Looks like the voters delivered a sensible result, largely ignoring the more radical hype while sensing/going for the need of an general progressive OS Update with the EU.
I did, earlier on, and thought 'well he would say that, wouldn't he?'
If he's innocent, it'll all come out and you may get your duck trophy, but I'm hardly gonna take the word of the accused in a report by Soper as gospel.
Well let us see how it plays out, you may yet be correct, but it is odd how this alleged sexual predator/rapist, with the political connection, gets an interview printed in the herald telling their side of the story. Can't say I've seen that happen before. Is it unprecedented?
If the guy's version is the full and unedited story, then it's personal greivance time for him.
But three formal complaints for being "old fashioned"? If you have to be told three times that your intimate space compass is broken, you aren't learning.
Come on people get a bit of fucking perspective, thank fuck I don't work in an office and especially I don't work in a Wellington public service office, Christ what a horrible working environment.
Your mixed review belongs in a high school drama class. People will spend 8 hours a day at work. This old notion that you shouldn't date co-workers was always a ploy to make people work overtime. Of course people should date co-workers. For most people they may not even get a chance to meet and get to know anyone else properly. So go for it I say. Young, viral people struck by the opposite sex shouldn't advice from bitter old spinster veterans.
Who is talking about dating? That's consensual. At the very least what has been complained about was unwanted intimacy that creeped out the recipient. And that's by the dude's version of events. We didn't hear the other side, other than what Mallard said. The two do not seem to be equivalent, but neither side is talking about colleagues "dating".
Flirting: Verb. Something not relevant to this thread, nor contained in the linked article.
Example:
The discussion so far is whether an unwanted hug, if that's all that was done, constitutes a serious sexual assault or even rape. But for some reason Sam wants to know what "flirting" means.
This guy isn't admitting to sexual advances of any sort. He says it's three misunderstandings.
Your comments have nothing to do with the situation in question.
Did you even read the article or the thread? The only one to say anything was meant to be flirtatious is you.
He said it was an innocent hug in celebration. Not flirting. That he wasn't looking at boobs when he complimented a hairstyle. That the kiss was an innocent peck on the cheek after a visit to his home.
Flirtation doesn't come into any of that in anyone's imagination but yours.
Yeah, McFlock (lol) is crazed. He produced a mixed review and you've got to ask why he does that. This can't be allowed to be the public dialogue. What we are doing is we are going to get pushed back by the establishment and attack for wanting change whether it's financially or politically or morally but we've got to carry on.
Some one like me shouldn't need monitoring, if you look at what I want politically it's not very controversial. What was supposed to happen post John Key was some kind of neoliberal revolution and all McFlock and people like him is doing, I mean why is McFlock being so radical and what is making him so woke and it is the commercial media.
The commercial media is deliberately misrepresenting and deliberately coming along and imagine you're reading the paper and suddenly here's some one you don't know saying you should hate them or love them and that's effectively what the commercial media is doing. And no one should buy into it and as sone as I challenge anyone on a commercial media topic they can't find what Iv said, why Iv said it, what the context was and it all just melts away a week or 2 later when everything has blown over like nothing ever happened. And that's crazy.
And everyone understands that woke people like McFlock are these sorts of moral busybodies that feel the need to come over and give you a piece of there mind because they are offended. That kind of tyranny is the sort of political correctness that has to stop, we have to be able to have these tough conversations because these problems are growing like a cancer in our society like, Rapists don't Spring out of parliament fully formed. That's just a ridiculous result of a long process of injustice to get to the point of a serial rapist and we see with McFlock that he is lashing out because the evidence of a long drawn out process of a serial rapist just doesn't exists.
And so you've got to just take the bullets and grenades and keep going and I'll keep making my little quips Y'know I'm not going to quit because we've got to keep going.
From an evolutionary perspective females generally adopt a passive sexual strategy; they typically put most of their effort into making themselves appear attractive in order to gain the attention of the most desirable males. The core problem is that it also attracts attention from unwanted males.
The problem for males is that unless they initiate some sexual attention, they cannot test whether the attention is unwanted or not.
Societies have solved this problem in various ways; one traditional approach is to segregate the two sexes, another was various forms of courtship rituals and flirtation that placed clear expectations and boundaries on what was acceptable. The general process would be; women would attract, males initiate attention, females select and then males commit.
In addition the relative high biological cost of sex for women meant that traditionally there were strong constraints on female sexual freedom and a strong emotional aversion to unwanted sex. This is why rape was usually considered a crime only somewhat less serious than murder. But in the past 50 years the availability of reliable contraception means that the biological cost of sex for women is now a lot different to that of men, at the same time their evolved emotionalaversion remains unchanged.
Socially this has resulted in a very mixed message; on one hand casual sex is now very commonplace and in particular female sexual freedom has been hugely expanded. At the same time the very high female emotional response to unwanted sex has been unmoored from the biological act of vaginal intercourse and extended to virtually any male sexual attention that is deemed unworthy.
In essence this means that any male attention that a woman does not want or later regrets now falls under this extended definition of 'rape'. It may not look like the old world idea of a violent physical coercion, rather what matters now is how the woman feels about what happened.
Under this greatly expanded definition all male sexual attention is now potentially rape. Which is why any flirtation, touching or a hug is now a criminal act unless the female first signs a legal document of some kind authorising it. While female sexual freedom is promoted, celebrated and expanded at every opportunity, the opposite is happening to all expressions of male sexuality.
In particular this can be seen where anything any women says about any sexual encounter must be intrinsically believed, while anything a male says is always the lies of a self-serving predator. We see this dynamic playing out even on this very thread.
Well I don't think it is wise to select a mate based on how they would satisfy specific traits of ones personality and preferences. My theory is that the perfect mate doesn't exist, at least Iv never seen a perfect relationship in real life.
Just arousing the thought of a sexual act, it could be a carton character, everyone is well aware that a cartoon character are not real, but non the less just arousing the fantasy of a sexual act in males and then utterly rejecting that act results in utter psychological devastation. This may be anecdotal because I am speaking from experience. Never the less cases of mental rejection can be worse than physical rejection or fighting.
In away we don't quite appreciate the logic of humiliation and rejection. The point is not to be brutal but to be perfectly brutal an honest the point is in away, that him NOT raping her or even making love to her, not doing it makes the humiliation even worse.
In my experience of woman who have been raped it is the strong independent woman that take it the hardest. Some woman just find it unbearable to live with the pain. The pain seems to manifest in reality and I am talking about specific woman that I have worked with in the past who was prevented from working in specific situations and I would have to talk to them differently. It's almost like sexual abuse survivors have their own language.
The rape victim that can coup with the trauma understands that her terrifying nightmares will not manifest in reality but rape is a tremendous sin in my opinion. The humiliation, the rejection, the utter terror is tremendous and that's the point and my main point is that psychological rape can be worse than physical rape. The body can heal but the mind lingers.
I always recommend when selecting the ideal date that putting to one side the sex bit is no good for anyone. Asking for and receiving permission to perform sexual acts is perhaps far more fulfilling than the act itself. Of course apart of the fulfilment is the results itself but again at the same time being aware of how powerful the psychological component of sex can be. So I always recommend approaching potential partners as a way of having a bit of fun. Being in a real relationship you talk, make each other laugh while at the same time being comfy in each other's company and not to take any of this to seriously.
Another way both Mallard and I could be correct is that Soper's mate isn't telling the full story, or that the Francis report contained different, more serious, information compared to the original investigation. And that doesn't need linguistic gymnastics like:
"In essence this means that any male attention that a woman does not want or later regrets now falls under this extended definition of 'rape'.
I think it's best to take this sort of nitpicking up with ones parents. Relying on some self professed single person by choice on the Internet is the wrong type of person to be reading up on sex in general.
Is it fucked up and insanity that you think that all that happened was a hug? I don't know what happened, you don't know what happened. Mallard heard of some behaviour he described as "serious assault."
Do you think his judgement is so impaired that on hearing of an innocent hug he formed a conclusion with such certainty that he publicly stated his opinions as he did?
Mallard will have seen the detail of the Francis report. He is probably the only person other than the author herself who knows those details. It can be assumed his comment is based on what he read in that report.
I would go so far as to accuse Soper of a malicious attempt to use the untested 'testimony' of an individual to try and undermine Mallard and his parliamentary position.
And no. I'm not a particular fan of Mallard but I can smell political skulduggery a mile off.
Nothing in the article about any independent investigation into the alleged incident. And the Speaker understood the same man was responsible for the two other claims of serious sexual assault, so perhaps it's a matter for police.
He described it as a great deal more than "serious assault".
He described it as rape. And yes, I do think his judgement is seriously impaired. Just look at the way he behaves in his role as Speaker. He has no idea at all of correct behavior.
I read it BM. I am sure this bloke was not asked to leave without some pretty compelling evidence of serious sexual offending. Trust Barry Soper? Really?
Harassers, stalkers, hoaxers, sexual predators and pathological liars always admit their guilt? Not on your life. These types are able to convincingly convince themselves (and others) they are the victims and not the perpetrators. It is a well documented part of their varying personality and behavioural disorders.
This link is about stalkers but since sexual predatory activity usually includes an element of stalking it would apply:
Sure, if this guy's claims are 100% factual and if those incidents are the entirety of Mallard's claims of "serious sexual assault," he doesn't come out of it looking too flash. Did you consider even for a second waiting until those aren't "if"s before blathering about sociopathic arseholes? For all we know, the "sociopathic arsehole" is the guy you're defending, or someone else entirely. It doesn't kill you to wait for some facts before blustering away on a comments thread.
Some people obviously enjoy looking like reactionary knee-jerk weirdos blinded by partisan animosity. Any excuse to put the boot into the 'lefties'. And yes, Mallard's the Speaker now. But he used to be a leftie, the dirty, dirty Communist.
In his spare time, BM also burns people for witchcraft.
In my opinion Mallard is an idiot to have used the word "rape" even if he is aware of more facts than the rest of us. He doesn't seem to know when to keep his mouth shut. The guy accused should lawyer up and if the allegations have previously been dismissed, he will probably have a very good case against Mallard. Its ironic that the whole thing has been about bullying, as now this 'accused' man will say he has been bullied by Mallard.
Alaska’s wettest region is experiencing an extreme drought for the first time in recorded history, climate scientists say.
The southernmost portion of Southeast Alaska, including Ketchikan, Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell and Metlakatla, has been in a drought for the last two years, said Rick Thoman, a climatologist at the Fairbanks-based Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
Last week, though, the drought was updated to a D3, or “extreme” drought, the second-highest category the U.S. Drought Monitor measures. It’s the first time those conditions have ever been recorded in Alaska, according to the Drought Monitor.
Power supply is dwindling, water supplies dwindling, pests rising.
Everything is connected to everything else's everything.
How much of the US non-drought areas have been subject to flooding in the last calendar year? Ask Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri… off the top of my head…
Did you know 40% of the US populated areas are close to levees? OUCH!
As the planet warms more water is loaded into the atmosphere. Meanwhile weather patterns break down. Some areas will get disproportionately more water, some less.
Flood and drought are to be new norms. Regular weather not so regular.
We just had a summer drought, and now, apparently, an Autumn one. A few more seasons like that our farmers will be struggling to feed their stock let alone profit off them. Of course we pump water to them but it will reach a point townspeople have no water and cows do, on that day it will be entirely justifiable to cut off the farmers.
I have several economic pests still present in my garden, normally winter would have put paid to them. Not this year – they get extra life cycles to populate in greater numbers. It will not take many repeats of this to see plagues of insect pests, especially in areas where we've failed to allow insect diversity, namely, most of NZ.
Nature lies within a biosphere that encompasses the entire planet (and perhaps beyond). All within this system in some manner affect the rest of the system. Alaska's droughts are our concern. You'll see.
We were just discussing over dinner tonight the lengths to which Natrad went to this morning to explain about the hypoplasia and how the inevitable numpties emailled the station full of righteous indignation that an obviously irresponsible mother should be complaining about the wait time for acute pediatric dental treatment.
Sigh.
However. It could very well be the case that the parents who wean their wee mites onto flouro green powerade or cola can be held to blame somewhat for the long wait list as their kids are also in the queue. These parents know better…surely…more sighs.
I wonder how many have the dental hypoplasia? Poor kids, distressing for the parents too no doubt.
Thanks heaps for the link Rosemary.
Was thinking I wonder why my kids teeth didn't go all rotten, but so many many others do. And the only thing I could think of is that fizzy isn't normal at ours, birthdays are exciting cause there is fizzy lolz. We drink milk and water mostly. But then fizzy is cheaper than milk.
A friend's twins had hypoplasia…and I'm not sure about the prevalence. According to the wiki page there are a number of 'causes', but the wee lassie this morning has an older brother with the same condition which implies in that family it is the hereditary form.
There is a huge wait list for pediatric dental treatment and my guess that most of the kiddies are on it because of poor nutrition/sugary drinks and food. I have on more than one occasion seen babes in arms sucking on fizzy and how the hell you get the message through I have no idea. However….the mums of the children with fizzy- rotted teeth will most definitely not be on the wireless complaining about the delay for treatment. Because guilt. And shame.
Cinny…my youngest is twenty seven and I remember the constant messaging about baby teeth and sugar and fizzy and good nutrition and how it all starts in the womb. And about the drugs and the drink and the smoking. I guess its the same today?
Cinny…my youngest is twenty seven and I remember the constant messaging about baby teeth and sugar and fizzy and good nutrition and how it all starts in the womb. And about the drugs and the drink and the smoking. I guess its the same today?
Rosemary, it's not, least I'm pretty sure especially with my youngest when she was a toddler that there wasn't as much info/education about it. My girls are now 14 and 11. I remember seeing little posters at the Dr's and at Plunket showing the sugar content of drinks and that was enough to put me off.
Absolutely convinced it is relative to the cheap cost of sugary drinks v's milk for example. Also all the hidden sugar in muesli bars etc. Reliance on processed food etc. Cheap lollies etc, using sugary food as a reward etc.
Maybe we need sugar warning labels on products with high sugar content. Seems to work with putting people off smoking…
Perhaps an intensive education campaign via social media/tv etc plus in schools would help. It's so sad for the little ones.
Dentists fed up with seeing patients suffering unnecessarily from "third world" tooth conditions are pushing for urgent action to make dental care more affordable.
Dr Assil Russell, the founder of the charity Revive a Smile, said too many people were delaying treatment for preventable dental health problems due to financial barriers.
i think there are different reasons, to expensive for adults, so adults don't have a relationship with a dentist and thus their children aren't taken to one. Childrens teeth, the mistaken believe that it is just 'milk teeth' and thus they regrow, never mind the damage to the gums/bones etc. Lack of transport/childcare etc. For women on a benefit with multiple children regular dental care for the children might fall under 'undesirable for an employement' – same this for regular check ups. Food deserts, places were really the only affordable food is the chinese take away and the 2.5 litre bottle of fizzy for a dollar vs the 4 $+ two litre bottle of milk. Smoking, stress, teeth grinding ( my friends three year old grinds his teeth…!). And then if everyone has no teeth at 45 and lives with a plate, then it also becomes a normal thing.
But i believe that if we can get the adults back to dental care the kids follow. And the government would save a tidy sum in health care, and illness / early death related benefits, lost productivity and such. Preventative healthcare rather then treating symptoms health care.
Are parents not getting reminders/educated on how to care for their little ones teeth?
One of my neighbours in Kuwait was always taking her little boy back to India to have a dentist sort out his rotten teeth. She couldn't understand why his teeth were so shit. My wife figured it probably had something to do with the baby bottles of fruit juice she gave him to bathe his teeth in all day, but parents tend not to welcome others' thoughts on how ur doin it wrong so we never raised it with her. Seems fairly common in this country too.
On a European election night when the Brexit party dominated across the UK, perhaps the most eye-catching story in North West England was the humiliating drubbing suffered by the anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.
Having claimed for weeks to be on the crest of an international movement – one that elected Donald Trump in the US – the man whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon had expected to “walk into Brussels like Connor McGregor” upon his election.
In the end, Robinson won only 2.2% of the vote – losing his £5,000 deposit – and sneaked out of the election count in central Manchester barely an hour after he had arrived. He tried to put a brave face on it, claiming the establishment had “arranged and organised” for him to be banned from social media to scupper his election bid, but it was a resounding defeat for the founder of the English Defence League
This is a disturbing thing…the CPI in the US is chronically under priced. If the same were true in NZ that would mean both interest rates and core benefits that are set off CPI are both incorrect.
Saw new leader of the oz Labour Party on Tele tonight Anthony albanese. Very Aussie bloke but seemed very genuine, authentic……..fingers crossed.
and on a different note what fools those who buy into Barry’s article about the guy stood down at parliament. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the enquiry that cleared him was a white wash (acknowledge I could be wrong). It wouldn’t have been mallard himself who stood him down, but parliamentary services. Debbie Francis found significant examples of abuse, sexual harassment etc.
btw BM many years ago when I was in my early thirties an older man at work on two occasions came up behind me and bear hugged me……I found it very unpleasant and inappropriate. If it ok for men to do this in the work place, I ask the men on this site what it would be like if a gay bloke (and I say gay, because it then brings the possibility that there is a sexual motivation in it) came up and unexpectedly bear hugged you?
Chris Hipkins should just go and join National. He speaks as one he acts as one. He is well schooled to regurgitate what ever his PR team have been prepping him. There are teachers already below min wage pity that this is is breach of our law
Do you seriously expect a Minister (irrespective of party) to say, "strike action is justified." He represents the government, not the unions. The job of the government is to keep public services in operation, not encourage strikes.
Yes, the Labour Party can and should support strike action, even against its own government.
The role of the mass party of labour is to act as a political wing of the labour movement. This means the party is not simply a parliamentary faction; it is also a social movement. Government ministers sit within the state machine, the trade unions are outside it, and the party spans the gap between the two. The overall political direction of the party should not be determined by the administrative demands of government, but by the needs of the working class as a whole.
To be clear, Labour ministers are there to serve the people, it is not their job to discipline the unions. We really need to do away with the idea that a Labour government is Her Majesty's government, or that Labour should be somehow subordinate to the will of the state.
If a Labour government fails to live up to the expectations of the labour movement, it would be absolutely correct for Labour Party members to hold their ministers accountable. Similarly, if Labour ministers feel that the machinery of state is not responding to their demands, it would be totally acceptable for them to endorse industrial action in order to push aside any resistance to their objectives.
These strikes are not in accordance with the democratic processes, which the unions have been woefully deficient, in providing good representation to their constituencies.
In a political sense, these strikes are of the opposition to the govt. That's not the way to go. Where were they during the previous period?
The incompetence of Unions politically, using England as an example, was the pre-cursor before the Thatcher govt. kicked off 4+ decades of financial neo-liberalism etc so in a political sense, it does seem that the Govt. is not impressed with counter productive unions to their members’ interests.
Perhaps the minister like others in govt are IMO poorly phrasing their thoughts 🤭
Perhaps he should have said something like "he was disappointed that the union and its members has resorted to this action" he had the day to prep for the interview, BUT to say Not Justified. Perhaps those making such poorly thought out comments should see what those within the profession are facing. Thanks to many govts; the work loads of teachers have dramatically increased yet pay does not recognise this additional work. I know the same is for many professions (nurse (pity they were the 1st off in the pay review )etc)
He represents the government, not the unions – So is it the govts "job" to restrict and pay to the min that they can get away ?? That will work for so long and then there is the release of this pent up pressure.
It is one thing for activists in Labour to do as you suggest, quite another for Ministers to do so.
By definition Ministers are Her Majesty's government. Our constitutional government could not operate if it was anything other than that. And you don't want to risk changing that. Which is not the republican issue, but rather that we have a government that acts according to law.
Your complaint is really about Hipkins (or Robertson) not providing more money to settle the strike. The solution for a Labour government is to provide more money, not encourage strike action.
But even Labour governments can't just give unions whatever they want. So if they think they are providing enough, naturally they are going to say strike action is not justified.
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NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
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Looks like the voters delivered a sensible result, largely ignoring the more radical hype while sensing/going for the need of an general progressive OS Update with the EU.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-26/europe-s-mainstream-holds-as-populists-fail-to-break-through
https://www.ft.com/content/9733a232-7fe1-11e9-b592-5fe435b57a3b
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12234808
I hope Mallard gets done for this.
What a sociopathic arsehole.
Yeah, 'cause alleged sexual predators and rapists always admit their guilt 🙄
Read the article.
I did, earlier on, and thought 'well he would say that, wouldn't he?'
If he's innocent, it'll all come out and you may get your duck trophy, but I'm hardly gonna take the word of the accused in a report by Soper as gospel.
The guy has already been investigated and the allegations were dismissed.
For Mallard to call a hug rape is just insanity and just shows how fucked up everything has become.
Hope he's sued and taken to the cleaners.
Well let us see how it plays out, you may yet be correct, but it is odd how this alleged sexual predator/rapist, with the political connection, gets an interview printed in the herald telling their side of the story. Can't say I've seen that happen before. Is it unprecedented?
Probably personally known to Soper and the article reeked of the 'boys will be boys' excuse.
Men like that just can't understand why women don't like a hug from behind with extra penis.
Could be.
IMO no man hugs a women from behind without permission or consequences. Unacceptable in any circumstance WITHOUT permission.
If the guy's version is the full and unedited story, then it's personal greivance time for him.
But three formal complaints for being "old fashioned"? If you have to be told three times that your intimate space compass is broken, you aren't learning.
None of this makes him a rapist though.
A hug, a peck on the cheek, a compliment.
Come on people get a bit of fucking perspective, thank fuck I don't work in an office and especially I don't work in a Wellington public service office, Christ what a horrible working environment.
Fixed it for you.
Your mixed review belongs in a high school drama class. People will spend 8 hours a day at work. This old notion that you shouldn't date co-workers was always a ploy to make people work overtime. Of course people should date co-workers. For most people they may not even get a chance to meet and get to know anyone else properly. So go for it I say. Young, viral people struck by the opposite sex shouldn't advice from bitter old spinster veterans.
Who is talking about dating? That's consensual. At the very least what has been complained about was unwanted intimacy that creeped out the recipient. And that's by the dude's version of events. We didn't hear the other side, other than what Mallard said. The two do not seem to be equivalent, but neither side is talking about colleagues "dating".
then define flirting
Flirting: Verb. Something not relevant to this thread, nor contained in the linked article.
Example:
Then any guy admitting to risky sexual advances should not fear rape allegations unless you can define what flirting is or is not.
This guy isn't admitting to sexual advances of any sort. He says it's three misunderstandings.
Your comments have nothing to do with the situation in question.
This is crazy. You're quick to disregard flirtatious behaviour and quicker again to nitpick.
Did you even read the article or the thread? The only one to say anything was meant to be flirtatious is you.
He said it was an innocent hug in celebration. Not flirting. That he wasn't looking at boobs when he complimented a hairstyle. That the kiss was an innocent peck on the cheek after a visit to his home.
Flirtation doesn't come into any of that in anyone's imagination but yours.
youre crazy
He's crazy?
Yeah, McFlock (lol) is crazed. He produced a mixed review and you've got to ask why he does that. This can't be allowed to be the public dialogue. What we are doing is we are going to get pushed back by the establishment and attack for wanting change whether it's financially or politically or morally but we've got to carry on.
Some one like me shouldn't need monitoring, if you look at what I want politically it's not very controversial. What was supposed to happen post John Key was some kind of neoliberal revolution and all McFlock and people like him is doing, I mean why is McFlock being so radical and what is making him so woke and it is the commercial media.
The commercial media is deliberately misrepresenting and deliberately coming along and imagine you're reading the paper and suddenly here's some one you don't know saying you should hate them or love them and that's effectively what the commercial media is doing. And no one should buy into it and as sone as I challenge anyone on a commercial media topic they can't find what Iv said, why Iv said it, what the context was and it all just melts away a week or 2 later when everything has blown over like nothing ever happened. And that's crazy.
And everyone understands that woke people like McFlock are these sorts of moral busybodies that feel the need to come over and give you a piece of there mind because they are offended. That kind of tyranny is the sort of political correctness that has to stop, we have to be able to have these tough conversations because these problems are growing like a cancer in our society like, Rapists don't Spring out of parliament fully formed. That's just a ridiculous result of a long process of injustice to get to the point of a serial rapist and we see with McFlock that he is lashing out because the evidence of a long drawn out process of a serial rapist just doesn't exists.
And so you've got to just take the bullets and grenades and keep going and I'll keep making my little quips Y'know I'm not going to quit because we've got to keep going.
@ Sam
From an evolutionary perspective females generally adopt a passive sexual strategy; they typically put most of their effort into making themselves appear attractive in order to gain the attention of the most desirable males. The core problem is that it also attracts attention from unwanted males.
The problem for males is that unless they initiate some sexual attention, they cannot test whether the attention is unwanted or not.
Societies have solved this problem in various ways; one traditional approach is to segregate the two sexes, another was various forms of courtship rituals and flirtation that placed clear expectations and boundaries on what was acceptable. The general process would be; women would attract, males initiate attention, females select and then males commit.
In addition the relative high biological cost of sex for women meant that traditionally there were strong constraints on female sexual freedom and a strong emotional aversion to unwanted sex. This is why rape was usually considered a crime only somewhat less serious than murder. But in the past 50 years the availability of reliable contraception means that the biological cost of sex for women is now a lot different to that of men, at the same time their evolved emotional aversion remains unchanged.
Socially this has resulted in a very mixed message; on one hand casual sex is now very commonplace and in particular female sexual freedom has been hugely expanded. At the same time the very high female emotional response to unwanted sex has been unmoored from the biological act of vaginal intercourse and extended to virtually any male sexual attention that is deemed unworthy.
In essence this means that any male attention that a woman does not want or later regrets now falls under this extended definition of 'rape'. It may not look like the old world idea of a violent physical coercion, rather what matters now is how the woman feels about what happened.
Under this greatly expanded definition all male sexual attention is now potentially rape. Which is why any flirtation, touching or a hug is now a criminal act unless the female first signs a legal document of some kind authorising it. While female sexual freedom is promoted, celebrated and expanded at every opportunity, the opposite is happening to all expressions of male sexuality.
In particular this can be seen where anything any women says about any sexual encounter must be intrinsically believed, while anything a male says is always the lies of a self-serving predator. We see this dynamic playing out even on this very thread.
Holy shit do you two have the wrong end of the stick.
@ McF
At the very least what has been complained about was unwanted intimacy that creeped out the recipient.
I make a coherent case of why both you and Mallard may well be correct in the current social context … and you're still not happy?
This may be the reason why aliens don't talk to us.![devil devil](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/devil_smile.png)
@Redlogix
Well I don't think it is wise to select a mate based on how they would satisfy specific traits of ones personality and preferences. My theory is that the perfect mate doesn't exist, at least Iv never seen a perfect relationship in real life.
Just arousing the thought of a sexual act, it could be a carton character, everyone is well aware that a cartoon character are not real, but non the less just arousing the fantasy of a sexual act in males and then utterly rejecting that act results in utter psychological devastation. This may be anecdotal because I am speaking from experience. Never the less cases of mental rejection can be worse than physical rejection or fighting.
In away we don't quite appreciate the logic of humiliation and rejection. The point is not to be brutal but to be perfectly brutal an honest the point is in away, that him NOT raping her or even making love to her, not doing it makes the humiliation even worse.
In my experience of woman who have been raped it is the strong independent woman that take it the hardest. Some woman just find it unbearable to live with the pain. The pain seems to manifest in reality and I am talking about specific woman that I have worked with in the past who was prevented from working in specific situations and I would have to talk to them differently. It's almost like sexual abuse survivors have their own language.
The rape victim that can coup with the trauma understands that her terrifying nightmares will not manifest in reality but rape is a tremendous sin in my opinion. The humiliation, the rejection, the utter terror is tremendous and that's the point and my main point is that psychological rape can be worse than physical rape. The body can heal but the mind lingers.
I always recommend when selecting the ideal date that putting to one side the sex bit is no good for anyone. Asking for and receiving permission to perform sexual acts is perhaps far more fulfilling than the act itself. Of course apart of the fulfilment is the results itself but again at the same time being aware of how powerful the psychological component of sex can be. So I always recommend approaching potential partners as a way of having a bit of fun. Being in a real relationship you talk, make each other laugh while at the same time being comfy in each other's company and not to take any of this to seriously.
Another way both Mallard and I could be correct is that Soper's mate isn't telling the full story, or that the Francis report contained different, more serious, information compared to the original investigation. And that doesn't need linguistic gymnastics like:
I think it's best to take this sort of nitpicking up with ones parents. Relying on some self professed single person by choice on the Internet is the wrong type of person to be reading up on sex in general.
If you think the difference between "flirting" and "sexual assault" is "nitpicking", you've got problems.
The only one with a problem is you, McFlock. Redlogix and I are perfectly capable of having very difficult chit chats.
lols Dunning-Kruger strikes again
Commentating other people's conversation is not necessary either. This is a public place. Everyone can see the risks.
Yup, the risk that men can't tell the difference between them "flirting" with someone and them "sexually assaulting" someone.
If it helps you get over it I can apologise for explaining how and why and in which ways you are crazed, McFlock.
lol
Have a nice day
Is it fucked up and insanity that you think that all that happened was a hug? I don't know what happened, you don't know what happened. Mallard heard of some behaviour he described as "serious assault."
Do you think his judgement is so impaired that on hearing of an innocent hug he formed a conclusion with such certainty that he publicly stated his opinions as he did?
+100
Mallard will have seen the detail of the Francis report. He is probably the only person other than the author herself who knows those details. It can be assumed his comment is based on what he read in that report.
I would go so far as to accuse Soper of a malicious attempt to use the untested 'testimony' of an individual to try and undermine Mallard and his parliamentary position.
And no. I'm not a particular fan of Mallard but I can smell political skulduggery a mile off.
the independent investigation matched his story and he was cleared.
The only political skulduggery is Mallard’s.
Nothing in the article about any independent investigation into the alleged incident. And the Speaker understood the same man was responsible for the two other claims of serious sexual assault, so perhaps it's a matter for police.
He described it as a great deal more than "serious assault".
He described it as rape. And yes, I do think his judgement is seriously impaired. Just look at the way he behaves in his role as Speaker. He has no idea at all of correct behavior.
+1 Allan
No BM. We must let The Al1en signal to that it is okay to display feelings and outrage over this most grievousof accusations. Please Al1en, continue.
A better second attempt at baiting, well at least, less shite than the first deleted go at it. lol
the invitation is an open one.
I read it BM. I am sure this bloke was not asked to leave without some pretty compelling evidence of serious sexual offending. Trust Barry Soper? Really?
Prefer to wait and see.
Ditto ianmac.
Harassers, stalkers, hoaxers, sexual predators and pathological liars always admit their guilt? Not on your life. These types are able to convincingly convince themselves (and others) they are the victims and not the perpetrators. It is a well documented part of their varying personality and behavioural disorders.
This link is about stalkers but since sexual predatory activity usually includes an element of stalking it would apply:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11885134
I hope Mallard gets done for this.
What a sociopathic arsehole.
Sure, if this guy's claims are 100% factual and if those incidents are the entirety of Mallard's claims of "serious sexual assault," he doesn't come out of it looking too flash. Did you consider even for a second waiting until those aren't "if"s before blathering about sociopathic arseholes? For all we know, the "sociopathic arsehole" is the guy you're defending, or someone else entirely. It doesn't kill you to wait for some facts before blustering away on a comments thread.
Some people obviously enjoy looking like reactionary knee-jerk weirdos blinded by partisan animosity. Any excuse to put the boot into the 'lefties'. And yes, Mallard's the Speaker now. But he used to be a leftie, the dirty, dirty Communist.
In his spare time, BM also burns people for witchcraft.
In my opinion Mallard is an idiot to have used the word "rape" even if he is aware of more facts than the rest of us. He doesn't seem to know when to keep his mouth shut. The guy accused should lawyer up and if the allegations have previously been dismissed, he will probably have a very good case against Mallard. Its ironic that the whole thing has been about bullying, as now this 'accused' man will say he has been bullied by Mallard.
A rain forest without rain Just fucking peachy.
Alaska’s wettest region is experiencing an extreme drought for the first time in recorded history, climate scientists say.
The southernmost portion of Southeast Alaska, including Ketchikan, Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell and Metlakatla, has been in a drought for the last two years, said Rick Thoman, a climatologist at the Fairbanks-based Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
Last week, though, the drought was updated to a D3, or “extreme” drought, the second-highest category the U.S. Drought Monitor measures. It’s the first time those conditions have ever been recorded in Alaska, according to the Drought Monitor.
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/weather/2019/05/26/in-southeast-alaska-is-seeing-its-first-extreme-drought-ever-recorded-climatologists-say/
The US DMI only records data since 2000,since then the areas not in drought have increase from 50-60%.
https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/1129048193319067648
Yet a rain forest is in drought.
/
Only 2600 mm last year,bit like fiordland yeh.
Yeah of no consequence aye.
Power supply is dwindling, water supplies dwindling, pests rising.
Everything is connected to everything else's everything.
How much of the US non-drought areas have been subject to flooding in the last calendar year? Ask Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri… off the top of my head…
Did you know 40% of the US populated areas are close to levees? OUCH!
As the planet warms more water is loaded into the atmosphere. Meanwhile weather patterns break down. Some areas will get disproportionately more water, some less.
Flood and drought are to be new norms. Regular weather not so regular.
We just had a summer drought, and now, apparently, an Autumn one. A few more seasons like that our farmers will be struggling to feed their stock let alone profit off them. Of course we pump water to them but it will reach a point townspeople have no water and cows do, on that day it will be entirely justifiable to cut off the farmers.
I have several economic pests still present in my garden, normally winter would have put paid to them. Not this year – they get extra life cycles to populate in greater numbers. It will not take many repeats of this to see plagues of insect pests, especially in areas where we've failed to allow insect diversity, namely, most of NZ.
Nature lies within a biosphere that encompasses the entire planet (and perhaps beyond). All within this system in some manner affect the rest of the system. Alaska's droughts are our concern. You'll see.
Dental care is free to under 18's, so why on earth are toddlers teeth so rotten?
Are parents not getting reminders/educated on how to care for their little ones teeth?
Education drive maybe? Sugar tax?
Something needs to change.
It's not the toddlers fault. far out the pain…. is it too far to label it child abuse in some instances?
Hi Cinny…..if you're referring to this article…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/390624/toddler-waits-five-months-for-treatment-for-rotten-teeth-abscesses
…then no, you'll have to hold fire with the accusations of child abuse as the wee mite has a condition known as dental hypoplasia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enamel_hypoplasia)
We were just discussing over dinner tonight the lengths to which Natrad went to this morning to explain about the hypoplasia and how the inevitable numpties emailled the station full of righteous indignation that an obviously irresponsible mother should be complaining about the wait time for acute pediatric dental treatment.
Sigh.
However. It could very well be the case that the parents who wean their wee mites onto flouro green powerade or cola can be held to blame somewhat for the long wait list as their kids are also in the queue. These parents know better…surely…more sighs.
I wonder how many have the dental hypoplasia? Poor kids, distressing for the parents too no doubt.
Thanks heaps for the link Rosemary.
Was thinking I wonder why my kids teeth didn't go all rotten, but so many many others do. And the only thing I could think of is that fizzy isn't normal at ours, birthdays are exciting cause there is fizzy lolz. We drink milk and water mostly. But then fizzy is cheaper than milk.
Educational campaign for parents maybes?
A friend's twins had hypoplasia…and I'm not sure about the prevalence. According to the wiki page there are a number of 'causes', but the wee lassie this morning has an older brother with the same condition which implies in that family it is the hereditary form.
There is a huge wait list for pediatric dental treatment and my guess that most of the kiddies are on it because of poor nutrition/sugary drinks and food. I have on more than one occasion seen babes in arms sucking on fizzy and how the hell you get the message through I have no idea. However….the mums of the children with fizzy- rotted teeth will most definitely not be on the wireless complaining about the delay for treatment. Because guilt. And shame.
Cinny…my youngest is twenty seven and I remember the constant messaging about baby teeth and sugar and fizzy and good nutrition and how it all starts in the womb. And about the drugs and the drink and the smoking. I guess its the same today?
Rosemary, it's not, least I'm pretty sure especially with my youngest when she was a toddler that there wasn't as much info/education about it. My girls are now 14 and 11. I remember seeing little posters at the Dr's and at Plunket showing the sugar content of drinks and that was enough to put me off.
Absolutely convinced it is relative to the cheap cost of sugary drinks v's milk for example. Also all the hidden sugar in muesli bars etc. Reliance on processed food etc. Cheap lollies etc, using sugary food as a reward etc.
Maybe we need sugar warning labels on products with high sugar content. Seems to work with putting people off smoking…
Perhaps an intensive education campaign via social media/tv etc plus in schools would help. It's so sad for the little ones.
I vote for any solution that doesn't involve more proliferation of artificial sweeteners.
A little part of me dies when I hear aspartame talked about as a solution.
However that's pro plaugers for you.
well these guy seem to be fed up as well,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/113026512/dentists-fed-up-with-treating-third-world-conditions-call-for-more-funding-for-dental-care
i think there are different reasons, to expensive for adults, so adults don't have a relationship with a dentist and thus their children aren't taken to one. Childrens teeth, the mistaken believe that it is just 'milk teeth' and thus they regrow, never mind the damage to the gums/bones etc. Lack of transport/childcare etc. For women on a benefit with multiple children regular dental care for the children might fall under 'undesirable for an employement' – same this for regular check ups. Food deserts, places were really the only affordable food is the chinese take away and the 2.5 litre bottle of fizzy for a dollar vs the 4 $+ two litre bottle of milk. Smoking, stress, teeth grinding ( my friends three year old grinds his teeth…!). And then if everyone has no teeth at 45 and lives with a plate, then it also becomes a normal thing.
But i believe that if we can get the adults back to dental care the kids follow. And the government would save a tidy sum in health care, and illness / early death related benefits, lost productivity and such. Preventative healthcare rather then treating symptoms health care.
Are parents not getting reminders/educated on how to care for their little ones teeth?
One of my neighbours in Kuwait was always taking her little boy back to India to have a dentist sort out his rotten teeth. She couldn't understand why his teeth were so shit. My wife figured it probably had something to do with the baby bottles of fruit juice she gave him to bathe his teeth in all day, but parents tend not to welcome others' thoughts on how ur doin it wrong so we never raised it with her. Seems fairly common in this country too.
.
Aww…
https://twitter.com/ThePoke/status/1132773124045463554
On a European election night when the Brexit party dominated across the UK, perhaps the most eye-catching story in North West England was the humiliating drubbing suffered by the anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.
Having claimed for weeks to be on the crest of an international movement – one that elected Donald Trump in the US – the man whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon had expected to “walk into Brussels like Connor McGregor” upon his election.
In the end, Robinson won only 2.2% of the vote – losing his £5,000 deposit – and sneaked out of the election count in central Manchester barely an hour after he had arrived. He tried to put a brave face on it, claiming the establishment had “arranged and organised” for him to be banned from social media to scupper his election bid, but it was a resounding defeat for the founder of the English Defence League
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/27/humiliated-tommy-robinson-sneaks-out-of-election-count-early
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uivPpzCGo
This is a disturbing thing…the CPI in the US is chronically under priced. If the same were true in NZ that would mean both interest rates and core benefits that are set off CPI are both incorrect.
https://talkmarkets.com/content/the-cpi-is-underrepresenting-food-inflation-by-40-heres-the-proof?post=222199
Or check out this in video form if you prefer
that would be a correct assumption, imho.
Saw new leader of the oz Labour Party on Tele tonight Anthony albanese. Very Aussie bloke but seemed very genuine, authentic……..fingers crossed.
and on a different note what fools those who buy into Barry’s article about the guy stood down at parliament. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the enquiry that cleared him was a white wash (acknowledge I could be wrong). It wouldn’t have been mallard himself who stood him down, but parliamentary services. Debbie Francis found significant examples of abuse, sexual harassment etc.
btw BM many years ago when I was in my early thirties an older man at work on two occasions came up behind me and bear hugged me……I found it very unpleasant and inappropriate. If it ok for men to do this in the work place, I ask the men on this site what it would be like if a gay bloke (and I say gay, because it then brings the possibility that there is a sexual motivation in it) came up and unexpectedly bear hugged you?
Chris Hipkins should just go and join National. He speaks as one he acts as one. He is well schooled to regurgitate what ever his PR team have been prepping him. There are teachers already below min wage pity that this is is breach of our law
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/some-teachers-paid-less-than-minimum-wage-after-bureaucratic-blunder
And Hipkins just said this "Strike action is not justified." He is a Labour MP ?? Disgrace IMO for someone from Labour
Do you seriously expect a Minister (irrespective of party) to say, "strike action is justified." He represents the government, not the unions. The job of the government is to keep public services in operation, not encourage strikes.
Yes, the Labour Party can and should support strike action, even against its own government.
The role of the mass party of labour is to act as a political wing of the labour movement. This means the party is not simply a parliamentary faction; it is also a social movement. Government ministers sit within the state machine, the trade unions are outside it, and the party spans the gap between the two. The overall political direction of the party should not be determined by the administrative demands of government, but by the needs of the working class as a whole.
To be clear, Labour ministers are there to serve the people, it is not their job to discipline the unions. We really need to do away with the idea that a Labour government is Her Majesty's government, or that Labour should be somehow subordinate to the will of the state.
If a Labour government fails to live up to the expectations of the labour movement, it would be absolutely correct for Labour Party members to hold their ministers accountable. Similarly, if Labour ministers feel that the machinery of state is not responding to their demands, it would be totally acceptable for them to endorse industrial action in order to push aside any resistance to their objectives.
These strikes are not in accordance with the democratic processes, which the unions have been woefully deficient, in providing good representation to their constituencies.
In a political sense, these strikes are of the opposition to the govt. That's not the way to go. Where were they during the previous period?
The incompetence of Unions politically, using England as an example, was the pre-cursor before the Thatcher govt. kicked off 4+ decades of financial neo-liberalism etc so in a political sense, it does seem that the Govt. is not impressed with counter productive unions to their members’ interests.
Perhaps the minister like others in govt are IMO poorly phrasing their thoughts 🤭
Perhaps he should have said something like "he was disappointed that the union and its members has resorted to this action" he had the day to prep for the interview, BUT to say Not Justified. Perhaps those making such poorly thought out comments should see what those within the profession are facing. Thanks to many govts; the work loads of teachers have dramatically increased yet pay does not recognise this additional work. I know the same is for many professions (nurse (pity they were the 1st off in the pay review )etc)
He represents the government, not the unions – So is it the govts "job" to restrict and pay to the min that they can get away ?? That will work for so long and then there is the release of this pent up pressure.
It is one thing for activists in Labour to do as you suggest, quite another for Ministers to do so.
By definition Ministers are Her Majesty's government. Our constitutional government could not operate if it was anything other than that. And you don't want to risk changing that. Which is not the republican issue, but rather that we have a government that acts according to law.
Your complaint is really about Hipkins (or Robertson) not providing more money to settle the strike. The solution for a Labour government is to provide more money, not encourage strike action.
But even Labour governments can't just give unions whatever they want. So if they think they are providing enough, naturally they are going to say strike action is not justified.