I actually don't mind Ng. Meet him a few times, but I think he missed the bit where the renters are normally renting because they can't afford to buy a house, so his fluffy renters buying the house is a bit scewwiff
If an increased number of amateur investors exited the market because they couldn't be bothered to provide a warm, dry house to rent there would certainly be an increased number of houses available for young families. This of course would see house prices stabilise and become more affordable.
Don’t worry. You are still anonymous. Just slightly less anonymous than before.
[I don’t know what is going on here, but it is in no way acceptable to break someone’s pseudonym on TS. Chris T isn’t anonymous, he’s pseudonymous. I suggest you read the Gosman Hypocrisy Ruling in the site Policy. If you have a genuine concern about someone’s pseudonym, then grab the attention of a moderator. – weka]
Mod note for you Muttonbird, you're in premod until I see an acknowledgement you have read the note and the Policy and agree to abide by the site rules.
Ok, well your reply just read like you think you know better than a moderator, so I've put those two comments and your other comments into Spam and left you in premod until this gets sorted out. Basically we're in wasting moderator time now, and I'm sick of chasing round after regulars who should know better. If you don't understand a moderation, ask for clarification, I'm always happy to explain. But there is no good reason why any of us giving our time here should engage in an argument about moderation.
The points about other people's commenting styles can be made in more direct ways within the site's rules. Or as I said, flag a passing mod.
I thought I did bring attention to posting style last time but as you admitted you don't always read replies to your own demands so commenters don't know where they stand.
It’s particularly relevant at this point in time because there is increasing awareness of right wing attack strategy of which deliberate dumbing down is a part. I have a lot of interest and a lot to say about it. Honestly, how can they claim to be interested in better education for people when the communicate in sloppy and false memes?
Still not sure how I broke the Gosman rule other than using the word "anonymous" instead of "pseudo-anonymous" but if it gets my posts uncensored then yes, I have re-read the rules and I will adhere to them in the future.
I know you're trying here MB, and I really wish I didn't have to be spending time on this, but your first paragraph needs a link so I know what you are referring to. I generally look at the replies list when I am on TS and read what people say to me, so I don't know what you mean. Please clarify. I'll respond to the rest of your comment and the other when we've got this sorted.
The reference was around a previous clash where I said had replied to one of your requests and you said, "you lost track of time". This seemed to mean it wasn't important to you.
Well you would be wrong about my priorities MB. I’m putting you onto the blacklist in the meantime, just to keep the comments moderation list clear. I will come back to this later, because I don’t want to spend my Sat morning chasing around after this. Reminder (to everyone) that in the end moderation comes down to shortening my time being sucked up. All people have to do is acknowledge the first moderation request and we can move on. Pick a fight with a moderator and this is what happens instead. It’s not personal to you MB, there’s been a run of this lately. If regulars aren’t going to respect moderation maybe I should just go back to banning instead of trying to sort things out.
Muttonbird, you said (comment copied from Trash because I can't move it to the front end),
Um. So basically I have been banned but you decline to give me any information on how long or why.
You've also not called it a ban but a blacklist. Could you please explain to the commenters what the difference is.
Sure. You're not banned. If you were banned I would have said so and told you the length of time. You're still in premod, but I have used the blacklist tool in the back end to manage this because it's less work for me. This means that the system sends all your comments to trash (before they were being held in the Pending queue and I was pushing them to Spam until we sorted the moderation issue out).
The reason you are in premod is because I moderated some comments of yours (about anonymity) and you chose to litigate that and now we're in a process of sorting all the things out that have arisen from that. Part of that is because the last time I moderated you, you also argued about it, so to limit the amount of time I have to spend on moderating you in the future it's better to get it all sorted once and for all now.
I've been busy and my attention is elsewhere and my priority on TS is finishing a draft post that's been sitting there for a week. None of that is personal to you, you're just the regular who happened to coincide with me running out of patience.
So, I will get back to this, I don't know when but I'm unlikely to let it drag on for days and days. I want you and I to come to an understanding on where the boundaries are for moderation so neither of us have to go through this in the future. Or next time I just issue a ban and sort it out that way. My preference is for the former because you've been here a long time and your comments fit with the site except sometimes when you overstep the bounds like this one (your original comment, and how you've handle moderation).
In other words, I'm putting time in here so that you don't get banned. There's an opportunity to get on board with that. It's election year and once things heat up with that I won't have this degree of leeway for sorting things out.
1. it's not ok to criticise people for anonymity, nor to try and connect up people's different IDs between here and elsewhere on the internet. On TS anonymity isn't allowed, pseudonimity is. Trying to break someone's pseudonomity will get serious moderator attention.
2. You have a history of abusive comments that have nothing to do with politics, and this needs to stop.
3. Next time you get moderated by me, if you argue about it, I will just ban in order to limit my time being used up. Asking for clarification is ok by me, taking pot shots at the moderator or moderation is not. How other moderators deal with moderating you is up to them, but I have made my notes and links in the back end if other mods want to refer to that.
I will assume you have read and understood these three points unless you ask for clarification, including the understanding that they will form the basis of moderation going forward.
The Gosman Hypocrisy Ruling basically says if you call someone using a pseudonym 'anonymous', while using a pseudonym, then you will be banned. As above and stated in the Policy, there are good reasons for understanding the difference between those two things.
1a. I didn't criticise anonymity – just let that commenter know we were co-commenters once before elsewhere. The anonymous/pseudo-anonymous differentiation is lost on me, and I suspect others.
1b. "Connecting people's different IDs". New rule and the forum rules need to be updated. How are commenters supposed to know this?
2. Accepted and I will adjust.
3. This is an issue but I will be the one to adjust because I must in order to keep my commenting privilege.
Otherwise, thank you for giving up your Sunday to address this and I look forward to the post you are working on.
Muttonbird.
1a. I told you in the original moderation I didn't know what was going on (still don't), but pointed you to the Policy and pointed out that there were problems with what you were doing.
Pseudonymity and anonymity are two different things. Anonymity is when the comment has no handle attached to it so two anonymous comments could be from the same person or two different people and there is no way to know. Think about that with a 200 comment post and what might happen. This is why anonymous comments aren't allowed on site. They're open to abuse and they make conversations confusing. Blogspot blogging platform used to allow anonymous comments (don't know if it still does, and it was an admin chosen setting) and it was really hard to follow complex conversations.
Pseudonymity is when people choose a pseudonym, like weka or Muttonbird, and use it consistently. Some people use that pseudonym across the internet (I use weka on twitter and FB for instance). Some people like to use different handles in different places, for lots of reasons, some quite legitimate. The continuity means that conversations are easy to follow, we get to know people and this creates a better political debate culture. It's also means it's harder for people to troll or flame.
Breaking Pseudonymity, either by directly doxxing someone (publishing their real life name or details online), or by sharing information so that different IDs can be linked up, is not ok because you have absolutely no way to know the person's reasons. This is a big issue for some people online eg feminists in political spaces who get threatened online and in RL when someone doxxes them. Or someone works in a job which would be at risk if their political views were known (and again, it's not usually possible to see the risk). This is why I take it very seriously.
1b. When I first moderated, all you had to do was ask for clarification instead of arguing about it. Not all moderators will explain things, but most will if asked politely. A lot of moderation comes from individual moderators making judgements in the moment based on a range of things to do with the safety of the site and the wellbeing of the community. Listening to what they say as they say things makes things clearer.
Finding the middle ground between ignoring bad behaviour and flat out banning isn't easy. It's time and energy consuming, and prone to not having the desired outcome.
Still can I sincerely say I fully support what you are trying to do. Best wishes.
My reading of 'anonymous' is that that personal details are unknown. I didn't think my original series of comments violated that but if you say there is a risk to commenters here if their handle from elsewhere is known, I accept that.
For reasons weka outlined, we don’t condone people using different user handles (AKA pseudonyms) here. You suspected that this was the case with two commenters and asked us to look into this. I did and found not a hint of this being the case. FYI, I’m particularly allergic to sockpuppetry, bordering on going anaphylactic, and I always keep an eye on this behaviour but it is easily missed too. I think that your judgement and behaviour were clouded by your opinion of and attitude towards those alleged sockpuppets. IMO, it’s perfectly ok to flag suspected sockpuppets but then let Moderators deal with it and accept their decision as they can see and do a lot more behind the scenes than you can.
There's a lot of cross over between the forum I mentioned, by the way. Three or four commenters here are active there on the 574 page NZ Politics Thread
I'm not one for linking other forums but I think it has value in the context of this argument. The Standard is referenced there quite a lot. Some here may find it childish (a lot of it is!) but there’s significant commentary about NZ Politics from domestic and largely ex-pat communities.
We don't post in a bubble and commenters' history, while considered sacrosanct here for some reason, is fair game as far as I'm concerned.
How do you build up knowledge and experience of and about a person without referencing previous behaviour?
[FFS! One Moderator is working hard to douse this fire and you come along with your typical wind-up act to flare it up again. Banned for a week – Incognito]
Comment received from Chris T after he was banned:
I haven't fucking done anything
You’re fucking fool for saying that. You’re a spray & walk away wind-up troll and you need to learn to shut the fuck up and especially not fuck with Moderators about moderation. I’m fucked off by your moronic behaviour and add another fucking week to your ban for fucking good measure. So, fuck off for a fortnight!
Thanks for the heads up gsays. I've not been around much today.
Note the statement from the Greens says… some political parties have a vested interest in the status quo.
Lets be crystal clear, they are: National and ACT.
While it looks like the NZ First Foundation may have dabbled in the behaviour to some extent, it will be nothing compared to the conduct of National and ACT over many years. There is no evidence that Labour and the Greens indulged in such arrangements.
The LP pledge card fiasco manufactured by the Nats had none of this subterfuge attached to it. It had been approved by Parliamentary Services – a fact the Nat complicit media of the time conveniently glossed over.
My friend's family were political refugees from Pinochet, but in recent years have returned to visit extended family in Chile.
Chilean housing policy history – not without problems but interesting to read, particularly in relation to housing activists operating before Pinochet's rule.
They assessed whether the pobladores had the right kind of family, were good workers, and acted in solidarity with their neighbors. They also investigated whether pobladores were “homeless” (sin casa). In the Chilean case, being homeless did not mean living on the street but rather that one was either living in substandard housing, renting a temporary residence, or staying in the home of extended family members or fictive kin.
Those who seized land sought the housing benefits they believed they were entitled to as citizens. Housing activists justified the seizures as an attempt to overcome a contradictory shortcoming of citizenship, which had made many Chileans “homeless”. At the same time, the seizures also expanded the boundaries of permissible activism.
Everyone’s really giving it their all linking the opposition to the Chinese.
good to see the left trudge down the same path UK labour did on their way to electoral defeat. Denying it’s racist all the way, because it’s true apparently that the cccp gave donation to National and not Labour and Chinese people buy houses.
have fun hugging the corpse that is Winston first all the way to the opposition benches again
I imagine that we can expect some sackings at Middlemore Hospital.
They have, in effect, called the PM a liar with her claims that sewage was running down the walls at the Hospital. How Dare They!
'There was "no sewage spilling into the building" and leaks were "immediately repaired", CMDHB's spokeswoman said.'
This is the second time that they have had to correct the erroneous statements by Government MPs. They have already pointed out the falsity of such statements back in 2019 apparently.
The PM is repeating a lie. A bit rich to call her a liar. When are you lefties going to start putting the boot into dairy farmers again. Starting to feel ignored down on the farm. Can't wait for the tax cuts next year.
So how much extra money are you getting from poisoning our rivers?
You know they let people put what they like in the rivers in places like Somalia? I bet their rivers are basically open sewers. That is what a country with no regulations has.
"Health Minister David Clark said all the stories about sewage had originated from the DHB"
"DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson declined to be interviewed but confirmed to RNZ on March 28 that there had been sewage leaks and said she believed other buildings at Middlemore could be affected"
A very brief reply. I never actually said the PM lied. It was the DHB which certainly implied it.
However. The first story you link to quotes the then acting, now long departed CEO. It was a story from March 2018. Did you notice the date? The CoL Health Minister grabbed the story, embroidered it and then spun it as being part of his spiel that National were Evil. Ms Ardern is continuing to tell the tale, as recently as last week in fact.
The DHB concerned denied that anything like what he claimed had happened and that the claims were vastly exaggerated. They did this in 2019. Ms Ardern took no notice and simply spun the story again last week. The DHB have repeated the fact that the original story was rubbish. I doubt if the current CoL will take any notice of course. Truth is irrelevant.
They are quite used to continuing to spread rubbish stories after they have been shown to be false of course. Remember how the outgoing Head of Treasury claimed to have had their system hacked? What actually happened of course was vastly simpler. His staff had put the material on-line in such a way that the general public, using Treasury supplied tools, could see what was in the Budget. Robertson continued the tale of the "hack" long after the way the provision of the data to the Public was demonstrated. He knew that the "hack" had never happened but sticking to the truth wasn't of overriding importance.
The one here spreading rubbish is you and you did imply that "government mps" that no doubt includes the PM are lying in your final paragraph prior to "edit" and you have completely missed the point where the spokesperson admits that there were sewage leaks.
The PM and her govt were told by the DHB. You trying to spin it to suit doesnt alter those facts.
Probably nobody will see my comment here as it is late on Wednesday night and I have only just caught this article
At a daily news briefing on Wednesday, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the credentials would be revoked in retaliation for a headline for an essay that ran in The Journal’s editorial pages earlier this month. The headline read, “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.”
Chinese officials have “demanded that The Wall Street Journal recognize the seriousness of the error, openly and formally apologize, and investigate and punish those responsible, while retaining the need to take further measures against the newspaper,” Geng Shuang, the ministry spokesman, said in a transcript provided by the Chinese government.
“The Chinese people do not welcome media that publish racist statements and smear China with malicious attacks,” he added.
Further down the article was a development that feels a bit off (to me anyway…but wth would I know about who/how rules are applied to journalists…)
It also comes less than one day after American officials in Washington said they would treat five government-controlled Chinese news organizations — Xinhua, CGTN, China Radio, China Daily and People’s Daily — as foreign government functionaries, subject to similar rules as diplomats stationed in the United States.
“We knew fossil fuel extraction – including fracking – was a major part of global methane emissions, but this impressive study suggests it is a far bigger culprit in human-induced climate change than we had ever thought,” he said.
“If correct, gas, coal and oil extraction and distribution around the world are responsible for almost half of all human-induced methane emissions. Add to that all the carbon dioxide that is then emitted when the fossil fuels are burned, and you need look no further for the seat of the climate emergency fire.”
And given that solar PV installations currently depend on co-located natural gas plants to fill in for the evening peak loads … this is the unspoken Archilles Heel of many so called 'renewable' sources. Without mass scale fuel/energy storage both wind and solar are not really as carbon zero as their advocates like to pretend:
A recent study published in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters found that natural-gas use has grown so quickly that emissions from gas over the past six years have surpassed the decline in emissions resulting from a reduced use of coal. The study found that fossil fuel emissions grew at a slower rate in 2019 than in previous years but did not account for methane emissions from fossil fuel production and shipping.
Which is part of the teething issues of a new technology, not an endemic problem. Solutions are appearing, from Musks aussie battery to hydro stations using surplus power to pump water back into the upper reservoir.
Incidentally I worked at a mine site that was seriously planning a wind generator combined with energy storage in an unused drift (Cavern Energy Storage) which looked extremely promising. … but only made sense if you already had a decent sized non-leaky hole to start with.
What does irk me a bit is when PV/Wind advocates chirp on about how cheap their source of energy has become, without factoring in the storage and grid costs that need to be incurred to make it all work reliably.
Fair call on advocates for alternative (or any) tech – "support" tends to become "blinkered idolatry".
Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong, sometimes they're just outright lying (ISTR the wonderfully named "T Boone Pickens" advocating for fracking in the continental US as a means of energy self-sufficiency. He wasa publicising a book, and it was one of the few interviews done by Jon Stewart that made me feel outright dirty. He said he'd never heard of any problems with fracking, ever, and it went unchallenged).
Which is part of the teething issues of a new technology, not an endemic problem. Solutions are appearing,
Without wanting to run a 'gotcha' moment, can I say this is pretty much the same argument I was running for the new generations of MSR fission generators a few weeks back.
Like all new tech has it's blinkered zealots, but that's the nature of innovation, much of it is going to prove a dead-end but there is really only one way to find out.
lol I was trying to avoid doing the gotcha thing in the opposite direction, too.
The worst case scenario for wind farm hazards being understated is dead birds and a hum. Worst case for MSR hazard understatement is a spontaneous twenty-mile-radius bird sanctuary.
Unsurprisingly the tangental foray into solar and wind generation ignores the fact that methane form non biological sources is higher than previously thought suggesting the impact of biologic methane is less…but never mind it is all moot in any case as there is no will (political or otherwise) to actually do anything about it.
and you're welcome Robert , for all the good it will do.
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TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Leilani Farha.
Anyone?
Damns our housing crisis as a human rights issue.
'Successive governments have created a perfect storm…'
Simon Wilson's article in the Herald, as well as The Guardian and Newshub.
Hang me for not linking …but a bit difficult from phone parked up with the other Bus dwellers
Homelessness: Housing a human right, make evictions illegal, UN visitor says
Thanks Alice Tectonite.
Struck us as weird that Farha sees Newzild's lack of accessible housing as an issue…as the issue.
It is simply par for the course.
She is certainly direct.
Good on her.
Great article..
nice tweet from Keith Ng
https://twitter.com/keith_ng/status/1229898843572981760
I actually don't mind Ng. Meet him a few times, but I think he missed the bit where the renters are normally renting because they can't afford to buy a house, so his fluffy renters buying the house is a bit scewwiff
Everyone is a renter before they buy their first house. People don't emerge into adulthood fully formed as house buyers.
The Greens have a rent to buy scheme in the works
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/greens-push-rent-buy-schemes
Actually don't think rent to buy is a bad idea.
Only because the houses are unavailable, TMAB.
If an increased number of amateur investors exited the market because they couldn't be bothered to provide a warm, dry house to rent there would certainly be an increased number of houses available for young families. This of course would see house prices stabilise and become more affordable.
Do you you mind clarifying what you mean by tmab?
To make a….
Sure.
Don’t worry. You are still anonymous. Just slightly less anonymous than before.
[I don’t know what is going on here, but it is in no way acceptable to break someone’s pseudonym on TS. Chris T isn’t anonymous, he’s pseudonymous. I suggest you read the Gosman Hypocrisy Ruling in the site Policy. If you have a genuine concern about someone’s pseudonym, then grab the attention of a moderator. – weka]
Fantastic
You are delusional and to be avoided
Ok, Dark.
Yeah ok Swandri
Earlier on another forum you wrote
"Jacinda is shit"
Are you guys flirting now?
No idea
Just thought I would join in with whatever he is on about
Mod note for you Muttonbird, you're in premod until I see an acknowledgement you have read the note and the Policy and agree to abide by the site rules.
Ok, well your reply just read like you think you know better than a moderator, so I've put those two comments and your other comments into Spam and left you in premod until this gets sorted out. Basically we're in wasting moderator time now, and I'm sick of chasing round after regulars who should know better. If you don't understand a moderation, ask for clarification, I'm always happy to explain. But there is no good reason why any of us giving our time here should engage in an argument about moderation.
The points about other people's commenting styles can be made in more direct ways within the site's rules. Or as I said, flag a passing mod.
I thought I did bring attention to posting style last time but as you admitted you don't always read replies to your own demands so commenters don't know where they stand.
It’s particularly relevant at this point in time because there is increasing awareness of right wing attack strategy of which deliberate dumbing down is a part. I have a lot of interest and a lot to say about it. Honestly, how can they claim to be interested in better education for people when the communicate in sloppy and false memes?
Still not sure how I broke the Gosman rule other than using the word "anonymous" instead of "pseudo-anonymous" but if it gets my posts uncensored then yes, I have re-read the rules and I will adhere to them in the future.
Thank you!
I know you're trying here MB, and I really wish I didn't have to be spending time on this, but your first paragraph needs a link so I know what you are referring to. I generally look at the replies list when I am on TS and read what people say to me, so I don't know what you mean. Please clarify. I'll respond to the rest of your comment and the other when we've got this sorted.
Specifically "but as you admitted you don't always read replies to your own demands"
Please don't patronise me, weka.
The reference was around a previous clash where I said had replied to one of your requests and you said, "you lost track of time". This seemed to mean it wasn't important to you.
Well you would be wrong about my priorities MB. I’m putting you onto the blacklist in the meantime, just to keep the comments moderation list clear. I will come back to this later, because I don’t want to spend my Sat morning chasing around after this. Reminder (to everyone) that in the end moderation comes down to shortening my time being sucked up. All people have to do is acknowledge the first moderation request and we can move on. Pick a fight with a moderator and this is what happens instead. It’s not personal to you MB, there’s been a run of this lately. If regulars aren’t going to respect moderation maybe I should just go back to banning instead of trying to sort things out.
Muttonbird, you said (comment copied from Trash because I can't move it to the front end),
Sure. You're not banned. If you were banned I would have said so and told you the length of time. You're still in premod, but I have used the blacklist tool in the back end to manage this because it's less work for me. This means that the system sends all your comments to trash (before they were being held in the Pending queue and I was pushing them to Spam until we sorted the moderation issue out).
The reason you are in premod is because I moderated some comments of yours (about anonymity) and you chose to litigate that and now we're in a process of sorting all the things out that have arisen from that. Part of that is because the last time I moderated you, you also argued about it, so to limit the amount of time I have to spend on moderating you in the future it's better to get it all sorted once and for all now.
I've been busy and my attention is elsewhere and my priority on TS is finishing a draft post that's been sitting there for a week. None of that is personal to you, you're just the regular who happened to coincide with me running out of patience.
So, I will get back to this, I don't know when but I'm unlikely to let it drag on for days and days. I want you and I to come to an understanding on where the boundaries are for moderation so neither of us have to go through this in the future. Or next time I just issue a ban and sort it out that way. My preference is for the former because you've been here a long time and your comments fit with the site except sometimes when you overstep the bounds like this one (your original comment, and how you've handle moderation).
In other words, I'm putting time in here so that you don't get banned. There's an opportunity to get on board with that. It's election year and once things heat up with that I won't have this degree of leeway for sorting things out.
Here's the final moderation.
1. it's not ok to criticise people for anonymity, nor to try and connect up people's different IDs between here and elsewhere on the internet. On TS anonymity isn't allowed, pseudonimity is. Trying to break someone's pseudonomity will get serious moderator attention.
2. You have a history of abusive comments that have nothing to do with politics, and this needs to stop.
3. Next time you get moderated by me, if you argue about it, I will just ban in order to limit my time being used up. Asking for clarification is ok by me, taking pot shots at the moderator or moderation is not. How other moderators deal with moderating you is up to them, but I have made my notes and links in the back end if other mods want to refer to that.
I will assume you have read and understood these three points unless you ask for clarification, including the understanding that they will form the basis of moderation going forward.
The Gosman Hypocrisy Ruling basically says if you call someone using a pseudonym 'anonymous', while using a pseudonym, then you will be banned. As above and stated in the Policy, there are good reasons for understanding the difference between those two things.
Once I see that you have read that moderation I will take you out of the blacklist.
You,
1a. I told you in the original moderation I didn't know what was going on (still don't), but pointed you to the Policy and pointed out that there were problems with what you were doing.
Pseudonymity and anonymity are two different things. Anonymity is when the comment has no handle attached to it so two anonymous comments could be from the same person or two different people and there is no way to know. Think about that with a 200 comment post and what might happen. This is why anonymous comments aren't allowed on site. They're open to abuse and they make conversations confusing. Blogspot blogging platform used to allow anonymous comments (don't know if it still does, and it was an admin chosen setting) and it was really hard to follow complex conversations.
Pseudonymity is when people choose a pseudonym, like weka or Muttonbird, and use it consistently. Some people use that pseudonym across the internet (I use weka on twitter and FB for instance). Some people like to use different handles in different places, for lots of reasons, some quite legitimate. The continuity means that conversations are easy to follow, we get to know people and this creates a better political debate culture. It's also means it's harder for people to troll or flame.
Breaking Pseudonymity, either by directly doxxing someone (publishing their real life name or details online), or by sharing information so that different IDs can be linked up, is not ok because you have absolutely no way to know the person's reasons. This is a big issue for some people online eg feminists in political spaces who get threatened online and in RL when someone doxxes them. Or someone works in a job which would be at risk if their political views were known (and again, it's not usually possible to see the risk). This is why I take it very seriously.
1b. When I first moderated, all you had to do was ask for clarification instead of arguing about it. Not all moderators will explain things, but most will if asked politely. A lot of moderation comes from individual moderators making judgements in the moment based on a range of things to do with the safety of the site and the wellbeing of the community. Listening to what they say as they say things makes things clearer.
2. Thank-you, that will be appreciated.
3. Yep, that's pretty much what it boils down to.
Finding the middle ground between ignoring bad behaviour and flat out banning isn't easy. It's time and energy consuming, and prone to not having the desired outcome.
Still can I sincerely say I fully support what you are trying to do. Best wishes.
Thanks for the detailed info, weka.
My reading of 'anonymous' is that that personal details are unknown. I didn't think my original series of comments violated that but if you say there is a risk to commenters here if their handle from elsewhere is known, I accept that.
I’ll add a personal note or observation rather.
For reasons weka outlined, we don’t condone people using different user handles (AKA pseudonyms) here. You suspected that this was the case with two commenters and asked us to look into this. I did and found not a hint of this being the case. FYI, I’m particularly allergic to sockpuppetry, bordering on going anaphylactic, and I always keep an eye on this behaviour but it is easily missed too. I think that your judgement and behaviour were clouded by your opinion of and attitude towards those alleged sockpuppets. IMO, it’s perfectly ok to flag suspected sockpuppets but then let Moderators deal with it and accept their decision as they can see and do a lot more behind the scenes than you can.
There's a lot of cross over between the forum I mentioned, by the way. Three or four commenters here are active there on the 574 page NZ Politics Thread
I'm not one for linking other forums but I think it has value in the context of this argument. The Standard is referenced there quite a lot. Some here may find it childish (a lot of it is!) but there’s significant commentary about NZ Politics from domestic and largely ex-pat communities.
We don't post in a bubble and commenters' history, while considered sacrosanct here for some reason, is fair game as far as I'm concerned.
How do you build up knowledge and experience of and about a person without referencing previous behaviour?
We do it in real life…
Not being funny, but you seem a tad obsessed.
[FFS! One Moderator is working hard to douse this fire and you come along with your typical wind-up act to flare it up again. Banned for a week – Incognito]
See my Moderator note @ 3:11 PM.
Comment received from Chris T after he was banned:
You’re fucking fool for saying that. You’re a spray & walk away wind-up troll and you need to learn to shut the fuck up and especially not fuck with Moderators about moderation. I’m fucked off by your moronic behaviour and add another fucking week to your ban for fucking good measure. So, fuck off for a fortnight!
Hi Anne, I see one of the other posts is the Green Party saying:
"“It’s clear that Parliament is incapable of meaningful reforms to itself, as some political parties have a vested interest in the status quo,”
Even though I saw it was about party funding I immediately thought of the landlord class.
Squatters rights might shake things up.
Thanks for the heads up gsays. I've not been around much today.
Note the statement from the Greens says… some political parties have a vested interest in the status quo.
Lets be crystal clear, they are: National and ACT.
While it looks like the NZ First Foundation may have dabbled in the behaviour to some extent, it will be nothing compared to the conduct of National and ACT over many years. There is no evidence that Labour and the Greens indulged in such arrangements.
The LP pledge card fiasco manufactured by the Nats had none of this subterfuge attached to it. It had been approved by Parliamentary Services – a fact the Nat complicit media of the time conveniently glossed over.
My friend's family were political refugees from Pinochet, but in recent years have returned to visit extended family in Chile.
Chilean housing policy history – not without problems but interesting to read, particularly in relation to housing activists operating before Pinochet's rule.
Adolph Reed on his concern that the left doesn't appreciate what it is up against. The interview as a whole meanders a bit – but this piece is interesting.
Heh. Some intrepid researcher delved through the archives to determine the exact moment Bernie turned into a 78 year old.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/when-did-bernie-turn-78-investigation.html
Spoiler: it was sometime in 1987.
He has a look as consistent as his policy positions.
His delivery and the way he interacts with people hasn't changed a bit, either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=501&v=-oxfzabpTWY&feature=emb_logo
Everyone’s really giving it their all linking the opposition to the Chinese.
good to see the left trudge down the same path UK labour did on their way to electoral defeat. Denying it’s racist all the way, because it’s true apparently that the cccp gave donation to National and not Labour and Chinese people buy houses.
have fun hugging the corpse that is Winston first all the way to the opposition benches again
Thanks for that, Climinaction.
I imagine that we can expect some sackings at Middlemore Hospital.
They have, in effect, called the PM a liar with her claims that sewage was running down the walls at the Hospital. How Dare They!
'There was "no sewage spilling into the building" and leaks were "immediately repaired", CMDHB's spokeswoman said.'
This is the second time that they have had to correct the erroneous statements by Government MPs. They have already pointed out the falsity of such statements back in 2019 apparently.
Edit. Sorry, didn’t add link to story.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12310024
The PM is repeating a lie. A bit rich to call her a liar. When are you lefties going to start putting the boot into dairy farmers again. Starting to feel ignored down on the farm. Can't wait for the tax cuts next year.
So how much extra money are you getting from poisoning our rivers?
You know they let people put what they like in the rivers in places like Somalia? I bet their rivers are basically open sewers. That is what a country with no regulations has.
@Ian The PM neither lied nor repeated a lie. Please refer to 5.2
@alwyn
The PM didnt lie.
Read your linked article, despite the headline, Middlemore officials admit to sewage leaks, also take note of all the repair work that was mentioned.
"Raw sewage has been leaking into the walls of Middlemore Hospital's Scott building, on top of all the other problems with its buildings"
"Counties-Manukau DHB acting chief executive Dr Gloria Johnson told Morning Report today"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/353602/sewage-leaking-into-middlemore-building-s-walls
"The busiest emergency department in the country had to close a procedure room for a week after sewage leaked through the ceiling"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/115311750/sewage-coming-through-the-ceiling-closed-room-in-middlemore-hospitals-emergency-department
"Middlemore Hospital knew about extensive leaks, rot and mould at its main building two years before it says it did"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/356501/middlemore-problems-highlighted-in-2010-report
"Health Minister David Clark said all the stories about sewage had originated from the DHB"
"DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson declined to be interviewed but confirmed to RNZ on March 28 that there had been sewage leaks and said she believed other buildings at Middlemore could be affected"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12036681
There was no sewage leaking down walls, just through the ceiling. Therefore the PM is lying. [headdesk]
A very brief reply. I never actually said the PM lied. It was the DHB which certainly implied it.
However. The first story you link to quotes the then acting, now long departed CEO. It was a story from March 2018. Did you notice the date? The CoL Health Minister grabbed the story, embroidered it and then spun it as being part of his spiel that National were Evil. Ms Ardern is continuing to tell the tale, as recently as last week in fact.
The DHB concerned denied that anything like what he claimed had happened and that the claims were vastly exaggerated. They did this in 2019. Ms Ardern took no notice and simply spun the story again last week. The DHB have repeated the fact that the original story was rubbish. I doubt if the current CoL will take any notice of course. Truth is irrelevant.
They are quite used to continuing to spread rubbish stories after they have been shown to be false of course. Remember how the outgoing Head of Treasury claimed to have had their system hacked? What actually happened of course was vastly simpler. His staff had put the material on-line in such a way that the general public, using Treasury supplied tools, could see what was in the Budget. Robertson continued the tale of the "hack" long after the way the provision of the data to the Public was demonstrated. He knew that the "hack" had never happened but sticking to the truth wasn't of overriding importance.
@ alwayn
The one here spreading rubbish is you and you did imply that "government mps" that no doubt includes the PM are lying in your final paragraph prior to "edit" and you have completely missed the point where the spokesperson admits that there were sewage leaks.
The PM and her govt were told by the DHB. You trying to spin it to suit doesnt alter those facts.
Caption contest:
A picture is worth 100050 words.
Probably nobody will see my comment here as it is late on Wednesday night and I have only just caught this article
Further down the article was a development that feels a bit off (to me anyway…but wth would I know about who/how rules are applied to journalists…)
“We knew fossil fuel extraction – including fracking – was a major part of global methane emissions, but this impressive study suggests it is a far bigger culprit in human-induced climate change than we had ever thought,” he said.
“If correct, gas, coal and oil extraction and distribution around the world are responsible for almost half of all human-induced methane emissions. Add to that all the carbon dioxide that is then emitted when the fossil fuels are burned, and you need look no further for the seat of the climate emergency fire.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/19/oil-gas-industry-far-worse-climate-impact-than-thought-fossil-fuels-methane
Thanks Pat.
And given that solar PV installations currently depend on co-located natural gas plants to fill in for the evening peak loads … this is the unspoken Archilles Heel of many so called 'renewable' sources. Without mass scale fuel/energy storage both wind and solar are not really as carbon zero as their advocates like to pretend:
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/natural-gas-bridge-nearing-end
Which is part of the teething issues of a new technology, not an endemic problem. Solutions are appearing, from Musks aussie battery to hydro stations using surplus power to pump water back into the upper reservoir.
All these are good things, another is the global HVDC supergrid that I've spoken to before.
Incidentally I worked at a mine site that was seriously planning a wind generator combined with energy storage in an unused drift (Cavern Energy Storage) which looked extremely promising. … but only made sense if you already had a decent sized non-leaky hole to start with.
What does irk me a bit is when PV/Wind advocates chirp on about how cheap their source of energy has become, without factoring in the storage and grid costs that need to be incurred to make it all work reliably.
Fair call on advocates for alternative (or any) tech – "support" tends to become "blinkered idolatry".
Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong, sometimes they're just outright lying (ISTR the wonderfully named "T Boone Pickens" advocating for fracking in the continental US as a means of energy self-sufficiency. He wasa publicising a book, and it was one of the few interviews done by Jon Stewart that made me feel outright dirty. He said he'd never heard of any problems with fracking, ever, and it went unchallenged).
Which is part of the teething issues of a new technology, not an endemic problem. Solutions are appearing,
Without wanting to run a 'gotcha' moment, can I say this is pretty much the same argument I was running for the new generations of MSR fission generators a few weeks back.
Like all new tech has it's blinkered zealots, but that's the nature of innovation, much of it is going to prove a dead-end but there is really only one way to find out.
lol I was trying to avoid doing the gotcha thing in the opposite direction, too.
The worst case scenario for wind farm hazards being understated is dead birds and a hum. Worst case for MSR hazard understatement is a spontaneous twenty-mile-radius bird sanctuary.
Worst cases with two rather different frequencies ….
Let's be environmentally friendly and not recycle this one 🙂
Unsurprisingly the tangental foray into solar and wind generation ignores the fact that methane form non biological sources is higher than previously thought suggesting the impact of biologic methane is less…but never mind it is all moot in any case as there is no will (political or otherwise) to actually do anything about it.
and you're welcome Robert , for all the good it will do.