Honestly this is harming the police here if no-one is found responsible, because any fair minded person wants to see “justice” at work there as in every case because we meak 99% are being row beaten by “beaurocrats and the police” to “comply with the law” so should they enforce the same law there too.
“one law for all must apply.”
“Police has determined that there will be no criminal prosecution in relation to the collapse of the CTV building in Christchurch in February 2011.”
No, that’s not right. The Police have got this right, despite the fact that the CTV collapsed due to a series of human errors and negligence (not just Reay, but those that fiddled with the building structure some years later).
Grenfell Tower in London was third world. And that makes the whole world third world.
To the rest of New Zealand – your towns and cities building owners have been given plenty of time to get their buildings safe/r, yet they are not doing so. Tell the building owners in your towns to sort their buildings out quick-smart…
You will find most Christchurch people who went through the earthquakes walk around towns in the rest of New Zealand in fear – constantly looking up at the unsupported verandahs and facades. I do. I hate walking near old buildings everywhere except Christchurch now. Invercargill, Dunedin, Ranfurly, Taihape, Taupo, Whangarei, it just goes on and on… Those facades and verandahs in your towns are going to collapse and kill people. Sort it out. Harass the building owners.
I am from Napier and drive up north of Gisborne a lot.
We get spooked every time I go through gullies now with tall steep hilllsides, and see the cliffs above fracturing with big cracks going down there, so I become a dangerous driver & find i need to break the law and drive on the other side of the road now, further away from the steep hillside to save ourselves should the hillside slip occur and bury us and kill us now.
I know we could be fined for this but it is now becomming a threat to our very lives that count more.
So we asked the the roading engineers of three road companies, who conduct the road repairs and they all are now confirming to us now they suspect the larger, bigger heavier “over-weight” “HPMV” trucks that are causing large, stronger, road vibrations now, that they believe are responsible for the hillside fractures, as they have placed vibration monitoring devices on these hillisides, and are detecting heavier ground shacking vibrations occurring with the bigger, heavier HPMV trucks now.
So are the heavier truck operators now liable for legal costs if they damage people and/or property?
“so I become a dangerous driver & find i need to break the law and drive on the other side of the road now, further away from the steep hillside to save ourselves should the hillside slip occur and bury us and kill us now.”
Of course you are now more at risk of having a head on accident and killing yourselves and the poor sap who was innocently coming the other way.
Putting others lives at risk because you perceive it to be better for you.
I’ve lost friends on motorbikes because of people doing what you are doing. It’s a disgusting and selfish act.
If you end up having an accident I hope you don’t kill an innocent person.
Oh for fucksake! Somethings eventually going to get you, your only choice is to stay in bed and not do anything at all all the while remembering that the vast majority of people die in bed, but in your stupid case it’s most likely to be a truck coming the other way.
So are the heavier truck operators now liable for legal costs if they damage people and/or property?
Actually, I say that the ministers of the government that passed the legislation allowing the bigger trucks should held personally liable. This is an obvious consequence of doing so and they should have at lest asked the engineers about it.
cleangreen, your risk assessment seems a bit out of kilter so I’ll try to help you.
Failure to keep left is the fourth most common contributing cause to a fatal accident in the 2011 – 2016 period, cited as a factor in 191 fatal crashes, according to this government analysis.
The only road fatality attributable to landslide I can find any reference to is the 2014 double fatality in Westland where a tourist couple were apparently swept off the road into a river during an extreme weather event. Interestingly, landslides have caused a number of train accidents with numerous fatalities, but appear to be a negligible risk to road users.
So by crossing the centreline to keep away from cliffs, it certainly appears that you are choosing to create a very real hazard to yourself and other road users, in response to an imaginary threat.
not only what the others said, but the extra few metres will not give you time to dodge a darn thing. And where will you dodge to? Over the bank? Roads are often nowhere near the bottom of steep gullies, usually halfway up the darn hillside.
Sad to say that the police have been politicised.
Look at the Hager raids as one example of this.
And the Barclay shambles as a second exemplar of police conduct.
Roast Busters, TeaPot tapes etc we sort of only hear about the prominent ones.
Hagers book indicated the potential for alot more in exposing the behaviour of Collins which IMO should’ve triggered an inquiry into her activity across many portfolios.
This shows that under certain circumstances there is no backbone by the police to bring certain corporates to justice. It seems it is much easier to accuse and charge an ordinary person with average means than people who are well connected.
Remember the extraordinary involvement of police and management in TV presentation to the media, it was similar to a tag team, when the viewer is uncertain what the job of the police should be. Corruption in places is rife, always attempting to protect the corporation instead of siding with the innocent. Remember the planted cartridge, the disgraceful blame game in the Erebus disaster, or the very poor investigation in the Bain murders.
Anyone who thought anything as terrible as being held to account, being tried and going to jail might occur to professionals who are men of reputation and pillars of the establishment needed only look at at Pike River to know nothing was going to happen here.
If you want concerted outrage against a great injustice, you won’t find it in thundering newspaper editorials or middle aged white male shick jocks quaking in anger demanding justice for the 144 dead of the CTV building and Pike River.
However, true outrage still exists if you can can spitefully twist the truth and the target is a smart 32 year female lawyer from a refugee family.
Don’t forget National ‘realigned’ the SFO in a similar manner to the way it sorted out the commerce commission and anybody getting in the way of corporate cowboy antics.
She’s just giving the accepted spin to the reality that they neither have the resources or will to form a posse and chase the cowboys down as the evidence is available without a whistle blower.
I don’t agree with this decision by the NZPolice not to prosecute the designers of the CTV Building.
I perfectly understand why they went for internal legal and then Crown Law advice.
But they should publish all the advice.
If the Police had had an urge for justice, and Crown Law’s Deputy Solicitor was being more cautious, then Police should have insisted that the advice be escalated to the Solicitor General.
With a new government and Minister, I think the Solicitor General should also have had a chat with the Attourney General as Minister.
It should have gone to trial, at which Defence would put up a line that “It wasn’t just us, it was a systemic failure.”
At that point the judge could make a judgement on both the people, and the whole system.
A key point that mostly gets lost but would probably form a large part of the defence: the CTV building had already experienced its design event in the 2010 earthquake, and despite its serious design flaws it met its performance requirement that any occupants would have been able to safely leave.
It’s beyond me how to fairly apportion culpability between those who produced a seriously flawed design, those who approved the seriously flawed design, and those who allowed the re-occupation of a seriously flawed building after an extreme event that would be expected to produce serious structural damage.
Approval of a flawed building: Why hasn’t Alan Reay been taken to court for his part in the poor design and construction of the CTV building? He failed to do his job properly and unlawfully threatened the local council in order to have the building signed off as fit and proper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTV_Building
I agree Reay was seriously deficient in his lax oversight and rubberstamp approval of the work done by his firm. But he still has a pretty good defense that the building met the performance standard required of it in the 2010 quake.
And there are many other culpable parties. Yes, Reay appears to have applied inappropriate pressure to get approval of that building. But council officials are expected to wear big-boy pants – they also behaved inappropriately in caving to the pressure.
The approval process for re-occupation also appears to have been culpably flawed. ISTR reports that building occupants were uncomfortable with how much more building movement there seemed to be post-2010-quake than pre-quake.
Given how much other culpability seems to floating around this disaster, and how any of the many parties involved could plausibly have prevented the disaster by doing their jobs properly, the near exclusive focus on Reay really bothers me. Because if Reay is the sole scapegoat, then all those other failings won’t get addressed.
“I think the Solicitor General should also have had a chat with the Attourney General as Minister.”
Are you seriously suggesting that an MP, acting with the title of Attorney General but still just an MP, should have any say at all in deciding who should, or should not, face trial?
We have enough such countries in the world already. I don’t want NZ to become another one.
You want us to become like Turkey? Like Venezuela? Like The Philippines? Like Syria? No thanks.
Has anyone checked other buildings designed by those responsible for the CTV building ? I’ve heard rumours of a former commercial building in Auckland alledgedly designed by the CTV designers. This commercial building has recently been converted into very expensive apartments – most sold and waiting for sign off.
“Nothing to see here”. “Time to move on”.
You didn’t hear those lines used repeatedly and regularly during Key’s time as PM, Alwyn?
You must be as deaf as a post and unable to lip-read to boot!
What apology? The bit I saw has Shaw saying he made a mistake in his speech. That was only one of the many things thrown at Golriz and the Greens this week on the issue.
I have a theory about this issue-I think the Nats are really pissed off they didn’t carry out this nasty vicious hatchet job on Golriz before the election and so are sounding more bitter and twisted than ever.
They realise that this could have (unfairly) cost the Greens a percentage point or more and changed the election result…..epic fail Mr. Farrar.
Let’s open a discussion on the appalling behavior of Dr Nigel Murray and the path that led to his appointment.
He was appointed by Bob Murray who was, in turn, appointed by that smarmiest of National Cabinet Ministers’ one Tony Ryall, who on his retirement from his portfolio as Minister of Health, claimed to have left the department in wonderful shape and with morale on a high. I wonder how the good folk of Dunedin felt about that claim.
Murray was granted the post at the Waikato DHB in spite of grave concerns expressed by both Labour’s Shadow Minister of Health at the time, the wonderful Annette King who herself had been a superb Minister of Health, and the local MP Sue Maroney.
Below is a quote from the NZ Herald of 15th July 2014.
“Labour urged the DHB to hold off confirming Dr Murray’s Waikato appointment until this latest report had been released. It declined,” she said.
“I also sought information from the Ministry of Health and from Health Minister Tony Ryall as to the process around the appointment, but was given the brush-off.”
The “latest report” referred to the damming assessment of the performance of a Canadian Health Authority which had been in the charge of Murray.
This whole rotten episodes reeks of political cronyism. Sue Maroney has instigated the process for an official inquiry into the whole sordid affair.
This should be yet one more incident to expose the tawdriness of nine years of National misgovernment.
Derek Wright told Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking this morning he was not concerned about the complaint
He said there were no red flags over Murray, who resigned in October amid an expenses scandal and after spending $218,000 of taxpayers money in his three years in the job.
HUH
No red flags
Wot about the Canadian report then?
The “latest report” referred to the damming assessment of the performance of a Canadian Health Authority which had been in the charge of Murray.
The problems we are getting because of the government’s welcome to private enterprise to come in and buy up the provision of services at a profit is going to compound.
I was thinking about the latest revelations around Waikato DHB.
Just having a new government which has some clues and wishes to be a government for the people, not business and not redcarpeting foreign business, is not enough to stop an insidious bleeding of NZ opportunities and provision of acceptable self-sufficiency and standards for us all.
1 Dec 2017
Purchase of HealthTap criticised, no value for money – Audit NZ
by Natalie Akoorie http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11951201 State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes announced today he has formally requested the Auditor-General conduct an inquiry into the Waikato District Health Board’s SmartHealth product and the procurement process from HealthTap…..
The news comes as the two-year contract with HealthTap, the American company that powers the DHB’s controversial SmartHealth app, has been revealed to have cost taxpayers almost $15 million….
Waikato DHB has kept the cost of HealthTap, which together with the cost to launch SmartHealth totals $18.8m, a closely guarded secret, citing commercial sensitivity and contract negotiations as reasons….
Auditors said the procurement raised a number of concerns including that:
• It should have been conducted through an open tendering process and that the US$10m trial was an amount well over any threshold for open tendering;…
Murray went on to champion the product, spending more than $45,000 flying internationally and domestically to learn about and promote SmartHealth, an app that uses smartphones and iPads to conduct online appointments between doctors and patients.
The app has flopped, not attracting the targeted number of users despite targets being lowered, and is now being independently reviewed ahead of the end of the trial.
Audit NZ says it’s been unable to establish the true extent of former Waikato DHB boss Nigel Murray’s excessive travel costs because of holes in the paper trail.
(I thought that holey punchcard technology had been replaced with better technology? Hanging chads anyone?)
I think there is an in-group with a secret handshake called the PPPP (Past Peter Principle Phoenixes.)
The executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Ian Powell, says the resignation of the Waikato DHB Chairman Bob Simcock follows a period of destabilisation at the DHB. He tells us there’s been a “complete denial of responsibility all the way through the process” and there are still “some urchins that need to move on”.
And the neolibs still in the Departments will probably go on running down our national health while putting little injections of cash into new smart methods of delivering health better and cheaper. They will try and save money by running things down so that we are reliant on these new ideas. to fill the gaps that occur. (Think Pharmac swopping over contraceptive pills and running out – just what people don’t need. )
It seems that it it is cowboy territory out there, and good systems might be dirtied by those which don’t stand up to clear-eyed scrutiny for service to the people who need it most.
Here is a story about clever new tech. Navilluso Medical is led by 2014 New Zealander of the year Lance O’Sullivan who also developed iMoko, a virtual medical service to help vulnerable children.
Dr O’Sullivan said he constantly heard about patients not having access to doctors in isolated locations.
“These people aren’t coming in with trivial problems, it just goes to show we need to redesign how we allow people to get access to health.”
I like Lance O’Sullivan but we shouldn’t be dependent on him and others like the Canterbury Charity Hospital Trust, POBox 20409, Bishopdale, Christchurch 8543 – (donations will be welcome). There is a desperate need for good basic health care, which surely can be identified easily as it has been talked about for ages. Let’s do this and the new systems can fine-tune the effects.
I really wish that the David Parker has been given the Finance port folio. Grant is a superb MP and has the capability to be a fantastic Minister. I just don’t think that should be in Finance.
I am far from convinced that he has the knowledge or skills to be able to effect real change in the economy.
“I really wish that the David Parker has been given the Finance port folio. Grant is a superb MP and has the capability to be a fantastic Minister. I just don’t think that should be in Finance.
I am far from convinced that he has the knowledge or skills to be able to effect real change in the economy.”
This highlights to me that Grant Robertson is little more than a Mandarin following the prescribed way of economic thinking of the day, while underscoring why nothing fundamental is going to change with this Government. Running surpluses is not going to fix this country. However, it will ingratiate him with the economic apparatchiks in Treasury and high-finance.
Oh, it’s far better (worse!) than just running a surplus (which might be okay if the economy was humming and needed ‘cooling’).
He’s saying (in the links you provided) that the economy will likely dip, meaning less government revenue coming in while trying to produce a surplus. And that’s austerity.
Indeed. Announcing the running of surpluses while also forecasting an economic dip is just… dumb. It’s like no thinking has been applied and he’s just reading a script that someone has prepared for him. Robertson should NOT be Minister of Finance.
Over the last few decades we’ve been trained to believe that a government runs like a business and that it should have ‘profits’ which it can then divvy out like dividends as tax cuts.
This is, of course, a load of bollocks but it helps to maintain the status quo of the rich getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
Yes Bill I couldn’t help noticing that – it’s the cliche background for austerity measures. Hasn’t anyone noticed this or are we all bums in the air in NZ, with our heads in the sand?
I wonder what comfy chair Robertson has got his eye on after Labour loses in an election or two. He’s got that fatcat look of complacency and certainty.
Well, I’ll punt the “guys plan” is basically to mollify some abstract sense of “middle class” by introducing kiwi-build for middle class first time house buyers.
And that’s it.
Oh. And some ‘nice to have stuff’ around parental leave etc.
A fair shot at the kiwi dream then – at least for those occupying some position in society that’s deemed as “deserving”.
He claims he’s not pursuing “business as usual” which is a bit like the guy throwing punches making claims to pacifism. When this austerity ends badly (and austerity is the only name for an economic policy that seeks surpluses during times of economic slow-down), the National Party will sway back in as the “natural” government of capitalism.
I wouldn’t put money on NZ Labour achieving a second term.
“….the idea that Roy Moore, someone who is so clearly a repeated child molester and pedophile, could be endorsed meaningfully by the White House—it makes your skin crawl. And I think the Republican Party has a reckoning that they have to do about their morality as they take away children’s healthcare, as they bankrupt our future and endorse a pedophile.”—HEATHER McGHEE, head of Demos. https://www.democracynow.org/2017/11/29/abuses_of_power_heather_mcghee_on
What are you doing Alabama?
You got the rest of the Union
To help you along
What’s going wrong?
“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris; No. 9 Harold Bloom; No. 10 Sir Jimmy Savile; No. 11 Dr Morgan Fahey; No.12 Prince Harry; No. 13 Bill (“I feel your pain”) Clinton
Be assured, alwyn, the Kennedy clan is on the roster. In fact, No. 6 in the series, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was married to JFK’s niece—before she discovered he’d been JFKing around on her.
So farmers are into land speculation and making money that way and not productive agriculture as we might have been believing all this time. That would appear to be the National Party view through spokesperson on all things, Steven Joyce.
Opposition finance spokesperson Steven Joyce told Morning Report that farm buyers will be in favour of the change, but sellers may not be.”The changes could soften the farm sales market which is not necessarily a good thing,” Mr Joyce said.
Yep! National stands for looking after those who have – but those who have not; see things differently – Young farmers for instance welcomed the move saying stable farm prices would help to enable those seeking to buy their first farm.
I’m a bit sceptical about David Parker’s analysis though. He was of the opinion that overseas buyers only effected a small increase on the market. Having sold some rural land in the past 7 years, in my experience the price offered from overseas purchasers was always a significant margin over and above what NZ buyers could offer. Furthermore they were invariably “clean” offers – ie cash and not subject to finance, or the sale of another property.
Malcolm Turnbull and his gang could intimidate the previous N.Z. government, but Jimmy Barnes is having none of their nonsense….
Rock legend Jimmy Barnes has again taken aim at the Liberal government, demanding they stop using his name and songs to spruik their “shitty policies”.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and energy minister Josh Frydenberg went to the Bluescope steelworks in Port Kembla, south of Wollongong, on Monday to talk about energy policy, industry and jobs.
“More than 30 years ago Jimmy Barnes came to Port Kembla to make the film clip for Working Class Man. Today the Prime Minister has come to Port Kembla to create jobs for Australia’s working class men and women,” Frydenberg said proudly.
He was referencing Barnes’ famous hit and iconic video clip, which was filmed at the NSW steelmaking facility.
Early on Tuesday morning, Barnes fired back on Twitter.
Barnes is outspoken and unabashedly political on Twitter, sharing lots of support for progressive causes. He was a loud supporter of marriage equality during the recent postal survey, as well as criticising Australia’s current asylum seeker policy as it relates to offshore detention.
They [Greenwald and Snowden] challenged Key over his promise to resign if mass surveillance was taking place and disclosed details about Speargun’s ability to suck data out of our only internet connection to the world. But Key said they were wrong and that Speargun had been cancelled in March 2013 because he believed it was “too intrusive”. [my bold]
The Herald investigation found Key approved the use of a Speargun test probe by signing a warrant which would have allowed the GCSB to spike it into the Southern Cross Cable and access New Zealanders’ data. Rather than stopping the project in March 2013, work continued on Speargun for months, then Key was briefed in June 2013 that Snowden could have stolen details about it and funding was eventually pulled by Cabinet in September 2013.
So much for Key’s claim he acted on the principle of being “too intrusive”. The programme was cancelled because they suspected Snowden had the details.
What we can deduce is: had Snowden not done what he did… the GCSB and it’s off-shore mates would be conducting mass surveillance of NZ citizens and we would not know it.
It certainly did, Anne! I recommend you click on the links below, especially the second one, and follow the angry snarling, the aneurisms and the gnashings of teeth. They’re hurt, and VERY angry….
No mikes, I don’t believe they are. Certainly Andrew Little is quite sure they are not conducting mass surveillance and he is an astute and highly intelligent politician. Add to that his sharp, experienced lawyer mind, I doubt anyone would try to pull the wool over his eyes.
I see they have breach my privacy rights here in Auckland many thanks for more Mana boys I see even the boys in Auckland like there fireworks to and all there idiot lying contracted liars they tried a move with a old work m8 but no my sense of smell is to good for those idiots. Got the bot hopefully it will be over by Monday Kia Kaha
Many thanks to OUR new coalition Government for increasing our spending on research and development and having a 10 year plan to target 2% of GDP spent on research and development . Also increasing OUR border security to keep out invasive species which would wreck our primary sector of $38 billion ka pai.
I think that we should investigate the feasibility into industrial scale worm farming so instead of pouring nitrogen on our farm which degrades our topsoil we could pour worm casting on our farms this will reduce waste to the landfill and increase our topsoil this will reduce OUR imports cost ECT subsidizing second hand electric cars will reduce our export spend immensely .kIa kaha
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Rachel Stewart
‘This is when you realise that NZ is basically a third world country.’
http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/outcome-investigation-collapse-ctv-building
Although I would disagree with her slightly.
We found this out when no-one got prosecuted for Pike River.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pike-river-mine-blast/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503000&objectid=10899419
Honestly this is harming the police here if no-one is found responsible, because any fair minded person wants to see “justice” at work there as in every case because we meak 99% are being row beaten by “beaurocrats and the police” to “comply with the law” so should they enforce the same law there too.
“one law for all must apply.”
“Police has determined that there will be no criminal prosecution in relation to the collapse of the CTV building in Christchurch in February 2011.”
No, that’s not right. The Police have got this right, despite the fact that the CTV collapsed due to a series of human errors and negligence (not just Reay, but those that fiddled with the building structure some years later).
Grenfell Tower in London was third world. And that makes the whole world third world.
To the rest of New Zealand – your towns and cities building owners have been given plenty of time to get their buildings safe/r, yet they are not doing so. Tell the building owners in your towns to sort their buildings out quick-smart…
You will find most Christchurch people who went through the earthquakes walk around towns in the rest of New Zealand in fear – constantly looking up at the unsupported verandahs and facades. I do. I hate walking near old buildings everywhere except Christchurch now. Invercargill, Dunedin, Ranfurly, Taihape, Taupo, Whangarei, it just goes on and on… Those facades and verandahs in your towns are going to collapse and kill people. Sort it out. Harass the building owners.
Hey VTO;
I am from Napier and drive up north of Gisborne a lot.
We get spooked every time I go through gullies now with tall steep hilllsides, and see the cliffs above fracturing with big cracks going down there, so I become a dangerous driver & find i need to break the law and drive on the other side of the road now, further away from the steep hillside to save ourselves should the hillside slip occur and bury us and kill us now.
I know we could be fined for this but it is now becomming a threat to our very lives that count more.
So we asked the the roading engineers of three road companies, who conduct the road repairs and they all are now confirming to us now they suspect the larger, bigger heavier “over-weight” “HPMV” trucks that are causing large, stronger, road vibrations now, that they believe are responsible for the hillside fractures, as they have placed vibration monitoring devices on these hillisides, and are detecting heavier ground shacking vibrations occurring with the bigger, heavier HPMV trucks now.
So are the heavier truck operators now liable for legal costs if they damage people and/or property?
“so I become a dangerous driver & find i need to break the law and drive on the other side of the road now, further away from the steep hillside to save ourselves should the hillside slip occur and bury us and kill us now.”
Of course you are now more at risk of having a head on accident and killing yourselves and the poor sap who was innocently coming the other way.
Putting others lives at risk because you perceive it to be better for you.
I’ve lost friends on motorbikes because of people doing what you are doing. It’s a disgusting and selfish act.
If you end up having an accident I hope you don’t kill an innocent person.
Oh for fucksake! Somethings eventually going to get you, your only choice is to stay in bed and not do anything at all all the while remembering that the vast majority of people die in bed, but in your stupid case it’s most likely to be a truck coming the other way.
assuming they dont kill somebody else first
Actually, I say that the ministers of the government that passed the legislation allowing the bigger trucks should held personally liable. This is an obvious consequence of doing so and they should have at lest asked the engineers about it.
cleangreen, your risk assessment seems a bit out of kilter so I’ll try to help you.
Failure to keep left is the fourth most common contributing cause to a fatal accident in the 2011 – 2016 period, cited as a factor in 191 fatal crashes, according to this government analysis.
http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Research/Documents/Overseas-drivers2016.pdf
The only road fatality attributable to landslide I can find any reference to is the 2014 double fatality in Westland where a tourist couple were apparently swept off the road into a river during an extreme weather event. Interestingly, landslides have caused a number of train accidents with numerous fatalities, but appear to be a negligible risk to road users.
https://teara.govt.nz/files/d-8801-enz.pdf
So by crossing the centreline to keep away from cliffs, it certainly appears that you are choosing to create a very real hazard to yourself and other road users, in response to an imaginary threat.
not only what the others said, but the extra few metres will not give you time to dodge a darn thing. And where will you dodge to? Over the bank? Roads are often nowhere near the bottom of steep gullies, usually halfway up the darn hillside.
Sad to say that the police have been politicised.
Look at the Hager raids as one example of this.
And the Barclay shambles as a second exemplar of police conduct.
Roast Busters, TeaPot tapes etc we sort of only hear about the prominent ones.
Hagers book indicated the potential for alot more in exposing the behaviour of Collins which IMO should’ve triggered an inquiry into her activity across many portfolios.
Don’t forget Darren Hughes – or does that not count as he was labour.
That does not count as his case was reviewed by the Crown Solicitors’ Office
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5116263/No-charges-against-former-Labour-MP-Darren-Hughes
Perhaps you mean Dr. Richard Worth?
Well spotted Jeremy. But no doubt james will come back with some lie or half truth.
He can’t stand being proven the lying, spinner, gutter sycophant he so often is.
This shows that under certain circumstances there is no backbone by the police to bring certain corporates to justice. It seems it is much easier to accuse and charge an ordinary person with average means than people who are well connected.
Remember the extraordinary involvement of police and management in TV presentation to the media, it was similar to a tag team, when the viewer is uncertain what the job of the police should be. Corruption in places is rife, always attempting to protect the corporation instead of siding with the innocent. Remember the planted cartridge, the disgraceful blame game in the Erebus disaster, or the very poor investigation in the Bain murders.
Anyone who thought anything as terrible as being held to account, being tried and going to jail might occur to professionals who are men of reputation and pillars of the establishment needed only look at at Pike River to know nothing was going to happen here.
If you want concerted outrage against a great injustice, you won’t find it in thundering newspaper editorials or middle aged white male shick jocks quaking in anger demanding justice for the 144 dead of the CTV building and Pike River.
However, true outrage still exists if you can can spitefully twist the truth and the target is a smart 32 year female lawyer from a refugee family.
+1000% How fucking true Sanctuary.
Some people are above the law.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11870607
Yes Ed,
Money talks = truth walks.
And we have another classic example right here, fresh as……… Nigel Murray.
Seems the true extent of his theft may never be known and his enabler Bob Simcock finally fell on his sword when the SFO put their beak in.
Both these middle aged, privileged males should be in the dock facing charges of fraud/theft and being the accomplice of same.
Link is to a RNZ article of the latest as of 30/11/17 in this sorry saga
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/345079/murray-may-have-spent-more-than-officially-recorded-audit-nz
Big corporations pass on the cost of externalities.
Socialism for the rich.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGTD5Bn1m0
Don’t forget National ‘realigned’ the SFO in a similar manner to the way it sorted out the commerce commission and anybody getting in the way of corporate cowboy antics.
She’s just giving the accepted spin to the reality that they neither have the resources or will to form a posse and chase the cowboys down as the evidence is available without a whistle blower.
Cashless
Make it so that most financial crime will be detected automatically by computer.
I don’t agree with this decision by the NZPolice not to prosecute the designers of the CTV Building.
I perfectly understand why they went for internal legal and then Crown Law advice.
But they should publish all the advice.
If the Police had had an urge for justice, and Crown Law’s Deputy Solicitor was being more cautious, then Police should have insisted that the advice be escalated to the Solicitor General.
With a new government and Minister, I think the Solicitor General should also have had a chat with the Attourney General as Minister.
It should have gone to trial, at which Defence would put up a line that “It wasn’t just us, it was a systemic failure.”
At that point the judge could make a judgement on both the people, and the whole system.
This is not right, not just.
A key point that mostly gets lost but would probably form a large part of the defence: the CTV building had already experienced its design event in the 2010 earthquake, and despite its serious design flaws it met its performance requirement that any occupants would have been able to safely leave.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/7332804/CTV-building-damaged-by-earlier-quakes
It’s beyond me how to fairly apportion culpability between those who produced a seriously flawed design, those who approved the seriously flawed design, and those who allowed the re-occupation of a seriously flawed building after an extreme event that would be expected to produce serious structural damage.
Approval of a flawed building: Why hasn’t Alan Reay been taken to court for his part in the poor design and construction of the CTV building? He failed to do his job properly and unlawfully threatened the local council in order to have the building signed off as fit and proper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTV_Building
I agree Reay was seriously deficient in his lax oversight and rubberstamp approval of the work done by his firm. But he still has a pretty good defense that the building met the performance standard required of it in the 2010 quake.
And there are many other culpable parties. Yes, Reay appears to have applied inappropriate pressure to get approval of that building. But council officials are expected to wear big-boy pants – they also behaved inappropriately in caving to the pressure.
The approval process for re-occupation also appears to have been culpably flawed. ISTR reports that building occupants were uncomfortable with how much more building movement there seemed to be post-2010-quake than pre-quake.
Given how much other culpability seems to floating around this disaster, and how any of the many parties involved could plausibly have prevented the disaster by doing their jobs properly, the near exclusive focus on Reay really bothers me. Because if Reay is the sole scapegoat, then all those other failings won’t get addressed.
I agree it’s beyond me as well.
What gets me is that it should also be “beyond” the Deputy Solicitor General.
The best person in the country to make that call, including those calls about the layers of accountability , is a High Court Judge.
The families deserve their day in court to hold the system accountable.
Granted the designers aren’t like Whittle.
But those families deserve their day.
“I think the Solicitor General should also have had a chat with the Attourney General as Minister.”
Are you seriously suggesting that an MP, acting with the title of Attorney General but still just an MP, should have any say at all in deciding who should, or should not, face trial?
We have enough such countries in the world already. I don’t want NZ to become another one.
You want us to become like Turkey? Like Venezuela? Like The Philippines? Like Syria? No thanks.
Has anyone checked other buildings designed by those responsible for the CTV building ? I’ve heard rumours of a former commercial building in Auckland alledgedly designed by the CTV designers. This commercial building has recently been converted into very expensive apartments – most sold and waiting for sign off.
Geez Louise, I see Steve Bannon minime David Farrar is STILL banging on about Golriz.
The right have turned that non-story into their own little Benghazi.
Oh well, they can wallow about in irrelevance I suppose.
Looks like Shaw’s apology yesterday has lanced it.
The Greens are, again, fucking lucky to have him.
The experts – the people who really know, are saying quite clearly that Golriz has done absolutely nothing wrong. What are your credentials.
H2 has clearly been brought in.
She is trying the lines of the last Labour Government.
“Nothing to see here”. “Time to move on”.
“Nothing to see here”. “Time to move on”.
You didn’t hear those lines used repeatedly and regularly during Key’s time as PM, Alwyn?
You must be as deaf as a post and unable to lip-read to boot!
What apology? The bit I saw has Shaw saying he made a mistake in his speech. That was only one of the many things thrown at Golriz and the Greens this week on the issue.
@Sanctuary
I have a theory about this issue-I think the Nats are really pissed off they didn’t carry out this nasty vicious hatchet job on Golriz before the election and so are sounding more bitter and twisted than ever.
They realise that this could have (unfairly) cost the Greens a percentage point or more and changed the election result…..epic fail Mr. Farrar.
Let’s open a discussion on the appalling behavior of Dr Nigel Murray and the path that led to his appointment.
He was appointed by Bob Murray who was, in turn, appointed by that smarmiest of National Cabinet Ministers’ one Tony Ryall, who on his retirement from his portfolio as Minister of Health, claimed to have left the department in wonderful shape and with morale on a high. I wonder how the good folk of Dunedin felt about that claim.
Murray was granted the post at the Waikato DHB in spite of grave concerns expressed by both Labour’s Shadow Minister of Health at the time, the wonderful Annette King who herself had been a superb Minister of Health, and the local MP Sue Maroney.
Below is a quote from the NZ Herald of 15th July 2014.
“Labour urged the DHB to hold off confirming Dr Murray’s Waikato appointment until this latest report had been released. It declined,” she said.
“I also sought information from the Ministry of Health and from Health Minister Tony Ryall as to the process around the appointment, but was given the brush-off.”
The “latest report” referred to the damming assessment of the performance of a Canadian Health Authority which had been in the charge of Murray.
This whole rotten episodes reeks of political cronyism. Sue Maroney has instigated the process for an official inquiry into the whole sordid affair.
This should be yet one more incident to expose the tawdriness of nine years of National misgovernment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11951081
The interim chief executive at Waikato District Health Board has welcomed a formal complaint to the Serious Fraud
Derek Wright told Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking this morning he was not concerned about the complaint
He said there were no red flags over Murray, who resigned in October amid an expenses scandal and after spending $218,000 of taxpayers money in his three years in the job.
HUH
No red flags
Wot about the Canadian report then?
The problems we are getting because of the government’s welcome to private enterprise to come in and buy up the provision of services at a profit is going to compound.
I was thinking about the latest revelations around Waikato DHB.
Just having a new government which has some clues and wishes to be a government for the people, not business and not redcarpeting foreign business, is not enough to stop an insidious bleeding of NZ opportunities and provision of acceptable self-sufficiency and standards for us all.
1 Dec 2017
Purchase of HealthTap criticised, no value for money – Audit NZ
by Natalie Akoorie
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11951201
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes announced today he has formally requested the Auditor-General conduct an inquiry into the Waikato District Health Board’s SmartHealth product and the procurement process from HealthTap…..
The news comes as the two-year contract with HealthTap, the American company that powers the DHB’s controversial SmartHealth app, has been revealed to have cost taxpayers almost $15 million….
Waikato DHB has kept the cost of HealthTap, which together with the cost to launch SmartHealth totals $18.8m, a closely guarded secret, citing commercial sensitivity and contract negotiations as reasons….
Auditors said the procurement raised a number of concerns including that:
• It should have been conducted through an open tendering process and that the US$10m trial was an amount well over any threshold for open tendering;…
Murray went on to champion the product, spending more than $45,000 flying internationally and domestically to learn about and promote SmartHealth, an app that uses smartphones and iPads to conduct online appointments between doctors and patients.
The app has flopped, not attracting the targeted number of users despite targets being lowered, and is now being independently reviewed ahead of the end of the trial.
health crime
30 Nov 2017
Neither Audit NZ or Waikato DHB have spoken to Nigel Murray
From Checkpoint, 5:25 pm on 30 November 2017
Listen duration 3′ :35″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018623712/neither-audit-nz-or-waikato-dhb-have-spoken-to-nigel-murray
Audit NZ says it’s been unable to establish the true extent of former Waikato DHB boss Nigel Murray’s excessive travel costs because of holes in the paper trail.
(I thought that holey punchcard technology had been replaced with better technology? Hanging chads anyone?)
I think there is an in-group with a secret handshake called the PPPP (Past Peter Principle Phoenixes.)
money health
29 Nov 2017
Senior doctors welcome DHB chair’s resignation
From Morning Report, 8:11 am on 29 November 2017
Listen duration 3′ :41″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018623443/senior-doctors-welcome-dhb-chair-s-resignation
The executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Ian Powell, says the resignation of the Waikato DHB Chairman Bob Simcock follows a period of destabilisation at the DHB. He tells us there’s been a “complete denial of responsibility all the way through the process” and there are still “some urchins that need to move on”.
And the neolibs still in the Departments will probably go on running down our national health while putting little injections of cash into new smart methods of delivering health better and cheaper. They will try and save money by running things down so that we are reliant on these new ideas. to fill the gaps that occur. (Think Pharmac swopping over contraceptive pills and running out – just what people don’t need. )
It seems that it it is cowboy territory out there, and good systems might be dirtied by those which don’t stand up to clear-eyed scrutiny for service to the people who need it most.
Here is a story about clever new tech.
Navilluso Medical is led by 2014 New Zealander of the year Lance O’Sullivan who also developed iMoko, a virtual medical service to help vulnerable children.
Dr O’Sullivan said he constantly heard about patients not having access to doctors in isolated locations.
“These people aren’t coming in with trivial problems, it just goes to show we need to redesign how we allow people to get access to health.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/345034/virtual-medical-clinic-gets-funding-boost
I like Lance O’Sullivan but we shouldn’t be dependent on him and others like the Canterbury Charity Hospital Trust, POBox 20409, Bishopdale, Christchurch 8543 – (donations will be welcome). There is a desperate need for good basic health care, which surely can be identified easily as it has been talked about for ages. Let’s do this and the new systems can fine-tune the effects.
Also http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/335802/virtual-medical-centre-seen-as-model-for-the-future
Grant Robertson is saying we will be waiting another 2 weeks for the half year fiscal update, which includes the latest Treasury forecasts.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1712/S00001/robertson-achieving-shared-prosperity.htm
Excuse me if I was underwhelmed by this first major statement by our Minister of Finance.
This guy is supposed to be at the ideological core of gaining and redistributing wealth for this country. Not a note of anything connected like that.
Could someone please tell me what this guy’s plan is, beyond anodyne abstract nouns about”fairness”?
Goodness, such impatience.
I really wish that the David Parker has been given the Finance port folio. Grant is a superb MP and has the capability to be a fantastic Minister. I just don’t think that should be in Finance.
I am far from convinced that he has the knowledge or skills to be able to effect real change in the economy.
“I really wish that the David Parker has been given the Finance port folio. Grant is a superb MP and has the capability to be a fantastic Minister. I just don’t think that should be in Finance.
I am far from convinced that he has the knowledge or skills to be able to effect real change in the economy.”
Tend to agree with this
If he told you, then people would just attack him for everything he plans to back track on.
He’s gonna run surpluses!!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345153/robertson-unveils-govt-s-plan-for-the-economy
This highlights to me that Grant Robertson is little more than a Mandarin following the prescribed way of economic thinking of the day, while underscoring why nothing fundamental is going to change with this Government. Running surpluses is not going to fix this country. However, it will ingratiate him with the economic apparatchiks in Treasury and high-finance.
Oh, it’s far better (worse!) than just running a surplus (which might be okay if the economy was humming and needed ‘cooling’).
He’s saying (in the links you provided) that the economy will likely dip, meaning less government revenue coming in while trying to produce a surplus. And that’s austerity.
Indeed. Announcing the running of surpluses while also forecasting an economic dip is just… dumb. It’s like no thinking has been applied and he’s just reading a script that someone has prepared for him. Robertson should NOT be Minister of Finance.
The only loop hole could be if they expanded the tax take from the rich to compensate, but that seems unlikely.
Over the last few decades we’ve been trained to believe that a government runs like a business and that it should have ‘profits’ which it can then divvy out like dividends as tax cuts.
This is, of course, a load of bollocks but it helps to maintain the status quo of the rich getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
Straight from Theresa May’s copy book, unfortunately.
Yes Bill I couldn’t help noticing that – it’s the cliche background for austerity measures. Hasn’t anyone noticed this or are we all bums in the air in NZ, with our heads in the sand?
I wonder what comfy chair Robertson has got his eye on after Labour loses in an election or two. He’s got that fatcat look of complacency and certainty.
Whatever chair someone else is sitting in. That’s his nature.
We’re also being drip fed details of the tax working group which is slightly annoying. I would rather they make one big announcement on that.
@Ad give the man a chance….let’s see what he comes up with and judge it in 2020 not a month out from being elected.
For instance, Labour are still coming to terms with Joyce’s $32 billion health/defence spending hole.
9 fucking years to prepare.
No excuses.
Well, I’ll punt the “guys plan” is basically to mollify some abstract sense of “middle class” by introducing kiwi-build for middle class first time house buyers.
And that’s it.
Oh. And some ‘nice to have stuff’ around parental leave etc.
A fair shot at the kiwi dream then – at least for those occupying some position in society that’s deemed as “deserving”.
He claims he’s not pursuing “business as usual” which is a bit like the guy throwing punches making claims to pacifism. When this austerity ends badly (and austerity is the only name for an economic policy that seeks surpluses during times of economic slow-down), the National Party will sway back in as the “natural” government of capitalism.
I wouldn’t put money on NZ Labour achieving a second term.
GROPERS
No. 14: Judge Roy Moore
Some republicans have been leaping through incredibly convoluted hoops in their attempts to justify supporting Judge Roy Moore in the special Senate election in Alabama, in light of the revelations from at least five women claiming that Moore groped or sexually assaulted them when they were teenagers and he was in his thirties.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8053790/roy-moore-twitter-breitbart-editor-defends-ringo-starr-youre-sixteen
What are you doing Alabama?
You got the rest of the Union
To help you along
What’s going wrong?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD3bGEFxGC0
“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris; No. 9 Harold Bloom; No. 10 Sir Jimmy Savile; No. 11 Dr Morgan Fahey; No.12 Prince Harry; No. 13 Bill (“I feel your pain”) Clinton
Why don’t you go back into history and bring in John Kennedy.
Then we could be told about his little pals “Fiddle” and “Faddle”
Be assured, alwyn, the Kennedy clan is on the roster. In fact, No. 6 in the series, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was married to JFK’s niece—before she discovered he’d been JFKing around on her.
So farmers are into land speculation and making money that way and not productive agriculture as we might have been believing all this time. That would appear to be the National Party view through spokesperson on all things, Steven Joyce.
Opposition finance spokesperson Steven Joyce told Morning Report that farm buyers will be in favour of the change, but sellers may not be.”The changes could soften the farm sales market which is not necessarily a good thing,” Mr Joyce said.
Yep! National stands for looking after those who have – but those who have not; see things differently – Young farmers for instance welcomed the move saying stable farm prices would help to enable those seeking to buy their first farm.
I’m a bit sceptical about David Parker’s analysis though. He was of the opinion that overseas buyers only effected a small increase on the market. Having sold some rural land in the past 7 years, in my experience the price offered from overseas purchasers was always a significant margin over and above what NZ buyers could offer. Furthermore they were invariably “clean” offers – ie cash and not subject to finance, or the sale of another property.
Malcolm Turnbull and his gang could intimidate the previous N.Z. government, but Jimmy Barnes is having none of their nonsense….
Rock legend Jimmy Barnes has again taken aim at the Liberal government, demanding they stop using his name and songs to spruik their “shitty policies”.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and energy minister Josh Frydenberg went to the Bluescope steelworks in Port Kembla, south of Wollongong, on Monday to talk about energy policy, industry and jobs.
“More than 30 years ago Jimmy Barnes came to Port Kembla to make the film clip for Working Class Man. Today the Prime Minister has come to Port Kembla to create jobs for Australia’s working class men and women,” Frydenberg said proudly.
He was referencing Barnes’ famous hit and iconic video clip, which was filmed at the NSW steelmaking facility.
Early on Tuesday morning, Barnes fired back on Twitter.
Barnes is outspoken and unabashedly political on Twitter, sharing lots of support for progressive causes. He was a loud supporter of marriage equality during the recent postal survey, as well as criticising Australia’s current asylum seeker policy as it relates to offshore detention.
Read more…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/11/27/jimmy-barnes-tells-shitty-liberals-not-to-use-his-music_a_23289666/
So here you have it:
So much for Key’s claim he acted on the principle of being “too intrusive”. The programme was cancelled because they suspected Snowden had the details.
What we can deduce is: had Snowden not done what he did… the GCSB and it’s off-shore mates would be conducting mass surveillance of NZ citizens and we would not know it.
GCSB minister Andrew Little on mass surveillance and our spies obeying the law.
Anne, I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve just reposted your excellent contribution over on David Farrar’s blog….
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_1_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2089816
Hilarious Morrissey. That should stir a few Righties. 😀
It certainly did, Anne! I recommend you click on the links below, especially the second one, and follow the angry snarling, the aneurisms and the gnashings of teeth. They’re hurt, and VERY angry….
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/general_debate_1_december_2017.html/comment-page-1#comment-2089816
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/12/the_speargun_beatup.html/comment-page-1#comment-2090312
“the GCSB and it’s off-shore mates would be conducting mass surveillance of NZ citizens and we would not know it.”
swap out “would be” and “would not” for “probably are” (or just “are”) and “don’t”.
(And I’m more than happy to wear a tin foil hat, it seems to keep me awake)
No mikes, I don’t believe they are. Certainly Andrew Little is quite sure they are not conducting mass surveillance and he is an astute and highly intelligent politician. Add to that his sharp, experienced lawyer mind, I doubt anyone would try to pull the wool over his eyes.
Parker and Jones should induce Xero to syay NZX listed.
Worth it.
I see they have breach my privacy rights here in Auckland many thanks for more Mana boys I see even the boys in Auckland like there fireworks to and all there idiot lying contracted liars they tried a move with a old work m8 but no my sense of smell is to good for those idiots. Got the bot hopefully it will be over by Monday Kia Kaha
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!FRAUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is what it looks like when the right wing lose, they cheat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7aimvb9xBQ&ab_channel=TheRealNews
Many thanks to OUR new coalition Government for increasing our spending on research and development and having a 10 year plan to target 2% of GDP spent on research and development . Also increasing OUR border security to keep out invasive species which would wreck our primary sector of $38 billion ka pai.
I think that we should investigate the feasibility into industrial scale worm farming so instead of pouring nitrogen on our farm which degrades our topsoil we could pour worm casting on our farms this will reduce waste to the landfill and increase our topsoil this will reduce OUR imports cost ECT subsidizing second hand electric cars will reduce our export spend immensely .kIa kaha