Daily review 18/01/2022
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5:30 pm, January 18th, 2022 - 17 comments
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As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...3 days ago
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The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...3 days ago
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Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...4 days ago
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National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...4 days ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...4 days ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...4 days ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...4 days ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...4 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law. ...4 days ago
- Release: Minister of Education thinks New Zealand ends at the Bombay Hills
The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today. ...4 days ago
- Economists sound alarm on Government’s slash-and-burn approach
A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...4 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...5 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...5 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...6 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...6 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...7 days ago
- Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill
The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...1 week ago
- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...1 week ago
- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation
The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care
Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
- Urgent wake-up call on climate
The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
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I don't think the anti-vaxxers can go much lower than this:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/01/covid-19-ministry-of-health-denies-viral-claim-children-collapsed-at-north-shore-vaccination-centre.html
Yes that's subterranean low, and I hope you're right about them going no lower, but these terrorists could be capable of anything.
This must be the fear Bill keeps referring to.
The anti-anti-vaxxers are so much lower. Do I win something, or is it a draw?
One prominent anti-anti-vaxxer has compared being unvaccinated with deliberately driving a car into oncoming traffic. That really is beyond the pale.
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-consequences-of-covid-amp-why-anti-vaxxers-arent-free-to-cross-a-one-lane-bridge-whenever-they-like
I haven't read that, but I will after dinner duties.
One thing I will say now though, there's a difference between opinions and actions.
Ross, there are daily eyewitness accounts of the nasty, aggressive behaviour of anti-vax protesters. There are several links provided on here, even in the last few hours. If you want more, just ask.
(Please note, I am not referring to all people who are not vaccinated. This is about a minority of the minority. There is room for a reasonable debate about the balance between public health and individual rights. As on so many health-related topics).
If you know of similar behaviour by "anti-anti-vaxxers", as you call them, please provide evidence of it. Expressing an opinion on a blog is not the same as physically targeting children at a vaccination centre.
Again, they are not "pro-freedom". If they were, they would leave people to make their choice. Why don't they?
You're as mad as the anti-vaxxers in question if you interpret Tim Watkin's comment in that way. I would describe it as a ‘metaphoric corollary’ but that might be a bit beyond your powers of comprehension.
Whatever… thanks for linking to Watkin's post. It has to be one of his best.
I would describe it as a ‘metaphoric corollary’
I would describe it as garbage and particular noteworthy coming from a member of the Media Council.
I suspect you are seeing something that is not there. The article makes the point that there are consequences for ignoring rules that are passed for the general safety of our population. Driving over a one-way bridge without right of way and checking for traffic coming the other way will not always result in an accident, just as being unvaccinated does not make it certain that you will catch Covid-19. You have mis-represented the comparison being made. That really is beyond the pale for The Standard . . .
Ed,
I will help you out as you don’t seem to have read Tim’s musings on murder.
“I was enjoying the freedom of heading to the beach to ride some real waves with my wife and sons. I was free, in that moment, to ignore the road rules, the science of mass and velocity and drive onto that bridge and into the oncoming traffic. But that choice would have had dire consequences.“
Yes, it would have. People likely would have been killed and Tim would’ve been facing a murder charge. God knows what hysterical response we’d have seen if a so-called anti-vaxxer had written that.
After reading that excellent piece I say no, you don't win any prize. To the contrary, you should be issued extra homework for dubious comprehension skills.
You may get sympathy for your argument by a couple of people here, but overall most will see you've bet on a horse that's run the wrong way.
Anti Vaxxers go on about 'freedom' and 'choice', but the reality is, that every single one of them, to a man (or woman) actively condoned Derek Chauvin's summary's execution of George Floyd. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.
Those in the media, and those in the grassroots.
How low can the anti-vaxxers go?
Apart from trashing vaccination centres?
Apart from threatening health workers?
Apart from linking up with fascists?
Apart from making false bookings to prevent people getting vaccinated?
Apart from taking ICU places away from other patients with life threatening conditions?
Screaming it is all about their choice, while mounting a legal challenge to stop the rest of us from exercising our choice in protecting our children from getting sick or dying?
How about confronting families and scaring their children?
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/covid-19-parents-shocked-by-anti-vaccine-protesters/
Personally speaking; I have lost patience with all these anti-enlightenment, anti-science, anti-social, anti-vaccination reactionaries.
In all their various attempts at spreading doubt and hesitancy, and all their fellow travelers.
One thing is for certain.
No anti-vax scum be allowed anywhere near Tonga.
Any remaining NZDF personal refusing vaccination needs to be court martialed, less they spread the virus to our army and navy relief teams.
Any unvaccinated volunteer relief worker hoping to act out the big white Bwana or Florence Nightingale fantasy in Tonga needs to let go.
Just seen this on US twitter:
https://twitter.com/DrRupaMarya
https://www.womenarehuman.com/male-48-dressed-as-a-woman-to-enter-womens-open-air-bath/
A Japanese man who is a cross dresser goes into a women’s open air bath, with a transparent covering over his penis……”At heart I am a woman”
More evidence of how gender ideology enables this behaviour and harms women
George Monbiot on Not Looking Up Watching Don’t Look Up made me see my whole life of campaigning flash before me | George Monbiot | The Guardian
We've been watching the bounders of BAU for too long – Iron Sky was supposed to be farce, not a realistic assessment of the quality of contemporary leadership.
Four Reasons Civilization Won’t Decline: It Will Collapse – Resilience
"Can we put the survival of our species and our planet first, or will we allow ourselves to become hopelessly divided along national, cultural, racial, religious, or party lines?"