Daily review 26/07/2019
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5:30 pm, July 26th, 2019 - 41 comments
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Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...18 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
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The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...2 days ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...2 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
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The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
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Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...4 days ago
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Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...4 days ago - Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…
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Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...5 days ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
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AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...6 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...6 days ago
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And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...7 days ago - A Lipstick Government
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Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...7 days ago
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...1 week ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
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Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
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All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago
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Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...4 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...4 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...4 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...5 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...5 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...6 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...7 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...7 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
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Strange times at Ihumatao. A good proportion of Standard commenters agree with everyone's favourite leftie, David Seymour!
"Property rights" don't you know…
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/act-leader-david-seymour-labels-ihum-tao-protesters-a-nuisance.html
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/395318/ihumatao-protests-no-building-while-a-solution-is-sought-pm
Onya, Jacinda.
Here's why the PM shifted her stance: "Numbers at Ihumātao have swelled to about a thousand as many join the land protest, ahead of the weekend." Probably get double that by Sunday, eh?
"Ms Ardern said Labour MPs Peeni Henare and Willie Jackson will go down to the site and talk to protesters tomorrow." Hope they have something new & intelligent to say, since I gather they've already been there done that. Suggesting a solution would be good!
"Ms Davidson wouldn't say how the land should be returned but reiterated that she wanted the government to intervene." More nanny-statism from the Greens? Hope not. She's just got what she asked for – goddam politicians scared to offer solutions is not what I expect from this govt I'm trying to support.
"Protest leader Pania Newton has called for her uncle Te Warena Taua, kaumatua for the local iwi who opposes the action, to speak to her." Dunno why. Four years of this protest already due to one family being split, you'd think a conversation or two would have already happened, eh? If so, what the hell did it achieve??
There's no mystery to why the government is reluctant to get involved. It's great that they are looking to take the role of mediator.
The Greens are activist by nature no matter how much some people want them to stick to middle-of-the-road environmental issues.
Looks like there is a significant shift of power within that family. Four years of this protest is finally bearing fruit.
DF as marty mars tends to say we don't know all the internal politics so might be best to watch hopefully, better than arrive ata negative solution over something that Maori have been working at for a century or so.
True, ball's in their court – but the protest organiser has called the govt in. If the local Maori were able to reach consensus, the organiser would not have done so, right?
Notice that I also expressed my hope twice in the comment you responded to (2.1)! When a conservative like Peter Williams advocates govt purchase and return as a simple solution, why can't politicians? We pay them to do that job.
Not just within that family. Look for all sorts of power plays across Aotearoa as Maori boomers try and quash the rise of younger more media-savvy whanau/hapu/iwi representatives.
What for?
For running off with no notice to the country, to spend a long weekend on a paradise island with her father and leaving someone else to deal with it?
Meanwhile, the Nats just don't give a fuck and are all off to their wankfest in Christchurch.
They aren't the ones with a lazy 40 million who could sort it tomorrow morning.
lol yeah they just represent the lazy who have $40mil.
When your opposition is digging a hole, leave them to it.
And the National party have standing to participate in this how…?
Being MPs. Or are they too lazy to do their job and represent NZ citizens.
Remind me who the MPs for Te Tai Hauāuru and Māngere are again?
Given the speed at which she folds at any challenge, Ardern is relegated to Minister Origami.
Why dont you wait till we see the final outcome before you put the boot in?
De escalating the situation ,listening and waiting a bit might be a good idea.
Because it's the same with all the policy challenges she's faced so far.
The success of direct action within a democracy is not a failure.
Really. Please explain.
I'll eliminate CGT, it was not part of the coalition deal – so could not occur until after 2020. Running with the policy in 2020 would reduce the chances of forming a government without NZF and they would veto a CGT if the coalition was reformed after the election.
Having a strategy to retain power, be able to form a government majority with either Greens (those who want a CGT can vote for them and this as a future goal) or NZ First (if they survive without the CGT threat) is smart politics – especially if you believe that GW (and related environment), rebuilding (well funded) government capability and delivery of adequate support are the big issues.
It's a simple fact that (because of NZF) CGT was a 2023 issue at the earliest. Ardern has merely signalled that, if she seeks a third term, it would then be 2026.
Fletchers just need to move their operation down the road a bit.
Problem solved.
How was the government invested in the project going ahead – it was on the side of SOUL in 2016?
Is posing as on-side and then abandoning Maori is what you expect of Labour in government.
It was certainly not Labour party or …coalition policy or Green Party policy.
It was just a matter of whether Labour in government would intervene in the process – it was originally reluctant because the local iwi had cut a deal. But the scale of protest left them with little choice but to consult. If the local iwi boss wanted his niece in prison is his affair, but the PM would not have wanted Green MP's there with her.
Geez, Key folded at a whisper of a challenge. An American only had to fly in on his private jet and Key was giving him (and occassionally her) anything he (she) wanted.
Yes but right now it's a bunch of brown people demanding of the Prime Minister – you know, the one who literally cloaks herself in their culture – that she do something.
Credit where it’s due – politically smart to not even be in the country as this hits the fan. Couldn’t have planned it better. If it wasn’t hastily planned, I mean.
Leaked polling shows National below 40 percent under leadership of Simon Bridges
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/leaked-polling-shows-national-below-40-percent-under-leadership-of-simon-bridges.html
Er…🤣
That's some pretty devious weaselry from Tova O'Brien. She's engineered a gotcha over something from March last year. The story could equally be about National's internal polling showing it above 40% almost the entire time since it lost power.
Yeah, real weird. Almost fake news, eh? Viewers thinking actual news of a new poll is being reported, but the leaker obviously just wanted to prove the technical point that Bridges has been lying. Timing: Nat conference this weekend.
So the idea that politicians lie is meant to be news somehow?? Most people know that already. So perhaps it is news on the basis that proof of politicians lying doesn't often get served up in the media, and I guess Tova got her editor's support for the broadcast on that basis. Leaker's motive is to kneecap Simon pre-conference, obviously. Pointless unless someone is hatching a conference plot…
When there's no news to report on, the reporters have to make some.
What tosh, making out that 39.8% is not the same as 40.
If that's the best JLR can feed her on the eve of their conference then there won't be any trouble from that quarter over the weekend. Pffft.
Aww, isn't that sweet.
https://www.twitter.com/simonjbridges/status/1154646216187117568
That is sweet, but aren't we told that to use one's child for political purposes is a no-no?
Copying baby Neve with her security card at last year's UN conference.
She looks way too self-assured for an ‘emotional young staffer’.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/07/family-first-rebuked-for-non-fact-based-activity-over-cannabis-psychosis-claims.html
Need to cut off the off the end for the link to work.
I ♥ skeptics. Nice rebuttle of dodgy Family First conclusions.
Whoops. Thanks, A.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/07/family-first-rebuked-for-non-fact-based-activity-over-cannabis-psychosis-claims.html
Australian story on teachers – is this similar in NZ?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/04/revealed-shocking-number-of-teachers-getting-the-bash-from-violent-students.html
Thanks for that. Glad my kids are no longer in school…if this happens to the teachers then I dread to think of how the students are treated
This'll put the cat among the pro-Putin pigeons.