Tova says it's OK because the whole caffeine is as bad as tobacco thing is in the NZF manifesto and well, they "won" the election (with 6% of the vote – 94% of us didn't vote for a corrupt party).
That would be the same manifesto the MSM refused (because serious political discussion in our determinedly unserious MSM doesn't rate) to tell the public about during the GE. So you see, it is the public's fault for not knowing about something the media couldn't be bothered telling them about.
And of course, well, this is the big game in the big house and boys will be boys and girls will be girls and no one actually knows anyone with a smoking related disease so it is all consequence free jolly japes and reckons – until it isn’t and then the journo will turn into an insufferable bore on the topic because THEIR favourite aunt or uncle died a horrible death from lung cancer.
Between Tuesday and Thursday there was also, of course, a helluva lot of pressure on the prime minister and his associate minister of health, Casey Costello. RNZ revealed she’d sought advice about freezing tobacco tax hikes – something we’ve done as a country, in part, to disincentivise smoking – and then Costello said she hadn’t sought the advice.
Costello’s notes also say that “Nicotine is as harmful as caffeine“, which while shocking to many, is not a new position for NZ First. In fact, it’s in the party’s 2023 policy manifesto:“NZ First supports age-appropriate access to nicotine, which in adults, is generally as safe as caffeine is.”
All those pesky stats about extreme addiction causing cancer can just be air-brushed out of the picture…
Could be. Just now on AM Lloyd Burr is interviewing Willie & Goldie simultaneously, Willie was on about this govt being tainted by ties to tobacco – quite rightly. Kept jabbing Goldie with that, who grinned his eye-roll a few times in response & kept reiterating that the legislation is working well, getting the harm stats increasingly reduced.
So the guts is consensus between Nat & Lab policies which all the hoo-ha is masking. While perception often defeats reality – can't blame the media for any focus on competitive framing though, eh?
Willie continuously called him Goldie so I deduced it was an ongoing thing, and since they seemed to have quite a benign interaction going could be Maori solidarity is the subtext…
I think Trotter gets it wrong today on both the Treaty and the SNP.
The current interpretation of the Treaty has been developed over 40 years largely through the independent judiciary. It should not be permitted to be derailed by populists like Seymour and Peters.
The SNP do have problems but Starmer's continual move to to he Right (witness his recent support for massive bonuses in London's financial sector) will mean anybody in Scotland who supports the “real” Left will vote for either the Greens or the SNP.
In other news the sun rose in the east and the pope is still a catholic. Gawd, even Bradbury has kicked Trotter into touch from his site. Trotts has a new audience these days. Middle aged incels and boomer racists over at the "democracy" project.
…plus excessive nitrogen fertiliser inputs… which are delivered by animal excretion to waterways, not going to post a link list…there are so many to choose from.
This is a world wide phenomenon and not just restricted to dairy farming. Any attempts to protect drinking water meet huge pushback from powerful and deep pocketed agro industrialists.
Iowa water tried to make runoff a responsibility of farmers but was beaten in court so gave up. But now new research seems to have enough weight to it linking nitrates to cancer that they are trying again
Algal blooms are influenced by a combination of available nutrients in the water and sediments (such as nitrogen and phosphorus), a sustained period of low and stable flows, and favourable weather conditions (e.g. increased temperature, calm days).
to be fair the health authorities job there is to notify the public of the danger and risk, not delve into the causes.
MSM on the other hand, should be headlining this. It's worth noting that the authorities are generally concerned when it gets to the point of killing dogs or making kids sick, but the problem started long before that.
My understanding is the causes generally are:
climate change affecting local weather
weather/heat making the water warmer for algae to bloom
weather/low water flows making the water warmer, and less disruption to the algae
munted rivers because of:
low water flow from agricultural water take
low water flow land use fuckery eg from deforestation
pollution from farm runoff
artificial inputs
animal outputs
Probably not a complete list, but those are the main ones I'm aware of.
For example, of the five monitored sites in the vicinity of Palmy with a decent data record (10+ years), one (Kahuterawa stream at Kebbles Farm) is "likely improving", one (Turitea stream at No 1 Dairy) is "likely degrading", and three are indeterminate.
What a week. This government's performance has been awful. To think they went round the country electioneering they were going to get the country back on track! Luxon escaping to visit a school amidst all the messiness in Parliament. Suspect he does not much like having to deal with difficult issues.
"Luxon escaping to visit a school amidst all the messiness in Parliament."
Its traditional for PMs not to be present in parliament on Thursdays. Ardern and Hipkins never were, nor were Key and English – nor their predecessors.
On the 10th December 1941 the British capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers in the South China Sea. HMS Prince of Wales was a brand new battleship equipped with the latest anti-aircraft weapons. It was an inflection point. For the first time in history, a fast modern battleship manouevering at sea was sunk by airpower. It marked the end of the battleship and the dawn of a new age of naval warfare.
On the 2nd of February, 2024, Ukrainian naval suicide drones sank a Russian corvette in the Black sea in a surgically coordinated attack. The attack was controlled by satellite and was ruthlessly efficient. First two drones blew the stern off – immobilising the target – and then two more precisely struck the ship amidships, setting off the ships missiles in a huge explosion. For the first time in history, a fast modern warship manouevering at sea was sunk by naval drones directed by satellite link.
Make no mistkae, this is an historic moment and – if you consider how easily the Houthi have been able to close the Red Sea using technology that is now common to many countries – something that is going to have profund implications for a nation as utterly dependent on sea trade as NZ is.
As I said it's not at all convincing, a clip from X shows a ship being hit, strange it's not reported in any other media? Can you provide another source which confirms it, otherwise I am calling your copium pathetic.
Coverage in the standard media sources makes mention of the ongoing disinformation prevalent on both sides of the war.
However, there has been no denial from Russia that the ship has been sunk; or that it was sunk as a result of drone strikes (as opposed to surface mines, or torpedoes, or any other explosive source). One would have expected a speedy response from Russia – if there had been no truth in the Ukrainian claim.
Some actual evidence would be helpful, a grainy clip on X without any ship identification doesn't do it for me. Show some evidence from other sources will help, Sanctuary has a bad habit of putting out anti Russian propaganda.
Note the annoyance at the US being expected to defend ships built in China, crewed oout of India and registered in Liberia. If we are not careful we can expect a back to the future moment where naval powers only protect their own shipping. People don’t realise that it used to be that way until first the British and then the Americans swept away pirates and chancers and illegal state actors in the name of global free trade and freedom of the seas. We may have a future where if a Liberian registered, Chinese built container ship is hit by a ballistic missile or hijacked by pirates, don't expect a passing US warship to do anything about it.
What Mr. Mercogliano doesn't say is a US rebuild of it's ship bulding capacity – along with the laws required to make it competitive and ignoring non-US or allied ships under attack – would be a huge blow to globalisation. Globalisation relies on sea transport costs that are next to nothing. If transport costs rise, the whole cost equation of building factories in China or Vietnam or anywhere else changes.
Apologies in advance if my question is naive, but I am far from an expert on such matters:
What does this mean for NZ if we become part of the AUKUS treaty albeit the second tier of association?
Its clear to me Collins and Co. have always intended signing up to AUKUS. The palaver in Aussie is, in part, to soften up the NZ voters for the coming announcement. The right have always had as their goal to kill the anti-nuclear legislation or at least render it irrelevant.
Can't join something that's not actually there! Like a rat baffled by the smell of cheese wafting in the air, where no cheese exists, Lux is attracted to the prospect of alignment without actually aligning, so as to have it both ways. Rat cunning.
Sea denial now completely dominates littorial surface naval warfare. That means keeping sea lanes open for freedom of navigation around littorial choke points is going to potentially become a much more violent affair and require a lot of effort from nations dedicated to retaining thwe current world order – which includes freedom of navigation on the high seas and in key waterways. Arguably, it makes being in a bloc with the premier naval power vital. NZ is a security price taker, not a price setter. As a country we've never had to exist in a world where we are not a client state of the dominant global naval power, with all the security and trade advantages that accrue from that. First the Royal Navy then the US Navy guaranteed our frozen sheep and milk powder made it to market without fear of piracy or subject to arbitrary taxes and levies from the navies of states whose coasts our cargo happens to pass. We may be required to have a bigger navy and contribute warships to ensuring the Red sea stays open for our shipping.
If the US (re)introduces protectionist maritime laws in would be a signal to everyone to re-establishment their own shipping companies to guarantee otheir export cargoes have ships to carry them and local crews to crew them (apparently being shoved to the bottom of the destination list by the big shipping companies during the pandemic disruptions wasn't a big enough clue to the neoliberal wishful thinkers in our bureaucracy that we might need to revive our shipping tonnage).
Ultimately, if the costs of imports rise significantly due to transport costs then demand for our products will weaken as import subsitution enters the equation for everyone including NZ. That would affect the balance of payments and would make for higher costs for consumer products, although I'd imagine it would help the balance of payments and provide more jobs.
We can participate in AUKUS 2 and retain our nuclear free policy.
It's useful, because we are a defence partner with Oz and it relates to tech development co-operation – defence, cyber security, IT, AI etc. Keeping up will help our local industry.
It does not involve any compromise to our defence and foreign policy independence.
It will make it appear that we are more a part of the "western hegemon", but given we are already an associate of NATO, it is consistent with existing co-operation
NATO and New Zealand are strengthening relations to address shared security challenges in areas such as science and technology, cyber defence, and climate security, and to contribute to upholding the rules-based international order. They also cooperate as part of NATO’s broader relations with its partners in the Indo-Pacific region. New Zealand has made valuable contributions to NATO-led operations and missions.
NATO has of late indicated an interest in defence co-operation in the Pacific – complementary to the QUAD – India, Oz, Japan and USA that Kurt Campbell, a sort of Knight of the Pacific, organised.
Thank-you both Sanctuary and SPC. That was all very interesting.
My primary concern was that NZ's independent foreign policy and our stand against the proliferation of nuclear weapons would be compromised. I take your word it will not be which is reassuring – at least for the time being.
For Oz, AUKUS (1) is nuclear powered subs so they can sustain a longer period at sea – part of an upgraded capability.
Proliferation would not result from that, and Oz already hosts nuclear weapon capable vessels (ship and sub). So no change there.
Our separation from that allows us to sustain our historic policy on non proliferation, especially as to the Pacific.
The best way forward there is to use our separation from QUAD and some of the rhetoric of USA and Oz on Taiwan to broker positive developments as per Korea, Taiwan and the South Sea atoll/fake islands to reduce regional tensions.
New Zealand exports about $66b and imports about $70b by sea. We are massively exposed to all of this. By volume, our exports are 99.7% by sea.
The warning signals are increasing to this risk:
Drought in the Panama Canal has forced a cut in through-shipping of 36%
Most Russian-flagged ships are no longer able to enter the EU and indeed most OECD countries, both of which have knock-on effects in marine trade worldwide.
Most Black Sea and Azov Sea commercial shipping has collapsed
Russian oil company ships have been forced to use the Baltic Sea, where they are under really high NATO-country scrutiny.
Russia is hardly building any new tankers at the moment, so the average age of tankers is going up fast
Red Sea freight traffic has decreased by 25%, and that includes all major lines that service New Zealand
And of course Somali pirates are back in action against freight off the African coast
What we now need to watch in the next 24 hours is whether Iran escalates with a Strait of Hormuz retaliation to the US counterstrike against its own base.
We also need to watch any threat to Ballance and Ravensdown ships who supply 94% of our fertiliser from Morocco. That chokes pasture productivity ie milk and meat volume.
Thankfully Indian and Chinese insurers are filling on for their own fleets, so far.
We are in such a delicate trade point, it will take very little to turn this into a trade-related recession that is very hard to pull out of here. Something akin to 1979.
Sure hope we've offered to support the Malacca Strait Patrol with its constituents of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Most Black Sea and Azov Sea commercial shipping has collapsed
I would dispute this one, at least for Ukraine. Ukraine has scored a significant strategic victory in the Black Sea naval war, and has pretty much defeated Russia for now in terms of Russia's strategic goals of choking off Ukrainian cereal exports, which are back to over 80% of pre-war levels.
Ukraine has driven the Russian navy from the western Black sea, shot down Russian missile attacks on their port facilities and since Russia dare not attack NATO members used Rumanian ports and Rumanian, Bulgarian and Turkish coastal waters to ship it's grain.
Russia has been humiliated in the Black Sea by a country that doesn't even have a navy.
Kremlin trolls like to push the narrative that Ukraine can't win, that Russia through the impacable will of it's blood drenched dictator will continue to feed manpower straw into the battlefield furnance until victory has been achieved. However, war isn't just about throwing men into frontal assaults with all the concern for human life of Stalin.
Ukraine has been actively targeting Russian EW and SAM systems for a while now, things Russia has great difficulty replacing. It is now producing long range attack drones that will force Russia to deploy it's anti-aircraft missiles away from the battlefront to defend refineries and power plants in Russia – and since Jake Sullivan has no say in what Ukraine can and cannot atack with it's own weapons that is exactly what they are doing. That is leaving gaps for missile ambushes and Russian airpower os being heavily degraded. Russia might be able to refurbish large numbers of 80 year old tanks and empty it's prisons and ethnically cleanse it's minorities for manpower, but they can't replace AEW aircraft and they produce hardly any modern jets, whilst theit potent attack helicopter force is so worn out they are cannibalising airframes to try keep a few flying. Oh – and notice how few advanced missiles they are firing nowadays? Russia is relying on North Korean ammunition and missiles and Iranian drones to stay competitive, it is now every bit reliant on its third party suppliers to stay in the war as Ukraine is.
Remember, Russia's key weapon in halting the Ukrainian attacks in the past summer was massively mined defensive belts heavily defended by aviation assets. Also remember Ukraine is only a 25km advance away from cutting land routes west from Mariupol and being able to hit the Kerch bridge. Once Ukraine has F-16s and gets back it's US ammunition supplies (although the Germans are now supplying huge amounts of weapons to Ukraine, this war is rapidly turning into a Russo-German conflict, who had that on their bingo card in 2021?) things might just look up for them next summer.
I wouldn't get to pleased about drone swarms though. We are seeing a pace of technology development not seen since the first/second world war. Both sides are using AI drone technology to overcome EW interference of FPV signals. The Ukrainians for instance now use a "mothership" drone to deposit 6-12 AI killer drones on the ground in isolated locations near roads and choke points, while other drones watch for traffic. Once movement is spotted, the AI drones are activated, they rise into the air use AI to identify a target, talk to each other to ensure they are targetting the same vehicle/person and destroy it.
So the human is now out completely out of the kill loop. Welcome to the rise of the killer robots. It is completely terrifying.
I once worked with a survivor from HMS Repulse. He was a Gunner CPO on Repulse, and after the sinking the survivors ended up on the Malaysian Peninsula by Desaru. The Japanese Army chased them down to Singapore where they managed to get a small boat and sail out of Singapore Harbour under the eyes of the Japanese Army and they made it to Indonesia. He was then sailing from Indonesia to Perth Australia when a Japanese Cruiser came over the horizon and shelled the ship, sinking it, and then sailing off without picking up any survivors. They were in a lifeboat for some days almost dying when the last ship from Perth heading to India happened to pass close by, saw them, and rescued them. After recuperating in Madras (now Chenei), he was repatriated back to England, and posted to a destroyer that was to support the Anzio Landings. That ship was sunk after being dive-bombed on the day of the landings. Fortunately another was was at hand and the crew stepped from one ship not the other. He said that was the easiest sinking to survive. Although he suffered 3 sinking during the war he never received the 3 lots of survivors leave to which he was entitled.
We always encouraged him to write it down. It was a great story.
Using the politics of kindness, she carefully refrained from calling Jacinda chief tinker:
"We are not a party of tinkering. We are a party of transformation."
There was immense frustration in the community "with tinkering when they were promised transformation".
"Only the Greens can be trusted to continue to push for, and to win concrete gains on that necessary transformation," Swarbrick said.
Asked if Labour was no longer the voice of the left, Swarbrick said she was not there to talk on behalf of the Labour Party.
She had felt during the 2023 campaign that the "rhetoric of transformation was met with the reality of tinkering". "That is not good enough."
Hipkins has not yet said "We need to tinker more!" Give the poor man time, he's still thinking it through, weighing up whether the focus groups will be bowled over by the notion of yet more tinkering.
Oh dear, Tama Potaka getting his arse spanked at the National Iwi Chairs Forum at Kerikeri – oh dear, how sad, never mind. I suppose he's trying to inject a bit of humour into the proceedings. I have no time for David Seymour by the way and I'm not trying to defend him, but Tama, of all people should get his facts correct before mouthing off. Of course, nothing on Stuff or the Herald – yet, and I won’t die holding my breath.
"While Potaka said there would be no referendum, he said he was open to debate and legislative change which could redefine or examine the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in contemporary Aotearoa." (My bold).
So he sees his leader as a kind of cross between amoeba & jellyfish into which a spine may be inserted when necessary.
"Yeah, you can print out a plastic spine with 3-D printers now!" However the timing around the insertion will be tricky. The polls must hold up firmly to make the op a feasible proposition…
The utterly frustrating thing about this is that the deal was clearly possible through 2023, so why didn't the White House gt its shit together then with the Republican house majority instead of turning into election dynamite.
Sure it's not as bad as our Three Waters, but it's poor handling.
Ukraine would have had its supplies assured if the Democrats had supported McCarthy against the hard right Republicans instead of cheap political point scoring
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Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The weekend byelection in the outer suburban seat of Werribee saw the widely-anticipated slap-in-the-face to Victorian Labor, which is absolutely on the nose. The question is: to what degree were electors venting against federal Labor ...
Mediawatch -Trump's alarmed the world with trade tariffs, turning off aid and proposing to take over Gaza. But New Zealand's had diplomatic drama in the news too - with the media in the middle of it. ...
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson, RNZ News journalist New Zealand should be robust in its response to the “unacceptable” situation in Gaza but it must also back its allies against threats by the US President, says an international relations academic. Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman said the rest ...
A Christchurch man who lost 55 relatives in three Israeli airstrikes on Gaza says his remaining family will never leave, despite a US proposal to remove them. ...
Asia Pacific Report A national Palestine advocacy group has hit back at critics of its “genocide hotline” campaign against soldiers involved in Israel’s war against Gaza, saying New Zealand should be actively following international law. The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) dismissed a “predictable lineup of apologists for Israel” for ...
ACT Party leader David Seymour said he wrote to police about the treatment of Philip Polkinghorne because it's an electorate MP's job to pass on the concerns of their constituents. ...
MEDIAWATCH:By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter By the time US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on China and Canada last Monday which could kickstart a trade war, New Zealand’s diplomats in Washington, DC, had already been deployed on another diplomatic drama. Republican Senator Ted Cruz had said on social ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand is asking for too much oversight over its deal with China, which is expected to be penned in Beijing next week. Brown told RNZ Pacific the Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship was reciprocal. “They certainly did ...
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 Byelections occurred on Saturday in the Victorian state seats of Prahran and Werribee. The Liberals gained Prahran from the Greens by a ...
A long time ago, Brian Turner wrote a poem in which, among the mountains, as he slept on a river flat … My speechless ancestors played like mice among my dreamsand he woke to the river running over my bed of stone. I have come to know that where a ...
Pacific Media Watch President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including more than $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and ...
Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman says New Zealand should provide a robust response to Donald Trump's Gaza plan, and also "should stop tip-toeing" around Trump. ...
The new minister of transport has opened the door for public consultation on at least some of the speed limit changes the government said would be automatic. ...
Officially, they’re called ‘memecoins,’ but Kōura Wealth founder Rupert Carlyon says the crypto world has another name for them: ‘shitcoins’.In digital finance, that phrase is used for tokens that have no true value – in essence, a money-grab.A few days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump launched his own ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Guy Williams has made a whole show off the joke that he is a “volunteer” journalist. So getting publicly owned by David Seymour while trying to act as a journalist is a good and timely reminder not to underestimate the nuance and ...
Many of Sāmoa’s beloved dishes are the result of cultural collaboration, writes Madeleine Chapman. All photos by Jin FelletIf you ever find yourself at a barbecue in a Sāmoan home, there’s 99% chance that sapasui (chop suey) will be on the table. For the past century, sapasui has ...
The funnyman takes us through his life in television, including Jono and Ben mayhem, live Telethon flubs, and funnelling all those experiences into his new comedy Vince. There’s an inciting incident in Three’s new comedy Vince where morning television presenter Vince Walters (Jono Pryor) is visiting sick kids in hospital ...
People often claim they just want Waitangi Day to be a celebration. At Waitangi, away from the headlined political acrimony and the marae ātea, celebrating is what most people are doing. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous ...
Is there anything more fashionable than a Māori get together? One of the best things about Northland is that nobody cares what they look like — probably because they’re all naturally more stylish than the rest of us, famously. Māori from the Far North, especially. In 27 degree heat, wearing ...
I’ve been in love with him since last July, but it’s only now in this tepid hotel room that I find myself wondering why. The first thing he does when we arrive is smoke a cone in the bathroom – he emerges, hacking up a lung, fists thrust into his ...
MONDAY“Name,” barked a representative of the lower orders.I regarded him with a look of stern disapproval, and told him from up high, “May I remind you that I have name suppression. I shall also thank you to ask with more respect as befits a former president of the Act Party, ...
Books of Mana: 180 Māori-Authored Books of Significance, edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira has just been released by Otago University Press. In this essay, Books are Taonga, Jeanette Wikaira explores her personal relationship to books and their value.For me, books are taonga. The knowledge ...
Get to know Tara, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Tara’s human for their support! Dog name: Tara Age: Two Breed: Mostly Border Collie and a little bit Catahoula Leopard dog If dog ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Gail Duncan, Chairperson of the St Peter’s on Willis Social Justice Group, one of the organisations invited to submit on the Bill, says the Government’s actions are unprecedented. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member.ABC News/Supplied The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Nik/Unsplash You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health. Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and ...
Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Tijana Simic/Shutterstock The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO Mino Surkala, Shutterstock Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University Netflix Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson. The first episode opens with Gibson’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other ...
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 Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample ...
Stand down everyone, Tova says it's ok to flip-flop… as long as it's National doing it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350166059/rookie-nz-first-minister-still-exploring-tobacco-tax-cuts-despite-pm-rule-out
[Please don’t change user names and from now on stick to the other approved name here, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Tova says it's OK because the whole caffeine is as bad as tobacco thing is in the NZF manifesto and well, they "won" the election (with 6% of the vote – 94% of us didn't vote for a corrupt party).
That would be the same manifesto the MSM refused (because serious political discussion in our determinedly unserious MSM doesn't rate) to tell the public about during the GE. So you see, it is the public's fault for not knowing about something the media couldn't be bothered telling them about.
And of course, well, this is the big game in the big house and boys will be boys and girls will be girls and no one actually knows anyone with a smoking related disease so it is all consequence free jolly japes and reckons – until it isn’t and then the journo will turn into an insufferable bore on the topic because THEIR favourite aunt or uncle died a horrible death from lung cancer.
Looks like Costello may be off the hook…
Okay so just a fumble then.
All those pesky stats about extreme addiction causing cancer can just be air-brushed out of the picture…
Still using the public service to develop NZF policy then.
Could be. Just now on AM Lloyd Burr is interviewing Willie & Goldie simultaneously, Willie was on about this govt being tainted by ties to tobacco – quite rightly. Kept jabbing Goldie with that, who grinned his eye-roll a few times in response & kept reiterating that the legislation is working well, getting the harm stats increasingly reduced.
So the guts is consensus between Nat & Lab policies which all the hoo-ha is masking. While perception often defeats reality – can't blame the media for any focus on competitive framing though, eh?
Who are the people you label Willie and Goldie?
Jackson, Goldsmith.
Thank you.
I did assume Jackson but, showing my age, the only Goldie I thought of was former All Black Jeff Wilson.
Willie continuously called him Goldie so I deduced it was an ongoing thing, and since they seemed to have quite a benign interaction going could be Maori solidarity is the subtext…
I think Trotter gets it wrong today on both the Treaty and the SNP.
The current interpretation of the Treaty has been developed over 40 years largely through the independent judiciary. It should not be permitted to be derailed by populists like Seymour and Peters.
The SNP do have problems but Starmer's continual move to to he Right (witness his recent support for massive bonuses in London's financial sector) will mean anybody in Scotland who supports the “real” Left will vote for either the Greens or the SNP.
https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/02/01/chris-trotter-intransigent-minorities/
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/01/frustration-in-labour-ranks-over-reevess-refusal-to-reinstate-bankers-bonus-cap
"…Trotter gets it wrong today…"
In other news the sun rose in the east and the pope is still a catholic. Gawd, even Bradbury has kicked Trotter into touch from his site. Trotts has a new audience these days. Middle aged incels and boomer racists over at the "democracy" project.
Stuff report (2 Feb 2024) states: "Algal bloom prompts health warning" . Apparently 11 South Canterbury rivers are affected.
Stuff makes no mention of what caused the algae. Anyone know the reason?
My guess is hot weather and excess nutrients (cow shit and urine)
No shit…
…plus excessive nitrogen fertiliser inputs… which are delivered by animal excretion to waterways, not going to post a link list…there are so many to choose from.
This is a world wide phenomenon and not just restricted to dairy farming. Any attempts to protect drinking water meet huge pushback from powerful and deep pocketed agro industrialists.
Iowa water tried to make runoff a responsibility of farmers but was beaten in court so gave up. But now new research seems to have enough weight to it linking nitrates to cancer that they are trying again
https://www.thenewlede.org/2024/01/cancer-in-the-corn-belt-sparks-actions-to-fight-farm-chemical-contamination/
From the official health warning
https://www.cdhb.health.nz/media-release/health-warning-algal-bloom-in-te-roto-o-wairewa-lake-frosyth/
Given that the factor most likely to have changed recently is the weather (temperature/wind) – that's what will have triggered the bloom.
The official health warning carefully scrubs around the question of why the "available nutrients" are in the rivers.
That omission speaks volumes to me.
to be fair the health authorities job there is to notify the public of the danger and risk, not delve into the causes.
MSM on the other hand, should be headlining this. It's worth noting that the authorities are generally concerned when it gets to the point of killing dogs or making kids sick, but the problem started long before that.
My understanding is the causes generally are:
Probably not a complete list, but those are the main ones I'm aware of.
Or why the temperature is rising?
This is a useful site for looking at trends in water quality over time.
https://www.lawa.org.nz/explore-data/river-quality/#/tb-national
For example, of the five monitored sites in the vicinity of Palmy with a decent data record (10+ years), one (Kahuterawa stream at Kebbles Farm) is "likely improving", one (Turitea stream at No 1 Dairy) is "likely degrading", and three are indeterminate.
I'll play Patsy, and ask a rhetorical question….Any moves by this government to improve things Belladonna?
lol.
Prob about the same as the last one…. SFA.
On that note: we are in a tizz about Tobacco industry and it's influence on the current government.
Looking back, it's hard not to draw a similar conclusion with the last government, considering their piss-weak 'reforms' around vaping.
What a week. This government's performance has been awful. To think they went round the country electioneering they were going to get the country back on track! Luxon escaping to visit a school amidst all the messiness in Parliament. Suspect he does not much like having to deal with difficult issues.
"Luxon escaping to visit a school amidst all the messiness in Parliament."
Its traditional for PMs not to be present in parliament on Thursdays. Ardern and Hipkins never were, nor were Key and English – nor their predecessors.
On the 10th December 1941 the British capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers in the South China Sea. HMS Prince of Wales was a brand new battleship equipped with the latest anti-aircraft weapons. It was an inflection point. For the first time in history, a fast modern battleship manouevering at sea was sunk by airpower. It marked the end of the battleship and the dawn of a new age of naval warfare.
On the 2nd of February, 2024, Ukrainian naval suicide drones sank a Russian corvette in the Black sea in a surgically coordinated attack. The attack was controlled by satellite and was ruthlessly efficient. First two drones blew the stern off – immobilising the target – and then two more precisely struck the ship amidships, setting off the ships missiles in a huge explosion. For the first time in history, a fast modern warship manouevering at sea was sunk by naval drones directed by satellite link.
https://twitter.com/chrisschmitz/status/1753028432118579641?s=19
Make no mistkae, this is an historic moment and – if you consider how easily the Houthi have been able to close the Red Sea using technology that is now common to many countries – something that is going to have profund implications for a nation as utterly dependent on sea trade as NZ is.
That clip is not at all convincing and I can find zero confirmation from any other source,
lol it literally shows the ship exploding. But hey, keep up the copium.
As I said it's not at all convincing, a clip from X shows a ship being hit, strange it's not reported in any other media? Can you provide another source which confirms it, otherwise I am calling your copium pathetic.
What evidence would you find convincing?
Coverage in the standard media sources makes mention of the ongoing disinformation prevalent on both sides of the war.
However, there has been no denial from Russia that the ship has been sunk; or that it was sunk as a result of drone strikes (as opposed to surface mines, or torpedoes, or any other explosive source). One would have expected a speedy response from Russia – if there had been no truth in the Ukrainian claim.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-c713c425574e943029271c117f9a16a8
Some actual evidence would be helpful, a grainy clip on X without any ship identification doesn't do it for me. Show some evidence from other sources will help, Sanctuary has a bad habit of putting out anti Russian propaganda.
Automatic dismissal of all claims is just as prone to being in error.
In this case, you claimed that there was no other media coverage – wrong – as I'd already linked to media coverage several hours before your comment.
"strange it's not reported in any other media?"
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-02-2024/#comment-1987778
following on from the above – US legislators call for president Biden to strengthen US maritime power – https://gcaptain.com/bipartisan-lawmakers-urge-president-biden-to-strengthen-u-s-maritime-power/
This chap discusses the call well – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD1tC_-7XWc
Note the annoyance at the US being expected to defend ships built in China, crewed oout of India and registered in Liberia. If we are not careful we can expect a back to the future moment where naval powers only protect their own shipping. People don’t realise that it used to be that way until first the British and then the Americans swept away pirates and chancers and illegal state actors in the name of global free trade and freedom of the seas. We may have a future where if a Liberian registered, Chinese built container ship is hit by a ballistic missile or hijacked by pirates, don't expect a passing US warship to do anything about it.
What Mr. Mercogliano doesn't say is a US rebuild of it's ship bulding capacity – along with the laws required to make it competitive and ignoring non-US or allied ships under attack – would be a huge blow to globalisation. Globalisation relies on sea transport costs that are next to nothing. If transport costs rise, the whole cost equation of building factories in China or Vietnam or anywhere else changes.
Apologies in advance if my question is naive, but I am far from an expert on such matters:
What does this mean for NZ if we become part of the AUKUS treaty albeit the second tier of association?
Its clear to me Collins and Co. have always intended signing up to AUKUS. The palaver in Aussie is, in part, to soften up the NZ voters for the coming announcement. The right have always had as their goal to kill the anti-nuclear legislation or at least render it irrelevant.
Not naive! Answers will be speculative however…
Can't join something that's not actually there! Like a rat baffled by the smell of cheese wafting in the air, where no cheese exists, Lux is attracted to the prospect of alignment without actually aligning, so as to have it both ways. Rat cunning.
Sea denial now completely dominates littorial surface naval warfare. That means keeping sea lanes open for freedom of navigation around littorial choke points is going to potentially become a much more violent affair and require a lot of effort from nations dedicated to retaining thwe current world order – which includes freedom of navigation on the high seas and in key waterways. Arguably, it makes being in a bloc with the premier naval power vital. NZ is a security price taker, not a price setter. As a country we've never had to exist in a world where we are not a client state of the dominant global naval power, with all the security and trade advantages that accrue from that. First the Royal Navy then the US Navy guaranteed our frozen sheep and milk powder made it to market without fear of piracy or subject to arbitrary taxes and levies from the navies of states whose coasts our cargo happens to pass. We may be required to have a bigger navy and contribute warships to ensuring the Red sea stays open for our shipping.
If the US (re)introduces protectionist maritime laws in would be a signal to everyone to re-establishment their own shipping companies to guarantee otheir export cargoes have ships to carry them and local crews to crew them (apparently being shoved to the bottom of the destination list by the big shipping companies during the pandemic disruptions wasn't a big enough clue to the neoliberal wishful thinkers in our bureaucracy that we might need to revive our shipping tonnage).
Ultimately, if the costs of imports rise significantly due to transport costs then demand for our products will weaken as import subsitution enters the equation for everyone including NZ. That would affect the balance of payments and would make for higher costs for consumer products, although I'd imagine it would help the balance of payments and provide more jobs.
We can participate in AUKUS 2 and retain our nuclear free policy.
It's useful, because we are a defence partner with Oz and it relates to tech development co-operation – defence, cyber security, IT, AI etc. Keeping up will help our local industry.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/02/02/nz-eyes-aukus-pillar-two-what-is-it-and-how-could-it-impact-us/
It does not involve any compromise to our defence and foreign policy independence.
It will make it appear that we are more a part of the "western hegemon", but given we are already an associate of NATO, it is consistent with existing co-operation
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52347.htm
NATO has of late indicated an interest in defence co-operation in the Pacific – complementary to the QUAD – India, Oz, Japan and USA that Kurt Campbell, a sort of Knight of the Pacific, organised.
We are not a member of QUAD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrilateral_Security_Dialogue
Thank-you both Sanctuary and SPC. That was all very interesting.
My primary concern was that NZ's independent foreign policy and our stand against the proliferation of nuclear weapons would be compromised. I take your word it will not be which is reassuring – at least for the time being.
For Oz, AUKUS (1) is nuclear powered subs so they can sustain a longer period at sea – part of an upgraded capability.
Proliferation would not result from that, and Oz already hosts nuclear weapon capable vessels (ship and sub). So no change there.
Our separation from that allows us to sustain our historic policy on non proliferation, especially as to the Pacific.
The best way forward there is to use our separation from QUAD and some of the rhetoric of USA and Oz on Taiwan to broker positive developments as per Korea, Taiwan and the South Sea atoll/fake islands to reduce regional tensions.
New Zealand exports about $66b and imports about $70b by sea. We are massively exposed to all of this. By volume, our exports are 99.7% by sea.
The warning signals are increasing to this risk:
What we now need to watch in the next 24 hours is whether Iran escalates with a Strait of Hormuz retaliation to the US counterstrike against its own base.
We also need to watch any threat to Ballance and Ravensdown ships who supply 94% of our fertiliser from Morocco. That chokes pasture productivity ie milk and meat volume.
Thankfully Indian and Chinese insurers are filling on for their own fleets, so far.
We are in such a delicate trade point, it will take very little to turn this into a trade-related recession that is very hard to pull out of here. Something akin to 1979.
Sure hope we've offered to support the Malacca Strait Patrol with its constituents of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
I would dispute this one, at least for Ukraine. Ukraine has scored a significant strategic victory in the Black Sea naval war, and has pretty much defeated Russia for now in terms of Russia's strategic goals of choking off Ukrainian cereal exports, which are back to over 80% of pre-war levels.
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/ukraine-food-exports-total-7.7-mln-t-in-january-association
Ukraine has driven the Russian navy from the western Black sea, shot down Russian missile attacks on their port facilities and since Russia dare not attack NATO members used Rumanian ports and Rumanian, Bulgarian and Turkish coastal waters to ship it's grain.
Russia has been humiliated in the Black Sea by a country that doesn't even have a navy.
All to play for, including starvation.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ukraines-black-sea-grain-export-success-tested-by-red-sea-crisis-2024-01-24/
Very encouraging.
Great to see this drone swarm tech innovation being used at sea, and of course on Russian oil refineries.
Kremlin trolls like to push the narrative that Ukraine can't win, that Russia through the impacable will of it's blood drenched dictator will continue to feed manpower straw into the battlefield furnance until victory has been achieved. However, war isn't just about throwing men into frontal assaults with all the concern for human life of Stalin.
Ukraine has been actively targeting Russian EW and SAM systems for a while now, things Russia has great difficulty replacing. It is now producing long range attack drones that will force Russia to deploy it's anti-aircraft missiles away from the battlefront to defend refineries and power plants in Russia – and since Jake Sullivan has no say in what Ukraine can and cannot atack with it's own weapons that is exactly what they are doing. That is leaving gaps for missile ambushes and Russian airpower os being heavily degraded. Russia might be able to refurbish large numbers of 80 year old tanks and empty it's prisons and ethnically cleanse it's minorities for manpower, but they can't replace AEW aircraft and they produce hardly any modern jets, whilst theit potent attack helicopter force is so worn out they are cannibalising airframes to try keep a few flying. Oh – and notice how few advanced missiles they are firing nowadays? Russia is relying on North Korean ammunition and missiles and Iranian drones to stay competitive, it is now every bit reliant on its third party suppliers to stay in the war as Ukraine is.
Remember, Russia's key weapon in halting the Ukrainian attacks in the past summer was massively mined defensive belts heavily defended by aviation assets. Also remember Ukraine is only a 25km advance away from cutting land routes west from Mariupol and being able to hit the Kerch bridge. Once Ukraine has F-16s and gets back it's US ammunition supplies (although the Germans are now supplying huge amounts of weapons to Ukraine, this war is rapidly turning into a Russo-German conflict, who had that on their bingo card in 2021?) things might just look up for them next summer.
I wouldn't get to pleased about drone swarms though. We are seeing a pace of technology development not seen since the first/second world war. Both sides are using AI drone technology to overcome EW interference of FPV signals. The Ukrainians for instance now use a "mothership" drone to deposit 6-12 AI killer drones on the ground in isolated locations near roads and choke points, while other drones watch for traffic. Once movement is spotted, the AI drones are activated, they rise into the air use AI to identify a target, talk to each other to ensure they are targetting the same vehicle/person and destroy it.
So the human is now out completely out of the kill loop. Welcome to the rise of the killer robots. It is completely terrifying.
Machines destroying machines as a concept of war also has upsides.
Imagine war without useful capital ships even aircraft carriers and big land craft, or bomber jets in a massive scale, or tanks.
At some point there could be rules of war where two country teams just Warhammer and call it a win.
Long way from Terminator yet.
Electric battery powered lasers provide cheaper air defence and can be used against drone swarms.
I once worked with a survivor from HMS Repulse. He was a Gunner CPO on Repulse, and after the sinking the survivors ended up on the Malaysian Peninsula by Desaru. The Japanese Army chased them down to Singapore where they managed to get a small boat and sail out of Singapore Harbour under the eyes of the Japanese Army and they made it to Indonesia. He was then sailing from Indonesia to Perth Australia when a Japanese Cruiser came over the horizon and shelled the ship, sinking it, and then sailing off without picking up any survivors. They were in a lifeboat for some days almost dying when the last ship from Perth heading to India happened to pass close by, saw them, and rescued them. After recuperating in Madras (now Chenei), he was repatriated back to England, and posted to a destroyer that was to support the Anzio Landings. That ship was sunk after being dive-bombed on the day of the landings. Fortunately another was was at hand and the crew stepped from one ship not the other. He said that was the easiest sinking to survive. Although he suffered 3 sinking during the war he never received the 3 lots of survivors leave to which he was entitled.
We always encouraged him to write it down. It was a great story.
I'm Lt Cdr RNZN (Rtd.)
Yes Anne I knew that but it struck me as convenient for the PM to be away from Parliament after this week in particular.
Oh yes, he runs away from trouble. But he had a convenient excuse this time.
And any future time Anne?
He'll have some other excuse for running away. I'm not defending him in any way.
Chlöe knows what's going on.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350166241/nz-politics-live-chloe-swarbrick-runs-green-party-co-leader
Using the politics of kindness, she carefully refrained from calling Jacinda chief tinker:
Hipkins has not yet said "We need to tinker more!" Give the poor man time, he's still thinking it through, weighing up whether the focus groups will be bowled over by the notion of yet more tinkering.
"Hipkins has not yet said "We need to tinker more!" Give the poor man time, he's still
thinkingtinkering it through…fify
Oh dear, Tama Potaka getting his arse spanked at the National Iwi Chairs Forum at Kerikeri – oh dear, how sad, never mind. I suppose he's trying to inject a bit of humour into the proceedings. I have no time for David Seymour by the way and I'm not trying to defend him, but Tama, of all people should get his facts correct before mouthing off. Of course, nothing on Stuff or the Herald – yet, and I won’t die holding my breath.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/508251/tama-potaka-scolded-for-joking-about-david-seymour-s-hapu
"While Potaka said there would be no referendum, he said he was open to debate and legislative change which could redefine or examine the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in contemporary Aotearoa." (My bold).
Oh, he did, did he.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350163671/tama-potaka-rules-out-treaty-referendum-new-minister-prepares-waitangi
"Yeah, you can print out a plastic spine with 3-D printers now!" However the timing around the insertion will be tricky. The polls must hold up firmly to make the op a feasible proposition…
US Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer is promising a vote on the border security – Ukraine armaments bill next week.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/01/congress/senate-bill-text-supplemental-border-00139118
The utterly frustrating thing about this is that the deal was clearly possible through 2023, so why didn't the White House gt its shit together then with the Republican house majority instead of turning into election dynamite.
Sure it's not as bad as our Three Waters, but it's poor handling.
Ukraine would have had its supplies assured if the Democrats had supported McCarthy against the hard right Republicans instead of cheap political point scoring