Guest post: Beware Food Police!

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, December 10th, 2010 - 51 comments
Categories: dpf, food, health, Satire - Tags:

To arms! To arms! The Food Police are coming!

Remember how I led you in the battle to get junk food back into schools? It was a near-run thing. If we hadn’t acted, the days of the 12 year-old who can’t climb a flight of stairs without wheezing and going red in the face might have been numbered.

Fortunately, National let the junk food back in and cut anti-obesity spending.

But just when you thought victory was ours, my friends, Tony Ryall has gone turncoat on us. He’s launched a program run by Foodstuffs and the Heart Foundation that is filling the heads of defenceless 9 and 10 year olds with propaganda such as telling them that a diet of hot chips and fizzy drink is bad for you.

If these food Nazis turning school into modern-day gulags they won’t learn to think for themselves! Do we want our youngsters to be ‘taught’ how they should eat by so-called ‘experts’? This ‘education’ might make them ‘healthy’ and ‘well-informed’ but is that really what we want for our kids?

What ever happened to free choice? If you’re a 9 year old and you want to stuff chips into your face until you’re obese no-one should tell you otherwise.

Look at me, I’m the very model of personal responsibility. That’s what kids should be aspiring to.

National has hypocritically turned its back on the campaign for food choice but we’ll never stop fighting. Into the breach boys!

By David Farrar

51 comments on “Guest post: Beware Food Police! ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. DJames 1
    10 December 2010 at 2:17 pm

    The government wants our children to grow up healthy and strong. Don’t give them the chance! Say no to healthfood campaigns!

  2. hobbit 2
    10 December 2010 at 2:58 pm

    Rather than spending more of my money on campaigns, how about we sting thick parents who allow / give their children junk food with a medical surcharge, based on how fat / unhealthy the child is etc.

    Even the thickest of parent’s would wake up..

    • Bright Red 2.1
      10 December 2010 at 3:07 pm

      So, you want to put the cost of unhealthy eating on to the eaters and their parents. Cool. But rather than a complicated medical assessment and billing procedure which would be open to appeal etc, don’t you think it would be more efficient to up the tax on unhealthy food.

      …. just like Sue Kedgley from the Greens has been calling for all these years.

      bet you never knew you were a greenie, hobbit.

      • TightyRighty 2.1.1
        10 December 2010 at 3:33 pm

        even better, just cut off free healthcare to those who are obese. less tax, very simple medical assesment and we can start balancing the budget

        • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1
          10 December 2010 at 3:44 pm

          Yeah, because working out who is obese is a really simple medical test. All you do is work out their BMI, right?

          Using BMI, the entire All Blacks team are labelled as obese. BMI is also the tool behind all of these reports saying “30% of Americans are obese”, in other words it is probably overstating the case because it is simple. Likewise, BMI doesn’t work very well on people of ethnicities that are naturally larger or ‘big-boned’, like most polynesians.

          Are you also going to cut off free healthcare for other people who have eating disorders, like anorexics and bulimics?

          There is still a lot of scientific debate over what makes someone obese and genes are a prime factor, as well as a variety of metabolism disorders. It seems unfair to punish these people for something that they may not have much control over.

          • TightyRighty 2.1.1.1.1
            10 December 2010 at 3:59 pm

            i mean proper fat people. pretty easy to spot if you ask me. they take up two seats at mcdonalds, drive temporarily low slung cars through a KFC drive through. steal the last pie at 4pm from the bakery down the road. You know what i mean.

          • Sean Brooks 2.1.1.1.2
            12 December 2010 at 9:53 am

            The All Blacks are obese, other sportspeople are much fitter and healther, its just because the NZ media feed the BS to our public that they are somehow super sportspeople.

            • QoT 2.1.1.1.2.1
              12 December 2010 at 10:20 am

              Are you serious? I’m not even a rugby fan but I can appreciate those guys have to be pretty fucking fit to do their jobs. Is this some new BMI-defending tactic? Do you think powerlifters are totally unhealthy too since all of them qualify as obese, if not “morbidly” obese, using BMI? *is intrigued*

        • Bright Red 2.1.1.2
          10 December 2010 at 3:58 pm

          so, you’ll let people with serious health needs go untreated. Tightyrighty is a great name for you,

          Also, cut off free healthcare for professional sportspeople, smokers, pregnant women, people who drink alcohol, and people who drive? After all, they are doing something that is dangerous for their health, just like obese people.

          Maybe DoesntthinkitthroughRighty would be even more apt.

          • Jum 2.1.1.2.1
            10 December 2010 at 4:00 pm

            Bright Red,

            Tightyrighty wants all these people to achieve the ultimate and reduce the costs of healthcare; death, I think it’s called…

          • TightyRighty 2.1.1.2.2
            10 December 2010 at 4:01 pm

            I’d wholeheartedly agree with smokers, as long as you axed the excise tax on smokes, ditto for alcohol. proffesional sports people from memory pay an ACC levy, as do motorists. pregnant woman? that’s a step to far.

            maybe dim red would be better for you

            • Bright Red 2.1.1.2.2.1
              10 December 2010 at 4:25 pm

              “proffesional sports people from memory pay an ACC levy” – Everyone pays an ACC levy on their work income. What about amateur sports then? No access to public healthcare if you skydive, or mountain bike?

              So, why are you banning acess to public healthcare for some people with risky lifestyles/life choices/conditions but not others? Why is, for example, a woman who gets pregnant less culpable for her decision to increase her healthcare needs than an obese person?

              • TightyRighty …
                10 December 2010 at 5:01 pm

                pregnancy could be an accident, at least it gives life whether it is or isn’t. Fatness on the other hand, is unlikely to be an accident. unless you repeatedly tripped and fell with an open mouth into a warm bucket of boneless fried chicken supported by a pile of cheeseburgers, garnished with chocolate and then someone accidentally hooked your tap up to a coca cola factory. Fatness tends to be a selfish thing too, no life springs from being fat, unless the chicken wing lost in a roll of flab spawns some new bacteria.

                hmmmmkay?

            • bbfloyd 2.1.1.2.2.2
              11 December 2010 at 10:25 am

              T.R.. now you’re just being childish…i’ve noticed a tendancy lately for right wing apologists to resort to personal abuse once your “arguments” are dismantled… why is that, i wonder?

      • Rex Widerstrom 2.1.2
        10 December 2010 at 5:09 pm

        don’t you think it would be more efficient to up the tax on unhealthy food

        Which sounds great in theory and I truly wish were possible to do efficiently, but would in fact more than likely lead to an absolute nonsense as with the GST in Australia (and Labour’s proposals to fiddle with it in NZ).

        Who decides what’s “healthy”? On what basis? Is there a sliding scale of “healthiness tax” or a flat one once a food reaches “x unhealthiness”?…

        Just about everything is unhealthy if you eat too much of it. Or even if you just eat it in isolation. I generally have a glass, maybe two, of red wine with dinner. At that level, current research (which will probably change tomorrow) says it’s healthy. Yet if I eat too many eggs for breakfast each morning, they become unhealthy…

        I like what Kedgley’s trying to do, but implementation will be a nightmare (other than for the corps of bureaucrats classifying and regulating to their hearts content).

        • Bright Red 2.1.2.1
          10 December 2010 at 5:11 pm

          I’m mainly just taking the piss out of these idiots, Rex. Not a huge fan of Kedgley’s idea either.

          • Rex Widerstrom 2.1.2.1.1
            10 December 2010 at 5:16 pm

            Ah, fair enough.

            Not wanting to sounf like Phil Goff on the Foreshore and Seabed, but if I could just challenge my own position here… 😛

            I wonder if it’s not possible to apply some sort of tax break to healthy stuff that’s easily classifiable… like anything grown in a NZ market garden or orchard, say?

            Encourage healthy eating and give a boost to local growers…

            [Or maybe it’s just that I’ve been forced to pay almost $8 a kilo for grapes at the supermarket when I drive each week past kilometres of vines stretching seemingly to the horizon…]

    • Jum 2.2
      10 December 2010 at 3:58 pm

      National are Hypocrites and Liars.

      Certainly we have a lot of thick parents Hobbit; they voted the JKeyll hobbit in.

  3. robertguyton 3
    10 December 2010 at 4:44 pm

    Billy Bunter will cream that skinny Ryall if he ever catches him!

  4. Bill 4
    10 December 2010 at 4:45 pm

    Didn’t McD’s get the heart foundation tick?

    And can we assume that fizzy drinks with controversial sugar substitutes such as asparitame will be made made widely available and marketed as ‘safe’ and ‘healthy’?

    Can we assume that there might be some ‘sweeteners’ offered to get schools to stock particular corporate brands rather than others?

    Best bit is that many (reasonably in my mind) point to complex carbohydrates, not sugar and fat as the cause of obesity. Sumo wrestlers eat enormous portions of rice to pack on the weight, not sugar drinks and animal fats. And if you want your body to store energy, there is no point in eating sugar or fat which both release energy over fairly short periods of time. But eat wheat and other carbohydrates and you will have a slower release of energy over a longer period. And if you are not burning said energy, then your body will store the excess as fat.

    Take a look at processed food and you’ll struggle to find any that aren’t packed with carbohydrates. And you might want to take into account the impact of the likes of the Margarines and Spreads Association http://www.margarine.org.uk/ and question their motives in promoting a ‘health’ message internationally that is anti-animal fat.

    Big business. Market penetration. Johnny Boy. Mates.

    • Colonial Viper 4.1
      10 December 2010 at 4:49 pm

      The corporates have long learnt how to manipulate and use ‘scientifically healthy criteria’ to get the consumer certifications that they want.

      0% fat free, but we will fill up the food with a greasy synthetic which feels like fat in your mouth, even if it is undigestible crud.

      Would be nice to see how much McDonalds pays the Heart Foundation annually.

      We need more informed and discerning consumers.

      • Bill 4.1.1
        10 December 2010 at 5:05 pm

        Would be nice to see how much McDonalds pays the Heart Foundation annually.

        Well, in Australia, according to ‘The Age’…

        The fast-food chain has had to make significant changes to its recipes and is paying $330,000 a year to earn the Heart Foundation’s tick of approval.

    • Lanthanide 4.2
      10 December 2010 at 5:24 pm

      FYI, from wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy
      FDA officials describing aspartame as “one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved” and its safety as “clear cut”.

      Aspartame controversy holds about as much weight as climate change denial in my books.

      Also, I read a study that showed that having healthy options on a fastfood menu makes people more likely to buy from that restaurant, even if they don’t buy the healthy option. Basically it’s sort of a bait-and-switch your brain plays: because McD’s have healthy options on the menu, you decide to go there, but when you actually come to make the decision, you’ll just buy the regular Big Mac anyway, because your brain feels soothes because you considered the healthy option first. I haven’t explained that very well, but it probably explains a lot behind healthy options at fast food places – even if they haven’t done studies, they can probably see that after they add healthy options, their total revenue will go up, along with the unhealthy options rising in revenue also.

  5. Rex Widerstrom 5
    10 December 2010 at 5:12 pm

    If the difference between banning a person from doing something (in this case consuming their food of choice) and encouraging them not to escapes those on the left, I’d suggest any future criticism of “authoritarian attitudes” from the likes of Collins et al be given the “humour” tag.

    • felix 5.1
      10 December 2010 at 5:37 pm

      Don’t you want to ban people from smoking tobacco by requiring a prescription?

      • Rex Widerstrom 5.1.1
        10 December 2010 at 5:58 pm

        No not quite, I want to facilitate the continued access to tobacco by people with a pre-existing addiciton by having them able to obtain a one-off certification (a “smokers licence”) which allows them to smoke as much as they like whenever they like.

        A minimal inconvenience I know, but the best way I can think of to preserve their freedom while preventing those not presently addicted from developing such an addiction.

        I’d also support warnings on fast food boxes (starved for both time and sustenance I ate my first Big Mac in – literally – ten years the other night. One look at the quantities of sugar and fat helped ensure at least another decade will pass before I indulge again) and other educational efforts.

        • felix 5.1.1.1
          10 December 2010 at 6:01 pm

          I’d say that constitutes a ban for anyone who doesn’t already smoke, wouldn’t you?

          • Rex Widerstrom 5.1.1.1.1
            10 December 2010 at 6:59 pm

            In a sense, yes. But there’s also a ban on my consuming powdered rhino horn but as I’ve never had it in the first place its much less of an imposition on my personal freedom to insist I don’t take up the practice than it is to permit me to do so and then attempt to ban me from it.

            Whereever possible I try to balance undertaking initiatives which are undoubtedly well meant against infringing on personal freedom, particularly of those who’ve been sanctioned to undertake a behaviour and are then told it’s not allowed.

            I also weigh the danger versus the loss of freedom. I am sure that there are some who’d argue it’s possible to smoke and not get ill as a result (“my grandad smoked 40 a day and lived to 93…”) but it tends to be anecdotal and something of a lottery. Smoke, even in moderation, and chances are you will fall ill. However it’s entirely possible to have the odd pie with no real ill-efects – especially if you then spend the next 45 minutes running madly round a playground and provided you don’t have one every day.

            I guess it depends on the value you place upon freedom versus health and a whole lot of other things. I admit I tend to place freedom – even the freedom to make errors of judgment – on a level it’s hard for much else to over-ride.

            • felix 5.1.1.1.1.1
              10 December 2010 at 7:35 pm

              “Smoke, even in moderation, and chances are you will fall ill. However it’s entirely possible to have the odd pie with no real ill-efects – especially if you then spend the next 45 minutes running madly round a playground and provided you don’t have one every day.”

              This is the crux of the contradiction. A single cigarette probably isn’t more significant, health wise, than a single pie. But they can both have devastating effects if you have them all the time.

              But with the pies you trust people to regulate their own intake of and go for a run, whereas with the cigs you don’t.

              • Rex Widerstrom …
                10 December 2010 at 8:08 pm

                I’m the first to admit I’m not ideologically pure on these sorts of issues, felix. Philosophically I want the absolute maximum freedom for people, provided their activity doesn’t harm others. And even then, we should try to find a way to safely contain it rather than ban it outright (e.g. race tracks for “hoons”).

                But then the humanitarian in me wants to prevent unnecessary harm to my fellow beings. Thus I bend myself into shapes Escher wouldn’t have thought of, trying to achieve the latter while preserving as much as possible of the former.

                That’s why I support decriminalisation of drugs and the availability of heroin etc on prescription. These aren’t activities to be encouraged – quite the opposite – but not only is wagging the state’s big finger ineffective, the state’s right to do so rests entirely on the potential these people have to damage other people – and most of that occurs through criminal activity designed to get money to get drugs.

                But you’re incorrect in saying:

                But with the pies you trust people to regulate their own intake of and go for a run, whereas with the cigs you don’t.

                It’s not about trusting cigarette smokers to regulate their intake. I’ve met maybe half a dozen who can, versus probably a hundred who are slaves to the nicotine addiction, and habit. I believe most smokers will smoke enough cigarettes to virtually guarantee them health problems. Far more than the percentage of occasional fast food consumers for whom it will become a problem.

                But – aside from the fact prohibition doesn’t work – I don’t believe the state has the moral mandate to interfere with the right of either group to indulge in their bad habit of choice.

                Encourage them to reduce or stop; fund programmes to help them adjust taxation to encourage healthier choices; by all means. But as soon as a ban is introduced the state has effectively promised to use its right to use force and impose punishment in order to enforce it. And I can’t accept that that’s appropriate.

                (As an aside I see the Australian Federal Govenment is to make nicotine replacement therapy eligible for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from next year. Well done them).

                • felix …
                  10 December 2010 at 10:22 pm

                  “I believe most smokers will smoke enough cigarettes to virtually guarantee them health problems. Far more than the percentage of occasional fast food consumers for whom it will become a problem.”

                  Yes but “occasional fast food consumers” aren’t really the issue, it’s encouraging kids to eat junk food as a normal part of their daily diet that’s the problem.

                  I don’t want to see McDonalds (or whatever) banned but that doesn’t mean I want it promoted in schools. Nor cigarettes for that matter.

                  I appreciate what you say about balancing harm/liberty and the inevitable inconsistencies – I do find it amusing that you and I come down equally firmly on different sides of the harm/liberty argument on different issues – and I do enjoy your perspectives on these issues as I know your views are genuine.

                  In this instance – getting the junk food out of school – I see the potential for long term health gains and I don’t see anyone’s freedom being curbed.

                  • QoT …
                    10 December 2010 at 10:31 pm

                    Felix, I love ya, but seriously. “encouraging kids to eat junk food as a normal part of their daily diet”? Any evidence of this actually happening would be totally cool, you know, to establish that this isn’t you drinking the “OMG fatties just sit on the sofa all day eating baby-flavoured donuts!” Koolaid.

                    I mean, if we want to have a discussion about the dubious-ness of schools allowing, if not HAVING to allow, companies like McDonald’s to run reading programmes or whatever in classes, with regard to the financial constraints schools are under and the moral grey area of dealing with the devil to attain a greater good … that’s cool.

                    But making this about OMG HAVING PIES IN THE TUCKSHOP MAKES KIDS FAT AND UGLY is really just not a constructive, or reality-based, conversation.

                    • felix …
                      10 December 2010 at 11:12 pm

                      I hear you, and speaking only for myself I’m not coming at this from a zOMG FATTIES perspective.

                      I just think we owe it to kids to give them better choices than “pie or burger”.

                      Not ‘cos it those might make them fat, just because there’s more to nutrition than white sugar and white flour.

                      ps I love you too.

                    • QoT …
                      10 December 2010 at 11:17 pm

                      But you *are* using language and phrases that go straight to “eww, fatties”.

                      Who’s saying that the only options available are pies and burgers? No one. But your comment specifically talks about encouraging and promoting “junk” food as though the only options are NO CHIPPIES EVER or EAT ALL THE CHIPPIES. As opposed to, have chippies AND fruit available and allow kids to learn to trust their bodies and appetites and not damage their physical AND mental health by policing them and telling them Being Fat Makes You A Bad Person.

                      Which is frankly exactly what happens when Zetetic and the like make posts pretending to be all about heeeeeeeeeealth which conveniently give them the excuse to bash fat kids.

                      It is up to all of us to check what we’re typing and what bullshit we buy into by using oppressive, bigoted, misleading language.

                      Captcha: scales – your gateway drug into body dysmorphia and eating disorders!

                    • felix …
                      11 December 2010 at 12:11 am

                      When we’re talking about McDs setting up in schools (and I have no doubt that’s where this is heading) then yes, we are talking about promotion – deliberately manipulative, highly effective tried and true promotion – of shit food at kids.

                      It goes way beyond simple availability Rex. Beyond encouragement even, Squillions of $$ beyond.

                      QoT I’m trying to see what I’ve written that’s crossed the line into fat issues. Some kinds of food are just better than others – I don’t see what that has to do with buying into body image propaganda.

                  • Rex Widerstrom …
                    10 December 2010 at 11:18 pm

                    it’s encouraging kids to eat junk food as a normal part of their daily diet that’s the problem

                    I get this mental picture of tuck shop ladies hiding behind the salad bar saying “Pssst… kid… you don’t want that rabbit food! Look, over here, a nice creamy donut… you know you want it!”, their noses caked with the confectioners sugar they’ve been sniffing out the back 😀

                    “Availability” and “encouragement” aren’t the samew thing. And “lack of availability” and “reduction in consumption” don’t correlate – just ask Jamie Oliver.

                    (Having said that yes it is amusing how essentially similar principles can assist in arriving at diametrically opposed conclusions… sometimes I almost feel sorry for our politicians. I said sometimes. And almost… 😉 )

                    • QoT …
                      10 December 2010 at 11:22 pm

                      [Argh reply fail!]

                      Jesus, Rex, we don’t invoke Jamie Oliver, lest he appear and be a preachy fucking git with no respect for actually figuring out WHY people might not eat perfect homecooked organic meals from scratch three times a day using produce from their local farmers’ market where they know the vendors by first name! A perfect representation of what’s wrong with this post, really.

                    • Rex Widerstrom …
                      11 December 2010 at 12:08 am

                      But QoT, preachy gits are exactly the kind of people that think taking pies out of the tuckshop will “fix” obesity (as opposed to the alternate, which you enunciate so well above and with which I agree wholeheartedly, since it assumes young people have the capacity to learn and know what’s best and trust themselves and make good choices).

                      Which is precisely why I conjured him up… his intentions were good, but assuming that taking the turkey twisters off the lunch menu and grinning wildly at kids while going “Wotcha! Lentils! Awright me old china?! Get this down ya” would solve the problem showed just what a pillock he was, psychology-wise.

                    • QoT …
                      11 December 2010 at 12:15 pm

                      Fair enough then! Unfortunately many people refuse to agree with the notion of teaching kids to eat intuitively, because then of course they’ll just gorge on pies until they explode, or something – a behaviour which has nothing to do with food-policing or humans’ natural rebellion against having pleasure-giving behaviours prohibited.

    • Pascal's bookie 5.2
      10 December 2010 at 6:03 pm

      If the difference between banning a person from doing something (in this case consuming their food of choice)

      eh? As I understood it the policy was that schools couldn’t sell the stuff. That’s not banning kids from eating it, it’s banning schools or contractors from selling it on school grounds. That’s no more banning the kids from “consuming their food of choice” than a ban on religious indoctrination in school time would be banning the kids from having religion.

      • Rex Widerstrom 5.2.1
        10 December 2010 at 7:05 pm

        Well smokers seem to be of the opinion that banning their consumption in certain places infringes on their rights, and indeed it does. However in that instance there is a competing right – that of myself and other non-smokers to enjoy a beer or a meal without breathing second hand smoke.

        However I again think outright banning has gone too far – a bar or restaurant should be permitted to cater to smokers if it wished, then I’d just choose not to go there. Things like sports games, planes etc where there are no alternatives but for everyone to share the air – fair enough. Similarly, if a taxi driver smokes he or she should be permitted to allow passengers to do so – but not to smoke when there are non-smoking passengers in their car. Perhaps that’s slicing personal freedom very thinly, but I think it’s worth doing rather than letting it be eroded.

        A kid eating a pie, however, has no ill effect on the kid sitting beside them eating a salad. As I’ve said to felix above, it’s a matter of balancing freedom against other considerations, and not putting too low a price on it.

  6. QoT 6
    10 December 2010 at 7:07 pm

    The number of issues I have with this post are so substantial I’ve had to write my own. And draft a sequel. Because wow. All I’ll say is you have performed a miracle, Zet, in making me sympathize with DPF. I’ve said a variation on this so often it’s ground a track in my brain: can’t we criticise rightwingers and hypocrites for being rightwing hypocrites, not because they’re fat or ugly or female or gay?

  7. steve 7
    10 December 2010 at 8:03 pm

    There will always be the excuse of ‘everyone’s body is different” Sure there are those who do have a genuine medical reason for weight gain or lose.
    For the rest it is simple, the input hole is bigger than the output hole, and sitting on your fat arse does not help. You could at least try some form of exercise

    • QoT 7.1
      10 December 2010 at 8:16 pm

      I have to say I am such a huge fan of diagnosis by internet! steve, truly you have revolutionized the world and done away with all need for medical practitioners for YOU can tell me (or any person) exactly what I’m doing wrong!

      Oh, except that “calories in/calories out” is simplistic bullshit.

  8. peterlepaysan 8
    10 December 2010 at 9:43 pm

    This is a minefield. What is “healthy” (food or diet) is an endless debate. It is a debate largely dominated by by very powerful lobbyists (that includes the The Heart Foundation).

    The fact of the matter is that we did pretty well in dietary terms prior to the industrialisation of what is passed off in supermarkets as “food”.

    The fact of the matter is that there is plenty of well researched (and yes, “peer reviewed”) studies that demonstrate that that the”healthy” diets of the Heart Foundation and other Nutritional Nazis are irrelevant (at best) or detrimental (at worst) to reasonably good health.

    The actual real hard nosed science underlying diet/health/metabolism has never been addressed by bureaucrats or their ministers.

    Urban mythology and populist causes rule.

    Bugger good health. No votes in that.

    • QoT 8.1
      10 December 2010 at 11:19 pm

      It’s like the law&order debate, peter. Just a race to see who can implement the most policy based on “everyone know XYZ is bad and my gut says we should fix it by punishing ABC!” because mass public hysteria is never wrong (in the voting booth).

  9. Shaz47 9
    11 December 2010 at 1:20 am

    Everyone seems to think kids know the difference between good choices and bad choices and as a well seasoned parent I can assure you they don’t. I would not say to my children you can have anything you want but I might say you can have this or that. Giving your kids $5 and sending them off to school these days is just saying you can have anything you like. Kids today are bombarded with so much advertising ‘if you eat this you will look cool’, drink this and you will have mates hanging with you. Schools need to make sure they don’t buy into this mass marketing to kid for profit. Mac’er and KFC and the like are fine and I like to think it’s a good treat and like everything in this world, moderation is the key. When I send my kids to school I expect the school also says to my kids you can have this or that, limit the choices. One day my kids are going to be parents too. I hope by then they will know the difference between what is important for good health and what is a treat and what is needed to maintain good health for them. And by the way I know very healthy people who some might be considered overweight. I know some very skinny people who are so incredibly healthy it makes you sick. My point; school should be an extension of home and should have similar values. Choose you school well and if what is offered in the tuck shop is important then make sure your kids go to a school that follows your values. Children are not born with expert knowledge on what is healthy, this is learnt behaviour, and we as parents are their teachers.

  10. roger nome 10
    11 December 2010 at 12:16 pm

    This post gave me a hearty chuckle. Nice work. Now if DPF ever whines about not getting laid, we can just say he’s not taking enough personal responsibility. His lack of effort has left him with a surplus of non-markertable commodities… ouch!

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    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    17 hours ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    19 hours ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    19 hours ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    21 hours ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    22 hours ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 day ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    2 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    3 days ago

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago

  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week  Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • The End Of The World.
    Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
    Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Has There Been External Structural Change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Another Labour bully
    Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
    Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New Zealand
    JERRY COYNE writes –  If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...
    Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession.  This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • The Scafetta Saga
    It has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...
    Real ClimateBy Gavin
    7 days ago

  • Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolish
    TL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluff
      For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
     Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago

  • A Womance, and a Nomance.
    After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When The Internet Rushes To Your Defense
    Hi,You can’t make this stuff up.People involved with Sound of Freedom, the QAnon-infused movie about anti-child trafficker Tim Ballard, are dropping like flies. I won’t ruin your day by describing it here, but Vice reports that footage has emerged of executive producer Paul Hutchinson being inappropriate with a 16-year-old trafficking ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Doubts about Robertson’s good news day
    The trading banks yesterday concluded that though GDP figures released yesterday show the economy is not in recession, it may well soon be. Nevertheless, the fact that GDP has gone up 0.8 per cent in the latest quarter and that StatsNZ revised the previous quarter’s figure to show a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • The Votes That Media Dare Not Speak Its Name
    .Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..A recent political opinion poll (20 September) on TV1 presented what could only be called bleak news for the Left Bloc:National: 37%, down two points equating to 46 seatsLabour: 27%, down one point (34 ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38 2023
    Open access notables At our roots Skeptical Science is about cognition of the results of climate science research in the minds of the entire human population. Ideally we'd be perfectly communicating understanding of Earth's climate, and perfectly understood. We can only approximate that, but hopefully converging closer to perfection. With ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Failing To Hold Back The Flood: The Edgy Politics of the Twenty-First Century.
    Coming Over The Top: Rory Stewart's memoir, Politics On The Edge, lays bare the dangerous inadequacies of the Western World's current political model.VERY FEW NEW ZEALANDERS will have heard of Rory Stewart. Those with a keen eye for the absurdities of politics may recognise the name as that of the ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
    40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Appointment of District Court Judge
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    7 days ago

  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
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  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
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    1 week ago

  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
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    1 week ago

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    1 week ago

  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
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    1 week ago

  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
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    1 week ago

  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
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  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
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    1 week ago

  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
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    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
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    1 week ago

  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
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    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in Greymouth’s future
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    2 weeks ago

  • Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
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    2 weeks ago

  • PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflation
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    2 weeks ago

  • New cancer centre opens in Christchurch
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in top of the south’s roading resilience
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    3 weeks ago

  • New Zealanders continue to support the revitalisation of te reo as we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Mā...
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    3 weeks ago

  • New Wildlife Act to better protect native species
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    3 weeks ago

  • Further safety initiatives for Auckland City Centre
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    3 weeks ago

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