For the life of me I do not understand why Ardern isn't simply fully supporting her Minister to secure Parliamentary entrenchment of water assets.
It is basic public ownership of assets that Labour since Helen Clark have fought hard for, and with decent leadership from Ardern would have pretty easy public support.
Instead she is digging a series of process holes for her caucus to fall into.
Agree, entrenchment is a wise move in view of the predilection of the Nacts to sell/privatise everything that moves.
It is basic public ownership of assets that Labour since Helen Clark have fought hard for, and with decent leadership from Ardern would have pretty easy public support.
So what if it has only been used in the past for so-called constitutional issues? The Govt could be progressive in extending it and saying that water is one of those issues as important as people & how we are governed.
Because entrenchment doesn't work, and just means you hand the high-ground to National (who wouldn't respect the entrenchment anyway).
The way to stop future privatisations is to declare a Labour policy of renationalisation, at the price the asset was sold for. Not that this (thoroughly neoliberal) Government would dare try that.
Looks like media took what the PM said out of context. "As I’ve just explained, often SOPs will happen in real time. I can’t tell you how much notice was given on the floor, on this particular SOP, but that’s not something I would necessarily be aware of"
please explain. I’m not going to read the whole Hansard record, but it does appear that Ardern and cabinet did in fact talk about the entrenchment at 60%, on Monday.
"As I’ve just explained, often SOPs will happen in real time. I can’t tell you how much notice was given on the floor, on this particular SOP, but that’s not something I would necessarily be aware of"
This is correct as I understand Parliamentary procedure.
In the olden days SOPs could be put into the Minister's boxes at any time They can be prepared by an opposition MP as well as being used by a Minister to put forward an amendment to a Bill.
Selling public assets is entrenched in the sense that it is pretty much irreversible regardless of the policy of subsequent governments. Compared to that, a 60% clause is child's play.
You know, if my family had a child beaten to death while it's parent was in jail I'd be looking a bit closer to home for reasons and actions than demanding a meeting with the prime minister to see what everyone else can do about it.
I may be missing important bits of information, but it seems to me the care of Malachi was an informal sort of arrangement between his mother and the caregiver.
What was there, if this was the arrangement, for the family to step in immediately when they perceived the boy was suffering?
It appears they did sweet f-all, but are now trumpeting loud and long about failures of the system.
The same would seem the case with the Sandringham killing – surely the dairy owner would/should have given explicit instructions to his workers not to confront an armed robber in any way, certainly not pursue them down the street.
But the anti-government brigade are shouting out that the government hasn’t done enough etc. As Ianmac points out below, 2014 saw two killings under a Natz government.
As for Natz – they don’t give a proverbial for the bottom feeders (those most impacted by crime and dysfunctional families). This is a stick to beat the government with, with one aim – winning the ’23 election. Nothing else matters to Natz and Act (although Act may be a bit more principled that the Natz IMO).
No one in the family would have put their hand up when asked, although they are now all demanding answers about why nothing was done.
The state can only do so much. The neglect, abuse and lack of care shown to that poor child was a result much more of human failings than state ones. The first port of call when looking for solutions is within the childs community, not the state authorities.
It appears they did sweet f-all, but are now trumpeting loud and long about failures of the system.
That's a bit rough. The kid's extended family were likely of limited means, 500km away, and up against his mother's wishes, the family court and the killers deception
Another lawyer, working with Malachi’s mother, said “no safety concerns were raised” during the process that lead to Malachi being placed in Barriball’s care before his mother was jailed.
On September 13, Barriball was appointed as an additional guardian by the family court. The summary of facts in the murder case states Barriball was “resisting applications being made by the deceased’s biological family for them to obtain custody of him”.
The family said they held grave fears for his safety and expected Malachi to come to them up until the date of his mother’s imprisonment.
A full hearing was to be held on November 1. Barriball cancelled the hearing on October 29. Two days later, on the day of the cancelled hearing, Barriball inflicted multiple blunt force trauma injuries on Malachi and he was airlifted to Starship children’s hospital.
"If you think the public ownership of water assets is crucial, you can seek to protect it without the need for Parliamentary manœuvres, while also protecting the moral weight of entrenchment. But you have to mean it, and you have to want it more than you want some rhetorical cudgel to swing against the opposition. Come back next week and fix this mess, but come back to voters next year and show you mean what you say."
About 2014 a dairy owner was killed in Ferry Road Christchurch and then another in Henderson June 2014. A pair of sad events. Key was the PM. Now eight years later comes the heartfelt plea from the son of the Henderson son for the current PM and Justice Minister to do something about it.
This report from RUSI on lessons so far from the Ukraine war should make sobering reading to New Zealanders. The take away is we are as completely unprepared as it is possible to be to take part in a war between peer nation states.
First lesson – Louis XIV had "Ultima ratio regum" (The final argument of kings) inscribed on all his cannons. This war has shown nothing has changed there. The NZ Army is completely bereft of medium and heavy artillery of any description, having little more than a token force of light (105mm) field artillery and I would guess we won't have enough ammunition available in reserve to even last a particularly fierce engagement against an entrenched bunch of tired but determined three year olds who have eaten too much sugar.
Yet this war has shown that modern medium and heavy gun and rocket arillery with abundant, domestically produced ammunition is an absolutely critical, war winning weapon. Modern self-propelled artillery systems such as the Australian manufactured AS9 Huntsman variant of the Korean K9 Thunder 155mm SPG & the HIMARS/M270 system with precision ordnance like the M982 Excalibur should be the number one item on the army shopping list, and serious consideration needs to be given to the establishment of a domestic capability to manufacture our own munitions. Artillery dominance means they die, not you.
Second lesson – we are being seriously left behind in the uncrewed air vehicle space. The loss rate of tactical drones in Ulraine is apparently 90% with the average drone lasting around six sorties. These systems are critical to dominating the infantry and artillery battle. Without them, your sides dies and their side does not. The NZ Army has few drones, and seems schlerotic in it's uptake. There is no reason why we should not be domestically producing a sub $50,000-$100,000 family of class 1 UCAVs that can be plentifully supplied to all levels of our military.
Third lesson – Industrialised war is as lethal as ever and it has an insatiable apetitite for human lives. You need lots of trained men and those men need equipment. Ill-equipped volunteers making up in sacrifice what they lack in skill and weapons is a formula for heavy losses and ineffective combat performance. Once you've run out of your professionals you rely on the reserves, the para-militaries, the territorials. We've got two anaemic infantry battalions and the reserve/territorial force structure is a bit of a shambolic joke. We need to increase the size of the army and expand the territorials, and make sure we've got enough kit to give them all the helmets, uniforms, boots, radios, body armour, etc etc etc they would need.
We need to plan for and fund a fully equipped, fully ready, two brigade army expanding to four brigades within four-six months of an emergency.
Why? Our closest neighbours are Australia and the Pacific Islands. We are unlikely to be invaded by any of those. We have alliances with other nations for a reason. We do our bit – but have no need to be armed to the teeth.
Any interference in our sea and air trade routes would kinda fuck us over.
Consider the effect of something like MH17 occurring in international waters courtesy of a surface to air missile fired from a submarine. Say NZ1 disappears mid Pacific.
Suddenly we become very small and the world is a very long way away.
I think the real point is that having all the right gear and manpower and training means a lot less New Zealanders – and a lot more of the enemy – getting killed than trying to do an amateur hour war.
Why not just let Nazis use only guaranteed non-Jewish blood? Or Bretherens only blood from other Bretherens? Or Maori nationalists only blood from other Maori? And make sure no one is contaminated by Muggles!
Just so everyone can advocate on my behalf I would like 1/2 English (preferably Anglican clergy type from around London), 1/4 Irish (preferably from the north and preferably Presbyterian and 1/4 Danish from the island of Bornholm and Roman Catholic. These fractions need to be run through NZ based people from 1854/1860 & 1884.
They would have no blood at all. Every-time someone has a blood check its jabbed. Every time someone needs an infusion of blood its jabbed. No operation can take place without a jab somewhere. Diabetics have to jab their blood everyday.
If they want “unjabbed blood” they'll need to go to seek out a nomadic tribe somewhere who have never had any association with other humans. Oops: they wouldn't want no black nor brown blood neither.
Pretty much sums up the level of ignorance, stupidity and the hypocrisy of the parents and their nutbar mates. They are not deserving of any consideration.
Next time I need a blood transfusion I will demand only blood from a vaccinated donor. F….d if I want any from some anti Vax nutter, who knows what rabid infections might be in it?
it sets a precedent (which then puts strain on the system)
known donors are less likely to be truthful about risk behaviours and thus the blood is less safe
direct donors can't provide specialist blood products needed for the surgery
costs
babies have particular blood needs when having surgery.
In other words, the parents are asking the system to jump through a lot of hoops and the people in the system don't see a reason to redirect resources to that because the blood from the general donor service is considered safe.
Otago University senior lecturer and haematologist and transfusion medicine specialist, Jim Faed, says research shows directed donations can actually be less safe, because identifiable donors tend to be less honest about risky behaviour, such as historical drug taking, than those giving blood anonymously,
But directed donors are not the regular donors that would be on call and donating regularly. These would be the ones like those the family wants to enlist. They are the ones less likely to be honest.
If you are an 'on the books' blood donor ie those giving blood anonymously there is quite a questionnaire to be completed and they ask you for changes each time you go. The moment I was diagnosed as having familial hypercholesterolemia and placed on medication I was told I was unsuitable as a blood donor Not sure why but from my recollection it was not the medication but the state of my blood.
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 250 people and increases the likelihood of having coronary heart disease at a younger age.
But directed donors are not the regular donors that would be on call and donating regularly. These would be the ones like those the family wants to enlist. They are the ones less likely to be honest.
That's what I said. When I said 'known donors' I meant the ones nominated by the family. As opposed to the ones donating blood to the system generally.
The baby’s mother is a health professional. From the Stuff link above:
“…she’s a midwife, she’s a very experienced, calm person who understands the issues and who’s done a huge amount of research and has been very proactive in reaching out to look for donors.”
OMG
Going off on flights of fancy/fantasy and putting the life of your baby at risk does not seem very responsible. To me the additional horror of it is that she may be currently employed as a midwife and therefore in a position to influence mothers against vaccinating their children.
Once again the saying from US commentator jeff Tiedrich is apt – dated 13 October 2021
[unlinked quote deleted]
[can you please explain to me why you were able to provide the quote and date, but not the link? – weka]
I did try and link using the method I used as guided by you earlier of grabbing a name/date/ number above the tweet and posting. There is no number to grab and the link was going straight to his twitter page and tweets of todays etc date.
I sought the quote via google search and that may be the reason.
Trying again.
ETA I have gone to his twitter feed and it cuts out on 8/2/2022 so I cannot get back to October 2021.
I quoted it at least twice while we were talking about mandates last year so will search there.
No luck Jeff Tiedrich's Twitter feed goes back to 8/2/22 on my searching.
I have posted this quote at least three times over the last year so I'll give it a miss trying to link.
The gist was that mandates are exposing to the cold hard light of reason teachers, nurses and police who don't believe in science, health etc. Their beliefs are one thing and my hope is that they don't bring them to work.
Midwives play an important role in the health of adult populations to come and if they are anti vaccines then babies potentially miss out on protections from the vaccinations on the Immunisation schedule.
what you are failing to appreciate here is that I'm in moderator mode. I'm sick to the back teeth of having to remind regulars about this repeatedly. I'm getting close to the point of dumping whole comments in Trash instead of editing them. And shortly after that I will start banning people.
Your wanting to make a political point doesn't take precedence over my or Incognito's time, nor how the debate side of the site functions. If you cannot link then don't quote, it's really that simple. Nothing bad was going to happen from your comment not appearing, but obviously quoting without linking was going to cause more work for moderators.
I've said this to others before, if you are posting a lot, slow down. If you have trouble linking then ask for help. But quoting without linking when you know damn well it's no ok is just hugely disrespectful to the mods and the community.
Read your post, thanks, as always for the guidance. I appreciate the work you do, as I do the work of all the moderators and apologise for making a mess and causing work.
Mine too. I am horrified actually. It is one thing to have these beliefs as an adult with only one adult, you, to look after but once you have another person who is totally reliant on you and no voice of their own it is quite another thing. The ethical questions need framing differently.
The fact that she is a health professional makes it even more concerning. Is she also a follower of Andrew Wakefield and will the baby be vaccinated against measles/mumps/rubella?
Yes in my foray into the weird world of the weird views of the anti-vax community those words about ‘doing my own research’ were a signal that they had looked at every nutter site about vaccines. .
Yes, I thought the parents were opposed to using blood from covid-vaccinated people, but the response from several here is that there's no such thing as unjabbed blood.
One question I have about the World Cup – I have read that a lot of the top players get "injuries" and no longer go to the world cup because it represents the longest break from the grind of professional European football they'll get for another four years.
I do know that a lot of players do go to the World Cup and fake injuries- called 'simulation'. I'm not a usual football watcher and have been dismayed by the amount of histrionical, shin-clutching, teeth-clenching bad acting that takes place when two players get close to one another in a tackle.
Of course there are genuine injuries, but really……
Obviously the French team has heaps of players of African heritage… what I didn't realise is that a lot of the African teams (Senegal, Cameroon, Morroco, & maybe Ghana) have a heap of Frenchmen (of African descent) who didn't make it for France. I have no prob with it just didn't realise that a good chunk of the African stars are actually…French
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Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
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"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attended a Labour Party caucus meeting where a last-minute entrenchment clause in the Government’s controversial Three Waters legislation was discussed, despite her saying on Monday it was “not necessarily something I would be aware of”."
Was Jacinda asleep at the meeting?
Jacinda Ardern attended Labour caucus meeting where controversial Three Waters entrenchment clause was 'discussed' | Stuff.co.nz
For the life of me I do not understand why Ardern isn't simply fully supporting her Minister to secure Parliamentary entrenchment of water assets.
It is basic public ownership of assets that Labour since Helen Clark have fought hard for, and with decent leadership from Ardern would have pretty easy public support.
Instead she is digging a series of process holes for her caucus to fall into.
Agree, entrenchment is a wise move in view of the predilection of the Nacts to sell/privatise everything that moves.
So what if it has only been used in the past for so-called constitutional issues? The Govt could be progressive in extending it and saying that water is one of those issues as important as people & how we are governed.
big precedent to set.
Or, Labour aren't *that committed to preventing asset sales.
My thoughts exactly if they were they'd make it 80% support to reverse entrenchment
They can't get 80% support in Parliament, or 75%, hence the 60%.
to pass that law they'd need 80% of the house to vote for it. Nat and Act won't support that.
Weka
‘Or, Labour aren’t *that committed to preventing asset sales.’
Yes that thought lingers at the back of my mind too.
Because entrenchment doesn't work, and just means you hand the high-ground to National (who wouldn't respect the entrenchment anyway).
The way to stop future privatisations is to declare a Labour policy of renationalisation, at the price the asset was sold for. Not that this (thoroughly neoliberal) Government would dare try that.
Wow, civil war?
Looks like media took what the PM said out of context. "As I’ve just explained, often SOPs will happen in real time. I can’t tell you how much notice was given on the floor, on this particular SOP, but that’s not something I would necessarily be aware of"
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2022-11/Post-Cabinet%20Press%20Conference%2028%20November%202022.pdf
As David Farrar has said, there is only four possible explanations;
1. She wasn't listening in caucus
2. She didn't understand
3. She forgot
4. She lied
None of the above Jimmy. See 1.3 Looks like media took what the PM said out of context.
But…but…David Farrar said!!!
please explain. I’m not going to read the whole Hansard record, but it does appear that Ardern and cabinet did in fact talk about the entrenchment at 60%, on Monday.
"As I’ve just explained, often SOPs will happen in real time. I can’t tell you how much notice was given on the floor, on this particular SOP, but that’s not something I would necessarily be aware of"
that's copypasta I've already read, it's not an explanation of how Jimmy is wrong.
the quote used by media wasn't about the caucus meeting.
so you keep saying, but I've yet to see an explanation.
The correct quote "not something I would necessarily be aware of" was in reference to "how much notice was given on the floor, on this particular SOP"
This is correct as I understand Parliamentary procedure.
In the olden days SOPs could be put into the Minister's boxes at any time They can be prepared by an opposition MP as well as being used by a Minister to put forward an amendment to a Bill.
For an example see the list of SoPs currently.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/supplementary-order-papers/
I have not checked the Hon Eugenie Sage SoPs but one of these may be the Greens one.
How is that taken out of context Jimmy?
Ardern is talking about the process on Parliament's floor. Mahuta's office has confirmed it was discussed at caucus though.
I am not quite sure what you are trying to say.
this is going to get very messy
Jimmy? Jester @ 1 posted
"despite her saying on Monday it was “not necessarily something I would be aware of”.
Was Jacinda asleep at the meeting?"
I clarified via the post cab presser that the quote used by media wasn't about the caucus meeting.
Selling public assets is entrenched in the sense that it is pretty much irreversible regardless of the policy of subsequent governments. Compared to that, a 60% clause is child's play.
You know, if my family had a child beaten to death while it's parent was in jail I'd be looking a bit closer to home for reasons and actions than demanding a meeting with the prime minister to see what everyone else can do about it.
Always someone elses fault.
Exactly.
I may be missing important bits of information, but it seems to me the care of Malachi was an informal sort of arrangement between his mother and the caregiver.
What was there, if this was the arrangement, for the family to step in immediately when they perceived the boy was suffering?
It appears they did sweet f-all, but are now trumpeting loud and long about failures of the system.
The same would seem the case with the Sandringham killing – surely the dairy owner would/should have given explicit instructions to his workers not to confront an armed robber in any way, certainly not pursue them down the street.
But the anti-government brigade are shouting out that the government hasn’t done enough etc. As Ianmac points out below, 2014 saw two killings under a Natz government.
As for Natz – they don’t give a proverbial for the bottom feeders (those most impacted by crime and dysfunctional families). This is a stick to beat the government with, with one aim – winning the ’23 election. Nothing else matters to Natz and Act (although Act may be a bit more principled that the Natz IMO).
No one in the family would have put their hand up when asked, although they are now all demanding answers about why nothing was done.
The state can only do so much. The neglect, abuse and lack of care shown to that poor child was a result much more of human failings than state ones. The first port of call when looking for solutions is within the childs community, not the state authorities.
That's a bit rough. The kid's extended family were likely of limited means, 500km away, and up against his mother's wishes, the family court and the killers deception
However, if we're going to lay blame, let's start with the other adults in the murderers family who lived in close proximity to where the poor little bugger was terrorised and beaten to death because in the words of my SO who works at the pointy end; someone always knows.
.
Another lawyer, working with Malachi’s mother, said “no safety concerns were raised” during the process that lead to Malachi being placed in Barriball’s care before his mother was jailed.
On September 13, Barriball was appointed as an additional guardian by the family court. The summary of facts in the murder case states Barriball was “resisting applications being made by the deceased’s biological family for them to obtain custody of him”.
The family said they held grave fears for his safety and expected Malachi to come to them up until the date of his mother’s imprisonment.
A full hearing was to be held on November 1. Barriball cancelled the hearing on October 29. Two days later, on the day of the cancelled hearing, Barriball inflicted multiple blunt force trauma injuries on Malachi and he was airlifted to Starship children’s hospital.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300624189/how-did-4yearold-malachi-leave-court-with-his-killer
"If you think the public ownership of water assets is crucial, you can seek to protect it without the need for Parliamentary manœuvres, while also protecting the moral weight of entrenchment. But you have to mean it, and you have to want it more than you want some rhetorical cudgel to swing against the opposition. Come back next week and fix this mess, but come back to voters next year and show you mean what you say."
https://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/the-entrenchment-angle-we-all-missed/
Democracy!
About 2014 a dairy owner was killed in Ferry Road Christchurch and then another in Henderson June 2014. A pair of sad events. Key was the PM. Now eight years later comes the heartfelt plea from the son of the Henderson son for the current PM and Justice Minister to do something about it.
How come it is the current leadership is being held to account for events in Key's day?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sandringham-dairy-stabbing-son-of-killed-west-auckland-dairy-owner-arun-kumar-makes-plea-to-jacinda-ardern-kiri-allan/5W4JLZMB6ZFXZDHDQ2AIRN7LLU/
This report from RUSI on lessons so far from the Ukraine war should make sobering reading to New Zealanders. The take away is we are as completely unprepared as it is possible to be to take part in a war between peer nation states.
First lesson – Louis XIV had "Ultima ratio regum" (The final argument of kings) inscribed on all his cannons. This war has shown nothing has changed there. The NZ Army is completely bereft of medium and heavy artillery of any description, having little more than a token force of light (105mm) field artillery and I would guess we won't have enough ammunition available in reserve to even last a particularly fierce engagement against an entrenched bunch of tired but determined three year olds who have eaten too much sugar.
Yet this war has shown that modern medium and heavy gun and rocket arillery with abundant, domestically produced ammunition is an absolutely critical, war winning weapon. Modern self-propelled artillery systems such as the Australian manufactured AS9 Huntsman variant of the Korean K9 Thunder 155mm SPG & the HIMARS/M270 system with precision ordnance like the M982 Excalibur should be the number one item on the army shopping list, and serious consideration needs to be given to the establishment of a domestic capability to manufacture our own munitions. Artillery dominance means they die, not you.
Second lesson – we are being seriously left behind in the uncrewed air vehicle space. The loss rate of tactical drones in Ulraine is apparently 90% with the average drone lasting around six sorties. These systems are critical to dominating the infantry and artillery battle. Without them, your sides dies and their side does not. The NZ Army has few drones, and seems schlerotic in it's uptake. There is no reason why we should not be domestically producing a sub $50,000-$100,000 family of class 1 UCAVs that can be plentifully supplied to all levels of our military.
Third lesson – Industrialised war is as lethal as ever and it has an insatiable apetitite for human lives. You need lots of trained men and those men need equipment. Ill-equipped volunteers making up in sacrifice what they lack in skill and weapons is a formula for heavy losses and ineffective combat performance. Once you've run out of your professionals you rely on the reserves, the para-militaries, the territorials. We've got two anaemic infantry battalions and the reserve/territorial force structure is a bit of a shambolic joke. We need to increase the size of the army and expand the territorials, and make sure we've got enough kit to give them all the helmets, uniforms, boots, radios, body armour, etc etc etc they would need.
We need to plan for and fund a fully equipped, fully ready, two brigade army expanding to four brigades within four-six months of an emergency.
Why? Our closest neighbours are Australia and the Pacific Islands. We are unlikely to be invaded by any of those. We have alliances with other nations for a reason. We do our bit – but have no need to be armed to the teeth.
Distance looks our way to our managed fields of protein both land and marine, after successive food price and food access spikes.
Not sure if you lived through it but a world without strong globalised trade is pretty similar to what we went through from 1977 to 1984.
That's not a difficult risk scenario to foresee right now.
And at that point you can either protect yourself or you can't.
Are you saying that both the Australians and the USA will stand by as China invades New Zealand?
Any interference in our sea and air trade routes would kinda fuck us over.
Consider the effect of something like MH17 occurring in international waters courtesy of a surface to air missile fired from a submarine. Say NZ1 disappears mid Pacific.
Suddenly we become very small and the world is a very long way away.
Why? because otherwise you pay for lack of preparation in lives. That is a key learning from this war in Ukraine.
Which is it?
"War, and the preparation for war, are the two greatest obstacles to human progress, fostering a vicious cycle of arms buildups, violence and poverty. " Oscar Arias
or,
"A certain degree of preparation for war . . . affords also the best security for the continuance of peace."James Madison
It is an important question………
I think the real point is that having all the right gear and manpower and training means a lot less New Zealanders – and a lot more of the enemy – getting killed than trying to do an amateur hour war.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300753914/baby-blood-case-parents-accept-that-some-blood-products-from-vaccinated-donors-may-have-to-be-used
Why don't they just let them use unjabbed blood?
Why not just let Nazis use only guaranteed non-Jewish blood? Or Bretherens only blood from other Bretherens? Or Maori nationalists only blood from other Maori? And make sure no one is contaminated by Muggles!
Blood is blood.
Your analysis is too deep for me to understand, apologies.
Just so everyone can advocate on my behalf I would like 1/2 English (preferably Anglican clergy type from around London), 1/4 Irish (preferably from the north and preferably Presbyterian and 1/4 Danish from the island of Bornholm and Roman Catholic. These fractions need to be run through NZ based people from 1854/1860 & 1884.
What can't do it?
Blood is blood you say?
Fair request, Shanreagh, coz, Freedumb!!
Thanks I knew I could rely on you!
But don't let me die and make sure you tie up all sorts of legal people and courts as much as you can.
Will do. I'll get Sue on the case.
Doesn't exist.
Even more reason to let them use what they want. Government needs to pick its battles.
A battle with the already stressed health sector would not be a wise one to pick.
"I'm over-ruling the qualified people employed to make health decisions", says Andrew Little. How would that go down?
And all to appease people holding up signs saying "Nuremberg", "Tyrant".
The government doesn't manage the blood service nor the hospital doing the surgery.
"Why don't they just let them use unjabbed blood?
They would have no blood at all. Every-time someone has a blood check its jabbed. Every time someone needs an infusion of blood its jabbed. No operation can take place without a jab somewhere. Diabetics have to jab their blood everyday.
If they want “unjabbed blood” they'll need to go to seek out a nomadic tribe somewhere who have never had any association with other humans. Oops: they wouldn't want no black nor brown blood neither.
Pretty much sums up the level of ignorance, stupidity and the hypocrisy of the parents and their nutbar mates. They are not deserving of any consideration.
Next time I need a blood transfusion I will demand only blood from a vaccinated donor. F….d if I want any from some anti Vax nutter, who knows what rabid infections might be in it?
it's explained in the article you linked.
In other words, the parents are asking the system to jump through a lot of hoops and the people in the system don't see a reason to redirect resources to that because the blood from the general donor service is considered safe.
Is it unknown donors are less likely…….
nope. From the article,
But directed donors are not the regular donors that would be on call and donating regularly. These would be the ones like those the family wants to enlist. They are the ones less likely to be honest.
If you are an 'on the books' blood donor ie those giving blood anonymously there is quite a questionnaire to be completed and they ask you for changes each time you go. The moment I was diagnosed as having familial hypercholesterolemia and placed on medication I was told I was unsuitable as a blood donor Not sure why but from my recollection it was not the medication but the state of my blood.
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 250 people and increases the likelihood of having coronary heart disease at a younger age.
That's what I said. When I said 'known donors' I meant the ones nominated by the family. As opposed to the ones donating blood to the system generally.
OK, sorry I see now.
Again, you have it right.
The baby’s mother is a health professional. From the Stuff link above:
“…she’s a midwife, she’s a very experienced, calm person who understands the issues and who’s done a huge amount of research and has been very proactive in reaching out to look for donors.”
OMG
Going off on flights of fancy/fantasy and putting the life of your baby at risk does not seem very responsible. To me the additional horror of it is that she may be currently employed as a midwife and therefore in a position to influence mothers against vaccinating their children.
Once again the saying from US commentator jeff Tiedrich is apt – dated 13 October 2021
[unlinked quote deleted]
[can you please explain to me why you were able to provide the quote and date, but not the link? – weka]
mod note.
I did try and link using the method I used as guided by you earlier of grabbing a name/date/ number above the tweet and posting. There is no number to grab and the link was going straight to his twitter page and tweets of todays etc date.
I sought the quote via google search and that may be the reason.
Trying again.
ETA I have gone to his twitter feed and it cuts out on 8/2/2022 so I cannot get back to October 2021.
I quoted it at least twice while we were talking about mandates last year so will search there.
Apologies
No luck Jeff Tiedrich's Twitter feed goes back to 8/2/22 on my searching.
I have posted this quote at least three times over the last year so I'll give it a miss trying to link.
The gist was that mandates are exposing to the cold hard light of reason teachers, nurses and police who don't believe in science, health etc. Their beliefs are one thing and my hope is that they don't bring them to work.
Midwives play an important role in the health of adult populations to come and if they are anti vaccines then babies potentially miss out on protections from the vaccinations on the Immunisation schedule.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/immunisation/new-zealand-immunisation-schedule
date/time stamps are at the bottom of a tweet on the two devices I use.
google is fine and doesn't make a difference. I googled the first 8 words and the tweet was the first google hit. I opened it to get the link.
https://twitter.com/itsjefftiedrich/status/1448013833847681030
Thanks. I could not do any magic for myself on this.
then don't quote. Please read my mod note here and respond,
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-12-2022/#comment-1924258
what you are failing to appreciate here is that I'm in moderator mode. I'm sick to the back teeth of having to remind regulars about this repeatedly. I'm getting close to the point of dumping whole comments in Trash instead of editing them. And shortly after that I will start banning people.
Your wanting to make a political point doesn't take precedence over my or Incognito's time, nor how the debate side of the site functions. If you cannot link then don't quote, it's really that simple. Nothing bad was going to happen from your comment not appearing, but obviously quoting without linking was going to cause more work for moderators.
I've said this to others before, if you are posting a lot, slow down. If you have trouble linking then ask for help. But quoting without linking when you know damn well it's no ok is just hugely disrespectful to the mods and the community.
Read your post, thanks, as always for the guidance. I appreciate the work you do, as I do the work of all the moderators and apologise for making a mess and causing work.
The moment I hear the words:
'I/she/he is a health professional who had done lots of personal research' my cynicism antennae goes into overdrive.
Mine too. I am horrified actually. It is one thing to have these beliefs as an adult with only one adult, you, to look after but once you have another person who is totally reliant on you and no voice of their own it is quite another thing. The ethical questions need framing differently.
The fact that she is a health professional makes it even more concerning. Is she also a follower of Andrew Wakefield and will the baby be vaccinated against measles/mumps/rubella?
Yes in my foray into the weird world of the weird views of the anti-vax community those words about ‘doing my own research’ were a signal that they had looked at every nutter site about vaccines. .
Those hurdles can be overcome.
There's obvious reasons why a known blood donor would be more trusted than an anonymous one.
The reason for direct donors not being able to provide all the blood products, appears to be shortage of time in this case.
The parents have paid for donors to be screened and the donors are waiting. Reducing some of the extra cost.
In case anybody else read to the end of the Stuff article, yes, Stuff longer has news editors.
Because there's no such thing. If you'd ever donated blood you'd know this.
Curious to know what this comment refers to please?
I can't follow the numbering sequence.
Does it refer to this?
Yes, I thought the parents were opposed to using blood from covid-vaccinated people, but the response from several here is that there's no such thing as unjabbed blood.
Japan, Netherlands, Senegal, England, USA, France, Australia, Argentina, Poland, Morocco, Croatia, Brazil and Portugal.
3 more to go to make the top 16.
One question I have about the World Cup – I have read that a lot of the top players get "injuries" and no longer go to the world cup because it represents the longest break from the grind of professional European football they'll get for another four years.
Anyone know if that is true?
Clubs pay the wages.
I do know that a lot of players do go to the World Cup and fake injuries- called 'simulation'. I'm not a usual football watcher and have been dismayed by the amount of histrionical, shin-clutching, teeth-clenching bad acting that takes place when two players get close to one another in a tackle.
Of course there are genuine injuries, but really……
https://yoursoccerhome.com/5-reasons-soccer-players-fake-injuries-or-flop/
Also the arm-blocking and jersey-pulling that goes on- the 'beautiful game'?
Obviously the French team has heaps of players of African heritage… what I didn't realise is that a lot of the African teams (Senegal, Cameroon, Morroco, & maybe Ghana) have a heap of Frenchmen (of African descent) who didn't make it for France. I have no prob with it just didn't realise that a good chunk of the African stars are actually…French
I can advise that Aussie soccer fans are shocked and delighted at getting just this far.
Well ,well ,well I believe it has been said that Wayne Brown had big money supporting his campaign and look now is this the payoff?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/130646072/auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-looks-to-sell-2-billion-worth-of-airport-shares