I hope Labour stare down Sharma, rather than playing along with his stunt.
If/when he resigns (he hasn't yet) then choose the earliest possible date for the by-election (so this year), and boycott it. Don't get caught up in headless chicken punditry, focus on winning a year from now, which probably won't include Hamilton West anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Of course people here on a political blog will say "no, they must stand, the by-election is so important", but the people of Hamilton won't give a damn. They are right.
Treat Sharma with the contempt he deserves, and let National win on a 20% turnout. Chances are their candidate will provide embarrassing headlines for them anyway, as will Sharma.
Of course the Nats will say "The Labour Party are cowards. Won't even stand a candidate." But Labour is going to lose the seat anyway. They can afford to turn their back on the whole shemozzle.
My pick is the turnout would be an all time low. Labour voters will stay at home. Only the Nats and ACT will turn out in decent numbers. Nobody will be able to read anything in the result.
You can be sure National Party operatives (Chris Bishops's office) will have been in his ear for weeks upon weeks now, coaxing and coaching him to do exactly this.
I don't think the Speaker has received his letter of resignation yet. Presumably he will, but Sharma is so incompetent he probably thinks a statement on Facebook counts. It doesn't.
"Thus any system which removes the ability to name and recognise the female sex as a class is seen to serve the interest of patriarchal capitalism. If male and female cease to be labels that recognise a material reality, but instead identity markers that can be adopted by either sex, it becomes impossible for women to organise or be recognised as a sex class. This is what gender identity results in – a system of idealist individual liberalism, where material reality is subordinate to an individual’s claim of identity."
A classic case of poor use of language and a poor analysis in one.
First, the confusion of the two different meanings of class.
Second, the conflation with a contest over categorisation (here male and female) with capitalism and social and economic class politics. Presumably to claim only one side in the contest is "left wing". That is divide the left on the issue.
class
/klɑːs/
noun
a set or category of things having some property or attribute in common and differentiated from others by kind, type, or quality.
"it has good accommodation for a hotel of this class"
Similar: category grade rating classification group bracket set division kind sort type order variety genre brand species genus family generation breed strain denomination stamp ilk cast mould stripe
a system of ordering society whereby people are divided into sets based on perceived social or economic status.
"people who are socially disenfranchised by class"
It's bad enough that people like Posie Parker/aka Kellie-Jay Keen a left wing activist for womens rights
asserts that she does not call her herself a feminist because those that do support porn and prostitution (they in fact support women in whatever choices they make – just that they be empowered/have legal rights/are safe). This mischaracterisation of the position does nothing to build bridges with those "feminists" some of whom are on the same side on this issue. So why does she do it? It's obviously of a deliberate intent to conflate the issue of "identity" with porn and prostitution. The "theology" graduate student is of an agenda, to divide "left wing" women against each other on these issues.
and men will still not be part of that group, class, category, type, style, form, etc.
Because men will have their own class, category, type, style, form, etc.
Men will never be women. Women will never be men. No matter how many surgeries they have, how much hormones they down, and how often they proclaim their pronouns.
people with birthing abilities will always oppressed and exploited on the function of their reproductive abilities, and it mattes not one bit if you call these people women, transmen or non binary. they are oppressed on the grounds of being able to gestate and birth a full blown human being. Men will contribute to that child by squirting semen, in a cup or in a vagina. And thus men – call them men, transwomen or non binary men – will always be the class – aided and abetted by some 'women, transmen, nonbinary, – that will exploit the female body that is the material reality of 'women'.
As for feminists, I am not one. Have never professed to be one.
I am what you might call a Merf.
Male Exclusionary radical female.
And i like so many Merfs are not keen on having dick in our changing/shower facilities in public sports centres, having dick locked up with women in prisons and 'fathering' or raping women into pregnancies, having men impersonate women in order to get jobs, or worse even become spokespersons of tampon or other female hygiene products, i mean what would men do with a tampon? Shove it up their arses? Hang about ladies toilets to offer them to young girls or women who may need one?
And for those men that have castrated themselves in order to live their authentic lives, that still just makes them a eunuch presenting as an image of a stereotype of womanhood, their mind, their needs, their ideas are male, as you sadly can not amputate the mind as you can a dick.
Posie Parker is a force and she is great. In fact she is an absolute Queen of a sort no man will ever be. They don't have then necessary brass ovaries and experience of being a women, a wife, a mother.
Not too sure where cream cheese and water cracker fit in.
One of my favorite words is lox,” says Gregory Guy, a professor of linguistics at New York University. There is hardly a more quintessential New York food than a lox bagel—a century-old popular appetizing store, Russ & Daughters, calls it “The Classic.” But Guy, who has lived in the city for the past 17 years, is passionate about lox for a different reason. “The pronunciation in the Proto-Indo-European was probably ‘lox,’ and that’s exactly how it is pronounced in modern English,” he says. “Then, it meant salmon, and now it specifically means ‘smoked salmon.’ It’s really cool that that word hasn’t changed its pronunciation at all in 8,000 years and still refers to a particular fish.”
Protests remain the easiest ways to hold the government to account on it’s action, or inaction, around climate change and the environment. Turns out that’s because there is seemingly no long term thinking.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, has released a report on the country’s environmental reporting, research and investment.
…
It found environmental data was fragmented, relying on contributions from different organisations for different purposes and using different methodologies.
One of the key difficulties in current reporting was that environmental problems often lacked a simple link between cause and effect or, in some cases, there was a complete lack of data.
“For a country that is so heavily reliant on the biophysical world to make a living, it is remarkable what we do not know,” Upton said.
This lack of accountability across the Government and ministries isn’t surprising when, for example, we have a Department of Conservation that is onside with luxury developers:
The native kororā, or little blue penguins, have been spotted at Kennedy Point marina searching for somewhere safe to make their home.
Massey University’s kororā biologist professor John Cockrem is concerned about their wellbeing.
He said the construction activities at Pūtiki Bay were having adverse effects on kororā.
“Once it became apparent how many penguins live in the rock wall, at that point it was very clear that Pūtiki Bay is not an appropriate place for a marina.”
Prof Cockrem said it was an offence to knowingly disturb native wildlife.
“The construction activities are doing exactly that, they are knowingly disturbing and having adverse affects on the penguins.”
…
Department of Conservation acting director Helen Neale said they would investigate if evidence of disturbance was provided.
So far, Neale said there had been no evidence of significant disturbance to kororā.
The Scottish Greens have suspended ties with the Green Party of England and Wales after members raised concerns about transphobia.
A motion to suspend the formal association was submitted at the Scottish Greens conference in Dundee.
On Sunday, the motion was passed following a vote by party members, with the suspension taking immediate effect.
It will remain in place until both issues of transphobia and respect for the Scottish Green party and its independence are resolved, the motion indicated.
Dear Lord. Climate emergency anyone?
While shivering in unheated houses, inundated by rising sea levels, and battered by climate-driven storms – at least they'll be using their pronouns correctly.
Green parties all over the world are about more than climate change alone. They must after all have policy positions on a wide range of issues or else they will be seen as single issue parties. I note that this is exactly what you attempt with your comment, to box back the Greens to just the one issue.
A matter of relative priorities.
There is a climate emergency.
I don't believe that anyone has proclaimed a transgender emergency.
The art of politics is to work effectively with allies – even when you don't agree with the whole of their platform. To find common ground.
For the Scottish Greens to cut ties with a party with which they share the majority of their polices in common, over a small difference – is the marker of a party seeking electoral irrelevance.
Clearly it is not a small difference. The Scottish Greens are not happy with some apparent Transphobic rhetoric from the much more conservative England and Wales Greens.
It's a stand which they feel is important but for some they are way outside their lane…
Aimee Knight (née Challenor, born 1 October 1997) is a British transgender activist, former spokesperson and electoral candidate for the Green Party,[1] and former Reddit administrator.[2] In 2017, she stood for election in Coventry South, receiving 1.3% of the votes.
In 2018, David Challenor, Knight's father, who had been serving as her election agent, was convicted and jailed for raping and torturing a 10-year-old girl, and for making indecent images of children.[3][4] Knight's recruitment of her father, despite her knowledge of the charges for 22 sexual offences, led to an investigation and Knight's suspension from the Green Party. She later resigned and joined the Liberal Democrats, but was suspended in 2019 over tweets allegedly posted by her partner concerning sexual fantasies around children.[5][6][7] Knight resigned from Stonewall UK at around the same time, leaving the United Kingdom for the United States.
The problem here (and it beggars belief that I have to point this out), is that what happened with Chanellor in the UK Greens demonstrates a serious lack of boundaries and sense by the party (and Chanellor obviously). I'll put a fair amount of that down to the fact that gender identity ideology and No Debate make it very difficult to raise issues about any trans person. The problem isn't trans people per se, it's the fear that people live under that stops them from speaking out.
The party didn't do due diligence on a candidate and office holder. This is political ineptitude.
So now we have the Scottish Green Party not distancing itself from the UK Greens because they're inept and they couldn't spot rape culture in their own party, but because of alleged transphobia. They're doing so from an ideological place that creates huge problems and instead of working to protect trans people alongside everyone else they're making the situation worse.
And don't tell me Chanellor is just one instance. Anyone following the UK gender critical politics knows that there are now multiple issues like this arising from gender identity ideology. See Mermaids for the latest on transgression of normative boundaries around safety and culture.
Everyone is a transphobe who will not bow and submit.
Womens rights are transphobic.
Women spaces are transphobic.
Women only schools are transphobic.
Women only sports are transphobic.
Tampons are transphobic – thus we have males now being spokespersons for companies producing these items. Ditto for make up.
Menstruation is transphobic.
Pregnancy is transphobic.
Birthing a child is transphobic.
Being a mother is transphobic.
Everyone can be a transphobe. Now bow down, and and pleasure that male genital and call it a ladydique. Cause women now have dicks. And these dicks must be serviced those without a name/class/category, the things that we used to call women/girls.
I'll hazard a guess it's the members of the UK Greens who believe biological sex is real and matters that are the problem. Rather than there being people in the party that hate trans people.
But I was curious if Scottish Greens said what the problem was or just used a genderist memo.
The context is circumstance – the Scottish Greens support a proposed change in law to self ID (SNP governance), whereas this is unlikely in England (under either Tories or Labour's Starmer) which has chosen to remain with an overseen/managed process.
The public consultation phase has concluded and a "select" committee has backed self declaration.
Select Committee processes are more robust if there is no pre-determined outcome in mind. It is apparent to those following the SNP, that – as in NZ – this is not the case here.
The report itself has the familiar signs of advocacy authorship and direction:
How TF do you go from a tilt at a presidential nomination on issues that included health, big pharma and insurance sector reforms, justice, drug laws and the private prison industry reforms, financial reforms including holding big banks and their executives accountable, climate change and pollution to supporting fascist Republicans?
Not hard I guess if you've always been an opportunist fraud.
She not for going to war with Russia and dropping pre-emptively some nukes.
remainder: The us has a track record for dropping nukes and attacking foreign countries in which they have interests that they want to protect pre-emptively and i would like to point to success stories such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
So she left the Democratic party last week, and laid out her reasoning quite eloquently. and is now an independent that can do and campaign for whomever she sees fit.
But i guess, leaving the democratic party is now verboten?
Gabbard volunteered to join America's pre-emptive war to change Iraq's regime. She's also a bigoted, homophobic opportunist who supports Hinduvata's fascism and assorted murderous despots.
REP. TULSI GABBARD, (D), HAWAII: Well, the first thing we need to be doing is make sure that the primary recipient of our support through arms, weapons, equipment, intelligence, training, needs to go to the Kurds and to the Sunni tribes. These are proven trusted partners that we have worked with in the past successfully to defeat al Qaeda. We need to work with them as our troops on the ground now in this fight against ISIS in Iraq. We need to step up our airstrike campaign and make sure we're dealing these decisive blows against ISIS in a very targeted way to stop the momentum they have been building. As they capture more territory and capture more ground, this just goes to add to their ability to recruit more fighters, to show that they're actually winning in this battle. We need to make sure that we put stop to that. And we need to make sure we stop of continuing this failed policy of supporting and propping up this central government in Baghdad, this fantasy, really, of a one unified country of Iraq and support this three-state solution of empowering the Sunni tribes, the Kurds and Shiites, each of them having three autonomous territories rather than continue what we've seen really has failed for so long
It's just a statement of fact (as applied in 2015), though Iran supported Shia militias also played a part in the defeat of Islamic State.
And on Iraq she was on point, that country was 3 provinces under the Ottomans for a reason.
Today Iraq holds elections, but cannot form governments.
The dual mandate (like the fed) for monetary stability (inflation targeting) and employment ( credit lines availability to banks and non banking entities such as insurance and pension) ensure international flows of capital outside of the political sphere.This is an important part of the independence of institutions,outside of the risk of political corruption.
The RBNZ did make a forced error (admitted) by delaying first,then halving the rate increase after the large inflation prints sept 2021 but was constrained by the AK covid spread.
Her name is Elnaz Rekabi. The mullahs and their thugs will punish her for competing at the Asian Climbing Competitions finals in Seoul without her head covered.
Unfortunately any effort to support these extremely brave women is gonna be undermined by the extremely stupid decision to put further sanctions on them imo but i guess you'll be in favour of that move joe ?
Weston: The tweets are a way of summarising what this nutter, Chantelle Baker, is all about.
Not satisfied with being a crazy about vaccines, with the potential to put people in danger with the misguided views etc she now is putting the citizens of another country in actual danger from war.
Whatever links Weka wants to use is fine by me. The ignorance is astounding and there is no excuse for putting others in danger no matter what your views.
Shanreagh : I dont do either FB or twitter normally but in an effort to understand why Weka had put up the particular tweet i looked at the threads around it .Seems to me by the veiled and not so veiled threats conveyed by the commenters to the SBU looking into CB etc that you dont have to look very far underneath the pretty blue and yellow to find hate and malevolence towards anything obstructing the states narrative which is what i find disturbing .Better out than in ?maybe , or just another contributing factor on the proverbial ' slippery slope ' towards what someone else has called "a woke ww3 "
Weston, this is TS. People here are often rude, and this isn't a problem so long as it's not gratuitous, trolling, or presented without a political point/argument. If you read the thread, there are serious political issues presented. The presentation has style you might not like (fair enough), but the politics are there for those that want to see them.
Also because this is TS, please address the politics rather than taking potshots at people.
I still think that the link used by Weka is Ok to present a point of view.
I view CB trip and postings from Ukraine with horror at the ignorance she espouses, going to a country, with little understanding of the issues and then spouting off to all and sundry.
SBU is the equivalent to ukrainian secret police same ones that assassinated Daryia Dugina with a car bomb a month or so ago .Looking at the big picture the Baker chick is prob pretty small cheese .If she's as dumb as people say surely anything she ' exposes ' will evaporate in the collective mirth wont it ?
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
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This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
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Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
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Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
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Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
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Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
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TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
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The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
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History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
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What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
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https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1582239408228401152
I hope Labour stare down Sharma, rather than playing along with his stunt.
If/when he resigns (he hasn't yet) then choose the earliest possible date for the by-election (so this year), and boycott it. Don't get caught up in headless chicken punditry, focus on winning a year from now, which probably won't include Hamilton West anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Of course people here on a political blog will say "no, they must stand, the by-election is so important", but the people of Hamilton won't give a damn. They are right.
Treat Sharma with the contempt he deserves, and let National win on a 20% turnout. Chances are their candidate will provide embarrassing headlines for them anyway, as will Sharma.
Of course the Nats will say "The Labour Party are cowards. Won't even stand a candidate." But Labour is going to lose the seat anyway. They can afford to turn their back on the whole shemozzle.
My pick is the turnout would be an all time low. Labour voters will stay at home. Only the Nats and ACT will turn out in decent numbers. Nobody will be able to read anything in the result.
Well, he has resigned now.
You can be sure National Party operatives (Chris Bishops's office) will have been in his ear for weeks upon weeks now, coaxing and coaching him to do exactly this.
I don't think the Speaker has received his letter of resignation yet. Presumably he will, but Sharma is so incompetent he probably thinks a statement on Facebook counts. It doesn't.
Maybe he sent it to Trevor.
https://voidifremoved.substack.com/p/identitarianism-is-not-left
A classic case of poor use of language and a poor analysis in one.
First, the confusion of the two different meanings of class.
Second, the conflation with a contest over categorisation (here male and female) with capitalism and social and economic class politics. Presumably to claim only one side in the contest is "left wing". That is divide the left on the issue.
/klɑːs/
noun
"it has good accommodation for a hotel of this class"
Similar: category grade rating classification group bracket set division kind sort type order variety genre brand species genus family generation breed strain denomination stamp ilk cast mould stripe
"people who are socially disenfranchised by class"
It's bad enough that people like Posie Parker/aka Kellie-Jay Keen a left wing activist for womens rights
asserts that she does not call her herself a feminist because those that do support porn and prostitution (they in fact support women in whatever choices they make – just that they be empowered/have legal rights/are safe). This mischaracterisation of the position does nothing to build bridges with those "feminists" some of whom are on the same side on this issue. So why does she do it? It's obviously of a deliberate intent to conflate the issue of "identity" with porn and prostitution. The "theology" graduate student is of an agenda, to divide "left wing" women against each other on these issues.
and men will still not be part of that group, class, category, type, style, form, etc.
Because men will have their own class, category, type, style, form, etc.
Men will never be women. Women will never be men. No matter how many surgeries they have, how much hormones they down, and how often they proclaim their pronouns.
people with birthing abilities will always oppressed and exploited on the function of their reproductive abilities, and it mattes not one bit if you call these people women, transmen or non binary. they are oppressed on the grounds of being able to gestate and birth a full blown human being. Men will contribute to that child by squirting semen, in a cup or in a vagina. And thus men – call them men, transwomen or non binary men – will always be the class – aided and abetted by some 'women, transmen, nonbinary, – that will exploit the female body that is the material reality of 'women'.
As for feminists, I am not one. Have never professed to be one.
I am what you might call a Merf.
Male Exclusionary radical female.
And i like so many Merfs are not keen on having dick in our changing/shower facilities in public sports centres, having dick locked up with women in prisons and 'fathering' or raping women into pregnancies, having men impersonate women in order to get jobs, or worse even become spokespersons of tampon or other female hygiene products, i mean what would men do with a tampon? Shove it up their arses? Hang about ladies toilets to offer them to young girls or women who may need one?
And for those men that have castrated themselves in order to live their authentic lives, that still just makes them a eunuch presenting as an image of a stereotype of womanhood, their mind, their needs, their ideas are male, as you sadly can not amputate the mind as you can a dick.
Posie Parker is a force and she is great. In fact she is an absolute Queen of a sort no man will ever be. They don't have then necessary brass ovaries and experience of being a women, a wife, a mother.
but you do you.
Whatever that was, it was not a response to my post.
You do you, identity politics.
It’s sad you see women as oppressed because they can give birth.
I note the offence at those who would bring their male anatomy into womens spaces and yet still the slight at those transgender who undertake surgery.
Resilience.
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1580795659397271552
Not too sure where cream cheese and water cracker fit in.
One of my favorite words is lox,” says Gregory Guy, a professor of linguistics at New York University. There is hardly a more quintessential New York food than a lox bagel—a century-old popular appetizing store, Russ & Daughters, calls it “The Classic.” But Guy, who has lived in the city for the past 17 years, is passionate about lox for a different reason. “The pronunciation in the Proto-Indo-European was probably ‘lox,’ and that’s exactly how it is pronounced in modern English,” he says. “Then, it meant salmon, and now it specifically means ‘smoked salmon.’ It’s really cool that that word hasn’t changed its pronunciation at all in 8,000 years and still refers to a particular fish.”
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-english-word-that-hasn-t-changed-in-sound-or-meaning-in-8-000-years
Protests remain the easiest ways to hold the government to account on it’s action, or inaction, around climate change and the environment. Turns out that’s because there is seemingly no long term thinking.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/476910/concern-over-value-for-money-of-govt-s-2b-annual-spend-on-environment
This lack of accountability across the Government and ministries isn’t surprising when, for example, we have a Department of Conservation that is onside with luxury developers:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/468683/waiheke-island-marina-construction-harming-nesting-efforts-of-little-blue-penguins-expert-says
#ProtectPūtiki and Ngāti Pāoa are still protesting this consent and the harm this marina construction is causing. They also have a petition: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/protectputiki
https://news.stv.tv/politics/scottish-greens-suspend-ties-with-green-party-of-england-and-wales
Dear Lord. Climate emergency anyone?
While shivering in unheated houses, inundated by rising sea levels, and battered by climate-driven storms – at least they'll be using their pronouns correctly.
Green parties all over the world are about more than climate change alone. They must after all have policy positions on a wide range of issues or else they will be seen as single issue parties. I note that this is exactly what you attempt with your comment, to box back the Greens to just the one issue.
Everybody with even a modicum of understanding of the Green Party knows about its four pillars.
A matter of relative priorities.
There is a climate emergency.
I don't believe that anyone has proclaimed a transgender emergency.
The art of politics is to work effectively with allies – even when you don't agree with the whole of their platform. To find common ground.
For the Scottish Greens to cut ties with a party with which they share the majority of their polices in common, over a small difference – is the marker of a party seeking electoral irrelevance.
Clearly it is not a small difference. The Scottish Greens are not happy with some apparent Transphobic rhetoric from the much more conservative England and Wales Greens.
It's a stand which they feel is important but for some they are way outside their lane…
here's some context.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Challenor
The problem here (and it beggars belief that I have to point this out), is that what happened with Chanellor in the UK Greens demonstrates a serious lack of boundaries and sense by the party (and Chanellor obviously). I'll put a fair amount of that down to the fact that gender identity ideology and No Debate make it very difficult to raise issues about any trans person. The problem isn't trans people per se, it's the fear that people live under that stops them from speaking out.
The party didn't do due diligence on a candidate and office holder. This is political ineptitude.
So now we have the Scottish Green Party not distancing itself from the UK Greens because they're inept and they couldn't spot rape culture in their own party, but because of alleged transphobia. They're doing so from an ideological place that creates huge problems and instead of working to protect trans people alongside everyone else they're making the situation worse.
And don't tell me Chanellor is just one instance. Anyone following the UK gender critical politics knows that there are now multiple issues like this arising from gender identity ideology. See Mermaids for the latest on transgression of normative boundaries around safety and culture.
Do you know what it was specifically?
Everyone is a transphobe who will not bow and submit.
Womens rights are transphobic.
Women spaces are transphobic.
Women only schools are transphobic.
Women only sports are transphobic.
Tampons are transphobic – thus we have males now being spokespersons for companies producing these items. Ditto for make up.
Menstruation is transphobic.
Pregnancy is transphobic.
Birthing a child is transphobic.
Being a mother is transphobic.
Everyone can be a transphobe. Now bow down, and and pleasure that male genital and call it a ladydique. Cause women now have dicks. And these dicks must be serviced those without a name/class/category, the things that we used to call women/girls.
I'll hazard a guess it's the members of the UK Greens who believe biological sex is real and matters that are the problem. Rather than there being people in the party that hate trans people.
But I was curious if Scottish Greens said what the problem was or just used a genderist memo.
The context is circumstance – the Scottish Greens support a proposed change in law to self ID (SNP governance), whereas this is unlikely in England (under either Tories or Labour's Starmer) which has chosen to remain with an overseen/managed process.
The public consultation phase has concluded and a "select" committee has backed self declaration.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/06/holyrood-committee-backs-self-declaration-for-transgender-people
JK Rowling has resorted to wearing tshirts in protest.
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/jk-rowling-wears-t-shirt-calling-nicola-sturgeon-destroyer-of-womens-rights-as-edinburgh-protests-break-out-3870406
The context is why JKR is wearing that t-shirt, and why there is such a backlash against trans activism.
forwomen.scot/04/10/2022/public-opinion-polls/
https://forwomen.scot/04/10/2022/public-opinion-polls/
https://www.greens.org.nz/an_open_letter_to_the_green_party_of_england_and_wales
Select Committee processes are more robust if there is no pre-determined outcome in mind. It is apparent to those following the SNP, that – as in NZ – this is not the case here.
The report itself has the familiar signs of advocacy authorship and direction:
https://sp-bpr-en-prod-cdnep.azureedge.net/published/EHRCJ/2022/10/6/d81c72da-4070-4355-aacb-cc58d9c1bc08/EHRCJS062022R08.pdf
Of course, you would likely disagree with that perception.
It does make for interesting reading though. The very valid concerns raised – are dismissed without addressing.
Some good minutes from the private sessions of the Select Committee, including these two:
Bayswater parents support group from families of minors
Submission from a transsexual regarding impact of proposed changes
Why, the mere fact that a bill was put up in the first place is indicative of intent.
"Always look on the bright side of life"…..
How TF do you go from a tilt at a presidential nomination on issues that included health, big pharma and insurance sector reforms, justice, drug laws and the private prison industry reforms, financial reforms including holding big banks and their executives accountable, climate change and pollution to supporting fascist Republicans?
Not hard I guess if you've always been an opportunist fraud.
/
https://twitter.com/EricCortellessa/status/1582178259693096961
She not for going to war with Russia and dropping pre-emptively some nukes.
remainder: The us has a track record for dropping nukes and attacking foreign countries in which they have interests that they want to protect pre-emptively and i would like to point to success stories such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
So she left the Democratic party last week, and laid out her reasoning quite eloquently. and is now an independent that can do and campaign for whomever she sees fit.
But i guess, leaving the democratic party is now verboten?
Gabbard volunteered to join America's pre-emptive war to change Iraq's regime. She's also a bigoted, homophobic opportunist who supports Hinduvata's fascism and assorted murderous despots.
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1505/27/wolf.02.html
It's just a statement of fact (as applied in 2015), though Iran supported Shia militias also played a part in the defeat of Islamic State.
And on Iraq she was on point, that country was 3 provinces under the Ottomans for a reason.
Today Iraq holds elections, but cannot form governments.
National party continues with Trussonomic liberterian bullshit.
https://twitter.com/business/status/1582242339527221248?cxt=HHwWgIDTwcrBoPUrAAAA
The dual mandate (like the fed) for monetary stability (inflation targeting) and employment ( credit lines availability to banks and non banking entities such as insurance and pension) ensure international flows of capital outside of the political sphere.This is an important part of the independence of institutions,outside of the risk of political corruption.
The RBNZ did make a forced error (admitted) by delaying first,then halving the rate increase after the large inflation prints sept 2021 but was constrained by the AK covid spread.
Her name is Elnaz Rekabi. The mullahs and their thugs will punish her for competing at the Asian Climbing Competitions finals in Seoul without her head covered.
https://twitter.com/IranWireEnglish/status/1582128573443608576
Unfortunately any effort to support these extremely brave women is gonna be undermined by the extremely stupid decision to put further sanctions on them imo but i guess you'll be in favour of that move joe ?
I hope she gets asylum in Korea instead of going back to the medieval mullah's paradise
https://twitter.com/AnnaPartisanka/status/1581693306945212417
Why are you putting up stuff like this weka ? Not enough poison pens on twitter for you ?just asking
Weston: The tweets are a way of summarising what this nutter, Chantelle Baker, is all about.
Not satisfied with being a crazy about vaccines, with the potential to put people in danger with the misguided views etc she now is putting the citizens of another country in actual danger from war.
Whatever links Weka wants to use is fine by me. The ignorance is astounding and there is no excuse for putting others in danger no matter what your views.
Shanreagh : I dont do either FB or twitter normally but in an effort to understand why Weka had put up the particular tweet i looked at the threads around it .Seems to me by the veiled and not so veiled threats conveyed by the commenters to the SBU looking into CB etc that you dont have to look very far underneath the pretty blue and yellow to find hate and malevolence towards anything obstructing the states narrative which is what i find disturbing .Better out than in ?maybe , or just another contributing factor on the proverbial ' slippery slope ' towards what someone else has called "a woke ww3 "
Just to clarify this statement was about Chantelle Baker.
Weston, this is TS. People here are often rude, and this isn't a problem so long as it's not gratuitous, trolling, or presented without a political point/argument. If you read the thread, there are serious political issues presented. The presentation has style you might not like (fair enough), but the politics are there for those that want to see them.
Also because this is TS, please address the politics rather than taking potshots at people.
I don't understand this. What is SBU?
I still think that the link used by Weka is Ok to present a point of view.
I view CB trip and postings from Ukraine with horror at the ignorance she espouses, going to a country, with little understanding of the issues and then spouting off to all and sundry.
SBU is the equivalent to ukrainian secret police same ones that assassinated Daryia Dugina with a car bomb a month or so ago .Looking at the big picture the Baker chick is prob pretty small cheese .If she's as dumb as people say surely anything she ' exposes ' will evaporate in the collective mirth wont it ?