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…
Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
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Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
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“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
PNG Post-Courier New Zealand High Commissioner Peter Zwart and PNG Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph welcomed a C-130 Hercules to Port Moresby this week to support Papua New Guinea’s response to the March 24 earthquake and recent severe flooding. “Papua New Guinea has requested New Zealand’s assistance to transport emergency ...
Grub Street King Luxon rode through the streets Of King’s Landing, and was troubled By the sight of hungry urchins in the mud. “Who would be the best of my Lords To deal with this negative optic?” He pondered. The answer came to him instantly. “Seymour!” he said to himself. ...
“The Bill does not provide environmental protection, good quality decision making, certainty, public participation or speed. It should be withdrawn.” ...
RNZ News Television New Zealand has breached its collective agreement with the E tū union when deciding on discontinuing programmes, the Employment Relations Authority has ruled. It was announced in March that 68 staff members who work for news programmes Midday and Tonight, consumer justice programme Fair Go, current affairs ...
Asia Pacific Report Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member. This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
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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 🙂
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.
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…