The political skill of Winston Peters (Cabinet Minister) to successfully stop the government rolling out an economic recovery package for Southland, and then go down there a week later as Winston Peters (NZFirst Leader) to roll out his own response and literally beg the crowd for votes, is impressive.
Galling, bold, arrogant are other words. But he needs to do that. We all need our politicians to show they are hungry for our votes.
Ardern and Robertson have been thoroughly outplayed so far.
They have only a few weeks to stop being played by Winston and get their economic recovery message back on track.
The government is showing signs of not being hungry enough. What concerns me is that despite their talk to the contrary, they're relying on their laurels for this election.
Yes, they have more than earned a second term, but a significant portion of the voting public are fair weather friends and it wouldn't take much for Judith Collins to use negative persuasion to change their votes.
"Kindness" alone will not win them the election. Believe it or not, but imo the majority of people actually like a little bit of mongrel.
But Ardern and Robertson have done far more than being kind. Ardern's behaviour of late is part of the campaign strategy. I don't see them resting on their laurels……that would mean just saying "hey look guys we got through through Covid, aren't' we great, vote for us"………..
We shouldn't applaud how Winstone is bahaving lately. Quoting Hitler is not a vote winner. IMHO Peters is coming across as a rabid, desperate animal………..vote winning? well I guess we will find out in September.
Ardern currently looks like one of the few adults in the room. Everytime she speaks I am blown away by her brilliance.
I just hope that NZ is not out played by the owners of Tiwai pt and see them "spray"and walk away, leaving us with the cleanup the dross/ouvea and ramifications of returning the pt. to a clean status.
"The bigger issue is the cleanup of the actual smelter site, a job that is said to cost about $256m. The Government has little leverage. It doesn’t hold a bond it can refuse to give back if it’s unhappy with the way the site is left."
"Ardern and Robertson have been thoroughly outplayed so far. They have only a few weeks to stop being played by Winston and get their economic recovery message back on track."
It's not clear if this is sarcasm. I assume it is, since all available polling evidence says the opposite. The wrong/right track surveys, such as Roy Morgan, have 72% supporting the government's direction.
with Labour ahead of National by a huge margin. Meanwhile the most recent coverage of economic policy has featured National's numbers being dismissed by media and independent economists.
What is the evidence that Ardern and Robertson have been "thoroughly outplayed"?
It's not clear if this is sarcasm. I assume it is, since all available polling evidence says the opposite. The wrong/right track surveys, such as Roy Morgan, have 72% supporting the government's direction.
It's not sarcasm. Just desperate, extreme centrist babble.
Peters is doing the people of Southland a major disservice by promising to keep Tiwai Point open when both Labour and National are not going to move on further subsidies.
Yes draco and may I add a no. 7? That they handle themselves with competence and intelligence, while doing so demonstrating that they have NZders best interests at heart.
The recovery message might include a Hydrogen promo to sop up NZ's hydro power no longer required by RIO.
"The excitement about hydrogen as an energy source is based on an alternative approach, which involves passing an electric current through a so-called electrolyser. This splits water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen and emits no nasty carbon."
A compassionate President might say something like this.
"Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself. Heir to a corrupt history, in which are mingled fallen revolutions, technology gone mad, dead gods, and worn-out ideologies, where mediocre powers can destroy all yet no longer know how to convince, where intelligence has debased itself to become the servant of hatred and oppression, this generation starting from its own negations has had to re-establish, both within and without, a little of that which constitutes the dignity of life and death. In a world threatened by disintegration, in which our grand inquisitors run the risk of establishing forever the kingdom of death, it knows that it should, in an insane race against the clock, restore among the nations a peace that is not servitude, reconcile anew labour and culture, and remake with all men the Ark of the Covenant. It is not certain that this generation will ever be able to accomplish this immense task, but already it is rising everywhere in the world to the double challenge of truth and liberty and, if necessary, knows how to die for it without hate. Wherever it is found, it deserves to be saluted and encouraged, particularly where it is sacrificing itself."
The government has taken some steps to support shared ownership schemes being run by housing charities. This is an important addition to the problematic Kiwibuild concept and one which should have been announce at the same time as Kiwibuild. One which targets families which have been left behind in the housing rush.
The scheme should really by run directly by the government through HNZ/Kainga Ora rather than through the non-profit industrial complex. I can seriously imagine this being announced in the parallel universe where Bill English is PM, he was big on social services being delivered by charities.
Five people – a 37-year-old woman and four young people – absconded from the Distinction Hotel on Garnett Ave on Friday evening, Air Commodore Darryn Webb said.
My feeling is if you escape you do your next 2 weeks in prison. If you escape knowing you are sick you face potential attempted bodily harm charges, you escape and someone get sick it’s an immediate grievous bodily harm charge and it someone dies then it’s a man slaughter charge
murder has to have intent. Risk taking with other people's lives in other ways isn't treated as murder. I get that people feel strongly about this but equating it to murder isn't helpful imo.
Thing is, there was intent. Sure, they may not have intended to kill but they they certainly intended to escape. On top of that they know that the disease that they have can and they knew they had it before they escaped.
So, maybe manslaughter as John suggests above but the charge needs to be strong to get through to any other idiot that tries this.
Let’s rip the shiny plastic wrapping off a festering truth: planned obsolescence is a deliberate scam, and governments worldwide, including New Zealand’s, are complicit in letting tech giants churn out disposable junk. From flimsy smartphones that croak after two years to laptops with glued-in batteries, the tech industry’s business model ...
When I first saw press photos of Mr Whorrall, an America PhD entomology student & researcher who had been living out a dream to finish out his studies in Auckland, my first impression, besides sadness, was how gentle he appeared.Press released the middle photo from Mr Whorrall’s Facebook pageBy all ...
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...
John Campbell’s Under His Command, a five-part TVNZ+ investigation series starting today, rips the veil off Destiny Church, exposing the rot festering under Brian Tamaki’s self-proclaimed apostolic throne. This isn’t just a church; it’s a fiefdom, built on fear, manipulation, and a trail of scandals that make your stomach churn. ...
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. Just ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Pearl Marvell(Photo credit: Pearl Marvell. Image credit: Samantha Harrington. Dollar bill vector image: by pch.vector on Freepik) Igrew up knowing that when you had extra money, you put it under a bed, stashed it in a book or a clock, or, ...
The political petrified piece of wood, Winston Peters, who refuses to retire gracefully, has had an eventful couple of weeks peddling transphobia, pushing bigoted policies, undertaking his unrelenting war on wokeness and slinging vile accusations like calling Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick a “groomer”.At 80, the hypocritical NZ First leader’s latest ...
It's raining in Cockermouth and we're following our host up the stairs. We’re telling her it’s a lovely building and she’s explaining that it used to be a pub and a nightclub and a backpackers, but no more.There were floods in 2009 and 2015 along the main street, huge floods, ...
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has been a disaster for working class families. No doubt, Donald Trump is an uncertainty machine that is tanking the stock market and the growth prospects ...
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...
Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...
Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...
We see it often enough. A democracy deals with an authoritarian state, and those who oppose concessions cite the lesson of Munich 1938: make none to dictators; take a firm stand. And so we hear ...
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...
Character protections for Auckland’s villas have stymied past development. Now moves afoot to strip character protection from a bunch of inner-city villas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest from our political economy on Wednesday, April 23:Special Character Areas designed to protect villas are stopping 20,000 sites near Auckland’s ...
Artificial intelligence is poised to significantly transform the Indo-Pacific maritime security landscape. It offers unprecedented situational awareness, decision-making speed and operational flexibility. But without clear rules, shared norms and mechanisms for risk reduction, AI could ...
For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feelsAnd not the words of one who kneelsThe record showsI took the blowsAnd did it my wayLyrics: Paul Anka.Morena folks, before we discuss Winston’s latest salvo in NZ First’s War ...
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...
The StrategistBy Sandy Juda Pratama, Curie Maharani and Gautama Adi Kusuma
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...
Last night, the news came through that Pope Francis had passed away at 7:35 am in Rome on Monday, the 21st of April, following a reported stroke and heart failure. Pope Francis. Photo: AP.Despite his obvious ill health, it still came as a shock, following so soon after the Easter ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkThe world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing.This has contributed to a reassessment of ...
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...
The audacity of Don Brash never ceases to amaze. The former National Party and Hobson’s Pledge mouthpiece has now sunk his claws into NZME, the media giant behind the New Zealand Herald and half of our commercial radio stations. Don Brash has snapped up shares in NZME, aligning himself with ...
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
COMMENTARY:By Mandy Henk When the US Embassy knocked on my door in late 2024, I was both pleased and more than a little suspicious. I’d worked with them before, but the organisation where I did that work, Tohatoha, had closed its doors. My new project, Dark Times Academy, was ...
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said it would "provide better value for money by maximising private sector investment while keeping the taxpayers' contribution to a minimum". ...
The inquiry focused on vaccines and mandates; the lockdowns; and tools such as testing and tracing. The coalition government had also widened the scope of the inquiry to seek feedback on issues such as the social and economic impact of lockdowns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...
To sleep, perchance to dreamIn the shadowy chambers of Lord Winston,The great clock strikes thirteen.All remains untouched, covered with dust,As it has done since the 1970s,In a simple world where boys were boys,Ladies were mini-skirted and compliant ladies,And Italian law students ruled the streetsIn their wide lapel zoot suits.King Lux ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...
Asia Pacific Report Activists for Palestine paid homage to Pope Francis in Aotearoa New Zealand today for his humility, care for marginalised in the world, and his courageous solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza at a street theatre rally just hours before his funeral in Rome. He was remembered ...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...
Once or twice a week, Dr Margaret Henley rolls up the door on a windowless storage locker in central Auckland, pulls her plastic chair up to a picnic table and sifts through the history of netball in New Zealand.She works alongside netball archivist and statistician Todd Miller, together trawling through ...
Corin DannThe time is 7:36am on Wednesday, April 23, and you’re listening to Morning Report, New Zealand’s voice of the educated left on good incomes. I’m joined now by acting Prime Minister Winston Peters. Good morning Mr Peters.Winston PetersIt was, until I saw you. I much prefer your brother.Corin DannLiam ...
When Professor David Krofcheck got an email congratulating him on winning the Oscar of the science world, he dismissed it as a hoax.“I thought it was a scam, I thought it was a phishing email,” recalls Krofcheck, nuclear physicist at Auckland University.“Yeah right, I’ve won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was.I’ve been re-watching Girls lately, the HBO classic that perfectly captures millennial women in the most painful way. I highly recommend it especially if you haven’t watched it before. Every character on the show is deeply flawed and frustrating in their own ...
With the double-header long weekend comes a welcome chance to escape streaming slop, writes Alex Casey. Over Easter I texted my husband Joe a sentence that perhaps nobody in human history has ever texted: “hurry up geostorm is starting”. No punctuation, no capitalisation, not because I was trying to ...
April 27 is Moehanga Day, the anniversary of the day in 1806 when Ngāpuhi warrior Moehanga became the first Māori to visit England. This is his story. The wooden ship sailed down the River Thames, past smoke stacks and brick factories, until it reached a wharf in industrial south London. ...
Heidi Thomson on how her husband’s illness and Daniel Kalderimis’s book Zest have enhanced her understanding of George Eliot’s great novel.Sometimes a book finds you at just the right time. In early December my husband John had a stroke. At the time we were both reading George Eliot’s Middlemarch, ...
The musician, actor and star of upcoming documentary Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds takes us through his life in television. Musician Marlon Williams has been on our My Life in TV wish list ever since he revealed during his My Boy tour that he wrote ‘Thinking ...
When she walked dripping into the lounge, hair wet from the shower, she took one look at Hamish and dropped her towel.He was holding her phone.—How long has it been going on for?His blue eyes blazed. She wanted to pluck them out and blow on them gently, cool them off. ...
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The political skill of Winston Peters (Cabinet Minister) to successfully stop the government rolling out an economic recovery package for Southland, and then go down there a week later as Winston Peters (NZFirst Leader) to roll out his own response and literally beg the crowd for votes, is impressive.
Galling, bold, arrogant are other words. But he needs to do that. We all need our politicians to show they are hungry for our votes.
Ardern and Robertson have been thoroughly outplayed so far.
They have only a few weeks to stop being played by Winston and get their economic recovery message back on track.
Agreed.
The government is showing signs of not being hungry enough. What concerns me is that despite their talk to the contrary, they're relying on their laurels for this election.
Yes, they have more than earned a second term, but a significant portion of the voting public are fair weather friends and it wouldn't take much for Judith Collins to use negative persuasion to change their votes.
"Kindness" alone will not win them the election. Believe it or not, but imo the majority of people actually like a little bit of mongrel.
But Ardern and Robertson have done far more than being kind. Ardern's behaviour of late is part of the campaign strategy. I don't see them resting on their laurels……that would mean just saying "hey look guys we got through through Covid, aren't' we great, vote for us"………..
We shouldn't applaud how Winstone is bahaving lately. Quoting Hitler is not a vote winner. IMHO Peters is coming across as a rabid, desperate animal………..vote winning? well I guess we will find out in September.
Ardern currently looks like one of the few adults in the room. Everytime she speaks I am blown away by her brilliance.
But just my opinion
I just hope that NZ is not out played by the owners of Tiwai pt and see them "spray"and walk away, leaving us with the cleanup the dross/ouvea and ramifications of returning the pt. to a clean status.
"The bigger issue is the cleanup of the actual smelter site, a job that is said to cost about $256m. The Government has little leverage. It doesn’t hold a bond it can refuse to give back if it’s unhappy with the way the site is left."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/122092874/tiwai-point–helterskelter-around-the-smelter
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/13-02-2020/deep-dross-in-the-deep-south-is-rio-tinto-holding-new-zealand-to-ransom/
he is, and others could learn from this. It's also a flaw in MMP.
The Nats do, maybe. He's not competing for votes with his current coalition parties, thank goodness.
Peters knows he's done this election. The virtue signalling over Tiwai Point is a last desperate pitch vote a very few number of votes.
Ha she not read what Rio Tinto has been saying? That the high end Aluminium market has no future as technology is using other materials.
What is the point of the rest of New Zealand subsidising multinational companies in a dying industry?
Yes, Peters is hungry but that is because he's fast looking at his last meal.
"Ardern and Robertson have been thoroughly outplayed so far. They have only a few weeks to stop being played by Winston and get their economic recovery message back on track."
It's not clear if this is sarcasm. I assume it is, since all available polling evidence says the opposite. The wrong/right track surveys, such as Roy Morgan, have 72% supporting the government's direction.
This is the latest polling specifically on the economy.
with Labour ahead of National by a huge margin. Meanwhile the most recent coverage of economic policy has featured National's numbers being dismissed by media and independent economists.
What is the evidence that Ardern and Robertson have been "thoroughly outplayed"?
It's not sarcasm. Just desperate, extreme centrist babble.
Peters is doing the people of Southland a major disservice by promising to keep Tiwai Point open when both Labour and National are not going to move on further subsidies.
I think that its more important that they show us:
Yes draco and may I add a no. 7? That they handle themselves with competence and intelligence, while doing so demonstrating that they have NZders best interests at heart.
………..I think that's Ardern
The recovery message might include a Hydrogen promo to sop up NZ's hydro power no longer required by RIO.
"The excitement about hydrogen as an energy source is based on an alternative approach, which involves passing an electric current through a so-called electrolyser. This splits water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen and emits no nasty carbon."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-hydrogen-breakingviews/breakingviews-hydrogen-investing-is-a-lottery-worth-playing-idUSKCN24N0X0
People who refer to hydrogen as an energy source really irritate me.
Its a store of energy, same as petrol and batteries.
Heh. (just in case any reader isn't twitter savvy, click on the date to get to the original tweet and all the glorious replies)
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1286418875811270659
Person, man, woman, camera, tv. I'm presidential material!
(Clicking anywhere on the embedded tweet will work)
How 'bout that, it does!
My set-up went through a phase where only clicking the date worked, so that kinda got turned into a hardened habit.
@lprent also moves the goalposts every now and then to keep us on our toes 🙂
A compassionate President might say something like this.
"Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself. Heir to a corrupt history, in which are mingled fallen revolutions, technology gone mad, dead gods, and worn-out ideologies, where mediocre powers can destroy all yet no longer know how to convince, where intelligence has debased itself to become the servant of hatred and oppression, this generation starting from its own negations has had to re-establish, both within and without, a little of that which constitutes the dignity of life and death. In a world threatened by disintegration, in which our grand inquisitors run the risk of establishing forever the kingdom of death, it knows that it should, in an insane race against the clock, restore among the nations a peace that is not servitude, reconcile anew labour and culture, and remake with all men the Ark of the Covenant. It is not certain that this generation will ever be able to accomplish this immense task, but already it is rising everywhere in the world to the double challenge of truth and liberty and, if necessary, knows how to die for it without hate. Wherever it is found, it deserves to be saluted and encouraged, particularly where it is sacrificing itself."
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1957/camus/speech/
Let's talk about how Trump plans to win.
His base still strong, his profile and channels dominant, his funding colossal, his party loyal to their boots. So what would he do?
Beau of the Fifth Column with a magnificent beard and what sounds like a deep midwestern accent, lists the strategy in 14 quite enjoyable points:
How to acuity test
for more:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-person-woman-man-camera-tv_n_5f1a4316c5b6296fbf402c09
The government has taken some steps to support shared ownership schemes being run by housing charities. This is an important addition to the problematic Kiwibuild concept and one which should have been announce at the same time as Kiwibuild. One which targets families which have been left behind in the housing rush.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/government-launches-400-million-first-home-buyer-scheme-here-s-how-it-works.html
The scheme should really by run directly by the government through HNZ/Kainga Ora rather than through the non-profit industrial complex. I can seriously imagine this being announced in the parallel universe where Bill English is PM, he was big on social services being delivered by charities.
5 absconders from Hamilton, 4 caught, 1 still at large…all tested negative on day 3.
This appears planned. Police saw one offender in the act of climbing the fence.
Absconding has to be treated as an extremely dangerous action IMO.
1 adult and 4 children, including a teenager. Odd grouping. Maybe they're all teens and know each other?
Looks like 3 adults and 2 youths
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122247176/police-charge-four-people-who-allegedly-escaped-covid19-isolation-in-hamilton
NOPE 1 adult and 4 youths!!!
more here https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-07-2020/#comment-1734116
Has to be treated as attempted mass murder because that is what could possibly happen.
My feeling is if you escape you do your next 2 weeks in prison. If you escape knowing you are sick you face potential attempted bodily harm charges, you escape and someone get sick it’s an immediate grievous bodily harm charge and it someone dies then it’s a man slaughter charge
murder has to have intent. Risk taking with other people's lives in other ways isn't treated as murder. I get that people feel strongly about this but equating it to murder isn't helpful imo.
Thing is, there was intent. Sure, they may not have intended to kill but they they certainly intended to escape. On top of that they know that the disease that they have can and they knew they had it before they escaped.
So, maybe manslaughter as John suggests above but the charge needs to be strong to get through to any other idiot that tries this.
Knowing what the reason for escaping is would be where I would start as it may have prevented the escape were the groups needs met.
Or their wants, perhaps.
yep. This is the missing part of all the stories and it's an important one.
Apparently wanted to go to a funeral and had been refused compassionate leave.
That was probably because they were infected. Throw them in jail and make sure they don't come out for a long time.