Daily review 18/12/2020
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5:30 pm, December 18th, 2020 - 28 comments
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- Elbridge Colby’s vision: blocking China
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...2 hours ago - China’s military spending rises should prompt regional budget responses
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...3 hours ago
- Pressure grows for commonsense correction on safe local speeds
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...3 hours ago - Luxon’s Guests.
Speilmeister: Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...4 hours ago - S&P downgrades 18 councils, blaming Govt
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest: Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...6 hours ago - Recession ends – Economic challenges remain
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...8 hours ago - Maybe there’s a connection?
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...8 hours ago - I, too, got a few things wrong
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...8 hours ago
- Commandments & Cures
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...8 hours ago - Australia needs greater defence self-reliance, and extra funding
Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...11 hours ago
- Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Thursday, March 20
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...13 hours ago - Gordon Campbell on Winston Peters’ bad trip, and the return of the PPPs zombie
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...20 hours ago - Climate Fresk – a neat way to make the complexity of climate change less puzzling
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of "Climate Fresk" and at a guess, this will also be the case for many of you. I stumbled upon it in the self-service training catalog for employees at the company I work at in Germany where it was announced ...1 day ago - Japan and Australia can fill each other’s defence gaps
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...1 day ago
- Submission on the Draft Biometric Processing Privacy Code
The NZCTU strongly supports the OPC’s decision to issue a code of practice for biometric processing. Our view is that the draft code currently being consulted on is stronger and will be more effective than the exposure code released in early 2024. We are pleased that some of the revisions ...1 day ago
- Eggs in more baskets: diversify Australian agricultural exports away from US
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...1 day ago
- The Fisheries Reform Scam – Sam Woolford
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system. Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by the High Court ruling that the ...1 day ago - Climate Change: Failed again
In what has become regular news, the quarterly ETS auction has failed, with nobody even bothering to bid. The immediate reason is that the carbon price has fallen to around $60, below the auction minimum of $68. And the cause of that is a government which has basically given up ...1 day ago
- Trump’s tariffs challenge India’s economic balance
US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump announced that his reciprocal tariffs—matching other countries’ tariffs on American goods—will go into effect on 2 April, ...1 day ago
- NZ’s First #MeToo Case Wants To Practise Law Again
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...1 day ago - Climate sceptic ACT MP attacks National
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest: ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...1 day ago - Libertarian Jesus
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...1 day ago - People matter—especially when frigate crews are too small
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...1 day ago
- Auckland’s Western Line: Walking and cycling catchments
This is a guest post by Peter Bisley. It previously appeared on his substack, and is republished here by kind permisison. How can active transport connections maximise City Rail Link benefits City Rail Link successfully ran a test train last month on the 3.45km line under central Auckland, ahead ...1 day ago
- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Wednesday, March 19
Mōrena. Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, ...2 days ago - Unity is the answer to Europe’s defence woes
US President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt ...2 days ago
- Australian politics needs clearer national security boundaries
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...2 days ago
- Government must act decisively and ban engineered stone
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have reiterated their call for Government to protect workers by banning engineered stone in a submission on MBIE’s silica dust consultation. “If Brooke van Velden is genuine when she calls for an evidence-based approach to this issue, then she must support a full ban on ...2 days ago
- Tuesday 18 March
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...2 days ago
- First-person view drones: transitioning from sport to battle
It’s one thing for military personnel to hone skills with first-person view (FPV) drones in racing competitions. It’s quite another for them to transition to the complexities of the battlefield. Drone racing has become a ...2 days ago
- ‘There are no exemptions. Just eat it.’
Seymour says there will be no other exemptions granted to schools wanting to opt out of the Compass contract. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest: David Seymour has denied a request from a Christchurch school and any other schools to be exempted from the Compass school lunch programme, saying the contract ...2 days ago - Nuclear Ukraine: Budapest Memorandum – what it says and is it relevant?
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ... 2 days ago- A Palate Cleanser
Edit: The original story said “Palette Cleanser” in both the story, and the headline. I am never, ever going to live this down. Chain me up, throw me into the pit.Hi,With the world burning — literally and figuratively — I felt like Webworm needed a little palate cleanser at the ...2 days ago- Do Americans really want urban sprawl?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler (Image credit: Antonio Huerta) Growing up in suburban Ohio, I was used to seeing farmland and woods disappear to make room for new subdivisions, strip malls, and big box stores. I didn’t usually welcome the changes, but I assumed others ...2 days ago- Myanmar’s desperate condition: fragmentation, drugs, money-laundering and more
Myanmar was a key global site for criminal activity well before the 2021 military coup. Today, illicit industry, especially heroin and methamphetamine production, still defines much of the economy. Nowhere, not even the leafiest districts ...2 days ago- The Hardest Word
What've I gotta do to make you love me?What've I gotta do to make you care?What do I do when lightning strikes me?And I wake up and find that you're not thereWhat've I gotta do to make you want me?Mmm hmm, what've I gotta do to be heard?What do I ...2 days ago- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Tuesday, March 18
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...3 days ago- Gordon Campbell On Luxon’s Survival Chances, And The India FTA
Whenever Christopher Luxon drops a classically fatuous clanger or whenever the government has a bad poll – i.e. every week – the talk resumes that he is about to be rolled. This is unlikely for several reasons. For starters, there is no successor. Nicola Willis? Chris Bishop? Simeon Brown? Mark ...3 days ago- It’s been done before: pay for more defence spending with debt
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...3 days ago- Feedback on work with engineered stone and materials containing crystalline silica
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...3 days ago- Big deal
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...3 days ago- A Return to a US Gilded Age?
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...3 days ago- France is prominent in efforts to shape Syria’s future, again
As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...3 days ago- “Capital poor”
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...3 days ago- Pictures Tell The Story
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...3 days ago- High-impact climate risks, low-probability? Think again
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...3 days ago- Daddy
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...3 days ago- Monday 17 March
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...3 days ago- Luxon announces start of India trade deal talks
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy: Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...3 days ago- In a divided world, momentum behind negotiations grows
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West ...3 days ago- Mercury Lane, and Auckland Transport’s habitual failure
When the City Rail Link opens (circa 2026), all signs point to it immediately being a huge success. It will be transformational for Auckland, with ripple effects across the city. Thousands of people an hour will pour in and out of the new and upgraded stations. So, as well as ...3 days ago- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on March 17
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...4 days ago- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 9, 2025 thru Sat, March 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...4 days ago- Maxing out – next steps for progressives
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...4 days ago- Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to March 16
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...4 days ago- Eating Like Kings
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...4 days ago- David now turns to Rodney with a stricken face
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...5 days ago- Fact brief – Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming? Waste heat’s contribution to global warming is a small fraction of ...5 days ago- On why complaining about incompetent David Seymour’s School Lunches is the only rational respo...
Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...5 days ago- Whistling Past The Graveyard.
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...5 days ago- Jane Kelsey – Transforming neoliberalism
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...5 days ago- Ain’t No Use
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...5 days ago- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix on Saturday, March 15
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...5 days ago- Is the New Zealand Healthcare System Doing Badly?
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...6 days ago- Europe can still prevent a Russian victory
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...6 days ago- Labour draws a clear line in the sand on National’s privatisation binge
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets. He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...6 days ago- Australia’s disaster response should build resilience
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...6 days ago- Making it up as they go along
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...6 days ago- Arbitrary or worse
Back in December, Lands Minister Chris Penk rejected proposals to recognise the proper names of Manawatū and Pito One. Both proposals were strongly supported by their communities and so recommended by Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa / New Zealand Geographic Board. Despite this, Penk rejected them. I was curious about ...6 days ago- The problems with PPPs
Here’s the excellent explainer on PPPs from over at that this chat was based on.Government's Investment SummitThis week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme.Greater ...6 days ago- South Korea has acted decisively on DeepSeek. Other countries must stop hesitating
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was were right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country ...6 days ago- PPPs are more expensive, slower & riskier than Govt DIY
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...6 days ago- Friday 14 March
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...6 days ago- Weekly Roundup 14-March-2025
Midway through March already? The years flying by. Here’s some things we saw this week that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at AT’s Upper Harbour Bus changes. For Wednesday we had a guest post by Malcolm McCracken exploring what ...6 days ago- Bookshelf: technology, globalisation and civilisational decline
Robert Kaplan’s book Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis paints a portrait of civilisation in flux. Drawing insights from history, literature and art, he examines the effect of modern technology, globalisation and urbanisation on ...6 days ago - A Palate Cleanser
- Release: National standards returning by stealth
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...5 hours ago - Release: Kiwis still struggling as economy stumbles along
Kiwis aren’t feeling any better off despite figures showing a very slight growth in GDP in the December quarter. ...7 hours ago
- Greens call for compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...1 day ago - Another failed ETS auction, another indictment on the Govt’s climate credibility
The ETS auction’s failure today is yet another clear sign that the Government is failing us all on climate action. ...1 day ago
- Release: Luxon quick to give away principled position on nukes
Christopher Luxon seems to have thrown New Zealand’s principled anti-nuclear advocacy under a bus. ...1 day ago
- NZ must act on Israel’s slaughter of children
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...1 day ago
- Release: Still no certainty for disability communities
One year on from the Government’s abrupt and callous changes to disability funding, the community still has no idea what the future holds. ...2 days ago
- Green Party backs volunteer firefighters in their call for ACC recognition
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...2 days ago
- Stand Up for Palestine: A Call to Action Against Israels Treacherous Attack
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...2 days ago
- MP Views: Living Strong, The Economy, Servicing Our Nation, The Golden Egg, and 4 Year Terms
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...3 days ago - Shane Jones has no shame
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...4 days ago
- Release: National botches health funding numbers
Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that the Government has put $16.68 billion into the health system over three years is wrong. ...5 days ago
- Government tramples on the rights of disabled migrant children
The Green Party is condemning the Government’s move to tighten access to visas for disabled children. ...6 days ago
- Release: Auckland needs second harbour crossing
Labour supports Minister Chris Bishop’s call for input on the second Waitematā Harbour crossing. ...6 days ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds’ speech to NZ Investment Summit 2025
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you today about how we make overseas investment work for all New Zealanders. ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour does not support PPPs for prisons
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...6 days ago
- Dunedin Futures report should be a wake-up call
The newly released report on the South Dunedin Future Programme must be a wake-up call for our Government. ...6 days ago
- Release: Members’ Bill makes wage theft a crime
Workers will now be able to go to the Police and report their employer if they are not being paid wages they’re owed. ...1 week ago
- Missed opportunity to stop the stealing of Māori land
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour supports sanctions against Israel’s illegal occupation
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt procurement plan cuts wages and trashes the environment
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...1 week ago
- Procurement proposals pose risk to people and planet
The Green Party is concerned by the impact the Government’s proposed changes to procurement processes could have on people and planet. ...1 week ago
- Just six Government MPs needed to pass Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour’s approach to Māori economy benefits all
Under Labour, the Māori economy went from strength to strength according to the latest report released by MBIE. ...1 week ago
- 20 Years of Success Down the Drain: Govt Gut Whānau Ora
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party launches petition to allow Pacific whānau visa-free access
The Green Party is launching a petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour welcomes reinstatement of Heath NZ board
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ’s Public Health system dealt yet another blow
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Chris Hipkins’ State of the Nation address
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour outlines priorities of next Govt
The next Labour Government will prioritise jobs, health and homes so Kiwis and Kiwi businesses have the opportunity to thrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Refreshed team to drive Labour’s 2026 priorities
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has unveiled a new economic team as part of a caucus reshuffle. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour calls for end to police referrals to Destiny programmes
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We've just had a credible terrorist threat greater than that of March 15.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/123751610/otago-uni-graduation-threat-surpassed-magnitude-of-christchurch-terror-attack
Quote:
I am truly looking forward to Prime Minister Ardern doing more than emoting her way out of this specific named threat greater than the Christchurch attack. New Zealand's security apparatus just got their failures handed to them, again.
[Reformatted quote for clarity]
Doesn't the fact that it was stopped before it happened suggest our security worked this time?
Interesting that she got bail. The article is kind of light on detail.
It indicates that we are a sustained target and Christchurch was a pattern.
The threat successfully hit the lives of thousands of graduands and their families who had flown down.
So a successful intervention would have stopped the threat and stopped the disruption to our lives.
There will be some more detail to follow in the Court proceedings. But only some.
She was charged with threatening an attack, not planning one. Says it all.
She threatened to commit an attack using firearms and explosives targeting graduation ceremonies.
So with Police evaluating the threat, Otago university shut down all its graduations, and they found out who she was, she was arrested and charged.
Thankfully you don't evaluate terror threats to New Zealanders.
and then she was given bail. If she had been planning an attack I doubt that would have happened.
"It indicates that we are a sustained target and Christchurch was a pattern."
We are a sustained target from what? We don't even know what her motivations were.
My guess, given her age, is a failure to complete a course successfully and not graduating. Presumably someone with common sense assessed that as part of identifying who made the threat.
That's all up in the air.
It could be like the guy who left a fake bomb in the foyer as he walked into an exam he really hoped would get cancelled so he could get an aegrotate pass (true story). Or it could be the other end of the intent scale (likely short on competence, though).
The courts will do their thing. If it was just someone looking to not tell the parents they dropped out… that escalated a bit on them, lol
Likewise
The emotional and psychological issues of an individual, and their criminal charge consequences have little to do with our security apparatus or the PM, but the courts and medical professionals.
It is precisely because her intent was discovered that she was arrested and charged. Note also she didn't act alone:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/123751610/otago-uni-graduation-threat-surpassed-magnitude-of-christchurch-terror-attack
"Another person who the defendant met on an internet dating site is alleged to have also taken part in the offending. That person has not been arrested, police said."
If this was a mere therapeutic lapse she would be being sectioned under the Health Act. This is a threatened terror attach greater than that of Christchurch 15th, so it is a Police matter.
It's important to New Zealand because of that terror threat. Clearly enough for Police to require all graduations be stopped in Dunedin this December.
If they arrested someone for actually planning anything close to chch, I strongly doubt bail would be much of a possibility.
There was some jerk a few years before chch who did the anonymous threat thing at the same university. It's not necessarily related to any medical issues, some people are just morons. Maybe they want to avoid an event, maybe they just like making everyone jump.
But as soon as you assume it's just some jerk before you know who is behind it, the paper bag explodes in your face.
Intent and act. Your words. And not alone, but the other person is not being charged …
There is no charge of planning any act.
It appears someone made a threat, and to those at an event/events involving more people than gather at a mosque. And because of that the events were called off and someone is being charged for threatening violent action. End of.
We’ve known we were a target since
Are you saying that the execution of the New Zealanders on March 15th is the same as the Tuhoe raids?
Please, for the widows and widowers, spell it all out.
Hardly. More likely she has never owned a gun.
Details won't come out until hearing in February.
What was the message you wanted us to understand from your list above?
Puting your credible terrorist threat into a historical perpective.
Which historical perspective do you mean?
Yup – although the knowledge and logistics are relatively simple, most folk are not up to killing large numbers of their fellow citizens on their first go. Plenty of folk get angry enough to threaten to kill – but talk is cheap.
The Christchurch shooter was unusual in being well equipped, with a thought out plan, and considerable redundancy in the form of extra weapons and ammo. Absent Abdul Aziz he might have gone on to kill another 50.
You forgot 10 July 1985.
I am truly looking forward to finding out if the 22yo had access to firearms and explosives.
Kind of irrelevant whether someone making such a threat actually has the means to carry it out. Until you know for sure they're a fantasist, it has to be treated as credible.
I mean, most personnel might treat it as a drill rather than getting amped up for their portrayal in the latest NZ homegrown ghoulsploitation miniseries or movie, but you still follow procedure and go through the process.
Because the penalty for ignoring a committed offender is pretty bad.
Yes. And the fact the person appeared "shaken" at the court hearing today and has been allowed bail provided one or both of her parents are with her at all times.
This is a good move:
…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/433200/prime-minister-and-mp-salaries-capped-for-three-years
For RedLogix:
"What if scarcity is just a cultural construct, a fiction that fences us off from gift economies? When I examine Serviceberry economics, I don’t see scarcity, I see abundance shared: photosynthate is usually not in short supply, since sun and air are perpetually renewable resources."
https://emergencemagazine.org/story/the-serviceberry/
A great read Robert, thanks.
This idea of the gift economy is deeply culturally bound in Asia, where at least twice a year families gather, and gifts, usually of money are exchanged. The head of the family (usually a grandmother) gets the bulk of the serious giving, and status is attached to generosity to her. Children also receive gifts, for which they bow to the responsible relative. One need not give gifts, but if not you lose the opportunity to gain status, and the children will not bow to you. Grandmothers often recycle some of their gifts to the grandchildren or single adolescents. Governments also understand that they are expected to deliver, and a lack of delivery is accompanied by a corresponding lack of respect.
Without any sense of trying to disparage the underlying idea of that essay, which I would suggest speaks to a profound spiritual idea (that essentially we all exist to be of service to each other), there is a mistaken conflation between the spiritual and the material going on here.
photosynthate is usually not in short supply, since sun and air are perpetually renewable resources
They may be perpetually renewable, yet they are also fundamentally diffuse and intermittent. This means that at any given moment there are strict constraints on what is available. The author does sort of recognise this:
Of course, sometimes there’s not enough rain, and then the scarcity ripples through the web of relationships, for sure. That is real scarcity: when the rains don’t come. A physical limitation with repercussions that are shared, just as abundance is shared. That kind of scarcity is not what troubles me.
Well it damn well should trouble him because this is exactly the constraint our pre-industrial ancestors lived with … and the result was a grinding material poverty stretching endlessly from one generation to the next with few exceptions.
Still I'm pleased you raised this; it's directly related to the next post I'm writing at the moment. There's a certain synchronicity going on here