What about Winston’s Superannuation alleged snitch by the Natzos? I have thought about that while watching him poncing about with Mrs Collins on their Aussie trip.
But, no matter how many skeletons and grudges there are, they are united by class politics–support for local and international capital. Mrs Collins will no doubt though be planning to somehow “pay it back double” to Mr Peters. Never forgot how she knifed Ian Lees Galloway and ended his career on live TV by revealing an affair.
She is bad news and wait, what… Attorney-General, Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, and Minister for Space!…
As Newsroom has reported, 15 aid agencies have joined forces to call on the Government to do more to encourage an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, in the wake of the International Court of Justice decision.
Those 15 agencies are joining an international and increasingly loud chorus of calls for an immediate ceasefire. I would go further, and remind the Government that whatever it thinks of Friday night (NZT)’s ICJ ruling, New Zealand has a number of international legal obligations to inform its response to Israel’s military attack on Gaza.
In its decision, the court (re)confirmed that all states parties to the Genocide Convention have a “common interest” in ensuring the prevention, suppression, and punishment of genocide. That includes New Zealand, which has a legal obligation to do what it can to ensure that Israel complies with the court’s orders. This is not a question of New Zealand’s choice of foreign policy, but a legal obligation.
The govt may not act in accord with this legal obligation since it is international and normalcy requires that international law remains merely notional.
Then she makes this technical point:
responsibility exists independently of the lack of ICJ jurisdiction
It's out there, floating in the air! Along with the truth. Moral responsibility hasn't featured much in contemporary society since christians abandoned their habit of waving it around like God's sword. Yet it is part of how humans operate.
We are legally obliged to step up and speak out.
Morally obliged to do it too. Such posturing is best done with serious intent, so that it transcends posturing and becomes the serving of notice that something ought to be done – a call to action. Such advisory stances are useful when timely and accurate.
He was scheduled to visit there last July but Google can't find news that it got rescheduled to this year. If it was, and he flew, I'd expect various attempts to make his plane suffer a tragic event in obscure circumstances…
Not one but two ministerial faux pas including a humiliating correction from the police minister to the House (there was a prime ministerial correction too), a random reshuffle in an attempt to eschew responsibility for ACT’s contentious Treaty agenda and a failure to demand clarity from ministers over donations. https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350164527/buck-stops-luxon-after-messy-first-week-back-parliament
it’s unsurprising the prime minister was defensive when asked if NZ First had hauled National over the coals and forced the major party to set the record straight. Luxon denies the tail is wagging the dog or that Peters is the boss of him.
Yet her account of the turnaround tells us it really happened just like that.
"For a long time, multiple criminal groups… in northern Myanmar have openly organised armed fraud gangs and carried out fraud crimes against Chinese citizens," China's Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.
They are also accused of "multiple and severe violent crimes", the ministry said, such as murder, assault and illegal detention. In December, Beijing issued a public reward for these men and others in their network, describing them as "ring leaders" and sent a team to Myanmar to work with local authorities there… About 44,000 people suspected to be involved in the scam centres have been handed over to China from Myanmar so far, the Ministry of Public Security said. China called Tuesday's development – the arrest of the three heads of the mafia families – a "landmark achievement".
Footage aired on Chinese-language TV channels show dozens of Swat (Special Weapons and Tactics Unit) officers escorting suspects down the plane in Kunming and into police vans… Laukkaing took on the character of a Wild West boom town, where anything goes and anything can be bought and sold. There were occasional gun battles between rival scam centres, and powerful people kept lions and tigers as pets.
Wild frontier ethos, invasion by civilising authorities, sudden! I was intrigued at the report that four families had been administering the regional fraud economy apparently under the benign eye of the junta.
And criminal gangs not taken out, a lot closer to home, not in a country ravaged by war. Judging by the tonnes of meth busted on the river bank a threat to New Zealand. A very interesting place.
The GTSEZ is run by the sanctioned Chinese-born gangster-tycoon Zhao Wei, originally from China’s Heilongjiang province, whom the Lao government in 2007 granted a 99-year lease over a stretch of prime paddy land fronting the Mekong River, at the point where the borders of Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand converge. The zone, which exists under the de facto sovereignty of Zhao’s Kings Romans Group… designed to attract tourists from China, where gambling is banned outside Macao.
Serlet’s designation of the GTSEZ as “the world’s worst special economic zone” follows a steady trickle of harrowing news from the secretive fief. In early February, Lao police raided the GTSEZ and rescued six local women who were attracted to the zone by the promise of lucrative jobs as telemarketers in the Kings Romans Casino. This followed the daring escape on January 20 of another eight women from the zone through a fence that surrounds the GTSEZ. In both cases, when the women were unable to meet performance benchmarks their employers declared them in debt and pressed them into servitude, either in brothels or in the casino’s laundry service.
Earlier this month, Radio Free Asia (RFA), possibly the best source of information about happenings within the secretive zone, reported that “hundreds” of Lao women were trapped within the GTSEZ. “Many of our women and girls are exploited, abused and victimized by human trafficking,” it quoted a member of the Lao Women’s Union of Nomo district in neighboring Udomxai province as saying. “They’re from poor families, uneducated, unaware of the risk, and sold.”
Local culture that multiplies the progress of women into exploitation systems that make them into victims seems toxic and global focus on the situation will have to escalate until global action rectifies their local sociopathy.
Yesterday I read this piece on the subject of the Parnell KO housing and was stunned at the framing by Anne Gibson, fucking real estate editor at the Herald or something. Here's an example:
Businesses in the Parnell area had suffered from the actions of tenants at the Cracroft and Bedford apartments in particular, she said.
All good until you click the link, actions of tenants, and find that it relates not to the Cracroft and Bedford apartments, but a dispute about car parking in Totora Vale.
There are three other instances of this deception in the article, where the link is provided as evidence in relation to the Parnell apartments but instead are in Hamilton and another on the North Shore.
Anne Gibson and The Herald should be ashamed, bet they're not.
Pretty disturbing, even for someone like myself who thinks that while some people do need a lot of care wrapped around them, most of us should be provided a standard education and then left alone to make our own choices.
The NZ Initiative in the Herald like Paula also cares about those on welfare …
It then makes it clear it is about the politics of getting the public on board to support a neo-liberal policy to manage those on welfare – which is where their organisation and access to the media comes in.
The crass combination of intellectual ineptitude and cynicism is so blatant that it fails to be credible to any but those disposed to an argument to prejudice.
First some facts
There is an increase in the numbers of those unemployed who are on benefits than in 2017 (people finding it an easier process).
There is an increase in the number of those not work ready on the Job Seeker Benefit since 2017 (the consequence of delayed health care, aging population and impact of long covid – because we no longer have a sickness benefit, only this and Invalids Benefit).
The why of it is apparently a mystery to New Zealand Initiative, or otherwise not useful to their narrative.
Super is linked to the net average wage, and benefits usually to the CPI – despite the fact it is a known that the CPI is an average for the whole of society and is not a cost of necessities index more relevant to those on low incomes. Thus decades of increasing benefits by the CPI is a reduction in its real value.
The New Zealand Initiative wants both super and benefits increased by the CPI.
In this, it is claiming to advocate for those who are working and pay taxes, but then again it does not support increases in MW or Industry Awards etc or a focus on WFF tax credits, so is it really? Or is it just a shill for the gated community of homeowners who see themselves as blue rinse National?
In wanting the age of super increased, it makes no mention of the increasing numbers of those on JS Benefit who are not work ready – some will be older workers (the last of the boomers age 60) no longer able to work in their former occupations. The impact on them living on a benefit level income from age 65 to ** not being on the radar of NZI.
The ACT Party Randian recommends a 1.3% increase, MBIE suggests 4% and its 2% increase for those on the MW.
It would have been 4% or above under Labour.
As the NZI put it, as a rationalisation for being tough on those on the MW (as well as those on benefits)
First, the last Government put the interests of those with jobs ahead of those without jobs. It hiked the minimum wage. This helps those who retain work at the expense of those who cannot find an employer to hire them at the new, higher minimum wage.
Expressed differently, it helps those with jobs at the expense of those who are hardest to employ.
The old keep the MW low to enable the easier employment of those on benefits argument.
despite a warning from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that an increase below the rate of inflation could make it hard for minimum wage workers to keep up with the cost of living.
Maybe noting a $50 a week rent increase is more than an $18 a week (before tax) MW increase and other costs are also going up.
The ACT Randian said
the minimum wage was one of the most generous in the OECD, in comparison to the median wage, and had increased from 62% of the median wage in June 2017 to 72% in June 2023.
Maybe she should compare the median wage here with those overseas and also note the level to rent costs to MW, whether minimum or median.
Retail NZ wrote to Van Velden before Christmas, asking her to restrain minimum wage increases to enable retailers to set a level that is more sustainable.
So retail pays minimum wage …
The ACT Randian
“Increases to the minimum wage under Labour far outstripped CPI. Between June 2016 and June 2023, overall, the minimum wage increased at nearly twice the rate of inflation, with a 48.8% increase in the minimum wage and a 25.1% increase in CPI. This Government’s approach sets the balance right.”
So each and every year and term NACT are in office, the real value of the minimum wage will decline. Industry Awards would allow better pay at the median wage level but they do not want that either.
They did the same thing 2009-2017, after Labour (1999-2005) and Labour and NZF increased the MW 2005-2008 after it was flatlined in the 1990’s.
In the YouTube video, the man identifies himself as Mohn and apparently reads from a written statement and at one point holds up what appears to be a bloodied head inside a clear plastic bag. He says his father, who was a federal employee for over 20 years, was a traitor to his country.
"America is rotting from the inside out as far left, woke mobs rampage our once prosperous cities," he says in the video.
…
As authorities wait on more facts to understand the "specific motives, you can make some assumptions based on his claims in the video that he's been motivated by politics," the former FBI deputy director said Wednesday.
"The bigger picture here is that this is another example of the fact that the kind of overheated, deeply politicized, extreme rhetoric that you hear sometimes in this country from politically elected officials and leaders actually has an impact on these marginalized people with extremist views who might be … driven to embark in acts of violence," he said.
"Some of the things that he has said on the video – allegedly referring to woke mobs and things like that – that's not dissimilar from rhetoric that you hear from some politicians that we've heard recently in the primary season," McCabe said.
"So this kind of language has an effect on the … most vulnerable, most potentially dangerous part of our population. And I think it's something that most security officials are really concerned about."
What. A. Surprise. Right wing nut job influenced by right wing nut jobs decapitates his father and posts it online.
On the midday news – RNZ has seen a document that suggests Costello requested the information about freezing the tax increases on tobacco from the Health Ministry.
Does this mean she's lied to Parliament? To the Media? To the PM?
The associate health minister has been under fire in Parliament after telling RNZ she had not sought advice on freezing the excise on cigarettes for three years, despite a Health Ministry document saying she had.
Looks like strike #1. Cue an eventual explanation that she mis-spoke: “I wasn’t wrong, it’s just that the words somehow slid out the side of my mouth without my brain noticing.”
"Notes that New Zealand First Minister Casey Costello sent to health officials on reforming smoke free laws make it clear that a freeze on excise tax for tobacco were her idea.
The notes, which have been obtained by RNZ, also include proposals for more tax breaks for the tobacco industry, including no excise tax on tobacco products that are heated rather than burned.
Costello also likens the harmfulness of nicotine to caffeine."
Most folk know nicotine kills people, and most don't know caffeine kills them too. So all she has to do at this point is supply the missing evidence for her claim.
Oh, and if she doesn’t, it’s strike #2. Perhaps someone ought to explain to her that this doesn’t mean runs on the board for NZF??
Yeah, we're waiting for a bunch of journos to spot the opportunity. Will they all ask her the evidence question today? You know, blood in the water, media sharks, feeding frenzy…
The two drugs have some similarities. While the tobacco industry is implying that caffeine is accepted so nicotine is also fine – in some respects (e.g. blood pressure) if you are using one, you should probably use even less of the other (they can add together).
And of course nicotine traditionally addicts you into consuming a bunch of truly unhealthy stuff, like tar.
While this (Costello clearly in the pay of tobacco lobbyists) is grim, when the dust settles, it can open the opportunity to get a transparent lobbyists register.
Now that Labour are in opposition, make hay out of the situation.
I often question how strong the trucking lobby is in Wellington. Hipkins did make a change (too incremental for me though) when he removed swipe cards from them. Starting from this point, propose some meaningful reform.
Good idea gsays. There's far too much goes on behind the scenes we never get to hear about. Some forced transparency would go a long way to remedy the situation.
I don't see this coalition govt. being willing to come to the party though. Too many of their rich donors are closely linked to the lobbyists and that includes some of their ministers.
Only a massive overdose would kill you. But a massive overdose of just about anything could kill you. I've never heard of caffeine killing people either.
Nicotine is one of the most toxic of all poisons and has a rapid onset of action. Apart from local actions, the target organs are the peripheral and central nervous systems. In severe poisoning, there are tremors, prostration, cyanosis, dypnoea, convulsion, progression to collapse and coma. Even death may occur from paralysis of respiratory muscles and/or central respiratory failure with a LD50 in adults of around 30-60 mg of nicotine. In children the LD50 is around 10 mg.
Yeah, the pitch that nicotine is as harmful as caffeine is straight out of David Seymour's libertarian student debating handbook. Just throw it out there to distract from the actual harm and see who gets taken in by it.
Asked about ministers declaring any donations they had received from the tobacco industry, Luxon said there were "incredibly good" disclosure and conflict of interest rules. The other two minor parties had told him (via staff) they had not received money in that regard.
Apparently not, according to opinionators I have read lately. Do humans know they're in Gaia? Well I've known ever since I read Lovelock's first book, but most humans remain unaware of their niche ambience. Do parts know wholes enclose them? If you believe in the zero-point field, yes. Parts are informed by the whole's matrix effect & ensuing ecosystemic relations.
A couple of times now I have shared the observation with my fundamentalist Christian father-in-law, while we are at the beach fishing together, how good it is today in God's cathedral.
He usually replies tentatively in the affirmative.
Beaches are what they are; you can play on them, relax on them, perhaps forage on them, but there's very little opportunity to establish a symbiotic, beneficial relationship with them; that is, there's little you can do to optimise their potential 🙂
Forests, otoh, are where the action is; humans can employ their minds for multiplying the energy of forests; increase their diversity, ensure their longevity, create more of them and so on.
I feel for you that you don't see the potential in optimising a beach by; fishing, collecting kai moana, swimming, building forts from driftwood (where the forests ultimately can end up), creating tracks and paths in sandhills to roll a golf ball down only to run back up and repeat the exercise, rivermouth's with their biodiversity of flora and fauna.
Just letting go and surrendering to the pulse, the energy release of every wave meeting the shore. A constant reminder of ultimately our insignificance. That is without mentioning, depending on the coast you are on, sunrise and sunsets.
Yeah, as in two sorts of knowing. There's inner knowing & outer. I acquired the former when I explored my local bush as a child of 8 or so, and the hippie era revalidated that experientially.
Social gnosis, as opposed to personal gnosis, is usually driven by media – of which books are an antique form. It transcends the personal dimension by getting humans onto a like-minded view based on common ground.
More than 16,000 animals are aboard the MV Bahijah anchored off Western Australia, where sweltering heat is adding to pressure on the Australian government to decide whether to re-export the live cargo or allow the vessel back to dock following more than three weeks at sea.
Amongst the briefings to incoming ministers from public servants was the one for Mark Mitchell, Minister for Emergency management and recovery. It included the following statement.
"Regarding earthquakes, the briefing said there was a 25 per cent chance of “a major Hikurangi Subduction Zone earthquake event occurring in the next 50 years."
“Indicative national impacts of a major Hikurangi earthquake and tsunami include tens of thousands of people dead, injured or displaced from their homes, and significant damage to the built environment (in excess of $144 billion).”
Holy crap. If I had a house on the East Coast of the North Island I'd be outta there! That's a pretty high chance of the event occurring anytime from tomorrow onwards and the longer it doesn't happen, the higher the chance gets that it will happen tomorrow.
Or am I not understanding properly and it's unlikely to happen?
am I not understanding properly and it's unlikely to happen?
Applying stats to quakes is more art than science. I did geophysics long ago & the odds are always indicative of likelihood. My take is that govt ought to do serious contingency planning for the sake of East Coasters.
The big one is indeed overdue: 3 centuries since the last time. However the nature of stress build-up on the edge of crustal plates is such that variations often make shifts regional rather than overall due to frictional resistance depending on other factors. so that likely explains their focus on Hikurangi rather than the Alps…
The decline of Jacinda Arderns personal popularity from late 2020 is nothing short of astonishing. As an example, the 1News Kantar poll to 2 December 2020, had her polling 58% as preferred PM; in the same poll just before she resigned (to 30 November 2022) her support had halved to 29%. Similarly, the Reid Research poll had her with numbers of 48% in May 2021, dropping to 30% in November 2022. Some of this is almost certainly due to covid fatigue, however the multiple and significant failures of her tenure (e.g. Kiwibuild, Te Pukenga) and the line of MP's who misbehaved under watch (some of which only came out after she resigned) to me demonstrated a person who, while a media darling, was out of her depth in many ways.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[Take two weeks off for diversion trolling – Incognito]
After 17 years as the dominant force in Scottish politics, the SNP is running neck-and-neck with Labour. The reason: it allowed itself to get seriously out of step with Scotland’s voters. The Scots are well-educated progressive people, but they [got freaked out by] a premier, and a party, that saw nothing wrong with incarcerating a convicted rapist in Cornton Vale women’s prison on the grounds that she had subsequently self-identified as a woman.
Though the Premier, Nicola Sturgeon, responding to public outrage, removed the rapist, Isla Bryson, from Cornton Vale, the damage was done.
According to The Guardian, Sturgeon’s predecessor (and political mentor) Alex Salmond accused her of “throwing away” the hope of Scottish independence (the SNP’s raison d’être) for the sake of controversial gender recognition reforms. Things went from bad to worse for the SNP – following Sturgeon’s resignation, she and her husband became the focus of a police investigation, and the SNP membership rejected the socially conservative candidate for Premier, Kate Forbes, in favour of the woke Humza Yousaf.
So now the dumb buggers are led by a wokester?? Time's up for them!
Except that Trotter's article is more about wanting a referendum so a "majority" can prevent what he has posed as some threat to "democracy" from Maori and supporters of the Treaty continuance.
He's part of Rob's Mob 50 years on – it is a pity that Murray Ball is not here to send him up with a cartoon – a reprise of Stanley using the visage of Trotter.
I'm not sure why you are so hurt by this, at least hurt enough to comment on it.
Swarbrick has called a press conference tomorrow, presumably to announce her leadership bid. This is standard, and newsworthy, it's a press conference (there's the clue) so the media have announced it.
Not hurt by it at all (and not sure why you feel the need to spin it that way, although given your use of first name I'm guessing you know Ardern well) – just observing the way messaging is being disseminated these days.
The whole dynamic of how pollies communicate via the media has changed in the last few years.
I was in the pub when someone else saw this article pop up and told everyone else, and the reaction was similar amongst the group, such as 'why not just stand up and say what you're doing rather than stage an event that gets as many clicks and likes as possible'.
My guess is it's attention seeking, and feeding the ego, so I won't be tuning in myself.
Swarbrick was always the only candidate that made sense for the Greens at this time – so it's not really news is it.
Best of luck to her, as I've voted for her for council in the past, although I probably wouldn't again – talks a lot but doesn't get enough done, for my liking.
I'm not sure you know how press conferences work. A politician wants to announce something to the public so their office contacts the media to be at a certain place at a certain time to they can relay that message to the public.
You and your friends in the pub would prefer Swarbrick to stand on the steps unannounced? I bet you would…
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In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and 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). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
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 A national Newspoll, conducted February 10–14 from a sample of 1,244, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the previous Newspoll, ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you enjoy whip-smart satire: The White Lotus (Neon, February 17) HBO’s award-winning The White Lotus is back for what critics are calling “an absolutely exquisite third ...
NZPF called for a slowdown of the curriculum change, asking for one subject at a time, so that teachers and principals could be fully trained and feel confident and competent to implement the changes, New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) President ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Indonesia’s TVOne launched an AI news presenter in 2023.T.J. Thomson Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has taken off at lightning speed in the past couple of years, creating disruption in ...
Many of the young vapers interviewed by a team of public health researchers said they felt unable to resist the pro-vaping environment that surrounded them. New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree ...
Analysis: While most Wellingtonians enjoyed a rare but unbeatable sunny day on Saturday, some New Zealand diplomats will have been briefly shocked by a screenshot making the rounds on social media showing US President Donald Trump calling us a “third world country”.The image, it appears, was a fake – certainly a ...
ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp says that the Treaty Principles Bill has galvanised the biggest movement in support of Te Tiriti in modern history. ...
While it is in the interests of Wellington ratepayers to sell off this subsidy for the rich, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point. The council should have never spent a penny on this programme, and the $3.4 million spent is a flagrant abuse ...
A search for the person behind a social media account ridiculing Māori.Last week, while scrolling Facebook, I came across a post shared to the New Zealand Centre for Political Research group. The post began, “From Matua Kahurangi on X”, before pasting his critique of iwi leadership – particularly Ngāpuhi ...
On the heels of The White Lotus season three, Tara Ward travels to Koh Samui, Thailand, to live her best life as a five-star wannabe. I’ve never been one for luxury travel. Despite religiously watching TV shows like Luxury Escapes: World’s Best Holidays and harbouring grand dreams of one day ...
The Treaty Principles Bill submission hearings continue at Parliament today with a range of submitters expected including councils, iwi, community organisations and individuals. ...
It’s become of one of Christchurch’s most famous landmarks online, but why? Alex Casey steps through the portal of the brutalist Timezone. Ask anyone what Christchurch’s most iconic building is and you might expect to hear some of the dusty old classics like the Cathedral, or the Town Hall, or ...
New Zealand’s alignment with the White House is further underscored by its refusal to oppose Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is a serious blow to the soft power of the United States and disastrous for many poor countries ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Hoek, Professor in Public Health, University of Otago Shutterstock/Aliaksandr Barouski New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree generation would have ended sales of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Disney, Research Fellow, Social Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne Edwin Tan/Getty Images When the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established in 2013, one of its driving aims was to make disability services and support systems fairer. However, our new ...
The resignation of the director general of health is the latest departure in what Labour is calling a ‘purge’ of health leadership. Another day, another health resignation It’s a dangerous time to be a top health executive. On Friday, Dr Diana Sarfati announced her resignation as director general of health ...
Labour and the Greens say the government should focus spending on tourism infrastructure like tracks, toilets and protection of nature instead of more advertising. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
After a morning spent calf marking, Flock Hill Station manager Richard Hill headed up Bridge Hill – about 100km from Christchurch on the way to the West Coast – to check on a fire near the station’s boundary.It was December 5 last year, and the Craigieburn area had experienced three ...
It can’t be much of a surprise that a relatively inexperienced Act MP, handed the workplace relations portfolio, doesn’t want to entertain the country’s biggest union in her office.But it still astonishes the head of that union, the CTU’s president, Richard Wagstaff.After all, he’s met regularly with ministers of all ...
Late 21st century Christchurch will be unrecognisable when compared with Christchurch today.Flooding will prompt retreat from all eastern and many northern suburbs. These areas, together with land near the Heathcote and Avon Rivers, are in a fifty-year flood zone. Fifty-year floods can happen more than once every fifty years; there ...
Is humanising a mountain the path to real transformation, or does it signal the need for a cultural paradigm shift in the operating system? Recently, a family member shared their delight at the news of Taranaki Maunga becoming a legal person.Of course, I was pleased for the eight Taranaki ...
Why New Zealanders donate money and who they give it to – and how tools like Givealittle are changing the giving landscape.Is New Zealand really a generous country? It’s difficult to quantify. Giving to registered charities can be counted through tax returns, but giving to overseas causes, giving money ...
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As the four Findlay siblings run out on the hockey turf, dressed in black with the silver fern, they take the drive and determination of their late mum with them.Emma Findlay is a Black Stick defender, on her way to Chile on Monday to play for the New Zealand women ...
COMMENTARY:By Paul G Buchanan Here is a scenario, but first a broad brush-painted historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world ...
Judith Collins is just a boldface liar.
Agreed, but quick witted as well.
When asked if she and Winnie had buried the hatchet, Winnie pulled an exasperated face, but she replied "Yes, but not in each other."
What about Winston’s Superannuation alleged snitch by the Natzos? I have thought about that while watching him poncing about with Mrs Collins on their Aussie trip.
But, no matter how many skeletons and grudges there are, they are united by class politics–support for local and international capital. Mrs Collins will no doubt though be planning to somehow “pay it back double” to Mr Peters. Never forgot how she knifed Ian Lees Galloway and ended his career on live TV by revealing an affair.
She is bad news and wait, what… Attorney-General, Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, and Minister for Space!…
She got the jobs to keep her busy.
After watching QT the last couple of days, I think the opposition needs to refine their method of asking Luxon.
They need to abandon double pronged questions, so he can't evade by just answering one part.
They need to ask direct, simple questions so he has to give an answer.
This way they, the opposition, will reveal what we all know: Luxon is lazy and shallow and not on top of the task of being PM.
After all, he still thinks in corporate speak – using 'companies' instead of 'countries' in one reply yesterday.
Luxon's big problem is the MSM narrative being built of a weak PM – an inexperienced corporate manager who can't control his coalition partners.
Once the media narrative has been built shifting it is almost impossible, given how lazy our journalists are.
It's not a narrative, he is getting dragged round the yard buy the mangy curs he bought home from. The pound.
This here academic has got it right: https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/01/31/new-zealands-legal-obligations-to-the-world-court-ruling-on-israel/
The govt may not act in accord with this legal obligation since it is international and normalcy requires that international law remains merely notional.
Then she makes this technical point:
It's out there, floating in the air! Along with the truth. Moral responsibility hasn't featured much in contemporary society since christians abandoned their habit of waving it around like God's sword. Yet it is part of how humans operate.
Morally obliged to do it too. Such posturing is best done with serious intent, so that it transcends posturing and becomes the serving of notice that something ought to be done – a call to action. Such advisory stances are useful when timely and accurate.
Sth Africa is happy to utilize the ICJ with it's case against Israel. There's nothing wrong with that, good for them.
But will it be slightly hypocritical of them id they don't abide by ICC rulings and arrest Putin when he visits there this year?
Assuming there is some sort of benefit for them having Putin visit… money somehow somewhere would seem obvious.
He was scheduled to visit there last July but Google can't find news that it got rescheduled to this year. If it was, and he flew, I'd expect various attempts to make his plane suffer a tragic event in obscure circumstances…
Thats a great article and really refreshing to see these sorts of views being published in NZ and from our universities too!
Performance review from Tova:
Yet her account of the turnaround tells us it really happened just like that.
Criminal gangs operating at the China/Burma interface taken out by the forces of laura norder: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-68150555
Wild frontier ethos, invasion by civilising authorities, sudden! I was intrigued at the report that four families had been administering the regional fraud economy apparently under the benign eye of the junta.
And criminal gangs not taken out, a lot closer to home, not in a country ravaged by war. Judging by the tonnes of meth busted on the river bank a threat to New Zealand. A very interesting place.
https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/golden-triangle-gambling-zone-the-worlds-worst-sez-group-says/
So it seems:
Local culture that multiplies the progress of women into exploitation systems that make them into victims seems toxic and global focus on the situation will have to escalate until global action rectifies their local sociopathy.
Public housing advocates highlight just how mean spirted the conservative, privileged right are:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/508088/unfair-to-single-out-kainga-ora-tenants-over-crime-complaints-public-housing-advocates
Yesterday I read this piece on the subject of the Parnell KO housing and was stunned at the framing by Anne Gibson, fucking real estate editor at the Herald or something. Here's an example:
All good until you click the link, actions of tenants, and find that it relates not to the Cracroft and Bedford apartments, but a dispute about car parking in Totora Vale.
There are three other instances of this deception in the article, where the link is provided as evidence in relation to the Parnell apartments but instead are in Hamilton and another on the North Shore.
Anne Gibson and The Herald should be ashamed, bet they're not.
Direct correlation between ministers' statements and the tobacco industry. It appears the tobacco industry is writing New Zealand government policy:
https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/tobacco-industry-interference-new-government-meeting-its-international-obligations
Or perhaps they just think the same way. What a coincidence…
Pretty disturbing, even for someone like myself who thinks that while some people do need a lot of care wrapped around them, most of us should be provided a standard education and then left alone to make our own choices.
The NZ Initiative in the Herald like Paula also cares about those on welfare …
It then makes it clear it is about the politics of getting the public on board to support a neo-liberal policy to manage those on welfare – which is where their organisation and access to the media comes in.
The crass combination of intellectual ineptitude and cynicism is so blatant that it fails to be credible to any but those disposed to an argument to prejudice.
First some facts
There is an increase in the numbers of those unemployed who are on benefits than in 2017 (people finding it an easier process).
There is an increase in the number of those not work ready on the Job Seeker Benefit since 2017 (the consequence of delayed health care, aging population and impact of long covid – because we no longer have a sickness benefit, only this and Invalids Benefit).
The why of it is apparently a mystery to New Zealand Initiative, or otherwise not useful to their narrative.
Super is linked to the net average wage, and benefits usually to the CPI – despite the fact it is a known that the CPI is an average for the whole of society and is not a cost of necessities index more relevant to those on low incomes. Thus decades of increasing benefits by the CPI is a reduction in its real value.
The New Zealand Initiative wants both super and benefits increased by the CPI.
In this, it is claiming to advocate for those who are working and pay taxes, but then again it does not support increases in MW or Industry Awards etc or a focus on WFF tax credits, so is it really? Or is it just a shill for the gated community of homeowners who see themselves as blue rinse National?
In wanting the age of super increased, it makes no mention of the increasing numbers of those on JS Benefit who are not work ready – some will be older workers (the last of the boomers age 60) no longer able to work in their former occupations. The impact on them living on a benefit level income from age 65 to ** not being on the radar of NZI.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/bryce-wilkinson-increased-working-age-welfare-dependency-is-a-problem/NZVIRUU4VNCELMTURJTXZWGNZA/
The ACT Party Randian recommends a 1.3% increase, MBIE suggests 4% and its 2% increase for those on the MW.
It would have been 4% or above under Labour.
As the NZI put it, as a rationalisation for being tough on those on the MW (as well as those on benefits)
The old keep the MW low to enable the easier employment of those on benefits argument.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/02/01/government-announces-minimum-wage-to-rise-from-april-1/
The difference between 45 cents 2% – $18 and 90 cents 4% – $36 is $18 a week. Labour/G/TPM would have increased by a $1 an hour or more.
A 2% increase
Maybe noting a $50 a week rent increase is more than an $18 a week (before tax) MW increase and other costs are also going up.
The ACT Randian said
Maybe she should compare the median wage here with those overseas and also note the level to rent costs to MW, whether minimum or median.
So retail pays minimum wage …
The ACT Randian
So each and every year and term NACT are in office, the real value of the minimum wage will decline. Industry Awards would allow better pay at the median wage level but they do not want that either.
They did the same thing 2009-2017, after Labour (1999-2005) and Labour and NZF increased the MW 2005-2008 after it was flatlined in the 1990’s.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/350165587/minimum-wage-rise-2315-despite-warning
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/02/minimum-wage-set-to-rise-on-april-1-everything-you-need-to-know.html
$1.20 an hour, then $1.50 an hour – and this one 45 cents an hour.
Meanwhile landlords will be charging an extra $50 a week – $1.25 an hour 40 hours a week. And then is power and food cost increases.
Where will the landlords find people who can pay when they remove those who cannot?
What. A. Surprise. Right wing nut job influenced by right wing nut jobs decapitates his father and posts it online.
It's not a bug, it's a feature.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2024/02/us-man-arrested-after-posing-with-severed-head-of-father-in-online-political-rant-video-police-say.html
On the midday news – RNZ has seen a document that suggests Costello requested the information about freezing the tax increases on tobacco from the Health Ministry.
Does this mean she's lied to Parliament? To the Media? To the PM?
[Note I listed them in order of importance! Lol.]
To RNZ:
Looks like strike #1. Cue an eventual explanation that she mis-spoke: “I wasn’t wrong, it’s just that the words somehow slid out the side of my mouth without my brain noticing.”
The RNZ report
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/508127/revealed-nz-first-minister-casey-costello-s-notes-on-tobacco-tax-freeze
"Notes that New Zealand First Minister Casey Costello sent to health officials on reforming smoke free laws make it clear that a freeze on excise tax for tobacco were her idea.
The notes, which have been obtained by RNZ, also include proposals for more tax breaks for the tobacco industry, including no excise tax on tobacco products that are heated rather than burned.
Costello also likens the harmfulness of nicotine to caffeine."
Gob. Smacking.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350165261/revealed-tobacco-tax-freeze-was-associate-health-minister-casey-costellos-idea
Most folk know nicotine kills people, and most don't know caffeine kills them too. So all she has to do at this point is supply the missing evidence for her claim.
Oh, and if she doesn’t, it’s strike #2. Perhaps someone ought to explain to her that this doesn’t mean runs on the board for NZF??
Caffeine kills?
Got proof?
Waiting…
Yeah, we're waiting for a bunch of journos to spot the opportunity. Will they all ask her the evidence question today? You know, blood in the water, media sharks, feeding frenzy…
Many voters drink coffee.
All journos drink coffee.
This could sink Costello 🙂
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-you-can-die-from-caffeine#Caffeine-overdose-is-rare
But take that with a grain of salt..
Tea drinkers are being challenged by advice to add salt to their cuppa.
Hehehe. Yes I thought that would braise the steaks.
It's those naughty Americans that are doing it – just because some like salt in their coffee! 🙄
An obvious plot to create division amongst tea drinkers.
Upset the British at your peril!
A wee knob of butter in black coffee is surprisingly nice.
Caffeine == Nicotine is a tobacco industry public relations line, it is notable to see the minister using it, more evidence she is captured by tobacco lobbyists.
The two drugs have some similarities. While the tobacco industry is implying that caffeine is accepted so nicotine is also fine – in some respects (e.g. blood pressure) if you are using one, you should probably use even less of the other (they can add together).
And of course nicotine traditionally addicts you into consuming a bunch of truly unhealthy stuff, like tar.
While this (Costello clearly in the pay of tobacco lobbyists) is grim, when the dust settles, it can open the opportunity to get a transparent lobbyists register.
Now that Labour are in opposition, make hay out of the situation.
I often question how strong the trucking lobby is in Wellington. Hipkins did make a change (too incremental for me though) when he removed swipe cards from them. Starting from this point, propose some meaningful reform.
Good idea gsays. There's far too much goes on behind the scenes we never get to hear about. Some forced transparency would go a long way to remedy the situation.
I don't see this coalition govt. being willing to come to the party though. Too many of their rich donors are closely linked to the lobbyists and that includes some of their ministers.
Mmmmmm…tar!
Gimme a pint of that good, sweet tar!
"Most folk know nicotine kills people…"
Only a massive overdose would kill you. But a massive overdose of just about anything could kill you. I've never heard of caffeine killing people either.
You talking "immediate kill" or "long-term kill"?
And then….
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4363846/#:~:text=Nicotine%20is%20well%20known%20to,system%2C%20lung%2C%20kidney%20etc.
Most of it is gobsmacking agreed but she's right about the harmfulness of nicotine.
Not when it addicts people to a product that includes the carcinogen in tobacco tar.
Yeah, the pitch that nicotine is as harmful as caffeine is straight out of David Seymour's libertarian student debating handbook. Just throw it out there to distract from the actual harm and see who gets taken in by it.
Everybody knows that chocolate is way more addictive than caffeine. Yet, kids eat it without warning!
Lux thinks the coalition is squeaky-clean:
"Hey, any of you guys succumbed to a conflict of interest lure since we last met? Stick up your hands."
Do fish know they're in water?
Apparently not, according to opinionators I have read lately. Do humans know they're in Gaia? Well I've known ever since I read Lovelock's first book, but most humans remain unaware of their niche ambience. Do parts know wholes enclose them? If you believe in the zero-point field, yes. Parts are informed by the whole's matrix effect & ensuing ecosystemic relations.
"Do humans know they're in Gaia?"
A couple of times now I have shared the observation with my fundamentalist Christian father-in-law, while we are at the beach fishing together, how good it is today in God's cathedral.
He usually replies tentatively in the affirmative.
He's looking sideways at you, gsays 🙂
In any case, "Gods' cathedral" is in the forest 🙂
The beach is something else…
Looking at me sideways, he wouldn't be the first to pull an eye muscle in my company, usually from rolling them.
Anytime we are in nature we are in God's cathedral. Denying the beach over the forest sounds a little fundamentalist to me.
I don't agree 🙂
Beaches are what they are; you can play on them, relax on them, perhaps forage on them, but there's very little opportunity to establish a symbiotic, beneficial relationship with them; that is, there's little you can do to optimise their potential 🙂
Forests, otoh, are where the action is; humans can employ their minds for multiplying the energy of forests; increase their diversity, ensure their longevity, create more of them and so on.
Beach-bum, or woodlander?
You don't have to agree. Again, it ain't binary.
I feel for you that you don't see the potential in optimising a beach by; fishing, collecting kai moana, swimming, building forts from driftwood (where the forests ultimately can end up), creating tracks and paths in sandhills to roll a golf ball down only to run back up and repeat the exercise, rivermouth's with their biodiversity of flora and fauna.
Just letting go and surrendering to the pulse, the energy release of every wave meeting the shore. A constant reminder of ultimately our insignificance. That is without mentioning, depending on the coast you are on, sunrise and sunsets.
I get the same in the bush. As you elude to.
Fundamentalist or polytheist?
Animist, me.
the beach is alive too. Sometimes the beach and the forest are part of the same whole.
can't swim in a forest
You can bathe though.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/forest-bathing-nature-walk-health
Indeed. One of the very good reasons for planting more forests.
It took a book, Dennis?
You've gotta get out more 🙂
Social gnosis, as opposed to personal gnosis, is usually driven by media – of which books are an antique form. It transcends the personal dimension by getting humans onto a like-minded view based on common ground.
They certainly know when they are out of the water!
Except of course the mudskippers. They much prefer to be out of water.
A low key lobbying campaign is underway to restart live animal transport is underway.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/507389/the-1m-pr-and-lobbying-campaign-to-overturn-livestock-export-ban
Most will remember the sinking in the Pacific in which 6,000 of animals drowned.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/425171/live-cattle-exports-suspended-after-ship-goes-missing-mpi
And now …
More than 16,000 animals are aboard the MV Bahijah anchored off Western Australia, where sweltering heat is adding to pressure on the Australian government to decide whether to re-export the live cargo or allow the vessel back to dock following more than three weeks at sea.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/31/australia/australia-ship-sheep-cattle-red-sea-intl-hnk/index.html
A letter campaign to the Minister of Agriculture is in order.
As opposed to an easily ignored e-mail.
Amongst the briefings to incoming ministers from public servants was the one for Mark Mitchell, Minister for Emergency management and recovery. It included the following statement.
"Regarding earthquakes, the briefing said there was a 25 per cent chance of “a major Hikurangi Subduction Zone earthquake event occurring in the next 50 years."
“Indicative national impacts of a major Hikurangi earthquake and tsunami include tens of thousands of people dead, injured or displaced from their homes, and significant damage to the built environment (in excess of $144 billion).”
Holy crap. If I had a house on the East Coast of the North Island I'd be outta there! That's a pretty high chance of the event occurring anytime from tomorrow onwards and the longer it doesn't happen, the higher the chance gets that it will happen tomorrow.
Or am I not understanding properly and it's unlikely to happen?
Whole article here:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/could-happen-tomorrow-government-warned-of-chances-of-catastrophic-earthquake/YEUALN5BOVGKNH7X7F3QC2D25I/
am I not understanding properly and it's unlikely to happen?
Applying stats to quakes is more art than science. I did geophysics long ago & the odds are always indicative of likelihood. My take is that govt ought to do serious contingency planning for the sake of East Coasters.
The big one is indeed overdue: 3 centuries since the last time. However the nature of stress build-up on the edge of crustal plates is such that variations often make shifts regional rather than overall due to frictional resistance depending on other factors. so that likely explains their focus on Hikurangi rather than the Alps…
"“On the question as to whether it reflects something unsavoury, which meddlesome minds might promote…"
Jones on connections with tobacco companies.
So, that's a yes, imo.
"Tobacco lobbyist guest at Ministers’ swearing-in ceremony" – couldn't link – the heading will take you there.
Robert, when I Google that heading I get 10 results.
Well done! I like this one: https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/350158370/tobacco-lobbyist-guest-ministers-swearing-ceremony#:~:text=NZ%20First%20MP%20Shane%20Jones,swearing%20in%20of%20Government%20ministers.&text=A%20tobacco%20lobbyist%20was%20a,with%20NZ%20First%27s%20Shane%20Jones.
Or this: https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350159475/backdowns-smokefree-rules-suggest-tobacco-lobbyists-are-house
The decline of Jacinda Arderns personal popularity from late 2020 is nothing short of astonishing. As an example, the 1News Kantar poll to 2 December 2020, had her polling 58% as preferred PM; in the same poll just before she resigned (to 30 November 2022) her support had halved to 29%. Similarly, the Reid Research poll had her with numbers of 48% in May 2021, dropping to 30% in November 2022. Some of this is almost certainly due to covid fatigue, however the multiple and significant failures of her tenure (e.g. Kiwibuild, Te Pukenga) and the line of MP's who misbehaved under watch (some of which only came out after she resigned) to me demonstrated a person who, while a media darling, was out of her depth in many ways.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[Take two weeks off for diversion trolling – Incognito]
Mod note
Consequences from New Zealand transitioning from world exemplar-to-pariah under the confabulation.
Examining why?
Scalpel 1 – follow the money to the source
Scalpel 2 – identify the people in government and their connection to funded organisations
Scalpel 3 – what politicians say and who created those very narratives
Scalpel 4 – wait for the denial and prove it to be a lie.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/02/experts-detail-swathe-of-possible-connections-between-coalition-government-politicians-and-tobacco-industry-david-seymour-responds.html
That's it, SPC.
Sheesh, did they actually do all that??
So now the dumb buggers are led by a wokester?? Time's up for them!
https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/02/01/chris-trotter-intransigent-minorities/
Except that Trotter's article is more about wanting a referendum so a "majority" can prevent what he has posed as some threat to "democracy" from Maori and supporters of the Treaty continuance.
He's part of Rob's Mob 50 years on – it is a pity that Murray Ball is not here to send him up with a cartoon – a reprise of Stanley using the visage of Trotter.
The Labour front bench need to go on the serious offensive.
Hound Costello, and Mitchell relentlessly. Until they force their resignations.
Then target Reti and Wills.
Interesting to see the 'announcement of the announcement' trend started by the Ardern government has become the standard way of doing things.
Wouldn't it be good if we had some elected representatives who just got on with things?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350164491/live-chloe-swarbrick-announce-co-leadership-bid
I'm not sure why you are so hurt by this, at least hurt enough to comment on it.
Swarbrick has called a press conference tomorrow, presumably to announce her leadership bid. This is standard, and newsworthy, it's a press conference (there's the clue) so the media have announced it.
I guess Jacinda still lives in your head.
Not hurt by it at all (and not sure why you feel the need to spin it that way, although given your use of first name I'm guessing you know Ardern well) – just observing the way messaging is being disseminated these days.
The whole dynamic of how pollies communicate via the media has changed in the last few years.
I was in the pub when someone else saw this article pop up and told everyone else, and the reaction was similar amongst the group, such as 'why not just stand up and say what you're doing rather than stage an event that gets as many clicks and likes as possible'.
My guess is it's attention seeking, and feeding the ego, so I won't be tuning in myself.
Swarbrick was always the only candidate that made sense for the Greens at this time – so it's not really news is it.
Best of luck to her, as I've voted for her for council in the past, although I probably wouldn't again – talks a lot but doesn't get enough done, for my liking.
I'm not sure you know how press conferences work. A politician wants to announce something to the public so their office contacts the media to be at a certain place at a certain time to they can relay that message to the public.
You and your friends in the pub would prefer Swarbrick to stand on the steps unannounced? I bet you would…