Daily review 24/03/2022
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5:30 pm, March 24th, 2022 - 22 comments
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- Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Lara Greaves, Craig Renney & Terry Baucher ‘Hoon’ around...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about Budget 2025 with:Vic Uni political scientist Lara Greaves;CTU Economist ; and,Tax commentator Terry Baucher.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over ...33 minutes ago - Danger Is Literally Their Middle Name
Hi,This week was another week of the “students identifying as cats and shitting kitty litter trays” story being spouted as fact by idiots with platforms.It’s frustrating to see. As I wrote way back in 2022:“If you’re even slightly savvy you’ll know the cat article is an implicit attack of trans ...3 hours ago - Operatunity Knocks
All the things that you needed from meAll the things that you wanted for meAll the things that I should've given but I didn'tOh, darling, make it go awayJust make it go away nowSongwriter: Kate Bush Read more ...12 hours ago - Budget 2025: Nicola Willis Delivers More Austerity
The National-led government’s 2025 Budget, unveiled today by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, dressed up as a “Growth Budget” is gambling with our future and delivering nothing but austerity for the vast majority of New Zealanders.Willis promised a disciplined, growth-oriented plan, but the numbers tell a grim story of cuts, broken ...12 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #21 2025
Open access notables Shifting Gears in a Shifting Climate: Birds Adjust Migration Speed in Response to Spring Vegetation Green-Up, Amaral et al., Diversity and Distributions Our results have direct implications for the conservation of migratory bird diversity in Eastern North America. While birds show some plasticity in adjusting migration pace, this ...12 hours ago - Taiwan, a leader in public health, should be in the WHO
Taiwan urges the World Health Organization and all relevant parties to recognise Taiwan’s considerable contributions to global health. We view health as a fundamental human right and universal value. Improved health results in greater well-being ...13 hours ago - Trump’s theatre of the absurd.
I know that it is undiplomatic to say so, but I sure wish that some foreign leader would interrupt one of Trump’s Oval Office public humiliation stunts to tell him to his face in front of the media that he is an adolescent bullying imbecile who seems to think that ...14 hours ago - Reverse Robin Hood Budget steals from working people
Budget 2025 takes $12.8bn from low-income, female dominated workforces to prop up the Government’s failed economic policies, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The Government has promised this would be a growth budget, yet it has effectively cut the wages of low-income women workers. We know that one ...14 hours ago - A few short thoughts about the budget
Thought oneTurns out Andrea Vance was understating it.You're substantially and unfairly and unreasonably handicapping the pay equity process, everyone told Nicola Willis,Wrong, she said.This is likely to deprive women who do some of the hardest shittiest unappreciated work of decent pay, they told her.Wrong, wrong wrong, she said.You don't care; ...14 hours ago - ‘Deterrence’—an agreeable word that obscures strategic debate
Deterrence has become the centrepiece of Australian strategic thinking, but its value has become more political than strategic. The focus on deterrence has advantages in terms of messaging, but this has tended to muddy Australia’s ...15 hours ago
- Budget 2025
Get more from Bernard Hickey in the Substack appAvailable for iOS and AndroidGet the app Read more ...15 hours ago - The (deeply underwhelming) Budget
15 hours ago - Drawn
A ballot for three member's bills was held this morning, and the following bills were drawn: Local Government (Port Companies Accountability) Amendment Bill (Lemauga Lydia Sosene) Financial Markets (International Money Transfers) Amendment Bill (Arena Williams) Military Decorations and Distinctive Badges (Modernisation) Amendment Bill (Tim van de ...15 hours ago - Budget 2025 highlights and invite to live chat session at 3.30 pm
Just briefly in Budget 2025 around the areas of housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy:The Government said Budget 2025 was about ‘Going for Growth,’ but the Budget forecast slower growth, higher Government borrowing, less housing spending, lower KiwiSaver contributions and a net fiscal contraction of three percentage points ...15 hours ago - $13 billion
That's how much Nicola Willis thinks she stole from New Zealand women by repealing pay equity: A tax incentive for businesses, boosts to health and education spending, and Crown funding for new gas fields are among new Budget initiatives made viable by nearly $13 billion in cuts to the ...16 hours ago
- National grovels to Trump
Its budget day, and the government has been whining about how it has no money and so can't afford anything. Meanwhile, they've just given away half a billion dollars a year to foreign fascist techbros: New Zealand financial statements filed by tech firms including Google, Facebook and Amazon show ...17 hours ago
- Pay Equity – what did New Zealand women lose under the cover of darkness and without any prior war...
The law on pay equity was changed without any prior warning during the election campaign, without any select committee process. It has shocked New Zealand women and gutted fundamental rights Come and hear from pay equity experts including women whose claims have been cancelled and what the plan is from ...18 hours ago - Budget 2025: delivering for whom?
On 22 May, the coalition government will release its budget for 2025, which it says will focus on "boosting economic growth, improving social outcomes, controlling government spending, and investing in long-term infrastructure.” But who, really, is this budget designed to serve? What values and visions for Aotearoa New Zealand lie ...18 hours ago
- Is David Seymour Encouraging NZ Civil War?
OPINIONIt’s supposed to be the first day of my time off, but how can I resist when Mihingarangi Forbes has dropped one of the most compelling, and impactful pieces of investigative journalism I’ve seen.There are extraordinary revelations in her latest MATA episode and it packs a punch in under 40 ...19 hours ago
- Food banks pray for Budget help before July 1
Food banks have pleaded for renewed funding in Budget 2025 so they can keep providing food parcels for up to 600,000 New Zealanders living in food poverty beyond July 1. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on ...19 hours ago - New frontiers of Southeast Asian space diplomacy
Southeast Asian countries were formerly peripheral to debates on space governance. They had nascent space programs and modest capabilities, and their policy interests focused largely on civilian applications. But this is changing. Growing reliance on ...20 hours ago
- NewstalkZB’s Ryan Bridge Is A Hack
Ryan Bridge’s latest Newstalk ZB piece, “It’s three strikes for Chippy,” is an exercise in sloppy punditry, slinging mud at Labour leader Chris Hipkins with flimsy claims and zero evidence. His so-called “three strikes” propaganda, claiming that Hipkins’ ambiguity on the Green Party’s alternative budget, not locking in a 50% ...21 hours ago
- Realising Darwin’s potential as a marine industry hub
If Australia is serious about defending its interests and shaping its region, building out Darwin’s marine industry must be at the forefront of our national agenda. Darwin is where Australia’s northern frontier meets the Indo-Pacific’s ...23 hours ago
- The Politician, The Heckler, and Tonkin + Taylor
..The gentleman who heckled Winston Peters at Wellington Railway Station on 20 May, has been ‘outed' by the media as an employee of engineering firm Tonkin + Taylor. It is unclear why media felt it was necessary to dox this man, but in this world of Anything Goes, personal privacy ...1 day ago - To Play the Queen of Hearts: Published
My first published fictional work of 2025: To Play the Queen of Hearts. https://horrificscribblings.com/toplaythequeenofhearts/ A French Revolutionary Horror-Fantasy with a fairly loathsome narrator. Originally inspired by Morrissey’s Margaret on the Guillotine, and as noted elsewhere, a piece with a frustrating publishing history. For other horror authors featured by Horrific Scribes, ...1 day ago - Dialogi de miraculis Sancti Benedicti, by Pope Victor III (circa 1080) – A Complete English Transl...
Last month, I completed a long-running translation project, rendering (with AI assistance) Giovanni Pico’s work on astrology into English for the first time: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2025/04/18/disputationes-adversus-astrologiam-divinatricem-by-giovanni-pico-della-mirandola-1496-a-complete-english-translation/ I decided to do a follow-up. A less ambitious follow-up – something far shorter and less complicated – but nevertheless a text that for the past ...1 day ago - Climate Adam: Why Has Global Warming Just Spiked?
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate scientists weren't expecting 2023. The planet's temperature is increasing thanks to that whole burning fossil fuels thing. ...2 days ago
- It’s not just software. Physical critical equipment can’t be trusted, either
Just auditing the software in critical equipment isn’t enough. We must assume that adversaries, especially China, will also exploit the hardware if they can. The latest report on the dangers from China-made solar inverters is ...2 days ago
- Fighting The Left, Fighting The Right
2 days ago - Winston Peters: The Architect Of Political Decay
Winston Peters, New Zealand’s 80-year-old Deputy Prime Minister, has once again proven himself unfit for office and a complete hypocrite by dragging political discourse into the gutter while preaching decorum. Last week, Peters lamented declining standards in the House, only to hurl a homophobic slur at Chris Hipkins, calling him ...2 days ago
- Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. Unusually, its not starting with bills; instead there will be two debates, the first on ACT MP Joseph Mooney's disallowance motion for the tikanga provisions in the Professional Examinations in Law Regulations 2008, and the second to authorise a select committee inquiry into online harm. ...2 days ago
- Australia should establish a unit dedicated to financial warfare capabilities
In an age of great-power competition, the next major conflict may be waged not in the skies over the Indo-Pacific or in the South China Sea, but through sanctions regimes, targeted financial disruptions and coercive ...2 days ago
- Parliamentary privilege is a threat to all of us
People are rightly outraged about psycho fascist Parmjeet Parmar "inquiring" about using the privileges committee to arbitrarily imprison her political opponents. As Chris Hipkins said yesterday, that is the sort of thing which happens in tinpot dictatorships, undemocratic and wrong, and a permanent stain on our Parliament. But its worse ...2 days ago
- Imprisoning Māori For Doing The Haka?
The ACT Party floating the idea of imprisoning Te Pāti Māori MPs for performing a haka in Parliament isn’t just a shameful overreach; it’s a chilling glimpse into a fascist mindset that seeks to silence indigenous voices through state power. According to RNZ, ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar asked the Privileges ...2 days ago
- Overloaded EDs send patients back to after-hours clinics
‘Lucky’ patients who have made it to a trolley in a corridor. Now many others are being redirected to private urgent care clinics due to ED overloading. Photo: Getty ImagesThe six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, May 21 are: Emergency departments ...2 days ago - Australia must rethink cybercrime to tackle it effectively
Let’s face it: Australia is seen as a soft target for cybercriminals. Its fragmented cybercrime response makes both individuals and institutions more vulnerable. Australia’s cybercrime framework must be informed by diverse perspectives, and it must ...2 days ago
- Yellow Mellow
Yellow mellow, yellow mellowHello, hello, yellow mellowYellow mellow, yellow mellowOh, marmaladeSongwriters: Baden Jack Donegal / Nicholas Paul Blom / Mitchell Kenneth Galbraith / Lachlan George Galbraith / Thomas Patrick O'Brien / Angus Owen Goodwin.What a mad day in politics. In yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed hope that politicians from the left ...2 days ago - China’s geopolitical dominance game in the South China Sea
For all the talk about the South China Sea’s complexity as a security issue, its geopolitical significance to China is simple: China wants to condition Southeast Asian states to subordinate status. Southeast Asian countries would ...3 days ago
- Chris Hipkins’ Passionate Speech During Te Pati Māori Penalty Debate
Immediately after Hipkins’ speech, National House Leader Chris Bishop rose to defer the debate, without giving the opposition notice.This means no other opposition members were allowed to speak, despite the government scheduling the debate for today.A shortened clip of 3 minutes for those short on time:Tin-Pot DemocracyI was right in ...3 days ago
- 65
Today my heart attack turns 38 and I turn 65. It's now way older than I was when it grabbed me in a hotel bar at ten in the morning on my 27th birthday and squeezed.So many things I think of as just the other day turn out to be ...3 days ago - Indonesia has good reasons to reject Russian aircraft basing
Indonesia has plenty of reason to reject basing of Russian aircraft at its air force base on Biak, an island north of New Guinea at 1,400 km from Darwin. From Russia’s point of view, keeping ...3 days ago
- A desperate delay
So, that was a bit of a damp squib. Everyone having geared up for an epic filibuster battle which would upset the government's legislative program for at least the day, National has now abused its parliamentary majority to adjourn the debate on its outrageous and anti-democratic punishment of Te Pāti ...3 days ago
- Reported back
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill. The bill as introduced was a tyrannical law which threatened to outlaw protest and ordinary democratic activity in Aotearoa on the basis of government conspiracy theories and fantasies about its motivations. The good news is that ...3 days ago
- Hard to believe really
Take a scenario, just as a thought experiment for now. A new government gets elected, amid a lot of rhetoric about excessive increases in government spending and public service numbers. They pretty quickly move to require government departments – typically funded by Parliament through annual appropriations – to cut their ...3 days ago
- Submission on Industry Skills Boards’ Coverage
This submission to the TEC outlines the NZCTU’s concerns about the ongoing reforms to vocational education and training, and our views on the coverage and membership of the new Industry Skills Boards.NZCTU submission – ISBs, 20 May 2025Download The post Submission on Industry Skills Boards’ Coverage appeared ...3 days ago
- Pay Equity Explainers
It took less than two days for the Government to announce their changes to the Equal Pay Act, and then make those changes. Because things happened this fast, a huge amount of information about pay equity has sprung up in a really short time-frame—which can be pretty confusing for anyone ...3 days ago- Tuesday 21 May
Unions are pointing out that changes to the pay equity system have made it “virtually impossible” for new claims to succeed. The government will spend more than $600 million to upgrade the country’s rail network as part of this year’s Budget. Cabinet has signed off on introducing the Regulatory Standards ...3 days ago- OECD Debt Comparisons For NZ Are Wrong
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand recently patted itself on the back, claiming our government debt-to-GDP ratio of around 44.3% in 2024 was "low" compared to OECD peers like the US (113%) or Japan (242%). Sounds comforting, right? Wrong! This smug comparison glosses over a critical reality: New Zealand’s geographic ...3 days ago- Which side are you on, Labour?
Today will see an unprecedented moment in Parliament. A racist government whose leader opposes the "Maorification" of New Zealand is using its parliamentary majority to suspend opposition MPs from the House for being Māori, silencing them and the people they represent for up to 21 days. It is outrageous and ...3 days ago- Federalism could torpedo AUKUS
AUKUS is under pressure, not from adversaries abroad but from state governments at home. While Canberra drives the security pact forward, Australian states are the ones that that hold the constitutional levers over the land ...3 days ago- Luxon’s Anti-Māori Mask Slips Again
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has once again stocked the fire a racial disharmony, this time with a damning comment that reeks of anti-Māori sentiment. In a recent Newstalk ZB interview with Mike Hosking, Luxon responded to a question about the “Māorification of this country” by saying, “Well where ...3 days ago- How do you stop a pitchfork?
Last night, I put up a video where Luxon said he would not back down on the 21 day penalty for Te Pāti Māori MPs.Then came the pitchforks:“Boot them out. No compromise.”“Why debate....boot them....rules are rules!!!!”There were outwardly racist comments too.It’s hard to explain to an angry mob that there ...3 days ago- Monday 19 May
The PSA says mediation has failed to resolve its conflict with the government over working from home, with the case now heading to the ERA. Food prices have risen at their fastest pace in more than a year driven by more expensive dairy products, hinting that inflation pressures are gathering ...3 days ago- May AMA (+ Webworm Updates)
Hi,One of my favourite things on Webworm is doing these semi-regular AMAs — which I’ve been doing for four years now!In some ways they are daunting — I want to respond to questions with some thought and nuance, but also it can be fun just going with more unguarded-train-of-consciousness responses ...3 days ago- The Coalition’s Disinformation Undermining Our Democracy
The New Zealand government, National, ACT, and NZ First, has been very busy recently earning its moniker: the Coalition of Chaos. This unholy trinity seems hell-bent on trying to rewrite reality, peddling lies that erode public trust in politics, and flouting the rules of decorum in an orchestrated attack on ...3 days ago- The Green Budget: Cutting Through Right-Wing Spin
You might not have heard that the Green Party’s 2025 Alternative Budget is a bold blueprint for a fairer, greener Aotearoa. That's because right-wing spin merchants are twisting its intent and manipulating the narrative with predictable ferocity. From National’s Nicola Willis labeling it “clown show economics” to NZ Herald’s Thomas ...3 days ago- Reuniting ASIO and the AFP under Home Affairs is the right move to address intensifying threats
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to return policy responsibility for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police to the Department of Home Affairs is more than a machinery-of-government change; it’s a long-term ...3 days ago- Volcanic cooling
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink The climate has warmed by around 1.4C over the past 170 years as a result of human emissions of CO2 and other GHGs that have accumulated in the atmosphere. However, GHGs are not the only thing that has an impact on the climate system. Major ...3 days ago- Why Did 1 News Downplay Two By Twos Pedophilia?
3 days ago- ‘Weaponise rates to drive housing intensification’
Should Auckland Council set higher higher rates to densify housing around the stations on the City Rail Link, where low-rise warehouses and housing currently predominate? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, May 20 are: Apartment ...3 days ago- Nasty
Catch catch the horror taxiI fell in love with a video nastyCatch catch the horror trainFreeze frame gonna drive you insaneWriters: Raymond Burns, Christopher John Millar, David Vanian, Roman Paul Jug, Bryn Merrick.Speak English.Yesterday, the Prime Minister of our country appeared on the Mike Hosking show to beat the anti-woke ...3 days ago- Nasty
Catch catch the horror taxiI fell in love with a video nastyCatch catch the horror trainFreeze frame gonna drive you insaneWriters: Raymond Burns, Christopher John Millar, David Vanian, Roman Paul Jug, Bryn Merrick.Speak English.Yesterday, the Prime Minister of our country appeared on the Mike Hosking show to beat the anti-woke ...3 days ago- Gordon Campbell On NZ’s Silence Over Gaza, And Creeping Health Privatisation
Since last Thursday, intensified Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed over 500 Palestinians, and a prolonged Israeli aid blockade has led to widespread starvation among the territory’s two million residents. Belatedly, Israel is letting in a token amount of food aid that UN under-secretary Tom Fletcher has called a ...3 days ago- The Pacific needs to upgrade regional intelligence cooperation
Strengthening regional partnerships can help Pacific intelligence capabilities overcome rising challenges. The Pacific should establish a centralised intelligence hub alongside or through the expansion of the existing Pacific Fusion Centre to deliver greater intelligence capabilities ...4 days ago- There goes the neighbourhood, there goes my loafer
So, a funny thing happened last Friday. I had just dropped a couple of tabs and I was lining up side four of Tales from Topographic Oceans when out of nowhere I had this incredible vision.It got me so damn excited I wrote the whole thing down and put it ...4 days ago- From customer to catalyst: anchoring Australia’s northern marine industry through government procu...
To turn northern Australia’s marine potential into performance, the Australian government must stop acting as a passive regulator and start acting as an active customer. Procurement is power, and in thin, undercapitalised markets such as ...4 days ago- Chipping away at National’s gang-patch ban
National's racist gang-patch was clearly intended to humiliate gangs and allow them to be punished for being seen in public, and police have taken on that mission with enthusiasm, attacking funerals and kicking in doors to seize banned clothing (meanwhile, they've also abandoned domestic violence and mental health callouts, in ...4 days ago- The Coalition of Chaos: Democracy Be Damned
The New Zealand coalition government, a Frankenstein’s monster of National, ACT, and NZ First, has once again shown its utter contempt for our democracy. This time it's the Ministry for Regulation, who didn’t even bother to read thousands of submissions on the Regulatory Standards Bill, a piece of legislation so ...4 days ago- Assault From All Sides
The majority of the 23,000 submissions for the Regulatory Standards Bill consultation weren’t even read.According to Marc Daalder1 David Seymour said ‘there just weren’t that many’ worthwhile ideas in the submissions.But how does he know when his new $76 million Ministry, with some of the highest paid public servants in ...4 days ago- National’s Blogger David Farrar Smears Senior Doctors
4 days ago- Climate Change: Now what?
When National came to power in 2023, one of its first acts was to repeal all useful climate change policy. When they finally released their amended emissions reduction plan, it relied on a single project using a fantasy technology for the bulk of its reductions. And now, that project has ...4 days ago- Fiscal starting points
Not that long ago, New Zealand’s fiscal balances looked pretty good by advanced country standards. Sure, the fiscal pressures from longer life expectancies were beginning to build – as they were in most of the advanced world – but in absolute and relative terms New Zealand still looked in pretty ...4 days ago- Jack Tame vs. Chlöe Swarbrick: Q+A’s Double Standards
Jack Tame’s Q+A interviews are often a litmus test for political discourse in Aotearoa, but his recent frost-fest with Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick exposed a troubling bias that contrasts sharply with his kid-gloves treatment of other politicians, such as ACT’s Brooke van Velden in prior appearances. The disparity in ...4 days ago- Ensuring Australia’s defence through complex interdependence
Australia’s defence thinking is based on outdated grand strategies. Adopting a complex interdependence grand strategy could create robust connections with many countries, enhancing national resilience to strategic, economic, technological and societal shocks. Specifically, Defence would ...4 days ago- Govt announces fixing mess it probably created…
..Yesterday (18 May), Ministers Simeon Brown and Matt Doocey released statements announcing $164 million over four years to “expand” urgent and after-hours healthcare services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.Minister Brown said:“This means 98 per cent of New Zealanders will be able to receive in-person urgent care within one hour’s drive of ...4 days ago - Pay Equity Explainers
- Budget 2025 delivers little to nothing for our youngest
The Government’s Budget offers little more than crumbs for our tamariki, while real issues in the ECE system are ignored. ...12 hours ago - Minister for the Environment missing in action in Budget 2025
Budget 2025 makes it crystal clear that this Government has no interest in protecting nature or securing a liveable future for our tamariki. ...14 hours ago
- Government’s Budget fails Māori
The Government has failed Māori and ignored its Te Tiriti obligations with its Budget, says Te Mātāwaka, the Green Party’s Māori and Pasifika Caucus. ...14 hours ago
- Housing crisis will rage on with Budget 2025
Budget 2025 makes clear that the Coalition Government has no long-term plan to help communities most in need of public housing. ...14 hours ago
- Government pours gas on the climate crisis fire
Budget 2025 has put our climate targets in serious jeopardy, says the Green Party. ...14 hours ago
- Budget 2025 leaves future of school lunches uncertain
The future of the Ka Ora | Ka Ako school lunch programme looks to be uncertain with Budget 2025 failing to provide any funding beyond 2026. ...14 hours ago
- Budget to increase energy hardship
Budget 2025 delays our transition to a low emissions and low-cost energy network, this will put even more pressure on households, businesses and the climate. ...14 hours ago
- ‘Growth Budget’ = growth in poverty
The Government’s Budget is failing families in poverty by pulling the rug on young people receiving income support and allowing more children to go without enough food on the table. ...16 hours ago
- Release: National failing on the cost of living
Despite all the promises, Kiwis are still going backwards in Budget 2025. ...16 hours ago - Release: The Austerity Budget that leaves women out
Today’s Budget is a masterclass in making the wrong decisions for New Zealanders. ...16 hours ago
- Release: Bills increase transparency of money transfers and ports
Two Labour bills drawn from the Member’s Ballot today would require greater transparency of international money transfers, and bring more public accountability and transparency to port companies. ...16 hours ago
- ‘Growth Budget’ growing inequality and fuelling climate crisis
Budget 2025 represents a significant step backwards for Aotearoa, with the Government adding fuel to the fire when it comes to the climate and inequality crises, says the Green Party. ...17 hours ago
- Release: Half a billion dollar tax break for tech giants
The Government is taking the Digital Services Tax off their books, effectively handing a $479 million tax break to global tech giants, like Facebook and Google. ...2 days ago
- Release: Govt helps banks dodge repayment claims for Kiwis
The Government is moving to let two of the country’s most profitable banks off the hook for money owed to their customers. ...2 days ago
- Release: Search begins for rare family receiving $250
The Government can’t say if even a single family has received the $250 a fortnight they were promised. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt risks hospice care by cutting women’s pay
The Government’s decision to cut women’s pay could result in an exodus of palliative care nurses from the profession. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt leaves sexual abuse survivors out in the cold
The Government is quietly cutting more services for women, this time it’s ACC support for survivors of sexual abuse and pausing the expansion of a major sexual violence prevention programme. ...3 days ago
- Report shows Govt’s callous lack of support for system at breaking point
A new report from Aotearoa Educators’ Collective, released today, has confirmed what teachers, students, and whanau have been calling out for years–our learning support system is overstretched, underfunded, and simply not working. ...3 days ago
- Prime Minister must scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill
The Green Party is urging the Prime Minister to get rid of the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. ...4 days ago
- Release: Women in funded sector unlikely to get pay equity
The Government is unlikely to fund pay equity for hospice and Plunket nurses, care and support workers and other workforces made up of mostly women. ...4 days ago
- Chris Hipkins Speech Auckland regional conference
Tēnā koutou katoa. It’s fantastic to be here with you all—grassroots campaigners, organisers, union members, councillors, MPs, and Labour whānau. ...6 days ago
- Release: Minister’s rash orders fail frontline providers
The Auditor-General has found serious failings in the Government’s review of frontline providers such as counselling and prevention services. ...7 days ago
- Release: Prices keep rising while National cuts women’s pay
Prices for essentials, like milk, butter and electricity continue to get more expensive under National, at the same time as the Government takes money from women’s pockets to save their budget. ...7 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori Condemns Fast-Track Approval of Seabed Mining
Te Pāti Māori is gravely concerned by the Government’s approval of the Trans-Tasman Resources (Taranaki VTM) seabed mining project under its fast-track regime. This marks the first time a commercial shallow seabed mining operation has been approved anywhere in the world- pushed through with no transparency, no public input, and ...7 days ago
- Social Security Amendment Bill pushes poverty on people
The Government’s just-passed Social Security Amendment Bill is set to create more benefit sanctions that will push families deeper into poverty. ...1 week ago
- Report exposes damage of rushed cuts to Oranga Tamariki
Today’s report into last year’s Oranga Tamariki contract procurement process confirms the Government’s brutal cuts were rushed, poorly managed, and made with no concern for the impact on tamariki. ...1 week ago
- 210,000 Māori Silenced: Committee Delivers Harshest Punishment in Parliament History
Today the Privileges Committee handed down a severe punishment. Te Pāti Māori Co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have been suspended for 21 days, and MP for Hauraki-Waikato Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been suspended for 7 days. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt finally admits 180,000 in line for a pay cut
The Government finally admitted late last night that roughly 180,000 people will be affected by its decision to halt pay equity claims. ...1 week ago
- Release: Admin nearly a quarter of entire FamilyBoost spend
Nearly a quarter of the money spent on the Government’s flagship FamilyBoost policy has gone to administration, not to families to help with childcare. ...1 week ago
- Green Budget for a country worth fighting for
The Green Budget shows how much better our lives could be under a Green Government, instead of one dominated by corporate greed. ...1 week ago
- Green Budget: Early Childhood Education for Everyone
The Green Party has unveiled its new plan to make Early Childhood Education (ECE) free. ...1 week ago
- Green Budget delivers for Māori
The Green Party is delivering for Māori with its Green Budget. ...1 week ago
- Green Budget: Free GPs for all
The Green Party has launched its plan for Free GPs as part of its Green Budget. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins: Pre-Budget speech
Tēnā koutou katoa. Good morning. I read recently that one of the keys to success in life is to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. ...1 week ago
- Release; Budget should not be paid for by working women
The Government must do three things in Budget 2025 if it is genuinely going to turn things around for New Zealanders. ...1 week ago
- Release: Peeni Henare takes over foreign affairs
Labour’s Peeni Henare will pick up the foreign affairs portfolio, following David Parker’s departure from Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt better at crushing women’s rights than cars
Rehashing old laws around boy racers is not going to make our communities safer, or distract New Zealanders from the appalling decision to cut women’s pay. ...2 weeks ago
- No Justice for State Abuse Survivors- Kapa-Kingi
Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau calls out the government’s decision to keep funding state abuse, turning their backs on justice and real change for abuse in care survivors. “The government has committed to throwing $744 million down the drain, reinforcing a violent regime of disrespect against the ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s War on Te Tiriti Continues as Review of Treaty Act Announced
Te Pāti Māori is absolutely disgusted by the Government’s announcement to review the Waitangi Tribunal- a deliberate and dangerous escalation in its ongoing campaign to undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and silence tangata whenua. “The Government’s onslaught against Te Tiriti continues with this latest move to review the Treaty of ...2 weeks ago
- Tribunal review an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Government’s plans to limit the powers and scope of the Waitangi Tribunal is a disgrace. ...2 weeks ago
- Stepping up in a changing global environment
Good evening. Thank you to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs for organising this event, and for your efforts to foster New Zealand’s understanding of international affairs. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak here today. As keen observers and practitioners of international relations, you will all ...2 weeks ago - New High Commissioner to Kiribati announced
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Pati Gagau as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to Kiribati. “Our diplomats play a critical role in advancing New Zealand’s interests overseas,” Mr Peters says. “Nowhere is this truer than in the Pacific, where we strive to work with our Pacific partners to forge a more ...2 weeks ago
- Changes to improve pay equity process
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- Proposals to strengthen biodiversity released
Toitū te taiao – Our environment endures The Government is consulting on proposals to better protect our precious biodiversity and its economic benefits for future generations, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Today, the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai is releasing two discussion documents for public consultation, and I ...2 weeks ago
- Trade negotiations with India commence
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- NZ-EU trade deal delivers export growth
The early entry into force of the New Zealand–European Union Trade Agreement (FTA) is paying off, with Kiwi goods exports to the EU surging by 28 per cent during the first year. “In the last 12 months our goods exports to the EU surged from $3.8 billion to over $4.8 ...3 weeks ago
- Celebrating New Zealand Sign Language
Now is the time for Kiwis to give New Zealand Sign Language a go as we take a week to celebrate the language, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) week. The theme is that “anyone can sign anywhere”. “NZSL is an official ...3 weeks ago
- Boosting high-tech exports with advanced technology
New investment in advanced technology research will boost high-tech exports, strengthen connections between research and industry and generate high value jobs, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “Advanced technology research leads to life-changing innovation,” says Dr Reti. “The breakthroughs that can be achieved through areas like ...3 weeks ago
- Post-Cabinet Press Conference: Monday 5 May 2025
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- Parent Portal launched to empower parents
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- New helicopters a commitment to global security
The Defence Force’s ageing maritime helicopters will be replaced to increase the defensive and offensive capability and surveillance range of New Zealand’s frigates, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. “The replacement of the Seasprite helicopters will also extend the Navy’s ability to support non-combat tasks such as humanitarian assistance and ...3 weeks ago
- Prime Minister congratulates Albanese and Wong
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has congratulated Anthony Albanese on winning the Australian Federal Election, and Lawrence Wong on winning the Singaporean election. “I have been in touch with both Mr Albanese and Mr Wong to offer my congratulations on retaining office,” Mr Luxon says. “When we spoke, Mr Albanese and ...3 weeks ago
- Hunting and Fishing Minister joins game bird season opening hunt
Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager has joined the thousands of New Zealanders taking part in the annual game bird hunting season opening. He spent the morning at Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau / Sinclair Wetlands, a 315-hectare portion of the Lakes Waihola-Waipori wetland south of Dunedin, hosted by Fish & ...3 weeks ago
- Attendance dashboard shows early insights into term 2
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that new up-to-date attendance data is helping provide fresh insights into student attendance. For example, data for the first week of term 2 shows the effect of wild weather and which regions were standouts. The average attendance across week 1 is 87.1 per cent. ...3 weeks ago
- Rabbits, switch-ups and highway robbery: Politicians, economists react to Budget 25
Everyone had their own nickname for the document dubbed the 'Growth Budget' by the government. ...29 minutes ago - This week’s bestselling books – May 23
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It may not have been a lolly scramble budget, but there were plenty of lollies in parliament during the debate – plus a curious new nickname for one MP. Our Budget 2025 coverage is thanks to The Spinoff Members. The Spinoff is not backed by billion-dollar budgets or billionaires, we’re ...2 hours ago - Analysis: Finance Minister delivers ‘nip and tuck’ Budget
Despite the promised boost to health, education, and law and order, middle income New Zealanders may well be feeling shortchanged. ...2 hours ago
- A budget for machines, not midwives
The centrepiece of the budget – a tax break for businesses investing in ‘productive assets’ – may makes sense on its own terms, but when contrasted with what’s not being funded, it’s telling, writes Max Rashbrooke. Our Budget 2025 coverage is thanks to The Spinoff Members. The Spinoff is not ...2 hours ago
- Farmers’ M. bovis compensation claims could cost MPI up to $125m
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- Parliament left speechless as Winston walks, Māori leaders absent
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- School lunches dominate Budget’s fiscal cliff landscape
Film rebates and NZQA projects join an array of food provision initiatives due to run out of funding in the next few years The post School lunches dominate Budget’s fiscal cliff landscape appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
- Gas industry could get far more than $200m if deals keep flowing – Jones
Billion-dollar oil rigs would be eligible for an immediate 20 percent refund from the Government under the new Investment Boost policy, Shane Jones said The post Gas industry could get far more than $200m if deals keep flowing – Jones appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 23 May
The post Daily crossword, Friday 23 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
- Govt’s climate aid reduction ‘betrayal’ of Pacific, NGOs say
A $100 million reduction in New Zealand’s annual climate aid shows a lack of leadership and is a betrayal of the country’s Pacific neighbours, disappointed aid groups say.Foreign Minister Winston Peters had conceded the Government’s aid commitments are lower than he wanted – but has placed the blame on Labour ...2 hours ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 23 May
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 23 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
- Providers say KiwiSaver ‘switcheroo’ will hit low-income workers and women hardest
Scheme provider says changes could worsen female KiwiSavers’ retirement savings deficit The post Providers say KiwiSaver ‘switcheroo’ will hit low-income workers and women hardest appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
- There’s something wrong with NZ’s youth suicide stats
Warning: This article discusses suicideLast week, a Unicef report grabbed headlines with claims our youth suicide rate is three times higher than the international average for high-income countries.But two researchers from the University of Auckland, who are experts in youth mental health, say that figure is wrong.The global charity’s report ...2 hours ago
- Politicians are disconnected from the people they represent
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- KiwiSaver just changed – what should I do with my money now?
With government KiwiSaver contributions set to halve, is there a better way to save for retirement? Frances Cook breaks it down. Love it or hate it, KiwiSaver just got a shakeup. The government contribution is being halved, from $521 to $260 a year. And if you’re earning a good income, ...2 hours ago
- Punitive criminal libel charge against Samoan journalist draws flurry of criticism
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But Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the Budget is for all men and women in New Zealand. ...8 hours ago
- Grattan on Friday: if Ley and Littleproud find a way to cohabit, it will be a tense household
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Remember that cliche about the Nationals tail wagging the Liberal dog? That tail wagged very vigorously this week, and smashed a lot of crockery, as it sought to bring Liberal leader Sussan Ley to heel. ...8 hours ago
- New Plymouth businesses largely support ‘investment boost’ package
The boost allows the deduction of 20 percent of the cost of new assets on top of normal depreciation. ...8 hours ago
- Legal academic says Samoa’s criminal libel law should go after charge
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Auckland University law academic says Samoa’s criminal libel law under which a prominent journalist has been charged should be repealed. Lagi Keresoma, the first female president of the Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS) and editor of Talamua Online, was charged under the ...8 hours ago
- Government yet to confirm Nelson Hospital redevelopment Budget
Two buildings will be refurbished while a whole new building will be built. ...10 hours ago
- The deluge in NSW sounds a warning to rural and regional communities elsewhere
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- ‘Major trade-offs’ allow for learning support boost
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- PNG journalists warned over lawfare – ‘we don’t have any law to stop SLAPPs’, says Choi
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- Tougher benefit rules for young people trigger mixed responses
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The government has allocated $200m to investing in fossil fuel development at gasfields. ...12 hours ago
- Budget Day 2025 – as it happened
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- Could cold sores increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease? A new study is no cause for panic
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- As the Million Paws Walk takes its last lap, other charity fundraising events face serious challenge...
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- Alarm bells sound on tertiary education budget
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- Not The Growth We Need: Budget 2025 Delivers Growing Energy Bills And Energy Insecurity
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- “Unreliably” Managed Defence Spending Gets A 25% Funding Boost As Essential Public Services And ...
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- Statement On 2025 Budget By Lawyers For Climate Action
The budget does not make the investments required to meet our 2030 Paris Agreement target. The government has accepted that there is an 84 million tonne CO2-e gap between what our domestic emissions reductions will achieve and what our 2030 target requires. ...13 hours ago
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Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. On 11 April 2025, AP noted that the two-year-old Civil War in Sudan is regarded by the United Nations as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, ...13 hours ago
I wish to plagerise the following….
"So, are we ready for the post-Covid world?
It doesn’t FEEL like we are does it?
I mean we weren’t ready for the onset of the Covid World, but that’s understandable. In the modern world true global pandemics were just things that existed in the febrile imaginations of paranoid epidemiologists. Until we got the genuine nasty novel virus. We never listen to intelligent folk making gloomy prognostications till it’s too late, do we?
Anyway, little old New Zealand was most definitely not prepared for the unfolding events in 2020. But, heck, we scrambled pretty well. And in doing so we began to reveal what I see as the defining characteristic of this current government.
It is a government that – when it has a blowtorch applied to its collective rear end – can think on its feet extremely well and produce fast, instinctive and effective decisions. But give it plenty of time to ponder a course of action, to implement a plan – and, well, crippling procrastination sets in"
https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/114972/david-hargreaves-says-poor-planning-government-coupled-worsening-economic
Muddles it a bit.
Which may of given us a better success rate with IFR, as there was also a sparsity of literature on the waning of vaccine immunity.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e2.htm
Hence the delay with full vaccination,and the subsequent booster timelines have worked in our favour.
"The breathing space New Zealand earned itself through those early actions was squandered"
That is beyond dispute…..the example given may not be the best one but the theme is correct.
I would say they erred on the side of caution. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. For example, they kept us in lockdown mode for longer than most other countries. It worked. But it is true they were wary of ordering vaccines and boosters because first they wanted to see how it panned out abroad. At least that was how it seemed to me. With the benefit of hindsight that was a mistake and caused unnecessary angst.
All in all, I think they deserve an 8 out of 10 for overall performance and I'm sure history will back me up in that.
8/10 for covid….what score when covid no longer dominates?
I should have made myself clearer. Thus far, I think they have earned 8/10 but what happens hereon in we'll have to wait and see.
It strikes me Covid is going to be endemic in society for the foreseeable future so we may have to have a booster every year. Don't know how the unvaccinated will respond to that, but I frankly don't care. They makes their bed, they can lie in it.
And i too should have made myself clearer….how would you rate the Government's performance other than covid?
Its not so black and white as that. Given they have had to handle some unprecedented events over the past 4 to 5 years, I think they are entitled to a bit of slack. I would like to have seen far more action on CC for example, but I do appreciate there are only so many hours in the day and most of those have been devoted to Covid. Some important portfolios and reforms have had to go on the back burner for a while.
I do believe that Labour's senior ministers are superior in intellect and in management roles than the chumps on offer on the other side of the political fence. With one or two exceptions they're a mediocre bunch indeed. God help us if they ever gained the treasury benches in their present form.
Well, well, thank you Jacinda and Ashley!!!! Seven Sharp has just had a Scottish expert on discussing NZ's responses to Covid over the last two years. He was very very complimentary.
Jacinda should remind Luxon/Seymour more overtly that their constant attacks don't tally with these overseas experts' opinions. She must be very tired of not only fighting Covid, the extreme anti this and anti that, and the opposition's virulence.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-60846692
That the decisions to reduce mandates such as free testing etc,when the curve reduction came not from a reduction in cases,but a change in methods.
https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1506321217275539464?cxt=HHwWkMC9ldLKw-cpAAAA
Who is doing the data analysis (and forecasting) in the UK, unemployed commodities traders?
Do you really think that the Government owned TVNZ would have put him on air if he wasn't going to be complimentary about the Government performance?
Of course we wouldn't have had a peep out of him.
And your point is???
Remember how, not that long ago, Mike Hosking was doing party political broadcasts for the National party every night on Seven Sharp? Must have been some hard times for you, Alwyn.
Please, Dennis and I agree,
best response in the World. End of.
Grant Robertson is making a debt plan the main part of the 2022 budget.
Presumably to reduce room for National's tax cuts.
But this also constrains public spending by future Labour or National governments.
Health
How much of this will be sacrificed for lower debt levels?
That said a smarter medicinal marijuana regime would not cost much and is not occurring anyway ..
Far out, can Luxton and the tobacco lobbyist not catch a break? Here they are freely associating with one of the bigwigs at the anti-vax protest at Parliament.
Who is organising the daily itinerary for the leadership of the National Party? The tobacco lobbyist is the Covid response spokesperson and he's doing photo-ops with a major pandemic denier…
Tells you what you need to know about what would happen under a National Party government.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/128155701/nationals-luxon-unwittingly-meets-antivaccine-mandate-protester
Slack staff is all I can say. Surely someone in one or other of their offices should be looking to see that photo-ops don't turn into foot in mouth ops.
There was a widely circulated excel spreadsheet of who not to bless with one's business as a result of the protest. This firm I think was on it.
In the photo, they are all wearing hi-vis (mandated safety) but only two are wearing masks (also mandated safety).
Quite fascinating.
Most of the building sites I'm on have given up on masks, been that way for 6 weeks or so.
Number three Nat says : “people are entitled to do whatever they want, really" and "what they do in their own time is up to them.”
Pretty sure it isn't the last time I looked. You know laws and stuff.
Please keep these people away from the levers of power. Please.
50 waters in third world USA