Flip flopping on the beach

Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, December 10th, 2010 - 38 comments
Categories: dpf, flip-flop, foreshore and seabed - Tags: ,

The usual suspects are accusing Labour of “flip flopping” on its position on the foreshore and seabed. You have to admire their bare-faced gall eh?

38 comments on “Flip flopping on the beach ”

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  1. burt 1
    10 December 2010 at 11:12 am

    So are you saying the Labour party hasn’t been changing it’s position with every internal poll in a desperate attempt to stay popular ?

    • lprent 1.1
      10 December 2010 at 11:17 am

      Nope – wrong again (keep trying and like a monkey at a typewriter you’ll get it right eventually)

      But National appears to change its position depending on who is screaming the loudest in the coalition.

      It appears that the continual compromises and lack of consultation have made Labour decide that it Findlayson wasn’t achieving anything. Personally I’d have dumped support many many months ago.

      • Jim Nald 1.1.1
        10 December 2010 at 11:47 am

        Personally, I thought Labour/other parties might have felt like myself, that National and Finlayson be given a go to sort it out (even though that didn’t feel particularly palatable as the Nat nuts beat the drums of division).

        But the previous months reveal they are making a more protracted mess. Finlayson’s style, to put it politely, has not helped. And the Nat nuts’ modus operandi seem to be increasingly questionable. So I won’t necessarily disagree if more of our Parliamentarians take a deep breath and reconsider.

      • felix 1.1.2
        10 December 2010 at 11:51 am

        I usually find burt gets it right twice a day.

    • bbfloyd 1.2
      10 December 2010 at 4:52 pm

      burt… no, you are… which qualifies the statement as utter bullshit.

  2. Bill 2
    10 December 2010 at 11:21 am

    Thing is, that poster was what National were saying Labour was saying. But when it came down to it labour were essentially up to fair bit of jiggery-pokery with their F&S legislation.

    I’m a bit hazy on this and welcome any correction, but…

    Now they are saying that they will legislate to give claims access to the courts? Is that right? And is that what they blocked in the initial legislation?

    If so, then they’ve flip-flopped. But it’s a good thing.

    Question is, will the apparent empowering effect of the flip flop be neutered in the ensuing fine print?

    edit Or be rendered as anti trade and open to penalty actions under any proposed free trade deals?

    • Craig Glen Eden 2.1
      10 December 2010 at 12:17 pm

      Flip flop is when you are in a interview and you say this is the situation peps its black, but then later in the day you say oh no hang on no, no it’s white.Thats a flip flop
      Policy change is done over time and the Party acknowledges we got that wrong in this area that need’s to change and our policy is now including these changes.

      Turia wont be able to handle Labour’s new position it gives her no axe to grind and no political reason to exist. Watch her cry and get very nasty!

        • Craig Glen Eden 2.1.1.1
          10 December 2010 at 1:21 pm

          As I have said in the past this woman is impossible to get a position from when talking to her. She is bitter and twisted it evens shows in the press release. She is all over the place What is it that she wants, just to spew on Labour, fine next.

          • marty mars 2.1.1.1.1
            10 December 2010 at 3:07 pm

            Tariana’s statement was in response to labour pulling its support for the repeal – therefore to mention labour, and her opinion of them and their position, in her media release is totally appropriate. You may not like her truth but she is entitled to say it isn’t she?

            • Craig Glen Eden 2.1.1.1.1.1
              10 December 2010 at 7:24 pm

              Her truth oh ok fair enough.

              So she hated Labour’s seabed and foreshore because it was insulting to Maori it was so bad for Maori, replaced it with almost exactly the same and called it a success. Now labour says yup we got it wrong we need to do more and Turia says Maori wont forget what Labour has done ( insulting Maori). The truth as I see it it suited her purpose.

              Maori might just remember that Turia was unprincipled and would enable an act that did nothing more than what Labour put up, first. While she was at it wages and income for Maori families dropped unemployment rose thats Turias legacy.

              In short Turia is a bitter and twisted sellout and I think the press release shows just how twisted.

        • Bill 2.1.1.2
          10 December 2010 at 1:24 pm

          What a strange, contradictory and incoherent press release.

          anti-spam being sentient and psychic again? DISASTER

      • Draco T Bastard 2.1.2
        10 December 2010 at 1:17 pm

        Turia wont be able to handle Labour’s new position it gives her no axe to grind and no political reason to exist. Watch her cry and get very nasty!

        IMO, the Maori Party ceased to have any political reason to exist when it joined the National Party.

        • pollywog 2.1.2.1
          10 December 2010 at 1:36 pm

          If the Maori party sign the current act into law they really won’t have any reason to exist.

          fait accompli…they succeeded in their ‘one trick’ party status and they’ll have to go back to the electorate for a fresh mandate on a “new” issue…

          …she’ll be hoping like hell hapu buy into Whanau Ora and they can get some good looking stats up before the election or else it’s game over

  3. tc 3
    10 December 2010 at 11:34 am

    The quicker Turia slings her hook and buggers off to her Whanau Ora gravy train bequethed to her by the Nats the better.

    Quit living in the past and look at what’s in front of you, Labour know F&S was a bad political move made with the best of intentions and in good faith have tried to stick with it for a better solution.

    But like most issues under NACT the rules change, agenda’s shuffle and their courting of the rednecks with iwi/kiwi has made it very hard for them to broker a workable political outcome….boo hoo, enjoy lying in that bed you made for yourselves.

    gee this consensus stuff alot harder than being dictatorial….funny that.

  4. prism 4
    10 December 2010 at 11:36 am

    Labour may have been wrong or could have done things better. Good on them for being prepared to think again and raise doubts. Better than having MPs turn themselves into concrete statues stuck rigidly on some plinth of foolishness.

    • Bill 4.1
      10 December 2010 at 11:51 am

      Just an observation. And slightly beyond or off topic.

      But under a system where politicians are meant to be representatives, should they be expressing any personal or party aligned opinion at all? Shouldn’t they merely ape our opinions and concerns rather than spend time and thought seeking to shape and guide debate? Isn’t that our role? As citizens?

      Jeez. I need coffee to wake me up. I forgot. We are spectators and our singular role is to cheer on this team or that team of our ‘betters’ and to never forget to fall in line behind their ‘official’ or sanctioned programmes of what is or might be.

      Apologies.

      • prism 4.1.1
        10 December 2010 at 12:09 pm

        Bill Is that a discussion on whether we have either representative or participative democracy? I don’t want everyone in the public who has a kneejerk reaction or deeply dyed prejudice deciding policy but I also don’t want a bunch of jerks who can con with well spoken words from a speech writer along with a smile and a wave making an arse of the country’s laws and values.

        • Bill 4.1.1.1
          10 December 2010 at 1:15 pm

          Hi Prism

          To answer your question as to whether I’m conducting, or seeking a discussion on systems of representative versus participatory democratic models. No, not really. There’s plenty of scope on this blog to have that discussion elsewhere.

          I was merely making an observation on our representative model of democracy. Judged by terms of reference signposted by your comment, our system of representative democracy would appear to be deeply flawed and unrepresentative. That’s all.

    • Jim Nald 4.2
      10 December 2010 at 11:55 am

      The circumstances have been shifting and changing in the course of the debate. One would not expect any decent parliamentarian to stick stupidly, stubbornly or sloganistically to an untenable or unfair position. One would expect our legislators to do the correct thing for the present and long term interest of the people – on an individual and collective basis.

      • Draco T Bastard 4.2.1
        10 December 2010 at 1:25 pm

        One would not expect any decent parliamentarian to stick stupidly, stubbornly or sloganistically to an untenable or unfair position.

        But we would definitely expect that from the parliamentarians in National.

  5. marty mars 5
    10 December 2010 at 11:43 am

    you must admit r0b it is pretty ironic – suddenly labour is championing going to courts – no wonder many maori don’t trust them. The gnats are transparent and no one is fooled – they are pushing this because of the confidence and supply agreement with the MP. We know the gnats don’t give a fuck.

    I oppose the repeal because it does not empower maori – why do labour oppose it again – same reason as they put the shit F&S Act in in the first place IMO.

    Maori have become the political football of choice for those who love to put the boot in – sadly the red and the blue merge into a dirty gray for those who feel the tred on the back of the neck.

    • mickysavage 5.1
      10 December 2010 at 11:50 am

      Labour’s FSA allowed Maori to go to Court. Have a look at http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0093/latest/DLM320263.html#DLM320263

      A positive finding then required negotiations between the crown and the affected party.

    • Jum 5.2
      10 December 2010 at 3:30 pm

      Marty Mars,

      Still the same point applies; Maori should not be treated as if they are something other than people; there are good people and there are bad people. One set of ‘owners’ will protect everyone’s rights to the foreshore and seabed; other generations may not.

      Tariana Turia was looking for an excuse to go on a mission. She found one and it was grossly misrepresented ( see Micky Savage’s post 5.10) by both media and Maori marches/hikois to hype up the public. Clark supported Turia in Parliament and taught her the ropes. Turia makes like the great Matriarch now but she is still the sovereignty activist she always was and will seek to control New Zealand; that is her party’s goal. Let’s not be coy about that. Whatever legislation goes through in New Zealand total control over land and sovereignty is the end goal and will not change. Tariana and her Party believe they are above Aotearoans/New Zealanders.

      PS. I haven’t been able to check out the Moku being prevented by National Council of Women; when I do find out from my friend I will let you know their side of the story; there are always two sides as I’m sure you will remind me!

      • marty mars 5.2.1
        10 December 2010 at 4:04 pm

        Kia ora Jum

        I don’t see it as above, for me it is about equality and the statistics tell the story – there is no equality at the moment. Plus it is about fairness – eventually people might realise that to take just about everything off an indigenous people is wrong and no matter how long it takes that wrong must be righted. When there is equality then the foundations of this country will be true instead of crooked as they are at the moment. I believe the resistance to fixing this and other issues relates to the priviledge that the power-holders have, and don’t want to lose. We all have to look in the mirror over that one.

        I am sorry for being a bit of a smartarse during our last exchange but I only did it because I care 🙂

  6. deemac 6
    10 December 2010 at 12:32 pm

    political parties change all the time, otherwise we’d never get anywhere. Few do such complete about-turns as the Nats between opposing the original F&S Act as too soft on Maori and their position now, but apparently that isn’t a flip flop! Presumably because the MSM’s paymasters like the Nats and give them an easy ride.
    By the way, Turia’s comments show she is much more concerned with her ancient feud with the Labour Party than with actually finding a solution that might work for everyone – petty and unworthy of a minister of the Crown, I’d have thought. And I do wonder why no interviewer ever calls her on her “I speak for all Maori” attitude when their support is around 3%…

  7. Bill 7
    10 December 2010 at 1:36 pm

    Putting aside what seems to be a red herring concerning public access for a moment.

    Anybody care to enlighten me on the respective positions re: the right to commercially exploit mineral or other resources deemed to be in or on the area designated as foreshore and seabed?

    Am I right in saying that Labour invested any rights to exploitation with the crown? Did the Nats shift this to allow for private exploitation? If that’s the case, do Maori elites get ‘an in’ that didn’t previously exist under the Labour legislation?

    What I’m asking is, when it’s ‘done and dusted’, is all this too-ing and fro-ing going to transpire to be nothing much more than the playing out of a three way competition (with shifting alliances) over legislation that will institutionalise market advantage?

  8. RobertM 8
    10 December 2010 at 1:45 pm

    If you want NZ to be a sophisticated multi cultural nation, I judge Helen Clark got this issue right. Customary rights are an archaic archeological right, dredged up jurists to give another opening to idigenous peoples rights. On the face of it, customary rights are a relatively weak claim in no way the power of the Treaty of Waitangi treated literally. A claim and a right would have to be used and exploited since the start of European settlement to the present day. But the definition of continuous use is open to legal interpretation. Was it not the now chief judge of the Supreme Court, Sian Elias who in an earlier ruling in a lower court held that a claim for customary rights by a tribe in the low populated ‘maori’ area of the Marlborough Sounds had enough weight to be tested legally. If the final court of appeal for NZ was still the Privy Council you could have even less confidence on the jurists there to rule sensibly on these matters given their attitude to NZ and pronounced liberal sentiments on issues of race and pacific islanders. It is the very reason why appeals to the Privy Council were abolished. Because without wanting to appear in any way racist to a British or Australian court it is quite likely that it would be held that the rights of the idigneous are equal or superior to the settlers.
    In summary I think Clark was very wise on this issue – if you want NZ to survive long term. This issue should not be a matter for consideration for any court-in part because of the wedge likely to be driven by the jurists and because customary rights are archaic and aren’t the way these issues should be considered and weighted.

    • insider 8.1
      10 December 2010 at 2:54 pm

      That’s ignorant and wrong. Customary rights have been around in many mainly commonwealth jurisdictions for a 150 years or so. They are a sign of a very just system and the balances that the law can bring to policy. They are a recognition that a ‘change of ownership’ of a country through colonisation does not extinguish all the previous owners’ rights. Recognition of customary rights is the sign of a very sophisticated system.

      The PC would have been a perfect place to review these issues because they are the result of the common law, judge made law, and not only would the PC judges have fine minds they would have the experience of dealing with or observing similar issues from other jurisdictions. I’d be more nervous leaving it to Elias as I think she is an agenda driven judge and poor choice as head of the SC.

      The saddest part of this issue is the delusion by Maori that this process would lead to a lower level of proof for CT. Not sure who has been the cause of that. Might just be wishful thinking by Harawira and co or a deliberate strategy to try and shift the bar.

    • pollywog 8.2
      10 December 2010 at 3:05 pm

      Here where i live theres an island owned by a german industrialist, an urupa, a tidal estuary ‘owned’ by Maori, farmland ‘bought’ under dubious circumstances, a fierecly guarded private access beach road, a boat jetty used by anyone and all bordering on each other with no policing as the whole thing is tied up in a no mans land of contentious rights and ownership until the foreshore seabed debacle get settled…

      …meanwhile i’m out there swimming, paddling around and collecting shellfish like it’s christmas

      can’t complain really 🙂

      captcha : locations (locations locations)

      • ak 8.2.1
        10 December 2010 at 10:34 pm

        And here where I live Poll, there’s a whanau with at least four distinctly discrete and fiercely-maintained cultural backgrounds doing exactly the same thing in a similarly legislative no-man’s-land; united solely – but profoundly – by a common acceptance that some places should never be tamed. Or owned.

        Go, Goffy. Universal, total, circumferential access (yeah, yeah, ports, sanctuaries etc): let us all go to the beach – and let the clowns dispute the circus wherever the frock they will.

  9. Swampy 9
    11 December 2010 at 12:17 am

    Reeally? I thought it was in the NZ Herald article which listed the different positions Labour has taken on this matter.

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  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    4 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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