Shoot-out at the OK corral in Oz: “Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ordered Pauline Hanson’s One Nation to be put below Labor on Liberal how-to-vote cards. The One Nation leader has shot back describing him as a “fool” and predicting it would lead to a Shorten Labor government.” https://nz.news.yahoo.com/libs-preference-one-nation-below-labor-233054044–spt.html
“The minor party has been rocked by revelations Senator Hanson questioned whether the Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy during an undercover investigation by Qatari TV network Al Jazeera.”
Raises the question of just how big a portion of the electorate conspiracy theorists actually are, eh? Gallup established that around a third of the US electorate believed the moon landings were a govt hoax in a poll sometime in the seventies.
Sad that a man shoots himself because he has an illegal gun and fears he may go to prison again and he phones his ex wife and son from his ute and the police won’t let them answer him while he is saying goodbye to them. It’s heartbreaking stuff. He
likes carry imitation pistols and seemed to be a ‘loose cannon’.
The police will look to see if there was a connection between the shooter and this ex-army man from Afghanistan. They were alerted when his son put up a profile picture on his facebook page wearing some ‘play gear’ that looked real. The 54-year-old tried calling his son once and ex-partner twice, however officers told them not to answer the phone. His ex-partner briefly spoke to him, and he said goodbye, his son said.
Dubovskiy also called another friend, 21-year-old Jonathan Hinds.
“He just called me brother and said goodbye,” Hinds told Stuff. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/111596809/exrussian-soldier-dies-of-suspected-suicide-after-police-standoff-in-christchurch
One day, in frustration, I posted this social media status:
“If your anti-racism work prioritizes the ‘growth’ and ‘enlightenment’ of white America over the safety, dignity and humanity of people of color – it’s not anti-racism work. It’s white supremacy.”
“When it comes to the threat of Islamist terrorism, no one doubts the role of radicalisation. The internet, hate preachers such as Anjem Choudary and Abu Hamza, and the western-armed, extremism-exporting state of Saudi Arabia: all play their part in radicalising the impressionable. When it comes to the far right, however, this consensus is absent. The reason for this is as obvious as it is chilling: the hate preachers, recruiting sergeants and useful idiots of rightwing extremism are located in the heart of the British, European and American establishments. They are members of the political and media elite.”
we really do need to have a conversation about this at some stage, no matter the hurt. Cause it ain’t going away anytime soon.
Are you saying that the leadership of the Arabian states and Iranian state
This isn’t just a Islamic thing. All of the people without faith always have to consider any organisation and the people following them who goes for “do as I say rather than fo as I do”.
What you see in the Arab states is, to me, little different from what I see in the Israeli state, or in the secular religious states like China.
And Christianity has lonv history of doing the same.
I often think exactly what you think about Iran of the US as well. That was a probably the state founded most deeply as a Christian state. With its weaponry, deep faith populations and wealth – it remains a threat.
Probably its saving grace was that it founded after the reformation. As a result of the massive wars and repressions that erupted from that, it built a certain amount of secularism directly into its laws.
With Christianity, it gets hard to look past its long history of religiously justified slavery and colonization even before you look at religious actions covert and overt against neighbours – especially variants of it’s own faith. It is after all why we don’t have the Byzantines any more.
Personally I’d prefer that most faiths and the people adhering to them would concentrate on their own behaviours rather than judging that of others. It’d be a whole lot more inspiring than what I usually see.
No what i am saying is that we have discussed the Arabs and their problems and their terrorists continuously since the longest of time.
what we don’t like to speak about is our intervention ‘ to protect our interests’ in their political life, their economies, their self determination and if all fails our intervention at the point of a gun, invading whom ever we consider ‘roque’. I.e. Venezuela, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, various countries in Africa, South America, the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran leading to the regime now, the war on drugs, and so on and so on.
We in fact know how hate, racism, and terror is created, we do a lot of this creation anywhere on this planet and we then exploit these acts to our advantage.
Now what we don’t speak about is why some 28 year old, well to do, ordinary average bloke, with average looks n height, is so fucked up that he believes that the only thing good about him is his color of skin, his european desendency and his believe that white means might and that he would kill for that. Why this guy fears he is being ‘replaced’ by others. We don’t speak about people in our media that dehumanizes others on the grounds of their virtue – single mothers, income – low income workers, their social status – useless benefit bludgers, or nudge nudge wink wink – brown people. We don’t even speak about our own fears of the ‘others’. WE are nice and polite and don’t speak his name, and don’t read his words, and don’t discuss how this guy could live among us. Cause fact is his white skin is according him many privileges that any brown, muslim 28 year old bloke never had.
The stench of ‘white extremism’ has been (far) right under NZ noses for a while, but Islam/Muslims!!
Sabine’s excellent quote points to the need for a clear-headed, unbiased approach to terrorist threat analyses in NZ – hopefully the Royal Commission of Inquiry will reveal just how even-handed (or not) the NZ GCSB/SIS/NAB et al. have been.
“It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it” – Ardern
The process should not be so terribly difficult, if we start with violent fringe spaces like 8Chan and parts of the dark web I wot not of.
I’m not sure Facebook has deserved all of its condemnation, but some care in moderation there seems not especially hurtful.
The modus operandi of recruiters or creators of violent fanatics are reasonably well documented. I venture to suggest that web literate analysts like Wikileaks or Bellingcat could readily produce a risk assessment profile of web forums with some predictive validity.
Start with the Churches and the end times extremists baying for a body count so they can get themselves all raptured AF, I reckon.
The first time I remember hearing Islam equated with terrorism from the pulpit, I was a 17-year-old junior at Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, where my mom was—still is, in fact—an elementary teacher. It was 1998, long before Islamophobia seized the Western mainstream. My family attended a small, nondenominational evangelical church in the suburb of Carmel, where my dad was the music pastor.
“A good Muslim,” our head pastor, Marcus Warner, intoned that Sunday morning, “should want to kill Christians and Jews.” He insisted that this was the only conclusion possible from a serious reading of the Quran. As a doubting young evangelical who would later become an agnostic, this extreme statement made me uncomfortable even then. Today, in the wake of the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, it should be considered every bit as offensive as the worst anti-Semitic tropes
Contemporary terrorists are as likely to be radicalized in chatrooms as churches or mosques, but condemning all chatrooms or churches or mosques would be neither reasonable nor effective.
For all that seems to have been true in the case of America’s worst contemporary terrorist, George Bush, reasonable numbers of shooters fit the profile of deculturized and disaffected persons. These are rarely members of thriving churches, which can provide a kind of social contact that is antithetical to murderous nihilism.
Somewhere along the way elite understanding of the role of churches seems to have been lost – they were once the social institutions that provided the kind of guidance or role modeling the likes of Jordan Peterson identify as being missing in contemporary society. Anthropologically speaking almost no society is without them in some form. Unable to cope with the pace of social change, their demise has created a void into which all kinds of lesser and less wholesome mysticisms and enthusiasms proliferate.
Somewhere along the way elite understanding of the role of churches seems to have been lost – they were once the social institutions that provided the kind of guidance or role modeling
A point I’ve gently made here many, many times over the years … at the same time it’s been open slather for atheists to mock, smear, attack and generally denigrate what we believe in. There are examples of this even on threads this past week.
And you know what? We accept this as part of the open discourse necessary in a tolerant, healthy society. And you’ll notice that long term regulars here like Ad and myself who have made it clear we do have a religious faith, also go about our participation here without openly pushing or promoting it onto others.
What does have to be at least a little irksome is how selective this has become; suddenly Islam is being protected by all the woke radical lefties, a favour they never extended to Christianity (or any number of other faiths.)
It was 1998, long before Islamophobia seized the Western mainstream.
It seems so to them because they were young at the time. Those of us who were adults at the time of the Rushdie fatwa have been familiar with Islam as a source of terrorism since the late 1980s. And I presume I’m only putting that date on it because I was young at the time myself, and it goes back further.
Police in France answer to:
Policing is centralized at the national level.[1] Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the “police municipale”.[1]
There are two national police forces called “Police nationale” and “Gendarmerie nationale”. The Prefecture of Police of Paris provides policing services directly to Paris as a subdivision of France’s Ministry of the Interior. Within these national forces only certain designated police officers have the power to conduct criminal investigations which are supervised by investigative magistrates.
National civilian police Force – major cities and large urban areas – under the Ministry of the Interior. Police Nationale.
Gendarmerie is part of the French armed forces and responsible for smaller towns and rural areas and important national locations. Its civil duties are under the
Ministry of the Interior and the rest are under the Ministry of Defence. Gendarmerie Nationale.
Local police of towns and cities, are under the oversight of Mayors. They can notice breaches but cannot investigate. There are also local police in the rural zones. Police municipale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_France
Police in NZ answer to: The current Minister of Police is Stuart Nash. While the New Zealand Police is a government department with a minister responsible for it, the Commissioner and sworn members swear allegiance directly to the Sovereign and, by convention, have constabulary independence from the government of the day.
If members of the police swear allegiance to the Crown only, and by convention?
have constabulary independence from the government of the day, I think it is time
to break that convention. There needs to be an Ombudsman type authority that watches and to whom they are beholden, who then reports to Parliament as a whole not just the government of the day. The Police Minister would also report to the ‘Ombudsman’ but be involved on a day-to-day basis and they would brief him and answer his/her questions.
Police as a business? There seems a whiff of that: Praise or complain about Police…
We will pass your comments on to the employee and their supervisor. … Write to or visit the officer in charge of any police station Find your nearest police station. https://www.police.govt.nz/contact-us/praise-and-complain
Would it be better to have the decisions made about cases made by independent experienced magistrates used to working in the criminal and fraud field?
Well, for one thing, that is such a wild conspiracy theory that few believe it, so why bother?
For another thing, blame game has not seen as appropriate to date..
And your strange concern makes me wonder if you are pushing a political end – branding any criticism at all of Israeli Govt. policy as anti-Semitism?
I personally do not believe Mossad were involved in this.
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Image credit:Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
Yesterday's Horizon poll showing support for a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum sliding into the majority for the first time in a year looked like good news for reformers – and it probably is. But the result warrants some scrutiny.The poll is the fifth in a series commissioned ...
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On March 17, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick out of the blocks with an economic rescue package to help businesses through the inevitable recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Robertson had pulled together a scheme in short order that so far seems to have saved many jobs. In his ...
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The story of Les Gray, the public sector psychologist who told the truth about his use of cannabis and set off a storm, has a special place in the lore of cannabis reform in New Zealand.When Paul Shannon interviewed Gray for the 'Dope and Hope' issue of Planet magazine in ...
by Phil Duncan For Marxists, a key concern about social trends is their context – not just their causes, but why they happen when they do. Events and phenomena have causes, but they also are time or period-specific. While much of the left have capitulated recently to postmodernism, most notably ...
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We know people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Ground-breaking law has passed that will decriminalise abortion and ensure women and pregnant people seeking abortions have compassionate healthcare. ...
The Green Party says that the measures announced by the Government today will help families and businesses to prioritise our collective health and wellbeing in the response to COVID-19. ...
As New Zealanders brace for a global downturn due to Covid-19, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says his Coalition Government’s rescue package "more significant" than any other he's seen around the world. The Coalition is to reveal a multi-billion-dollar stimulus plan on Tuesday afternoon designed to cushion the economic blow ...
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position. David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years. “On behalf ...
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy. Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
Advance payments will be made to transport construction industry contractors to retain the workforce and ensure it is ready to quickly gear up to build projects which will be vital to New Zealand’s COVID-19 economic recovery, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. He said keeping the workforce required to build ...
The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
Following the successful conclusion of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission at Taji, New Zealand defence personnel are returning to New Zealand from Iraq, in accordance with the Cabinet decision made in June 2019, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “New Zealand is very ...
The State of National Emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said. The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary. “Since we went into isolation ...
New Zealand’s ability to go hard and go early in the fight against COVID-19 has been underpinned by strong Government finances and the growing economy heading into this global pandemic, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown financial statements for the eight months to the end ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
Farmers whose herds were culled in response to the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis will be able to minimise the tax treatment of their income in some circumstances. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash says Cabinet has agreed to change the law. It means farmers may be eligible to spread their income over ...
A $27 million dollar package, effective immediately, is being provided to social sector services and community groups to ensure they can continue to provide essential support to communities as we stay at home as a nation to stop the spread of COVID-19, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced. “At ...
“The guilty plea today will provide some relief to the many people whose lives were shattered by what happened on March 15,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “These guilty pleas and conviction bring accountability for what happened and also save the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, ...
The Prime Minister is holding daily press conferences to update New Zealanders on the Government's response to COVID-19. Links to videos and transcripts of these updates below. These transcripts also include All of Government press conferences led by Director Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. 25 March: Live update from the Prime ...
Frontline Police numbers have broken through the 10,000 mark for the first time in history as officers step forward to keep the community safe during the COVID19 lockdown. “Two Police graduations in Auckland and Wellington in the past week have been conducted in unprecedented circumstances,” Police Minister Stuart Nash said. ...
Urgent legislation has been passed to support the package of economic and social measures needed to recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. “The COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill will cushion New Zealanders from the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Revenue Minister ...
From tomorrow, Government support for farmers and growers affected by drought will be expanded and extended across the country, with access to Rural Assistance Payments (RAPS) available throughout the North Island, parts of the South Island and the Chatham Islands, Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced. “These challenging conditions have ...
Parliament has passed amendments to legislation that give the Secretary of Education stronger powers to act in the fight to limit the spread of COVID-19, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “They are part of a suite of changes passed under the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill,” Chris ...
Canada, Australia, Chile, Brunei and Myanmar have joined forces with New Zealand and Singapore by committing to keep supply chains open and remove any existing trade restrictive measures on essential goods, especially medical supplies, in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker today welcomed ...
Immediate freeze on rent increases Tenancies will not be terminated during the lock-down period, unless the parties agree, or in limited circumstances Tenants who had previously given notice can stay in their if they need to stay in the tenancy during the lock-down period Tenants will still be able to ...
As New Zealand unites to lock-down in the fight against COVID-19, the Finance Minister is urging all businesses and workers to stay connected over the next four weeks. “We understand the extreme pressure many businesses are under right now. I know most business owners think of their workers as family ...
A State of National Emergency has been declared across the country as the Government pulls out all the stops to curtail the spread of COVID-19. “Today we put in place our country’s second ever State of National Emergency as we fight a global pandemic, save New Zealanders’ lives and prevent ...
Mr Speaker I wish to make a Ministerial Statement under Standing Order 347 in relation to the recent declaration of a State of National Emergency. Having considered the advice of the Director Civil Defence Emergency Management, the Minister of Civil Defence declared a State of National Emergency for the whole of ...
People needing to travel on domestic flights, trains and Cook Strait ferries to get home before the country moves into level 4 lock-down tomorrow night will be able to continue using the passenger services until midnight on Friday, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. Domestic passenger services, particularly ferries, have ...
The Government, retail banks and the Reserve Bank are today announcing a major financial support package for home owners and businesses affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19. The package will include a six month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and SME customers whose incomes have been ...
Minister of Transport Phil Twyford has today announced details of the Government’s support package to keep key air freight moving and ensure New Zealanders retain access to essential goods during the four-week level 4 lockdown. “The Government is working with airlines and air freight operators to ensure New Zealand’s key ...
New Zealand moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 – Restrict New Zealand to move up to COVID-19 Alert Level 4 – Eliminate, in 48 hours Two-staged approach to give people and businesses time to prepare Level 3, from tomorrow Non-essential businesses must close All events and gatherings must be ...
Good afternoon The Cabinet met this morning to discuss our next actions in the fight against COVID-19. Like the rest of the world, we are facing the potential for devastating impacts from this virus. But, through decisive action, and through working together, do we have a small window to get ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As the COVID-19 transforms our individual lives, we are learning a few new things about ourselves as a society. We’ve known Australians suspect authority and, like other Western countries, have come to trust government less ...
About those handles and rails and communal areas …The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 crisis is only possible because of the support of members. If you can, please consider joining Spinoff Members here.As Aotearoa enters week two of lockdown, it’s clear we’re all still working out what our “bubbles” look ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is changing how we live. With a rapid increase in cases, we are now isolating in our homes to “flatten the curve”. However, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In this special hour long podcast presented by Mark Evans, professor of governance and director of Democracy 2025, the panel discusses Australian democracy with Emeritus Professor Ian Chubb and Michelle Grattan. The panel dissects the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government will provide free child care in a move aimed at ensuring parents, especially in essential services, are able to keep working. More than 945,000 families with 1.3 million children will benefit. The new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Education Policy Lead, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced free childcare for more than one million families, with a funding boost that aims to keep more than 13,000 childcare services across Australia open. In doing so, ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin What is Money?Keith Rankin.Money is a mystery. To most of us we receive it, we spend it, we save it, we borrow it. And if we don’t have enough, we are in trouble. Many of us think of money as if it is tangible, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, La Trobe University To control the spread of COVID-19 we need to identify as many people with the virus as possible. If we know who has it, we can isolate them so they can’t infect others and quarantine ...
By RNZ News New Zealand has had its biggest increase in one day as the Health Ministry confirms 89 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases to 797. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today 92 people had now recovered from the coronavirus. Thirteen people ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhiamie Williamson, Research Associate & PhD Candidate, Australian National University The catastrophic bushfire season is officially over, but governments, agencies and communities have failed to recognise the specific and disproportionate impact the fires have had on Aboriginal peoples. Addressing this in bushfire ...
PACIFIC UPDATE:By Barbara Dreaver of TVNZ There are now 147 positive cases across seven countries in the Pacific region and four deaths. In Guam, cases continue to grow, with the count now at 77, five of them health workers. The island nation is facing its own crisis on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Jin Kang, Lecturer, Edith Cowan University With #StayAtHome and social distancing now becoming a way of life, an increasing number of people are relying on the internet for work, education and entertainment. This has placed greater demand on our network infrastructure, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Klein, Professor, UNSW The spectre of large ships with people desperate to come ashore is not a new sight in Australia. In 2001, the MV Tampa infamously sought to enter Australian waters off Christmas Island to discharge more than 400 asylum ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Holden, Senior Lecturer in Dental Ethics, Law and Professionalism, University of Sydney The coronavirus pandemic is changing the way we access health care, and dental care is no exception. Dentists are no longer allowed to provide a raft of care, such ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Kirstin Mead from the Regional Business Partners’ Network.Business owners around the country will ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Roberts, Associate professor (Curriculum Inquiry / Rural Education), University of Canberra Schools have been progressively moving classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there is uncertainty over what the next months may bring. This has thrown many year 12 students’ ...
The fourth in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall, covering the Covid-19 epidemic within New Zealand. We’ll publish the latest set each day on The Spinoff.This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff MembersInformation about confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 ...
Employers in essential services and foreigners trying to leave New Zealand were the targets of Government announcements on Thursday afternoon Essential services who employ workers who can't go to work due to Covid-19 will be able to access the Government's funds to pay them. The scheme would allow employers in "essential services" ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Stephens, ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies, The University of Queensland Australia’s coronavirus public health messaging has been criticisedasconfusing during a time when health guidelines and regulations are changing rapidly, and educating the public about health ...
The longer we wait to restore broader economic activity, the greater the long-term loss of economic capability. We need to start thinking about 'virus-proof' workplaces and practices, says Rod Oram So far our physical economy is holding up remarkably well considering the stunning shocks we and the virus are hurling ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chelsea Bond, Senior Research Fellow, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland Among the latest coronavirus advice from the prime minister was an age-based self-isolation strategy designed to protect those considered most vulnerable in the global health crisis. The directive was ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donna Maree Cooper, Senior Lecturer QUT Law Faculty, Queensland University of Technology Separated parents are facing a range of new challenges in the wake of COVID-19. To contain the spread, the government has directed people to stay at home except when carrying ...
Today came the shocking news that Bauer Media is closing its New Zealand operation, with the loss of scores of jobs. Bauer was the publisher of most of NZ’s magazines, among them Metro, Woman’s Day, North & South, Next, Home, the Listener, Kia Ora and the NZ Women’s Weekly. Here ...
The Government’s call for infrastructure projects that are ‘ready to go’ is welcome news for Wellington, given the stalled progress to date of ‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving’, says the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. "The whole ‘Let’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Ozalp, Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University As the world faces the greatest disruption of our lifetimes, Muslims throughout the world are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron Martin, Associate Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne The viral spread of mis- and disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, just like the viral spread of the disease itself, has led to unprecedented media coverage. This has included ...
Tens of thousands of visitors to New Zealand will be relieved that they now have some chance of returning home before the lockdown ends, Tourism Industry Aotearoa says. “We welcome today’s announcement by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads around the world, wartime metaphors abound. And, with what amounts to a war economy now in place, attention has inevitably turned to post-war reconstruction. It is self-evident ...
Pre-clinical trials will assess how effective and safe the potential vaccines are using an animal model before human testing. Mirjam Guesgen reports.The Australian national science agency, CSIRO, has begun testing two potential vaccines for Covid-19, with results due by June, 2020.These pre-clinical trials will assess how effective and safe the ...
Watch our live Q&A session with Dr Ayesha Verrall, a senior lecturer at Otago University who specialises in infectious diseases. Ayesha Verrall is an infectious diseases physician and senior lecturer at Otago University's Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine (Wellington). Dr Verrall has been monitoring the spread and impact of Covid-19 closely and ...
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says all New Zealanders have the right to be treated fairly during the COVID-19 emergency including those under lock and key. "My role as an independent watchdog will continue during the lockdown period and beyond," ...
Amalgamated Workers Union New Zealand (AWUNZ) has described a take it or leave it offer from Fletcher Building Management to staff as disgraceful. AWUNZ National Secretary Maurice Davis said the union was more than disappointed with the scheme Fletcher ...
As the Covid-19 hits NZ hard, and the country may have to be held in lockdown longer than originally intended, the issue whether the general election on September 19 should be postponed looms larger. It has already been canvassed in some media, but the PM, Jacinda Ardern, last week insisted ...
One way to pass time, which we suddenly have a lot of, is gardening. But where can you get seeds? And what do you plant in autumn? Josie Adams finds out.While it seems many New Zealanders are exercising a newfound love of jogging, some of us are more sedentary. For ...
Essential moves have been made to manage the impact of COVID-19 in New Zealand. This means significant changes to how society is operating. These unprecedented measures limit liberties and physical freedoms in order to protect the right to health and ...
The Council of Trade Unions is calling on Fletchers Building Limited to do the right thing and reverse their decision to cut the pay for their employees by up to 70%. "We are calling on one of New Zealand's biggest companies to do the right thing ...
Bernard Hickey talks to Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr about his forecast GDP could fall as much as 17 percent this year, and why the Reserve Bank should buy council bonds as well as Government bonds. Newsroom Pro Managing Editor Bernard Hickey and Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr talk ...
Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt, is calling on the Government to respect the rights of people it is holding for detention purposes in its response to COVID-19. People detained by the authorities have a heightened risk of infection due to living ...
Her mother’s job was a source of shame for Yawynne Yem growing up. Now checkout operators are essential workers as we hunker down against Covid-19. Any time I had to reveal my mum’s job to someone, hastened justifications would also fall out of my mouth, reeking of shame. “We’re a first-generation ...
Responding to the closure of Bauer Media, Free Speech Coalition spokesperson David Farrar says: "The loss of the New Zealand Listener, North & South Magazine, and more is a sickening blow to the diversity of our media environment." "The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Macquarie University In the current health crisis, we might ask what needs to be cured more urgently: the virus itself or people’s poor sense of moderation. We have seen shocking ...
Lockdowns around the globe - and the correlating sink in economic productivity - have sparked a bad faith backlash founded on old numbers, bunk science and outright distortions of fact, Marc Daalder argues No one was more surprised to see that Neil Ferguson, the author of a groundbreaking paper on ...
Elimination of Covid-19 doesn't mean getting rid of it everywhere in New Zealand, the Director-General of Health says Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has hinted that different regions might end up on different alert levels when lockdown ends. Bloomfield said the lockdown goal of "elimination" didn't mean getting rid of it everywhere. ...
Sam Brooks shares central Auckland’s best-kept drinking secret, the bowling alley bastion that has become his ‘third place’.One of the first pieces I wrote for The Spinoff was a review of Metrolanes, the bowling alley bar that had quickly found a place in my heart. It is, in my mind, ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. There were 89 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, up from the previous day's 61 new cases. The increase from 61 to 89 is a 46 percent ...
Based on the experience of Kiwibuild, wiseacres chortle at the prospect of another Ministry of Works to design and build New Zealand infrastructure from highways and motorways to airports, power stations and railways. The prospect was raised in a Newsroom report which said: Ministers are rushing to prevent the country’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron Martin, Associate Professor, University of Melbourne The viral spread of mis- and disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, just like the viral spread of the disease itself, has led to unprecedented media coverage. This has included a welcome return to prioritising expert ...
Join Leonie Hayden as she works through the first four weeks of Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy.Rāpare/ThursdayWe’re back to practising our long and short vowels, this time comparing words that are spelled the same except for the presence of a macron.Practise, practise, practise, Scotty tells us in this lesson. I ...
WHAT: An online delivery event for two petitions with a combined 95,000 signatures. The petitions call for a number of changes including for the New Zealand Government to suspend rent and mortgage payments, and to buy unoccupied homes for the homeless. ...
The outgoing Police Commissioner has admitted police have failed to carry out the level of checks on recent arrivals to NZ, supposed to be in strict self-isolation. ...
The flippant way Mike Bush responded to the epidemic response committee this morning highlights how vital it is police are held to account during the national emergency, writes Cat MacLennan Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush did himself no favours with his attitude when he appeared before Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Pubs, clubs and casinos have all been closed as part of the response to COVID-19. That means Australia’s 194,000 poker machines are now shut down. These venues, and their ...
Former editor Finlay Macdonald marks the sudden death of a title that was once part of the lifeblood of the country. Listener editors, like most magazine and newspaper editors these days, get used to living with declining circulation numbers. Ever since the Internet came along, it’s been a long, dismal ...
With the nation in lockdown and schools closed, many parents will be looking for ways to keep educating their children. Amee Parker is in her final year of a PhD looking at homeschooling, and she has some advice.As a nation we are now forced, out of necessity, to stay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Breunig, Professor of Economics and Director, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University How would you feel if you were having a Zoom meeting with your accountant and they asked “how would you like to ...
Pacific Media Watch Police in Papua New Guinea have arrested nine alleged illegal border crossers and quarantined them in Vanimo, reports RNZ Pacific. The arrests came as East Sepik Governor Allan Bird called for “shoot to kill’ orders for illegal border crossers and a military control of areas along ...
Police have assumed extraordinary powers during the lockdown period - but with that has come questions from the public and politicians about how they are exercising those powers. Police have come under pressure to release legal advice and guidance on how they are using the emergency powers granted to them ...
In our new series The Lockdown Letters, some of New Zealand’s best writers tell us what they’ve been up to in the days of Covid-19 alert level four. Today, political commentator and essayist Morgan Godfery.IS IT DAY EIGHT?In the absence of a capitalist routine, one day bleeds into the other.In the ...
By RNZ News The publisher of some of New Zealand’s best known magazines has folded amid the economic fallout from the national coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Bauer Media, which publishes The Listener, Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, Metro, North and South and Next, says it is no longer viable ...
Sue Grey, Co-leader Of Nz Outdoors Party Supports A Ban On Rates Increases And Challenges All Politicians And Candidates To Support This The NZ Outdoors Party co-leader Sue Grey supports the call for councils to operate without rates increases at least for ...
The NZ Outdoors Party co-leader Sue Grey supports the call for councils to operate without rates increases at least for the coming financial year, and challenges all politician and candidates to unite behind this. “Our Council’s spending and increase ...
The publisher of some of the country's best known magazines has folded. Bauer Media, which has The Listener, Woman's Day, New Zealand Woman's Weekly, North and South and Next, says it's no longer viable and it's shut its doors today. Chief executive Brendon Hill said the Covid-19 lockdown had stopped magazine production and ...
Police acknowledge the findings of a report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) into an incident where an officer used excessive force following an arrest in Auckland City in 2018. On 24th August, 2018, the Police officer was called to ...
Pacific Media Watch Launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), “Tracker 19” is a tool made for an unprecedented global crisis. So named in reference not only to Covid-19 but also article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this project aims to evaluate the pandemic’s impacts on global ...
A recurring theme in contemporary literature is of the plague that appears suddenly from nowhere and takes hold of the world, destroying or severely damaging life in the process. In 2003 acclaimed author Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake was ...
The Covid-19 crisis in media has claimed NZ’s biggest magazine publisher, Bauer Media.Bauer Media NZ is closing its doors permanently and with immediate effect due to the severe economic impact of Covid-19, staff have just been told via a Zoom meeting.CEO Brendon Hill was emotional as he informed staff of ...
NZ Gov't must lower road freight use because truck drivers will widely carry Covid 19 virus to our communities through open assess community transmission, and using rail less staff are used to move the same freight by comparison. Facts; Our Government ...
The government needs to step up and pay the next rates instalment to councils on behalf of property owners and businesses as part of its economic support package. People are facing unprecedented financial stress directly due to the measures implemented ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentEnforcing the lockdown, civil liberties Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Democracy on hold Heather Roy (Democracy Project): The Long Road Back to Full ...
More than 40 million masks are on the way to help protect frontline health workers after weeks of confusion and fear about the supply of Covid-19 equipment. ...
Daily review 28/03/2019 
by Daphna Whitmore A third of the world is under lockdown and a clear assessment of this measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 is urgently needed. With any high-stakes decisions it has to be asked what are we dealing with here? Are the measures warranted? Will they achieve their ...2 hours ago
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...6 hours ago
The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion. One of the most fatuous recent grandstanding comments (of about a week ago), adding to the public’s anxieties, was ...8 hours ago
Much has been written about the importance of discretion in an emergency situation, and the concerns raised by the potential for it to be exercised arbitrarily. Given the quality of the discussion, there seemed little point in adding to it at any length. In particular, I point to the evidence ...8 hours ago
Today has felt surreal. I was all set to touch base online with my science communication students when a colleague shared the news that Bauer Media would be shutting down its publications immediately. The first link I saw implied it was Woman’s Weekly affected, and even that shocked me. But ...9 hours ago
Bogeymen, Real And Imagined: Is the number of psychopathic and sociopathic individuals in any given society truly as vanishingly small as we like to tell ourselves? Isn’t it more likely that the mass-shooters and serial-killers filling the headlines represent only the tip of a much, much larger iceberg of frightfulness? ...12 hours ago
Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush appeared before the Epidemic Response Committee today, who asked him for the rules police are using to enforce the lockdown. He refused:Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted the advice given to Kiwis about what they're able to do during the lockdown hasn't been clear enough. ...13 hours ago
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of my cat, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a pretty flower. . . . =fs= ...14 hours ago
46 Articles Physical science of global warming & effects Global response of evapotranspiration ratio to climate conditions and watershed characteristics in a changing environment Greenhouse effect: the relative contributions of emission height and total absorption Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Climate change induced a ...1 day ago
Image credit: Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ... 2 days ago
The Covid-19 saga will no doubt produce many twists and turns for us before it is finally brought to an end. But one thing it has shown us – and what comfort it should bring us – is that our country’s government is in good hands. I am not thinking ...2 days ago
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...2 days ago
Yesterday, New Zealand recorded its first Covid-19 related death on the West Coast. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be the only fatality, with the virus now being found in every region of the country.However despite the significant danger, people are still unfortunately breaching lockdown rules.There’s really only one main very ...4 days ago
The CV-19 (COVID) pandemic has seen the imposition of a government ordered national quarantine and the promulgation of a series of measures designed to spread the burden of pain and soften the economic blow on the most strategically important and most vulnerable sectors of society. The national narrative is framed ...5 days ago
Society-wise, aside from the specific morbidity shall we say of the medically-oriented aspects of this COVID-19 crisis, what is unfolding before the world is in more than one way an instructive study of humanity and reactions to a high intensity, high stress environment in real time. Friends, we are at ...6 days ago
Right now low waged and insecure workers are feeling the economic brunt of the looming #Covid19 Recession. In response legal advocate Toby Cooper* and hospitality and worker’s rights advocate Chloe Ann-King, are putting together a series of legal blogs about your employment rights: In this legal blog we outline some ...6 days ago
Kia ora my name is Chloe Ann-King* and I am the founder of Raise the Bar, a campaign and non-profit that gives free legal aid, advocacy and tautoko to hospitality workers in Aotearoa. Right now all over our country hospo workers are being fired at will, having shifts cut or being ...1 week ago
According to Newshub, Simon Bridges is open to joining a “grand coalition” with Labour as we hunker down to go into a month long lockdown. The idea is sound. Before now, the role of the opposition was to scrutinise and oppose. In the context of what almost amounts to a ...1 week ago
Kia ora my name is Chloe Ann-King* and I am the founder of Raise the Bar, a campaign and non-profit that gives free legal aid, advocacy and tautoko to hospitality workers in Aotearoa. Right now all over our country hospo workers are being fired at will, having shifts cut or ...1 week ago
New Zealand can emulate the success of the US after the Great Depression by exploiting our own resources to turn the economy around quickly, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr. Peters told Magic Talk that New Zealand has an opportunity to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic a "superior, ...2 days ago
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...6 days ago
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The scale of what we face right now is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Overcoming it is our common purpose. ...1 week ago
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As the COVID-19 transforms our individual lives, we are learning a few new things about ourselves as a society. We’ve known Australians suspect authority and, like other Western countries, have come to trust government less ...2 hours ago
About those handles and rails and communal areas …The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 crisis is only possible because of the support of members. If you can, please consider joining Spinoff Members here.As Aotearoa enters week two of lockdown, it’s clear we’re all still working out what our “bubbles” look ...2 hours ago
Employers in essential services and foreigners trying to leave New Zealand were the targets of Government announcements on Thursday afternoon Essential services who employ workers who can't go to work due to Covid-19 will be able to access the Government's funds to pay them. The scheme would allow employers in "essential services" ...9 hours ago
The longer we wait to restore broader economic activity, the greater the long-term loss of economic capability. We need to start thinking about 'virus-proof' workplaces and practices, says Rod Oram So far our physical economy is holding up remarkably well considering the stunning shocks we and the virus are hurling ...9 hours ago
The Government’s call for infrastructure projects that are ‘ready to go’ is welcome news for Wellington, given the stalled progress to date of ‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving’, says the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. "The whole ‘Let’s ...9 hours ago
The government will allow foreign nationals to travel domestically to get to international airports so that they can fly home. ...10 hours ago
Watch our live Q&A session with Dr Ayesha Verrall, a senior lecturer at Otago University who specialises in infectious diseases. Ayesha Verrall is an infectious diseases physician and senior lecturer at Otago University's Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine (Wellington). Dr Verrall has been monitoring the spread and impact of Covid-19 closely and ...10 hours ago
As the Covid-19 hits NZ hard, and the country may have to be held in lockdown longer than originally intended, the issue whether the general election on September 19 should be postponed looms larger. It has already been canvassed in some media, but the PM, Jacinda Ardern, last week insisted ...10 hours ago
Bernard Hickey talks to Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr about his forecast GDP could fall as much as 17 percent this year, and why the Reserve Bank should buy council bonds as well as Government bonds. Newsroom Pro Managing Editor Bernard Hickey and Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr talk ...11 hours ago
Lockdowns around the globe - and the correlating sink in economic productivity - have sparked a bad faith backlash founded on old numbers, bunk science and outright distortions of fact, Marc Daalder argues No one was more surprised to see that Neil Ferguson, the author of a groundbreaking paper on ...12 hours ago
Elimination of Covid-19 doesn't mean getting rid of it everywhere in New Zealand, the Director-General of Health says Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has hinted that different regions might end up on different alert levels when lockdown ends. Bloomfield said the lockdown goal of "elimination" didn't mean getting rid of it everywhere. ...12 hours ago
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. There were 89 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, up from the previous day's 61 new cases. The increase from 61 to 89 is a 46 percent ...12 hours ago
Based on the experience of Kiwibuild, wiseacres chortle at the prospect of another Ministry of Works to design and build New Zealand infrastructure from highways and motorways to airports, power stations and railways. The prospect was raised in a Newsroom report which said: Ministers are rushing to prevent the country’s ...12 hours ago
The flippant way Mike Bush responded to the epidemic response committee this morning highlights how vital it is police are held to account during the national emergency, writes Cat MacLennan Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush did himself no favours with his attitude when he appeared before Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee this ...13 hours ago
Former editor Finlay Macdonald marks the sudden death of a title that was once part of the lifeblood of the country. Listener editors, like most magazine and newspaper editors these days, get used to living with declining circulation numbers. Ever since the Internet came along, it’s been a long, dismal ...13 hours ago
Air New Zealand is slashing its domestic operations by 95 percent in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. ...13 hours ago
Police have assumed extraordinary powers during the lockdown period - but with that has come questions from the public and politicians about how they are exercising those powers. Police have come under pressure to release legal advice and guidance on how they are using the emergency powers granted to them ...14 hours ago
The publisher of some of the country's best known magazines has folded. Bauer Media, which has The Listener, Woman's Day, New Zealand Woman's Weekly, North and South and Next, says it's no longer viable and it's shut its doors today. Chief executive Brendon Hill said the Covid-19 lockdown had stopped magazine production and ...15 hours ago
More than 40 million masks are on the way to help protect frontline health workers after weeks of confusion and fear about the supply of Covid-19 equipment. ...17 hours ago
Is Theresa May the only person at the Brexit poker table that realises that Britain does not hold all the aces?
Oh…
Brief story on Portugal and how the affects of changing their approach to drugs
Shoot-out at the OK corral in Oz: “Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ordered Pauline Hanson’s One Nation to be put below Labor on Liberal how-to-vote cards. The One Nation leader has shot back describing him as a “fool” and predicting it would lead to a Shorten Labor government.” https://nz.news.yahoo.com/libs-preference-one-nation-below-labor-233054044–spt.html
“The minor party has been rocked by revelations Senator Hanson questioned whether the Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy during an undercover investigation by Qatari TV network Al Jazeera.”
Raises the question of just how big a portion of the electorate conspiracy theorists actually are, eh? Gallup established that around a third of the US electorate believed the moon landings were a govt hoax in a poll sometime in the seventies.
And this: https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/one-nation-sought-millions-of-dollars-from-americas-largest-gun-lobby/news-story/81aa8f50df99c15f5f6fb16a7fdc0b1c
pauline, your voice is shaking……
Tracey Ullman as nanny.
Lol
Sad that a man shoots himself because he has an illegal gun and fears he may go to prison again and he phones his ex wife and son from his ute and the police won’t let them answer him while he is saying goodbye to them. It’s heartbreaking stuff. He
likes carry imitation pistols and seemed to be a ‘loose cannon’.
The police will look to see if there was a connection between the shooter and this ex-army man from Afghanistan. They were alerted when his son put up a profile picture on his facebook page wearing some ‘play gear’ that looked real.
The 54-year-old tried calling his son once and ex-partner twice, however officers told them not to answer the phone. His ex-partner briefly spoke to him, and he said goodbye, his son said.
Dubovskiy also called another friend, 21-year-old Jonathan Hinds.
“He just called me brother and said goodbye,” Hinds told Stuff.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/111596809/exrussian-soldier-dies-of-suspected-suicide-after-police-standoff-in-christchurch
Recent:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/111622101/russian-man-found-dead-after-christchurch-police-standoff-was-intimidating-and-cold
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/police-investigate-link-between-christchurch-shooter-and-troy-dubovskiy-who-died-in-police-stand-off.html
Care in the community is awesome.
I would like to know why he was not deported years ago
Xtian values.
Great article
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/28/confronting-racism-is-not-about-the-needs-and-feelings-of-white-people
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/28/media-far-right-radicalisation-politics-hatred?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Telegram&fbclid=IwAR0tSicjQ2Xz9kaU79NPb-I8j_QWwOJaZ9DUvWdaoM3u_EI6H_S9Iy6SI_k
“When it comes to the threat of Islamist terrorism, no one doubts the role of radicalisation. The internet, hate preachers such as Anjem Choudary and Abu Hamza, and the western-armed, extremism-exporting state of Saudi Arabia: all play their part in radicalising the impressionable. When it comes to the far right, however, this consensus is absent. The reason for this is as obvious as it is chilling: the hate preachers, recruiting sergeants and useful idiots of rightwing extremism are located in the heart of the British, European and American establishments. They are members of the political and media elite.”
we really do need to have a conversation about this at some stage, no matter the hurt. Cause it ain’t going away anytime soon.
Are you saying that the leadership of the Arabian states and Iranian states are not hate-mongering extremists?
The hurt is well shared, the evidence rich and deep.
This isn’t just a Islamic thing. All of the people without faith always have to consider any organisation and the people following them who goes for “do as I say rather than fo as I do”.
What you see in the Arab states is, to me, little different from what I see in the Israeli state, or in the secular religious states like China.
And Christianity has lonv history of doing the same.
I often think exactly what you think about Iran of the US as well. That was a probably the state founded most deeply as a Christian state. With its weaponry, deep faith populations and wealth – it remains a threat.
Probably its saving grace was that it founded after the reformation. As a result of the massive wars and repressions that erupted from that, it built a certain amount of secularism directly into its laws.
With Christianity, it gets hard to look past its long history of religiously justified slavery and colonization even before you look at religious actions covert and overt against neighbours – especially variants of it’s own faith. It is after all why we don’t have the Byzantines any more.
Personally I’d prefer that most faiths and the people adhering to them would concentrate on their own behaviours rather than judging that of others. It’d be a whole lot more inspiring than what I usually see.
No what i am saying is that we have discussed the Arabs and their problems and their terrorists continuously since the longest of time.
what we don’t like to speak about is our intervention ‘ to protect our interests’ in their political life, their economies, their self determination and if all fails our intervention at the point of a gun, invading whom ever we consider ‘roque’. I.e. Venezuela, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, various countries in Africa, South America, the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran leading to the regime now, the war on drugs, and so on and so on.
We in fact know how hate, racism, and terror is created, we do a lot of this creation anywhere on this planet and we then exploit these acts to our advantage.
Now what we don’t speak about is why some 28 year old, well to do, ordinary average bloke, with average looks n height, is so fucked up that he believes that the only thing good about him is his color of skin, his european desendency and his believe that white means might and that he would kill for that. Why this guy fears he is being ‘replaced’ by others. We don’t speak about people in our media that dehumanizes others on the grounds of their virtue – single mothers, income – low income workers, their social status – useless benefit bludgers, or nudge nudge wink wink – brown people. We don’t even speak about our own fears of the ‘others’. WE are nice and polite and don’t speak his name, and don’t read his words, and don’t discuss how this guy could live among us. Cause fact is his white skin is according him many privileges that any brown, muslim 28 year old bloke never had.
And we should discuss it. We really should.
The stench of ‘white extremism’ has been (far) right under NZ noses for a while, but Islam/Muslims!!
Sabine’s excellent quote points to the need for a clear-headed, unbiased approach to terrorist threat analyses in NZ – hopefully the Royal Commission of Inquiry will reveal just how even-handed (or not) the NZ GCSB/SIS/NAB et al. have been.
The process should not be so terribly difficult, if we start with violent fringe spaces like 8Chan and parts of the dark web I wot not of.
I’m not sure Facebook has deserved all of its condemnation, but some care in moderation there seems not especially hurtful.
The modus operandi of recruiters or creators of violent fanatics are reasonably well documented. I venture to suggest that web literate analysts like Wikileaks or Bellingcat could readily produce a risk assessment profile of web forums with some predictive validity.
Start with the Churches and the end times extremists baying for a body count so they can get themselves all raptured AF, I reckon.
The first time I remember hearing Islam equated with terrorism from the pulpit, I was a 17-year-old junior at Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, where my mom was—still is, in fact—an elementary teacher. It was 1998, long before Islamophobia seized the Western mainstream. My family attended a small, nondenominational evangelical church in the suburb of Carmel, where my dad was the music pastor.
“A good Muslim,” our head pastor, Marcus Warner, intoned that Sunday morning, “should want to kill Christians and Jews.” He insisted that this was the only conclusion possible from a serious reading of the Quran. As a doubting young evangelical who would later become an agnostic, this extreme statement made me uncomfortable even then. Today, in the wake of the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, it should be considered every bit as offensive as the worst anti-Semitic tropes
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/26/americas-islamophobia-is-forged-in-the-pulpit/
Contemporary terrorists are as likely to be radicalized in chatrooms as churches or mosques, but condemning all chatrooms or churches or mosques would be neither reasonable nor effective.
For all that seems to have been true in the case of America’s worst contemporary terrorist, George Bush, reasonable numbers of shooters fit the profile of deculturized and disaffected persons. These are rarely members of thriving churches, which can provide a kind of social contact that is antithetical to murderous nihilism.
Somewhere along the way elite understanding of the role of churches seems to have been lost – they were once the social institutions that provided the kind of guidance or role modeling the likes of Jordan Peterson identify as being missing in contemporary society. Anthropologically speaking almost no society is without them in some form. Unable to cope with the pace of social change, their demise has created a void into which all kinds of lesser and less wholesome mysticisms and enthusiasms proliferate.
That said, the wilder US churches are pretty out there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBVcsWYJd8
Somewhere along the way elite understanding of the role of churches seems to have been lost – they were once the social institutions that provided the kind of guidance or role modeling
A point I’ve gently made here many, many times over the years … at the same time it’s been open slather for atheists to mock, smear, attack and generally denigrate what we believe in. There are examples of this even on threads this past week.
And you know what? We accept this as part of the open discourse necessary in a tolerant, healthy society. And you’ll notice that long term regulars here like Ad and myself who have made it clear we do have a religious faith, also go about our participation here without openly pushing or promoting it onto others.
What does have to be at least a little irksome is how selective this has become; suddenly Islam is being protected by all the woke radical lefties, a favour they never extended to Christianity (or any number of other faiths.)
It was 1998, long before Islamophobia seized the Western mainstream.
It seems so to them because they were young at the time. Those of us who were adults at the time of the Rushdie fatwa have been familiar with Islam as a source of terrorism since the late 1980s. And I presume I’m only putting that date on it because I was young at the time myself, and it goes back further.
Police in France answer to:
Policing is centralized at the national level.[1] Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the “police municipale”.[1]
There are two national police forces called “Police nationale” and “Gendarmerie nationale”. The Prefecture of Police of Paris provides policing services directly to Paris as a subdivision of France’s Ministry of the Interior.
Within these national forces only certain designated police officers have the power to conduct criminal investigations which are supervised by investigative magistrates.
National civilian police Force – major cities and large urban areas – under the Ministry of the Interior. Police Nationale.
Gendarmerie is part of the French armed forces and responsible for smaller towns and rural areas and important national locations. Its civil duties are under the
Ministry of the Interior and the rest are under the Ministry of Defence. Gendarmerie Nationale.
Local police of towns and cities, are under the oversight of Mayors. They can notice breaches but cannot investigate. There are also local police in the rural zones. Police municipale.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_France
Police in NZ answer to:
The current Minister of Police is Stuart Nash. While the New Zealand Police is a government department with a minister responsible for it, the Commissioner and sworn members swear allegiance directly to the Sovereign and, by convention, have constabulary independence from the government of the day.
The New Zealand Police is perceived to have a minimal level of institutional corruption.[2][3]
wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Police
There is also an investigating body Independent Police Conduct Authority
https://www.ipca.govt.nz/
If members of the police swear allegiance to the Crown only, and by convention?
have constabulary independence from the government of the day, I think it is time
to break that convention. There needs to be an Ombudsman type authority that watches and to whom they are beholden, who then reports to Parliament as a whole not just the government of the day. The Police Minister would also report to the ‘Ombudsman’ but be involved on a day-to-day basis and they would brief him and answer his/her questions.
Police as a business? There seems a whiff of that:
Praise or complain about Police…
We will pass your comments on to the employee and their supervisor. … Write to or visit the officer in charge of any police station Find your nearest police station.
https://www.police.govt.nz/contact-us/praise-and-complain
Would it be better to have the decisions made about cases made by independent experienced magistrates used to working in the criminal and fraud field?
Good points. Probably: Yes, it would, but few Kiwis will care enough to advocate…
When will there be a post about the Anti Semitic views that are being expressed, such as last weekend:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/jews-outraged-after-mosque-leader-blames-mossad-for-christchurch-attack.html
For many, anti Semitism is Hate Speech – something this site is big on but seems to turn a blind eye to when Jews and Israel is involved.
Hate Speech = racism, this needs to be addressed especially for those “Jew Baiters” here and elsewhere.
Well, for one thing, that is such a wild conspiracy theory that few believe it, so why bother?
For another thing, blame game has not seen as appropriate to date..
And your strange concern makes me wonder if you are pushing a political end – branding any criticism at all of Israeli Govt. policy as anti-Semitism?
I personally do not believe Mossad were involved in this.
OK?