Does anyone else think it’s a coincidence that Granny Herald has tried to start a meaningless debate over the national flag – ’11 of 18 Order of NZ members support change!’ wow-wee – just as the wheels come off a flagship National policy?
I think the flag issue is one the Government and its allies are quite happy to have rolling, because it’s popular, irrelevant to the aims of their ideology, and distracts.
I’m not so sure it’s tightly orchestrated however.
But I will agree that the Herald did make a conscious decision to run the flag story over other more important and pressing issues in education, the financial sector, and the environment.
In this case it’s probably more bad media than championing the Government. Though I think Eddie’s point is certainly possible enough to deserve a hearing, and most certainly not “losing the plot” as Daveski suggests.
And fair play to the Herald – if they’re going to wait for things to improve for this lame-duck government before having a debate on the flag, then they’ll be waiting a very long time …
If it’s about Waitangi Day they could have run the stories on, um, Waitangi Day.
And if they were serious about generating a cause for changing the flag they would have done a poll. not called up 18 people, labeled them patriots, and used them as the basis for claiming support for change.
this is transparent distraction tactics. If they hadn’t done this the front page story would have been the growing anti-national standards campaign. Actually, knowing the Herald it would have been a big picture of a sea lion or something.
I don’t think you get it. No-one is ‘in on’ anything.
The Herald just doesn’t want to have to talk about the disaster of the government it got elected, so it’s trying to distract us with something that doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t require National and the Herald to get together and plan it.
You mean instead of bludging off human stupidity and prejudice the way that most journos do as they re-release press releases?
There are very few people here who ‘bludge off the state’. Most of those who do probably use trusts and other mechanisms to reduce their income levels to qualify for WFF. Is that who you’re referring to?
If you want to make factless assertions – just follow Scribes example. It’s easy and simple enough for him to understand it… He’s a scribe!
Bollocks. This is a legitimate seasonal story with genuine news value. It’s not as if they’ve just published a bunch of vox pop “I reckons” with no precedent.
You can complain all you like about how it’s meaningless symbolism, and how you’re a savvy transcultural iconoclast. But that don’t change the fact that symbolism — and identity — matters to the rest of us.
Geez you’re an odd one Lew. You claim to understand political rhetoric but you don’t seem to understand how political actors work.
The Herald is a political actor. It favours, indeed campaigns for, National governments. When a National government is in the sh#t is it going to want to cover that? No.
What they need is a nice meaningless poltiical story where Key will look good. So they call up 18 people and ask their opinions on the flag, slap together an image of all the union jack flags, and ‘hey presto’ national standards is bumped down the list and everyone is talking about something that doesn’t hurt the government that the Herald supports.
None of this requires conspiracy. None of it requires National and the Herald to plan together.
I’m not disputing that this sort of distraction is an effective propaganda technique, what I’m disputing is the assertion that this is the reason for the topic of national identity being given prominence in the three days leading up to our national holiday (such as it is).
The Herald is indeed a political actor, much as all media are. I’ve spent thousands of words here and elsewhere on how, outside of a few specific issues like the EFA, it’s no more overtly political than other leading media in the country, and furthermore how its political biases can easily be explained by means other than resort of a media-political conspiracy, which is exactly what is alleged here — not in this immediate case, but a long-term agenda of collusion.
The point I’m trying to make isn’t that it’s not convenient for the government for national standards to be eclipsed by something else — but that it’s fair enough for it to be so at this time of year, and given the national identity debates which have coloured our recent past (Foreshore and Seabed/Orewa/Nationhood revisited; the h debate; the tino rangatiratanga flag decision; the recent visit of Prince William, the recent drawing of Locke’s head of state bill; Ansell’s largely self-promotional campaign to change the flag).
I understand you lot want a news agenda which is relentlessly critical of the government, focuses strictly on basic material and dry policy concerns, and generally is very much like The Standard. I would recommend that you start your own paper, but you have one — and it’s very good, for that purpose and for people who care about those things. But others care about symbolism and identity, and these are important debates to have, never more important than now.
As Daveski says, national standards isn’t going anywhere. If it’s half the debacle the NZEI says it will be (and I’m confident of that) then it’ll be an albatross around this government’s neck for years to come. Waitangi comes but once a year.
Scribe, how am I supposed to stay in the left-wing club with endorsements from people like you?
What I get pissed off with mostly is people who think their own political views are objectively right. The reason I get pissed off with it is because such certitude is a barrier to progress because people think “we’re right, and the truth will out”, and don’t bother to actually examine why the “truth” isn’t outing in the way they think it should.
It’s something which afflicts people from all over the spectrum, but as far as I’m concerned the right and conservatives are welcome to keep deluding themselves — it’s the left and liberals I want to give a cold shower to, so they’ll (hopefully) realise that in order to win, you have to play — even if you are right, that isn’t enough.
The Herald is indeed a political actor, much as all media are. I’ve spent thousands of words here and elsewhere on how, outside of a few specific issues like the EFA, it’s no more overtly political than other leading media in the country, and furthermore how its political biases can easily be explained by means other than resort of a media-political conspiracy, which is exactly what is alleged here — not in this immediate case, but a long-term agenda of collusion.
The problem is that when it exercises its ability to push an issue, it causes immense damage not only to other people – but also to itself. I remember the NZH’s EFA stances which were blatantly political, aligned with their wish to keep high advertising during election campaigns, showed scant regard to the facts, and were fundamentally highly dishonest to its reading public.
Personally I’ll put the boot in every chance I get until I’ve worked off that level of annoyance. It will take some time. If the Herald goes under – then I won’t be shedding too many tears. Most of the activists on the ‘left’ feel the same way to one degree or another.
That’s fair enough — but you’re owning that you have an axe to grind, not claiming the moral high ground of truth and purity. I don’t have any problem with people criticising the media — it’s literally what I do for a living). But the point is that for almost any non-trivial political topic, you’ll find similar abuses by the established media. The Dom Post and their coverage of the Urewera Terra is one other apposite example.
It’s not even especially bad here in NZ, and this business today is particularly weak. It strains credulity to pick on marginal cases like this when there’s actual legitimate criticism to be had most of the time. It weakens the overall argument of media bias (which is a legitimate one, even if somewhat misguided), and builds into a widely-held impression of the (activist) left as terminal victims, conspiracy nuts, and oversensitive inveterate whingers.
I seldom if ever claim a moral ground on anything. I tend to leave that for the insane certainties of the truly faithful.
However I do have a tenacious memory and a strong urge towards making sure that no bad deed goes without retribution, regardless how long it takes.
Agreed the DomPost editorial staff were totally hysterical over the Oct 15 raids, and I definitely intend to rub their noses in it after August next year. But that was mere sensationalism.
The EFA hysteria by the NZH had a distinct aroma of both self-interested corruption and political grand-standing about it (actually the kind of aroma that I associate with McCully). It definitely merits more of my attention than the DomPost because the dickheads at the NZH will want to try it again. I don’t like ‘kingmakers’.
Personally I couldn’t give a damn about what flag we use. It is completely irrelevant.
I have a strong suspicion that I’m part of the majority in Nz about this. So to waste time having a ‘debate’ about it just bores the crap out of me. It is a cheap way of filling a front page for the herald with a topic that might interest their unrepresentative readership. It is useful as a diversion for both the Nats, and the Maori party.
But I grew up without the crass flag waving stupidity of 19th century nationalism, and I have no intention of getting involved in something so trivial now.
As the leading mouthpiece for the National party, the NZ Herald is aware of this. So I guess that Eddie us probably right. It is a good topic to wind up nutters and divert attention away from things of interest
At the risk of introducing facts to this debate (and therefore risking the wrath of the BOFH), if this is as you state, why does the Granny have on the front page as the leading national news story are less than cheerleading story on national standards.
With respect, eddie’s post is a crock and you should know better.
if Key re instituted knights and dames of the british empire he’s hardly likely to ditch the union jack, even if carly binding referendum said its what the people want.
It is a good topic to wind up nutters and divert attention away from things of interest
You really can be an arrogant prick sometimes Lynn. Just because you don’t care about an issue doesn’t mean you can diminish the right of others to care about it. Feel free to argue the merits of it being a front page news story, but don’t try and write people off as “nutters” because they have a different view.
It might come as small surprise to you that I consider being thought “out of touch” by the more parochial and paranoid members of The Standard commentariat is a good indication that I’m on the right track.
I don’t care as much about our readership numbers as about the quality of the discussion. If I wanted to expand my readership, I’d have tits on the front page every other day, gossip about Brangelina and moonbat conspiracy thories front and centre.
I love the the way that when someone doesn’t agree with your view you start tacky, childlike, personal digs at them. Little more playing the ball and not the man please. How does it matter what his website stats are for goodness sake!
Lew and I are mostly on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but i enjoy reading what he has to say as he does so in a well thought out, and concise manner, that more people should take note of. Very rarely does he start randomly frothing at the mouth about the ususal matière du jour.
I think that the flag issue, like politics, is something that people do get very emotional about. Having just got back from 5 years overseas there is a Kiwi camaraderie that is quite unlike anything i have seen from any other nation. We gather together around or flag like it is our sovereign territory on some foreign land.
To say that the NZ flag issue is meaningless just shows, in my opinion, just how out of touch YOU actually are. I personally think the flag should change to the silver fern, as that symbolises our identity much more than the union jack.
The Herald story is a pretty straightforward attempt run interference for the National government by muddying the waters over the flag ahead of any potential annoyance at seeing the Harawira’s heraldry floating over over government buildings on Waitangi day.
The letters to the editor in today’s herald are mostly really good. The writers are getting stuck into the nats about their education policies founded on rhetoric.
The print version does not seem to have the Hone flag corruption story. I would have thought this would have been worthy of the front page.
What’s the difference between education policies based on rhetoric (which I would otherwise dispute) and tax policies based on rhetoric (Labour stuffing up the tax system through ideology over common sense?).
As a broader comment – not aimed at micky at all – there still seems to be a blame culture as to why Labour lost the election ie it wasn’t Labour’s people or policies but someone else eg NZH. Until Labour excepts that the people voted them out and Nats in, they can’t stop the rot. Good for me, bad for you.
Bad for me, good for you, and this is exactly the problem: always someone to blame, always some cause to whine about how it’s not fair, always trying to convert people who make political decisions based on their gut with cerebral facts and figures. Honestly, it’s like they don’t even want to win.
Exactly. Rhetoric is whatever the opponent says because I’m right and you’re wrong. It just that we have polar opposite views so each believes the other is speaking in rhetoric.
“The letters to the editor in today’s herald are mostly really good. The writers are getting stuck into the nats about their education policies founded on rhetoric.”
Darn them and their right wing bias… oh wait. Darn them and their left wing bias.
“The print version does not seem to have the Hone flag corruption story. I would have thought this would have been worthy of the front page.
It may alarm some people to learn that the Herald has editorial discretion to run whatever story it likes, and that it is not a tool of National.
That it does not put on its front page an attack on the Nats doesn’t mean it’s in bed with National. It’s probably more to do with the general dumbing down of much of our news media. Flags are bright and colourful and are easier for many to understand than educational issues.
Scott, watch out — the people who don’t have a blog will criticise you for having a blog which gets fewer hits than The Standard if you carry on that way.
Yeah that I’d agree with. Because anyone who actually runs a blog knows how damn hard it is to write posts, moderate, maintain, upgrade, and generally keep the damn thing running. Just keeping yourself interested is always a major struggle. Thats why we run with lots of authors.
Having lots of hits? – the main thing you notice about that is how hard it is to keep the system going as the traffic increases. I was doing performance tests of the new skin for the standard this morning and thinking that when we make it public, I’d have to take a couple of days off work. There is no way that I can do more than guess the loadings from the available data.
It is a cheap way of filling a front page for the herald with a topic that might interest their unrepresentative readership.
It may not be a direct tool of National – that is just how it acts. It probably does represent its local readers who are a relatively small subset of Aucklanders and few outside. From the ones I know, they’re relatively old, frequently conservative, and generally interested in stories that make them feel good. Which usually means looking at the misfortunes and miseries of someone else rather than feel-good.
What they’re mainly interested in is not having any in-depth analysis (that is largely on the business pages), but they want a superficial understanding of current issues so they can talk about things at work / bowling club / pub / etc.
In short they are pretty much like John Key. Which is why the Herald usually looks like the cheer-squad for National.
This whole left-wing/right-wing bias thing, aimed most often at The Herald, is so boring. People can easily cherry-pick stories to support their argument.
One can easily make the case that The Herald won the 2005 election for Labour by virtue of its editorial choices — EB on the front, now-imprisoned Mr Field on page 5 (or thereabouts). In such a close election, that decision was possibly enough — along with a few vans and some fast food — to get Labour over the line.
One can make the case that the Herald helped National win the election in 2008, but it was essentially a landslide, so it didn’t really matter.
Well apart from the wiingnut myth of Mangere 2005, you’re essentially correct.
The Herald targets their front-pages audience, a lot of whom are swinging ‘anti’ voters. Just at present that means they support National at the front page – at least that is what the polls say.
The business and political pages have a more persistent bias towards business interests, and have done since I was a kid.
Bullshit. To date you’ve ‘proved’ absolutely nothing except that you woke up on the fatuous side of the bed today. Guess your partner took all of the brains allocated for the day huh?
Come on LP – you’re the grumpy one here – it’s in your JD.
If there was a conspiracy, the treatment of the unemployment stats shows this to be BS. Likewise, the home page (at the time of eddie’s post) still had the standards as its leading national news story.
The NZ Herald website largely uses an algorithm for determining what articles hold the upper positions. It is largely based on date/time and user feedback in the number of page views and clickthrus. There is limited editorial control – most of that is exercised at quite a junior level.
The NZ Herald print run has no such feedback mechanism. Positioning is everything to a newsprint run and the decisions are made by editors pretty much on their gut feel.
This information is provided to you to prevent you from looking like a complete dickhead in equating the print runs with the website.
With respect, are we not talking about different things LP?
The world does not revolve around the printed version of the NZH unless you’re suggesting (as some seem to imply) that the only newspaper in NZ is the Granny and it is the only source of news for voters.
I think it’s too late to prevent you from looking like a Jafa dickhead 🙂
BTW Where I live (but not work) there is no daily news but friendly police … just ask Rocky!
Yeah, but almost all of the NZH print run is sold in Auckland. That is what the article was referring to.
The website ‘frontpage’ changes hour-to-hour and even in minutes with limited editorial control. So it’d be kind of pointless writing a post about its editorial stance. When the print edition was doing those bloody stupid editorial EFA attacks in 2007/8 on the front pages, the website edition would slide them off within an hour or so of writing. It was a pretty good indicator about how important the viewers though that the issue was.
I read the NZH print edition solely to find out the current editorial positions on topics. I read the website to get news.
I don’t have a problem with the Herald running flag stories. If it’s an issue that matters to them, good on them.
But we’ve just had a visit from the future head of state, whose country’s flag (and its relevance) is the central issue here. If the Herald feels so strongly, it could have raised the matter then. That really would have made an impact …
… an impact on the nice, soft, glossy coverage of Wills and John Key, blokes at the barbie.
It’s because there’s a conspiracy. That’s because the only people who vote read the NZH. However, the people who write the GOOD letters to the editor never read the Herald because they are pure and don’t want to be brainwashed.
There ya go eddie. I’ve written your next post for you 🙂
cut to the chase dudes.
of course granny will support anew flag.
then the desiginer will get royalties and granny can sell them.
doncha know that this is now new zeland inc. where everything is for sale including the truth.
go lprent.
but I must say it is a fruitless task arguing with idiots.
so just think of getting it all off your chest and dumping it on right wing sadsacks who haven’t got any money.
the fact of the matter is that the herald is a right wing corporatised money making machine for its owners and stockholders.
people who are not known to the the writers or the printers but who neverthless hold the whip hand over editorial content.
as it is privately owned then the owners can do what they like and they have chosen to employ a whole cadre of right wing apparatchiks who wil do anything to ensure that they remain employed and their owners wishes are pandered to and then to compound it all they call it a free press ancd charge the punters for it.
nice work if you can get it.
The paper wants to sell papers so they can make more money – that is it – putting colourful flags on it’s front page would sell a few more papers i suspect… anyway my flag is the tino rangatiratanga flag so i have no real interest in what design they come up with, if indeed they can even get the ball rolling, because eventually it will go, and there will be only one flag.
by John Edmundson The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) have recently reposted a February article, by Romany Tasker-Poland, explaining ISO’s position in the “trans rights” debate. It is available on their website and on their Facebook Page. The article sets out to explain why “socialists support trans rights”. It reads more ...
"Auckland City Mission: 10% of Kiwis experiencing food insecurity", RNZ, 16 October 2019:About half a million people are experiencing food insecurity, according to new research from the Auckland City Mission. Food insecurity, or food poverty, is defined as not having enough appropriate food. The City Mission said over the last ...
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...
There is plenty of evidence of the way the business mentality has permeated every level of society since the recrudescence of market liberalism 35 years ago. You only need to think of how citizens in need of help from their government, their state, their country, are now routinely described as ...
John MacCormickOver the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...
Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
What is language? We generally assume that it a facility unique to humans, allowing us to share what’s in and on our minds. We can tell of our plans, our past exploits, our knowledge. It also allows us to lie. And yet there are vast numbers of people we can’t ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Clayton Mitchell denies accusations around a night out, food insecurity on the rise, and UK PM Boris Johnson secures deal with dubious prospects.NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell has got himself in a spot of late night bother in a Tauranga ...
As the rugby world wrestles with the new reality that players can, and will, be dismissed for accidental contact with an opponent’s head it's worth pondering the fate of three All Blacks not selected for the Ireland quarterfinal. ...
A new exhibition in Raetihi offers a rare opportunity to see early, colonialism-focused works by Wellington artist Barbara Strathdee, writes Pat Baskett. ...
Italy's Ambassador to New Zealand Fabrizio Marcelli responds to Newsroom stories - and The Detail podcasts - questioning the price of imported tinned tomatoes in light of reports of slave labour in the industry in his home country. ...
A measles outbreak in Samoa suspected to be responsible for the death of a one-year-old was “inevitable”, according to an expert who thinks NZ could have prevented it. ...
The big shock of the results in the weekend’s local elections was the unseating of Justin Lester as Wellington mayor. We invited him to pen a sort-of-valedictory.My three years as the mayor of Wellington ended on Sunday and I will forever remain grateful for the experience.I’m also acutely aware of ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Braae reviews a night spent on the Intercity overnight sleeper bus getting from Wellington to Auckland.The most important thing to understand about long haul bus travel is that it’s all about getting exactly ...
Britain and the EU have agreed new terms for divorce. But with the Conservatives’ Northern Irish support party unimpressed, can the British prime minister at last put an end to the interminable shitstorm?At last, a deal! A palpable deal! A path out of the endless brain-melt!“Where there is a will, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Government sources insist shock jock Alan Jones didn’t drive Thursday’s announcement of a cash payment to drought-striken farmers about to be turfed off their household support because they’d reached the four year time limit. They ...
The proposition that global warming driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a risk that needs to be dealt with has achieved a large measure of agreement among policymakers. The proposition that it has to be dealt with right now and at great cost has no such consensus.One point ...
A bill to improve the pastoral care of students living in halls of residence has flown through its first reading in Parliament, thanks to cross-party support. ...
In this week's MediaRoom column: could MediaWorks close its TV operations altogether? And the Herald restructures its newsroom to remove a layer of management and shake up its investigative team. ...
Twenty-five young people who represent the future of the Asia-New Zealand relationship have been acknowledged as ‘ones to watch’, by the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono. ...
The taboo that surrounds immigration and our refugee qouta, are two issues rising in New Zealand that need to start being given attention to challenge the fruit loops of the far left. ...
Winston Peters has been ordered to answer questions about whether he received a letter from MSD asking him to check details of his living arrangements, three years before discovering he'd been overpaid. ...
To celebrate 10 years since the start of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, our reality TV podcast The Real Pod is going to recap it week by week. Here are 10 of the most incredible revelations from the very first episode. 1) Colin Mathura-Jeffree was an emo kidThis was the moment ...
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 content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Terrorism bill Lydia Lewis and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Security expert backs new terror law proposal ...
Occupiers of the disputed land at Ihumātao have been shut out of talks with the government about finding a resolution, saying they haven’t had any direct contact with ministers in more than a month, writes RNZ‘s Te Aniwa Hurihanganu and Meriana Johnsen.The Māori King announced in September mana whenua had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Fancourt, Adjunct Research Fellow, University of New England Feral cats are wreaking havoc on our native wildlife, eating more than a billion animals across Australia every year. But managing feral cats and reducing their impacts on our threatened species is challenging, ...
Later this month, the national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars, known as Te Pūtake o Te Riri, is to be held in Taranaki. Local community activist Vivian Hutchinson looks at how a history of conflict has shaped our sense of citizenship and describes how some people in Taranaki are ...
New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell is demanding an apology from security guards who booted him out of a Tauranga bar on Saturday night, describing them as politically-motivated "buffoons". ...
New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell is demanding an apology from security guards who booted him out of a Tauranga bar on Saturday night, describing them as politically-motivated "buffoons". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jerry Zhou, Lecturer, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.Does chewing gum stay inside you for years? – Olivia, aged 12, Australia. Great question, Olivia! ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Elphick, Adjunct Research Fellow, Law School, University of Western Australia In March last year, Frances McDormand won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In her acceptance speech, she drew attention to the female nominees in the room and left them with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peggy Kern, Associate professor, University of Melbourne The Portal follows six individuals who undergo a personal transformation from trauma and struggle to calmness, self-acceptance, and compassion towards others. These personal changes are intertwined with contemplations about the broader struggles facing humanity and ...
Many hill country farmers could be locked into low-return agriculture by government policy, with little chance of breaking the cycle, according to the main meat producers' lobby, Beef + Lamb New Zealand. ...
The Southern DHB has apologised and pledged to change practices after a report into a young woman’s complaint about treatment which included being stripped naked and left unattended in seclusion for 12 hours. Here she tells her story.I’d forgotten the Health and Disability Commission was about to publish its report. ...
In the Chief Ombudsman’s latest Annual Report, contacts for advice increased 29 percent, while more use was being made of guidance material, including the 23 new or updated guides that were published in the 2018/19 year. ...
Fletcher's new offsite home manufacturing facility could be producing two homes a day within a couple of years. But for the moment this high-tech factory is underwhelming. ...
National's leader Simon Bridges says his party will pull its support for the new anti-terrorism legislation if the minister doesn't meet with them next week and start negotiating in good faith. ...
For the latest episode of On the Rag, notorious prude Alex Casey enlisted the help of sex toy expert and pleasure therapist Teddy Curle. It sounds a bit like ingredients for an avant-garde stir-fry recipe. Cauliflower. Kūmara. A jar of Vegemite. But what it actually is, sex toy expert Teddy Curle ...
It is deeply concerning that the state of our marine environment has not improved in the last three years. Resilient coasts and oceans are essential to New Zealanders' health and wealth, so urgent action is needed to address the decline. ...
Something’s crowning this Christmas, and it isn’t King Richard of Aldovia in his favourite tiara. Tara Ward looks at what Netflix’s new movie A Christmas Prince: A Royal Baby could mean for us all. Yesterday Netflix announced they’re about to give birth to the third instalment in the legendary series A Christmas ...
In a new initiative, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence is celebrating and recognising the careers of three Māori leaders and visionaries, who have a long history of bringing about major social change ...
The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has welcomed the publication by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ of Our Marine Environment 2019 , the latest in the reports on the state of our environment. The report is available here . ...
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 Campbell Brown, CEO of PredictHQ.This week we talk to Campbell Brown, the CEO ...
The Government has today released its discussion paper ‘ Designing a Fair Pay Agreements System ’ providing detail of what proposed law for Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) could include. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Associate Professor in Sociology and Co-Director of The Policy Lab, University of Melbourne The polls were wrong in the last US and Australian federal elections. Hillary Clinton was favoured to win at a margin of 85% to Donald Trump’s 15%. ...
Today is World Ecolabel Day and to mark the occasion New Zealand’s premier ecolabel has released a study showing the powerful environmental effect of ecolabelled products. ...
Family First's continued fight against attempts by the government's Charities Registration Board to deregister them is set to continue in the Court of Appeal in Wellington next week (Tues & Wed 22-23 Oct). In a significant development, the Charity Law ...
The actions of New Zealanders on land are increasingly harming the ocean’s ability to sustain life. Alex Braae looks at a worrying new government paper on the marine environment.What’s all this then?A new report from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ has sounded alarming warning about state of ...
Farmers for Positive Change (F4PC) congratulates environmental, recreation and public health groups for coming to a united position on the Government’s freshwater reform and finds significant areas of agreement with the Healthy Water, Healthy Future joint ...
In time for Auckland Artweek, Eloise Callister-Baker opens the door on a cluster of small Auckland art spaces, once off the beaten track and ephemeral, now finding cunning new ways to adapt and survive in the CBD property market. Auckland’s terrific documentor of art openings, Sait Akkirman of artdiary.co.nz, provides ...
Right to Life asks, why the Special Abortion Legislation Bill Committee is continuing to discriminate by refusing to hear the 2,740 submitters who have requested the right to make a ten minute oral submission on the highly contentious abortion Bill conceived ...
Winston Peters is calling on an old mate to give evidence in his landmark court case against government agencies over a leak of his personal superannuation details. ...
Government ministers are exulting over how the NZ economy is performing— and their own work in making it stronger. David Clark, standing in for Grant Robertson in Parliament on Tuesday, rejoiced at how solid the “underlying fundamentals of the NZ economy are”. He said the government accounts for the June ...
A campaign to ban the Forced Swim Test in New Zealand is in line with public opinion, according to a new survey commissioned by the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society (NZAVS) and SAFE. ...
Environment, health, recreation, and water infrastructure groups have come together to support four essential policies to save fresh water in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Public Health Association, Forest & Bird, Fish & Game New Zealand, Environmental ...
"So many of our children are being violently harmed. Their innocence stolen and their bodies used for the sexual gratification and financial gain of those involved in the dark world of paedophillia. These innocent children are voiceless; nobody ...
There must be consternation within the upper ranks of the Labour Party at the performance of some of the Ministers in the coalition government. Every time the government looks like making some positive progress, one or other of these errant Ministers can be ...
Responding to Massey University’s decision to cancel the upcoming ‘Feminism 2020’ event, Free Speech Coalition member Melissa Derby (who had been scheduled to speak at the event) says: ...
New Zealand First's youth wing is at odds with leader Winston Peters over pill-testing at festivals and is working to overturn the party's position. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Byron, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Wollongong I am in year 11 and I like to listen to music when I am studying, but my dad says that my brain is spending only half of its time studying and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa England, Senior Lecturer, Griffith Law School, Griffith University Good planning needs integrity, and public participation should play a role in that. But a row over a high-rise development proposed for suburban Brisbane shows what happens when the public feels left out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Mathmann, Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Queensland University of Technology When you wander down most supermarket aisles are you befuddled by too much choice? Do you feel overwhelmed when comparing new phone deals, insurance offers, energy provider plans? There’s a lot of research ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland In a speech in Albury last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told his audience that he was praying for rain in drought-affected areas. “I pray for that ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Prefab housing factory opened amid huge need, worrying new measles developments, and public shows common sense on drug testing.A new factory has been opened to produce building materials, which if scaled up could have a significant impact on construction time ...
The Police Association says the Police Minister will be breaking his promise if he doesn't include staff turnover in the government's police staffing target. ...
Granny sez: look over here! 
Jo Swinson is doing even worse at this Being Sensible lark that I'd thought. I've just become aware of the following utterance
Today's IPCA report of police criminality: a police officer unalwfully tasered a fleeing suspect who posed no threat to anyone:The police watchdog has found an officer unlawfully tasered an Auckland man who broke his ankle jumping off a balcony to escape arrest. [...] To avoid arrest, the man jumped over ...18 hours ago
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...19 hours ago
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...20 hours ago
John MacCormick Over the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...21 hours ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz There is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...2 days ago
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...3 days ago
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...3 days ago
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...3 days ago
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...7 days ago
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...1 week ago
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...2 days ago
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...3 days ago
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...14 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Clayton Mitchell denies accusations around a night out, food insecurity on the rise, and UK PM Boris Johnson secures deal with dubious prospects.NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell has got himself in a spot of late night bother in a Tauranga ...1 hour ago
As the rugby world wrestles with the new reality that players can, and will, be dismissed for accidental contact with an opponent’s head it's worth pondering the fate of three All Blacks not selected for the Ireland quarterfinal. ...2 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling NZ books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan NZ bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias. ...3 hours ago
A new exhibition in Raetihi offers a rare opportunity to see early, colonialism-focused works by Wellington artist Barbara Strathdee, writes Pat Baskett. ...3 hours ago
Italy's Ambassador to New Zealand Fabrizio Marcelli responds to Newsroom stories - and The Detail podcasts - questioning the price of imported tinned tomatoes in light of reports of slave labour in the industry in his home country. ...3 hours ago
A measles outbreak in Samoa suspected to be responsible for the death of a one-year-old was “inevitable”, according to an expert who thinks NZ could have prevented it. ...3 hours ago
Plans for Facebook’s proposed “stablecoin”, Libra, appear to be unraveling as awareness about its adverse effects grows. ...3 hours ago
Explosives were used to blast a millions-of-years-old rock overhang in a national park. ...3 hours ago
Medical issues, party leaks and a surprise resignation have taken their toll - but Winston Peters argues his party is as strong as ever. ...3 hours ago
What's different about what Donald Trump did this time to finally snap Democrats into action and launch an impeachment inquiry? ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Government sources insist shock jock Alan Jones didn’t drive Thursday’s announcement of a cash payment to drought-striken farmers about to be turfed off their household support because they’d reached the four year time limit. They ...8 hours ago
E tū members in cleaning and security are welcoming the Government’s call for consultation on the development of Fair Pay Agreements. ...11 hours ago
A bill to improve the pastoral care of students living in halls of residence has flown through its first reading in Parliament, thanks to cross-party support. ...11 hours ago
In this week's MediaRoom column: could MediaWorks close its TV operations altogether? And the Herald restructures its newsroom to remove a layer of management and shake up its investigative team. ...11 hours ago
Judith Collins is filling the blackhole that is National’s climate policy with social media posts appealing to science deniers. ...12 hours ago
A Tom Sainsbury snapchat celebrating the genius of Dan Brown. ...17 hours ago
Many hill country farmers could be locked into low-return agriculture by government policy, with little chance of breaking the cycle, according to the main meat producers' lobby, Beef + Lamb New Zealand. ...17 hours ago
Sky Television's shareholders have approved its deal to retain the Sanzaar rugby rights for an undisclosed sum, making it unconditional. ...18 hours ago
Fletcher's new offsite home manufacturing facility could be producing two homes a day within a couple of years. But for the moment this high-tech factory is underwhelming. ...18 hours ago
Principals nervously wait for the final outcomes of the biggest education system review in 30 years. ...1 day ago
Does anyone think eddie’s losing the plot?
If the days before our national holiday is NOT the time to consider our national identity, when is?
I think the flag issue is one the Government and its allies are quite happy to have rolling, because it’s popular, irrelevant to the aims of their ideology, and distracts.
I’m not so sure it’s tightly orchestrated however.
But I will agree that the Herald did make a conscious decision to run the flag story over other more important and pressing issues in education, the financial sector, and the environment.
In this case it’s probably more bad media than championing the Government. Though I think Eddie’s point is certainly possible enough to deserve a hearing, and most certainly not “losing the plot” as Daveski suggests.
And fair play to the Herald – if they’re going to wait for things to improve for this lame-duck government before having a debate on the flag, then they’ll be waiting a very long time …
I would of thought that this was more to do with Waitangi Day,
“I would of thought that this was more to do with Waitangi Day,”
See, here is the difference between yourself and Eddie… you actually thought about it.
If it’s about Waitangi Day they could have run the stories on, um, Waitangi Day.
And if they were serious about generating a cause for changing the flag they would have done a poll. not called up 18 people, labeled them patriots, and used them as the basis for claiming support for change.
this is transparent distraction tactics. If they hadn’t done this the front page story would have been the growing anti-national standards campaign. Actually, knowing the Herald it would have been a big picture of a sea lion or something.
Keep digging, eddie. The National standards will still be topical next week, Waitangi Day will be another year away.
I’m just fcuked off that it’s on a Saturday and ANZAC day is too! If Key wants my vote he needs to mondayize and fast!
antispam: mistaken. Sorry Eddie but you are definitely mistaken with this conspiracy theory
It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s a widely practiced political tactic.
I just looked at teh Dominion and they don’t have nat standards on the front page either. Are they in on it too?
I don’t think you get it. No-one is ‘in on’ anything.
The Herald just doesn’t want to have to talk about the disaster of the government it got elected, so it’s trying to distract us with something that doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t require National and the Herald to get together and plan it.
You people don’t have a clue about newspapers. Stick to what you know about — bludging off the state.
You mean instead of bludging off human stupidity and prejudice the way that most journos do as they re-release press releases?
There are very few people here who ‘bludge off the state’. Most of those who do probably use trusts and other mechanisms to reduce their income levels to qualify for WFF. Is that who you’re referring to?
If you want to make factless assertions – just follow Scribes example. It’s easy and simple enough for him to understand it… He’s a scribe!
And guess whos behind the flag change – Ansell.
He knows publicity in his sleep. Make that publicity for the right wing noise machine
Expect more of these tired old going nowhere issues to be running next year.
Mostly to fill space to keep things like ….. Super City off the front page.
Bollocks. This is a legitimate seasonal story with genuine news value. It’s not as if they’ve just published a bunch of vox pop “I reckons” with no precedent.
You can complain all you like about how it’s meaningless symbolism, and how you’re a savvy transcultural iconoclast. But that don’t change the fact that symbolism — and identity — matters to the rest of us.
L
‘Look over here’ says Granny
‘Where, where’ says Lew
That’s right, Eddie, disagreement with you means I’m clearly part of the conspiracy.
L
who said anything about a conspiracy?
Geez you’re an odd one Lew. You claim to understand political rhetoric but you don’t seem to understand how political actors work.
The Herald is a political actor. It favours, indeed campaigns for, National governments. When a National government is in the sh#t is it going to want to cover that? No.
What they need is a nice meaningless poltiical story where Key will look good. So they call up 18 people and ask their opinions on the flag, slap together an image of all the union jack flags, and ‘hey presto’ national standards is bumped down the list and everyone is talking about something that doesn’t hurt the government that the Herald supports.
None of this requires conspiracy. None of it requires National and the Herald to plan together.
I’m not disputing that this sort of distraction is an effective propaganda technique, what I’m disputing is the assertion that this is the reason for the topic of national identity being given prominence in the three days leading up to our national holiday (such as it is).
The Herald is indeed a political actor, much as all media are. I’ve spent thousands of words here and elsewhere on how, outside of a few specific issues like the EFA, it’s no more overtly political than other leading media in the country, and furthermore how its political biases can easily be explained by means other than resort of a media-political conspiracy, which is exactly what is alleged here — not in this immediate case, but a long-term agenda of collusion.
The point I’m trying to make isn’t that it’s not convenient for the government for national standards to be eclipsed by something else — but that it’s fair enough for it to be so at this time of year, and given the national identity debates which have coloured our recent past (Foreshore and Seabed/Orewa/Nationhood revisited; the h debate; the tino rangatiratanga flag decision; the recent visit of Prince William, the recent drawing of Locke’s head of state bill; Ansell’s largely self-promotional campaign to change the flag).
I understand you lot want a news agenda which is relentlessly critical of the government, focuses strictly on basic material and dry policy concerns, and generally is very much like The Standard. I would recommend that you start your own paper, but you have one — and it’s very good, for that purpose and for people who care about those things. But others care about symbolism and identity, and these are important debates to have, never more important than now.
As Daveski says, national standards isn’t going anywhere. If it’s half the debacle the NZEI says it will be (and I’m confident of that) then it’ll be an albatross around this government’s neck for years to come. Waitangi comes but once a year.
L
I have found Lew’s analysis of media coverage etc to almost always be spot on. Nothing has changed here.
You must get frustrated reading the rants of morons who don’t know anything about the media, Lew.
Scribe, how am I supposed to stay in the left-wing club with endorsements from people like you?
What I get pissed off with mostly is people who think their own political views are objectively right. The reason I get pissed off with it is because such certitude is a barrier to progress because people think “we’re right, and the truth will out”, and don’t bother to actually examine why the “truth” isn’t outing in the way they think it should.
It’s something which afflicts people from all over the spectrum, but as far as I’m concerned the right and conservatives are welcome to keep deluding themselves — it’s the left and liberals I want to give a cold shower to, so they’ll (hopefully) realise that in order to win, you have to play — even if you are right, that isn’t enough.
L
The Herald is indeed a political actor, much as all media are. I’ve spent thousands of words here and elsewhere on how, outside of a few specific issues like the EFA, it’s no more overtly political than other leading media in the country, and furthermore how its political biases can easily be explained by means other than resort of a media-political conspiracy, which is exactly what is alleged here — not in this immediate case, but a long-term agenda of collusion.
The problem is that when it exercises its ability to push an issue, it causes immense damage not only to other people – but also to itself. I remember the NZH’s EFA stances which were blatantly political, aligned with their wish to keep high advertising during election campaigns, showed scant regard to the facts, and were fundamentally highly dishonest to its reading public.
Personally I’ll put the boot in every chance I get until I’ve worked off that level of annoyance. It will take some time. If the Herald goes under – then I won’t be shedding too many tears. Most of the activists on the ‘left’ feel the same way to one degree or another.
That’s fair enough — but you’re owning that you have an axe to grind, not claiming the moral high ground of truth and purity. I don’t have any problem with people criticising the media — it’s literally what I do for a living). But the point is that for almost any non-trivial political topic, you’ll find similar abuses by the established media. The Dom Post and their coverage of the Urewera Terra is one other apposite example.
It’s not even especially bad here in NZ, and this business today is particularly weak. It strains credulity to pick on marginal cases like this when there’s actual legitimate criticism to be had most of the time. It weakens the overall argument of media bias (which is a legitimate one, even if somewhat misguided), and builds into a widely-held impression of the (activist) left as terminal victims, conspiracy nuts, and oversensitive inveterate whingers.
L
I seldom if ever claim a moral ground on anything. I tend to leave that for the insane certainties of the truly faithful.
However I do have a tenacious memory and a strong urge towards making sure that no bad deed goes without retribution, regardless how long it takes.
Agreed the DomPost editorial staff were totally hysterical over the Oct 15 raids, and I definitely intend to rub their noses in it after August next year. But that was mere sensationalism.
The EFA hysteria by the NZH had a distinct aroma of both self-interested corruption and political grand-standing about it (actually the kind of aroma that I associate with McCully). It definitely merits more of my attention than the DomPost because the dickheads at the NZH will want to try it again. I don’t like ‘kingmakers’.
please say the password and show your identity card at the gate next time Lew, we wont let you in again without your identity card.
Personally I couldn’t give a damn about what flag we use. It is completely irrelevant.
I have a strong suspicion that I’m part of the majority in Nz about this. So to waste time having a ‘debate’ about it just bores the crap out of me. It is a cheap way of filling a front page for the herald with a topic that might interest their unrepresentative readership. It is useful as a diversion for both the Nats, and the Maori party.
But I grew up without the crass flag waving stupidity of 19th century nationalism, and I have no intention of getting involved in something so trivial now.
As the leading mouthpiece for the National party, the NZ Herald is aware of this. So I guess that Eddie us probably right. It is a good topic to wind up nutters and divert attention away from things of interest
At the risk of introducing facts to this debate (and therefore risking the wrath of the BOFH), if this is as you state, why does the Granny have on the front page as the leading national news story are less than cheerleading story on national standards.
With respect, eddie’s post is a crock and you should know better.
hmmm…serious debate eh ?…leading nowhere.
if Key re instituted knights and dames of the british empire he’s hardly likely to ditch the union jack, even if carly binding referendum said its what the people want.
It is a good topic to wind up nutters and divert attention away from things of interest
You really can be an arrogant prick sometimes Lynn. Just because you don’t care about an issue doesn’t mean you can diminish the right of others to care about it. Feel free to argue the merits of it being a front page news story, but don’t try and write people off as “nutters” because they have a different view.
I don’t think we need any more proof how out of touch Lew and Kiwipolitico is with what people actually want.
It might come as small surprise to you that I consider being thought “out of touch” by the more parochial and paranoid members of The Standard commentariat is a good indication that I’m on the right track.
L
I would think your readership stats were a better indication.
I don’t care as much about our readership numbers as about the quality of the discussion. If I wanted to expand my readership, I’d have tits on the front page every other day, gossip about Brangelina and moonbat conspiracy thories front and centre.
L
yeah. It’s pretty fortunate that you don’t care about readership. Would be tough on you if you did.
I love the the way that when someone doesn’t agree with your view you start tacky, childlike, personal digs at them. Little more playing the ball and not the man please. How does it matter what his website stats are for goodness sake!
Lew and I are mostly on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but i enjoy reading what he has to say as he does so in a well thought out, and concise manner, that more people should take note of. Very rarely does he start randomly frothing at the mouth about the ususal matière du jour.
I think that the flag issue, like politics, is something that people do get very emotional about. Having just got back from 5 years overseas there is a Kiwi camaraderie that is quite unlike anything i have seen from any other nation. We gather together around or flag like it is our sovereign territory on some foreign land.
To say that the NZ flag issue is meaningless just shows, in my opinion, just how out of touch YOU actually are. I personally think the flag should change to the silver fern, as that symbolises our identity much more than the union jack.
Basically it is nice to have a flag. But who gives a flying f* what the flag actually is. If it wasn’t a flag then it’d probably be a blowup football.
It isn’t the symbol that counts – it is what it symbolises that does.
Andrew, I don’t think anyone would seriously call me “concise”, but thanks anyhow.
L
good point … fairy nuff :o)
Would they be your tits?
antispam: unsuitable. indeed.
I hear Trav is available for guest posts 😀
No I didn’t notice. Because I don’t read it.
Along with whale oil, kiwiblog and fox news.
Go cry into your chardonnay Lew.
Catchpa: Amount
Oh yeah, that’s the sort of quality I’m talking about.
L
The Herald story is a pretty straightforward attempt run interference for the National government by muddying the waters over the flag ahead of any potential annoyance at seeing the Harawira’s heraldry floating over over government buildings on Waitangi day.
“A Herald survey of 18 of the 22 members of the Order of New Zealand”
god what a rag.
The Order of NZ is limited to 20 living ordinary members. They have additional and honorary members too, but it still doesn’t add up to 22.
There are 17 ordinary members, 6 additional members, 1 honorary member – 24. http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/lists/onz.html
Speaking of which, I bet Clark was the one who didn’t comment. Not possible in her position.
The letters to the editor in today’s herald are mostly really good. The writers are getting stuck into the nats about their education policies founded on rhetoric.
The print version does not seem to have the Hone flag corruption story. I would have thought this would have been worthy of the front page.
Diversion anyone?
What’s the difference between education policies based on rhetoric (which I would otherwise dispute) and tax policies based on rhetoric (Labour stuffing up the tax system through ideology over common sense?).
As a broader comment – not aimed at micky at all – there still seems to be a blame culture as to why Labour lost the election ie it wasn’t Labour’s people or policies but someone else eg NZH. Until Labour excepts that the people voted them out and Nats in, they can’t stop the rot. Good for me, bad for you.
Bad for me, good for you, and this is exactly the problem: always someone to blame, always some cause to whine about how it’s not fair, always trying to convert people who make political decisions based on their gut with cerebral facts and figures. Honestly, it’s like they don’t even want to win.
L
I take it this is what you mean by rhetoric: “Labour stuffing up the tax system through ideology over common sense”
Exactly. Rhetoric is whatever the opponent says because I’m right and you’re wrong. It just that we have polar opposite views so each believes the other is speaking in rhetoric.
“The letters to the editor in today’s herald are mostly really good. The writers are getting stuck into the nats about their education policies founded on rhetoric.”
Darn them and their right wing bias… oh wait. Darn them and their left wing bias.
“The print version does not seem to have the Hone flag corruption story. I would have thought this would have been worthy of the front page.
Diversion anyone?”
Darn them and their left wing bias! Oh wait….
See how silly this game is Micky?
It may alarm some people to learn that the Herald has editorial discretion to run whatever story it likes, and that it is not a tool of National.
That it does not put on its front page an attack on the Nats doesn’t mean it’s in bed with National. It’s probably more to do with the general dumbing down of much of our news media. Flags are bright and colourful and are easier for many to understand than educational issues.
Scott, watch out — the people who don’t have a blog will criticise you for having a blog which gets fewer hits than The Standard if you carry on that way.
L
Yeah that I’d agree with. Because anyone who actually runs a blog knows how damn hard it is to write posts, moderate, maintain, upgrade, and generally keep the damn thing running. Just keeping yourself interested is always a major struggle. Thats why we run with lots of authors.
Having lots of hits? – the main thing you notice about that is how hard it is to keep the system going as the traffic increases. I was doing performance tests of the new skin for the standard this morning and thinking that when we make it public, I’d have to take a couple of days off work. There is no way that I can do more than guess the loadings from the available data.
Yes, but I’m confident my new series entitled “Which Politician has the Biggest Tits” will see an increase in numbers.
No contest. But how are you going to get Brownlee to take off his shirt?
The shirt stays on. I’m trying to increase readership…
😈 Ohhhhhhh……
That was pretty much what I said…
It is a cheap way of filling a front page for the herald with a topic that might interest their unrepresentative readership.
It may not be a direct tool of National – that is just how it acts. It probably does represent its local readers who are a relatively small subset of Aucklanders and few outside. From the ones I know, they’re relatively old, frequently conservative, and generally interested in stories that make them feel good. Which usually means looking at the misfortunes and miseries of someone else rather than feel-good.
What they’re mainly interested in is not having any in-depth analysis (that is largely on the business pages), but they want a superficial understanding of current issues so they can talk about things at work / bowling club / pub / etc.
In short they are pretty much like John Key. Which is why the Herald usually looks like the cheer-squad for National.
This whole left-wing/right-wing bias thing, aimed most often at The Herald, is so boring. People can easily cherry-pick stories to support their argument.
One can easily make the case that The Herald won the 2005 election for Labour by virtue of its editorial choices — EB on the front, now-imprisoned Mr Field on page 5 (or thereabouts). In such a close election, that decision was possibly enough — along with a few vans and some fast food — to get Labour over the line.
One can make the case that the Herald helped National win the election in 2008, but it was essentially a landslide, so it didn’t really matter.
Well apart from the wiingnut myth of Mangere 2005, you’re essentially correct.
The Herald targets their front-pages audience, a lot of whom are swinging ‘anti’ voters. Just at present that means they support National at the front page – at least that is what the polls say.
The business and political pages have a more persistent bias towards business interests, and have done since I was a kid.
eddie now has more egg on his face than a fox in a hen house.
Unemployement stats are out and bad for the govt and lead the on line news.
epic fail eddie.
Bullshit. To date you’ve ‘proved’ absolutely nothing except that you woke up on the fatuous side of the bed today. Guess your partner took all of the brains allocated for the day huh?
Come on LP – you’re the grumpy one here – it’s in your JD.
If there was a conspiracy, the treatment of the unemployment stats shows this to be BS. Likewise, the home page (at the time of eddie’s post) still had the standards as its leading national news story.
How is any of that bullshit?
The NZ Herald website largely uses an algorithm for determining what articles hold the upper positions. It is largely based on date/time and user feedback in the number of page views and clickthrus. There is limited editorial control – most of that is exercised at quite a junior level.
The NZ Herald print run has no such feedback mechanism. Positioning is everything to a newsprint run and the decisions are made by editors pretty much on their gut feel.
This information is provided to you to prevent you from looking like a complete dickhead in equating the print runs with the website.
With respect, are we not talking about different things LP?
The world does not revolve around the printed version of the NZH unless you’re suggesting (as some seem to imply) that the only newspaper in NZ is the Granny and it is the only source of news for voters.
I think it’s too late to prevent you from looking like a Jafa dickhead 🙂
BTW Where I live (but not work) there is no daily news but friendly police … just ask Rocky!
Yeah, but almost all of the NZH print run is sold in Auckland. That is what the article was referring to.
The website ‘frontpage’ changes hour-to-hour and even in minutes with limited editorial control. So it’d be kind of pointless writing a post about its editorial stance. When the print edition was doing those bloody stupid editorial EFA attacks in 2007/8 on the front pages, the website edition would slide them off within an hour or so of writing. It was a pretty good indicator about how important the viewers though that the issue was.
I read the NZH print edition solely to find out the current editorial positions on topics. I read the website to get news.
I don’t have a problem with the Herald running flag stories. If it’s an issue that matters to them, good on them.
But we’ve just had a visit from the future head of state, whose country’s flag (and its relevance) is the central issue here. If the Herald feels so strongly, it could have raised the matter then. That really would have made an impact …
… an impact on the nice, soft, glossy coverage of Wills and John Key, blokes at the barbie.
Hmmm. I wonder why they didn’t.
Because fluffy celebrity stories sell.
It’s because there’s a conspiracy. That’s because the only people who vote read the NZH. However, the people who write the GOOD letters to the editor never read the Herald because they are pure and don’t want to be brainwashed.
There ya go eddie. I’ve written your next post for you 🙂
cut to the chase dudes.
of course granny will support anew flag.
then the desiginer will get royalties and granny can sell them.
doncha know that this is now new zeland inc. where everything is for sale including the truth.
go lprent.
but I must say it is a fruitless task arguing with idiots.
so just think of getting it all off your chest and dumping it on right wing sadsacks who haven’t got any money.
The scoffing at the shallow msm kind of falls over when everyone (including the people behind 62 standard comments) does indeed ‘Look over here!’
Sweet, sweet irony.
Maybe the standard should just not post on trivial matters where the intention is to decry news space being colonised by trivial matters?
You’re never sure exactly where the comments will arrive. Depends on the mood. But it is a pretty short post – just the comments were long.
the fact of the matter is that the herald is a right wing corporatised money making machine for its owners and stockholders.
people who are not known to the the writers or the printers but who neverthless hold the whip hand over editorial content.
as it is privately owned then the owners can do what they like and they have chosen to employ a whole cadre of right wing apparatchiks who wil do anything to ensure that they remain employed and their owners wishes are pandered to and then to compound it all they call it a free press ancd charge the punters for it.
nice work if you can get it.
The paper wants to sell papers so they can make more money – that is it – putting colourful flags on it’s front page would sell a few more papers i suspect… anyway my flag is the tino rangatiratanga flag so i have no real interest in what design they come up with, if indeed they can even get the ball rolling, because eventually it will go, and there will be only one flag.
‘sufferings’