Could be an entire new ministry will be required to build sea-walls?
Naish said vulnerable places in Auckland included the waterfront around the bays, Tamaki Drive, the Viaduct, areas around the Northwestern Motorway at Point Chevalier, St Heliers and Mission Bay.
He said many of these places already have issues during king tides, are close to sea level, and are sinking.
At the Viaduct the land is sinking about about 2.5mm a year. "That almost doubles the rate of expected sea-level rise and halves the time you have. The city council, [and] the port authority are all going to have to start looking closely in terms of their future activities at this new information."
He said in many parts of Auckland the sea-level would rise 30 to 50 percent faster than what was previously thought.
The switch is due to discovery of land dropping. The scientists have mapped it nationwide and provided an interactive website so you can check out how it affects your neighbourhood.
The new advice combines data about where land is sinking with the latest international sea-level rise projections. It will be an major new tool for councils, businesses and homeowners to assess risk from erosion and floods… The information is timely, coming hot on the heels of the climate change draft adaptation plan released last week. It asks for public input on the plans, and on so-called ''managed retreat'" – abandoning areas where it is not possible or financially viable to live any longer.
First consideration is if councils can cope with providing new defensive infrastructure. If not, how does the govt do the job – within the ministry of climate change or the ministry of transport?
As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal. I don't think I will be buying their T-Shirts.
In the clip below, Napier Airport was given as an example of land sinking . Of course, Napier Airport is build on land pushed up by an earthquake.
Richard Levy and Tim Naish have done what seems like excellent research followed by predictions based on that research. All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival. Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so. If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.
Oh wait, you mean the Nats would actually do politics on the basis of science instead of ignoring it? They just need a little time to digest the science? Fair enough. Not everyone's a fast learner.
''Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival.''
Correct. If you come towards me in a threatening manner I straight away compensate with a remedial defensive action.
''Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so.''
I don't know what that means because I don't care one iota what National think, or don't, about climate change. I doubt they have a clue themselves.
''If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.''
It's not a matter of doing nothing. It's about a gamble costing billions either way. Are we prepared to accept that on research that is yet to be peer reviewed. Or are we prepared to sit tight and hope for the best? Play the cards.
You seem to have forgotten our dire economic situation thanks to Labour's largesse for all squeaky wheels and ideological itches.
"As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal."
Uncalled for. Inferring Bloomfield was some crazy who set himself up as a messiah but no-one listens to him anymore? He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.
It was more a statement about hero worship. We in New Zealand have a dearth of glitzy stars to idolise. Therefore we tend to admire the more mundane. Ruud Kleinpaste, the bug man, for example.
''He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.''
Exactly – it was his job.
But he morphed into something larger with his regular appearances on the ''Pulpit Of Truth.'' Adulation and t-shirts followed.
I'm betting Richard Levy and Tim Naish are about to become media darlings. Their word will be gospel, and God help any fuckwit who says otherwise.
''You're a dork Blade.''
That's unkind. But, in my opinion, you have always come across as a shallow thinker.
You forgot the waste of taxpayer money. Truancy has nothing to do with school attendance… it has more to do with cultural values. And in Maoridom, education isn't a high priority with many. Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high.
From Jester’s link:
''The package also included $11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme and $7.75m specifically for Māori and Pasifika communities, where there are large discrepancies.''
[You are in Pre-Moderation until you correct the following statement or provide links to support it:
And in Maoridom, education isn’t a high priority with many. Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high.
You have one shot at it, to avoid numerous time-wasting comments going to & from, and one day – Incognito]
Even a ‘mere opinion’ doesn’t come out of the blue and stands alone in isolation in a referential vacuum without some framework to form and sustain (aka confirm) it.
Blade doesn't shy away from a challenge so he's never going to walk that back. I'm expecting genetic evidence and a full history of the heritage of the infamous Rugby gene will be forthcoming.
Can be difficult to know when you’re on “safer ground” – is nothing sacred?
Racism starts small. Sometimes it lives in everyday actions and comments that we laugh off, nod in agreement to, excuse, and therefore accept. But we don’t have to. We can stop casual racism from growing into something more extreme. We can give it no encouragement. No respect. No place. No power. We can give it nothing. http://www.givenothing.co.nz
Taika needs to stop doing doing Marvel movies, stop hiring Tessa Thompson (although I guess there are other reasons) and more movies like Jojo or What We Do In The Shadows etc
All humans have to some extent with an in-group preference. It expresses itself in sexual selection and family bonding. It would be a very strange thing indeed if we did not have an unconscious bias toward people we feel genetically and culturally connected with.
This selectivity and tribalism is an exceedingly common behaviour across almost all of the higher mammals I can immediately think of. It should be no surprise or even controversial that humans share this trait as well.
But remarkably we also have the capacity to overlay this trait with a broader abstraction around the universality of humanity. We can take the idea that all humans stand equal before their Maker and expand our ethical horizon to ultimately include all 7.5b people on the planet. We can formulate intellectually the idea that 'the earth is but one planet and mankind its citizens'. This is the root motivation that demands we condemn the wrong idea that some human races are genetically superior to others. Racism was founded in a mistaken interpretation of why some cultures and societies came to dominate while others were overrun all throughout history. We now should understand that it had nothing to do with genetics and almost everything with technology and institutional development.
But to then argue this means there is no difference between any of the cultures and societies is wrong as well. That is nothing more than an attempt to cancel out one stupid mistake with another. It is the reason why the woke left claims that all differences in outcomes can only be explained by racism. And if they cannot find any significant examples of personal racist anima, nor any institutional laws or policies to explain differences – then untestable concepts such as 'unconscious bias' and 'institutional racism' are trotted out to fill the gap.
Yet as I suggested above – all humans have an intrinsic unconscious bias, yet invoking this explains everything and nothing at the same time. Nor does pointing to institutional bias explain much either, it would be very surprising if the dominant culture anywhere did not organise their public life to suit themselves. Why would they not? This is the very stuff of culture and diversity is it not?
Human diversity and selectivity is innate and instinctively enduring. We would not want it to be otherwise. But skin colour and the land of our birth are but accidents; they are the least important aspect of who we are and tell us nothing of our character, competency and potential for achievement.
Because our long, agonising history tells another far more inspiring story of how we have learned to expand our moral horizons painfully and progressively, embracing ever larger groups of peoples and cultures – culminating now in a universal recognition of our common humanity, dignity and right to justice.
And for me that is a battle worth having – against those who would divide us yet again.
I have absolutely no problem saying Western Democratic cultures are superior to anything else we have and we all know it yet, to some, thats borderline, if not outright, racist
One of the most interesting papers I did at Uni was a paper on Social Psychology where that sort of stuff was covered.
Ingroup and outgroup biases and the like. In short, it is nearly impossible for any of us not to have some degree of bias or prejudice, whether that be conscious or unconscious bias.
The best way to break down those prejudices is by setting superordinate goals that require groups to work together to solve the issues.
I guess a great example would be the situation in Ukraine. Prior to the war there would likely have been lots of divisions over all sorts of matters. But when they are all focusing on the goal of defeating the Russians those sort of divisions are forgotten and people are united behind the common cause.
Propaganda and fake news usually also contain snippets of truth, so not being “completely wrong” doesn’t make it/him right either – it’s a nonsensical thing to say. The assertion was about Māoridom, not about gangs. So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.
I did, but you didn't listen because you didn't want to hear it because you don't want to answer it. Did you really think it was a rhetorical question? Perhaps you realise that you have enough rope to get tangled up in knots or worse. A commenter cannot force another commenter to answer, least of all to answer in a certain way, but a Mod can force some response if there are good grounds for this. You were and still are following the clear signpost to those grounds.
'Did you really think it was a rhetorical question?'
Yes I did.
'So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
The perhaps makes what could have been a simple question into something ambiguous:
Perhaps you’ll ask me a question or perhaps not.
I thought you were just jumping in with your usual sort of subtlety, like your use of the Spanish Archer, which I first thought was some sort of obscure sexual position (like the reverse cowgirl)
Try this instead:
'So I'll ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
That makes basically the same question clear and unambiguous.
So to your question, my response was to Nic the NZers response to Blade.
I thought Nic was over the top in his reply so I replied to Nic with an example that I thought would further expand on Blades point.
The “perhaps” was intended to leave you with a clear choice: either put up or shut up. Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.
You decided to run interference with moderation, in which case you may be treated as such and end up in Pre-Moderation too, or you could simply stay out of it – the choice is yours, still, but not for much longer.
Unless you can read Blade’s mind or you are in communication with Brother Blade you were only adding your own reckons, which were not helpful in the slightest.
'Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.'
Perhaps you're not as clever as you think you are, perhaps you jump into discussions when you don't need to and perhaps you feel a little inadequate since you're clearly not as experienced as the other moderators and so, perhaps, you feel you need to make up for it in other ways.
Have you tried asking the other moderators for advice?
I know when I've been over my head and out of my depth (like you are now) that asking for advice from other better, more experienced people can be a little hard on the ego but is generally always worth it in the long run.
[You’re now also in Pre-Moderation until you also have finished and completed Blade’s homework in your own words and with your own links – no cheating this time. Same terms and conditions apply as for Blade. Bye now – Incognito]
“I also told the Minister that, with all due respect, teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Maori will not lessen incarceration rates. They are not in prison because they lack Te Kāinga Maori, they are there because of bad parenting. The same applies to white people in jail … again that is largely due to bad parenting, a lack of education and a failure to instil values. That is what I want to get across.''
''Tribal groups might seek to fight others to increase tribal or personal mana.''
''Traditionally the mana or prestige of a tribe and its members was all important. Tribes and their rangatira could increase mana by triumphing over other tribal groups.''
In Māori society rugby has come to be viewed as a platform to maintain an indigenous model of masculinity as well as one of the main sites for the achievement of prestige. National and international representations of the Māori man as a rugby player—a present-day version of the Māori warrior
[You’ve got a bonus try for your effort, which fell way short.
As a Māori you know that you do not and cannot speak for all Māoridom – with personal opinions one can only speak for oneself. You made a specific assertions, which you were asked to correct or support, and so far you’ve done much less than half of the task.
I fail to see how Alan Duff’s quote of his personal views on teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Māori supports your assertions about Māoridom. Ironically, the article starts with Duff’s “desire to use the written word to influence those behind bars to lead better lives”.
Why do simpletons such as you and Puckish Rogue tend to use Māoridom, gangs & crime, and prison population almost synonymously? Are distinctions, nuances, and context too hard for you or are you keener on pushing a certain narrative?
Similarly, the quote about traditional Māori warfare has little bearing on your assertions about present-day Māoridom.
The special status conferred to Māori men playing rugby again doesn’t support your assertions about how Māoridom values and prioritises education.
No more bonus tries after this one – Incognito]
[You didn’t correct or support your assertions about Māoridom, as you were asked to do and I don’t want to waste anymore of my time on this. Take 10 days off and don’t pretend to be a spokesperson for or an expert on Māoridom when you get back because you’re clearly neither – Incognito]
Every culture has its dark side and blind spots. But I think you’ll find that the dismal statistics for Maori also correlate with relative economic privilege. There is a reason for all the targeted government programmes — as a people they have been subjected to systematic violence by the colonial settler state, and while the rest of us sit around arguing on blogs & sipping cappuccinos, our wealth is based on massive theft from 17% of the population.
Hmm. It's difficult to tell exactly where the money is going – but it sounds like bureaucracy. I can't conceive that "$11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme" is going to achieve much.
If there are behaviour issues (and, according to my teacher friends, these are order-of-magnitude more severe than pre-Covid), then schools need support to deal with these right now – not in 2 years time when the 'programme' has been designed.
What schools actually need is the funding for additional classroom support for these kids – whether that looks like additional teachers in existing classrooms, or small group coaching, or even non-standard classes (if teens are working shelf-stacking [as quoted in the article], then perhaps concentrate on the key NCEA subjects when they're at school – and at least get them the core qualifications – you need NCEA L2 English and Maths for most apprenticeships).
I don't see how developing a programme (which the schools won't have the funding to carry out) – is going to do anything except keep bureaucrats employed.
The PBL program has been around for ages. It was in my daughter's primary school and she's now 20. It's a whole school approach with incentives and rewards for positive behaviour – it does teach some kids to suck-up to the teachers though. With the new funding, it should be able to get into more schools.
It's like most anything a government does (regardless of who is in) and that's throw money at the situation
At best it'll do something positive (rarely), usually no change will happen (but the government can say we've done something) and occasionally it'll make the problem even worse
You're right in what would help the problem, targeted support to those that need it but it needs to start with the vulnerable families while the mother is pregnant not years later at school
I agree with the earlier support — but it has to be AND ALSO rather than pick one or the other.
Absent a time machine, we can't fix the early years of kids now at school. Yes, we need to intervene now to prevent the next tranche arriving with preventable issues – but we also need to work with the kids now in school (or missing from school) and put solutions to those issues in place.
I mean you can and should do both but rather than have two different programs running concurrently there should be only one program starting before the child is born which older children can be entered into
The more programs you run means more costs and more chances of kids falling through the cracks
Goodness gracious me! This issue has been popping up to the surface every few years since before my offspring began school. Another study and another initiative and more targeted funding and 'special' funding for those groups with 'discrepancies'. And it only gets worse.
How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?
As always we focus on the causes of failures and not on how many families in similar circumstances make it work for their children.
The first two drivers would be (if we asked them) that these parents realise education is the key to a more secure job and a better future, and these parents genuinely want their children to have a better life than than they had.
"How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?"
A suggestion that is based on existing solutions, and grassroots perspectives?
Then what'll happen to all the consultants ready to advise?
I'm not saying that they make up a significant number of the 60% absent…but could it be that some of those being counted as truant are actually being home schooled?
More than 10,000 students in New Zealand are now learning from home, but there is growing concern their learning methods aren’t being scrutinised.
But some want the reviews reinstated as applications for home schooling grow.
There have been 5,000 new applications in the last year.
Kaitaia Primary School’s Principal, Brendon Morrissey, says “that’s a big number.”
It is quite possible that some parents do not realise you have to apply to home school and have simply pulled their kids out of mainstream education.
Homeschool reviews were initially reduced, and then eliminated because in terms of expense vs negative homeschool reviews, the ERO decided it was a budgetary save.
Despite once being a committee member on a National Home Ed organisation, I only ever viewed Home Ed as another choice, as opposed to a universally better one. The approach of families and engagement of children are as diverse as the population. Quite a few with exemptions were not part of any group.
My addition to your sensible suggestion re: truancy.
Make the school experience better. Because if that doesn't change, all that's been achieved is returning a child to where they don't want to be.
How's that help with encouraging a love of learning? Disruption in the classroom to indicate pushback, would be expected at the least.
Okay, granted it was a different time…and technologywise might as well be a different universe…do you think that there might have been certain elements of the 'old' school environment that was more conducive to attending and engaging than today's?
I heard today that a newish school in the Waikato, designed and built to encompass all the very latest in modern learning has removed practically all the non- fiction books from the Library. (Library is deliberately capitalised, as befitting it's importance.) The learners don't need all those dusty dog eared reference books… the world's knowledge is all there on Goggle and Wiki.
Thing is, you ask Goggle or Wiki a specific question and voilla, the answer is delivered instantaneously. The old way, you'd wander down through the rows looking for the book about Space or Deserts and along the way be sidetracked by books about Ancient Civilizations or WWII.
Maybe the Young People have been conditioned to expect everything to be delivered at the push of the enter key or the swipe of a screen. Even the littlies have their iPads. Attention spans are practically non- existent.
Many years ago there were Truancy Officers, and from memory for a period there were also Visiting Teachers (both in primary schools; secondary may have had somebody doing some work on truancy). The jobs overlapped to a certain extent; I think the Truancy Officers were eliminated first, then later the Visiting Teachers. Talking to those whose children are already attending would seem to be less important than talking to the parents of children that do not attend.
For many years they were called Visiting Teachers, in the 70's and 80's. They visited the homes and helped with problems which were contributing…. Children going with Parents to interpret, for example.
Things going from bad to worse for the Keystone-cops Russian military in Ukraine.
Now their General in charge of the war Gerasimov has been evacuated to Belgorod due to shrapnel injuries from a Ukrainian attack.
According to this twitter thread there was a Ukrainian attack against a meeting of high ranking officers at a Russian command headquarters in the Russian-held area of Izyum in Ukraine. It appears that 20 may have been killed and up to 40 injured.
Not only that, there was just another huge fire in Belgorod. Judging by all the secondary explosions, it looks like it was a weapons depot.
According to this twitter thread and video, helicopters were circling the area 30 minutes prior to the explosion suggesting a VIP was about to arrive. Joining the dots, it seems likely that the Russians were securing the area waiting for Gerasimov to arrive.
So, it looks like the poor guy would have had quite a greeting when he arrived to the sound of a massive explosion at an arms depot in the area.
Here's a succinct look at how his famous Gerasimov Doctrine (all instruments of state deployed carefully and accurately to achieve victory) supports broader strategy within the Russian state:
Agreed. Not that I feel particularly sorry for him given his past form. Karma is a wonderful thing.
But this horrendous attrition of their top leadership must be becoming very problematic for the Russian war effort. They tend to have a very top down military structure, and those in the lower-down ranks don't have much of a clue what to do.
The Ukrainians must be getting some good intel on the whereabouts of senior officers in Ukraine.
It could be the US intelligence service. Or maybe the Russians are still using unsecured communications despite all the trouble that has caused them so far. Or maybe it is the Russian military themselves feeding info back given that a lot of them don’t particularly like their senior officers and don’t particularly want to be there. Or it could be a combination of all the above.
For as long as it suits Xi, and not a smidgen longer. Xi can yank Putin's chain anytime. That he's been keeping quiet for so long tells us he likes what's happening. Not a threat to Belt & Road, apparently…
The longer the war continues the more likely is Russia will win it. And there is no mechanism for reflection – or regime change – in the Putin regime.
For example Valery Gerasimov was sent to the Ukraine by Putin last week, and was apparently wounded yesterday by a Ukrainian MLRS strike on the CP (Command Post) of Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov who was killed in the attack. Siminov was the ninth Russian general to die in this war and was killed near the city of Izyum – the fulcrum of the supposed northern spear head of the Russian Donbas offensive.
As an aside, Siminov was the senior officer commanding all Russia's electronic warfare units and the targeting information for this Ukrainian strike almost certainly came from an U.S. RC-135 "Rivet Joint" signals intelligence surveillance aircraft that has been operating over the Black Sea. Make what you will of how provocative that knowledge must be to the Russians.
The fate of Gerasimov (the closest of Putin confidantes) – fall from favour, disappearance from public view, sent to the front to get things moving or find salvation in death on the battlefield – is in the finest of totalitarian traditions (the fact he was only wounded and has fled the front will have Field Marshal Paulus chuckling in his grave) and should tell us all we need to know about the ability of Russia to find a way out of this war that doesn't involve a bloody victory.
I think the longer it goes on, the more it favours the Ukrainians. That is because a long war becomes a war of attrition, and a war of attrition favours the side that can replace its losses.
Ukraine doesn't have this problem with the west committing to supply their military needs for as long as required. For instance, it looks like the US will be committing another $33 billion to Ukraine alone. Plus all the gear coming in from Britain and the rest of Europe.
Most of this isn't even in the field yet. When the Ukrainians are trained on all that, and they are able to get it into the field imagine how much damage they will be able to do to the Russian army compared to what they are doing now. Even as it stands at the moment, Ukraine is giving the Russians a lot of trouble just using the equipment they have. And that is going to get progressively worse for the Russians.
I think that is a reason the Russians attacked a lot earlier than they probably wanted to given the muddy conditions that is confining Russian forces to the road. Ideally, it would suit the Russian armour advantage to be on the open ground that is to their advantage in the Donbas. But that isn't really possible at the moment.
There was the May 9th deadline from Putin. But I think also, the Russians probably rightly concluded that if they held off until conditions favoured them, the Ukrainians would have got a lot stronger by that time.
Excepting of course that Russia could choose deploy weapons that would essentially 'win' the war in a matter of minutes. The longer it drags out the closer we get to that outcome I suspect.
That would be the temptation. However, I believe that NATO have stated that their response to such action would be proportionate, though not not necessarily the same.
So, for instance, NATO might bite the bullet and completely cut gas imports from Russia, which would completely deplete the Russian war effort nearly immediately.
Also, even China might be compelled to condemn such an action, and may not want to be seen giving tacit support to such action.
Things going from bad to worse for the Keystone-cops Russian military in Ukraine
Morale must be in the shitter.
Our briefing this week sets out just how rotten the army has been. Russia’s defence budget, of over $250bn at purchasing power, is about three times that of Britain or France, but much of it is squandered or stolen. Mr Putin and his top commanders kept their invasion plans from senior officers, reflecting a crippling lack of trust. Disaffected troops, fed on out-of-date rations, have deserted their vehicles. Units have tortured, raped and murdered only to be honoured by the Kremlin. Russia has failed to win control of the skies or combine air power with tanks, artillery and infantry. Wallowing in corruption, unable to foster initiative or learn from their mistakes, its frustrated generals abandoned advanced military doctrine and fell back on flattening cities and terrorising civilians.
And the Ukrainians still haven't got into service all the good stuff the west is sending so I understand.
So, it looks like they are giving the Russians a hard time with the stuff they are using already. Doesn't bode well for the Russians once all the western heavy artillery etc gets into the field.
All they are doing is backing the Ukrainian's own willingness to fight for their country. A bit different to Afghanistan that folded like a pack of cards when the Western military left, despite all the investment there in helping them become self-sufficient militarily.
Seems more likely that Putin is fighting to the last Russian from what I can see. It reminds me of something from "The Walking Dead" where the Russian soldiers are like the zombies that keep coming and keep getting wiped out.
Whether they are going to have enough to win by force of numbers with that strategy seems unlikely given that this is a "special military operation'', not a war, according to the Russians, which limits their ability to call up reservists or launch a major draft. Even if they did that, it is going to take a long time before those forces can be brought into the combat. Also, equipping new forces will be an issue for the Russians given the attrition of their equipment and the difficulties in them replacing it.
So, the Russians are pretty much stuck with what they have got at the moment.
On the other hand, the Ukrainians have no such constraints and are training up as many as possible for the fight.
Probably all printed money. There is an endless supply of that.
But, I think the Ukrainians would be fighting with or without international support. They would likely be under a lot more Russian control by now. But they probably would go to more of an insurgency type war.
So, the US and Europe are just backing the Ukrainians in a fight they intend to have any way.
This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger.
All that NATO has given the Ukrainians up until recently is basically some anti-tank and anti-aircraft gear, and some old Soviet stuff that the NATO nations wanted to get rid of for better stuff anyway.
'This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger'
Oh really!You might be interested to know that the U.S.A is a member of NATO…and has a rather large….'finger'.
I did say "at the moment''. But that is certainly starting to change. Hence while Russia is trying to do as much as they can while they have the chance.
That they are. But remember, it is not like they are supporting Ukraine to invade Russia. Ukraine never asked to be invaded, and Russia can end this any time they want to by withdrawing.
The Ukrainian's outstanding combat performance will only degrade as their best units are chewed up in attritional positional warfare in the Donbas, whereas for the Russians the only way is up. At some point in the short to medium term a convergence in combat performance will occur. Already reports are the remaining Russian are fighting a lot better. This is why the Ukrainians are desperate for artillery, a type of weapon whose lethality is almost independent of the skill of the infantry. In this sense, the fighting in the Donbas is analogous to most 20th century warfare. For example the Somme in 1916, where the huge losses of Kitcheners ill-trained "new armies" was of less military importance than the destruction of Germany's best pre-war infantry, with Ludendorff lamenting the conversion of the German army into a militia. Subsequent to the Somme as the Allies armies improved the Germans were forced to retreat to the Hindenburg Line & adopt an elastic defense based on concrete and a cadre of elite machines gunners. Or perhaps more relevant the huge losses of the Red army in 1941-42 were of less importance than the massive and irresplaceable attrition of the Germans in the same period. By the time of the post-Kursk counter-offensives the Red Army still wasn't very good but it had killed enough of the very good Germans of 1941 for it not to matter anymore.
Another thing not being covered in the media is the crippling fuel crisis engulfing the Ukrainian army. Don’t be seduced by propaganda, the Russians are not stupid. All Ukrainian refining capacity was destroyed early on in this war and much of the subsequent Russian cruise missile attacks have been on the fuel storage and transport net, particularly railways, which has basically starved the Ukrainians of fuel for their still powerful tank brigades. Almost all imagery of Ukrainian heavy armour I've seen recently is showing it dug in, with probably only enough fuel for emegency use.
All in all, the fate of the Ukraine will probably be decided in the next 2 weeks. If the Russians can't achieve a clean breakthough and surround the Donbas salient – and there is good reason to suppose they lack the combat power for this – then Putin will either declare war on or after the May Day parades and simply use brute force and numbers to overwhelm the Ukraine or someone will have to come up with a face-saving Russian "victory" with a ceasefire along the current battlelines – again if we were to look to history the Finnish defeat in the 1939 Winter war might be a good guideline. I know Zelensky will vehemently oppose any ceding of land but if that is what the US and Russia and China can cook up and the bulk of the Ukraine retains it's independence then that might be what he'll have little choice but to accept.
I think the Russian artillery are good at attacking civilian cities where they can't really miss. But I think their targeting ability is not as good as the Ukrainians.
Fuel is definitely an issue. But at the moment, the Ukrainians don't need to move around as much as the Russians. The Ukrainians are able to maintain more defensive positions, and Putin has put the onus on the Russians to do the attacking.
But fuel supply is something they definitely will need to solve when they start more counter-offensives. They have a similar problem to the Russians at the start of the war, in terms of long supply lines. They may need to start sending out fuel trucks from Poland or similar.
If the Ukrainians are able to, now would be a good time for them to counter attack, while the Russians are low on leadership, and don't want to waste their own ammo and fuel due to their own logistical problems.
Declaring war is an option for Putin to increase the soldiers available, which is a major lack at the moment. But those soldiers aren’t magicked up over night. They have to be trained, equipped, and incorporated into the existing forces.
Given the attrition rate on Russian equipment, and the difficulty of replacing it, this is going to be problematic for Russia, even if a state of war is declared.
And, how much does Russia really want to weaken its armed forces over this conflict? They are just playing into the stated objectives of the US who want a weakened Russia.
Thre is no indication I have seen that the Ukrainians have sufficient combat power to conduct anything more than local counter-attacks. I think a counter offensive is completely beyond them and anyway, no armoured offensive has had any chance of succeeding if the enemy has air superority since 1940.
The Russians will keep up a methodical, Great War style artillery dominated postional warfare to seize and hold limited objectives ('Artillery conquers, infantry occupies' to quote JFC Fuller) and using western artillery the Ukrainians will then counter-attack. The Russian will suffer hugely going in, and the Ukrainians will suffer hugely throwing them out again. This fighting will be almost exactly like the Western Front in 1917. IMHO, the war in the Ukraine will most likely develop into a version of Passchendaele.
I understand they have quite a good counter-offensive going around Kharkiv at the moment. That may be where the attack on Belgorod came from, as the Ukrainians are quite close to that border. And they are also threatening to cut off Russian supply lines from there.
I understand their counter-attack around Kherson has come to a bit of a halt atm. But, from what I have read, the Russians have had to send a lot more forces back there to hold the ground. So, that removes Russian forces from attacking elsewhere.
From what I have read, it looks like a lot of the Russian battle groups are very undermanned due to losses they have taken and are not really fully functional. For instance, apparently, some of their APCs are going out with only a couple of people in them rather than 8 or whatever the ideal number is.
It sounds like their biggest problem is really not having enough infantry. I think this is in part due to their war strategy and also massive attrition. But it makes it very hard for them to hold ground and go forward. The problem being that, as they go forward, they have to leave troops behind to hold taken ground. This thins their forces out further as they continue to advance.
So, where the Ukrainians have retreated, it often is strategic, going back to strong defensive positions and inviting the Russians to keep coming. Continually attacking defensive positions results in very high attrition, which is what we are seeing at the moment.
The big mistake the Russians made at the start was to attack on too many fronts. So, the Ukrainians don't want to repeat the same mistake, and should focus their counter-attacks where they can have good effect.
No links for the above sorry as it would take ages to find all the stuff I have looked at. As you can see, this is a bit of an obsession for me atm!!
Good comments from both of you. I can well understand how absorbing these events are. To my mind the Ukrainian agony makes so many of the other 'outrage de jour' seem like petty, narcissistic distractions.
On the point of the fuel shortages for the Ukrainians, one thing they have in their advantage is the use of drone technology. This stuff is a lot more portable, and less fuel intensive than heavy armour. The Russians don't seem to be up with that so much.
Obviously the TB2 Turkish drone that has been well publicised. But also the US switchblade kamakaze drones. And they are also utilising hobby drones and converting them for munitions use. Including using 3D printers to customise tail fins etc so that are fitted to common, cheap munitions they have.
It must be really unsettling as a soldier knowing that sort of thing can happen out of the blue. It must cause the sort of effect on morale that snipers cause.
Apparently they are customising armour-piercing munitions to be dropped from hobby drones on the likes of tanks and APCs. The cost-benefit of that equation is staggering. The cost of the drone plus munition is less than $1000, and they can take out a piece of equipment that might be worth $3/4 of a million or more.
If sea level rise was Labour-Greens' opening panic story to introduce their Zero Carbon strategy, starting a debate about sea walls, insurance stripping away location-specific premiums to zero coverage, the great Westport tombstone, and Canute-like 'heroic' resistance, we should probably expect a related panic theme every week coming out from Shaw and Roberston.
The gist from Newshub's breaking story last night was that it was driven by a new scientific discovery. Neither Shaw nor Robertson seem to do panic. Shaw does pragmatic response (usually too understated) and Robertson does complacent ignorance (I've never noticed him personally addressing the climate crisis).
If they were to collaborate, it'd be a good thing. Watch for any specific climate-change framing in his budget speech, huh? If you can cite it here, I'll applaud. If not, he'll prove me right.
They have a lot of levers with Queenstown Lakes. They own much of the Queenstown CBD where QLDC resides. They are a JV partner on a couple of properties with them. They are one of the largest tourism operators in QLDC, in a city that runs on tourism. They are partners in Queenstown and Wanaka Kiwibuild. They are signatories on the NZTA-QLDC roading alliance that rebuilt the town centre and is now building the bypass SH1 road. They will also be one of the largest governance beneficiaries of 3 Waters.
The local government elections are going to be very interesting. I'd expect that, if the Council has moved to supporting 3 waters, the anti-group will be looking to topple them. There's a strong swell of popular opinion against 3 waters (in the way that it's currently been packaged) – which all local body reps will be eyeing with concern….
In 3 Waters there are now so many safeguards against privatisation that they forgot that the 50% iwi ownership is pretty close to privatisation itself.
There's not even a 49-51% split that John Key did for the electricity generator selloff.
While this government clearly sees a rationality in renationalising health and tertiary education, the state is forming a structure for water in which Ministers (and hence voters) get the least possible influence.
I bet if Labour proposed to National that the regional and co-governance model was dumped and they simply set up a nationwide water asset owner, it would go the same was as the National+Labour+Act vote that the Carbon legislation got: enduring Parliamentary mandate.
As it happens this morning I found out an old colleague of mine is working in a leadership role in just this space, and I think I have made it clear I am fully supportive of major water industry consolidation for any number of good technical reasons.
But caucus seems to have conflated it with another agenda altogether that looks for all practical purposes indistinguishable from 'separate development'. And some of us might recall where that led to.
The SuperCity was initially Labour’s idea but when National won in 2008 it became the plaything of ACT and Rodney Hide forced through breaking changes in unseemly haste, way outside of the transition plan, and the resulting beast was not what the royal commission envisaged. The RW tried to fuck up Auckland by turning the main council services into corporate CCO’s that mostly ignore democracy. Luckily Aucklanders were wise to the gNats asset-stripping ways and have tried to elect left wing Councillors ever since.
There was a swell of opposition to 3 Waters. That swell is rapidly being reduced, by strategic manoeuverings, to a harmless ripple. There will be no community up-rising to topple councillors who support 3 Waters.
So the pop culture wars currently being played out on our screens, books, comics and games are certainly getting interesting.
I get the feeling that the current woke/intersectional/garbage is slowly, but surely, turning.
The BBC, finally, realized that the 13th Doctor (or Doctor Karen if you prefer) was poorly written and was greatly disliked (not because shes a woman but because the scripts were garbage) and so Russel T Davies has returned and we're all now waiting for the death of Doctor Karen and who will be the new Doctor
To bring back the audiences I see no better option than David Tennant and Billie Piper (though I think Christopher Eccleston was best) coming back for a limited run and then handing off to the new Doctor
Batwoman finally cancelled, this show basically epitomised all that was bad about woke culture:
Amazon have made a major boo boo with the Rings of Power, heres a reuploaded clip that Amazon put out of 'superfans' talking about the trailer and then Amazon removed it because of how bad it was received
Comedians and actors are now starting to speak out, Bill Maher has certainly seen which way the wind is blowing.
Disney is haemorrhaging money, Netflix loses over 50 billion and subscriptions for the first time
Get woke go broke is now starting to become mainstream
We've still got a long way to go but at least theres a distant light at the end of the tunnel
However there are still many, many problems and this isn't just a left right issue but a good entertainment issue, heres a list of best picture winners and nominees form today back, have a look at the movies this decade and compare them to previous decades
Movies from decades past used to be both critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, look at the movies on the list and look at some of the movies that were nominated and didn't win and compare them to today
What that means is movies are going backwards and we're suffering for it.
I think he really did come across like an alien (not that I've met an alien) and while Billies chemistry with David was off the charts Christopher is still the best Doctor
Hopefully hes got his mental illnesses under control because he was really not doing well at all not so long ago
Eccleston was a great way to reboot the franchise but to me, Tennant was the most watchable Doctor, even the canonical Dr Who. He brought humour and zany energy. The downside was an unfortunate tendency to be a foppish nerd and talk a lots of BS rather than take action. I blame the writers for that. Tennant is a great actor
Enjoyed the "BatWoman" trailer — at least they use the word "Woman" simply and clearly. Never watched the show.
As for the Amazon show, it's based on the appendices to LOTR, they don't have rights to the real stories from the Silmarillion or Lost Tales, so it's doomed to be weak. I don't mind a different take on Middle Earth. (The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Yeskov was great). But I am worried that they won't be telling the great stories we hope for.
Different takes are fine, some of those really into the books don't like the movies and thats fine.
The problem is they're using Tolkiens name and leeching off the movies (as much as they can) but also are trying to erase Tolkien as much as possible and rewrite his works for 'todays' audiences
Its almost as if they've forgotten that the books have been translated into over 30 (nearly 40) languages so other cultures seem to be fine with what Tolkien wrote or that the movies made nearly 3 billion dollars world wide (nearly 6 if you count The Hobbit film series)
So people all over the world were happy with the books and happy with the films yet these producers have decided their must be Hobbits Harfoots, black beardless female dwarves, black elves with short hair, Galadriel must be shown in armour and swinging a sword (because being top three most powerful beings in the third age just isn't enough)
You want to make movie or a series with black elves then go for it, beardless dwarves is aok with me
Bezos has reportedly spent a billion dollars (money acquired by notoriously exploiting his workers) trying to get this thing to the screen. Will enjoy the schadenfreude if it fails. And I agree it does look to be a travesty against Tolkien’s vision, because too many millennial writers are making it into their own political ego trip.
But on the other hand, Middle Earth is such an amazing place & I love to see it brought to life.
The end times are nigh. The war in the police hierarchy between progressive commanders and fascists has entered the attrition phase. As the numbers turn against him, the police director of the national organised crime group, Greg Williams, wrote in an email that it “makes my head hurt".
Stuff requested under the OIA any correspondence between the district commanders and Police National Headquarters over the proposal.
The emails from last year reveal that many district commanders felt the national operation was a poor use of resources and was a distraction from action against organised crime, guns and methamphetamine.
Of the 12 police districts, only three – Tasman in the South Island, and Central and Eastern in the North Island – expressed support for conducting aerial cannabis search and destroy operations.
Waikato police district commander superintendent Bruce Bird criticised an official report into the national operation. He said the initiative had failed to make cannabis any more expensive, suggesting that supply had not been dramatically affected. “This paper is full of assumptions and speculation, but lacks any evidence,” he said. “There is also evidence that the price for a tinny [a small amount of cannabis] never changes – that is an impact on supply and demand.”
He seems to mean the evidence shows no impact on supply and demand – but the words got scrambled in his head and came out wrong.
Canterbury district commander John Price wrote in an email in September that they had not run aerial operations “for a few years”. “The intelligence is not there to support the benefit realisation".
Intelligence not being there has never been a problem for cops in the past, so looks like radical progress is happening.
Waitematā district commander Naila Hassan wrote in an email in September that she did not support the plan. “In Waitematā we don’t see any worthwhile benefit to this operation being run in our district.” Bay of Plenty district commander Andy McGregor also wrote that he did not support a national operation.
Gosh, it's almost as if there's been an outbreak of common sense. No wonder the crime ringleader dude got spooked.
Wellington district crime services manager John van den Heuvel summarised feedback from staff in the capital in another email last September. “With benefit not obvious, the proposed annual NCCO may be viewed as an operation for the sake of an operation,’’ one bullet point in the email stated.
The feedback was sent to police director of national organised crime group, Greg Williams, who replied in an email that it was not productive.
Who would expect a fascist to notice when a feedback process produced a consensus? They don't get training in how to spot a consensus, so can't blame them.
Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick: "the price of a tinny has not been impacted." Word on the street? Part of the hip younger generation, so I guess she gets it. Anyway, price stability is the goal of the RB, neoliberalism, and our parliamentary bipartisan consensus, so it's win/win/win all around. Except for the fascists.
Small question of hyperbole here. "Fascism : a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government." Can you marry this definition of fascism with your depiction of some police commanders as 'fascists' who are still seeing air surveillance of marijuana growing as worthwhile? I get you don't agree but really…. fascist?
Let's keep that word for those to whom it really applies.
good post. have had personal experience with a couple of those places, high tides co-inciding with inland rainfall can be devastating, and its getting common. I think that most sea-protection happens where the land is worth more, somewhere there is a correlation between not believing climate change, and demanding that something be done about something you dont believe in, the nth shore springs to mind. there will be neighbourhood valuation groups meeting and discussing what can be done to stop rising waters, and lowering values…
Had you made some decent attempt to explain your thinking and referenced what it is in the post you think frames economy vs climate, I might have let this go. I’ve told you many times now that you don’t understand my position, and I’ve asked you to stop misrepresenting it. In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods. That’s the economy and climate action. I’m not willing to have people continually making shit up about what I write so please stay out of my posts for the rest of the month.
But having moved this to OM I can now say what I really think. The Greens everywhere have for decades vociferously stifled the one technology that would have prevented this crisis – yet even now when the failure is blatantly obvious – you still cannot tolerate anyone talking about it.
As I said – your OP on the other thread framed the problem as a false choice between coal and the industries on which our economy depends.
In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods.
Without specifying even in the broadest outline how you think this can be done – this is a pretty meaningless claim. My problem with all of these de-power schemes is that while they might look superficially appealing, once you start to dig into the complex energy, material and technology linkages involved in everything you take for granted about the modern world – they start to look less pretty.
You once argued there was no reason why we could not go back to living something like we did in the 1950's. Sure – but there is no reason to think that would be any more a stable state than it was back then. Moreover you would also have to accept that a population of 8b is not going to survive with the food production we had then. No computers, no internet, no medical tech – so many things we take for granted in 2022, are just not possible in a 1950 context.
Nor would I suggest that a second wave feminism would have happened. The opportunity for women to access the workforce in very large numbers was largely possible to the elimination of a lot of physical labour with automation for instance. All of this tech is inter-woven in ways most people do not see – and you generally either get the whole enchilada or none at all. There is not much scope for picking the things you want to have in 1950, like mRNA vaccines, but not computers mining bitcoin.
The point I have made many times – but you refuse to acknowledge – is that technology drives social change. If you deconstruct and regress the technology, the same will likely happen with the social conditions – only in ways you will probably not really like. Indeed if you want to see what would likely happen – consider the lives of the very poorest women on earth, still living in absolute poverty. These people are wonderfully de-powered, yet you would find their living conditions intolerable.
There is of course scope for us to trim excess and waste – and we keep doing this all the time. But the idea we can happily regress backward in time to a previous era that was somehow better and safer is dishonest, unadulterated rose-tint as far as I am concerned.
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
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So we have a new crisis:
Could be an entire new ministry will be required to build sea-walls?
The switch is due to discovery of land dropping. The scientists have mapped it nationwide and provided an interactive website so you can check out how it affects your neighbourhood.
First consideration is if councils can cope with providing new defensive infrastructure. If not, how does the govt do the job – within the ministry of climate change or the ministry of transport?
Tamaki Drive got rebuilt with an 80cm lift last year.
State Highway 17 to Auckland's west was pushed up over a metre after the SH20 tunnels were built.
SH1 Kaikoura was lifted and rebuilt together with the earthquake rebuild.
Mission Bay has a pretty good seawall already.
Wellington rail and Lower Hutt have massive rebuilds underway.
The places I would focus on would be:
– Awanui, Taipa and Kaeo in the far north
– State highway from Haast to Fox Glacier
– Westport. Looking forward to the West Coast Regional Chairman Allan Birchfield telling Westport not to worry. Again.
West Coast councillor continues denying sea level rise | RNZ News
– Eastborne and Days Bay in Wellington
– Christchurch estuary settlements
– Hauraki Plains including Thames and Paeroa
– Invercargill east and south including airport
As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal. I don't think I will be buying their T-Shirts.
In the clip below, Napier Airport was given as an example of land sinking . Of course, Napier Airport is build on land pushed up by an earthquake.
Richard Levy and Tim Naish have done what seems like excellent research followed by predictions based on that research. All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/05/alarming-new-statistics-reveal-new-zealand-s-sea-level-could-rise-30cm-in-next-10-to-20-years.html
All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival. Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so. If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.
Oh wait, you mean the Nats would actually do politics on the basis of science instead of ignoring it? They just need a little time to digest the science? Fair enough. Not everyone's a fast learner.
''Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival.''
Correct. If you come towards me in a threatening manner I straight away compensate with a remedial defensive action.
''Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so.''
I don't know what that means because I don't care one iota what National think, or don't, about climate change. I doubt they have a clue themselves.
''If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.''
It's not a matter of doing nothing. It's about a gamble costing billions either way. Are we prepared to accept that on research that is yet to be peer reviewed. Or are we prepared to sit tight and hope for the best? Play the cards.
You seem to have forgotten our dire economic situation thanks to Labour's largesse for all squeaky wheels and ideological itches.
"As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal."
Uncalled for. Inferring Bloomfield was some crazy who set himself up as a messiah but no-one listens to him anymore? He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.
You're a dork Blade.
Thank you Anne, the petty bitterness is strong in the likes of Blade and a few others here. Relentlessly negative and relentlessly boring.
It was more a statement about hero worship. We in New Zealand have a dearth of glitzy stars to idolise. Therefore we tend to admire the more mundane. Ruud Kleinpaste, the bug man, for example.
''He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.''
Exactly – it was his job.
But he morphed into something larger with his regular appearances on the ''Pulpit Of Truth.'' Adulation and t-shirts followed.
I'm betting Richard Levy and Tim Naish are about to become media darlings. Their word will be gospel, and God help any fuckwit who says otherwise.
''You're a dork Blade.''
That's unkind. But, in my opinion, you have always come across as a shallow thinker.
I see "ferals" – How often do you see them? – All the time. They're everywhere.
Now this is no silver bullet but a good move by Labour.
Budget 2022: School attendance, truancy focus of $88 million funding package and strategy – NZ Herald
Sounds like a recipe for more committees, consultants, advisors, meetings and lots of tick box exercises. Yep, that'll do it.
You forgot the waste of taxpayer money. Truancy has nothing to do with school attendance… it has more to do with cultural values. And in Maoridom, education isn't a high priority with many. Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high.
From Jester’s link:
''The package also included $11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme and $7.75m specifically for Māori and Pasifika communities, where there are large discrepancies.''
[You are in Pre-Moderation until you correct the following statement or provide links to support it:
You have one shot at it, to avoid numerous time-wasting comments going to & from, and one day – Incognito]
"Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high."
Untrue and offensive.
As bizzare as it is.
Mere opinion?
Even a ‘mere opinion’ doesn’t come out of the blue and stands alone in isolation in a referential vacuum without some framework to form and sustain (aka confirm) it.
Mod note
Blade doesn't shy away from a challenge so he's never going to walk that back. I'm expecting genetic evidence and a full history of the heritage of the infamous Rugby gene will be forthcoming.
He's not completely wrong, especially with the added "with many" bit
Gangs especially respect sports prowess, size and violence and education can be seen as a negative "you think you're smart don't you"
Unfortunately the media being what it is it'll glorify the gangs and ignore those with their heads down getting on with it
Your thinking of having a go at the pre-mod challenge too?
Yes PR would be on much safer ground just sticking to telling us how racist white people are.
Can be difficult to know when you’re on “safer ground” – is nothing sacred?
Racism starts small. Sometimes it lives in everyday actions and comments that we laugh off, nod in agreement to, excuse, and therefore accept. But we don’t have to. We can stop casual racism from growing into something more extreme. We can give it no encouragement. No respect. No place. No power. We can give it nothing. http://www.givenothing.co.nz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9n_UPyVR5s
See – very safe ground. No pre-mod for the uber woke.
Yep, doubt Taika will be cancelled anytime soon. He can read a room.
Taika needs to stop doing doing Marvel movies, stop hiring Tessa Thompson (although I guess there are other reasons) and more movies like Jojo or What We Do In The Shadows etc
I think a clip from a popular Tony Award winning, Broadway and West End play might just be applicable to this situation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovF1zsDoeM
All humans have to some extent with an in-group preference. It expresses itself in sexual selection and family bonding. It would be a very strange thing indeed if we did not have an unconscious bias toward people we feel genetically and culturally connected with.
This selectivity and tribalism is an exceedingly common behaviour across almost all of the higher mammals I can immediately think of. It should be no surprise or even controversial that humans share this trait as well.
But remarkably we also have the capacity to overlay this trait with a broader abstraction around the universality of humanity. We can take the idea that all humans stand equal before their Maker and expand our ethical horizon to ultimately include all 7.5b people on the planet. We can formulate intellectually the idea that 'the earth is but one planet and mankind its citizens'. This is the root motivation that demands we condemn the wrong idea that some human races are genetically superior to others. Racism was founded in a mistaken interpretation of why some cultures and societies came to dominate while others were overrun all throughout history. We now should understand that it had nothing to do with genetics and almost everything with technology and institutional development.
But to then argue this means there is no difference between any of the cultures and societies is wrong as well. That is nothing more than an attempt to cancel out one stupid mistake with another. It is the reason why the woke left claims that all differences in outcomes can only be explained by racism. And if they cannot find any significant examples of personal racist anima, nor any institutional laws or policies to explain differences – then untestable concepts such as 'unconscious bias' and 'institutional racism' are trotted out to fill the gap.
Yet as I suggested above – all humans have an intrinsic unconscious bias, yet invoking this explains everything and nothing at the same time. Nor does pointing to institutional bias explain much either, it would be very surprising if the dominant culture anywhere did not organise their public life to suit themselves. Why would they not? This is the very stuff of culture and diversity is it not?
Human diversity and selectivity is innate and instinctively enduring. We would not want it to be otherwise. But skin colour and the land of our birth are but accidents; they are the least important aspect of who we are and tell us nothing of our character, competency and potential for achievement.
Because our long, agonising history tells another far more inspiring story of how we have learned to expand our moral horizons painfully and progressively, embracing ever larger groups of peoples and cultures – culminating now in a universal recognition of our common humanity, dignity and right to justice.
And for me that is a battle worth having – against those who would divide us yet again.
Agreed.
I have absolutely no problem saying Western Democratic cultures are superior to anything else we have and we all know it yet, to some, thats borderline, if not outright, racist
One of the most interesting papers I did at Uni was a paper on Social Psychology where that sort of stuff was covered.
Ingroup and outgroup biases and the like. In short, it is nearly impossible for any of us not to have some degree of bias or prejudice, whether that be conscious or unconscious bias.
The best way to break down those prejudices is by setting superordinate goals that require groups to work together to solve the issues.
I guess a great example would be the situation in Ukraine. Prior to the war there would likely have been lots of divisions over all sorts of matters. But when they are all focusing on the goal of defeating the Russians those sort of divisions are forgotten and people are united behind the common cause.
I didn't think his range was up to re-inventing the racist prison guard trope just yet. I will have to defer to your faith in his abilities of course.
Propaganda and fake news usually also contain snippets of truth, so not being “completely wrong” doesn’t make it/him right either – it’s a nonsensical thing to say. The assertion was about Māoridom, not about gangs. So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.
Have you received my reply with the information and links I provided?
Yes, and it was no good.
If you want to ask me a question ask it
I did, but you didn't listen because you didn't want to hear it because you don't want to answer it. Did you really think it was a rhetorical question? Perhaps you realise that you have enough rope to get tangled up in knots or worse. A commenter cannot force another commenter to answer, least of all to answer in a certain way, but a Mod can force some response if there are good grounds for this. You were and still are following the clear signpost to those grounds.
'Did you really think it was a rhetorical question?'
Yes I did.
'So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
The perhaps makes what could have been a simple question into something ambiguous:
Perhaps you’ll ask me a question or perhaps not.
I thought you were just jumping in with your usual sort of subtlety, like your use of the Spanish Archer, which I first thought was some sort of obscure sexual position (like the reverse cowgirl)
Try this instead:
'So I'll ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
That makes basically the same question clear and unambiguous.
So to your question, my response was to Nic the NZers response to Blade.
I thought Nic was over the top in his reply so I replied to Nic with an example that I thought would further expand on Blades point.
I thought my reply was over the top as well, until Blade decided to defend his comments.
The “perhaps” was intended to leave you with a clear choice: either put up or shut up. Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.
You decided to run interference with moderation, in which case you may be treated as such and end up in Pre-Moderation too, or you could simply stay out of it – the choice is yours, still, but not for much longer.
Unless you can read Blade’s mind or you are in communication with Brother Blade you were only adding your own reckons, which were not helpful in the slightest.
'Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.'
Perhaps you're not as clever as you think you are, perhaps you jump into discussions when you don't need to and perhaps you feel a little inadequate since you're clearly not as experienced as the other moderators and so, perhaps, you feel you need to make up for it in other ways.
Have you tried asking the other moderators for advice?
I know when I've been over my head and out of my depth (like you are now) that asking for advice from other better, more experienced people can be a little hard on the ego but is generally always worth it in the long run.
[You’re now also in Pre-Moderation until you also have finished and completed Blade’s homework in your own words and with your own links – no cheating this time. Same terms and conditions apply as for Blade. Bye now – Incognito]
Mod note
Nope.
Not playing your silly game, no matter what I link to it won't be enough.
[As you wish; you’ve used enough rope to hang yourself out to dry for 3 weeks. Bye – Incognito]
Mod note
Of course he's completely wrong. Blade claimed, "truancy has nothing to do with school attendance". But here is the definition of the word:
I wasn't commenting on the truancy aspect
Yes, you were commenting on the accuracy of the claim that education isn't a high priority for many Maori.
Perhaps your view of Maori has been affected by your professional life?
So what was the point of adding in the truancy if you knew what I posted wasn't about truancy?
I had to re-read that crap, unfortunately. Came to the same conclusion. The comment is completely wrong on all counts.
l'm a Maori. I think that gives me some insight into myself and my fellow Maori.
https://www.cambridgenews.nz/2019/09/alan-duffs-cambridge-conversation/
Quote:
“I also told the Minister that, with all due respect, teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Maori will not lessen incarceration rates. They are not in prison because they lack Te Kāinga Maori, they are there because of bad parenting. The same applies to white people in jail … again that is largely due to bad parenting, a lack of education and a failure to instil values. That is what I want to get across.''
https://teara.govt.nz/en/riri-traditional-maori-warfare/page-2
Quote:
''Tribal groups might seek to fight others to increase tribal or personal mana.''
''Traditionally the mana or prestige of a tribe and its members was all important. Tribes and their rangatira could increase mana by triumphing over other tribal groups.''
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14442213.2016.1191530
Quote:
In Māori society rugby has come to be viewed as a platform to maintain an indigenous model of masculinity as well as one of the main sites for the achievement of prestige. National and international representations of the Māori man as a rugby player—a present-day version of the Māori warrior
[You’ve got a bonus try for your effort, which fell way short.
As a Māori you know that you do not and cannot speak for all Māoridom – with personal opinions one can only speak for oneself. You made a specific assertions, which you were asked to correct or support, and so far you’ve done much less than half of the task.
I fail to see how Alan Duff’s quote of his personal views on teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Māori supports your assertions about Māoridom. Ironically, the article starts with Duff’s “desire to use the written word to influence those behind bars to lead better lives”.
Why do simpletons such as you and Puckish Rogue tend to use Māoridom, gangs & crime, and prison population almost synonymously? Are distinctions, nuances, and context too hard for you or are you keener on pushing a certain narrative?
Similarly, the quote about traditional Māori warfare has little bearing on your assertions about present-day Māoridom.
The special status conferred to Māori men playing rugby again doesn’t support your assertions about how Māoridom values and prioritises education.
No more bonus tries after this one – Incognito]
[You didn’t correct or support your assertions about Māoridom, as you were asked to do and I don’t want to waste anymore of my time on this. Take 10 days off and don’t pretend to be a spokesperson for or an expert on Māoridom when you get back because you’re clearly neither – Incognito]
Mod note
I may, or may not, be a simpleton but at least I know how to use perhaps in a sentence clearly and unambiguously.
Unlike you.
Living dangerously, Puck!
I come from a culture where if you dish it out you're expected to take it and if you can't handle it then don't start it.
Nice irony 😀
Every culture has its dark side and blind spots. But I think you’ll find that the dismal statistics for Maori also correlate with relative economic privilege. There is a reason for all the targeted government programmes — as a people they have been subjected to systematic violence by the colonial settler state, and while the rest of us sit around arguing on blogs & sipping cappuccinos, our wealth is based on massive theft from 17% of the population.
Mod note #2
Hmm. It's difficult to tell exactly where the money is going – but it sounds like bureaucracy. I can't conceive that "$11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme" is going to achieve much.
If there are behaviour issues (and, according to my teacher friends, these are order-of-magnitude more severe than pre-Covid), then schools need support to deal with these right now – not in 2 years time when the 'programme' has been designed.
What schools actually need is the funding for additional classroom support for these kids – whether that looks like additional teachers in existing classrooms, or small group coaching, or even non-standard classes (if teens are working shelf-stacking [as quoted in the article], then perhaps concentrate on the key NCEA subjects when they're at school – and at least get them the core qualifications – you need NCEA L2 English and Maths for most apprenticeships).
I don't see how developing a programme (which the schools won't have the funding to carry out) – is going to do anything except keep bureaucrats employed.
The PBL program has been around for ages. It was in my daughter's primary school and she's now 20. It's a whole school approach with incentives and rewards for positive behaviour – it does teach some kids to suck-up to the teachers though. With the new funding, it should be able to get into more schools.
It's like most anything a government does (regardless of who is in) and that's throw money at the situation
At best it'll do something positive (rarely), usually no change will happen (but the government can say we've done something) and occasionally it'll make the problem even worse
You're right in what would help the problem, targeted support to those that need it but it needs to start with the vulnerable families while the mother is pregnant not years later at school
I agree with the earlier support — but it has to be AND ALSO rather than pick one or the other.
Absent a time machine, we can't fix the early years of kids now at school. Yes, we need to intervene now to prevent the next tranche arriving with preventable issues – but we also need to work with the kids now in school (or missing from school) and put solutions to those issues in place.
Yeah sorry I wasn't too clear in what I meant.
I mean you can and should do both but rather than have two different programs running concurrently there should be only one program starting before the child is born which older children can be entered into
The more programs you run means more costs and more chances of kids falling through the cracks
Goodness gracious me! This issue has been popping up to the surface every few years since before my offspring began school. Another study and another initiative and more targeted funding and 'special' funding for those groups with 'discrepancies'. And it only gets worse.
How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?
As always we focus on the causes of failures and not on how many families in similar circumstances make it work for their children.
The first two drivers would be (if we asked them) that these parents realise education is the key to a more secure job and a better future, and these parents genuinely want their children to have a better life than than they had.
"How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?"
A suggestion that is based on existing solutions, and grassroots perspectives?
Then what'll happen to all the consultants ready to advise?
I'm not saying that they make up a significant number of the 60% absent…but could it be that some of those being counted as truant are actually being home schooled?
More than 10,000 students in New Zealand are now learning from home, but there is growing concern their learning methods aren’t being scrutinised.
But some want the reviews reinstated as applications for home schooling grow.
There have been 5,000 new applications in the last year.
Kaitaia Primary School’s Principal, Brendon Morrissey, says “that’s a big number.”
It is quite possible that some parents do not realise you have to apply to home school and have simply pulled their kids out of mainstream education.
A private Christian school in Mosgiel has quadrupled its roll by offering a mixed model of teaching where home schooled kids are offered 'distance support''.
Homeschool reviews were initially reduced, and then eliminated because in terms of expense vs negative homeschool reviews, the ERO decided it was a budgetary save.
Despite once being a committee member on a National Home Ed organisation, I only ever viewed Home Ed as another choice, as opposed to a universally better one. The approach of families and engagement of children are as diverse as the population. Quite a few with exemptions were not part of any group.
My addition to your sensible suggestion re: truancy.
Make the school experience better. Because if that doesn't change, all that's been achieved is returning a child to where they don't want to be.
How's that help with encouraging a love of learning? Disruption in the classroom to indicate pushback, would be expected at the least.
Make the school experience better.
Okay, granted it was a different time…and technologywise might as well be a different universe…do you think that there might have been certain elements of the 'old' school environment that was more conducive to attending and engaging than today's?
I heard today that a newish school in the Waikato, designed and built to encompass all the very latest in modern learning has removed practically all the non- fiction books from the Library. (Library is deliberately capitalised, as befitting it's importance.) The learners don't need all those dusty dog eared reference books… the world's knowledge is all there on Goggle and Wiki.
Thing is, you ask Goggle or Wiki a specific question and voilla, the answer is delivered instantaneously. The old way, you'd wander down through the rows looking for the book about Space or Deserts and along the way be sidetracked by books about Ancient Civilizations or WWII.
Maybe the Young People have been conditioned to expect everything to be delivered at the push of the enter key or the swipe of a screen. Even the littlies have their iPads. Attention spans are practically non- existent.
Maybe I'm just old.
Many years ago there were Truancy Officers, and from memory for a period there were also Visiting Teachers (both in primary schools; secondary may have had somebody doing some work on truancy). The jobs overlapped to a certain extent; I think the Truancy Officers were eliminated first, then later the Visiting Teachers. Talking to those whose children are already attending would seem to be less important than talking to the parents of children that do not attend.
They're call attendance officers now.
http://www.papamoacollege.school.nz/vdb/document/931
For many years they were called Visiting Teachers, in the 70's and 80's. They visited the homes and helped with problems which were contributing…. Children going with Parents to interpret, for example.
Things going from bad to worse for the Keystone-cops Russian military in Ukraine.
Now their General in charge of the war Gerasimov has been evacuated to Belgorod due to shrapnel injuries from a Ukrainian attack.
According to this twitter thread there was a Ukrainian attack against a meeting of high ranking officers at a Russian command headquarters in the Russian-held area of Izyum in Ukraine. It appears that 20 may have been killed and up to 40 injured.
Not only that, there was just another huge fire in Belgorod. Judging by all the secondary explosions, it looks like it was a weapons depot.
According to this twitter thread and video, helicopters were circling the area 30 minutes prior to the explosion suggesting a VIP was about to arrive. Joining the dots, it seems likely that the Russians were securing the area waiting for Gerasimov to arrive.
So, it looks like the poor guy would have had quite a greeting when he arrived to the sound of a massive explosion at an arms depot in the area.
I guess we all have days like that sometimes….
Here's a succinct look at how his famous Gerasimov Doctrine (all instruments of state deployed carefully and accurately to achieve victory) supports broader strategy within the Russian state:
The Primakov (Not Gerasimov) Doctrine in Action – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Putin needs this guy alive.
Agreed. Not that I feel particularly sorry for him given his past form. Karma is a wonderful thing.
But this horrendous attrition of their top leadership must be becoming very problematic for the Russian war effort. They tend to have a very top down military structure, and those in the lower-down ranks don't have much of a clue what to do.
The Ukrainians must be getting some good intel on the whereabouts of senior officers in Ukraine.
It could be the US intelligence service. Or maybe the Russians are still using unsecured communications despite all the trouble that has caused them so far. Or maybe it is the Russian military themselves feeding info back given that a lot of them don’t particularly like their senior officers and don’t particularly want to be there. Or it could be a combination of all the above.
Yes,the U.S commanders have alot more recent experience in conducting…war.
How long can this war go on?
Both the U.S and Russia seem so determined to….achieve their aims.
How long can this war go on?
For as long as it suits Xi, and not a smidgen longer. Xi can yank Putin's chain anytime. That he's been keeping quiet for so long tells us he likes what's happening. Not a threat to Belt & Road, apparently…
Interesting.
The BRIC countries seem keen on alternatives to the dominance of the $U.S in international commerce,but China does hold alot of U.S paper.
The strengthening of the U.S dollar is a two edged sword.
If the status of the U.S dollar is undermined ,America loses its huge leverage over the rest of the world.
It doesn't give me any sense of optimism for Ukraine though.
If it sets into a war of attrition that will favour Ukraine.
Due to the sanctions, Russia is unable to replace a lot of their military equipment. On the other hand, Ukraine has heaps pouring in from the west.
In a war of attrition, the advantage is to the side that can replace their losses. In this case, it looks very much like Ukraine.
The longer the war continues the more likely is Russia will win it. And there is no mechanism for reflection – or regime change – in the Putin regime.
For example Valery Gerasimov was sent to the Ukraine by Putin last week, and was apparently wounded yesterday by a Ukrainian MLRS strike on the CP (Command Post) of Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov who was killed in the attack. Siminov was the ninth Russian general to die in this war and was killed near the city of Izyum – the fulcrum of the supposed northern spear head of the Russian Donbas offensive.
As an aside, Siminov was the senior officer commanding all Russia's electronic warfare units and the targeting information for this Ukrainian strike almost certainly came from an U.S. RC-135 "Rivet Joint" signals intelligence surveillance aircraft that has been operating over the Black Sea. Make what you will of how provocative that knowledge must be to the Russians.
The fate of Gerasimov (the closest of Putin confidantes) – fall from favour, disappearance from public view, sent to the front to get things moving or find salvation in death on the battlefield – is in the finest of totalitarian traditions (the fact he was only wounded and has fled the front will have Field Marshal Paulus chuckling in his grave) and should tell us all we need to know about the ability of Russia to find a way out of this war that doesn't involve a bloody victory.
I don't agree.
I think the longer it goes on, the more it favours the Ukrainians. That is because a long war becomes a war of attrition, and a war of attrition favours the side that can replace its losses.
As mentioned in another post, the Russians are having major problems with replacing equipment at the moment. For instance, Russia is having major difficulties with tank production. And a lot of their equipment depends on imported parts which are affected by sanctions.
Ukraine doesn't have this problem with the west committing to supply their military needs for as long as required. For instance, it looks like the US will be committing another $33 billion to Ukraine alone. Plus all the gear coming in from Britain and the rest of Europe.
Most of this isn't even in the field yet. When the Ukrainians are trained on all that, and they are able to get it into the field imagine how much damage they will be able to do to the Russian army compared to what they are doing now. Even as it stands at the moment, Ukraine is giving the Russians a lot of trouble just using the equipment they have. And that is going to get progressively worse for the Russians.
I think that is a reason the Russians attacked a lot earlier than they probably wanted to given the muddy conditions that is confining Russian forces to the road. Ideally, it would suit the Russian armour advantage to be on the open ground that is to their advantage in the Donbas. But that isn't really possible at the moment.
There was the May 9th deadline from Putin. But I think also, the Russians probably rightly concluded that if they held off until conditions favoured them, the Ukrainians would have got a lot stronger by that time.
Excepting of course that Russia could choose deploy weapons that would essentially 'win' the war in a matter of minutes. The longer it drags out the closer we get to that outcome I suspect.
That would be the temptation. However, I believe that NATO have stated that their response to such action would be proportionate, though not not necessarily the same.
So, for instance, NATO might bite the bullet and completely cut gas imports from Russia, which would completely deplete the Russian war effort nearly immediately.
Also, even China might be compelled to condemn such an action, and may not want to be seen giving tacit support to such action.
Also, Ukraine gave up its own nukes on the basis of a security guarantee from the US in case of nuclear attack.
So, there is a bit for Russia to weigh up in deciding whether such action is worth the consequences.
A happy little gathering of nuclear subs in Scotland.
If this isn't sending a not so subtle message to Vlad, I don't what the picnics all about!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmmSDY-dtLY
Morale must be in the shitter.
Our briefing this week sets out just how rotten the army has been. Russia’s defence budget, of over $250bn at purchasing power, is about three times that of Britain or France, but much of it is squandered or stolen. Mr Putin and his top commanders kept their invasion plans from senior officers, reflecting a crippling lack of trust. Disaffected troops, fed on out-of-date rations, have deserted their vehicles. Units have tortured, raped and murdered only to be honoured by the Kremlin. Russia has failed to win control of the skies or combine air power with tanks, artillery and infantry. Wallowing in corruption, unable to foster initiative or learn from their mistakes, its frustrated generals abandoned advanced military doctrine and fell back on flattening cities and terrorising civilians.
https://archive.ph/JJYWh
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/04/30/how-rotten-is-russias-army
And the Ukrainians still haven't got into service all the good stuff the west is sending so I understand.
So, it looks like they are giving the Russians a hard time with the stuff they are using already. Doesn't bode well for the Russians once all the western heavy artillery etc gets into the field.
Yes the West is sending all the 'good stuff'….they will fight to the last Ukrainian.
Russia has more to lose than just this….conflict.
All they are doing is backing the Ukrainian's own willingness to fight for their country. A bit different to Afghanistan that folded like a pack of cards when the Western military left, despite all the investment there in helping them become self-sufficient militarily.
Seems more likely that Putin is fighting to the last Russian from what I can see. It reminds me of something from "The Walking Dead" where the Russian soldiers are like the zombies that keep coming and keep getting wiped out.
Whether they are going to have enough to win by force of numbers with that strategy seems unlikely given that this is a "special military operation'', not a war, according to the Russians, which limits their ability to call up reservists or launch a major draft. Even if they did that, it is going to take a long time before those forces can be brought into the combat. Also, equipping new forces will be an issue for the Russians given the attrition of their equipment and the difficulties in them replacing it.
So, the Russians are pretty much stuck with what they have got at the moment.
On the other hand, the Ukrainians have no such constraints and are training up as many as possible for the fight.
Afghanistan lasted 20 years and cost $2trillion .
Biden is asking Congress for another 33billion for the Ukraine.
I do wonder if merkins think what good 33billion could do ,regarding all the homeless people in U.S cities.
I guess having a bought and paid for strategic pawn on Russias border is more valuable to the U.S….longterm.
Probably all printed money. There is an endless supply of that.
But, I think the Ukrainians would be fighting with or without international support. They would likely be under a lot more Russian control by now. But they probably would go to more of an insurgency type war.
So, the US and Europe are just backing the Ukrainians in a fight they intend to have any way.
This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger.
All that NATO has given the Ukrainians up until recently is basically some anti-tank and anti-aircraft gear, and some old Soviet stuff that the NATO nations wanted to get rid of for better stuff anyway.
'This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger'
Oh really!You might be interested to know that the U.S.A is a member of NATO…and has a rather large….'finger'.
I did say "at the moment''. But that is certainly starting to change. Hence while Russia is trying to do as much as they can while they have the chance.
'at the moment',the U.S(NATO=member) is up to their eyeballs in it without actually deploying official boots on…the ground.
That they are. But remember, it is not like they are supporting Ukraine to invade Russia. Ukraine never asked to be invaded, and Russia can end this any time they want to by withdrawing.
The Ukrainian's outstanding combat performance will only degrade as their best units are chewed up in attritional positional warfare in the Donbas, whereas for the Russians the only way is up. At some point in the short to medium term a convergence in combat performance will occur. Already reports are the remaining Russian are fighting a lot better. This is why the Ukrainians are desperate for artillery, a type of weapon whose lethality is almost independent of the skill of the infantry. In this sense, the fighting in the Donbas is analogous to most 20th century warfare. For example the Somme in 1916, where the huge losses of Kitcheners ill-trained "new armies" was of less military importance than the destruction of Germany's best pre-war infantry, with Ludendorff lamenting the conversion of the German army into a militia. Subsequent to the Somme as the Allies armies improved the Germans were forced to retreat to the Hindenburg Line & adopt an elastic defense based on concrete and a cadre of elite machines gunners. Or perhaps more relevant the huge losses of the Red army in 1941-42 were of less importance than the massive and irresplaceable attrition of the Germans in the same period. By the time of the post-Kursk counter-offensives the Red Army still wasn't very good but it had killed enough of the very good Germans of 1941 for it not to matter anymore.
Another thing not being covered in the media is the crippling fuel crisis engulfing the Ukrainian army. Don’t be seduced by propaganda, the Russians are not stupid. All Ukrainian refining capacity was destroyed early on in this war and much of the subsequent Russian cruise missile attacks have been on the fuel storage and transport net, particularly railways, which has basically starved the Ukrainians of fuel for their still powerful tank brigades. Almost all imagery of Ukrainian heavy armour I've seen recently is showing it dug in, with probably only enough fuel for emegency use.
All in all, the fate of the Ukraine will probably be decided in the next 2 weeks. If the Russians can't achieve a clean breakthough and surround the Donbas salient – and there is good reason to suppose they lack the combat power for this – then Putin will either declare war on or after the May Day parades and simply use brute force and numbers to overwhelm the Ukraine or someone will have to come up with a face-saving Russian "victory" with a ceasefire along the current battlelines – again if we were to look to history the Finnish defeat in the 1939 Winter war might be a good guideline. I know Zelensky will vehemently oppose any ceding of land but if that is what the US and Russia and China can cook up and the bulk of the Ukraine retains it's independence then that might be what he'll have little choice but to accept.
Here is some nice artillery work by the Ukrainians that may be the attack referred to in my post. But you can see they are very accurate.
I think the Russian artillery are good at attacking civilian cities where they can't really miss. But I think their targeting ability is not as good as the Ukrainians.
Fuel is definitely an issue. But at the moment, the Ukrainians don't need to move around as much as the Russians. The Ukrainians are able to maintain more defensive positions, and Putin has put the onus on the Russians to do the attacking.
But fuel supply is something they definitely will need to solve when they start more counter-offensives. They have a similar problem to the Russians at the start of the war, in terms of long supply lines. They may need to start sending out fuel trucks from Poland or similar.
Also, logistics continue to be a big problem for the Russians. Not only did the Ukrainians take out an arms depot, they have also just taken out several Russian railway bridges essential to supplying the Russian army.
If the Ukrainians are able to, now would be a good time for them to counter attack, while the Russians are low on leadership, and don't want to waste their own ammo and fuel due to their own logistical problems.
Declaring war is an option for Putin to increase the soldiers available, which is a major lack at the moment. But those soldiers aren’t magicked up over night. They have to be trained, equipped, and incorporated into the existing forces.
Given the attrition rate on Russian equipment, and the difficulty of replacing it, this is going to be problematic for Russia, even if a state of war is declared.
And, how much does Russia really want to weaken its armed forces over this conflict? They are just playing into the stated objectives of the US who want a weakened Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61214176
Thre is no indication I have seen that the Ukrainians have sufficient combat power to conduct anything more than local counter-attacks. I think a counter offensive is completely beyond them and anyway, no armoured offensive has had any chance of succeeding if the enemy has air superority since 1940.
The Russians will keep up a methodical, Great War style artillery dominated postional warfare to seize and hold limited objectives ('Artillery conquers, infantry occupies' to quote JFC Fuller) and using western artillery the Ukrainians will then counter-attack. The Russian will suffer hugely going in, and the Ukrainians will suffer hugely throwing them out again. This fighting will be almost exactly like the Western Front in 1917. IMHO, the war in the Ukraine will most likely develop into a version of Passchendaele.
I understand they have quite a good counter-offensive going around Kharkiv at the moment. That may be where the attack on Belgorod came from, as the Ukrainians are quite close to that border. And they are also threatening to cut off Russian supply lines from there.
I understand their counter-attack around Kherson has come to a bit of a halt atm. But, from what I have read, the Russians have had to send a lot more forces back there to hold the ground. So, that removes Russian forces from attacking elsewhere.
From what I have read, it looks like a lot of the Russian battle groups are very undermanned due to losses they have taken and are not really fully functional. For instance, apparently, some of their APCs are going out with only a couple of people in them rather than 8 or whatever the ideal number is.
It sounds like their biggest problem is really not having enough infantry. I think this is in part due to their war strategy and also massive attrition. But it makes it very hard for them to hold ground and go forward. The problem being that, as they go forward, they have to leave troops behind to hold taken ground. This thins their forces out further as they continue to advance.
So, where the Ukrainians have retreated, it often is strategic, going back to strong defensive positions and inviting the Russians to keep coming. Continually attacking defensive positions results in very high attrition, which is what we are seeing at the moment.
The big mistake the Russians made at the start was to attack on too many fronts. So, the Ukrainians don't want to repeat the same mistake, and should focus their counter-attacks where they can have good effect.
No links for the above sorry as it would take ages to find all the stuff I have looked at. As you can see, this is a bit of an obsession for me atm!!
Good comments from both of you. I can well understand how absorbing these events are. To my mind the Ukrainian agony makes so many of the other 'outrage de jour' seem like petty, narcissistic distractions.
Thanks for that Red.
On the point of the fuel shortages for the Ukrainians, one thing they have in their advantage is the use of drone technology. This stuff is a lot more portable, and less fuel intensive than heavy armour. The Russians don't seem to be up with that so much.
Obviously the TB2 Turkish drone that has been well publicised. But also the US switchblade kamakaze drones. And they are also utilising hobby drones and converting them for munitions use. Including using 3D printers to customise tail fins etc so that are fitted to common, cheap munitions they have.
Here is an example of bombs being dropped from a hobby drone. That was a nice effort, dropping the bomb right through a car sunroof. Nothing but net!
Note: Trigger warning. That video does contain real war footage that some may find distressing.
That is no fake trigger warning.
It must be really unsettling as a soldier knowing that sort of thing can happen out of the blue. It must cause the sort of effect on morale that snipers cause.
Apparently they are customising armour-piercing munitions to be dropped from hobby drones on the likes of tanks and APCs. The cost-benefit of that equation is staggering. The cost of the drone plus munition is less than $1000, and they can take out a piece of equipment that might be worth $3/4 of a million or more.
Btw, I put the wrong link into the first link of my first post today.
Here is the link I meant to put in:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10772727/Putins-military-commander-Valery-Gerasimov-wounded-forced-evacuate-war-zone.html
If sea level rise was Labour-Greens' opening panic story to introduce their Zero Carbon strategy, starting a debate about sea walls, insurance stripping away location-specific premiums to zero coverage, the great Westport tombstone, and Canute-like 'heroic' resistance, we should probably expect a related panic theme every week coming out from Shaw and Roberston.
The gist from Newshub's breaking story last night was that it was driven by a new scientific discovery. Neither Shaw nor Robertson seem to do panic. Shaw does pragmatic response (usually too understated) and Robertson does complacent ignorance (I've never noticed him personally addressing the climate crisis).
If they were to collaborate, it'd be a good thing. Watch for any specific climate-change framing in his budget speech, huh? If you can cite it here, I'll applaud. If not, he'll prove me right.
The story was designed as a precursor to the Carbon Zero announcement coming up in a couple of weeks.
The carbon farming in the budget has been well telegraphed for months.
It's the first and last time the Greens will get to shine this term.
The narrative is clear as they rolled out the draft adaption plan first,then a model,then the CC initiatives,then the budget.
Great to see Ngai Tahu focusing the minds of Queenstown Lakes District Council and getting a total pullout of that Councils' opposition to 3 Waters.
Council flips on Three Waters | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)
This follows Dunedin City Council and Central Otago also seeing the light.
Who else is going to crumble?
Seems Ngai Tahu already have an influential governance stake. What pressure will they have put on the council?
They have a lot of levers with Queenstown Lakes. They own much of the Queenstown CBD where QLDC resides. They are a JV partner on a couple of properties with them. They are one of the largest tourism operators in QLDC, in a city that runs on tourism. They are partners in Queenstown and Wanaka Kiwibuild. They are signatories on the NZTA-QLDC roading alliance that rebuilt the town centre and is now building the bypass SH1 road. They will also be one of the largest governance beneficiaries of 3 Waters.
The local government elections are going to be very interesting. I'd expect that, if the Council has moved to supporting 3 waters, the anti-group will be looking to topple them. There's a strong swell of popular opinion against 3 waters (in the way that it's currently been packaged) – which all local body reps will be eyeing with concern….
But then without water, and with less and less say in transport, what power does any local government really hold anymore?
The Nat-proxies may well storm the castle at the local elections to find that it now has only one tall and very thin tower to defend.
The local government kingdom has been lost.
Next the hated colonial central government. No more of that nasty democratic tyranny of the majority anymore.
In 3 Waters there are now so many safeguards against privatisation that they forgot that the 50% iwi ownership is pretty close to privatisation itself.
There's not even a 49-51% split that John Key did for the electricity generator selloff.
While this government clearly sees a rationality in renationalising health and tertiary education, the state is forming a structure for water in which Ministers (and hence voters) get the least possible influence.
I bet if Labour proposed to National that the regional and co-governance model was dumped and they simply set up a nationwide water asset owner, it would go the same was as the National+Labour+Act vote that the Carbon legislation got: enduring Parliamentary mandate.
As it happens this morning I found out an old colleague of mine is working in a leadership role in just this space, and I think I have made it clear I am fully supportive of major water industry consolidation for any number of good technical reasons.
But caucus seems to have conflated it with another agenda altogether that looks for all practical purposes indistinguishable from 'separate development'. And some of us might recall where that led to.
The Natz were not too concerned about the locals when it came to the …. Auckland Supercity.
The touted synergies and savings proved to be ….b/s.
Tru dat. Anyone expecting cheaper water bills after 3 Waters?
The SuperCity was initially Labour’s idea but when National won in 2008 it became the plaything of ACT and Rodney Hide forced through breaking changes in unseemly haste, way outside of the transition plan, and the resulting beast was not what the royal commission envisaged. The RW tried to fuck up Auckland by turning the main council services into corporate CCO’s that mostly ignore democracy. Luckily Aucklanders were wise to the gNats asset-stripping ways and have tried to elect left wing Councillors ever since.
There was a swell of opposition to 3 Waters. That swell is rapidly being reduced, by strategic manoeuverings, to a harmless ripple. There will be no community up-rising to topple councillors who support 3 Waters.
Today and tomorrow there is an electrical generation imbalance,where demand can exceed supply at ant time.
https://nzgb.redspider.co.nz/
So the pop culture wars currently being played out on our screens, books, comics and games are certainly getting interesting.
I get the feeling that the current woke/intersectional/garbage is slowly, but surely, turning.
The BBC, finally, realized that the 13th Doctor (or Doctor Karen if you prefer) was poorly written and was greatly disliked (not because shes a woman but because the scripts were garbage) and so Russel T Davies has returned and we're all now waiting for the death of Doctor Karen and who will be the new Doctor
To bring back the audiences I see no better option than David Tennant and Billie Piper (though I think Christopher Eccleston was best) coming back for a limited run and then handing off to the new Doctor
Batwoman finally cancelled, this show basically epitomised all that was bad about woke culture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7RPQMBhVcM
Amazon have made a major boo boo with the Rings of Power, heres a reuploaded clip that Amazon put out of 'superfans' talking about the trailer and then Amazon removed it because of how bad it was received
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aVX6vw906c
Comedians and actors are now starting to speak out, Bill Maher has certainly seen which way the wind is blowing.
Disney is haemorrhaging money, Netflix loses over 50 billion and subscriptions for the first time
Get woke go broke is now starting to become mainstream
We've still got a long way to go but at least theres a distant light at the end of the tunnel
However there are still many, many problems and this isn't just a left right issue but a good entertainment issue, heres a list of best picture winners and nominees form today back, have a look at the movies this decade and compare them to previous decades
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture#2020s
Movies from decades past used to be both critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, look at the movies on the list and look at some of the movies that were nominated and didn't win and compare them to today
What that means is movies are going backwards and we're suffering for it.
Christopher Eccleston was great. He is still doing good work – as well as appearing at places like the Manchester Working Class Movement Library.
I think he really did come across like an alien (not that I've met an alien) and while Billies chemistry with David was off the charts Christopher is still the best Doctor
Hopefully hes got his mental illnesses under control because he was really not doing well at all not so long ago
Eccleston was a great way to reboot the franchise but to me, Tennant was the most watchable Doctor, even the canonical Dr Who. He brought humour and zany energy. The downside was an unfortunate tendency to be a foppish nerd and talk a lots of BS rather than take action. I blame the writers for that. Tennant is a great actor
Enjoyed the "BatWoman" trailer — at least they use the word "Woman" simply and clearly. Never watched the show.
As for the Amazon show, it's based on the appendices to LOTR, they don't have rights to the real stories from the Silmarillion or Lost Tales, so it's doomed to be weak. I don't mind a different take on Middle Earth. (The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Yeskov was great). But I am worried that they won't be telling the great stories we hope for.
Different takes are fine, some of those really into the books don't like the movies and thats fine.
The problem is they're using Tolkiens name and leeching off the movies (as much as they can) but also are trying to erase Tolkien as much as possible and rewrite his works for 'todays' audiences
Its almost as if they've forgotten that the books have been translated into over 30 (nearly 40) languages so other cultures seem to be fine with what Tolkien wrote or that the movies made nearly 3 billion dollars world wide (nearly 6 if you count The Hobbit film series)
So people all over the world were happy with the books and happy with the films yet these producers have decided their must be
HobbitsHarfoots, black beardless female dwarves, black elves with short hair, Galadriel must be shown in armour and swinging a sword (because being top three most powerful beings in the third age just isn't enough)You want to make movie or a series with black elves then go for it, beardless dwarves is aok with me
Just don't say its Tolkien
Bezos has reportedly spent a billion dollars (money acquired by notoriously exploiting his workers) trying to get this thing to the screen. Will enjoy the schadenfreude if it fails. And I agree it does look to be a travesty against Tolkien’s vision, because too many millennial writers are making it into their own political ego trip.
But on the other hand, Middle Earth is such an amazing place & I love to see it brought to life.
(Correction: “Unfinished Tales” not “Lost Tales”)
The end times are nigh. The war in the police hierarchy between progressive commanders and fascists has entered the attrition phase. As the numbers turn against him, the police director of the national organised crime group, Greg Williams, wrote in an email that it “makes my head hurt".
He seems to mean the evidence shows no impact on supply and demand – but the words got scrambled in his head and came out wrong.
Intelligence not being there has never been a problem for cops in the past, so looks like radical progress is happening.
Gosh, it's almost as if there's been an outbreak of common sense. No wonder the crime ringleader dude got spooked.
Who would expect a fascist to notice when a feedback process produced a consensus? They don't get training in how to spot a consensus, so can't blame them.
Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick: "the price of a tinny has not been impacted." Word on the street? Part of the hip younger generation, so I guess she gets it. Anyway, price stability is the goal of the RB, neoliberalism, and our parliamentary bipartisan consensus, so it's win/win/win all around. Except for the fascists.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/128504777/police-division-over-controversial-cannabis-operation-revealed
Small question of hyperbole here. "Fascism : a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government." Can you marry this definition of fascism with your depiction of some police commanders as 'fascists' who are still seeing air surveillance of marijuana growing as worthwhile? I get you don't agree but really…. fascist?
Let's keep that word for those to whom it really applies.
Sorry, should be a reply addressed to Dennis Frank at #8.
good post. have had personal experience with a couple of those places, high tides co-inciding with inland rainfall can be devastating, and its getting common. I think that most sea-protection happens where the land is worth more, somewhere there is a correlation between not believing climate change, and demanding that something be done about something you dont believe in, the nth shore springs to mind. there will be neighbourhood valuation groups meeting and discussing what can be done to stop rising waters, and lowering values…
The plot thickens. Is the PM going to break her promise about no wealth tax this term? What about in the future should Labour be re elected?
She wont' say. Maybe because she is set to move on?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/05/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-says-parts-of-nz-s-tax-system-are-unfair-refuses-to-rule-out-wealth-tax.html
David Parker also seems to be chomping at the bit to get stuck into these rich pricks given his utterances on the issue lately.
Bring it on.
See how the choice in the OP is framed between climate or the economy. Not allowed both.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Had you made some decent attempt to explain your thinking and referenced what it is in the post you think frames economy vs climate, I might have let this go. I’ve told you many times now that you don’t understand my position, and I’ve asked you to stop misrepresenting it. In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods. That’s the economy and climate action. I’m not willing to have people continually making shit up about what I write so please stay out of my posts for the rest of the month.
Just giving you the chance to keep your arm in.
But having moved this to OM I can now say what I really think. The Greens everywhere have for decades vociferously stifled the one technology that would have prevented this crisis – yet even now when the failure is blatantly obvious – you still cannot tolerate anyone talking about it.
As I said – your OP on the other thread framed the problem as a false choice between coal and the industries on which our economy depends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAUzmvnWS7E
Presumably you've seen 2067.
It's very Australian.
(2) CHRONICAL: 2067 Official Trailer (2020) SciFi – YouTube
ooo I like it.
In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods.
Without specifying even in the broadest outline how you think this can be done – this is a pretty meaningless claim. My problem with all of these de-power schemes is that while they might look superficially appealing, once you start to dig into the complex energy, material and technology linkages involved in everything you take for granted about the modern world – they start to look less pretty.
You once argued there was no reason why we could not go back to living something like we did in the 1950's. Sure – but there is no reason to think that would be any more a stable state than it was back then. Moreover you would also have to accept that a population of 8b is not going to survive with the food production we had then. No computers, no internet, no medical tech – so many things we take for granted in 2022, are just not possible in a 1950 context.
Nor would I suggest that a second wave feminism would have happened. The opportunity for women to access the workforce in very large numbers was largely possible to the elimination of a lot of physical labour with automation for instance. All of this tech is inter-woven in ways most people do not see – and you generally either get the whole enchilada or none at all. There is not much scope for picking the things you want to have in 1950, like mRNA vaccines, but not computers mining bitcoin.
The point I have made many times – but you refuse to acknowledge – is that technology drives social change. If you deconstruct and regress the technology, the same will likely happen with the social conditions – only in ways you will probably not really like. Indeed if you want to see what would likely happen – consider the lives of the very poorest women on earth, still living in absolute poverty. These people are wonderfully de-powered, yet you would find their living conditions intolerable.
There is of course scope for us to trim excess and waste – and we keep doing this all the time. But the idea we can happily regress backward in time to a previous era that was somehow better and safer is dishonest, unadulterated rose-tint as far as I am concerned.