Queenie never said "My husband and I are not amused." Probably thought it was an interesting experiment, but time enough to abandon it. Regional governance can work – if the right balance between supervision and tolerance of diversity is applied. The eurocrats seem to have erred in attempting to recycle the worst features of socialism.
Personally I don't give a flying (EU or Union Jack) flag what Britain wants to do, but if you coming here, attempting to stir the pot, keeps your little woody alive then rock on brother.
Cover off the basic prep…2 months food, bleach, toilet paper, flu meds, prescription meds….imho the risk is now too high to ignore (even if this is not peer reviewed yet). Still time to get in before the herd.
And the insert protein in cov,is not present in other cov,an has significant similarity to HIV.
The finding of 4 unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV, all of which have identity /similarity to amino acid residues in key structural proteins of HIV-1 is unlikely to be fortuitous in nature.
Taken together, our findings suggest unconventional evolution of 2019-nCoV that warrants further investigation. Our work highlights novel evolutionary aspects of the 2019-nCoV and has implications on the pathogenesis and diagnosis of this virus.
The phrase 'unconventional evolution' is intentionally vague; I wonder what they really want to say.
Shouldn't jump to conclusions,to quickly as it seems the virus is also a fast mutator.
According to Lai, RNA viruses—viruses that have RNA as their genetic material rather than DNA—such as the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS, have a “high mutation rate,” which allows it to “change properties very quickly.”
As an example, in the Lancet study, the RNA sequences isolated from 6 patients from the same household are different from each other, he noted. Lai said he observed in his previous research the “frequent occurrence of RNA recombination between different coronavirus strains,” a sign of the virus evolving.
"As influenza is caused by a variety of species and strains of viruses, in any given year some strains can die out while others create epidemics, while yet another strain can cause a pandemic. Typically, in a year's normal two flu seasons (one per hemisphere), there are between three and five million cases of severe illness and around 650,000 deaths worldwide,"
the mathematicians disagree with what?……that influenza kills approximately 650,000 in an average year?…or that the R nought ratio for measles is between 12 and 18?
so neither is disputed…thats as expected as the analysis is performed by statisticians.
The argument is the timing and environment (two variables) that potentially make comparisons pointless….it is reasonable to expect that the initial R0 value will be higher due to a lack of awareness and/or precaution, then there is the lag in reporting and analysis and also environmental differences.
All reasonable assumptions, however the point was not the accuracy of comparisons but the fact that any exponential increase is of concern, especially the longer the period of inaction continues….whether 2-3 or 4.08 or higher. It would also be reasonable to expect that R value to fall now that (some) precautions are being implemented
The virus in Wuhan had at least a five week start before any action was taken and has already spread outside the initial area, unsurprising given that China has a large mobile population living in many instances in close interaction, and given the fact that in has 140 million international visitors per annum and the incubation period is measured in many days….the horse has bolted.
As the RNZ interviewed virologist noted its too late to contain the virus and the best chance is to develop a vaccine and distribute it as quickly as possible and any action taken now is to prevent as much spread as possible to buy time for that event…..the virus now exists and humans will have to learn to cope with it as they do influenza and measles. Did we call for Auckland to be quarantined during the recent measles epidemic, or Samoa even?
Hysterics around closing boarders (for how long?) and contagion rates that are fairly typical (added to what appears a fairly low mortality rate) serve no purpose….indeed such a reaction has the potential to produce far more death and misery as vital supplies for large portions of the population become harder to obtain
Most NZers should have that for quake prep anyway.
"Still time to get in before the herd."
You planning to go into isolation/quarrantine? 😉
Someone that puts New Massive Contagion Risk in capitals on the front of their youtube is probably to be avoided. He's fear mongering, even if he's getting some details right.
I've been following him for years. He has a PhD in pathology from Duke, speciality in toxins, sub-speciality neurotoxins.
Buying extra stuff that will get used later on anyway has little down side. Flu stuff I've brought costs less than $20 and that may not get used so might be given away. Twenty bucks to insure my safety. Hardly an over reaction.
And yeah…people should have these kinds of preperations anyway, but they don’t. I could be because they moved and donated stuff they didn’t replace, ran out of money and used their stores, or maybe couldn’t afford them in the first place. But most people just don’t do it. They could handle a week and beyond that it’s iffy
"the story was first broken by Radio NZ political editor Jane Patterson, and she provided this update about cabinet forging ahead with the work, with a goal to having it up and running by 2023. It would primarily be a public-service broadcaster, which is relevant because of the potential for culture clash between the purely non-commercial RNZ and commercial TVNZ network. But it could also have a mixed funding model, with some revenue coming from commercial sources."
And "as Radio NZ’s Charlie Dreaver reports, criticism is mounting in the information vacuum. That’s partly because there is some commercial sensitivity in whatever gets decided, but as Victoria University media professor Peter Thompson put it, knowing what’s in the blueprint would allow the public to actually discuss what could happen."
What strikes me is the lack of conceptual advance on what we've had the past 30-odd years, but perhaps that's why Faafoi was sent back to the drawing board by cabinet in December.
"RNZ has also been told the amended proposal puts a specific emphasis on the fact the new company will be primarily a public service media outlet, and to ensure that is made crystal clear in any legislation, and through a charter. That would also help to alleviate some of the strongly expressed concerns some ministers had about a "culture clash" – namely the risk the public broadcasting ethos could be subsumed by an aggressive commercial imperative once the new company was established and operating in the media marketplace." https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/408355/new-details-revealed-as-cabinet-agrees-on-rnz-tvnz-public-broadcasting-decision
So this thing will hinge on the viability of a new design, in which the balance between the public interest and the necessity of sensible economy in the management of the media is appropriate. I see no reason why both left & right cannot be satisfied simultaneously. The only reason that hasn't happened before is both bunches of jerks being lazy and performing poorly all the time.
Honestly this just look alike another one of those government projects that was inevitable that they would have a go at, and almost inevitable that it would take multiple parliamentary terms to get anywhere if at all.
We already have Maori television, which has plenty of public subsidy as well as advertising.
TVNZ is so awful in achieving any public good benefit that it needs to die. So why don't they just let it?
I don't see any need to tamper with RNZ. It’s evolving just fine.
It will be very interesting to see how this business case evolves, but I am very skeptical.
TVNZ is going to die, and be replaced by something else under the proposal.
Though I think restarting TVNZ6 and TVNZ7 is probably the way to go. It was a real shame that National had those channels chopped, they were the closest thing that NZ would have to true public TV.
What's a little depressing about this 'project' is that the various 'stakeholders' involved all have their own vested interests and don't seem to include "the public" unless one is prepared to get involved with lobby groups. (I was at one time and still admire the efforts of the likes of Peter Thompson, Miles? and Co – but never really thought it was ambitious enough).
For a population of 5 mill (and on that basis we hear the continued harping that means PSB is unaffordable and difficult ro achieve), the whole system is completely over-managed (last count about 7 different agencies involved complete with their enterage of Directors, Board members, CEO's et al)
A lot of it is really down to political will, and possibly the fact that even if something half-decent gets implemented, you can be sure that if & when a new junta gets elected (with its commitment to the market the market, growth growth, demography and risk management), it'll immediately seek to destroy it.
And I fear we’re probably just going to see another exodus of those who’ve given up in despair. Shame to see Jane Wrightson go in many ways. Al Jazeera will probably be spoiled for choice
About 18 months ago, the New Yorker reported on resurgent tribalism: "We live in a time of tribes. Not of ideologies, parties, groups, or beliefs—these don’t convey the same impregnability of political fortifications, or the yawning chasms between them. American politics today requires a word as primal as “tribe” to get at the blind allegiances and huge passions of partisan affiliation." https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/a-new-report-offers-insights-into-tribalism-in-the-age-of-trump
"Tribes demand loyalty, and in return they confer the security of belonging. They’re badges of identity, not of thought. In a way, they make thinking unnecessary, because they do it for you, and may punish you if you try to do it for yourself. To get along without a tribe makes you a fool. To give an inch to the other tribe makes you a sucker."
"More in Common, a research organization based in Europe and the United States, released a report called “Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape.” It builds on the group’s prior work in France, Germany, and Italy—an effort to understand and counteract rising populism and fragmentation in the Western democracies. Throughout the past year, the report’s four authors surveyed eight thousand randomly chosen Americans, asking questions about “core beliefs”: moral values, attitudes toward parenting and personal responsibility, perceptions of threats, approaches to group identity. The authors then sorted people, based on their beliefs and values, into seven “tribes”: Progressive Activists, Traditional Liberals, Passive Liberals, Politically Disengaged, Moderates, Traditional Conservatives, Devoted Conservatives."
So what we have here is an attempt at more sophisticated political analysis. We know the Dems & Reps are now functioning more like tribes than political parties. The question is why this morphing has occurred. The theory of the researchers needs to explain how seven organic tribes coalesce into the two archaic parties.
"More in Common found that “tribal membership predicts differences in Americans’ views on various political issues better than demographic, ideological, and partisan groupings.” In other words, whether or not you think creativity is more important than good behavior in children is a better indicator of your political views than is your gender, your race, your income, or your party affiliation."
“We have too much opinion research and not enough value research,” according to Tim Dixon, an Australian political activist and a founder of More in Common.
"This is why the seven tribes are hidden. We’re used to seeing race, gender, region, religion, and other categories line up with political preferences in numbingly predictable ways. We rarely know the underlying world views that inform these opinions. The tribes in the report are different from the rigid and unchanging partisan monoliths of our national political debate… Away from the fun-house mirrors and the bullhorns of cable news and social media, people’s views are more nuanced and less easy to caricature. For example, eighty-one per cent of those interviewed believe that racism is a serious problem, but eighty-five per cent think that race should not be a factor in college admissions."
"The 8% of Progressive Activists on the left and the 25% of Traditional and Devoted Conservatives on the right are less open to compromise, less ideologically flexible".
Together they constitute a hardline third of the electorate. The majority two-thirds want compromise, and are fed-up with the parties. So the system has warped away from most people, to serve only the rabid left/right ideologues. No wonder anti-establishment feeling has escalated so much.
Facebook enables us to form our own tribes, and we seem pretty good about it given its popularity.
Ardern has about 700,000 Facebook followers and about 400,000 on Twitter. So social media is easily obliterating the tribal micro-distinctions, and ordinary politics here appears to be evolving just fine.
Yeah, I recall encountering that & identifying with Raglan, although a second look suggests I really have one foot in Cuba St – which, since I've always been averse to Wellingtonians, makes me feel quite uneasy… 🥶
Multicultural then, huh? What about you – identify with any of those 8? As Sacha observed, the 7-fold scheme featured by the New Yorker is just across the old linear axis, whereas the kiwi one seems more ethnic (ethnologists would no doubt point out that I'm using the term incorrectly, so I plead guilty in advance).
Bits and pieces of the last four I guess. It's changed over time having had to be amongst the first four (North Shore, Grey Lynn, Balclutha and Remmers ).
That's not to say I'm a bit iffy about the Raglan tribe – just because often self-interest can take precedence.
Probably up to others to give an opinion of me though. And when the North Shore tribe meet their maker, I'm not sure what it is they'll actually have 'achieved' other than the superficial
Interesting, quite a mix. Traditional framing: "a well-rounded person". I do share the ethos of North Shore & Balclutha with you (probably due to boyhood in suburban New Plymouth in a heartland family).
Not Remmers, and only the front part of Grey Lynn: "highly educated intelligentsia who value ideas above material things" since the other part of GL is pretentious/superficial.
Although Wellingtonians are probably less the petty bureaucrats nowadays than they once were (boring conformists), Aucklanders are still just as shallow as ever (crass commercial). Bruce Jesson got it right with his mirror-glass framing. My circle of friends there are all alternative thinkers from the seventies and I suspect there's plenty more in Ak that I don't know personally. Acclimatised to the rat-race, the bullshit just rolls off them…
Other peer-group affiliations from the past were identity-based too, and each co-created a culture that one could call tribal. The sixties rebels, the counter-culture. The hand-shake got replaced by the hug. Almost entirely apolitical. You can see why the Greens who emerged from that as a minority strand view today's Greens as somewhat alien life-forms..
What would be quite an interesting post/thread would be to take the 8 tribes, and have commenters from The Standard develop each of the definitions further.
As in:
"The Grey Lynn Tribe – Intellectual
The highly educated intelligentsia who value ideas above material things and intellectualise every element of their lives. Their most prized possession is a painting by the artist of the moment, they frequent film festivals, feel guilty about discussing property values and deep down are uneasy about their passion for reality television………..
………. the urban equivalent of Martinborough; though guilty about discussing property values and watching reality television, not averse to seeing investment gains or being addicted to Coronation Street; also not averse to a bit of name-dropping (such as my neighbour is JC) from time to time, or being a regular guest on "the Panel" with Wallace.
But I'd also suggest that any commenter should also have to write a self-criticism. I'll do mine a bit later – ankle biter to look after and amuse – but it'll go along the lines of "I can be a bit of a pratt at times"
Their "find your tribe" thingy reckons I'm Grey Lynn. Which, by their description and acquaintance with some actual Grey Lynn residents, is a group I actively dislike.
This has been around for quite a while now, and I think it was partly responsible for tilting my interest away from political partisanship towards value based thinking. For what it's worth I'm a roughly even mix of Grey Lynn and Raglan.
There are lots of these sorts of models, and there is something useful to be taken away from most of them.
Jeepers they voting regarding allowing new witnesses.
Will those repug's stick together for their party or will any 'cross the floor' for the good of the people?
Edit… the yay’s are 49 and the nay’s are 51.
Bugger, no new witnesses. They are now going into recess.
There's plenty of Repugs that acknowledge he clearly did it, it's impeachable, but they wouldn't vote for conviction and removal no matter what. Rubio's explanation of this is a real doozy.
The witness vote just means they now have to wear voting for a cover-up as well. Right now it's looking fairly likely what Bolton has to say will come dribbling out over the next few months anyway, along with a lot of what other potential witnesses might have said.
well they voted to burn down government as they knew it, they wanted a new order, get rid of the old, yada yada yada, i guess they succeeded.
now, watch that drive.
but in saying that, the republicans are the one that can disapear trump in a new york minute by declare the 25th on him. They can. 🙂 But so as long as he signs their tax cuts, their gutting of the social welfare net, the gutting of any environmental laws, the gutting of public schools and universities etc, they will do nothing. He is the hand that signs their laws. He is the hand that will drown government in a bath tub. It took them a few decades but they finally got the hand, and the cheap fuck he is, he is doing for a hand full of dollars that he charges on beds in his winter white house.
Yeah, but, as is often the case, the subtext may tell the real story. Who would be paranoid about a fundamentalist christian becoming president? Another, who wants to get there first.
Pence got born again. Doesn't say that happened to Rubio. That may put him in a different catholic tribe. Regardless, there may be rivalry rather than camaraderie between them.
The Senate vote suggests that two of the three legs of state that were devised to protect democracy in the US have effectively been chopped off. That means???
That means the US is fucked. All three branches of government are now controlled by an amoral group with no respect for law, principles, the constitution or their citizens. Their only guiding principle is grabbing and holding power in order to impose their reactionary medieval agenda.
A YouTube prankster seems to have tricked Katie Hopkins into picking up a “completely fake” award following which she delivered an offensive speech that saw her mock Muslims, Asian people and epilepsy sufferers.
Josh Pieters said the former Apprentice contestant flew to Prague to accept the trophy on Monday (27 January).
In footage from the “ceremony”, Hopkins – a far-right commentator – can be seen smiling with Pieters in front of a screen bearing the words “Campaign to Unify the Nation Trophy.”
When she collects the award, the capital letters enlarge, spelling out the C-word.
“It’s strange to hear nice things being said about yourself,” she can be heard saying.
have a look at the East German wall, with its no mans lands, its mine fields, its self shooting systems and its not an escalation but a forseable step in the building of a fence that will do more to keep people in then out. As a reminder, the mines, will be on the US American side. Not the mexican side.
But oh well, her fucking emails, and besides how much harm could he do, and besides we must be understanding of the white male working class with economic anxiety.
Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess
nope, now we are ruled by mafia for mafia. the russian mafia, the us mafia, the asian triads, the european mafia etc etc etc, i think we call them the billionaires class.
I hope everyone who ever had issues with killary and bullshit, will eat crow. a lot of it, and without any seasoning.
As soon as there's a Dem prez again, Repugs will rediscover all over again the writings of Alexander Hamilton, the constitution, oversight and accountability, enforceability of subpoenas and all the rest of it.
And they will either gaslight the fuck out of what just happened, or pretend it didn’t actually happen.
It may start to be self sustaining from other nodes (such as Beijing etc)
Given that 2019-nCoV is no longer contained within Wuhan, other major Chinese cities are probably sustaining localised outbreaks. Large cities overseas with close transport links to China could also become outbreak epicentres, unless substantial public health interventions at both the population and personal levels are implemented immediately. Independent self-sustaining outbreaks in major cities globally could become inevitable because of substantial exportation of presymptomatic cases and in the absence of large-scale public health interventions. Preparedness plans and mitigation interventions should be readied for quick deployment globally.
**Platts Analytics worst-case scenario shows a drop of 2.6 million b/d in oil demand in February, and a 2 million b/d decline in March.
**Platts Analytics best-case scenario shows a drop of 900,0000 b/d in oil demand for February, and a 650,000 b/d decline in March.
**Platts Analytics best-case scenario shows global jet fuel demand declining by 618,000 b/d in February, while its worst-case scenario shows a decline of 1 million b/d.
No time left except for main truth, fellow aliases. Though I appreciate all the detailers. Wider picture needs specific evidence. We need a Demosthenes, a Cicero, a Corbyn, a Sanders. A world of talk about reality. Rather than the present local players of the (84) game.
Even Helen Clark , after leading the charge for the international poor is only up for our teeth. Step up one and all to try for us all NOW. Easy for us in 1935 with nothing to lose for keen worker intelligences. Now there is no money for the truth speakers. 'Meritocracy'. Or paying off the most talented , which has brought us to this silly end. The creatures of post 2000 Labour treat it like a game for their benefit. 35-ists knew their life-long sacrifice, particularly their personal lives. Robert Reid, Sue Bradford, Bernard Hickey, and all the so many rest of the heroes of Aotearoa who've looked 'beyond the money'. Speak and speak again , heroes. Pol scis don't take you seriously but you're our only hope.
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For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
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Happy Brexit day all.
Boris has done an amazing job getting this over the line and out smarting remoaners.
this will be his legacy and it will be a good one.
Queenie never said "My husband and I are not amused." Probably thought it was an interesting experiment, but time enough to abandon it. Regional governance can work – if the right balance between supervision and tolerance of diversity is applied. The eurocrats seem to have erred in attempting to recycle the worst features of socialism.
Actually James, it doesn't sound like it's a happy day for all.
http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/brexiters-burn-eu-flags-as-army-veterans-mourn-european-departure/ar-BBZwO18?li=BBqdk7Q
Personally I don't give a flying (EU or Union Jack) flag what Britain wants to do, but if you coming here, attempting to stir the pot, keeps your little woody alive then rock on brother.
It’s a very happy day – plenty of celebrations across the UK – there will always bee the poor losers.
Yet you "remoan" here? Bit early to gloat isn't it?
Cover off the basic prep…2 months food, bleach, toilet paper, flu meds, prescription meds….imho the risk is now too high to ignore (even if this is not peer reviewed yet). Still time to get in before the herd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmrm0mk5928
and then listen to some knowledge
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018732304/virologist-chris-smith-wuhan-coronavirus-latest
Am hoping The Listening Post will do a story on the media coverage of the virus tonight. Fingers crossed. Roll on 9.30pm, I love that show.
And the insert protein in cov,is not present in other cov,an has significant similarity to HIV.
The finding of 4 unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV, all of which have identity /similarity to amino acid residues in key structural proteins of HIV-1 is unlikely to be fortuitous in nature.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.30.927871v1.full.pdf
And concluding with the sentences:
The phrase 'unconventional evolution' is intentionally vague; I wonder what they really want to say.
Shouldn't jump to conclusions,to quickly as it seems the virus is also a fast mutator.
According to Lai, RNA viruses—viruses that have RNA as their genetic material rather than DNA—such as the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS, have a “high mutation rate,” which allows it to “change properties very quickly.”
As an example, in the Lancet study, the RNA sequences isolated from 6 patients from the same household are different from each other, he noted. Lai said he observed in his previous research the “frequent occurrence of RNA recombination between different coronavirus strains,” a sign of the virus evolving.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/china-underreporting-true-scale-of-deadly-viral-outbreak-expert-says_3218207.html
It may have passed through HIV affected patients at some stage whose weakened immune response allowed for differential mutation.
Interesting that the PRC authorities are using aids drugs as a treatment option.
"As influenza is caused by a variety of species and strains of viruses, in any given year some strains can die out while others create epidemics, while yet another strain can cause a pandemic. Typically, in a year's normal two flu seasons (one per hemisphere), there are between three and five million cases of severe illness and around 650,000 deaths worldwide,"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza
For measles, the number (R0) is much larger: between 12 and 18.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/understand-the-measles-outbreak-with-this-one-weird-number/
the mathematicians disagree.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1221773146371641345
the mathematicians disagree with what?……that influenza kills approximately 650,000 in an average year?…or that the R nought ratio for measles is between 12 and 18?
Their argument is the lag ,it is biased downwards being fat tailed (with cv) so comparisons with average qualities do not hold.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1221486205847646208/photo/1
so neither is disputed…thats as expected as the analysis is performed by statisticians.
The argument is the timing and environment (two variables) that potentially make comparisons pointless….it is reasonable to expect that the initial R0 value will be higher due to a lack of awareness and/or precaution, then there is the lag in reporting and analysis and also environmental differences.
All reasonable assumptions, however the point was not the accuracy of comparisons but the fact that any exponential increase is of concern, especially the longer the period of inaction continues….whether 2-3 or 4.08 or higher. It would also be reasonable to expect that R value to fall now that (some) precautions are being implemented
The virus in Wuhan had at least a five week start before any action was taken and has already spread outside the initial area, unsurprising given that China has a large mobile population living in many instances in close interaction, and given the fact that in has 140 million international visitors per annum and the incubation period is measured in many days….the horse has bolted.
As the RNZ interviewed virologist noted its too late to contain the virus and the best chance is to develop a vaccine and distribute it as quickly as possible and any action taken now is to prevent as much spread as possible to buy time for that event…..the virus now exists and humans will have to learn to cope with it as they do influenza and measles. Did we call for Auckland to be quarantined during the recent measles epidemic, or Samoa even?
Hysterics around closing boarders (for how long?) and contagion rates that are fairly typical (added to what appears a fairly low mortality rate) serve no purpose….indeed such a reaction has the potential to produce far more death and misery as vital supplies for large portions of the population become harder to obtain
"2 months food, bleach, toilet paper, flu meds, prescription meds"
Most NZers should have that for quake prep anyway.
"Still time to get in before the herd."
You planning to go into isolation/quarrantine? 😉
Someone that puts New Massive Contagion Risk in capitals on the front of their youtube is probably to be avoided. He's fear mongering, even if he's getting some details right.
I've been following him for years. He has a PhD in pathology from Duke, speciality in toxins, sub-speciality neurotoxins.
Buying extra stuff that will get used later on anyway has little down side. Flu stuff I've brought costs less than $20 and that may not get used so might be given away. Twenty bucks to insure my safety. Hardly an over reaction.
And yeah…people should have these kinds of preperations anyway, but they don’t. I could be because they moved and donated stuff they didn’t replace, ran out of money and used their stores, or maybe couldn’t afford them in the first place. But most people just don’t do it. They could handle a week and beyond that it’s iffy
Over the ditch Oz closes border to non Australians from China, or their immediate family. We need to follow this or they might come here..we are awfully handy.
Isolation for 14 days is required for those returning to Aussie.
How much space does the UK leaving the EU free up?
1GB.
If you want anymore, I'll just be over by the BBQ with the other dads wearing Hawaiian shirts.
groan.
made me laugh tho.
And will get off scot free, after welshing on the deal and hopefully will never be found in eire.
Can I get the shirt, now?
Spinoff discusses media reform in Aotearoa: "A plan is in the works to transform state broadcasting in New Zealand, with some form of merger between TVNZ and Radio NZ on the cards." https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/31-01-2020/the-bulletin-concerns-grow-in-public-media-merger-information-void/
"the story was first broken by Radio NZ political editor Jane Patterson, and she provided this update about cabinet forging ahead with the work, with a goal to having it up and running by 2023. It would primarily be a public-service broadcaster, which is relevant because of the potential for culture clash between the purely non-commercial RNZ and commercial TVNZ network. But it could also have a mixed funding model, with some revenue coming from commercial sources."
And "as Radio NZ’s Charlie Dreaver reports, criticism is mounting in the information vacuum. That’s partly because there is some commercial sensitivity in whatever gets decided, but as Victoria University media professor Peter Thompson put it, knowing what’s in the blueprint would allow the public to actually discuss what could happen."
What strikes me is the lack of conceptual advance on what we've had the past 30-odd years, but perhaps that's why Faafoi was sent back to the drawing board by cabinet in December.
"RNZ has also been told the amended proposal puts a specific emphasis on the fact the new company will be primarily a public service media outlet, and to ensure that is made crystal clear in any legislation, and through a charter. That would also help to alleviate some of the strongly expressed concerns some ministers had about a "culture clash" – namely the risk the public broadcasting ethos could be subsumed by an aggressive commercial imperative once the new company was established and operating in the media marketplace." https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/408355/new-details-revealed-as-cabinet-agrees-on-rnz-tvnz-public-broadcasting-decision
So this thing will hinge on the viability of a new design, in which the balance between the public interest and the necessity of sensible economy in the management of the media is appropriate. I see no reason why both left & right cannot be satisfied simultaneously. The only reason that hasn't happened before is both bunches of jerks being lazy and performing poorly all the time.
Honestly this just look alike another one of those government projects that was inevitable that they would have a go at, and almost inevitable that it would take multiple parliamentary terms to get anywhere if at all.
We already have Maori television, which has plenty of public subsidy as well as advertising.
TVNZ is so awful in achieving any public good benefit that it needs to die. So why don't they just let it?
I don't see any need to tamper with RNZ. It’s evolving just fine.
It will be very interesting to see how this business case evolves, but I am very skeptical.
TVNZ is going to die, and be replaced by something else under the proposal.
Though I think restarting TVNZ6 and TVNZ7 is probably the way to go. It was a real shame that National had those channels chopped, they were the closest thing that NZ would have to true public TV.
What's a little depressing about this 'project' is that the various 'stakeholders' involved all have their own vested interests and don't seem to include "the public" unless one is prepared to get involved with lobby groups. (I was at one time and still admire the efforts of the likes of Peter Thompson, Miles? and Co – but never really thought it was ambitious enough).
For a population of 5 mill (and on that basis we hear the continued harping that means PSB is unaffordable and difficult ro achieve), the whole system is completely over-managed (last count about 7 different agencies involved complete with their enterage of Directors, Board members, CEO's et al)
A lot of it is really down to political will, and possibly the fact that even if something half-decent gets implemented, you can be sure that if & when a new junta gets elected (with its commitment to the market the market, growth growth, demography and risk management), it'll immediately seek to destroy it.
And I fear we’re probably just going to see another exodus of those who’ve given up in despair. Shame to see Jane Wrightson go in many ways. Al Jazeera will probably be spoiled for choice
About 18 months ago, the New Yorker reported on resurgent tribalism: "We live in a time of tribes. Not of ideologies, parties, groups, or beliefs—these don’t convey the same impregnability of political fortifications, or the yawning chasms between them. American politics today requires a word as primal as “tribe” to get at the blind allegiances and huge passions of partisan affiliation." https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/a-new-report-offers-insights-into-tribalism-in-the-age-of-trump
"Tribes demand loyalty, and in return they confer the security of belonging. They’re badges of identity, not of thought. In a way, they make thinking unnecessary, because they do it for you, and may punish you if you try to do it for yourself. To get along without a tribe makes you a fool. To give an inch to the other tribe makes you a sucker."
"More in Common, a research organization based in Europe and the United States, released a report called “Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape.” It builds on the group’s prior work in France, Germany, and Italy—an effort to understand and counteract rising populism and fragmentation in the Western democracies. Throughout the past year, the report’s four authors surveyed eight thousand randomly chosen Americans, asking questions about “core beliefs”: moral values, attitudes toward parenting and personal responsibility, perceptions of threats, approaches to group identity. The authors then sorted people, based on their beliefs and values, into seven “tribes”: Progressive Activists, Traditional Liberals, Passive Liberals, Politically Disengaged, Moderates, Traditional Conservatives, Devoted Conservatives."
So what we have here is an attempt at more sophisticated political analysis. We know the Dems & Reps are now functioning more like tribes than political parties. The question is why this morphing has occurred. The theory of the researchers needs to explain how seven organic tribes coalesce into the two archaic parties.
"More in Common found that “tribal membership predicts differences in Americans’ views on various political issues better than demographic, ideological, and partisan groupings.” In other words, whether or not you think creativity is more important than good behavior in children is a better indicator of your political views than is your gender, your race, your income, or your party affiliation."
“We have too much opinion research and not enough value research,” according to Tim Dixon, an Australian political activist and a founder of More in Common.
"This is why the seven tribes are hidden. We’re used to seeing race, gender, region, religion, and other categories line up with political preferences in numbingly predictable ways. We rarely know the underlying world views that inform these opinions. The tribes in the report are different from the rigid and unchanging partisan monoliths of our national political debate… Away from the fun-house mirrors and the bullhorns of cable news and social media, people’s views are more nuanced and less easy to caricature. For example, eighty-one per cent of those interviewed believe that racism is a serious problem, but eighty-five per cent think that race should not be a factor in college admissions."
"The 8% of Progressive Activists on the left and the 25% of Traditional and Devoted Conservatives on the right are less open to compromise, less ideologically flexible".
Together they constitute a hardline third of the electorate. The majority two-thirds want compromise, and are fed-up with the parties. So the system has warped away from most people, to serve only the rabid left/right ideologues. No wonder anti-establishment feeling has escalated so much.
Facebook enables us to form our own tribes, and we seem pretty good about it given its popularity.
Ardern has about 700,000 Facebook followers and about 400,000 on Twitter. So social media is easily obliterating the tribal micro-distinctions, and ordinary politics here appears to be evolving just fine.
"…Ardern has about 700,000 Facebook followers…"
I heard Hooton squarking this figure on the radio the other day.
I took from it that he isn't her friend on her actual FB page.
That is just the same old political single-axis spectrum. Seems novel only because the US has a rigid two-party structure.
I found this NZ approach some years ago more interesting even though it comes from marketing people: https://www.8tribes.co.nz/tribe-summary.php
Try the list of questions on their 'Find Your Tribe' page.
Yeah, I recall encountering that & identifying with Raglan, although a second look suggests I really have one foot in Cuba St – which, since I've always been averse to Wellingtonians, makes me feel quite uneasy… 🥶
You could always move to Lyttleton – there's elements of all 8 tribes there it seems to me. Pick a day, pick a tribe
Multicultural then, huh? What about you – identify with any of those 8? As Sacha observed, the 7-fold scheme featured by the New Yorker is just across the old linear axis, whereas the kiwi one seems more ethnic (ethnologists would no doubt point out that I'm using the term incorrectly, so I plead guilty in advance).
Bits and pieces of the last four I guess. It's changed over time having had to be amongst the first four (North Shore, Grey Lynn, Balclutha and Remmers ).
That's not to say I'm a bit iffy about the Raglan tribe – just because often self-interest can take precedence.
Probably up to others to give an opinion of me though. And when the North Shore tribe meet their maker, I'm not sure what it is they'll actually have 'achieved' other than the superficial
Interesting, quite a mix. Traditional framing: "a well-rounded person". I do share the ethos of North Shore & Balclutha with you (probably due to boyhood in suburban New Plymouth in a heartland family).
Not Remmers, and only the front part of Grey Lynn: "highly educated intelligentsia who value ideas above material things" since the other part of GL is pretentious/superficial.
Although Wellingtonians are probably less the petty bureaucrats nowadays than they once were (boring conformists), Aucklanders are still just as shallow as ever (crass commercial). Bruce Jesson got it right with his mirror-glass framing. My circle of friends there are all alternative thinkers from the seventies and I suspect there's plenty more in Ak that I don't know personally. Acclimatised to the rat-race, the bullshit just rolls off them…
Other peer-group affiliations from the past were identity-based too, and each co-created a culture that one could call tribal. The sixties rebels, the counter-culture. The hand-shake got replaced by the hug. Almost entirely apolitical. You can see why the Greens who emerged from that as a minority strand view today's Greens as somewhat alien life-forms..
What would be quite an interesting post/thread would be to take the 8 tribes, and have commenters from The Standard develop each of the definitions further.
As in:
"The Grey Lynn Tribe – Intellectual
The highly educated intelligentsia who value ideas above material things and intellectualise every element of their lives. Their most prized possession is a painting by the artist of the moment, they frequent film festivals, feel guilty about discussing property values and deep down are uneasy about their passion for reality television………..
………. the urban equivalent of Martinborough; though guilty about discussing property values and watching reality television, not averse to seeing investment gains or being addicted to Coronation Street; also not averse to a bit of name-dropping (such as my neighbour is JC) from time to time, or being a regular guest on "the Panel" with Wallace.
But I'd also suggest that any commenter should also have to write a self-criticism. I'll do mine a bit later – ankle biter to look after and amuse – but it'll go along the lines of "I can be a bit of a pratt at times"
Their "find your tribe" thingy reckons I'm Grey Lynn. Which, by their description and acquaintance with some actual Grey Lynn residents, is a group I actively dislike.
It's the Grey Lynn of twenty years ago, I reckon. One that more people could afford to live in.
This has been around for quite a while now, and I think it was partly responsible for tilting my interest away from political partisanship towards value based thinking. For what it's worth I'm a roughly even mix of Grey Lynn and Raglan.
There are lots of these sorts of models, and there is something useful to be taken away from most of them.
Good food for thought. Thanks Dennis.
Jeepers they voting regarding allowing new witnesses.
Will those repug's stick together for their party or will any 'cross the floor' for the good of the people?
Edit… the yay’s are 49 and the nay’s are 51.
Bugger, no new witnesses. They are now going into recess.
Meh.
There's plenty of Repugs that acknowledge he clearly did it, it's impeachable, but they wouldn't vote for conviction and removal no matter what. Rubio's explanation of this is a real doozy.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/31/politics/marco-rubio-donald-trump-senate-impeachment-trial/index.html
The witness vote just means they now have to wear voting for a cover-up as well. Right now it's looking fairly likely what Bolton has to say will come dribbling out over the next few months anyway, along with a lot of what other potential witnesses might have said.
Former Presidential candidate says it out loud.
https://twitter.com/EvanMcMullin/status/1222901696826789888
well they voted to burn down government as they knew it, they wanted a new order, get rid of the old, yada yada yada, i guess they succeeded.
now, watch that drive.
but in saying that, the republicans are the one that can disapear trump in a new york minute by declare the 25th on him. They can. 🙂 But so as long as he signs their tax cuts, their gutting of the social welfare net, the gutting of any environmental laws, the gutting of public schools and universities etc, they will do nothing. He is the hand that signs their laws. He is the hand that will drown government in a bath tub. It took them a few decades but they finally got the hand, and the cheap fuck he is, he is doing for a hand full of dollars that he charges on beds in his winter white house.
oh well, no one could have forseen this….Right?
Yeah, but, as is often the case, the subtext may tell the real story. Who would be paranoid about a fundamentalist christian becoming president? Another, who wants to get there first.
"He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio
Pence got born again. Doesn't say that happened to Rubio. That may put him in a different catholic tribe. Regardless, there may be rivalry rather than camaraderie between them.
Occam's Razor sez he's just scared of getting primaried by angry Drumpfkins in 2022 if he dares cross their fake-bronze idol.
The Senate vote suggests that two of the three legs of state that were devised to protect democracy in the US have effectively been chopped off. That means???
That means the US is fucked. All three branches of government are now controlled by an amoral group with no respect for law, principles, the constitution or their citizens. Their only guiding principle is grabbing and holding power in order to impose their reactionary medieval agenda.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/john-roberts-donald-trump-impeachment-trial-rigged.html
Wobbly totem whose enablers now have full power.
'Murica, a failing state run by militias.
https://twitter.com/GettyImagesNews/status/1223344677568634880
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gunmen-some-in-masks-swarm-ky-capitol-for-2nd-amendment-rally
Fork!!!! . And the types in those images also say that those who care about the planet are dangerous… what the actual fuck…dang..
What that country allows is the meaning of insanity. 'Murica's normality.
Agent orange has just expanded his travel ban. and I'm wondering how many at the rally in that tweet had strong Christian beliefs.
Technology has evolved but not their constitution or mentality. Their election will be a stunner.
Marvelous.
A YouTube prankster seems to have tricked Katie Hopkins into picking up a “completely fake” award following which she delivered an offensive speech that saw her mock Muslims, Asian people and epilepsy sufferers.
Josh Pieters said the former Apprentice contestant flew to Prague to accept the trophy on Monday (27 January).
In footage from the “ceremony”, Hopkins – a far-right commentator – can be seen smiling with Pieters in front of a screen bearing the words “Campaign to Unify the Nation Trophy.”
When she collects the award, the capital letters enlarge, spelling out the C-word.
“It’s strange to hear nice things being said about yourself,” she can be heard saying.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/katie-hopkins-youtube-josh-pieters-prank-fake-award-twitter-video-prague-a9310606.html
ROFL !!!!
Hilarious. I can't think of anyone more deserving of the award.
Making America Great Again, innocent limb by innocent limb.
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1223366601665400834
Of course he will.
https://twitter.com/Stonekettle/status/1223261896352116736
have a look at the East German wall, with its no mans lands, its mine fields, its self shooting systems and its not an escalation but a forseable step in the building of a fence that will do more to keep people in then out. As a reminder, the mines, will be on the US American side. Not the mexican side.
But oh well, her fucking emails, and besides how much harm could he do, and besides we must be understanding of the white male working class with economic anxiety.
Who would have forseen this shit, oh yeah……….
Joe's most persuasive ad …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlYo2bOqhQ
Nothing's changed, Frank.
"Trouble Every Day"
Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Vx5-RRtRw
Former President of Estonia:
https://twitter.com/IlvesToomas/status/1223332141318189056
nope, now we are ruled by mafia for mafia. the russian mafia, the us mafia, the asian triads, the european mafia etc etc etc, i think we call them the billionaires class.
I hope everyone who ever had issues with killary and bullshit, will eat crow. a lot of it, and without any seasoning.
Doubt it.
As soon as there's a Dem prez again, Repugs will rediscover all over again the writings of Alexander Hamilton, the constitution, oversight and accountability, enforceability of subpoenas and all the rest of it.
And they will either gaslight the fuck out of what just happened, or pretend it didn’t actually happen.
No coronavirus in NZ, at least not yet.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/119206613/no-suspected-coronavirus-in-new-zealand-ministry-of-health-announce
OTOH, the highly contagious corruptionvirus appears to be spreading unabated.
It may start to be self sustaining from other nodes (such as Beijing etc)
Given that 2019-nCoV is no longer contained within Wuhan, other major Chinese cities are probably sustaining localised outbreaks. Large cities overseas with close transport links to China could also become outbreak epicentres, unless substantial public health interventions at both the population and personal levels are implemented immediately. Independent self-sustaining outbreaks in major cities globally could become inevitable because of substantial exportation of presymptomatic cases and in the absence of large-scale public health interventions. Preparedness plans and mitigation interventions should be readied for quick deployment globally.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30260-9/fulltext#%20
BTW all the journals are open access in regard to papers on CV.
on the other side oil demand is forecast to fall significantly.
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/natural-gas/013120-commodity-markets-weaken-with-equities-as-coronavirus-spreads
**Platts Analytics worst-case scenario shows a drop of 2.6 million b/d in oil demand in February, and a 2 million b/d decline in March.
**Platts Analytics best-case scenario shows a drop of 900,0000 b/d in oil demand for February, and a 650,000 b/d decline in March.
**Platts Analytics best-case scenario shows global jet fuel demand declining by 618,000 b/d in February, while its worst-case scenario shows a decline of 1 million b/d.
all of this doom and gloom and i found this….
we live in interesting times.
https://youtu.be/I826gxc8TvI
Cypress Hill siz gangsta yo!
Here's one for the orange POTUS…
Insane In The Brain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RijB8wnJCN0
They could've saved themselves time if they’d just taken the stage and chanted MAGA!
/
https://twitter.com/chrisjollyhale/status/1223442238509850624
No time left except for main truth, fellow aliases. Though I appreciate all the detailers. Wider picture needs specific evidence. We need a Demosthenes, a Cicero, a Corbyn, a Sanders. A world of talk about reality. Rather than the present local players of the (84) game.
Even Helen Clark , after leading the charge for the international poor is only up for our teeth. Step up one and all to try for us all NOW. Easy for us in 1935 with nothing to lose for keen worker intelligences. Now there is no money for the truth speakers. 'Meritocracy'. Or paying off the most talented , which has brought us to this silly end. The creatures of post 2000 Labour treat it like a game for their benefit. 35-ists knew their life-long sacrifice, particularly their personal lives. Robert Reid, Sue Bradford, Bernard Hickey, and all the so many rest of the heroes of Aotearoa who've looked 'beyond the money'. Speak and speak again , heroes. Pol scis don't take you seriously but you're our only hope.