What if they are members of Rainbow Labour? Would that upset you?
But yeah, come on guys, less creepy focus on the private lives of MPs- you did just call out someone else on that, remember. Enjoying the beach is a terrible way to make an ad-hominem on a climate sceptic, anyway. Much better is finding out that they have weird views of how science works, or simply don’t understand climate science.
I think ayb was taking the piss, Ari. This image is from a calendar released by Lockwood a while ago in his role as a politician. It was widely publicised at the time and was a source of great hilarity.
This does seem to be walking along the same line you criticized other blogs for crossing recently though. I’m not even really sure what the point is you are trying to make, except to confirm the false stereotype that climate change is about warmer weather, rather than dramatically uncontrollable storms and droughts, environmental destruction and habitat loss.
I suggest you go and get a life Frog. It’s highly strung humorless types like you that give the Greens a bad name and why folks like me steer well clear of you and your dull party.
I thought the post ws funny. It was lighthearted and topical and poked fun at a politician who should know better. Lockwood Smith put that picture on his own calendar and it was a laughed back then without any Green finger-wagging. So why the histrionics now?
James I think you’re being unfair. If frog had actually seen the post Steady Eddy wrote about Kate have then I’m sure he would have made a more considered comment. I saw it and I can tell you there is no comparison between the two: those creeps lied and defamed and slandered Kate to try and end her career. There was nothing funny about it.
Perhaps, but I still think Frog was being a bit PC, for want of a better term.
I mean how dry can you get? Crying about how a picture of Lockwood in speedos “confirms the false stereotype that climate change is about warmer weather, rather than dramatically uncontrollable storms and droughts, environmental destruction and habitat loss.”
I’m not sure I like the idea of making fun of a politician for what they look like in their swimming gear, regardless. I know I’d look pretty ridiculous, too, so… đ
James, settled down and leave frog alone. I don’t want to turn this thread into a flame war. And hey, I happen to like the Greens.
frog, to answer your question, the point of the post was to have a laugh. It wasn’t intended to be nasty in any way, or to make light of climate change. We can’t be serious all the time brother, and sometimes you have to give things the benefit of the doubt.
So its fine for you lads to have a laugh at someone elses expense but if someone on the right attempts to take the piss, it is personal gutter politics.
Thats cool. Im just working out the rules you follow.
Cheers Tane etc, apologies for having neglected this thread.
I don’t give a toss about Lockwood’s personal life but I did find the Speedo vanity shot pretty funny.
Will upload the whole calendar shot to clear up any potential confusion about the source.
Ancient Geek: as per your suggestion have also added the “humor” tag (though reluctantly, as Frog so rightly points out, climate change is no laughing matter)
Sorry. My attempt at facetious humour around stereotypes – by talking about climate change in a moralistic way – obviously flopped.
I did see steady eddy’s post, and you are right it is in a different league. But as a whole I think the NZ political blogosphere is getting unnecessarily more personally. And whatever your intentions towards Dr Smith with this post, it did seem to carry unintended cruel undertones.
The problem you guys have is that everytime you make a post like this and people complain you say “It was meant to be funny – stop taking everything so seriously”.
But when other blogs do similar posts you jump up and down and say “it’s not funny” and or “it’s obviously just dog whistle politics”.
If you’re going to a serious voice-piece for the labour movement it would help if you were consistent.
And if you were really a serious voice-piece for the labour movement I thought we would have seen some comment from you guys on the major party of your movement shooting itself in the foot by not being transparent and breaching the Electoral Finance Act that it passed with loud rhetoric about restoring transparency to the NZ political scene.
Speaking of Blue Chip, I see Doug Graham is tied up in Lombard,the latest dodgy finance company to hit trouble. What is it with National and dodgy money?
National is allways a cheap date when it comes to corporate donations.
But there is quite a list of former NP cabinet ministers and failed companies.
Even Key was in with that Dairy Futures ? which had to shut up shop because the price of milk powder went through the roof.
I think it was a sort of options play on the Future of Fonterra, just the thing for a wall st gnome. But no real basis to any of it
Scientists in the U.K. have reported evidence that further refutes one theory of global climate change.
In the heated debate over global warming, there is an opposing idea, called the cosmic ray theory, which contends that climate change is simply caused by cosmic rays coming from the sun.
I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
âBut, thatâs the thing, mate, isnât it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
Jerry Coyne writes – This article from New Zealandâs Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland, the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the NgÄ Ara WhetĆ« | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollardâs latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next yearâs South Pacific Defence Ministersâ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere.Elizabeth Rata writes –Â Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
Now that heâs back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
Donât expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying â or, at least, of keeping the hard news out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
The big dairy co-op Fonterra had some Christmas cheer to offer its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalitionâs determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the governmentâs official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came from  Education Minister Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
This isnât news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterdayâs nationwide protests by Maori as âpretty unfair.â Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
New Zealandâs dairy industry, the mainstay of the countryâs export trade, has been under pressure from rising costs. Down on the farm, this has been hitting hard. But there was more positive news this week, first  from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where prices rose, and then from a report ...
Rob MacCulloch writes –Â In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normalcolumn of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
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 ...
The electorate has high expectations of the new government. The question is: can it deliver?  Some might say the signs are not promising. Protestors  are already marching in the streets. The new Prime Minister has had little experience of managing very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he ...
Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing MÄori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
 A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to âŠ. Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand! Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations. ⹠This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show âfiscal cliffsâ that would amount to âbillions of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
Strong Words: âWe do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te PÄti MÄori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme â Â that technically could have solved New Zealandâs looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour governmentâs ...
If those elected to the MÄori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them? Chris Trotter writes â Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. âWho was ...
The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements â one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First â are more than policy documents. ...
Geoffrey Miller writes â New Zealandâs international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific â where Peters will be picking up where he ...
The most charitable explanation for Nationalâs behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around â incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
New Zealandâs international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific â where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labourâs recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate changeDaily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
Labourâs immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford is calling on the Government to follow the example of Australia and help New Zealandersâ close family members stuck in Gaza to escape and take shelter here. ...
The Green Party is urging the Government to recognise its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi so our tamariki and mokopuna can grow up in an Aotearoa where their language is celebrated, their health is prioritised, and their whenua is protected. ...
By scrapping Aotearoaâs world-leading smokefree laws, this government is sacrificing MÄori lives to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. Not only is this plan revolting, but it doesnât add up. Treasury has estimated that the reversal of smokefree laws to pay for tax cuts will cost our health system $5.25bn, ...
Figures showing National needs to find another $900 million for landlords highlights the mess this coalition Government is in less than a week into the job. ...
Community organisations, mana whenua and the Greens have written to the incoming Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to call for the progression without delay of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. ...
"On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to congratulate Christopher Luxon on his appointment as Prime Minister,â Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
NZ First has gotten their wish to âtake our country backâ to the 1800s with a policy program that will white-wash Aotearoa and erase tangata whenua rights. By disestablishing the MÄori Health Authority this Government has condemned MÄori to die seven years earlier than PÄkehÄ. By removing Treaty obligations from ...
Te PÄti MÄori have called for the resignation of the Ministry of Foreign and Trade chief executive Chris Seed following his decision to erase te reo MÄori from government communications. While the country still waits for a new government to be formed, Mr Seed took it upon himself to undermine ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawkeâs Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Governmentâs commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says. ...
New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UKâs attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te PĆ«kenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says. âI have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te PĆ«kenga to advise them of my ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealandâs national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. Â The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Governmentâs direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. At todayâs auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) â each ...
With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Governmentâs 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids. The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministersâ meeting (SPDMM). âThis meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,â Judith Collins says. ...
Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. âWe are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. âThis hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. âThe human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. âWhile opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Ministerâs thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran OâSullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber. I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealandâs relationship with the United States. This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
Good morning, tÄnÄ koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating todayâs event and for the Councilâs broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Governmentâs plan for its first 100 days from today. âThe last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. âIâm delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
In rural South Auckland, a team of conservationists head out on a nocturnal mission to track down Aotearoaâs only native land mammal. Asia Martusia King tags along. The bat hunt begins as usual: with Vengaboys. A group of scientists sits somberly around a table in a rural South Auckland paddock, ...
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A landmark Waitangi Tribunal report into injustices suffered by NgÄpuhi will strengthen the iwi's case as it looks to restart its stalled Treaty settlement negotiations, a hapĆ« leader says. ...
In just 18 months, the Auckland-based YouTube channel has gone from working from home and out of cafes to a brand new multi-million dollar studio. Sam Brooks asks the trio how they pulled it off, and what theyâre planning to do with it.On December 4, a video called âThe ...
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Searching widely for ways to overcome deep opposition by fossil fuel nations to a phase-out of their products, the President of COP28 enlisted an ally while negotiators sought subtler language yesterday. âWe have been asked by the UAE presidency to help find common language that will be acceptable ...
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You can read the full story, plus see photographs from Craig McKenzie, in the November-December issue of New Zealand Geographic magazine, or on their website. The bitternâs eerie, booming call sounds like a lament, a tangi ringing across the marshes. Now, the birds themselves are in trouble. ...
 1. In the evening and in the night, I sit on the balcony and think of you. I canât see the water but I know itâs there, soft and slow. We bathed in it that last day, you and I, when the dusk hung heavy as cloth of gold ...
Opinion: You may have been there, waiting your turn, wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown, surrounded by a flurry of staff, the smell of disinfectant in the air. If youâve ever undergone surgery, you probably know the nervous, stress-laden pre-op feeling. What may come as a surprise is that ...
Alex Casey unearths the origin story of an New Zealand icon â featuring a surprise cameo from an international comedy megastar. At first glance, the Facebook post from a Waipu cafe reads like any other heartfelt change in ownership announcement. âGeorge and Amber have reflected on their involvement in our ...
This week on Their house, my garden, why my spinach plant has grown suspiciously tall, and how to deal with your own over-eager plants.  Beginner gardeners would be forgiven for thinking a plant growing tall is reason to celebrate. We are, after all, the kind of species who mark door ...
Luxon drove the crumbling SH2 with a handful of MPs on Friday morning to reach the small town, gauge progress of its recovery, and learn what it needs from the new government. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bianca Baggiarini, Lecturer, Australian National University Last week, reports emerged that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are using an artificial intelligence (AI) system called Habsora (Hebrew for âThe Gospelâ) to select targets in the war on Hamas in Gaza. The system has ...
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Analysis: The government was under attack on multiple fronts during a week of relentless criticism and then faced its first Question Time in Parliament, Peter Wilson writes. ...
Well, itâs 4.30pm on a Friday which feels as appropriate time as ever to say goodbye. The Spinoffâs live updates have come to an end, almost four years after they were first switched on. If you missed my explainer this morning of whatâs going on, here it is. In short: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University Shutterstock A home â in the physical and emotional sense â is foundational to living an ordinary life with a feeling of inclusion. National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants with the highest ...
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Christopher Luxon says the new government is going to continue everything that the previous one put into place to help with the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
Te Whatu Ora is continuing to investigate after a data breach that saw vaccine-related information shared online last week. The agency is liaising with the Privacy Commissioner and said it will make âany appropriate notificationsâ if individuals were impacted by the breach. âAlongside the work to identify the material allegedly ...
Live - Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been in Wairoa this morning to gauge progress of the town's recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle. Watch a media conference with him here. ...
Sam Brooks reviews a new immersive film experience at Aucklandâs planetarium.Journalists get invited to review things all the time. Books, films, shows, exhibitions, all of it. I say yes to a lot of them and âno, sorryâ to a bit more. Very rarely do I go, âAbsolutely I need ...
Waka Kotahi has begun the process of re-adopting its former name, the New Zealand Transport Agency (or NZTA). It follows a directive from the new government that public agencies should have their primary name in English and not te reo. This came as part of the coalition deal between National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Pavlovich, Senior lecturer in the School of Accounting and Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka â Victoria University of Wellington The new coalition government has announced a suite of tax reforms, including reintroducing the ability for property investors to deduct the interest ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Â The Bee Stingby Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton, $37) The runner-up for the 2023 Booker Prize ...
A new poem by Ćtepoti poet Jasmine O M Taylor. a retreat if you find a chance before theyâve all melted into the air find time to get on a glacier and find a cave in the glacier and go inside the cave inside the glacier it will speak to ...
Our award-winning podcast assesses the opening stanza of the Luxon-led government. After the long, serene political gap as coalition talks went on, politics has roared back with plenty of shouting and not so much rizz. Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather assess the early exchanges, including Winston Petersâ ...
âThe new government has a clear choice to make before Christmas. Do they live up to their stated intention of governing for all New Zealanders, or do they dash the hopes of tens of thousands of kiwi workers by unilaterally abolishing Fair Pay ...
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Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she has already met twice with KiwiRail bosses over a "major cost blowout" in the project to replace the Interislander ferries. ...
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Opinion: Courts are halls of justice, but they are also well-financed institutional purchasers of goods and services, outsourcing much of their work to private consultants and contractors, including lawyers, advocates, psychologists, social workers, and drug counsellors who earn their living from court contracts. Though there is nothing inherently wrong ...
Analysis: The United Nations’ COP28 climate negotiations have begun their final phase with only five days or so left to agree a wide range of measures designed to accelerate nationsâ climate responses in coming years. While the draft text prepared by government officials over the past week has some ...
By the look things I’d say he’s more than relaxed. I mean jeez AYB, a little photo shopping could have saved my my eyes from that.
Now I know where National have been hiding all that policy they’re going to be releasing.
Are you guys members of Rainbow Labour?
I think you need to get a life sometimes. Surely your obsession with national Party MPs is at best sad, at worst – well desperate.
What if they are members of Rainbow Labour? Would that upset you?
But yeah, come on guys, less creepy focus on the private lives of MPs- you did just call out someone else on that, remember. Enjoying the beach is a terrible way to make an ad-hominem on a climate sceptic, anyway. Much better is finding out that they have weird views of how science works, or simply don’t understand climate science.
I think ayb was taking the piss, Ari. This image is from a calendar released by Lockwood a while ago in his role as a politician. It was widely publicised at the time and was a source of great hilarity.
This does seem to be walking along the same line you criticized other blogs for crossing recently though. I’m not even really sure what the point is you are trying to make, except to confirm the false stereotype that climate change is about warmer weather, rather than dramatically uncontrollable storms and droughts, environmental destruction and habitat loss.
I suggest you go and get a life Frog. It’s highly strung humorless types like you that give the Greens a bad name and why folks like me steer well clear of you and your dull party.
I thought the post ws funny. It was lighthearted and topical and poked fun at a politician who should know better. Lockwood Smith put that picture on his own calendar and it was a laughed back then without any Green finger-wagging. So why the histrionics now?
James I think you’re being unfair. If frog had actually seen the post Steady Eddy wrote about Kate have then I’m sure he would have made a more considered comment. I saw it and I can tell you there is no comparison between the two: those creeps lied and defamed and slandered Kate to try and end her career. There was nothing funny about it.
Perhaps, but I still think Frog was being a bit PC, for want of a better term.
I mean how dry can you get? Crying about how a picture of Lockwood in speedos “confirms the false stereotype that climate change is about warmer weather, rather than dramatically uncontrollable storms and droughts, environmental destruction and habitat loss.”
Give me a break.
I’m not sure I like the idea of making fun of a politician for what they look like in their swimming gear, regardless. I know I’d look pretty ridiculous, too, so… đ
Should have been filed under humour?
You have to admire Lockwood’s physique for a man of his age- I hope I’m looking that good when I’m 60!
VEry good post a_y_b, almost made me fall off my chair.
James, settled down and leave frog alone. I don’t want to turn this thread into a flame war. And hey, I happen to like the Greens.
frog, to answer your question, the point of the post was to have a laugh. It wasn’t intended to be nasty in any way, or to make light of climate change. We can’t be serious all the time brother, and sometimes you have to give things the benefit of the doubt.
Thank you Tane. Speaking also as a big fan of the Greens, welcome Frog. I read your blog often. I wish you and your party well.
So its fine for you lads to have a laugh at someone elses expense but if someone on the right attempts to take the piss, it is personal gutter politics.
Thats cool. Im just working out the rules you follow.
Cheers Tane etc, apologies for having neglected this thread.
I don’t give a toss about Lockwood’s personal life but I did find the Speedo vanity shot pretty funny.
Will upload the whole calendar shot to clear up any potential confusion about the source.
Ancient Geek: as per your suggestion have also added the “humor” tag (though reluctantly, as Frog so rightly points out, climate change is no laughing matter)
Sorry. My attempt at facetious humour around stereotypes – by talking about climate change in a moralistic way – obviously flopped.
I did see steady eddy’s post, and you are right it is in a different league. But as a whole I think the NZ political blogosphere is getting unnecessarily more personally. And whatever your intentions towards Dr Smith with this post, it did seem to carry unintended cruel undertones.
The problem you guys have is that everytime you make a post like this and people complain you say “It was meant to be funny – stop taking everything so seriously”.
But when other blogs do similar posts you jump up and down and say “it’s not funny” and or “it’s obviously just dog whistle politics”.
If you’re going to a serious voice-piece for the labour movement it would help if you were consistent.
And if you were really a serious voice-piece for the labour movement I thought we would have seen some comment from you guys on the major party of your movement shooting itself in the foot by not being transparent and breaching the Electoral Finance Act that it passed with loud rhetoric about restoring transparency to the NZ political scene.
So hmmm – so what “dog whistle” do you see in this case?
So, actually Frog was being funnier than everyone else but the humour just went over our heads. Sorry for not getting it Frog.
It’s kind of like how the Greens have the best policy on lots of stuff but most people just think they’re weird.
Sam
Some MIGHT think the Greens are weird however almost everybody KNOWS that Labour are corrupt.
Please stop calling yourself ‘everybody’, bruv, it’s disturbing.
Are there any photos ( in the public arena of course ?) of Lockwood Smith and his prize Bulls?
There is the Blue Chip banner one of course, shown here
Speaking of Blue Chip, I see Doug Graham is tied up in Lombard,the latest dodgy finance company to hit trouble. What is it with National and dodgy money?
National is allways a cheap date when it comes to corporate donations.
But there is quite a list of former NP cabinet ministers and failed companies.
Even Key was in with that Dairy Futures ? which had to shut up shop because the price of milk powder went through the roof.
I think it was a sort of options play on the Future of Fonterra, just the thing for a wall st gnome. But no real basis to any of it
Just musing about MR FEBRUARY in the above calendar.
What are the hunks on the other months? Are there Firemen , League players ?
Wonder if there are any pre school teachers or even old folks home on other months. Or Does Lockwood ‘not go there’
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Scientists in the U.K. have reported evidence that further refutes one theory of global climate change.
In the heated debate over global warming, there is an opposing idea, called the cosmic ray theory, which contends that climate change is simply caused by cosmic rays coming from the sun.
Alec, Hi.
I read something similar this morning.
Are you talking about this?
http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/04/studies-debunk.html