"The latest International Monetary Fund forecast has global growth dipping to -4.9 per cent." Degrowth is now in the pipeline.
It will probably have to occur for a while until mainstreamers start to notice, and then the media will get over their aversion and start reporting it. Normalcy is a state of mind and operates like conventional wisdom.
Facing a reality not previously encountered takes quite a lot of unconventional wisdom. Like turning the Titanic around, after the fraught consensus-building process of agreeing that the iceberg really is looming dead ahead.
So National & Labour are likely to produce alternative economic plans prior to the impact of the election, but such difficult endeavour takes inordinate time. Not business as usual is a hard thing for both bunches of neoliberals to think about.
Mainstreamers that aren't already out of work, you mean? Media not reporting it? Where'd you get that quote you led off with? When is prior to the impact of the election?
Degrowth. Media mainstreamers are averse to reporting a new reality, in normalcy. The conceptual breakthrough that awaits them is when one of their own succumbs to the `emperor's new clothes' effect. That will happen when the fastest slow learner realises the emperor of economic growth is no longer wearing clothes, interprets the drop in gdp as degrowth, then says so!
When is prior to the impact of the election?
When the election gets so close that the risk of delay becomes greater than the risk of announcing the plan too soon.
It ain't a tortoise & hare race, eh? Think tortoise & tortoise. The plans must gestate in the collective minds & processes of National & Labour until the time seems right to launch them. Remember that they both issued schematics of those plans not long ago, and the media commented on how they seemed identical and equally simplistic. So now the challenge is to differentiate!
Q: how can one bunch of neoliberal drones seem cleverer than another?
Of course not. I conclude that as a result of the consistent pattern of their failure to report it. What, you think I haven't waited long enough already?
Well, how long is a piece of string? I'm impatient by nature. A single failure suffices, for me. But yes, if you must wait until a pattern of degrowth denial by the media is well-established, I trust you will report each failure that you notice to us here, and tag it with the correct number in the sequence, so we can watch the sequence develop until it triggers the threshold of your pattern-recognition.
Don't let your impatience impede your understanding. Wait though, you're not just pretending the media are in denial to suit some point you want to make about your perspicacity are you? That would be a tad sly.
Most of the "political commentariat" are shills for National and to keep banging on with their trumping neoliberal memes shows they're owned and not reporting objectively. Relax though as Hosk will maintain the indignant rants.
Collins and Boag have also done a great wrecking job by reminding everyone how DP and that 'win at all costs' are still very much the playbook with national. They don't give a F about the people and Jude showed NZ over ILG she's into those tactics despite denial.
People aren't that stupid and the polls reflect that IMO. JA deserves to govern alone.
Most of the "political commentariat" are shills for National…
Except for the most of the "political commentariat" who people at Kiwiblog claim are shills for Ardern and for Labour.
I guess the "political commentariat" is people who say things you disagree with, as opposed to the intelligent well reasoned journalists you agree with.
In many people's eyes Ardern does deserve to govern alone, but alas she least needs a few ministers to pad out the Cabinet and to front on the bad news.
Goes beyond any party sympathies. For instance, Malpass is a hardcore libertarian cheerleader who has worked for 'thinktanks' of that persuasion in both NZ and Australia.
Ok Pete Who are these marvelous managers in National? Their “Cabinet” is looking very shabby at present.
You are repeating the meme, "They only have Jacinda" when talking about Labour, with "alas she needs a few ministers to pad out the Cabinet"
Journalists who were "truth tellers became targets during Key's time. It is good to see one vindicated to some degree.
We look at the record and behaviour of these people. When their hyperbole draws the attention of theWorld Press, you can hardly accuse us of only attacking those journalists or commentators we disagree with. That is disingenuous.
As the biggest global event since WW2, it seems entirely reasonable that COVID-19 will lead to some sort of political realignment or shift in democratic societies, as happened in and after the 1930s Depression (eg Roosevelt in US, Savage/Fraser in NZ) and WW2 (eg Labour's election victory in UK in 1945, the NHS etc).
It will be hard for any opposition party to argue for smaller government, tax cuts and especially anything that might be seen to weaken the health system. Hard too for National to attack Labour for carrying out pretty much the same economic policies as the British and Australian conservative governments have done during COVID.
Weak piece from van Beynen which doesn't look at underlying causes. Labour is popular right now because for a period of a few months it has told business what to do and insisted that it behave itself. It has put private power under democratic control in the interests of the health of every citizen. A majority of people love that – it's how their families work.
Sure – as things get back to normal Labour will roll over and let business walk all over it again. But it's been nice while it lasted.
That is a very insightful comment- having business behave itself. In terms of the election frankly I don't expect huge policy gobs ( as everything is in flux) but I would be content with a direction of travel.
At the moment I think it would be fair to say that National represent letting business and overseas actors run all over the country again with zero concern for the bulk of citizens, with a very large side dollop of righteous fundamental holly roller.
Labour will do better long term if they make it clear that they see business as a sector that has to be modified community needs.
The Greens might be better to really focus on business being pushed in the environmental direction and into better redistribution towards the low paid but with more emphasis on the part the international wealthy play in this and the level of competition that the workplace settings play in this.
Funny too how the media demand policy from Labour but give the right a free pass although the right rarely disclose their true agenda anyway.
Restating National’s reason for existence is no easy task. It could start by reminding itself who it really represents, whose interests it is there to protect and promote.
National is there to represent the rich and to make the exploitation of the poor by the rich easier. They know this, they don't have to remind themselves. Their problem is that most people are truly starting to realise this and if they state it openly then they lose even more votes.
It could stand for equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome. Civility instead of kindness.
Yeah – no. National has never stood for that. In fact, they stand fully against that. They know that the rich have much more opportunity and they're out to keep it that way by keeping everyone else poor.
After all, equal opportunity can only come when everyone has the same access to the same level of resources.
Does it all matter? Would it be the end of the world if National’s failure to re-establish its relevance meant it withered and died.
Yes, it matters because getting rid of the rich is what we need to do to truly become a prosperous nation.
It’s obviously important for our democracy to have a healthy opposition and National is all we have got at this stage.
Its important for democracy that all voices and ideas are heard, debated and those chosen by the people are researched. It's not important for democracy to have an opposition.
Public support for democracy depends on the other team having a reasonable prospect of governing one day.
That is an outright lie.
Public support for democracy comes from people feeling that their say is heard and that the path that the people choose benefits them and their direct family.
The concept of government and opposition actually prevents that.
Social realities get co-created. Conspiracy theories have been escalating in recent decades and having a US president promoting one or more of them ramps their influence up into the top level of politics. Next step: geopolitics! 👽
When theories are promoted as alternative realities, they can become resilient and adaptive. As complex memes, they achieve contagion and currency.
"QAnon does not possess a physical location, but it has an infrastructure, a literature, a growing body of adherents, and a great deal of merchandising… In the face of inconvenient facts, it has the ambiguity and adaptability to sustain a movement of this kind over time. For QAnon, every contradiction can be explained away; no form of argument can prevail against it."
Conspiracy theories are a constant in American history, and it is tempting to dismiss them as inconsequential. But as the 21st century has progressed, such a dismissal has begun to require willful blindness.
Sceptics tend to make greater fools of themselves than conspiracy theorists. The denialism that drives their dismissal makes them seem more pathetic. They deny the evidence that makes the conspiracy theory superficially plausible. So other sceptics who prefer to be grounded in whatever social reality seems profoundly real have to distance themselves from both groups.
This transcendence of the binary creates a triadic structure in society: true-believers, disbelievers, and agnostics. Amongst the agnostics, you get those who are genuinely interested in the theorising, but require a better match with reality than that proposed by the competing binary nutball groups.
The hero myth was identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell in 1949. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces) When you combine it with the tyranny/freedom mental axis, to produce Trump as liberator from total control of everyone by the deep state, you get traction in the mass mind.
In its broadest contours, the QAnon belief system looks something like this: Q is an intelligence or military insider with proof that corrupt world leaders are secretly torturing children all over the world; the malefactors are embedded in the deep state; Donald Trump is working tirelessly to thwart them.
Next step is to use the internet to make mass contagion more influential. Memes defeat other memes in the process of social darwinism:
If the internet is one big rabbit hole containing infinitely recursive rabbit holes, QAnon has somehow found its way down all of them, gulping up lesser conspiracy theories as it goes.
Then achieve democratic authenticity by identifying with the will of the people:
To believe Q requires rejecting mainstream institutions, ignoring government officials, battling apostates, and despising the press. One of Q’s favorite rallying cries is “You are the news now.”
Waken everyone! Warn them, about Democrats
promoting “mass hysteria” about the coronavirus for political gain: “What is the primary benefit to keep public in mass-hysteria re: COVID‑19? Think voting. Are you awake yet? Q.”
Meanwhile in the real world …. the interview with Oliver Stone was also interesting. I think the Vietnam experience will be viewed in the future as a more telling moment in history than it is even now. I was a teen at the time and it didn't fully sink in, and watching documentaries now what gets to me is the pure fear in the eyes of the conscripts sent there. Stone nailed the zeitgeist of the time so well, and long may he continue to produce rock the boat documentaries and films.
"Sceptics tend to make greater fools of themselves than conspiracy theorists. The denialism that drives their dismissal makes them seem more pathetic."
Really? Equating skepticism to denial(ism) is just weird – maybe it's a conspiracy
"Scepticism is integral to the scientific process, because most claims turn out to be false. Weeding out the few kernels of wheat from the large pile of chaff requires extensive observation, careful experimentation and cautious inference. Science is scepticism and good scientists are sceptical.
Denial is different. It is the automatic gainsaying of a claim regardless of the evidence for it – sometimes even in the teeth of evidence. Denialism is typically driven by ideology or religious belief, where the commitment to the belief takes precedence over the evidence. Belief comes first, reasons for belief follow, and those reasons are winnowed to ensure that the belief survives intact."
RNZ dropped Vicki Hyde as one of their regular commentators. I suspect her ideologically-driven scepticism was pissing off their audience too much. Nothing wrong with traditional scepticism used as a reality-check in science, as described in your red herring. What goes wrong with sceptics is their natural tendency to elevate scepticism to an ideology, whence their degeneration into denial of evidence emerges from. Been seeing that tendency consistently since the 1970s.
Sceptics are able to make a positive contribution to society & culture as long as they keep an open mind and balanced view of the pros & cons of evidence.
Sadly, many can't. This lot give the others a bad name (the analogy with lawyers comes to mind). To err is human, and one could rationalise their inadequacies accordingly. Me, I'm not so charitable. 😇
"I suspect her [Hyde's] ideologically-driven scepticism was pissing off their audience too much."
You've peaked my curiosity, Dennis – I've met Hyde (who in 2013 was appointed a MNZM for services to science), and would struggle to identify the idealogy that you perceive drives her scepticism. Could you expand on the evidence that informs your suspicion? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Hyde
"Sceptics are able to make a positive contribution to society & culture as long as they keep an open mind and balanced view of the pros & cons of evidence.
Sadly, many can't."
Yes, it's always sad when an opportunity to make a constructive contribution is lost – those 'patterns of behaviour' are sooo intractable, eh?
"What goes wrong with sceptics is their natural tendency to elevate scepticism to an ideology…" – so many people going wrong!
Conflating denial and scepticism doesn't fly, but, as you say, to err is human.
Pseudoscience as Media Effect
"The popularity of the anti-vax movement in the United States and elsewhere is the cause of new lethal epidemics of diseases that are fully preventable by modern medicine [Benecke and DeYoung, 2019]. Creationism creeps into science classrooms with the aim of undermining the teaching of evolution through legal obligations or school boards’ decisions to present both sides of a debate largely foreign to the scientific community [Taylor, 2017]. And one simply has to turn on the TV and watch so-called science channels to be bombarded with aliens, ghosts, cryptids and miracles as though they are undisputable facts [Prothero, 2012]. Deprecated by its detractors, scientific proof is assimilated to become one opinion among others, if not a mere speculation. Worse, scientific data that challenge partisan positions or economic interests are dismissed as ‘junk science’ and their proponents as ‘shills’ [Oreskes and Conway, 2010]. By echoing such statements, some members of the media, often willing accomplices in conflating denial and scepticism, amplify manufactured controversies and cast growing doubt upon scientific credibility." https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/19/02/JCOM_1902_2020_L01
It’s a big part of their success in the polls sure. But it’s not the only reason. There’s also a growing conviction on the part of voters that the main opposition party is in no shape to bear the responsibilities of office at the moment.
– how dare people use Their money as they see fit, don't they know that Their Kiwi saver AINT theirs to use. How dare they.
People now and then need money. They can borrow it from a bank or go for their savings. If the government is smart it will look at a change in legislation that would allow people to access a certain part of THEIR SAVINGS to start their busienss, pay some healthcare costs, renovate the house, get married, have some childfren et etc etc etc – you know all that stuff that sometimes need money. And besides, 48% of businesses succeed. But then who cares.
I don't think anyone here is considering the No mates party a good steward of anything other then their own bank accounts.
But liberating the Kiwi Safer to their owners would not be a bad idea and should be considered.
Westykev,So, you didn't hear anything about the huge spending on Infrastructure then, the largest spend in NZs history, or the fact they've built more new homes than any Govt since the seventies.
I call that a wish list from a Party that has not delivered big on infrastructure since their elevation to Government. Twyford and team over promised and under delivered on housing and transport.
I hope for New Zealand’s sake they up their game post September.
It's not a wish list, it's an achievement NZ hasn't seen in a decade.
That's why people say Twyford was a failure cos he managed to have more new homes built in NZ than any Govt since the 70s.
In terms of other major Infrastructural projects, there hasn't been anytime in History that NZ has planned and completed the level Infrastructure currently either starting or near completion, roading, rail, Hospitals, Schools.
How many Schools and Hospitals were upgraded under the last Govt?
I think Jacinda and Labour have so far tried to tread a fine line on this. Governments still have to govern right up to election day but most election years haven't been overshadowed by such a crisis and threat.They don't want to be seen to be prioritising election campaigning over the serious business of keeping NZ safe, and if anything went wrong they'd get pilloried for taking their eyes off the ball. On the other hand, they have already got some criticism from media over allegedly treating the upcoming election as a nuisance. Ultimately the best way for a govt to retain power is to be seen to be doing a good job, while also setting out a vision for the future.
Must be why Ardern has an 80% confidence rating, looking after NZ and NZers.
We just happen to be in the luckiest country in the world right now, just there's a few Kiwis that haven't quite recognized that yet, they will in time.
This Virus ain't disappearing any time soon, NZ is the Country to follow for procedural excellence, and we're still learning as we go.have we made mistakes, yes, did we learn from mistakes, yes. What more can you ask for.
The National party are complaining about all the money being spent on Quarintine and Isolation without actually recognizing the Huge financial benefits of ploughing all those funds directly into the economy, employing people and keeping businesses operating, it's called good economic management, something NZers aren't used to seeing.
It'll cost them something, maybe the tail end of their list – but the party that spent so much time whining about opening the borders have scarcely established themselves as a credible alternative.
Covid-19 is a game changer on many levels were community transmission to occur. Due to good political management NZ has been fortunate in not being impacted on a social level other than when in level 4 & 3.
I watched the premier of Victoria on TV and the emotion in his eyes told me that there was a long rocky steep road ahead for his state.
There are some situations in isolation where additional support is needed. Ranging from medical requiring methadone to grief support for children and this needs to be provided to minimise breaking isolation.
The paper headline said yesterday/today that Victoria is thinking of a NZ type lockdown. We did it early and so it tracked through well. Victoria seemed to be doing well but it was careless to have guards supposed to be keeping isolated possibly infected apart but then having sex with them. That was a poor connection in the brain of the careless young, but even worse in the minds of planners who need to allow for the little quirks and needs of humans.
So Victoria may have to go beyond what we did and be authoritarian, and the young would hate it, but then that could be limited by showing some kindness and imagination. Set up ways of communicating so people don't get tense about family and personal problems, and loneliness. Let them watch television a lot and perhaps have classes on learning the ukelele, and put a performance on telly at the end of isolation giving kudos to those who gave it a go in the true Aussie spirit, and build citizen-pride and support. And for the ones that like reading have kindle, and then a book discussion between the isolated and outsiders. Try to get them reading, it may prevent them from joining the most illiterate period since 1820 or something, with most spending time watching mummers on TV.
I don't see that as bad, firms would probably give vouchers, be prepared to give something to do for the fortnight, and make a friend and customer from the situation.
When I say opposition, I mean those parties not part of the Government: National and ACT. At the moment the opposition is on 37%. Just seven weeks out from the election the opposition is at 37%.
For context, the poll that saw Andrew Little admit that maybe he wasn't the right person to lead Labour had the opposition of Labour, Greens, and NZFirst actually collectively at 50%.
…
You have to judge each poll against itself. So in the last Colmar Brunton, which was taken when Todd Muller was leader, National was on 38% and ACT on 3%. So 41% for the opposition. Even that is bad, but now it's worse with National shedding 6% and ACT gaining 2%.
If you compare TV3's Reid Research Polls, the opposition went from 32% to 28%, so a slip of 4%. While National went down 5% and ACT went up 2%.
The trends are pretty much the same.
It was a good call when to release the report into Operation Burnham as the National Party poll could have dipped due to the release. The next poll will reflect the reports finding.
There is a trend going on into inquiries involving National Party MPs and when the inquiry is of an historical event which was handled poorly this reflects on the current National Party.
Were it not for Labour exposing the truth using pages from Hager and Stephenson's book, National and the NZDF would have gotten away with concealing the truth.
Yes. They're the ones who may have followed the saga as it wound its way through the mesh of lies denials and (maybe) even read "Hit and Run".
The young are otherwise occupied unless they are in the NZDF and even then its likely they are not much interested as for many it represents what they would see as a bygone era.
I see this election as a massive renewal for the hard right in New Zealand.
Labour has been faced with such extreme events that it has had to expand the state so fast and so far that the more defensive elements of society are getting more and more ticked off.
National has shrunk.
Act looks likely to get above 5%, and bring in 7-8 MPs. Act's stance on guns is well recognised as bringing in those hard core rifle owners in the Waitake and Southland electorates.
The Conservative Party is back, and it will eat away a percentage or two in Mt Roskill and Mangere.
The coalition of weirdos gathered around Jaimie Lee-Ross will suck .5%-1% across from NZFirst and from National.
I'd like to see this splintering continue, to ensure Labour gets a good four terms and sinks the wooden stake through National's heart good and proper.
Whereas on the left, the Greens are imperilled at 5% and may well be dried to a husk under the 5% threshold, leaving a unified and revived left under Ardern. The harder left has simply nowhere to go and doesn't need to. That makes for much more efficient and surefooted government.
Our government has never been more redistributive, or more Keynsean in the scale of its deficit spending, since Muldoon's second term.
It has utterly massive nationwide support, and support within the Labour Party, for a young and charismatic and effective leader. That hasn't occurred since the first term of Helen Clark – if then.
And it's done so while becoming the most popular government in living memory.
Who do you place the blame on if the Greens don't make it over the line?
I like the Greens, I hope they're part of the next Govt, but they can't complain voters don't support them, they need the policies that attract a broader range of punters
We weren't talking about that, but their comms has been weaker in recent years. Only need to secure one on twenty voters though – not the same 'broad' church as Lab or Nat.
I do not see how removing the Greens from parliament builds unity. Seems like FPP thinking.
No, not really, I think its just we've got a Govt that has become extremely popular, a lot of that due to the response to the pandemic, both support parties are struggling to gain traction even though they are part of the solution, its just the voting public aren't associating those support parties with the pandemic policies, they're not seen promoting the policies or involved in the daily announcements.
I agree the Greens need to improve their coms, they've stumbled making announcements about policy, they've allowed the media to control the policy emphasis, rather than making sure the policy is promoted in a way that voters can aspire to.
I give you their Tax policy release as an example, great policy, but the media immediately described it as the Wealth Tax, that ends up as a discouragement, they needed a clear identity for the policy, like, Tax restructuring policy and made sure it couldn't be renamed to something the voters would want to reject.
I'm confident the Greens will make the cut, you only have see how many here will party vote them to help them on their way.
The Greens are essential to parliament because parties need friends to govern. Sure, Labour might be able to govern alone come election 2020, but what about 2023? Monolith parties lower the odds of being in government if they don't have coalition partners.
The right are in trouble not because they have new minor parties fracturing the vote, but because the new minor parties are largely similar in nature (and extremely nutty).
NZ can't support the Greens, the Environment Party, the ZeroCarbon Party, and the OrganicNZ Party. But the Greens should be able to get 5%.
If we lose the Greens this election, to whom will Labour turn when they drop to 45% in 2023?
Even with a majority to Govern alone, I still think the Greens will be part of the next Govt, even if it's just for improved representation, and very good for democracy.
Winston rose from the soft fresh earth lining his crypt that he had been resting in from 2008 to 2011. So Greens missing out this time isn't necessarily permanent. Especially if they take the time to reflect on the relative weight they give to environmental issues versus other issues in relation to the demographics where they draw their support.
Yeah, but Winston's kind of special like that. Dude has come back from the dead so much that Hammer Films want to make movies about him.
I don't think policy weight is the issue for the Greens – I think they just have a same problem as ACT (although significantly more base support). When their natural coalition partner is dipping a bit, they have a bit more room. When their natural coalition partner is super-popular, they get overshadowed.
But I still think their voice is important to have in parliament.
Maybe not policy-weight as the important factor, but people-weight.
I couldn't bring myself to vote for Greens when their highest profile people were the likes of Tanczos, Bradford, Kedgley. Because it really didn't seem to me their hearts were in environmental issues, but that Greens were a stalking horse for other agendas.
Then when there was a bit more heft on the environment side with the likes of Kevin Hague, Kennedy Graham, Russell Norman as well as Hughes, Sage etc, I found it easier to choke down the idea that the likes of Steffan Browning were part of the package. For the coming election, I feel like the environmental substance has been whittled down to Shaw, Sage, Genter – which feels like quite a step down from where things were.
I'm sort of half and half on that one (personal dislike for Tanzcos aside – on at least one occasion he got pissy with doorstaff when the "don't you know who I am" didn't count as a backstage pass).
MPs neglecting a party's platform just to wank on about a single pet issue is a bit shit. But also I'm not sure how a party serious about fundamentally altering how we as a society operate in relation to the environment can do so without looking at social, economic, and post-colonial issues.
From my point of view, the existence of poverty is every bit as much a part of the values of an environmental party as the discussion of whether NZ national parks should be returned as close to a precolonial state as is possible. Poverty is a direct result of capitalism. It's as wasteful to people as clearfelling or overfishing are to "the environment". I have no idea why any group would want dramatic change in one but be opposed to any effort spent on the other.
And generally not getting candidates, and then MPs who are up to representing the place. The place puts very high demands on it's MP and will quickly destroy someone who's not up to the demands of the job. Certainly did the last two in, with style.
The electorate has a very conservative rural part in Southland, combined with a very liberal, go get it, part in Queenstown and Central Otago. It's one or the other with very little cross over, the two parts of the electorate may as well speak completely different languages, really they do.
How does this happen? According to the Herald a woman traveled from NZ to England in January then came home in March just before lockdown and then on July 20 flew to Sydney where she tested positive on arrival .? She must have dual citizenship but how does she test positive 4 1\2 months later when she thinks she may have had it when feeling sick after coming back in March. Did she not get a test then, was it a false neg if she did?
It may be that the test is detecting fragments of dead virus that haven't been finally cleared by the immune system.
It may be a recent infection and her earlier illness wasn't covid.
It may be that the virus somehow persists in someone's body without activating the immune system enough to fully clear it, or it may find a home in some specific tissues where it's hidden from the immune system.
Today's Ministry of Health media release about the two cases who travelled from Auckland to Sydney.
The first involves a woman who transited through Auckland from Los Angeles to Sydney on 6 July. At this point there are not considered to be any close contacts who need to be traced or tested but enquiries continue with both the airline and airport.
The second involves a woman who travelled from Auckland to Sydney on 20 July. We have already talked directly with the person concerned.
At this point, it appears the person may have been a previously unconfirmed case from March and this is likely to have led to the positive test result.
We will continue to fully investigate the circumstances of this positive result, including travel history.
She arrived in Sydney on the 6th July. Quarantine till the 20th. 11 days later or thereabouts a positive test. Might she have picked it up in quarantine? Sydney? Who would know……scary to think she might have picked it up in the UK in January. I traveled to London mid February arrived home on the 28th. Was visiting an unwell relative so didn’t go touristing. Walking freely around local shops. No hint of what was about to come although I was following covid closely. Trip home on edge a little and practising hand hygiene etc…
I've been aware of this issue for a while now, but I'm rather startled at how many people are at risk here:
Normally hundreds of small yachts sail here from the South Pacific each year to wait the cyclone season out, from September to May.
But this year, with the borders closed because of the pandemic, they're stranded with nowhere to go.
Guy Chester is moored at the island of Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia, and is growing increasingly anxious, as the window closes for the yachts to make the voyage here – he says they only have a few weeks left, and still need planning and application time.
He's been appealing to New Zealand's government since April to create a border entry exemption process for those on small yachts in the Pacific to come to New Zealand before the cyclone season starts.
This is straightforward, and very low risk. By the time you've made the 10 day passage from Tonga or Fiji on a small yacht, you've pretty much isolated anyway. And when you do get to Opua, another week on the boat and a couple of tests represents a very low burden on the quarantine system.
These are foreign (i.e. not kiwi) yachties in French Polynesia who pre-covid would have planned on spending the cyclone season in NZ (or Australia). French Poly is relatively safe from cyclones and in fact many European yachties (not under visa restrictions) spend several years there. Any yachties who have to leave French Poly (e.g. for NZ) cannot land in the Cooks, Niue or Tonga making it a 14 to 20 day trip direct, so basically within quarantine timing. Fiji has opened up under strict conditions but is not a safe cyclone season layover. Can't see the NZ government allowing non NZ yachties in yet, at least until after the election (cyclone season doesn't really begin until November) despite the low health risk.
The closing down of borders and constantly changing rules has impacted many people very hard. I recently met a couple who spent 73 days at sea in SE Asia, being bounced from place to place before finally arriving in Darwin with literally no food or water left on board. This is not an uncommon story.
The trade wind sea routes also mean that if you are in the Pacific, your most feasible destinations lie eastward, and this means ultimately landing up in NZ or Australia at some point. If your home nation is Europe or North America, sailing back upwind to get there is not a simple matter. And until very recently even getting back through Panama was not possible.
And in reality for many, their boat is their home, their only significant asset. Abandoning it and catching a plane back to the country they are nominally citizen's of is a highly non-trivial demand to make of them.
NZ has long had a marine industry that has quietly done very well from a steady flow of boats arriving here; now is the time to extend a generous hand when they really need it.
A good accurate description. However having made the passage westwards once myself, the prospect of spending another year in French Polynesia rather than risk the perilous long trip all the way to NZ seems a lot safer and pleasanter. The other issue is that all the foreign boats from last year are still 'stuck' in NZ (and Oz) meaning there is little safe mooring space left in in marinas for another lot.
Normally, yachts would island hop through to Tonga then down to NZ via Minerva lagoon if necessary. But all the islands west of French Polynesia are inaccessible making it a 2000 nautical mile trip from Bora Bora with the worst bit at the end – not sensible even if NZ allows entry
Even before the pandemic, yachties intending to sail to NZ had to inform Customs at least 4 days before arrival with all info about who's on board, where they were sailing from and their health status. They could only go to the Q (quarantine) dock in Opua or Marsden Cove and wouldn't be allowed on land before an inspection by Customs, Biosecurity and Health. If Guy, whoever he is, just turned up he would have been fined heavily and possibly arrested. Dunno what the protocol is now as only NZ citizens and residents are allowed to sail to NZ. Guess they have to work it out before they leave Australia or French Poly with Customs and any days they haven't spent at sea (subtracted from 14) could be spent tied up to one or the other of the Q docks and only released after a negative test (only guessing!).
Ok, so he could set off and he's not going to be sunk on sight as long as he lets people know who's coming and he's prepared to quarantine. Doesn't sound too oppressive.
No it isn't like that at all. If he just turned up without good reason (such as a genuine sailing emergency) there would be heavy fines, and lots of unhappy consequences.
Most sailing people are highly aware of the often complex arrival procedures necessary in every country and do their best to comply responsibly wherever possible.
Authorities are very aware of the Pacific drug smuggling routes, monitor traffic closely and are generally quite good at catching bad actors. Quite a separate issue.
The exit of so many socially liberal women at the same time leaves a gaping hole in the so-called broad church of the National party that will cause it to list to the religious right.
Audrey Young (I bet she was weeping tears of anger and disappointment when writing this) expands on the rise and rise of the MPs who are religious Right. (But Wrong to me.)
Fast forward to Thursday and you saw Kaye and Adams describing with pride their work on the abortion legislation, the euthanasia bill, gay marriage, and other Rainbow issues.
Their work has been strongly opposed by a group of hardcore Christian colleagues, mainly first-term MPs, who include Hipango, Loheni, Simeon Brown, Chris Penk and Paulo Garcia, along with more experienced MPs Simon O'Connor and Alfred Ngaro, who briefly flirted with the idea of starting a Christian Party.
The religious conservatives in National have been more visible this term than before because of three factors: greater numbers of MPs, more issues around which to organise, and the fact the party did not have a strong liberal leader like John Key.
His departure gave the right greater freedom, permission if you like, to speak out with impunity.
Simon Bridges and Todd Muller are not part of the more zealous group although, as conservatives and Christians, would also have given heart to the hardliners.
It is not yet clear what the balance will be when the votes fall after September 19 and it is yet to be seen how some of the new MPs such as Christopher Luxon will project their Christian views on others.
The chances are there will not be the surplus of polarising issues there have been this term.
But the exit of a swag of social liberals means keeping a balance between liberal and conservative within National is expected be a greater focus for the party's board particularly in its list ranking.
When the Christian Party demised many years ago, I seem to remember a plan to not bother with a Party but instead get individual strong Christians elected to operate from the inside rather than the outside. Maybe they have succeeded?
Yes Draco. Since God is on their side they will mightily hew down those who would defy the Chosen Path to Rightliness and Judith will blossom shrouded in iridescent halos. Alleluya!
If the current govt could get their collective shit together for long enough and not let people in isolation rock off to Countdown every 5 minutes it should be alright
We tend to propose economic policies without thinking of their wider repercussions. It is just so easy to say ‘we should do this’ and ignore the consequences. This was nicely, and sadly, illustrated by a recent controversy between Keith Woodford, retired professor of agribusiness at Lincoln University, and the NZIER, which wrote a report on the contribution of agriculture to the economy. It argued that the sector’s contribution was small (4 to 5 percent of GDP); Woodford argued that the estimate was misleading about the significance of the farm contribution.
Bryan [Philpott] would have been irate, because the analytic framework the NZIER report was so limited. It seemed to be saying that the farm sector was so small we could almost neglect it. That would encourage those who want to diminish or even close down the agricultural sector.
The problem, of course, is that economists have been giving bad advice for decades and, even after the lessons of the GFC, don't seem to have any other advice.
DracoTD, the NZ scene has a significant national body collective? It was a long fought effort to be recognised; now not only receiving charitable funding but receiving significant funding from MSD and ACC.
The body's agencies are working on the ground addressing an overwhelming workload of needs.
Each of the client coming into different agents nation wide, IS the expert on their own lives. The goals for 'remedy' come from their own voices. Support is multi faceted for all dimensions of a person's story and needs; not just abuse issues either nor ironically a single gender or ethnicity, exclusive place. New agencies are underway still spreading into further locales. There is enormous support from a wide collective of grass roots and NGO's all working collaboratively to affect change .( And no, Paula despite your claim in your valedictory speech, you never visited- and in a funding round- nor another high profile dissenter, ' never mind them' pollie. https://malesurvivor.nz/our-organisation/
Australia's Covid 19 toll has doubled in the last two weeks since they had effectively eliminated.
Watching the conversations of resident Victorians around the place it's clear they and their government have no idea about proper pandemic response. This can be applied nationally too. The mixed massages and concessions which led to this horrible 'second wave' (it's not a second wave, it's just a first wave not dealt with properly) are still front and centre of policy there.
For instance, did you know that construction was, is and apparently always will be classed as an essential service? Did you know all Australians were allowed to go to work, even during their highest level of lockdown, if they were unable to work from home?
It's clear the Victorian people and government have no intention of doing what is required and they are now reduced to managing the unmanageable.
The Victorian and federal Australian governments' botched response gives us a very clear picture of what life would be like in New Zealand had the National Party been in charge here.
In the beginning, the Australian state Govts started their own lockdowns as the Fed Govt was missing in action, they finally came to the party and literally copied the NZ system and Morrison was even mimicking Ardern and her demeanor, I remember watching him thinking he must have had a brain transplant, speaking more softly and with emotion, must have taken a fair bit of training.
The state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Friday confirmed a New Zealand-style lockdown was being explored – restrictions which saw all businesses closed except for essential services.
The VIC authorities are doing themselves and everyone else a disservice by claiming the situation the find themselves in now is due to one single quarantine lapse.
I just don't buy that and what it does is minimise the considerable flaws in the rest of their approach which, left unfixed, will result in many, many more deaths.
We should not forget National and business and universities jumping up and down demanding we open the borders before it was safe. Strange isn't it, they have gone pretty quiet about that these days. They were also saying Australia was doing better than we were!
But we must not get complacent. Daughter in Australia says too many people there were selfish idiots.
Daughter in Australia says too many people there were selfish idiots.
It's true, but where does the complacency come from? It comes from complacent and compromised leadership.
Those conversations I mentioned above show the Australian federal government’s relief packages were unwieldy, slow and hard to access. Wage subsidies in NZ were central to the calmness with which we all approached the very well thought out lockdown. Clear and compassionate leadership from JA got us all on board.
Muttonbird, true. It was very clear here, apart from some initial issues about what was or was not essential and untidy issues were quickly tidied up. The daily PM and DG briefings kept us well informed and they reminded us what was expected of us. It became essential viewing. I don't think daughter in Australia had that level of clarity.
He'd certainly want to spellcheck their copy, before publishing.
And peruse the leader’s room for contradictory clues like hats before giving a stump speech
"I think they now have a terrific team who has a good chance of winning the election, or at least can ensure the National Party will remain a broad church after 19 September."
"At least" …
Translation: Campaign strategist expects defeat. I don't think any Lab/Nat person in the leader's office has done this publicly since 1990. Nobody ever does. That's how bad things are on the good ship National.
“I’m pleased to have contributed to getting some of National’s basic messaging done, including the standard sump speech, and also to have helped kickstart the A to Z policy process again.”
One of the first cruise ships in the world to resume sailing since the coronavirus-caused worldwide halt to departures in March is experiencing an outbreak of the illness that has already sent people to the hospital.
Norwegian expedition cruise company Hurtigruten late Friday said four crew members from the 535-passenger Roald Amundsen were admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø, Norway, earlier in the day after the vessel docked in the city.
"Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp just told @manidunlop on Midday Report he "completely forgot" about a briefing which said civilians were possibly killed during Operation Burnham."
Today chief press secretary Janet Wilson confirmed to the Herald that Hooton and National Party leader Judith Collins had agreed it was time for his work to come to an end.
"It's all very happy," Wilson told the Herald. "We all agreed his work was done."
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Martin Van Beynen. How the National Party’s default settings are just so wrong for the times we live in.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/122295535/nationals-identity-crisis-is-bad-for-nzs-democracy
And finally, painfully it seems that the political commentariat are realising the scale of the political realignment that’s likely at this election. Every published poll since May has had Jacinda Ardern and Labour heading for a majority.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/122310902/election-2020-how-do-you-run-against-elimination
"The latest International Monetary Fund forecast has global growth dipping to -4.9 per cent." Degrowth is now in the pipeline.
It will probably have to occur for a while until mainstreamers start to notice, and then the media will get over their aversion and start reporting it. Normalcy is a state of mind and operates like conventional wisdom.
Facing a reality not previously encountered takes quite a lot of unconventional wisdom. Like turning the Titanic around, after the fraught consensus-building process of agreeing that the iceberg really is looming dead ahead.
So National & Labour are likely to produce alternative economic plans prior to the impact of the election, but such difficult endeavour takes inordinate time. Not business as usual is a hard thing for both bunches of neoliberals to think about.
Mainstreamers that aren't already out of work, you mean? Media not reporting it? Where'd you get that quote you led off with? When is prior to the impact of the election?
Where'd you get that quote you led off with?
I took it from Scott's second link.
Media not reporting it?
Degrowth. Media mainstreamers are averse to reporting a new reality, in normalcy. The conceptual breakthrough that awaits them is when one of their own succumbs to the `emperor's new clothes' effect. That will happen when the fastest slow learner realises the emperor of economic growth is no longer wearing clothes, interprets the drop in gdp as degrowth, then says so!
When is prior to the impact of the election?
When the election gets so close that the risk of delay becomes greater than the risk of announcing the plan too soon.
It ain't a tortoise & hare race, eh? Think tortoise & tortoise. The plans must gestate in the collective minds & processes of National & Labour until the time seems right to launch them. Remember that they both issued schematics of those plans not long ago, and the media commented on how they seemed identical and equally simplistic. So now the challenge is to differentiate!
Q: how can one bunch of neoliberal drones seem cleverer than another?
A: fakery
So you conclude the media aren't reporting something from a media report?
Of course not. I conclude that as a result of the consistent pattern of their failure to report it. What, you think I haven't waited long enough already?
Well, how long is a piece of string? I'm impatient by nature. A single failure suffices, for me. But yes, if you must wait until a pattern of degrowth denial by the media is well-established, I trust you will report each failure that you notice to us here, and tag it with the correct number in the sequence, so we can watch the sequence develop until it triggers the threshold of your pattern-recognition.
Don't let your impatience impede your understanding. Wait though, you're not just pretending the media are in denial to suit some point you want to make about your perspicacity are you? That would be a tad sly.
Nope, it's elementary. Media denial is proven by lack of contrary evidence. Even you ought to be able to figure that out. Try harder.
Lack of evidence is conclusive proof of sweet fuckall. Very disingenuous of you.
Malpass is not a 'media mainstreamer'; he is a doctrinaire rightie.
Most of the "political commentariat" are shills for National and to keep banging on with their trumping neoliberal memes shows they're owned and not reporting objectively. Relax though as Hosk will maintain the indignant rants.
Collins and Boag have also done a great wrecking job by reminding everyone how DP and that 'win at all costs' are still very much the playbook with national. They don't give a F about the people and Jude showed NZ over ILG she's into those tactics despite denial.
People aren't that stupid and the polls reflect that IMO. JA deserves to govern alone.
Except for the most of the "political commentariat" who people at Kiwiblog claim are shills for Ardern and for Labour.
I guess the "political commentariat" is people who say things you disagree with, as opposed to the intelligent well reasoned journalists you agree with.
In many people's eyes Ardern does deserve to govern alone, but alas she least needs a few ministers to pad out the Cabinet and to front on the bad news.
Goes beyond any party sympathies. For instance, Malpass is a hardcore libertarian cheerleader who has worked for 'thinktanks' of that persuasion in both NZ and Australia.
Look at the story Scott linked to in #1, bearing that in mind: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/122310902/election-2020-how-do-you-run-against-elimination
Ok Pete Who are these marvelous managers in National? Their “Cabinet” is looking very shabby at present.
You are repeating the meme, "They only have Jacinda" when talking about Labour, with "alas she needs a few ministers to pad out the Cabinet"
Journalists who were "truth tellers became targets during Key's time. It is good to see one vindicated to some degree.
We look at the record and behaviour of these people. When their hyperbole draws the attention of theWorld Press, you can hardly accuse us of only attacking those journalists or commentators we disagree with. That is disingenuous.
As the biggest global event since WW2, it seems entirely reasonable that COVID-19 will lead to some sort of political realignment or shift in democratic societies, as happened in and after the 1930s Depression (eg Roosevelt in US, Savage/Fraser in NZ) and WW2 (eg Labour's election victory in UK in 1945, the NHS etc).
It will be hard for any opposition party to argue for smaller government, tax cuts and especially anything that might be seen to weaken the health system. Hard too for National to attack Labour for carrying out pretty much the same economic policies as the British and Australian conservative governments have done during COVID.
Weak piece from van Beynen which doesn't look at underlying causes. Labour is popular right now because for a period of a few months it has told business what to do and insisted that it behave itself. It has put private power under democratic control in the interests of the health of every citizen. A majority of people love that – it's how their families work.
Sure – as things get back to normal Labour will roll over and let business walk all over it again. But it's been nice while it lasted.
That is a very insightful comment- having business behave itself. In terms of the election frankly I don't expect huge policy gobs ( as everything is in flux) but I would be content with a direction of travel.
At the moment I think it would be fair to say that National represent letting business and overseas actors run all over the country again with zero concern for the bulk of citizens, with a very large side dollop of righteous fundamental holly roller.
Labour will do better long term if they make it clear that they see business as a sector that has to be modified community needs.
The Greens might be better to really focus on business being pushed in the environmental direction and into better redistribution towards the low paid but with more emphasis on the part the international wealthy play in this and the level of competition that the workplace settings play in this.
Funny too how the media demand policy from Labour but give the right a free pass although the right rarely disclose their true agenda anyway.
Quoting first link:
National is there to represent the rich and to make the exploitation of the poor by the rich easier. They know this, they don't have to remind themselves. Their problem is that most people are truly starting to realise this and if they state it openly then they lose even more votes.
Yeah – no. National has never stood for that. In fact, they stand fully against that. They know that the rich have much more opportunity and they're out to keep it that way by keeping everyone else poor.
After all, equal opportunity can only come when everyone has the same access to the same level of resources.
Yes, it matters because getting rid of the rich is what we need to do to truly become a prosperous nation.
Its important for democracy that all voices and ideas are heard, debated and those chosen by the people are researched. It's not important for democracy to have an opposition.
That is an outright lie.
Public support for democracy comes from people feeling that their say is heard and that the path that the people choose benefits them and their direct family.
The concept of government and opposition actually prevents that.
Impotus Americanus, most corrupt of all Oompus Loompitica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8×1-CVsoEBU
Oh well, i guess the swamp is drained now?
Yep. So now we have full view of the noisome creatures that lurk in the muck at the bottom and how they get their jollies down there.
Kim Hill is interviewing the author of this examination of Qanon (on RNZ): https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/
Social realities get co-created. Conspiracy theories have been escalating in recent decades and having a US president promoting one or more of them ramps their influence up into the top level of politics. Next step: geopolitics! 👽
When theories are promoted as alternative realities, they can become resilient and adaptive. As complex memes, they achieve contagion and currency.
Sceptics tend to make greater fools of themselves than conspiracy theorists. The denialism that drives their dismissal makes them seem more pathetic. They deny the evidence that makes the conspiracy theory superficially plausible. So other sceptics who prefer to be grounded in whatever social reality seems profoundly real have to distance themselves from both groups.
This transcendence of the binary creates a triadic structure in society: true-believers, disbelievers, and agnostics. Amongst the agnostics, you get those who are genuinely interested in the theorising, but require a better match with reality than that proposed by the competing binary nutball groups.
The hero myth was identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell in 1949. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces) When you combine it with the tyranny/freedom mental axis, to produce Trump as liberator from total control of everyone by the deep state, you get traction in the mass mind.
Next step is to use the internet to make mass contagion more influential. Memes defeat other memes in the process of social darwinism:
Then achieve democratic authenticity by identifying with the will of the people:
Waken everyone! Warn them, about Democrats
Meanwhile in the real world …. the interview with Oliver Stone was also interesting. I think the Vietnam experience will be viewed in the future as a more telling moment in history than it is even now. I was a teen at the time and it didn't fully sink in, and watching documentaries now what gets to me is the pure fear in the eyes of the conscripts sent there. Stone nailed the zeitgeist of the time so well, and long may he continue to produce rock the boat documentaries and films.
Really? Equating skepticism to denial(ism) is just weird – maybe it's a conspiracy
RNZ dropped Vicki Hyde as one of their regular commentators. I suspect her ideologically-driven scepticism was pissing off their audience too much. Nothing wrong with traditional scepticism used as a reality-check in science, as described in your red herring. What goes wrong with sceptics is their natural tendency to elevate scepticism to an ideology, whence their degeneration into denial of evidence emerges from. Been seeing that tendency consistently since the 1970s.
Sceptics are able to make a positive contribution to society & culture as long as they keep an open mind and balanced view of the pros & cons of evidence.
Sadly, many can't. This lot give the others a bad name (the analogy with lawyers comes to mind). To err is human, and one could rationalise their inadequacies accordingly. Me, I'm not so charitable. 😇
"I suspect her [Hyde's] ideologically-driven scepticism was pissing off their audience too much."
You've peaked my curiosity, Dennis – I've met Hyde (who in 2013 was appointed a MNZM for services to science), and would struggle to identify the idealogy that you perceive drives her scepticism. Could you expand on the evidence that informs your suspicion? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Hyde
Yes, it's always sad when an opportunity to make a constructive contribution is lost – those 'patterns of behaviour' are sooo intractable, eh?
"What goes wrong with sceptics is their natural tendency to elevate scepticism to an ideology…" – so many people going wrong!
Conflating denial and scepticism doesn't fly, but, as you say, to err is human.
If I was in labour I would be doubling security at the quarantine hotels and toughing up at the boarders .
We have to keep covid out .
And itll cost them an easy win if it gets back in .
Both outcomes would piss me off .
Especially true when Labour’s campaign so far is about Covid-19
You ain't paying attention if you believe that .!
But it certainly is the biggest issue so rightly is front and center.
It’s the central reason for theIr success in recent polls.
It’s a big part of their success in the polls sure. But it’s not the only reason. There’s also a growing conviction on the part of voters that the main opposition party is in no shape to bear the responsibilities of office at the moment.
What's your point?
Yes but do they even have an election campaign yet, as such?
Have they actually got enough people left to run for something?
I thought he was talking about Labour? Small-target strategy and all.
i thought you were talking about National 'have they got an election campaing'. 🙂
Cash in some kiwi saver invest in a small business that has a 58% risk of failing in the first year.
That's Nationals plan.
Building roads 10 yrs from now.
Saying they are better managers when they can't even manage their caucus
– how dare people use Their money as they see fit, don't they know that Their Kiwi saver AINT theirs to use. How dare they.
People now and then need money. They can borrow it from a bank or go for their savings. If the government is smart it will look at a change in legislation that would allow people to access a certain part of THEIR SAVINGS to start their busienss, pay some healthcare costs, renovate the house, get married, have some childfren et etc etc etc – you know all that stuff that sometimes need money. And besides, 48% of businesses succeed. But then who cares.
I don't think anyone here is considering the No mates party a good steward of anything other then their own bank accounts.
But liberating the Kiwi Safer to their owners would not be a bad idea and should be considered.
Westykev,So, you didn't hear anything about the huge spending on Infrastructure then, the largest spend in NZs history, or the fact they've built more new homes than any Govt since the seventies.
I suppose people only hear what they want.
I call that a wish list from a Party that has not delivered big on infrastructure since their elevation to Government. Twyford and team over promised and under delivered on housing and transport.
I hope for New Zealand’s sake they up their game post September.
It's not a wish list, it's an achievement NZ hasn't seen in a decade.
That's why people say Twyford was a failure cos he managed to have more new homes built in NZ than any Govt since the 70s.
In terms of other major Infrastructural projects, there hasn't been anytime in History that NZ has planned and completed the level Infrastructure currently either starting or near completion, roading, rail, Hospitals, Schools.
How many Schools and Hospitals were upgraded under the last Govt?
I think Jacinda and Labour have so far tried to tread a fine line on this. Governments still have to govern right up to election day but most election years haven't been overshadowed by such a crisis and threat.They don't want to be seen to be prioritising election campaigning over the serious business of keeping NZ safe, and if anything went wrong they'd get pilloried for taking their eyes off the ball. On the other hand, they have already got some criticism from media over allegedly treating the upcoming election as a nuisance. Ultimately the best way for a govt to retain power is to be seen to be doing a good job, while also setting out a vision for the future.
Must be why Ardern has an 80% confidence rating, looking after NZ and NZers.
We just happen to be in the luckiest country in the world right now, just there's a few Kiwis that haven't quite recognized that yet, they will in time.
This Virus ain't disappearing any time soon, NZ is the Country to follow for procedural excellence, and we're still learning as we go.have we made mistakes, yes, did we learn from mistakes, yes. What more can you ask for.
The National party are complaining about all the money being spent on Quarintine and Isolation without actually recognizing the Huge financial benefits of ploughing all those funds directly into the economy, employing people and keeping businesses operating, it's called good economic management, something NZers aren't used to seeing.
WestyKev…..Is that you Paula?
And itll cost them an easy win if it gets back in
It'll cost them something, maybe the tail end of their list – but the party that spent so much time whining about opening the borders have scarcely established themselves as a credible alternative.
Covid-19 is a game changer on many levels were community transmission to occur. Due to good political management NZ has been fortunate in not being impacted on a social level other than when in level 4 & 3.
I watched the premier of Victoria on TV and the emotion in his eyes told me that there was a long rocky steep road ahead for his state.
There are some situations in isolation where additional support is needed. Ranging from medical requiring methadone to grief support for children and this needs to be provided to minimise breaking isolation.
The paper headline said yesterday/today that Victoria is thinking of a NZ type lockdown. We did it early and so it tracked through well. Victoria seemed to be doing well but it was careless to have guards supposed to be keeping isolated possibly infected apart but then having sex with them. That was a poor connection in the brain of the careless young, but even worse in the minds of planners who need to allow for the little quirks and needs of humans.
So Victoria may have to go beyond what we did and be authoritarian, and the young would hate it, but then that could be limited by showing some kindness and imagination. Set up ways of communicating so people don't get tense about family and personal problems, and loneliness. Let them watch television a lot and perhaps have classes on learning the ukelele, and put a performance on telly at the end of isolation giving kudos to those who gave it a go in the true Aussie spirit, and build citizen-pride and support. And for the ones that like reading have kindle, and then a book discussion between the isolated and outsiders. Try to get them reading, it may prevent them from joining the most illiterate period since 1820 or something, with most spending time watching mummers on TV.
Hot security guards at a hotel was tempting for a few.
Spot prizes, grocery and book vouchers, smart phones and ipads, gardening tools and plants…
I don't see that as bad, firms would probably give vouchers, be prepared to give something to do for the fortnight, and make a friend and customer from the situation.
Personally, I'd prefer to see the army doing security rather than a private firm. I really believe that would make a difference.
100% agree Cinny, we don’t want a Victoria like outbreak here.
Yes, a military run operation would be much better as it is required to save lives.
The Army might like to be seen being good and reliable, people to look up to when they try.
(In a brief free access post), David Cormack analyses the latest polls the right way – by bloc, not party: https://www.patreon.com/posts/39896413
It was a good call when to release the report into Operation Burnham as the National Party poll could have dipped due to the release. The next poll will reflect the reports finding.
There is a trend going on into inquiries involving National Party MPs and when the inquiry is of an historical event which was handled poorly this reflects on the current National Party.
Were it not for Labour exposing the truth using pages from Hager and Stephenson's book, National and the NZDF would have gotten away with concealing the truth.
I do wonder which groups of voters pay attention to matters military.
No one specific group of voters and probably those with connections to the NZDF.
I thought maybe older voters?
Yes. They're the ones who may have followed the saga as it wound its way through the mesh of
liesdenials and (maybe) even read "Hit and Run".The young are otherwise occupied unless they are in the NZDF and even then its likely they are not much interested as for many it represents what they would see as a bygone era.
And manboys with a hardon for armymen.
I see this election as a massive renewal for the hard right in New Zealand.
Labour has been faced with such extreme events that it has had to expand the state so fast and so far that the more defensive elements of society are getting more and more ticked off.
National has shrunk.
Act looks likely to get above 5%, and bring in 7-8 MPs. Act's stance on guns is well recognised as bringing in those hard core rifle owners in the Waitake and Southland electorates.
The Conservative Party is back, and it will eat away a percentage or two in Mt Roskill and Mangere.
The coalition of weirdos gathered around Jaimie Lee-Ross will suck .5%-1% across from NZFirst and from National.
I'd like to see this splintering continue, to ensure Labour gets a good four terms and sinks the wooden stake through National's heart good and proper.
Whereas on the left, the Greens are imperilled at 5% and may well be dried to a husk under the 5% threshold, leaving a unified and revived left under Ardern. The harder left has simply nowhere to go and doesn't need to. That makes for much more efficient and surefooted government.
Really?
Really.
Our government has never been more redistributive, or more Keynsean in the scale of its deficit spending, since Muldoon's second term.
It has utterly massive nationwide support, and support within the Labour Party, for a young and charismatic and effective leader. That hasn't occurred since the first term of Helen Clark – if then.
And it's done so while becoming the most popular government in living memory.
That's lovely but how does removing the Green party from government make the left either unified or revived?
Don stop at Government, the Greens might well be ‘removed’ from Parliament altogether. United we stand, divided we fall.
And parliament is not the only avenue of influence for the left either.
Who do you place the blame on if the Greens don't make it over the line?
I like the Greens, I hope they're part of the next Govt, but they can't complain voters don't support them, they need the policies that attract a broader range of punters
We weren't talking about that, but their comms has been weaker in recent years. Only need to secure one on twenty voters though – not the same 'broad' church as Lab or Nat.
I do not see how removing the Greens from parliament builds unity. Seems like FPP thinking.
No, not really, I think its just we've got a Govt that has become extremely popular, a lot of that due to the response to the pandemic, both support parties are struggling to gain traction even though they are part of the solution, its just the voting public aren't associating those support parties with the pandemic policies, they're not seen promoting the policies or involved in the daily announcements.
I agree the Greens need to improve their coms, they've stumbled making announcements about policy, they've allowed the media to control the policy emphasis, rather than making sure the policy is promoted in a way that voters can aspire to.
I give you their Tax policy release as an example, great policy, but the media immediately described it as the Wealth Tax, that ends up as a discouragement, they needed a clear identity for the policy, like, Tax restructuring policy and made sure it couldn't be renamed to something the voters would want to reject.
I'm confident the Greens will make the cut, you only have see how many here will party vote them to help them on their way.
MMP giveth, MMP taketh away.
The Greens are essential to parliament because parties need friends to govern. Sure, Labour might be able to govern alone come election 2020, but what about 2023? Monolith parties lower the odds of being in government if they don't have coalition partners.
The right are in trouble not because they have new minor parties fracturing the vote, but because the new minor parties are largely similar in nature (and extremely nutty).
NZ can't support the Greens, the Environment Party, the ZeroCarbon Party, and the OrganicNZ Party. But the Greens should be able to get 5%.
If we lose the Greens this election, to whom will Labour turn when they drop to 45% in 2023?
Exactly, very good point.
I think Labour recognizes that too.
Even with a majority to Govern alone, I still think the Greens will be part of the next Govt, even if it's just for improved representation, and very good for democracy.
Winston rose from the soft fresh earth lining his crypt that he had been resting in from 2008 to 2011. So Greens missing out this time isn't necessarily permanent. Especially if they take the time to reflect on the relative weight they give to environmental issues versus other issues in relation to the demographics where they draw their support.
Yeah, but Winston's kind of special like that. Dude has come back from the dead so much that Hammer Films want to make movies about him.
I don't think policy weight is the issue for the Greens – I think they just have a same problem as ACT (although significantly more base support). When their natural coalition partner is dipping a bit, they have a bit more room. When their natural coalition partner is super-popular, they get overshadowed.
But I still think their voice is important to have in parliament.
Maybe not policy-weight as the important factor, but people-weight.
I couldn't bring myself to vote for Greens when their highest profile people were the likes of Tanczos, Bradford, Kedgley. Because it really didn't seem to me their hearts were in environmental issues, but that Greens were a stalking horse for other agendas.
Then when there was a bit more heft on the environment side with the likes of Kevin Hague, Kennedy Graham, Russell Norman as well as Hughes, Sage etc, I found it easier to choke down the idea that the likes of Steffan Browning were part of the package. For the coming election, I feel like the environmental substance has been whittled down to Shaw, Sage, Genter – which feels like quite a step down from where things were.
I'm sort of half and half on that one (personal dislike for Tanzcos aside – on at least one occasion he got pissy with doorstaff when the "don't you know who I am" didn't count as a backstage pass).
MPs neglecting a party's platform just to wank on about a single pet issue is a bit shit. But also I'm not sure how a party serious about fundamentally altering how we as a society operate in relation to the environment can do so without looking at social, economic, and post-colonial issues.
From my point of view, the existence of poverty is every bit as much a part of the values of an environmental party as the discussion of whether NZ national parks should be returned as close to a precolonial state as is possible. Poverty is a direct result of capitalism. It's as wasteful to people as clearfelling or overfishing are to "the environment". I have no idea why any group would want dramatic change in one but be opposed to any effort spent on the other.
Ad the hard right has always been here. Put a moustache on the Act Leader.History repeating?
Little man, big ideas, gathering all the malcontents together for what? What Policy/Vision is he offering?
While we battle the virus he is planning. He has been attached to National, but now is trying to relevant in his own right (Pun intended)
We laughed at the twerking… "Nek Minnit"…….??
I am not sure if there is a Clutha electorate Act candidate. If there is, this would be competition on and the National voters might split their vote.
Low end for Seymour is 5 seats and high end is 10 seats.
Basil Walker was ACT candidate for Southland but he resigned and is now standing as an independent in Invercargill, he's also put in an audacious bid for the Tiwai smelter
So looks like ACT are going to be looking for a candidate in Southland too
What is it with the Clutha seat that the electorate MPs tarnish and potential candidates do a runner?
Queenstown
And generally not getting candidates, and then MPs who are up to representing the place. The place puts very high demands on it's MP and will quickly destroy someone who's not up to the demands of the job. Certainly did the last two in, with style.
The electorate has a very conservative rural part in Southland, combined with a very liberal, go get it, part in Queenstown and Central Otago. It's one or the other with very little cross over, the two parts of the electorate may as well speak completely different languages, really they do.
How does this happen? According to the Herald a woman traveled from NZ to England in January then came home in March just before lockdown and then on July 20 flew to Sydney where she tested positive on arrival .? She must have dual citizenship but how does she test positive 4 1\2 months later when she thinks she may have had it when feeling sick after coming back in March. Did she not get a test then, was it a false neg if she did?
Stranger and stranger.
It may be that the test is detecting fragments of dead virus that haven't been finally cleared by the immune system.
It may be a recent infection and her earlier illness wasn't covid.
It may be that the virus somehow persists in someone's body without activating the immune system enough to fully clear it, or it may find a home in some specific tissues where it's hidden from the immune system.
https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/the-covid-19-virus-can-last-for-months-why-efb8314b2b98
There are still many many important things we have yet to learn about this pathogen.
Or a false positive? Or was she tested for antibodies?
Two cases now: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12352798
Today's Ministry of Health media release about the two cases who travelled from Auckland to Sydney.
The first involves a woman who transited through Auckland from Los Angeles to Sydney on 6 July. At this point there are not considered to be any close contacts who need to be traced or tested but enquiries continue with both the airline and airport.
The second involves a woman who travelled from Auckland to Sydney on 20 July. We have already talked directly with the person concerned.
At this point, it appears the person may have been a previously unconfirmed case from March and this is likely to have led to the positive test result.
We will continue to fully investigate the circumstances of this positive result, including travel history.
https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/2-new-cases-covid-19-12
I've been aware of this issue for a while now, but I'm rather startled at how many people are at risk here:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422509/stranded-boaties-in-dire-situation-appeal-for-new-zealand-s-help
This is straightforward, and very low risk. By the time you've made the 10 day passage from Tonga or Fiji on a small yacht, you've pretty much isolated anyway. And when you do get to Opua, another week on the boat and a couple of tests represents a very low burden on the quarantine system.
These are foreign (i.e. not kiwi) yachties in French Polynesia who pre-covid would have planned on spending the cyclone season in NZ (or Australia). French Poly is relatively safe from cyclones and in fact many European yachties (not under visa restrictions) spend several years there. Any yachties who have to leave French Poly (e.g. for NZ) cannot land in the Cooks, Niue or Tonga making it a 14 to 20 day trip direct, so basically within quarantine timing. Fiji has opened up under strict conditions but is not a safe cyclone season layover. Can't see the NZ government allowing non NZ yachties in yet, at least until after the election (cyclone season doesn't really begin until November) despite the low health risk.
i don't disagree with you but
they had all year to get back to their home countries and did not?
Or is that a point we don't want to discuss?
The closing down of borders and constantly changing rules has impacted many people very hard. I recently met a couple who spent 73 days at sea in SE Asia, being bounced from place to place before finally arriving in Darwin with literally no food or water left on board. This is not an uncommon story.
The trade wind sea routes also mean that if you are in the Pacific, your most feasible destinations lie eastward, and this means ultimately landing up in NZ or Australia at some point. If your home nation is Europe or North America, sailing back upwind to get there is not a simple matter. And until very recently even getting back through Panama was not possible.
And in reality for many, their boat is their home, their only significant asset. Abandoning it and catching a plane back to the country they are nominally citizen's of is a highly non-trivial demand to make of them.
NZ has long had a marine industry that has quietly done very well from a steady flow of boats arriving here; now is the time to extend a generous hand when they really need it.
ah, that makes sense.
Thanks for the clarification.
A good accurate description. However having made the passage westwards once myself, the prospect of spending another year in French Polynesia rather than risk the perilous long trip all the way to NZ seems a lot safer and pleasanter. The other issue is that all the foreign boats from last year are still 'stuck' in NZ (and Oz) meaning there is little safe mooring space left in in marinas for another lot.
Immigration approvals are just a mess.
We've seen it even for the America's Cup teams.
It's the World War Z of immigration policies.
Some yachts do the Tonga-NZ trip in 7 days.
Normally, yachts would island hop through to Tonga then down to NZ via Minerva lagoon if necessary. But all the islands west of French Polynesia are inaccessible making it a 2000 nautical mile trip from Bora Bora with the worst bit at the end – not sensible even if NZ allows entry
So what happens if Guy just sails here regardless?
Even before the pandemic, yachties intending to sail to NZ had to inform Customs at least 4 days before arrival with all info about who's on board, where they were sailing from and their health status. They could only go to the Q (quarantine) dock in Opua or Marsden Cove and wouldn't be allowed on land before an inspection by Customs, Biosecurity and Health. If Guy, whoever he is, just turned up he would have been fined heavily and possibly arrested. Dunno what the protocol is now as only NZ citizens and residents are allowed to sail to NZ. Guess they have to work it out before they leave Australia or French Poly with Customs and any days they haven't spent at sea (subtracted from 14) could be spent tied up to one or the other of the Q docks and only released after a negative test (only guessing!).
Ok, so he could set off and he's not going to be sunk on sight as long as he lets people know who's coming and he's prepared to quarantine. Doesn't sound too oppressive.
No it isn't like that at all. If he just turned up without good reason (such as a genuine sailing emergency) there would be heavy fines, and lots of unhappy consequences.
Most sailing people are highly aware of the often complex arrival procedures necessary in every country and do their best to comply responsibly wherever possible.
What about a yacht used for drug smuggling?
The smugglers are not going to say we picked up 50 kg of meth from a dingy and the person loading the drug had a cold.
If ligit bad time for yacht sailing between countries.
Authorities are very aware of the Pacific drug smuggling routes, monitor traffic closely and are generally quite good at catching bad actors. Quite a separate issue.
Audrey Young (I bet she was weeping tears of anger and disappointment when writing this) expands on the rise and rise of the MPs who are religious Right. (But Wrong to me.)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12352480
(paywalled)
From Audrey:
I suspect the hardcore christian members will be emboldened by their new leader Christ-opher Luxon when he takes over from Crushed Collins.
When the Christian Party demised many years ago, I seem to remember a plan to not bother with a Party but instead get individual strong Christians elected to operate from the inside rather than the outside. Maybe they have succeeded?
So, National has now become the Christian Party?
Yes Draco. Since God is on their side they will mightily hew down those who would defy the Chosen Path to Rightliness and Judith will blossom shrouded in iridescent halos. Alleluya!
Might go the other way for Collins not being a good fit for the leader of the National Christian Party due to her unchristian values.
A lack of christian values doesn't seem to be any barrier to banging on about christian values and inflicting them on everyone else.
Exactly.
All the Christians that I meet have the same values as Collins.
Basically, they're all bludgers.
Thanks, Ian.
oops
https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/1289325268918661122
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/31/karen-bass-vp-candidate-los-angeles-388430
Is Thompson trying to undermine Bass, joe90 ?
It's this one on Thompson's feed that's a crackup.
Trump having a Covid party at Tampa today using AF1 for covert campaign.
The crowds…..
"Billie Jean is not my lover She's just a girl who claims that I am the one But the kid is not my son.”
https://twitter.com/meridithmcgraw/status/1289295452416827392
its like a horror movie
this virus pounding at the doors
trying to get in
scratching at the handle, in through the lock, under the door
screeching "let us in, let us in…"
"Is that you again Judith?"
Judith doesn't need to attack the door. She is born to rule with the words, "Don't you know who I am?"
She was inside the house all along..
It kind of isn't really.
Our boarders are pretty much closed.
If the current govt could get their collective shit together for long enough and not let people in isolation rock off to Countdown every 5 minutes it should be alright
I know right, that skyrocketing community transmission is proof they aren't keeping many of them in there. Wish we were more like the Strayans.
Is this a conspiracy theory that has worked on our economic system?
Economist Brian Easton says a fellow economist had the good oil but was scuttled by the econo-nasties.
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-holistic-perspective-of-bryan-philpott
We tend to propose economic policies without thinking of their wider repercussions. It is just so easy to say ‘we should do this’ and ignore the consequences. This was nicely, and sadly, illustrated by a recent controversy between Keith Woodford, retired professor of agribusiness at Lincoln University, and the NZIER, which wrote a report on the contribution of agriculture to the economy. It argued that the sector’s contribution was small (4 to 5 percent of GDP); Woodford argued that the estimate was misleading about the significance of the farm contribution.
Bryan [Philpott] would have been irate, because the analytic framework the NZIER report was so limited. It seemed to be saying that the farm sector was so small we could almost neglect it. That would encourage those who want to diminish or even close down the agricultural sector.
Economists on the run
The problem, of course, is that economists have been giving bad advice for decades and, even after the lessons of the GFC, don't seem to have any other advice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WMuzhQXJoY
DracoTD, the NZ scene has a significant national body collective? It was a long fought effort to be recognised; now not only receiving charitable funding but receiving significant funding from MSD and ACC.
The body's agencies are working on the ground addressing an overwhelming workload of needs.
Each of the client coming into different agents nation wide, IS the expert on their own lives. The goals for 'remedy' come from their own voices. Support is multi faceted for all dimensions of a person's story and needs; not just abuse issues either nor ironically a single gender or ethnicity, exclusive place. New agencies are underway still spreading into further locales. There is enormous support from a wide collective of grass roots and NGO's all working collaboratively to affect change .( And no, Paula despite your claim in your valedictory speech, you never visited- and in a funding round- nor another high profile dissenter, ' never mind them' pollie.
https://malesurvivor.nz/our-organisation/
Today is the third anniversary of Jacinda Arderns elevation to Leader of the Labour Party.
Andrew Little has said he never regretted passing over the reins, the rest is history.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12352809
Andrew deserves our thanks and gratitude, as he was big enough to acknowledge her.
This was the beginning of a remarkable Leadership example from both of them.
Jacinda Ardern is seen as a shining example of sound Leadership.
I wish her "Good luck and health" in these demanding times, may she lead for years.
Yes Patricia, and we'll all be able to thank him on election day.
Australia's Covid 19 toll has doubled in the last two weeks since they had effectively eliminated.
Watching the conversations of resident Victorians around the place it's clear they and their government have no idea about proper pandemic response. This can be applied nationally too. The mixed massages and concessions which led to this horrible 'second wave' (it's not a second wave, it's just a first wave not dealt with properly) are still front and centre of policy there.
For instance, did you know that construction was, is and apparently always will be classed as an essential service? Did you know all Australians were allowed to go to work, even during their highest level of lockdown, if they were unable to work from home?
It's clear the Victorian people and government have no intention of doing what is required and they are now reduced to managing the unmanageable.
The Victorian and federal Australian governments' botched response gives us a very clear picture of what life would be like in New Zealand had the National Party been in charge here.
In the beginning, the Australian state Govts started their own lockdowns as the Fed Govt was missing in action, they finally came to the party and literally copied the NZ system and Morrison was even mimicking Ardern and her demeanor, I remember watching him thinking he must have had a brain transplant, speaking more softly and with emotion, must have taken a fair bit of training.
I don't believe they got close to what we did.
Another example is our bubble concept. Here, we knew very well we were to not mix with anyone outside or family unit – for five weeks.
In Australia, as far as I can tell, you could mix with anyone as long as you were in a group of no more than two people.
Update:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300071763/coronavirus-australias-covid19-death-toll-passes-200-after-three-victoria-deaths
Let's hope they get it right this time.
How much is it going to hurt their economy?
Remember when the right was arguing that we should already have the Borders open, aren't we lucky they weren't in charge.
It won't.
The economy has never been the finances.
Very. Because if they'd been in charge they would have destroyed the economy to keep the rich rich.
But then, that's what National always does.
The mixed massages certainly must have had a big affect on the rising number of cases in Victoria.
Lol.
The VIC authorities are doing themselves and everyone else a disservice by claiming the situation the find themselves in now is due to one single quarantine lapse.
I just don't buy that and what it does is minimise the considerable flaws in the rest of their approach which, left unfixed, will result in many, many more deaths.
TikTok is regularly used as a platform to pillory and satirise Trump.
So he bans it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12352875
We should not forget National and business and universities jumping up and down demanding we open the borders before it was safe. Strange isn't it, they have gone pretty quiet about that these days. They were also saying Australia was doing better than we were!
But we must not get complacent. Daughter in Australia says too many people there were selfish idiots.
It's true, but where does the complacency come from? It comes from complacent and compromised leadership.
Those conversations I mentioned above show the Australian federal government’s relief packages were unwieldy, slow and hard to access. Wage subsidies in NZ were central to the calmness with which we all approached the very well thought out lockdown. Clear and compassionate leadership from JA got us all on board.
Muttonbird, true. It was very clear here, apart from some initial issues about what was or was not essential and untidy issues were quickly tidied up. The daily PM and DG briefings kept us well informed and they reminded us what was expected of us. It became essential viewing. I don't think daughter in Australia had that level of clarity.
My son in Australia and many others tuned into Jacinda and Ashley's reports, as the advice was universal and clear.
Others did crazy things, like 3000 gathering for a party.
Hooton quit, 70 or so days…
& laughing arse off at NZ First attack ads against the Greens, apparently if I vote Greens I get a Unicorn!!!
So, you're definitely going to vote Greens and not expect the unicorn?
Hoots continues his work outside the mothership. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422543/political-lobbyist-matthew-hooton-resigns-as-national-party-staffer
He sure is NOT living in the land of reality. But then it has been my observation that he hasn't for a long, long time.
Yes Anne, Hooten is inclined to get hysterical.
What I like is we have confirmed where some people's political "Hat" will be hung.
Conservatives don't live in reality.
That's been true since forever.
Winston's imported brexiteers sure are providing some strange campaign advertising guidance..
https://twitter.com/danxduran/status/1289390478249431040
Vote NZFist, Get Orcs.
Whose votes are they going for with this?
I don't think they quite get MMP – this ad is just weird.
The standard conservative votes who are all delusional.
English voters, with the hedge and the unicorn and all. #oops
Mathew Hooton has resigned from the National Party and has stated that National have a good chance at winning the upcoming election.
I will say no more.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/lobbyist-matthew-hooton-leaving-national-party-months-after-being-hired.html
Go easy on the guy Just Is. Afterall, he wrote, quote the rnz version " the standard sump speech "
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump_speech
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422543/political-lobbyist-matthew-hooton-resigns-as-national-party-staffer
YesPaddy. A sump speech will be down the drain I expect. But will Matthew be welcome back as a National Spokesman with NZR?
He'd certainly want to spellcheck their copy, before publishing.
And peruse the leader’s room for contradictory clues like hats before giving a stump speech
They might need to take a honkpill at rnz
Or gosh it might have been in Matty's lil media release, if more than one outlet ran the same error.. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-08-2020/#comment-1736678
Well he got that right.
The Herald quote is priceless:
"I think they now have a terrific team who has a good chance of winning the election, or at least can ensure the National Party will remain a broad church after 19 September."
"At least" …
Translation: Campaign strategist expects defeat. I don't think any Lab/Nat person in the leader's office has done this publicly since 1990. Nobody ever does. That's how bad things are on the good ship National.
Odd decision just before an election but for a reason only known to Hooton. Maybe he cannot work with Collins or he jumped before he was pushed.
Turns out those gnatsys are just a bunch of anarchosyndicalist marxist commies. Hootie had to get out while he was still pure.
Hooton has resigned from his party job. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300071836/matthew-hooton-resigns-as-national-party-staffer
Friday: Hager wins.
Saturday: Hooton loses.
The dark side does not always triumph.
We all watched Star Wars and we know that the Dark Side always loses – even if it is after millions of deaths that weren't necessary.
Story really went downhill once Disney bought it.
If my 'rithmetic is correct, that lasted 6.0 Scaramuccis.
"“I can’t justify the impact on my family and other personal and professional responsibilities for seven weeks."
Whaaaa????
Amazing how many Tories suddenly want to spend more time with their family.
To conservatives family is all important – unless you're more than a generation away in which case you're nothing.
https://youtu.be/Fm0hOex4psA
heh
https://twitter.com/NatGeo/status/1289024330068897792
Wonder if that really unnatural blotchy orange colouring is photoshopped or just bad lighting.
You couldn't make this shit up.
On second thought, maybe it was too soon.
One of the first cruise ships in the world to resume sailing since the coronavirus-caused worldwide halt to departures in March is experiencing an outbreak of the illness that has already sent people to the hospital.
Norwegian expedition cruise company Hurtigruten late Friday said four crew members from the 535-passenger Roald Amundsen were admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø, Norway, earlier in the day after the vessel docked in the city.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/covid-outbreak-hurtigruten-norway/
Political lobbyist Matthew Hooton resigns as National Party staffer
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/political-lobbyist-matthew-hooton-resigns-as-national-party-staffer/ar-BB17rqkS?li=BBqdg4K
I wonder if him and Judith could not get along or there is somthing more?
"Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp just told @manidunlop on Midday Report he "completely forgot" about a briefing which said civilians were possibly killed during Operation Burnham."
Hey, Hoots has resigned. Spread the word.
Jumped or pushed?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12352882
What's she on? Silly woman.
A healthy retainer 🙂
brilliant Oz headline ….
James Murdoch resigns to spend less time with family
Great Belgian headline!
Moonshot brings back fromage