We must look after her – a consummately valuable being at a time of crisis both planetary and local. Best way is to actively engage in kindness her word and outreach not only in the weeks ahead but always as the emerging mode of being a Kiwi.
“Troubled times, she says, are “precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
“I know the world is bruised and bleeding,” she adds, “and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.””
The contrast between Jacinda Ardern’s empathy and presence, and Simon Bridges this morning on Radio NZ, plus reports of Paula Bennett as Police Minister watering down the recommendations on gun reform is very telling. Glad we have this government dealing with this horrific issue!!
Simon Dallow reported on One News just now that an 18 year old guy has been charged with inciting violence in Christchurch. Mention was made of him inciting extreme violence online, and posting a photo of one of the mosques with the caption `target acquired’.
This looks like proof of an online proof of an online support system for the shooter – and possible proof of involvement of a Christchurch alt-right cell, as suggested the other day by Paul Buchanan.
In his Herald commentary Hosking joins Trotter in promoting the lone wolf theory. Inasmuch as reports on the shooting as it happened informed us that hundreds of online supporters were cheering him on during his live stream, it seems these two have adopted an untenable position.
However the Herald elsewhere clarified that the other three arrested at the time were not implicated. Merely carrying firearms. Probably regular viewers of tv crime shows.
no, apparently one was volunteering to “help” the police and someone else was picking their kid up from school with the gun as protection.
More than one typre of gun nut around that day.
He might have been the pointy end of the pyramid, but it might be an education to find out how he funded trips around the world, a flat, and a firearms collection when he “obsessively” worked out.
I’ve had a quiet day today reading lots of thoughts and opinions of people. Been great to read non older paler maler views (sorry TS dudes) so i thought I’d put a couple of links up from different voices. They’re angry, emotional, real and deep and will hopefully create a wider tapestry of views for us all.
Thank you. I especially liked this one – debating racist is a waste of time and energy.
“… An article that tries again to show the link between mainstream, fashionable Muslim-bashing and its violent manifestations on the right. An article that fillets the semantic tricks played to stop Muslims ever being complete victims: the line that Islam is not a race; the use of women’s and LBGT rights as a rhetorical stick to beat Muslims with; the cant about freedom of speech, political correctness and the danger of identity politics; the whataboutery and the strawmanning….
…It is time to stop pleading. It is time to call things what they are and not temper or apologise for the strength of the allegations, to call people racists, opportunists and complicit hatemongers even if they do grace our prestigious publications and seats of governance. It is time to do what they always accuse you of doing anyway, and “shut down the debate”.”
Yes – I have read harrowing accounts of race and religion hatred towards our Muslim brothers and sisters today. I think, up to now, I haven’t really understood their pain and alienation in our country. I feel very sad and upset by that and I determined that I will make amends by listening more, supporting more and acting more.
By Khaled Diab
Khaled Diab is a journalist and writer. He is the author of “Islam for the Politically Incorrect” and “Intimate Enemies.”
March 16
If a terrorist were to claim that their attack was intended to “add momentum to the pendulum swings of history, further destabilizing and polarizing Western society,” you might be excused in thinking the perpetrator was an Islamic extremist. But these are the words of a white supremacist and crusader.
[…]
These two hateful ideologies — white supremacy and radical Islamism — may regard themselves as polar opposites, but their worldviews resemble the other. Both are paranoid, exhibit a toxic blend of superiority and inferiority toward the other, are scornful of less extreme members of their own communities, and are nostalgic for an imagined past of cultural dominance.
[…]
A contempt for “Western” modernity is another trait shared by Islamists and the Christian far right. “The Europeans worked assiduously in trying to immerse (the world) in materialism, with their corrupting traits and murderous germs, to overwhelm those Muslim lands that their hands stretched out to,” believed al-Banna. Unintentionally echoing the founding father of political Islam, Tarrant is convinced that the West has become a “society of rampant nihilism, consumerism and individualism.”
[…]
This disdain for many aspects of modernity translates into an overwhelming yearning for a supposedly more glorious and pure past and a nostalgia for bygone imperial greatness when the world was at their command — for the days of European empire or Islamic caliphates.
The thinking and the feelings that may be behind the swirl of social media and blogging from upset and angry men and women – is it like this in their minds?
From Joe90’s link: This disdain for many aspects of modernity translates into an overwhelming yearning for a supposedly more glorious and pure past and a nostalgia for bygone imperial greatness when the world was at their command — for the days of European empire or Islamic caliphates.
Is there a nostalgia for past colonial might of Britain behind Brexit? Is it nostalgia and wishful thinking and an inability to face the world that you actually helped create, driving the extreme resentment? Disruption in others’ lives and land has been caused by unwise attacks and invasion, by or enhanced by outsiders, causing infrastructural, societal and agricultural damage that causes people to be uprooted and flee into your own domain by people who are now outsiders in your country?
Is it resentment from the grunts in the armed forces who haven’t got much out of the maneouvres and fighting, perhaps damage to their bodies and minds that is not recompensed; in the end their personal lives, and their local and nationwide economy has become poorer.
Not what you expected after all the fighting and strain on personal life and health, and then the refugees from the war you have just fought and been damaged in, they come to live in your town and end up with more help than you have received, and the other men in the town aren’t given the same opportunities and help. How do you feel seeing them prosper with deep commitment to each other? Has your society got deep commitment to you and giving you similar opportunities to flourish? You feel that you are now an annoyance to your authorities, a burden, not respected, not appreciated for putting yourselves in the way of harm, under orders and direction. Then you and your cohort seem to be consigned to being second-rate people at home.
Is that a line of thinking that would fire up and keep hot, the anomic males, in a society where employment statistics are so all encompassing that they start at one hour of paid employment a week. That may be useful for stable comparisons for the Stats Department, but measuring full-time numbers at one job of 40 hours would indicate the real situation. (If someone can give me the line of clicks I have to make to get that for the nation and for each region per quarter, and annually, I would appreciate it.)
“Some dealers get around the law by importing parts that are interchangeable between MSSAs and ‘A category’ rifles. “This enables domestic assembly and the assembler to later purchase parts such as a large-capacity magazine or pistol grip without a licence, and to turn the assembled ‘A category’ semi-automatic into a MSSA,” the police told the minister.”
Dude has attitude: “The Queensland independent senator laughed off threats from Scott Morrison, saying: “I hope it’s not too painful. What’s he going to do? Flog me with his lace hanky?”
Hmm, an admirer of Fraser. Apologist for Tarrant the other day. Questioner of the Islam texts yesterday and WTF ever was the shite you tried pull in open mike only hours ago something like racist complaints aren’t real cos Islam isn’t a race cos some judges said so.
Lawyer smarts aye. So reasonable and inquiring aren’t you.
You made a call on the Quran after reading 1 verse of it in Tarrants manifesto – WTF is wrong with you?
At best you are extremely ignorant. I’m leaning towards sociopathic game playing POS.
I think Dennis Frank is trying to be objective. But it comes over as unconcerned, even accepting. And the idea of taking bits out of the holy bibles of any religion because they seem to encourage violence is pointless to put forward. I read Dennis saying this the other day, and consider it both unwise to express at the present, and not useful as a suggestion for any time. It would arouse much anger and claims of interference in the religion and not deal with the problem. The beliefs in peoples’ minds are what need to be exposed to the air and discussed. I
Then there is the role modelling from parents and others in the person’s life. And what faction do they identify with, and is it a positive one? Is there a lack of a reasoned pathway for future life, and a lack of reasoned discussion on how to make a satisfactory life with what you have and could work towards, using your own talents.
This is what is needed, not merely redacting words out of an important, sacred document. Counselling the person when young to help them understand themselves and their talents. This would be a start to the person forming a plan for their future, knowing their strong and weak points, and being able to grow those talents and make a living from them, being appreciated as a worthwhile person. This would not lead to a pathway for that individual shooting at people in deep resentment and anger.
Dennis is not objective. He’s still doing it and he’ll keep doing it as the feedback of a bunch of people means nothing to the sound of his own word heavy nonsense and vile stirring.
Take the rosy glasses off, watch the pattern repeat.
Always playing the victim, simultaneously always on attack. And not that clever it’s mostly gibberish. Lefties vs righties, but he’s in the center. The problem with all of you is…
Look closer. Gibberish with a pin in it. Who he scratches doesn’t matter, as long as he does it. Gets to be victim again, takes the gibberish he’s made up of why that is to the next blog.
I’m glad he did it, but in classical heroism terms Abdul Aziz is pretty hard to beat – attacks armed mass murderer with a credit card reader and beats him so badly he runs off like a yellow dog – give that man a VC! And honorary membership of our armed forces if that’s a prerequisite – he was defending New Zealand – our people are our country.
i can understand why military folk may feel that.
there is an arguement to be had that when these awards were enacted, the was no notion of a ‘civilian’ on a murderous spree with military planning, gear and objectives.
Aziz’s courage can be said to eclipse military bravery as it was a very one sided encounter, in that he was essentially unarmed.
“Peter Dutton has accused the Greens of being “just as bad” as extreme right-wing nationalist senator Fraser Anning, claiming both are seeking to extract political advantage from the Christchurch terror attack. On Monday the home affairs minister equated the Greens holding him accountable for stoking anti-Islamic sentiment with Anning’s comments blaming the attack on Muslim immigration.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/18/peter-dutton-claims-greens-just-as-bad-as-fraser-anning-on-christchurch-attack
“Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi responded that it was “vile” to say the comments were in any way equivalent, while Labor leader in the Senate Penny Wong accused him of “normalising hate speech. Since the attack on Friday the Greens have gone on the front foot with leader Richard Di Natale renewing calls for a parliamentary code of conduct to stamp out hate speech and Faruqi, the first Muslim senator in Australia, criticising conservative politicians for stoking hatred. “It is politicians like Peter Dutton who have actually contributed to creating an atmosphere where hate is allowed to incubate in our society,” Faruqi told Radio National. “They can’t shrug off their responsibility.”
I’m feeling solidarity with the Oz Greens on their stance. I get that the conservatives are just trying to represent their constituents, as democracy requires of them, but their style of doing so does seem offensive. That said, I’m a centrist not a rightist.
About Oz and insults and ingrained racism against anyone of colour – Aborigines, Muslims – and anyone who wants to make change in social habits.
Oz pollie Fraser Anning says that mother of the boy who threw an egg at him should have slapped him. I’m inclined to believe that the same prescription should have been handed out to this hoity-toity ass.
Background: He and his wife own a number of hotels. He comes from landowner family with a number of properties. He is the great-grandson of a British pastoral squatter who went to Australia to acquire land. He and several of his sons soon expanded from one to amalgamating more properties.
Next bit is telling: His family was involved in the frontier conflict as they forcibly took the land from the local Aboriginal people. In response to the spearing of cattle, the Annings would ride out with firearms, attack Aboriginal campsites and capture young boys who survived in order to use them as labour on their cattle and sheep stations.[8] The Annings at times also requested the services of the local Native Police paramilitary unit to assist in clearing “blacks” off their runs.[9] Frank Hann, another pastoralist in the region who regularly participated in extrajudicial punitive raids on Aboriginals, described in his diary in 1874 how he saw “Anning just come back from hunting blacks”.[10]…
On 4 June 2018, Anning joined Katter’s Australian Party, becoming the party’s first senator;[20] however, he was expelled in October 2018 for his inflammatory rhetoric concerning immigration, including his mention of a “final solution” to the problem….
On 14 August 2018, Anning delivered his maiden speech to the Senate. In it, he called for a plebiscite to reintroduce racial and religious discrimination in immigration policy, especially with regard to excluding Muslims. He criticised “cultural Marxism”, “safe schools and gender fluidity garbage” and the abuse of the external affairs power of the Australian constitution. He also spoke in support of the right of civilians to own firearms, and the Bradfield Scheme irrigation proposal.[43]
His speech included a reference to a “final solution”, the English equivalent of the term used by the Nazi Party during preparation and execution of the Holocaust during World War II[21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Anning
He is a vile man, and comes from a family that has apparently little conscience and sense of fairness. It is interesting to know something about the person’s background to see what path they took in forming their views.
They call Fraser Anning the “accidental” senator.
Just 19 people voted for Anning at the 2016 election. Nineteen.
He got into parliament anyway, gaining a $207,106 taxpayer-funded salary and a platform from which to spew his dangerous bile.
Yes kjt and stuff will no longer advertise guns. This is a good sign……..trade me no longer selling them either. Hats off to an industry I view with contempt
To be fair Trade Me had thought about what was the right thing to do in advertising guns. One they had banned the outright blunderbusses, and second they had decided that it was reasonable to offer a trading place for legal guns amongst the public in an open environment which would encourage people to do so openly and honestly.
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
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Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
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Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
The stature of NZ Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has entered the stratosphere. She is unique:
https://twitter.com/MuslimIQ/status/1107065936358592514
Toronto Star
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/australia/2019/03/17/after-massacre-new-zealand-leader-shows-resolve-empathy.html
We must look after her – a consummately valuable being at a time of crisis both planetary and local. Best way is to actively engage in kindness her word and outreach not only in the weeks ahead but always as the emerging mode of being a Kiwi.
well said, Ant.
couldnt agree more.
“Troubled times, she says, are “precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
“I know the world is bruised and bleeding,” she adds, “and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.””
https://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org
Great words. Lead us to the activity to follow to turn them into substance.
The contrast between Jacinda Ardern’s empathy and presence, and Simon Bridges this morning on Radio NZ, plus reports of Paula Bennett as Police Minister watering down the recommendations on gun reform is very telling. Glad we have this government dealing with this horrific issue!!
Simon Dallow reported on One News just now that an 18 year old guy has been charged with inciting violence in Christchurch. Mention was made of him inciting extreme violence online, and posting a photo of one of the mosques with the caption `target acquired’.
This looks like proof of an online proof of an online support system for the shooter – and possible proof of involvement of a Christchurch alt-right cell, as suggested the other day by Paul Buchanan.
In his Herald commentary Hosking joins Trotter in promoting the lone wolf theory. Inasmuch as reports on the shooting as it happened informed us that hundreds of online supporters were cheering him on during his live stream, it seems these two have adopted an untenable position.
However the Herald elsewhere clarified that the other three arrested at the time were not implicated. Merely carrying firearms. Probably regular viewers of tv crime shows.
no, apparently one was volunteering to “help” the police and someone else was picking their kid up from school with the gun as protection.
More than one typre of gun nut around that day.
He might have been the pointy end of the pyramid, but it might be an education to find out how he funded trips around the world, a flat, and a firearms collection when he “obsessively” worked out.
Yes – where was this cunt’s money coming from? Time to make use of that unpleasantly intrusive anti-terrorism legislation.
Yes it’s a question investigators must be considering; reportedly he didn’t have a job and there was no obvious family money we know about.
It will be interesting to find out where this trail leads.
Very interesting. Let’s make sure that investigation is undertaken!
Apparently his father died a few years ago and he got an inheraitence. But how was he living in a state house (IIRC)?
Trotter’s lone wolf stuff is because he’s feeling guilty as hell for the whole free speech coalition around Southern and Molyneaux.
He was told exactly who these people are, what they say and what they promote.
I’ve had a quiet day today reading lots of thoughts and opinions of people. Been great to read non older paler maler views (sorry TS dudes) so i thought I’d put a couple of links up from different voices. They’re angry, emotional, real and deep and will hopefully create a wider tapestry of views for us all.
https://overland.org.au/2019/03/today-we-mourn-tomorrow-we-organise/
https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/8xy34p/i-am-a-muslim-new-zealand-woman-and-i-am-as-angry-as-i-am-sad
Thanks, marty. I read the overland piece earlier in the day. Good stuff.
Be good to see any other recommended articles from other people too – any recommendations mate?
Chloe Swarbrick put up this comment from Mukseet of Massey:
https://www.facebook.com/chloeNZgreens/photos/a.326710637664582/872328433102797/?type=3&theater
Thanks that was awesome.
These are all worth a look, IMHO:
4 lessons for NZ, opinion from Al Jazeera, and two pieces from the Guardian on debating racists and the terror/technology link
Thank you. I especially liked this one – debating racist is a waste of time and energy.
“… An article that tries again to show the link between mainstream, fashionable Muslim-bashing and its violent manifestations on the right. An article that fillets the semantic tricks played to stop Muslims ever being complete victims: the line that Islam is not a race; the use of women’s and LBGT rights as a rhetorical stick to beat Muslims with; the cant about freedom of speech, political correctness and the danger of identity politics; the whataboutery and the strawmanning….
…It is time to stop pleading. It is time to call things what they are and not temper or apologise for the strength of the allegations, to call people racists, opportunists and complicit hatemongers even if they do grace our prestigious publications and seats of governance. It is time to do what they always accuse you of doing anyway, and “shut down the debate”.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/18/christchurch-islamophobes-media-anti-muslim
From the other day:
Saziah Bashir – Christchurch mosque terror attacks a dark day of grief, shock and unspeakable heartbreak
Anjum Rahman – Islamic Women’s Council repeatedly lobbied to stem discrimination
Thank you arkie – so important those voices.
The Vice article is a tough, sobering read.
Yes – I have read harrowing accounts of race and religion hatred towards our Muslim brothers and sisters today. I think, up to now, I haven’t really understood their pain and alienation in our country. I feel very sad and upset by that and I determined that I will make amends by listening more, supporting more and acting more.
WaPo op-ed.
By Khaled Diab
Khaled Diab is a journalist and writer. He is the author of “Islam for the Politically Incorrect” and “Intimate Enemies.”
March 16
If a terrorist were to claim that their attack was intended to “add momentum to the pendulum swings of history, further destabilizing and polarizing Western society,” you might be excused in thinking the perpetrator was an Islamic extremist. But these are the words of a white supremacist and crusader.
[…]
These two hateful ideologies — white supremacy and radical Islamism — may regard themselves as polar opposites, but their worldviews resemble the other. Both are paranoid, exhibit a toxic blend of superiority and inferiority toward the other, are scornful of less extreme members of their own communities, and are nostalgic for an imagined past of cultural dominance.
[…]
A contempt for “Western” modernity is another trait shared by Islamists and the Christian far right. “The Europeans worked assiduously in trying to immerse (the world) in materialism, with their corrupting traits and murderous germs, to overwhelm those Muslim lands that their hands stretched out to,” believed al-Banna. Unintentionally echoing the founding father of political Islam, Tarrant is convinced that the West has become a “society of rampant nihilism, consumerism and individualism.”
[…]
This disdain for many aspects of modernity translates into an overwhelming yearning for a supposedly more glorious and pure past and a nostalgia for bygone imperial greatness when the world was at their command — for the days of European empire or Islamic caliphates.
http://archive.li/WWVw9
Thanks mate
The thinking and the feelings that may be behind the swirl of social media and blogging from upset and angry men and women – is it like this in their minds?
From Joe90’s link: This disdain for many aspects of modernity translates into an overwhelming yearning for a supposedly more glorious and pure past and a nostalgia for bygone imperial greatness when the world was at their command — for the days of European empire or Islamic caliphates.
Is there a nostalgia for past colonial might of Britain behind Brexit? Is it nostalgia and wishful thinking and an inability to face the world that you actually helped create, driving the extreme resentment? Disruption in others’ lives and land has been caused by unwise attacks and invasion, by or enhanced by outsiders, causing infrastructural, societal and agricultural damage that causes people to be uprooted and flee into your own domain by people who are now outsiders in your country?
Is it resentment from the grunts in the armed forces who haven’t got much out of the maneouvres and fighting, perhaps damage to their bodies and minds that is not recompensed; in the end their personal lives, and their local and nationwide economy has become poorer.
Not what you expected after all the fighting and strain on personal life and health, and then the refugees from the war you have just fought and been damaged in, they come to live in your town and end up with more help than you have received, and the other men in the town aren’t given the same opportunities and help. How do you feel seeing them prosper with deep commitment to each other? Has your society got deep commitment to you and giving you similar opportunities to flourish? You feel that you are now an annoyance to your authorities, a burden, not respected, not appreciated for putting yourselves in the way of harm, under orders and direction. Then you and your cohort seem to be consigned to being second-rate people at home.
Is that a line of thinking that would fire up and keep hot, the anomic males, in a society where employment statistics are so all encompassing that they start at one hour of paid employment a week. That may be useful for stable comparisons for the Stats Department, but measuring full-time numbers at one job of 40 hours would indicate the real situation. (If someone can give me the line of clicks I have to make to get that for the nation and for each region per quarter, and annually, I would appreciate it.)
This report of the gunshop owner’s campaign against the cops also includes a link to the ActionStation petition: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-03-2019/gun-city-owner-defends-sale-of-murder-weapons-as-ardern-pledges-reforms/
“Some dealers get around the law by importing parts that are interchangeable between MSSAs and ‘A category’ rifles. “This enables domestic assembly and the assembler to later purchase parts such as a large-capacity magazine or pistol grip without a licence, and to turn the assembled ‘A category’ semi-automatic into a MSSA,” the police told the minister.”
Quote of the century – (referring to the attack on Anning)
“It’s like Nazi Germany but with chickens!” First Dog on the Moon.
Dude has attitude: “The Queensland independent senator laughed off threats from Scott Morrison, saying: “I hope it’s not too painful. What’s he going to do? Flog me with his lace hanky?”
Hmm, an admirer of Fraser. Apologist for Tarrant the other day. Questioner of the Islam texts yesterday and WTF ever was the shite you tried pull in open mike only hours ago something like racist complaints aren’t real cos Islam isn’t a race cos some judges said so.
Lawyer smarts aye. So reasonable and inquiring aren’t you.
You made a call on the Quran after reading 1 verse of it in Tarrants manifesto – WTF is wrong with you?
At best you are extremely ignorant. I’m leaning towards sociopathic game playing POS.
I aint joking Dennis. What have you got to say for yourself regarding:
Sympathising with Tarrant
Admiring Fraser
Taking one verse from the context of a terrorists ramblings and thinking you’ve got a point to make about the victims religion
Finding judgment to align with your warped view Islamophobia isn’t racism thus isn’t a crime – and using this as a ‘told you so’ moment here on TS
Being a general POS who plays the victim card for being sworn at while spouting nasty divisive shit.
Like I’ve said all along. The sociopaths hide in plain sight. Their favorite past time is stirring up shit.
You have quoted the terrorist, Fraser, the judges, anyone else you admire in all this?
Thanks WTB – Dennis’s comments were bothering me too for the same reasons you express so well.
No problem. I wish I was wrong.
Dame Anne Salmond has this (kind of) guys number too.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12213747
I also say Dennis is, to use a metaphor:
The woman at the pub who plays guys against each other.
He does this by running between blogs reporting on what’s been said.
“They say you’re all ignorant”
“They say you’re a pack of snowflakes”
But always reasonable, aye.
I think Dennis Frank is trying to be objective. But it comes over as unconcerned, even accepting. And the idea of taking bits out of the holy bibles of any religion because they seem to encourage violence is pointless to put forward. I read Dennis saying this the other day, and consider it both unwise to express at the present, and not useful as a suggestion for any time. It would arouse much anger and claims of interference in the religion and not deal with the problem. The beliefs in peoples’ minds are what need to be exposed to the air and discussed. I
Then there is the role modelling from parents and others in the person’s life. And what faction do they identify with, and is it a positive one? Is there a lack of a reasoned pathway for future life, and a lack of reasoned discussion on how to make a satisfactory life with what you have and could work towards, using your own talents.
This is what is needed, not merely redacting words out of an important, sacred document. Counselling the person when young to help them understand themselves and their talents. This would be a start to the person forming a plan for their future, knowing their strong and weak points, and being able to grow those talents and make a living from them, being appreciated as a worthwhile person. This would not lead to a pathway for that individual shooting at people in deep resentment and anger.
Dennis is not objective. He’s still doing it and he’ll keep doing it as the feedback of a bunch of people means nothing to the sound of his own word heavy nonsense and vile stirring.
Take the rosy glasses off, watch the pattern repeat.
Always playing the victim, simultaneously always on attack. And not that clever it’s mostly gibberish. Lefties vs righties, but he’s in the center. The problem with all of you is…
Look closer. Gibberish with a pin in it. Who he scratches doesn’t matter, as long as he does it. Gets to be victim again, takes the gibberish he’s made up of why that is to the next blog.
Rinse and repeat.
Analling’s a right wanker sure enough franky.
The teenager who smashed the egg on his head has been formerly nominated for Australian of the Year.
I’m glad he did it, but in classical heroism terms Abdul Aziz is pretty hard to beat – attacks armed mass murderer with a credit card reader and beats him so badly he runs off like a yellow dog – give that man a VC! And honorary membership of our armed forces if that’s a prerequisite – he was defending New Zealand – our people are our country.
your call for a VC is hard to ignore Stuart.
seems highly appropriate.
I think military folk might say it would have to be the George Cross, but I don’t think VCs would be ashamed of Aziz’s company – rather the reverse.
i can understand why military folk may feel that.
there is an arguement to be had that when these awards were enacted, the was no notion of a ‘civilian’ on a murderous spree with military planning, gear and objectives.
Aziz’s courage can be said to eclipse military bravery as it was a very one sided encounter, in that he was essentially unarmed.
Bravo re egg boy becoming Australian of the year
The egg boy says that the money collected for him, will go to the Christchurch Fund. Pretty good for a 17 year old.
FDOTM – a wonderful take down of Andrew Bolt.
Is it possible to deport David Moffat?
It would be a great way to say that, despite the UN Compact, nations can still have a no ass….. rule.
Another result. Whaleoik abandons final appeal against Blomfield: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/111379428/whale-oil-blogger-cameron-slater-abandons-appeal-against-defamation-court-ruling
“The court is yet to decide how much money Slater will have to pay Blomfield in damages.”
RIP Mr Surf Guitar.
“Peter Dutton has accused the Greens of being “just as bad” as extreme right-wing nationalist senator Fraser Anning, claiming both are seeking to extract political advantage from the Christchurch terror attack. On Monday the home affairs minister equated the Greens holding him accountable for stoking anti-Islamic sentiment with Anning’s comments blaming the attack on Muslim immigration.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/18/peter-dutton-claims-greens-just-as-bad-as-fraser-anning-on-christchurch-attack
“Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi responded that it was “vile” to say the comments were in any way equivalent, while Labor leader in the Senate Penny Wong accused him of “normalising hate speech. Since the attack on Friday the Greens have gone on the front foot with leader Richard Di Natale renewing calls for a parliamentary code of conduct to stamp out hate speech and Faruqi, the first Muslim senator in Australia, criticising conservative politicians for stoking hatred. “It is politicians like Peter Dutton who have actually contributed to creating an atmosphere where hate is allowed to incubate in our society,” Faruqi told Radio National. “They can’t shrug off their responsibility.”
I’m feeling solidarity with the Oz Greens on their stance. I get that the conservatives are just trying to represent their constituents, as democracy requires of them, but their style of doing so does seem offensive. That said, I’m a centrist not a rightist.
About Oz and insults and ingrained racism against anyone of colour – Aborigines, Muslims – and anyone who wants to make change in social habits.
Oz pollie Fraser Anning says that mother of the boy who threw an egg at him should have slapped him. I’m inclined to believe that the same prescription should have been handed out to this hoity-toity ass.
Background: He and his wife own a number of hotels. He comes from landowner family with a number of properties. He is the great-grandson of a British pastoral squatter who went to Australia to acquire land. He and several of his sons soon expanded from one to amalgamating more properties.
Next bit is telling:
His family was involved in the frontier conflict as they forcibly took the land from the local Aboriginal people. In response to the spearing of cattle, the Annings would ride out with firearms, attack Aboriginal campsites and capture young boys who survived in order to use them as labour on their cattle and sheep stations.[8] The Annings at times also requested the services of the local Native Police paramilitary unit to assist in clearing “blacks” off their runs.[9] Frank Hann, another pastoralist in the region who regularly participated in extrajudicial punitive raids on Aboriginals, described in his diary in 1874 how he saw “Anning just come back from hunting blacks”.[10]…
On 4 June 2018, Anning joined Katter’s Australian Party, becoming the party’s first senator;[20] however, he was expelled in October 2018 for his inflammatory rhetoric concerning immigration, including his mention of a “final solution” to the problem….
On 14 August 2018, Anning delivered his maiden speech to the Senate. In it, he called for a plebiscite to reintroduce racial and religious discrimination in immigration policy, especially with regard to excluding Muslims. He criticised “cultural Marxism”, “safe schools and gender fluidity garbage” and the abuse of the external affairs power of the Australian constitution. He also spoke in support of the right of civilians to own firearms, and the Bradfield Scheme irrigation proposal.[43]
His speech included a reference to a “final solution”, the English equivalent of the term used by the Nazi Party during preparation and execution of the Holocaust during World War II[21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Anning
He is a vile man, and comes from a family that has apparently little conscience and sense of fairness. It is interesting to know something about the person’s background to see what path they took in forming their views.
This NZ Herald piece should be helpful in forming our ideas about political voting measures and their possible, and dangerous, outcomes.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12213587
How Fraser Anning got into parliament with 0.00 per cent of the vote.
They call Fraser Anning the “accidental” senator.
Just 19 people voted for Anning at the 2016 election. Nineteen.
He got into parliament anyway, gaining a $207,106 taxpayer-funded salary and a platform from which to spew his dangerous bile.
There are not many people who can punch someone in the face in front of cameras and not be charged with assault.
He can’t really argue self defence. Provocation maybe. Possibly ‘haywiz jars taleddle barga’ is extenuation in Strollyer.
Gabby
You triumph at Delphic pronouncements. It’s a cunning ploy to force people to stop and think.
I think the mother should’ve slapped Analling too.
Heard that both Trademe, and Hunting and Fishing, have withdrawn semi auto rifles from sale.
If that is the case, good on them.
Yes kjt and stuff will no longer advertise guns. This is a good sign……..trade me no longer selling them either. Hats off to an industry I view with contempt
To be fair Trade Me had thought about what was the right thing to do in advertising guns. One they had banned the outright blunderbusses, and second they had decided that it was reasonable to offer a trading place for legal guns amongst the public in an open environment which would encourage people to do so openly and honestly.