream media, as the purveyors of truth and source of balanced information, took another backward step today with the announcement by Stuff that most New Zealand organisations had joined 170 media outlets from around the world in the “Covering ...
The goal of one million Kiwis having basic conversations in te reo by 2040 is unrealistic if more is not done to get serious about reo acquisition says the Māori Party. “While small steps have been taken to bolster efforts to increase the numbers of speakers, ...
Changes announced today by the Immigration Minister to employer-assisted visas will help businesses, but more work is needed to boost economic growth says Business Central. ...
DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is welcoming today’s announcement that the Government will be streamlining the employer assisted work visa process to help businesses and farms fill skills shortages. ...
Lawrence Yule MP wrote to our Office with concerns about the Department of Corrections' approach to procuring design and build services for rapid deployment of prison accommodation. We have published our response to Mr Yule on our website . ...
That from the chair of the Wellington Region of the College of Midwives, Siobhan Connor, following the news that Hutt Valley District Health Board is targeting midwives from overseas to help fill gaps in maternity units. ...
70% of New Zealand’s surface water take is allocated to Meridian’s Manapouri Power Scheme. But when Environment Minister David Parker asked to exempt the Scheme from his Freshwater Action Plan, he didn’t tell Cabinet that. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers responded in a timely and appropriate manner as soon as they were aware that a fleeing driver had hit a pedestrian. ...
prevention and intervention. Following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s post-Cabinet press conference we are encouraged to see the acknowledgement of the mistakes made and the need to address this. The five points outlined in the action plan, which ...
A surge in teen vaping rates and a series of deaths being linked to vaping has resulted in a number of bans on the sales of flavoured Vape juice products in the United States. Though it is widely acknowledged that vaping is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, ...
The governments’ new environmental proposals will further accentuate the move of good, productive farmland into forestry according to environmental lobby group 50 Shades of Green. ...
17 September 2019: New Zealanders are acutely aware of the impact food production processes have on our planet according to new research released today by the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust. ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL is awarding three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
On 14 September 2017, the pipeline that brings diesel, petrol, and jet fuel from Marsden Point Oil Refinery into Auckland ruptured. It leaked jet fuel into rural properties and stopped the transmission of fuels into Auckland for 10 days. The rupture ...
Victims Advocate Louise Nicholas - Labour should have brought in “specialist support” “When there is a complaint especially a serious complaint of sexual assault, the first thing that should have happened was specialist support brought in to ensure ...
Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says New Zealand is ‘not close’ to bringing in oil reserves after the attack on Saudi fields. “We would have to see prices rise by about $20 per barrel in order for some of those strategic reserves ...
New Zealand's new fresh water regulation rules will have no major impacts on the national economy, according to an independent report just out. The report by independent economic consultancy New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows that dairying ...
Fish & Game New Zealand has welcomed the findings of a New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report, which rejects claims the Government’s freshwater proposals will have a significant economic impact. ...
The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the Government should take its proposed firearms legislation to the people with a touring Select Committee, as it just has with the Zero Carbon bill. ...
Water reforms and the long term sustainability of water will be a key focus at the Water New Zealand conference and expo this week (18-20 September) in Hamilton. ...
“Kiwi ex-smokers are mobilising against the Government’s plans to drastically limit vaping flavours. Flavours have been key to them quitting tobacco and they now just want other smokers to have the same chance,” says Jonathan Devery, co-owner ...
Oil company Tamarind Resources has reportedly halted drilling at its Tui oil field off the Taranaki coast after the first of the three planned wells came up dry and bad weather caused delays. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the left-wing campaign group “ActionStation” to front up and be transparent about how much taxpayer funding it takes from the Government to underwrite its activism activities. Earlier in the month, the Taxpayers’ ...
The ‘ Unplanned ’ movie is here and Family First has secured one of the first screenings in New Zealand tonight. ‘Unplanned’ brings an eye-opening look inside the abortion industry from a woman who was once its most passionate advocate. All ...
James Renwick claim that NZ is failing on climate change is valid, and since James has been receiving widespread media coverage that we outline most of it again here now as we gear up for the ‘Global climate change conference’ beginning next week. ...
Protestors will be outside the venue of the fourth hearing for Operation Burnham Inquiry on Monday morning from 8.30am to give a message to former and current military officers as they arrive to speak about the ongoing coverup of the 2010 attack on ...
Covering Climate Now: Alex Casey watches 2040, a climate change documentary determined to let the light in. I’ve seen enough documentaries about climate change to know what I don’t want to see anymore. I don’t want Leonardo DiCaprio stroking his goatee on a sheet of ice and saying “folks: it’s bad”. ...
Covering Climate Now: We need to broaden our measures of success if we want to have any chance of reaching blunt targets for reducing emissions, writes Catherine Leining.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Since 1992, multiple rounds of greenhouse gas ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged the Labour sexual assault scandal risks hurting New Zealand's reputation on the world stage as she heads abroad. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged the Labour sexual assault scandal risks hurting New Zealand's reputation on the world stage as she heads abroad. ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Thousands of forest fires have been burning across Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra, disrupting air travel, closing schools and sickening thousands of people, reports the New York Times. Officials have said that about 80 per cent of the fires were intentionally set to make room for lucrative ...
After over a month of discussions, Kiingitanga has announced that mana whenua at Ihumātao want to keep the land. Fletcher Buildings still owns it, so what comes next in the movement to protect Ihumātao?After over a month of discussion between divided mana whenua over the land at Ihumātao, the Māori ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Climate change Sharon Murdoch (Stuff): 4000 Days: A climate change story where you choose the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, PhD Research Student, History & Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How big is the International Space Station? – Isla, aged 6, Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Lecturer Sport Management, Western Sydney University In March this year, photographer Michael Willson captured an image of AFL footballer Tayla Harris kicking for a goal. The image shows Harris in athletic flight, right leg extended skyward and muscles flexed as ...
It’s a hard road getting attention for outsider candidates in local elections. Alex Braae, writer of The Bulletin and stout defender of the political little guy, thought he’d lend a hand by moderating a rebel Wellington mayoral debate.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The SpinoffMembers. For more ...
Covering Climate Now: A midweek update from the Spinoffers who have ditched dairy (and eggs, and meat, and fish…) for the week. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Read this for the background on what this plant-based palaver is all about.Three ...
Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is defending his use of the words "sieg heil" during last night's lively political debate with Phil Goff, despite being lambasted for it on social media. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Xie, Scientia PhD Scholar, School of Psychology, UNSW This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. This Friday in the lead-up to the United Nations ...
Covering Climate Now: It’s easy to indulge in the idea that individual actions can’t have an impact on climate change. But a few simple ideas from economics show how wrong that is, argues Waikato University lecturer in environmental economics Zach Dorner.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Laurenceson, Acting Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), University of Technology Sydney Last week’s Asian-Australian Leadership Summit in Melbourne saw the release of valuable new survey data on the discrimination some Australians face. A survey conducted by the Australian National ...
Last night Auckland mayoral contender John Tamihere said “sieg heil” when answering a question on diversity. Sadly that has forced us to put together a cheat sheet on how not to say Nazi phrases in debates.About one hour and 18 minutes into a pub politics debate at Chapel Bar on ...
In a special video interview ahead of the big UN Climate Action Summit, UN Secretary General Antonion Guterres says he is hopeful rather than desperate in the face of the climate emergency. ...
The Future of Work at Hutt City’s Dowse Art Museum makes visible our changing work conditions. Mark Amery took a tour, and even got some work done himself while he was there.I’ve gone to work at the gallery. And I’m making an exhibition of myself. Making my labour visible. I’m ...
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council was the first in New Zealand to vote in Māori ward seats. This election, the region’s longest-standing Māori councillor is up against some fierce competition from a former broadcaster who’s already put his skills to use in a viral video.The Spinoff local election coverage ...
With only a few more sleeps until the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Tara Ward looks at the variety of ways you can watch the tournament from the comfort of your own home.Set your clocks, sound the alarms and gird your scrum-loving loins for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which kicks ...
Covering Climate Now: As part of The Spinoff’s commitment to Covering Climate Now, the food section has gone vegan. Today, a delicious recipe to herald the arrival of spring. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Roman-style vignarolahas great appeal at ...
Covering Climate Now: Connecting your everyday choices at the supermarket to a crisis half a world away might be a hard concept get your head around, but we all have power to effect change, writes Hannah McGowan.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University When we think of a bank robbery, we might imagine a safe with the door blown open. But nowadays it might be more accurate to picture criminals accessing our bank account online ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Senior Fellow, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University In the hit biopic Rocket Man, the ambitious young Reginald Dwight is counselled to hide his working-class roots if he wants to make it in “showbiz”: You gotta kill the person ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia Countries around the world, including Australia, are using different ways to get parents to vaccinate their children. Our new research, published this week in the journal Milbank Quarterly, looks at diverse mandatory vaccination policies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Hare, Director, Climate Analytics, Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University (Perth), Visiting scientist, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research This piece is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathalie Collins, Academic Director (National Programs), Edith Cowan University The hit sitcom Friends aired for the first time 25 years ago this week. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey have not aged on our small screen – and neither has their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hall, Senior Researcher in Politics, Auckland University of Technology This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. As a new sense of urgency to act ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Love, Hon Senior Fellow, Transport Health and Urban Design (THUD) Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne The Spanish city of Barcelona has pioneered an innovative approach to managing traffic, freeing up public space and promoting walking and cycling. The “superblocks” ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Govt makes business-friendly migrant worker changes, PM off overseas to talk trade, and the cost of Christchurch water in China revealed.A range of changes around the immigration system have been announced, reports Newshub. Among the biggest headline grabbers was the decision that ...
A group representing migrant workers says the government's overhaul of work visas has failed to remove a clause that means they can be treated like modern day slaves. ...
Daily Review 14/06/2017 
We surveyed candidates on their attitudes to issues facing the Western Bay Region, find out what they think: “Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues ...4 hours ago
Please spread widely, and sign, to support science and rationalism over the new irrationalism sweeping universities and institutions. PROJECT NETTIE Sexual reproduction, the generation of offspring by fusion of genetic material from two different individuals, evolved over 1 billion years ago. It is the reproductive strategy of all higher animals ...6 hours ago
Just when I was thinking that Palmerston North's mayoral race (which includes a convicted child molester / public wanker and a convicted child beater) was the worst in the country, Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere opened his mouth:Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is being slammed for using the words "sieg ...6 hours ago
Why is New Zealand climate change policy so crap? The Herald this morning has a long article on the twists and turns of climate change policy in New Zealand [paywalled / depaywall script], which shows where we've been. The short version is that the government first began worrying about this ...9 hours ago
The All Blacks have been, for more than a century, arguably the most successful International sports team in the world. But they are more than that; even for those Kiwis who are immune to the charms of rugby (and there are more than a few), the All Blacks are ambassadors ...12 hours ago
2 days ago
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...2 days ago
2 days ago
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...2 days ago
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...2 days ago
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...2 days ago
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...3 days ago
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...5 days ago
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...5 days ago
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...6 days ago
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...6 days ago
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...6 days ago
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...1 week ago
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ... 1 week ago
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...1 week ago
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...1 week ago
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...1 week ago
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...1 week ago
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...1 week ago
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...1 week ago
Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...1 week ago
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...1 week ago
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...2 weeks ago
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...2 weeks ago
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...2 weeks ago
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ... 2 weeks ago
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning why, for the second time, Jacinda Ardern has appointed a Crown-owned company Chief Executive to Chair her “Business Advisory Council”, following her announcement that Mercury CEO Fraser Whineray ...2 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: Alex Casey watches 2040, a climate change documentary determined to let the light in. I’ve seen enough documentaries about climate change to know what I don’t want to see anymore. I don’t want Leonardo DiCaprio stroking his goatee on a sheet of ice and saying “folks: it’s bad”. ...33 mins ago
Jacinda Ardern flies to New York with hope of action on the Christchurch Call and climate change. ...1 hour ago
Covering Climate Now: We need to broaden our measures of success if we want to have any chance of reaching blunt targets for reducing emissions, writes Catherine Leining.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Since 1992, multiple rounds of greenhouse gas ...2 hours ago
A Christchurch mayoral candidate is campaigning on environmental sustainability, but some of his hospitality businesses doesn't recycle. ...2 hours ago
Without targets, the Government will have a difficult task in defining whether the gun buyback is successful. Some say it’s impossible. ...3 hours ago
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Thousands of forest fires have been burning across Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra, disrupting air travel, closing schools and sickening thousands of people, reports the New York Times. Officials have said that about 80 per cent of the fires were intentionally set to make room for lucrative ...4 hours ago
The government has announced a plan to turn aquaculture into a $3 billion industry within 15 years. ...4 hours ago
After over a month of discussions, Kiingitanga has announced that mana whenua at Ihumātao want to keep the land. Fletcher Buildings still owns it, so what comes next in the movement to protect Ihumātao?After over a month of discussion between divided mana whenua over the land at Ihumātao, the Māori ...4 hours ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, PhD Research Student, History & Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au. How big is the International Space Station? – Isla, aged 6, Australia. ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Lecturer Sport Management, Western Sydney University In March this year, photographer Michael Willson captured an image of AFL footballer Tayla Harris kicking for a goal. The image shows Harris in athletic flight, right leg extended skyward and muscles flexed as ...5 hours ago
It’s a hard road getting attention for outsider candidates in local elections. Alex Braae, writer of The Bulletin and stout defender of the political little guy, thought he’d lend a hand by moderating a rebel Wellington mayoral debate.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more ...5 hours ago
The difference between what the country earns and spends overseas has narrowed slightly. ...5 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Xie, Scientia PhD Scholar, School of Psychology, UNSW This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. This Friday in the lead-up to the United Nations ...6 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: It’s easy to indulge in the idea that individual actions can’t have an impact on climate change. But a few simple ideas from economics show how wrong that is, argues Waikato University lecturer in environmental economics Zach Dorner.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible ...7 hours ago
Listed property investment company Goodman Property Trust is looking to raise up to $175 million through a share issue for future developments. ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like ...7 hours ago
Curbing foreign political donations is the easy bit of the Chinese equation. ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Laurenceson, Acting Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), University of Technology Sydney Last week’s Asian-Australian Leadership Summit in Melbourne saw the release of valuable new survey data on the discrimination some Australians face. A survey conducted by the Australian National ...7 hours ago
Last night Auckland mayoral contender John Tamihere said “sieg heil” when answering a question on diversity. Sadly that has forced us to put together a cheat sheet on how not to say Nazi phrases in debates.About one hour and 18 minutes into a pub politics debate at Chapel Bar on ...7 hours ago
In a special video interview ahead of the big UN Climate Action Summit, UN Secretary General Antonion Guterres says he is hopeful rather than desperate in the face of the climate emergency. ...8 hours ago
Kathmandu's full year profit beat its expectations with strong sales and profit growth. ...8 hours ago
The Future of Work at Hutt City’s Dowse Art Museum makes visible our changing work conditions. Mark Amery took a tour, and even got some work done himself while he was there.I’ve gone to work at the gallery. And I’m making an exhibition of myself. Making my labour visible. I’m ...8 hours ago
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council was the first in New Zealand to vote in Māori ward seats. This election, the region’s longest-standing Māori councillor is up against some fierce competition from a former broadcaster who’s already put his skills to use in a viral video.The Spinoff local election coverage ...9 hours ago
Westpac Bank has revealed a glaring gender pay gap in its workforce and its chief executive says it plans to tackle the issue. ...9 hours ago
With only a few more sleeps until the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Tara Ward looks at the variety of ways you can watch the tournament from the comfort of your own home.Set your clocks, sound the alarms and gird your scrum-loving loins for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which kicks ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University When we think of a bank robbery, we might imagine a safe with the door blown open. But nowadays it might be more accurate to picture criminals accessing our bank account online ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Hare, Director, Climate Analytics, Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University (Perth), Visiting scientist, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research This piece is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathalie Collins, Academic Director (National Programs), Edith Cowan University The hit sitcom Friends aired for the first time 25 years ago this week. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey have not aged on our small screen – and neither has their ...11 hours ago
Dairy prices have risen for the first time in nearly two months in the latest auction. ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Love, Hon Senior Fellow, Transport Health and Urban Design (THUD) Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne The Spanish city of Barcelona has pioneered an innovative approach to managing traffic, freeing up public space and promoting walking and cycling. The “superblocks” ...12 hours ago
Petrol company Gull says its competitors raised fuel prices too quickly after drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. ...12 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Govt makes business-friendly migrant worker changes, PM off overseas to talk trade, and the cost of Christchurch water in China revealed.A range of changes around the immigration system have been announced, reports Newshub. Among the biggest headline grabbers was the decision that ...13 hours ago
Six months on from the terrorist attacks, and after years of frustrations, the Office of Ethnic communities is changing. ...14 hours ago
Surprise, surprise. The waving of a wet bus ticket did little to encourage New Zealand's life insurers to behave better. ...14 hours ago
Normally the fight to keep Hunua's kōkako alive is waged in native bush. Last year its fate was fought for in an Auckland courtroom. ...15 hours ago
This is a very scary piece.
Abby Martin: World Ignores Opposition Violence at Venezuela Protests
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=19279#.WT5LgWzBrWZ.twitter
Sadly, too many people will skip or skim over that Adam.
Reporting on Venezuela, as Abby Martin points out, is coming from the same play-book as that used in the Ukraine and Syria. It’s all fucking fucked and I can’t really see a solution. People ‘don’t want to know’ and immediately go on a kind of rabid offensive against any common sense or any pointing to ‘small t’ truths.
Things are only going to change if or when a critical mass of people hesitate long enough to realise that those who push these “official enemy” lines are the ones who are most assuredly not on our side; that the ones they push these lines against often have interests far more in tune with our own than they do.
Take a deep breath. But don’t hold it.
I won’t hold my breath.
It’s the toilet paper lie gone large.
Referring to the original use of the screenshot, the Blackadder punchline is something like:
“My husband sits on a spike, and I sit on my husband… because two spikes would be indulgent”.
Yep I cracked up when I saw the use of the image.
Someone recently commented that the DUP are the political wing of the 17th century …
“I sit on Nathaniel — two spikes would be an extravagance”. 🙂
Anyone else wondering when the Lib Dems will rise up like comic book heroes to “save” Britain from a DUP/Tory deal?
And wondering how many of those liberal lackeys in UK Labour will jump ship and join with them to give the whole shit sandwich a dusting of vomit inducing centrist pragmatism?
The Lib Dems only said they would do no deals…I’m fairly sure they didn’t say they wouldn’t back either party. Two entirely different kettles of fish and deals aren’t necessary under the current UK Parliamentary system.
Yes, the LIb Dems would be dicing with oblivion if they backed the Tories in any way whatsoever after their coalition of the recent past.
But the liberal play book…hold up the fear (DUP + NI hitting the fan) and then the “grown up” solution of heroically disaffected Labour MPs + Lib Dems ride in at the last minute; the lesser evil defeating the fearful one.
Just a thought….
What’s the bet when all has been said and done, we will learn that since the advent of this neo-liberal age… the loosening of building regulations, cost cutting measures, poorer quality materials and a lack of fire alarms and sprinklers were the basic cause of this horrific inferno in London:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-40269625
So, the building was built in 1974. but there’s also this in the article you linked to.
Edit: The Guardian has more on the concerns raised in the last few years about safety , poor management, fire hazards, faulty wiring, and lack of adequate escape routes for tenants.
The local resident group had a far greater understanding of the risks than the managers/authorities or anyone supposedly in charge. Just one of the damning statements they made. So tragic.
https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/
Wow.
Damning.
The power and permanence of blog posts.
Privatisation strikes again.
um no it is a body collective made up resident stakeholders and council.
http://www.kctmo.org.uk/main/8/about-us
That’s absolutely horrendous. No way a regular fire should be able to spread like that in any building, let alone a residential one.
Poor buggers.
ACM cladding. That stuff is cheap nasty shit. Council fuckwits saving a buck.
Oh ACM is basically two thin layers of ali with polyethylene core. well know for fires. Easy and cheap to use. Looks great too.
by using it as overcladding it sounds like they formed a chimney for the fire to spead up the outside of the building within the cladding, while the fire was feeding on the cladding itself.
I think there is good and bad ACM cladding. The good stuff has a core that is at least a 70% incombustible makimg it hard to burn and the bad stuff like you say.
How much money would we be able to tuck into our sock if every mortgage in NZ as of 2019 had to go through Kiwibank?
What direction are you suggesting here?
“Wicked child! Using Mrs implies fornication”.
Brilliant image and caption.
The 17th century quip raised a giggle too.
We certainly live in interesting times.
Edit:oops sausage fingers. This belongs up thread.
Could have written this myself; albeit from the pov of a kiwi who has moved to Aus:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/93441299/moving-to-nz-was-a-culture-shock-even-for-an-aussie
Get that … lower wages AND a higher cost of living. That lines up directly with my experience; every trip we make back home is a bit of a shocker in the wallet dept.
It’s not all a whinge .. far from it. The writer also sees some very profound positives that makes it worthwhile:
Yes Red. “I have a job” used to mean “I’m rising”. For too many “I have a job” now means “I’ve got my nostrils above the waterline.”
It’s not right, it’s not balanced. We’ll get it sorted.
What gets me is that it was all so avoidable.
Not in a capitalist system. In a capitalist system it’s inevitable.
The Australian economy isn’t looking too good at the moment though, I reckon the Aussies are about to go through a massive change similar to what we went through in the 1980’s.
Living far beyond their means the Aussies, those halcyon days of the Chinese buying everything Australia could dig out of the ground has finished and they ain’t coming back.
Yes, it’s a trap for governments and individuals. The golden rule is to live within your means and they were. Like an individual, they needed a ‘get out with your shirt if the wheels fall off.” plan. It’s tricky to get that right, to seamlessly scale down. Most of us find preparing for crap times in the future tough. ‘Crack another bottle.’
Except that they weren’t. They were digging up their means and selling it as fast as they could. Still are and so are we.
So are Venezuela, I’ll stick where I am thanks.
Dracoland is a great idea, we’ve tried lots of variations, when it’s overlaid with human nature it fails.
The way we’re doing things now is not right either, capitalism is not fabulous Draco, far from it. Looking around the globe, thumbing through the history books, so far it looks like the best of a bad bunch.
We just need to adjust it so that the honey is more widespread. That doesn’t mean chucking it out, it means sculpting it to suit us all.
Appeal to Nature
Instinct does not apply to a species that can make intelligent choices.
You’re obviously not actually reading them. Capitalism, throughout the last 5000 years of recorded history, has destroyed every single society that it arose in and it’s doing the same again because of the greed and hubris of the capitalists – the greed and hubris you display on a daily basis.
We are all tuned into our unique frequency of W11 FM. What’s in it for me? We are all subjected to the pull of greed, it’s just the scale that varies.
I’m sure you can quote passages that support your views all day long Draco, it doesn’t make them the universal truth. If I was so inclined I could provide counter claims and we could bounce other peoples’ opinions between us ad infinitum.
Where and when do you think your model for our society has worked best? Capitalism eventually fails, yes all things have a life span. But jeeez things are crook in Venezuela. I’d suggest we’re seeing human instinct at play.
My greed? Being a capitalist doesn’t make me any more or less greedy than you. Outcomes geared to inputs does not necessarily lead to greed. I haven’t got your money Draco, you’ll need to organise your own, you’ll die waiting for our society to bankroll your ‘nice to haves’.
I think I saw capitalism at it’s best when I lived in Sweden in the late 90’s.
I reckon that a person living willingly in a capitalist society, behaving as a capitalist is greedier by definition that someone living in certain non-capitalist societies, particularly tribal societies that value sharing highly and actively discourage greedy behaviour.
Yes, I see your point but I wonder if in a tribal setting the outcome sought is more one of survival. Warm clothes, a roof and a full belly. Where as in our society we’re concerned about replacing cambelts and getting to a family Xmas gathering in Wellington.
I suspect tribal communities over the eons have enjoyed far more opportunities for leisure and the pursuit of entertainment than we enjoy now, meaning they could have coveted stuff, but didn’t, as their society was mature and had worked out that greed and acquisition equals eventual destruction. We’ve not cottoned on to that yet, but we will, ’cause, eventual destruction. Some can see it already, but their voices are being drowned out by those with a vested interest and those who have become addicted.
Moderated and regulated ‘ capitalism’ is not an evil , however , neo liberalism / globalism is. And that’s where so much of this division happens.
I prefer moderate nationalism – the bane of both the neo liberal and the extreme left – such as Draco.
And to understand how both camps have been royally played like fools , – perhaps we should be directing our attention towards those who really are the culprits.
This , on an annual meeting of the Bilderbergers in Virginia , USA , for example. Something for everyone here , – both the leftist and the capitalist to take home. Watch and learn.
Bilderberg Elites Panic As Trump Dismantles Climate Change Hoax …
Video for climate change bilderberg you tube▶ 7:48
Or offer a rate that competitors can’t equal. Govts get $ at a keen %.
There are more ways for our nation to plug into vibrant inflation in the housing sector than applying taxes. The word ‘tax’ induces those that could vote left to offer a tiny reflex gasp.
If our government is going to help out those that had no insurance on their place, doesn’t it make sense for them to hold the book on the lot? Another 2 bob in the sock.
Newshub poll: 87% say charge royalties on water
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/06/newshub-poll-87-say-charge-royalties-on-water.html
I’m not surprised that a majority support it but I am surprised it being so high.
There is a lot to love about spiders
https://www.treehugger.com/animals/spiders-eat-800-million-tons-insects-year.html
personally always been a bit frightened and got through that to loving them – 8 eyes!!! That alone is mega.
Put the house on a massive flip flop by Bling and his zero government cronies on royalties for water exporters.
They are getting a hiding in the polls on this and this government is a poll driven government; always was, and always will be.
I do hope a reporter asks Bling why the massive turn-around in their belief that ‘no-one owns water’. Not holding my breath, in fact Jenna Lynch will probably gush over the government’s rethink, calling it savvy politics.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/06/newshub-poll-87-say-charge-royalties-on-water.html
Until we abandon neo-liberalism, the looting of this country’s resources will continue..
Muttonhead,
Jenna Lynch, blah,blah,blah, Jenna Lynch blah,blah, blah. This article was not even written by her. You have an uneasy fascination about her, as I said yesterday stop your bullying and grow the fuck up.
Free speech, bro. Suck it up.
Muttonhead,
This reminds me of you.
https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2017/06/official-weak-men-prefer-socialism/
Linking to whale oil. Says it all.
Free speech Bro, suck it up.
People go to university for years to study this stuff so at the risk of being a dummy.
Does the problem shape up like this: We spend our money, it flits offshore and becomes an asset elsewhere.
Do we turn neoliberalism around by making our spend do more for our nation? Is that the issue? Is that why our nation is supposedly travelling really well and we’re all eating dogfood?
It’s really the banks. Inflating the capital value of everything makes us all broke by generations. Farmers are debt slaves to the banks. Fishermen were wiped out by the capitalization of their asset as quota, and even the companies who acquired the asset struggle to pay for it. Ordinary city folk are looking at 30 years of two incomes to pay off a house, when the halflife of a good job is about 18 months. And all the margins on that – the profits – flow overseas – they are not reinvested here except at extractive interest rates.
The cure is Candide’s – il faut cultiver notre jardin. No cut for the neoliberals in that – but good health, local employment, environmental sustainability.
If it’s the banks, is there a way Government leverage and the retail face of Kiwibank could make a difference?
Certainly – restrict the market access of foreign banks & make local ones socially responsible. But the amount of capital rorted out of NZ will take generations to rebuild or replace if more strenuous measures are not taken.
Fascinating story in the Guardian, a study of the distribution of tax evasion according to wealth (something that is inherently difficult to study, but the authors have put some real effort in).
The more wealthy you are, the more you evade tax. While most reports on inequality only look at tax data. So inequality is considerably worse than generally reported, when tax evasion is included in the calculation.
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jun/14/tax-evaders-exposed-why-super-rich-are-even-richer-than-we-thought
Worth a guest post here, this one.
So, the capitalists are going through their standard motions that destroy society.
I’ll look forward to reading it once you’ve got it put up.
NZ is third on this list.
Given increasing regionism and nationalism over migration. And stories like https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jun/14/tax-evaders-exposed-why-super-rich-are-even-richer-than-we-thought
Are the Arab countries looking to their own region for wealth centers and does this explain the current regional spat over the regional economic power house?
Are we see nation states begin looking at the wealthiest globally and asking why they don’t live where they earn? First they came for the migrants the the rustication for going after the richest?