Why and who the hell would give John Bolton air time to talk about ANY foreign policy issue?, and especially North Korea….this is a man who still defends the invasion of Iraq as a success.
Most Liberal media seem to have adopted the strategy that any enemy of Trump instantly becomes an ally, even to the point now of giving oxygen to psychopathic nutters like Bolton..RNZ listens deserve and expect better balance than that.
What RNZ didn't bother pointing out in their segment is that Bolton goes on to say in his usual insane style " Bolton resumed his call for the US to consider military action against North Korea.",
Just take a read of this Guardian piece…The heading is of course highlighting the 'attacks Trump' part, and not the lets get into a war with North Korea part..WTF, no mention of Bolton undermining Trumps attempts to negotiate with N Korea with his infamous 'Libya model' statement.
We all want to see the end of Trump, but the my enemies enemies are my friends strategy is not the way to do this, and undermines all goodwill, moral highground and moral indignation that we have the right to feel and act upon in the efforts to bring people like Trump down…attacking him from the Left is the only winning strategy that will work in the longrun, Bernie Sanders has been showing the way on this since 2016.
Ummm… when you state "We all want to see the end of Trump" be aware that you do not state a fact. There is a significant section of the population who are okay with Trump. You and I might disagree with them but they do exist. Trying to pretend everybody thinks like you do is the height of intellectual arrogance.
The other thing is you seem to think RNZ should be a tool of the left. Why else would you write the following"…attacking him from the Left is the only winning strategy."?
The first part up to the end of the links was all I sent RNZ, what was written after was for the benefit of TS readers.
I don't think RNZ should come down on anyone's side, what I believe they have the obligation to do is provide fair and balanced reporting…nothing more nothing less.
Bernie Sanders has been showing the way on this since 2016.
Uhh, in 2016 Bernie got 13.2 million votes in the Dem primary. That was a mere 43% of the roughly half of the roughly 30% of the electorate that bothered to vote in the primaries and identify as Democrats. Yes, that nets down to just 6% of the electorate. And he only got there by hoovering up the entire share of people that really couldn’t take Hillary or just preferred someone else.
That’s hardly the stuff of a shining political future. This time around, there’s plenty of other options, which is why he’s fading to currently be somewhere around half to a quarter the support he got last time around.
What point is it that I am missing? Please clarify.
That you think points of view you disapprove of shouldn't be aired?
That there is some massive leftie majority out there just waiting to be awakened by the right messiah, that you just know is there despite there being precisely zero evidence for its existence?
That a media organisation having someone on to have their say automatically means they are endorsing and allying themselves with the view being expressed?
"Sanders began the campaign as an underfunded, septuagenarian, avowed democratic socialist, who was best known in Washington for decades of rants against free trade deals. He will end it a few million votes short of the nomination of a party in which he remains an outsider, a surprisingly close runner-up to arguably the most heavily favored non-incumbent candidate for a party nod in recent memory, Hillary Clinton."
Democrats, said Jared Bernstein, a liberal economist and former adviser to Obama and Vice President Biden, have moved away from talk of deficit reduction and "grand bargains" on safety net spending, and toward "a much more truly progressive agenda."
"Bernie very effectively tapped a progressive energy that's been building for a long time," Bernstein added. "Could that energy have coalesced behind someone else, like Sen. [Elizabeth] Warren? Probably. But Bernie's been an extremely effective and disciplined messenger."
I'm pretty sure this point, that Bernie has changed the political landscape, has been made on numerous occasions, by a number of folk on this site..however maybe you would feel a bit more comfortable to hear this point made by Bernstein who as the Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden in the Obama Administration, can hardly be accused of being a self deluded 'Leftie'.
And I'm pretty sure the corporate Democrats wouldn't inch towards a more progressive standpoint, or atleast make vaguely progressive noises, unless they felt there was a wide demand for such a thing.
There is no certainty that either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren will get the nomination for Democratic US Presidential candidate. Currently it 's not even a likelihood.
The Subpoena hearings may well push both Democrats and the wider electorate the other way, favoring simply the person most likely to simply get Trump out: Joe Biden.
Either way, there has been a large policy shift in the dems. Not all of it Bernie, by any means – resistance to the orange one has also mobilised a lot of people.
"favoring simply the person most likely to simply get Trump out: Joe Biden" are you mad? Biden is fucked, the guy is suffering from some sort of dementia. he will never make it all the way to the election, let alone the end of the primaries,
Warren has obviously now been anointed the new DNC saviour.
Well one of us is dead wrong because i had figured using an episode involving obvious Biden foreign political interference (possibly corruption), to attack Trump was a sure end to his campaign. The negative effects on Trumps campaign seem less than certain.
"Arguably Hillary was the leftie and Obama the centrist"
Holy hell you really are one deluded melonfarmer, both of them are liberal capitalists and have nothing (or very little) to do with the Left..that is just a plain fact..no argument or debate need be entered into.
Uhh, do you understand that if left" and "right" are to have meaning, it has to be with reference to where the political centre is? That you are not the centre of the political universe, rather you are so far out there that the centre is a tiny speck barely brighter than a star? And the fact that Obama won the office (twice) and Hillary failed makes a pretty clear marker for how far left a candidate can be and still be electable.
Gotta disagree with that last line – there are many more determinants of election victory than simply how "left" or "right" one is compared to the electorate.
Although yeah, most of any given population would stand well to the right of the promontory from where Adrian makes his proclamations of political validity. So far to the right that he finds it difficult to judge the distance between the people he his observing.
No, what you guys seem to have missed or just ignore (for whatever reason) is that the (Liberal) Left have dragged us all so far to the right over the past 25 or so years, that a so called centre leftist like Clinton or Obama or NZ Labour today for that matter would have been considered centre right then, infact all I am advocating for is a much needed realignment…
"President Obama said his economic policies are "so mainstream" he'd be considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s."
And compared with politicians 200 years ago both Clinton and Obama were centre left to extreme left.
But if we're talking about the US in 2008 and comparing Obama and Clinton's relative positions, then both my 200y.o. benchmark and your 30 y.o. benchmark are completely irrelevant.
@McFlock, I hardly think comparing political positions from within the life times of the people involved to that of political positions 200 years ago makes any sense or has any relevance to this conversation whatsoever.
Not sure the USA in 1995 was all that left wing. 3 strikes laws, Iraq, and all that.
And for NZ, 14% of current voters in NZ weren't even born 25 years ago, so not sure about "us all", either. And it was the height of the Bolger/Shipley governments.
I don't mind utopians – it's good to have goals.l But I think even your recollections are decidedly red-tinted.
But compared to, say, NZ politicians 45 years ago, yeah HC and Obama would probably be right wing. But that would be a pointless comparison, like comparing them to the US "founding fathers".
"some massive leftie majority out there just waiting to be awakened by the right messiah"
"Messiah" is a mischaracterisation of Sanders. At some rally when the crowd chanted "Bernie", he looked irritated and wagged his finger – "no no, it's not Bernie it's you". Near the end of Karl Stead's fabulous novel 'My Name was Judas' the narrator says, "Our friend was not the Messiah / Nor will there be one". Sanders, it seems to me, knows this instinctively, which is part of what makes him qualitatively different from all others in the race, and important historically, win or lose.
But it's absolutely clear to me that everyone on here reads into the situation in the US exactly what they want to. And that there is no point in commenting on it any more.
"I didn't realise when I set up Matrix Homes that vested interests would not want it to succeed," he says. "We were selling a two-bed house for $99k, and that doesn't help us when the industry is trying to explain why houses are 700-800k."
The building industry was resistant; so too was bureaucracy."
I wish they'd done something indepth on that rather than just interviewing the business owner. Looks interesting, but too short on detail to see what is going on. We've been so focused on the cost of purchasing, I'd really like to see more on the costs from council's post leaky building, and from the housing industry raking in profits. Also the banks and the conditions they put on mortgages. That thing about having to build larger houses is one I hear too often.
Exactly – why not write into The Detail or whoever is doing the in-depth stuff at Radionz and ask them to look into what you have outlined? They are trying hard and turning out some good background stuff I think. What do you think?
The problem with his business model – at a guess- is that the house is a prefab so he doesnt get paid anything till it goes on site. Thats a huge cashflow issue.
Dont see how the banks have an issue with small houses per se. they happily lend on small apartments.
The real problem is small sections, where the building- land ratio makes more sense with high land costs.
And my impression was that people think of these small houses as a sort minor dwelling at the back of an existing house. That can be a minefield as far as consents go. My guess is he didnt have a very good planners working with him to navigate these issues FIRST before starting construction.
Twyford can tell him all about wanting big numbers but only getting a trickle
"Dont see how the banks have an issue with small houses per se. they happily lend on small apartments."
Banks routinely refuse to lend on small builds, or make the conditions unattractive, afaik because they see small houses, especially if owner built or not a cookie cutter house, as a liability if it comes to a mortgagee sale. At least this is what I hear from people trying to get mortgages.
Banks (and everyone else with a finger in the pie, and that includes local and central gov) are seeking to protect their interest…consider if he had succeeded what would the effect have been.
Actually HNZ would have been the perfect client….but there was still risk. If they had supplied HNZ what was to stop them (or someone else) taking the model to the wider market?
only for the signee…the whole model is potentially too disruptive.A pity because there is so much potential to reduce housing costs but thats never really been the main concern
They've dispatched specialised protest-suppression personnel and kit with a command structure separate from the PLA, too.
Here's hoping cool heads prevail.
China has quietly more than doubled its deployment of mainland security forces in Hong Kong, according to foreign envoys and security analysts, in the most dramatic move yet by Beijing to prepare for a potential worsening of unrest in the global financial center.
There is a dreadful inevitability about the final outcome for Hong Kong and China Administration must not only win, but be seen to win. Otherwise what effect on the billion or so Chinese on the mainland. And the protestors? Top marks for persistence and courage but they cannot be allowed by the Chinese Mainland Admin, to succeed.
The monarch reportedly asked aides for first time in her reign just how and when should could dismiss a PM.
The Queen sought advice on the circumstances in which she could sack a prime minister ahead of Tuesday’s incendiary Supreme Court ruling, i has been told.
Boris Johnson will be dismissed by Queen if he tries to ignore court order to implement Benn Act, says Grieve
Dominic Grieve, one of the 21 Tories who had the whip removed after rebelling over Brexit and one of the MPs involved in drafting the Benn Act to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, has said he thinks the legislation is robust, and that ministers will not find loopholes in it.
In an interview with Sky News, Grieve said that if Boris Johnson tried to ignore the law, the courts could force him to comply.
[Johnson] would be taken to court and a writ of mandamus would be issued against him and he would be told, as a matter of law, that he has to write the letter [to the EU requesting a Brexit delay]. The case could go to the supreme court and I suspect the courts could deal with it very quickly.
Grieve also said that, if Johnson tried to ignore the courts, ultimately he could be dismissed as prime minister by the Queen.
A source …in Scotland…. asking about sacking a PM ?
Thats absurd , the only person she can ask for 'advice' is Johnson himself. The story says so at the end. Clearly just scuttlebutt which is typical of UK papers..the rest of the world calls it fake news
On the subject of a CIA whistleblower citing Trump abused his power by asking a favour of the Ukrainian president to dig dirt on Biden, Biden himself on camera told the story of how he insisted the Ukrainian government fire its attorney general before he/the US government would give it a billion dollar loan which seems like a pretty obvious abuse of power too. Biden visited the Ukraine 13 times over 25 months. George Galloway suggests Biden's son Hunter was acting as a proxy for Joe Biden. In other words, the Biden versus Trump feud seems to be more about a battle between equally corrupt adversaries.
Ever occur to you to look for perspectives beyond the recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to convergence moonbats peddled for clickbait by the likes of Jimmy Dore and Galloway?
And the prosecutor who was appointed to replace Shokin (he who was sacked because Biden said he was not pursuing corruption) actually finally closed down the Burisma investigation ….there were no calls for his sacking from Biden, in fact he (Lutsenko ) was in that position until last month.
Burisma was also under investigation in the UK for fraud and money laundering.The UK says the Ukrainians were dragging the chain . The Ukrainians say the UK prosecutors were.
Ukraine is an oligarchy, public officials are in the pocket of who has the ascendancy at the time
At the moment Kolomoisky (Zelensky has described him as his business partner) is back in the driving seat after having been demoted by Poroshenko.
The hellish nature of the Ukrainian oligarchy is covered in this Kyiv Post link
But given the choice between a domestic oligarchy and a Kremlin controlled one, it's not a difficult choice for the Ukraine to prefer their own. Nor would admitting a Putin appointee likely decrease corruption.
And the US is the absolute showpiece of corruption free democracy?
Nah, like Jimmy Carter says "Its just an oligarchy now "
Except we call them tycoons
With money and corporations running the show
Getting rid of Shokin did nothing to defeat corruption
And the Ukrainians, as is so startlingly clear, are not one people as much as the nationalists of Western Ukraine would like them to be .The people of the east twice voted Yanukovich in
And if the US is so keen to stamp out corruption (I mean really?)they would have made damned sure to avoid the bad optics of Biden and Archer being on the Burisma board being paid eye watering amounts ,shortly after Biden senior gets put in charge of Ukraine.You really think th e US gives a flying fuck about corruption??When they've backed the most corrupt, undemocratic countries on the planet?
Check out Latin America through the decades.
And if they were so keen on democracy , Pyatt and Nuland wouldn't been heard plotting over the phone on who should be PM
"Yats is the man "
The US has poured billions in to Ukraine with no reduction in corruption, but plenty of their own corporations like Monsanto reaping the benefits.Their money isn't conditional on anti corruption drives , rather on further deprivatisations so US companies can get in and make a profit.
And geopolitically the ruling elites stay aligned to US elite interests
The latest Conservative rabbits from the hat (The Sorting Hat – hopefully it contains enough magic to sort this lot out.)
Brexit: Government to reveal detailed plan for EU negotiations https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49881345
"Hollow Men" and its worthy successor "Utopia" are really good at mocking the language of senior bureaucrats and operatives. While it's Australian, it's a small shift to here, scaled down.
This one I particularly enjoyed for its grandiloquence brought down to the smell of the printed paper:
Actually Jones said bluntly just what other MPs slyly hint at. Why else would Bridges for instance offer bridges for some and not for others? Pretty blatant but not really up front. "Vote for our lot if you want bridges built," is the message though. All the time.
Why would Farrar spend so much time on focus groups if it wasn't to find out who to whom and to what to set the promise (bribe).
It's more concerning that net policy outcomes aren't much better than a tin-pot African nation, even though they represent a vast improvement over those of the previous government. Shane Jones is what he is, but given you were happy with Brownlee the Beast, your complaint is partisanship, not objectivity.
I agree that that someone needs to be held accountable for the CTV building that collapsed during the Christchurch Ruamoko. We lost A lot of good people in that desaster there whanau will be happy.
I say that the media needs to be held up to have honest content as they have a major influence on the way people behave I have seen some behaving badly.
Yes some tamariki and Mokopuna have bad teeth I made sure to my Tamariki looked after their nihor. One can jump up and down all they want but the horse won't drink Te Wai.
Its great that more putea is going into Maori health.
I think it is needed to have 18 years olds being kept in the youth justice. I say some don't grow up till quite long in the nihor.
Indigenous 100 interviewing 100 indigenous tangata Wehie isn't it reka that tangata whenua o Aotearoa are receiving more respect.
Moden Maori art is great there are some good artists rising from Maoridom some beautiful art to Kia Kaha.
Yes Te pro action against Papatuanuku Warming has started rolling against Te neanderthal who are to short sighted to see that there greed of money and power will cause A Papatuanuku wide tragedy now I can see that we the leftist of Te Papatuanuku are going to stop the BULLSHIT of the neanderthal lies and make the Papatuanuku a CARBON NEUTRAL PAPATUANUKU.
An unstoppable climate change movement takes hold
Climate chaos is playing out in real time from California to the Caribbean, and from Africa to the Arctic and beyond. Those who contributed least to the problem are suffering the most.
I called the Climate Action Summit to serve as a springboard to set us on the right path ahead of crucial 2020 deadlines established by the Paris Agreement on climate change. And many leaders – from many countries and sectors – stepped up.
A broad coalition – not just governments and youth, but businesses, cities, investors and civil society – came together to move in the direction our world so desperately needs to avert climate catastrophe.
The Summit also showcased ways in which cities and global industries like shipping can achieve major reductions in emissions. Initiatives to protect forests and safeguard water supplies were also highlighted.
More than 100 leaders in the private sector committed to accelerating their move into the green economy.
A group of the world's largest asset-owners – responsible for directing more than $2 trillion – pledged to move to carbon-neutral investment portfolios by 2050
This is in addition to a recent call by asset managers representing nearly half the world's invested capital – some $34 trillion – for global leaders to put a meaningful price on carbon and phase out fossil fuel subsidies and thermal coal power worldwide
The International Development Finance Club pledged to mobilise $1 trillion in clean energy funding by 2025 in 20 least developed countries
Too many countries still seem to be addicted to coal – even though cheaper, greener options are available already. We need much more progress on carbon pricing, ensuring no new coal plants by 2020, and ending trillions of dollars in giveaways of hard-earned taxpayers' money to a dying fossil fuel industry to boost hurricanes, spread tropical diseases, and heighten conflict
And I will make sure that the commitments that countries, the private sector and local authorities have made are accounted for – starting in December at the UN Climate conference in Santiago, Chile. The UN is united in support of realising these initiatives.
Climate change is the defining issue of our time
Science tells us that on our current path, we face at least 3C of global heating by the end of the century. I will not be there, but my granddaughters will
I refuse to be an accomplice in the destruction of their one and only home.
Young people, the UN – and a growing number of leaders from business, finance, government, and civil society – in short, many of us – are mobilising and acting. But we need many others to take climate action if we are to succeed
We have a long way to go. But the movement has begun.
António Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations
We need to stop all the plastic waste from entering our natural environment.
Stop producing the stuff stop using it all together we did not need plastic in the days of old. We used natural materials paper made from plant products
Glass bottles for our fluids don't let the pro carbon people's lies Te Tairawhitimate is going to fall on our heads if we choose to change the way we live to a non carbon closed loop system we're everything we use gets recycled.
That's the only way we are going to SURVIVE in my eyes care for our ENVIRONMENT care for others culture care and respect for everyone.
How worried should we be about microplastics?
Plastic is everywhere – in our food, air, water and oceans. But do we know enough to determine how harmful it is to our health?
If you enjoy a spot of food, like to breathe air and partake in the occasional drink of water (tap or bottled), then you’re almost certainly an unwitting consumer of microplastics.
People who use triangular nylon tea bags are the latest group to be shocked at their exposure to plastics. According to one study, they could be getting about 11bn or so particles of plastic with their Earl Grey or breakfast tea.
Microplastics have turned up pretty much everywhere that scientists have looked for them – from the bottom of the deepest parts of our oceans to the stomachs of whales, seabirds and in our own poo.
Those fancy tea bags? Microplastics in them are macro offenders
But should we be worried about our plastic diet – either for the sake of our own health or for the health of the environment?
What is microplastic?
There’s no agreed definition, but researchers have generally referred to pieces of plastic smaller than about 5mm as microplastic. However, the University of New South Wales’s Mark Browne, who has been researching plastics since 2004, says it’s better to think about plastics relative to the units they’re measured in. So microplastics are between one micrometre and 1,000 micrometres wide (there are 1,000 micrometres in one millimetre
What is it doing to our health?
“There’s an absence of science here,” says Browne. “We know that across particle sizes, plastics can cause issues. The critical issue now is what are the concentrations that people and wildlife are being exposed to. We don’t need more studies on which products emit plastics. We need studies that expose organisms or models to these doses to see if they cause problems
Lauren Roman, at CSIRO oceans and atmosphere, says that for all animals “the size of the plastic matters”.
“If the piece is too big, the animal won’t eat it or, in the case of seabirds, they will regurgitate it. If it’s very small then it can just pass straight through them.”
For larger pieces, Roman says there is some evidence that plastic accumulating in the stomachs of animals can suppress their appetite – known as the “dietary dilution effect” that could have knock-on effects Ka kite Ano link below.
A study that tells us that it's just common sense that everyone everywhere needs to plant trees to sequence carbon emissions from the Tawhirimate. Planting trees does not need huge investment just the will of the tangata and government. The can be grown from seed or to jump ahead a year take cutting off Mama trees cloning them planting them and caring for them. I don't think many place are like Aotearoa we're we can just plant tree keeping the weeds in check for 2 years and walar you have a forests growing
Massive Forest Restoration Could Greatly Slow Global Warming
The right trees, planted in the right locations, could store 205 gigatons of carbon dioxide.
The team has also created a planning toollinked to the map that will be open to the public starting July 5. Individuals and organizations can zoom in to any location to see where new forests could be started.
Crowther has not studied other carbon sequestration techniques that have been discussed a lot lately, such as ocean fertilization (growing algae to soak up carbon) or direct air capture (machines that pull CO2 from the atmosphere), but he thinks they would be much more expensive than growing trees. He estimates it might cost the world $300 billion to plant the 0.9 billion hectares. And new forests provide another strong benefit: they restore biodiversity, which is crucial because so many plant and animal species are disappearing. Crowther says he began to study reforestation because he was really looking for ways to stop species loss. Tremendous benefits beyond carbon sequestration "come from biodiversity—providing food, medicines, clean water and all sorts of things for humans," he says.
Chazdon cautions that replanting may not be as simple as it sounds, and she wonders if 0.9 billion new hectares will ever be possible, given competing priorities. More trees consume more water, and this could threaten agriculture or other human activities in dry areas. And local people may not want forests if they need to generate income from the land, say from farming or herding. Some prominent reforestation programs, such as ones in the Philippines, have failed "because there was no local involvement," she says.
The best places to start reforestation are where multiple benefits can readily be gained. In a July 3 Science Advances paper, Chazdon and colleagues identify a series of locations in the tropics that have higher-than-average potential for benefits as well as ease of getting started.
All the new tree work, Chazdon says, signals that "we're entering into the practicality stage" of smart reforestation. "We can bring a lot of interdisciplinary science to bear. I hope there will be more interaction between scientists and politicians, realizing that the tools we now have can guide reforestation that is the most cost-effective, and has multiple benefits and fewer tradeoffs."
Eco Maori was trying to organise the planting of 50.000 trees this year but there are too many hurdles to jump through Ma Te Wa the trees will be planted in 2020
I tau toko the protests against the action Zealanders signs being plasted around the Auckland university the person in charge of the university needs to pulled up about this
Yes people have to learn to be careful around Awa and Tangaroa as Wai is a powerful force that can take lives quickly.
Another problem with the Westcoast access rail last time it was a road problem it caused by Global warming some of the people still want to mine coal.
That's good that our government has stopped the banning of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.
250 years since Cook landed in Turangi A Kiwa I'm not sure about the weaveing together.
Let's hope not to much damage is caused by the big Bush fire in Australia the bushfire season started early there this year.
If he didn't want heaps of tamariki he should not have donated his dna.
The Glacier in France and most of the other Glacier around Papatuanuku are dissolving because of Human Caused Global Warming I see some storys about Climate Change are being muted.
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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. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"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 ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Tail wags dog, again – Winston First torpedo party pill testing https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12272257
Such a dumb descision…
Letter to RNZ this morning…
Bolton on RNZ morning news cycle?
Why and who the hell would give John Bolton air time to talk about ANY foreign policy issue?, and especially North Korea….this is a man who still defends the invasion of Iraq as a success.
Most Liberal media seem to have adopted the strategy that any enemy of Trump instantly becomes an ally, even to the point now of giving oxygen to psychopathic nutters like Bolton..RNZ listens deserve and expect better balance than that.
"Bolton says US considering Libya model for North Korean denuclearization"
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/30/asia/north-korea-bolton-libya-intl/index.html
"Is John Bolton the most dangerous man in the world?"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/16/john-bolton-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-danger
"To Avoid an Iraq-Style Disaster Under Trump, Bolton Must Go'
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/avoid-iraq-style-disaster-under-trump-bolton-must-go-52897
What RNZ didn't bother pointing out in their segment is that Bolton goes on to say in his usual insane style " Bolton resumed his call for the US to consider military action against North Korea.",
Just take a read of this Guardian piece…The heading is of course highlighting the 'attacks Trump' part, and not the lets get into a war with North Korea part..WTF, no mention of Bolton undermining Trumps attempts to negotiate with N Korea with his infamous 'Libya model' statement.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/30/john-bolton-trump-north-korea-kim-jong-un
We all want to see the end of Trump, but the my enemies enemies are my friends strategy is not the way to do this, and undermines all goodwill, moral highground and moral indignation that we have the right to feel and act upon in the efforts to bring people like Trump down…attacking him from the Left is the only winning strategy that will work in the longrun, Bernie Sanders has been showing the way on this since 2016.
Ummm… when you state "We all want to see the end of Trump" be aware that you do not state a fact. There is a significant section of the population who are okay with Trump. You and I might disagree with them but they do exist. Trying to pretend everybody thinks like you do is the height of intellectual arrogance.
Fair point.
The other thing is you seem to think RNZ should be a tool of the left. Why else would you write the following"…attacking him from the Left is the only winning strategy."?
The first part up to the end of the links was all I sent RNZ, what was written after was for the benefit of TS readers.
I don't think RNZ should come down on anyone's side, what I believe they have the obligation to do is provide fair and balanced reporting…nothing more nothing less.
Bernie Sanders has been showing the way on this since 2016.
Uhh, in 2016 Bernie got 13.2 million votes in the Dem primary. That was a mere 43% of the roughly half of the roughly 30% of the electorate that bothered to vote in the primaries and identify as Democrats. Yes, that nets down to just 6% of the electorate. And he only got there by hoovering up the entire share of people that really couldn’t take Hillary or just preferred someone else.
That’s hardly the stuff of a shining political future. This time around, there’s plenty of other options, which is why he’s fading to currently be somewhere around half to a quarter the support he got last time around.
As usual you completely miss the point.
What point is it that I am missing? Please clarify.
That you think points of view you disapprove of shouldn't be aired?
That there is some massive leftie majority out there just waiting to be awakened by the right messiah, that you just know is there despite there being precisely zero evidence for its existence?
That a media organisation having someone on to have their say automatically means they are endorsing and allying themselves with the view being expressed?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/08/how-bernie-sanders-changed-the-democratic-party/
I'm pretty sure this point, that Bernie has changed the political landscape, has been made on numerous occasions, by a number of folk on this site..however maybe you would feel a bit more comfortable to hear this point made by Bernstein who as the Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden in the Obama Administration, can hardly be accused of being a self deluded 'Leftie'.
And I'm pretty sure the corporate Democrats wouldn't inch towards a more progressive standpoint, or atleast make vaguely progressive noises, unless they felt there was a wide demand for such a thing.
Overton window blah blah whatever.
There is no certainty that either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren will get the nomination for Democratic US Presidential candidate. Currently it 's not even a likelihood.
The Subpoena hearings may well push both Democrats and the wider electorate the other way, favoring simply the person most likely to simply get Trump out: Joe Biden.
Dunno that Biden is that person.
Either way, there has been a large policy shift in the dems. Not all of it Bernie, by any means – resistance to the orange one has also mobilised a lot of people.
Let alone the possibility of leftie over-reach and a repeat of 1972.
Unlike the centrist over reach that gave the world Trump…sorry, not the Russians.
Wow, the democratic establishment candidate has not even lost yet and your already out with the blame and excuses for the loss.
Like Hillary was? And really Joe has less to recommend him. His mum might vote for him, youth not so much.
the overton window on action on climate-change –
– has been upgraded from a window – to a set of french doors…
"favoring simply the person most likely to simply get Trump out: Joe Biden" are you mad? Biden is fucked, the guy is suffering from some sort of dementia. he will never make it all the way to the election, let alone the end of the primaries,
Warren has obviously now been anointed the new DNC saviour.
Well one of us is dead wrong because i had figured using an episode involving obvious Biden foreign political interference (possibly corruption), to attack Trump was a sure end to his campaign. The negative effects on Trumps campaign seem less than certain.
Before Sanders , there was Obama who seen as a'left wing' candidate in 2008
he got even closer to Clinton 48% with 47% of those voting
However he had the Super delegates ( 68%) and the Caucuses
Arguably Hillary was the leftie and Obama the centrist.
https://www.vox.com/2015/6/15/8779449/hillary-clinton-populist-record
not so much 'arguing' – as dancing on the head of a pin..?
obama the war-criminal vs clinton the wannabe war criminal..who is more left..?
right ho..!
also worth remembering that on any international ideological-spectrum..
the american democrat party is to the right of our tories…
so..y'know..there is 'left' and 'left'…
"Arguably Hillary was the leftie and Obama the centrist"
Holy hell you really are one deluded melonfarmer, both of them are liberal capitalists and have nothing (or very little) to do with the Left..that is just a plain fact..no argument or debate need be entered into.
Uhh, do you understand that if left" and "right" are to have meaning, it has to be with reference to where the political centre is? That you are not the centre of the political universe, rather you are so far out there that the centre is a tiny speck barely brighter than a star? And the fact that Obama won the office (twice) and Hillary failed makes a pretty clear marker for how far left a candidate can be and still be electable.
Gotta disagree with that last line – there are many more determinants of election victory than simply how "left" or "right" one is compared to the electorate.
Although yeah, most of any given population would stand well to the right of the promontory from where Adrian makes his proclamations of political validity. So far to the right that he finds it difficult to judge the distance between the people he his observing.
Just tryin' to keep it simple …
No, what you guys seem to have missed or just ignore (for whatever reason) is that the (Liberal) Left have dragged us all so far to the right over the past 25 or so years, that a so called centre leftist like Clinton or Obama or NZ Labour today for that matter would have been considered centre right then, infact all I am advocating for is a much needed realignment…
"President Obama said his economic policies are "so mainstream" he'd be considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s."
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/272957-obama-says-his-economic-policies-so-mainstream-hed-be-seen-as-moderate-republican-in-1980s
And compared with politicians 200 years ago both Clinton and Obama were centre left to extreme left.
But if we're talking about the US in 2008 and comparing Obama and Clinton's relative positions, then both my 200y.o. benchmark and your 30 y.o. benchmark are completely irrelevant.
@McFlock, I hardly think comparing political positions from within the life times of the people involved to that of political positions 200 years ago makes any sense or has any relevance to this conversation whatsoever.
Not sure the USA in 1995 was all that left wing. 3 strikes laws, Iraq, and all that.
And for NZ, 14% of current voters in NZ weren't even born 25 years ago, so not sure about "us all", either. And it was the height of the Bolger/Shipley governments.
I don't mind utopians – it's good to have goals.l But I think even your recollections are decidedly red-tinted.
But compared to, say, NZ politicians 45 years ago, yeah HC and Obama would probably be right wing. But that would be a pointless comparison, like comparing them to the US "founding fathers".
"some massive leftie majority out there just waiting to be awakened by the right messiah"
"Messiah" is a mischaracterisation of Sanders. At some rally when the crowd chanted "Bernie", he looked irritated and wagged his finger – "no no, it's not Bernie it's you". Near the end of Karl Stead's fabulous novel 'My Name was Judas' the narrator says, "Our friend was not the Messiah / Nor will there be one". Sanders, it seems to me, knows this instinctively, which is part of what makes him qualitatively different from all others in the race, and important historically, win or lose.
But it's absolutely clear to me that everyone on here reads into the situation in the US exactly what they want to. And that there is no point in commenting on it any more.
Indeed. But messiahs are much more about how their followers view them and how the followers react to criticism of their chosen one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW8fDw8VzKI
They do have their moments.
https://twitter.com/truthtotweet/status/1176169547872854016
News just in :
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/sep/30/donald-trump-news-today-live-impeachment-ukraine-whistleblower-latest-updates
Trump reportedly pushed Australian PM to investigate Mueller inquiry.
Not much detail yet.
As if the spineless Aussie PM would need much pushing.
"I didn't realise when I set up Matrix Homes that vested interests would not want it to succeed," he says. "We were selling a two-bed house for $99k, and that doesn't help us when the industry is trying to explain why houses are 700-800k."
The building industry was resistant; so too was bureaucracy."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115369645/wellington-report-2019-why-the-matrix-is-not-always-about-the-future
housing (affordability) crisis?…..whose crisis?
Sounds enough to make you cry, sis!
I wish they'd done something indepth on that rather than just interviewing the business owner. Looks interesting, but too short on detail to see what is going on. We've been so focused on the cost of purchasing, I'd really like to see more on the costs from council's post leaky building, and from the housing industry raking in profits. Also the banks and the conditions they put on mortgages. That thing about having to build larger houses is one I hear too often.
Exactly – why not write into The Detail or whoever is doing the in-depth stuff at Radionz and ask them to look into what you have outlined? They are trying hard and turning out some good background stuff I think. What do you think?
The problem with his business model – at a guess- is that the house is a prefab so he doesnt get paid anything till it goes on site. Thats a huge cashflow issue.
Dont see how the banks have an issue with small houses per se. they happily lend on small apartments.
The real problem is small sections, where the building- land ratio makes more sense with high land costs.
And my impression was that people think of these small houses as a sort minor dwelling at the back of an existing house. That can be a minefield as far as consents go. My guess is he didnt have a very good planners working with him to navigate these issues FIRST before starting construction.
Twyford can tell him all about wanting big numbers but only getting a trickle
"Dont see how the banks have an issue with small houses per se. they happily lend on small apartments."
Banks routinely refuse to lend on small builds, or make the conditions unattractive, afaik because they see small houses, especially if owner built or not a cookie cutter house, as a liability if it comes to a mortgagee sale. At least this is what I hear from people trying to get mortgages.
Banks (and everyone else with a finger in the pie, and that includes local and central gov) are seeking to protect their interest…consider if he had succeeded what would the effect have been.
It's depressing to consider. You'd think Housing NZ could have followed through.
There could be issues we don't know about too.
Actually HNZ would have been the perfect client….but there was still risk. If they had supplied HNZ what was to stop them (or someone else) taking the model to the wider market?
They could have contracted a time period where that wouldn't be allowed?
only for the signee…the whole model is potentially too disruptive.A pity because there is so much potential to reduce housing costs but thats never really been the main concern
They've dispatched specialised protest-suppression personnel and kit with a command structure separate from the PLA, too.
Here's hoping cool heads prevail.
China has quietly more than doubled its deployment of mainland security forces in Hong Kong, according to foreign envoys and security analysts, in the most dramatic move yet by Beijing to prepare for a potential worsening of unrest in the global financial center.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/09/30/asia-pacific/china-doubled-troop-levels-hong-kong-envoys-estimate/#.XZJ2V2bRWUl
There is a dreadful inevitability about the final outcome for Hong Kong and China Administration must not only win, but be seen to win. Otherwise what effect on the billion or so Chinese on the mainland. And the protestors? Top marks for persistence and courage but they cannot be allowed by the Chinese Mainland Admin, to succeed.
What are they still protesting ? They forced the puppet Hong Kong leader to kill the extradition bill . Continuing to poke the dragon seems stupid.
Search on Hong Kong and "five demands". Four to go.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Hong_Kong_protests#Objectives
This could be a BFD.
The monarch reportedly asked aides for first time in her reign just how and when should could dismiss a PM.
The Queen sought advice on the circumstances in which she could sack a prime minister ahead of Tuesday’s incendiary Supreme Court ruling, i has been told.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/queen-sought-advice-on-sacking-prime-minister-source-claims-1-5013774
Boris Johnson will be dismissed by Queen if he tries to ignore court order to implement Benn Act, says Grieve
Dominic Grieve, one of the 21 Tories who had the whip removed after rebelling over Brexit and one of the MPs involved in drafting the Benn Act to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, has said he thinks the legislation is robust, and that ministers will not find loopholes in it.
In an interview with Sky News, Grieve said that if Boris Johnson tried to ignore the law, the courts could force him to comply.
Grieve also said that, if Johnson tried to ignore the courts, ultimately he could be dismissed as prime minister by the Queen.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/sep/30/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-conservative-conference-boris-johnson-groping-allegation-deeply-concerning-says-former-cabinet-minister-live-news?
That would be a facer for Boorish. Good one.
Cant be 'dismissed' by the queen. This is not Australia where the written constitution gives the GG such powers.
The last time a PM was sacked like that was the 1700's ( george Grenville)LOL
If the parliament has no confidence in the PM, they should vote so and give Boris an election. …which they dont want.
The Queen is between a rock and a hard place while the Commons wont vote no confidence in her PM
Surely you can see the obvious.
As I said, this could be a bfd.
But unlike others, I ain't no scholar of UK political convention so wtf would I know.
Eh, sport.
/
A source …in Scotland…. asking about sacking a PM ?
Thats absurd , the only person she can ask for 'advice' is Johnson himself. The story says so at the end. Clearly just scuttlebutt which is typical of UK papers..the rest of the world calls it fake news
Fascinating insights in this interview with a former CIA whistleblower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSG800M8n9c
On the subject of a CIA whistleblower citing Trump abused his power by asking a favour of the Ukrainian president to dig dirt on Biden, Biden himself on camera told the story of how he insisted the Ukrainian government fire its attorney general before he/the US government would give it a billion dollar loan which seems like a pretty obvious abuse of power too. Biden visited the Ukraine 13 times over 25 months. George Galloway suggests Biden's son Hunter was acting as a proxy for Joe Biden. In other words, the Biden versus Trump feud seems to be more about a battle between equally corrupt adversaries.
The relevant issue is that tRump solicited Ukranian officials to interfere in a US election. That's it.
Ever occur to you to look for perspectives beyond the recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to convergence moonbats peddled for clickbait by the likes of Jimmy Dore and Galloway?
Here's just one of many:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/23/20879611/joe-biden-hunter-biden-ukraine-corruption-prosecutor-burisma-donald-trump-whistleblower-complaint
And the prosecutor who was appointed to replace Shokin (he who was sacked because Biden said he was not pursuing corruption) actually finally closed down the Burisma investigation ….there were no calls for his sacking from Biden, in fact he (Lutsenko ) was in that position until last month.
Burisma was also under investigation in the UK for fraud and money laundering.The UK says the Ukrainians were dragging the chain . The Ukrainians say the UK prosecutors were.
Ukraine is an oligarchy, public officials are in the pocket of who has the ascendancy at the time
At the moment Kolomoisky (Zelensky has described him as his business partner) is back in the driving seat after having been demoted by Poroshenko.
The hellish nature of the Ukrainian oligarchy is covered in this Kyiv Post link
https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ihor-kolomoisky-still-throwing-his-weight-around.html
The overthrow of Yanukovich did not eliminate corruption in Ukraine, the looting spree goes on .
There is always an oligarchy.
But given the choice between a domestic oligarchy and a Kremlin controlled one, it's not a difficult choice for the Ukraine to prefer their own. Nor would admitting a Putin appointee likely decrease corruption.
The Whole US government has been working with Ukraine to stamp out corruption
https://nabu.gov.ua/en/tags/fbi
Its not an abuse of power to follow formal government policy over many US presidents regarding Ukraines corruption
NZ would do the same regarding our Aid to various places , especially some in pacific which are as broken as Ukraine is
Yep ,Kolomoisky is a prince
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-summit-kolomoisky/with-zelenskiy-in-charge-ukraine-tycoon-kolomoisky-sees-amicable-solution-on-privatbank-idUSKCN1VY1P8
And the US is the absolute showpiece of corruption free democracy?
Nah, like Jimmy Carter says "Its just an oligarchy now "
Except we call them tycoons
With money and corporations running the show
Getting rid of Shokin did nothing to defeat corruption
And the Ukrainians, as is so startlingly clear, are not one people as much as the nationalists of Western Ukraine would like them to be .The people of the east twice voted Yanukovich in
And if the US is so keen to stamp out corruption (I mean really?)they would have made damned sure to avoid the bad optics of Biden and Archer being on the Burisma board being paid eye watering amounts ,shortly after Biden senior gets put in charge of Ukraine.You really think th e US gives a flying fuck about corruption??When they've backed the most corrupt, undemocratic countries on the planet?
Check out Latin America through the decades.
And if they were so keen on democracy , Pyatt and Nuland wouldn't been heard plotting over the phone on who should be PM
"Yats is the man "
The US has poured billions in to Ukraine with no reduction in corruption, but plenty of their own corporations like Monsanto reaping the benefits.Their money isn't conditional on anti corruption drives , rather on further deprivatisations so US companies can get in and make a profit.
And geopolitically the ruling elites stay aligned to US elite interests
Another perspective on the UK and Europe.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/30/beach-towels-and-brexit-how-germans-really-see-the-brits
The latest Conservative rabbits from the hat (The Sorting Hat – hopefully it contains enough magic to sort this lot out.)
Brexit: Government to reveal detailed plan for EU negotiations
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49881345
.
Aljazeera in Manchester gathering people vox pop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOSDNnIfoE
Swweet promises (? – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption)
Sajid Javid says Tories aim to raise national living wage to £10.50 an hour – as it happened https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/sep/30/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-conservative-conference-boris-johnson-groping-allegation-deeply-concerning-says-former-cabinet-minister-live-news
"Hollow Men" and its worthy successor "Utopia" are really good at mocking the language of senior bureaucrats and operatives. While it's Australian, it's a small shift to here, scaled down.
This one I particularly enjoyed for its grandiloquence brought down to the smell of the printed paper:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud8ZisH2IYI
Hilarious
A bit like 100,000 houses…
It is like we are living in a tin-pot African nation when Shane Jones opens his mouth
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/116215895/shane-jones-issues-warning-to-forestry-companies–political-utu-is-a-dish-best-served-cold?fbclid=IwAR0u7eyGf61fyIC-6yvsu7f6d9yfZd1AaXwH8DdJMB7eRT0lrzJt4n-Upio
Ngaro- he was more explicit …diss us and you will get your (NGO) funding cut.
Actually Jones said bluntly just what other MPs slyly hint at. Why else would Bridges for instance offer bridges for some and not for others? Pretty blatant but not really up front. "Vote for our lot if you want bridges built," is the message though. All the time.
Why would Farrar spend so much time on focus groups if it wasn't to find out who to whom and to what to set the promise (bribe).
Well, bluntly expressing corrupt practise is generally considered to be worse than merely implying it.
BTW, "bridges" is just some of it. David Skeggs' recollections about the defunding of the Public Health Commission are pretty damning.
Shane Jones is a stupid, corrupt oaf. I really hope for a labgrn government next year.
It's more concerning that net policy outcomes aren't much better than a tin-pot African nation, even though they represent a vast improvement over those of the previous government. Shane Jones is what he is, but given you were happy with Brownlee the Beast, your complaint is partisanship, not objectivity.
A sad and timely reminder to vaccinate.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12272604
Kia Ora The Am Show.
I agree that that someone needs to be held accountable for the CTV building that collapsed during the Christchurch Ruamoko. We lost A lot of good people in that desaster there whanau will be happy.
I say that the media needs to be held up to have honest content as they have a major influence on the way people behave I have seen some behaving badly.
All the best to Bernie
Ka kite Ano
The Christchurch City Council are the body responsible for the loss of those lives.
They cleared the building for re-entry after the 4 Sept 2010 earthquake.
It withstood that earthquake but was mortally weakened with many reports from occupiers that it felt unstable between the two quakes.
I continue to be amazed at how the CCC is getting away with this!
These sandflys are sending PEE addicts after Eco Maori
Kia Ora Newshub.
Sea level rising
I think our power bills are quite expensive.
Justice for you is a great way to put that Wahine case.
Its time for a change in our society way of treating Papatuanuku.
A American Warbird crashed in America
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News
Yes some tamariki and Mokopuna have bad teeth I made sure to my Tamariki looked after their nihor. One can jump up and down all they want but the horse won't drink Te Wai.
Its great that more putea is going into Maori health.
I think it is needed to have 18 years olds being kept in the youth justice. I say some don't grow up till quite long in the nihor.
Indigenous 100 interviewing 100 indigenous tangata Wehie isn't it reka that tangata whenua o Aotearoa are receiving more respect.
Moden Maori art is great there are some good artists rising from Maoridom some beautiful art to Kia Kaha.
Ka kite Ano
Yes Te pro action against Papatuanuku Warming has started rolling against Te neanderthal who are to short sighted to see that there greed of money and power will cause A Papatuanuku wide tragedy now I can see that we the leftist of Te Papatuanuku are going to stop the BULLSHIT of the neanderthal lies and make the Papatuanuku a CARBON NEUTRAL PAPATUANUKU.
An unstoppable climate change movement takes hold
Climate chaos is playing out in real time from California to the Caribbean, and from Africa to the Arctic and beyond. Those who contributed least to the problem are suffering the most.
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I have seen it with my own eyes from cyclone-battered Mozambique to the hurricane-devastated Bahamas to the rising seas of the South Pacific.
I called the Climate Action Summit to serve as a springboard to set us on the right path ahead of crucial 2020 deadlines established by the Paris Agreement on climate change. And many leaders – from many countries and sectors – stepped up.
A broad coalition – not just governments and youth, but businesses, cities, investors and civil society – came together to move in the direction our world so desperately needs to avert climate catastrophe.
The Summit also showcased ways in which cities and global industries like shipping can achieve major reductions in emissions. Initiatives to protect forests and safeguard water supplies were also highlighted.
More than 100 leaders in the private sector committed to accelerating their move into the green economy.
A group of the world's largest asset-owners – responsible for directing more than $2 trillion – pledged to move to carbon-neutral investment portfolios by 2050
This is in addition to a recent call by asset managers representing nearly half the world's invested capital – some $34 trillion – for global leaders to put a meaningful price on carbon and phase out fossil fuel subsidies and thermal coal power worldwide
The International Development Finance Club pledged to mobilise $1 trillion in clean energy funding by 2025 in 20 least developed countries
Too many countries still seem to be addicted to coal – even though cheaper, greener options are available already. We need much more progress on carbon pricing, ensuring no new coal plants by 2020, and ending trillions of dollars in giveaways of hard-earned taxpayers' money to a dying fossil fuel industry to boost hurricanes, spread tropical diseases, and heighten conflict
And I will make sure that the commitments that countries, the private sector and local authorities have made are accounted for – starting in December at the UN Climate conference in Santiago, Chile. The UN is united in support of realising these initiatives.
Climate change is the defining issue of our time
Science tells us that on our current path, we face at least 3C of global heating by the end of the century. I will not be there, but my granddaughters will
I refuse to be an accomplice in the destruction of their one and only home.
Young people, the UN – and a growing number of leaders from business, finance, government, and civil society – in short, many of us – are mobilising and acting. But we need many others to take climate action if we are to succeed
We have a long way to go. But the movement has begun.
António Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations
Kia Kaha Antonio keep up the excitement mahi.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/116296704/an-unstoppable-climate-change-movement-takes-hold
https://youtu.be/QAB6aXOfUmU
We need to stop all the plastic waste from entering our natural environment.
Stop producing the stuff stop using it all together we did not need plastic in the days of old. We used natural materials paper made from plant products
Glass bottles for our fluids don't let the pro carbon people's lies Te Tairawhitimate is going to fall on our heads if we choose to change the way we live to a non carbon closed loop system we're everything we use gets recycled.
That's the only way we are going to SURVIVE in my eyes care for our ENVIRONMENT care for others culture care and respect for everyone.
How worried should we be about microplastics?
Plastic is everywhere – in our food, air, water and oceans. But do we know enough to determine how harmful it is to our health?
If you enjoy a spot of food, like to breathe air and partake in the occasional drink of water (tap or bottled), then you’re almost certainly an unwitting consumer of microplastics.
People who use triangular nylon tea bags are the latest group to be shocked at their exposure to plastics. According to one study, they could be getting about 11bn or so particles of plastic with their Earl Grey or breakfast tea.
Microplastics have turned up pretty much everywhere that scientists have looked for them – from the bottom of the deepest parts of our oceans to the stomachs of whales, seabirds and in our own poo.
Those fancy tea bags? Microplastics in them are macro offenders
But should we be worried about our plastic diet – either for the sake of our own health or for the health of the environment?
What is microplastic?
There’s no agreed definition, but researchers have generally referred to pieces of plastic smaller than about 5mm as microplastic. However, the University of New South Wales’s Mark Browne, who has been researching plastics since 2004, says it’s better to think about plastics relative to the units they’re measured in. So microplastics are between one micrometre and 1,000 micrometres wide (there are 1,000 micrometres in one millimetre
What is it doing to our health?
“There’s an absence of science here,” says Browne. “We know that across particle sizes, plastics can cause issues. The critical issue now is what are the concentrations that people and wildlife are being exposed to. We don’t need more studies on which products emit plastics. We need studies that expose organisms or models to these doses to see if they cause problems
Lauren Roman, at CSIRO oceans and atmosphere, says that for all animals “the size of the plastic matters”.
“If the piece is too big, the animal won’t eat it or, in the case of seabirds, they will regurgitate it. If it’s very small then it can just pass straight through them.”
For larger pieces, Roman says there is some evidence that plastic accumulating in the stomachs of animals can suppress their appetite – known as the “dietary dilution effect” that could have knock-on effects Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/02/how-worried-should-we-be-about-microplastics
A study that tells us that it's just common sense that everyone everywhere needs to plant trees to sequence carbon emissions from the Tawhirimate. Planting trees does not need huge investment just the will of the tangata and government. The can be grown from seed or to jump ahead a year take cutting off Mama trees cloning them planting them and caring for them. I don't think many place are like Aotearoa we're we can just plant tree keeping the weeds in check for 2 years and walar you have a forests growing
Massive Forest Restoration Could Greatly Slow Global Warming
The right trees, planted in the right locations, could store 205 gigatons of carbon dioxide.
The team has also created a planning toollinked to the map that will be open to the public starting July 5. Individuals and organizations can zoom in to any location to see where new forests could be started.
Crowther has not studied other carbon sequestration techniques that have been discussed a lot lately, such as ocean fertilization (growing algae to soak up carbon) or direct air capture (machines that pull CO2 from the atmosphere), but he thinks they would be much more expensive than growing trees. He estimates it might cost the world $300 billion to plant the 0.9 billion hectares. And new forests provide another strong benefit: they restore biodiversity, which is crucial because so many plant and animal species are disappearing. Crowther says he began to study reforestation because he was really looking for ways to stop species loss. Tremendous benefits beyond carbon sequestration "come from biodiversity—providing food, medicines, clean water and all sorts of things for humans," he says.
Chazdon cautions that replanting may not be as simple as it sounds, and she wonders if 0.9 billion new hectares will ever be possible, given competing priorities. More trees consume more water, and this could threaten agriculture or other human activities in dry areas. And local people may not want forests if they need to generate income from the land, say from farming or herding. Some prominent reforestation programs, such as ones in the Philippines, have failed "because there was no local involvement," she says.
The best places to start reforestation are where multiple benefits can readily be gained. In a July 3 Science Advances paper, Chazdon and colleagues identify a series of locations in the tropics that have higher-than-average potential for benefits as well as ease of getting started.
All the new tree work, Chazdon says, signals that "we're entering into the practicality stage" of smart reforestation. "We can bring a lot of interdisciplinary science to bear. I hope there will be more interaction between scientists and politicians, realizing that the tools we now have can guide reforestation that is the most cost-effective, and has multiple benefits and fewer tradeoffs."
Ka kite Ano link below below
Eco Maori was trying to organise the planting of 50.000 trees this year but there are too many hurdles to jump through Ma Te Wa the trees will be planted in 2020
Kia Ora Newshub.
I tau toko the protests against the action Zealanders signs being plasted around the Auckland university the person in charge of the university needs to pulled up about this
Yes people have to learn to be careful around Awa and Tangaroa as Wai is a powerful force that can take lives quickly.
Another problem with the Westcoast access rail last time it was a road problem it caused by Global warming some of the people still want to mine coal.
That's good that our government has stopped the banning of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.
250 years since Cook landed in Turangi A Kiwa I'm not sure about the weaveing together.
Let's hope not to much damage is caused by the big Bush fire in Australia the bushfire season started early there this year.
If he didn't want heaps of tamariki he should not have donated his dna.
The Glacier in France and most of the other Glacier around Papatuanuku are dissolving because of Human Caused Global Warming I see some storys about Climate Change are being muted.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I tau toko the tangata striking of a living wage I like to see management live on their workers low wage.
Huge slip on another road the one by Ohakune Global Warming has given Tawhirimate heaps of Mana.
Te Waiariki Wai safety is well needed organisation especially with our long Tangaroa lines and all our Awa and lakes in Aotearoa.
Ka kite Ano