“National are claiming ballot box tampering”.
If you are going to make such an incredibly serious thing can you please provide a reference. I want to see who is claiming this and exactly what they are saying.
I suspect this is a reference to LInkwater polling station in the Kaikoura electorate where 123 votes were falsely attributed to the Maori Party by clerical error. The locals all knew about the predominance of National voters in the area and questions were raised. All a minor weather event in a drinking vessel, really.
Thanks.
Hardly the story that our “cleangreen” friend was spouting is it?
“so desperate for power they will invent anything”
What utter rubbish, if that is all his(her) wild hyperbole is based on.
And half a dozen exclamation marks after each sentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Yes they were getting a rather extreme set of reactions weren’t they?
Accidents happen and it is very easy to do something like that in the haste of the count on the night I should say. The critical bit is getting it right before the final results are announced.
I was once Returning Officer in a University Students Association election.
Long, long ago.
Someone accidentally put a set of 100 votes on the wrong pile while doing the count. It was spotted before the results were announced luckily as I would have had to go back and announce a different winner later on.
Those idiots national don’t get It . It’s the people it’s the people it’s the people.
When all our people get a fair share of OUR resources everyone benefits our sports stadiums full up all eCommerce flourishes all our bad stats will be reversed a healthy happy population is a must . No winning Sports team under funds its health programs or keeps all the money in managements pockets if you find a winning team that behaves like national and wins . YEA RIGHT never going to happen .Its the people that make a good economy not just money. One just has to cast the eyes across our World and see these country’s with large populations and a small resource base and they are flourishing because they no that happy healthy people = happy healthy economy the trick for the Coalition is to change thing and keep everyone happy ,
What I don’t get is we run computer models to predict the weather we run computation models to predict lots of things so what’s so why don’t we have computation models to give us in site on what is the best way to run a country’s economy and Government systems is it because some people don’t want this information out in the public hands because the most positive out comes are a total reverse OF THE BULLSHIT POLICY’S THAT THE neo liberals AROUND OUR WORLD ARE RAMMING DOWN OUR THROATS .Well even a uneducated broke ass Maori like me can see this. You all no that im a kiwi to Ka Pai
There’s lots of economic computational modelling being done. It’s just a lot less reliable than weather modelling for a very simple reason.
All computational models need equations to relate how different variable interact with each other.
For weather models, those equations are based on physics, with just a few empirically derived relations from observations and historical data where the physics theory isn’t yet sufficiently complete.
For most economic models, those equations are mostly from assumptions about human behaviour. Since they are assumptions, they are heavily influenced by the political worldview of whoever is making the assumptions.
Most scientific theories have assumptions. Even the physical modelling of the climate has assumptions. We simply don’t know everything and throw in an assumption. That said, scientific assumptions are usually backed by logic. In other words, the scientists have a reason for the assumptions that they use.
The problem with the assumptions used in economics is that they date back to Ricardo and further. Now, Ricardo and other economists of the time knew that they were assumptions and that they could be wrong. They expected that the assumptions that they used would be researched and the missing information filled in.
This hasn’t happened and the economics ‘profession’ is still using those same assumptions despite the fact that many have been proved wrong in other fields of study. It’s why I keep posting this video:
I say we should have modern computation models built as if one was using old info or technology to operate a organization now it would go broke.
Thanks you did confirm my assumption that there is political interference with all of our data
Don’t get all conspiratorial though @ eco Maori.
Some of it is just muppets running things. Some of it is intentional underfunding or down to cronyism.
THe Electoral Commission will be having a debrief apparently.
When they do, no doubt the reason for 123 Natzi votes attributed to their (once was Mary Party – going forward) will emerge.
Then there’ll be a ‘how come?’ married couple people with PR showed up with both sets of parents in tow demanding to vote (the 4 unable to speak a word of English or Te Reo) …. as well as it being acceptable for ballot boxes being taken home (rather than perhaps locking them up in the local Police Cell).
Well ….. maybe we should be getting concerned at muppets running things but I think it’s still down to idiocy rather than intent (going forward). Give them a pay rise maybe – and shift them sideways (preferably off a fucking cliff)
Actually….. it could be a PPP toll cliff – we could tax them on the way down.
A win win! They’d pay their debt to sussoighty, realise that with roights cum responsibilities, but if not …… whooooar
But whether human behaviour is considered at all is dependent on the branch of economics you are following. The neo-liberal economists like to think that economics is a science that can be reduced to formulas, algorithms and derivatives. People, beyond being consumers of mostly crap, have no other economic reason to exist.
The truth about National Party priorities on health and housing – killing young Kiwis before their time:
The biggest home owner in New Zealand, the state-owned Housing New Zealand Corp, has revealed it spent 52 times more last year hunting for the tiniest trace elements of a harmless contaminant than it spent looking for mould and asbestos, which kill dozens of children each year.
Figures released under the Official Information Act by Housing NZ show it spent $51.9 million on testing and remediation of meth on its properties in the last financial year, up from $21 million the previous year. Last year’s spending represented 10 percent of its entire annual maintenance and improvement budget, or the equivalent of an average of $8,000 per property. However, in the 2016 financial year, it spent only $433,623 on the testing and remediation of mould and $639,873 on asbestos.
Those meth testing guys must have the most awesome fucking lobbyists on the planet. Either that, or the current government has an interest in demonising the poor and finding ways to weasel out of its housing responsibilities – but it couldn’t possibly be that, could it? Must be just some awe-inspiring lobbying skills by the meth-testing industry…
Probably agree with you re Cleangreen’s excited lurch there Alwyn but what I’m smelling more particularly from you is utter terror…….the superiority and entitlement of a decade turned into smelly old chocolate pooling at your feet. Trashy bogan Paula would be very unpleasant to be around right now…….
“NZ Drug Foundation president Ross Bell said the science does not back up the need for such an industry and it has played on the fears of New Zealand people in order to make a profit.
“More concerning, he said the Government has fallen for these scare tactics and created new standards and an Act amendment, currently before a select committee, which will unjustifiably perpetuate this culture of fear.
“He called the meth testing and remediation industry ‘the biggest scam this country has ever seen'”
But only the inside lanes, mind. Wonder why that is.
Back in the early ’90s, I drove some German friends from Berlin to Dresden. Being not long after re-unification, the Autobahn was still pretty much as Hitler built it. They got me to drive in the fast lane, because the slow lane was incredibly corrugated and potholed. I tried driving in it to see if they were bullshitting me and it was so horrible I got back in the fast lane within a few hundred meters. “40 years of heavily-laden trucks heading east,” said Detlef. “But don’t worry, we’ll be able to drive in the right lane on the way back – the trucks always returned empty.”
Unfortunately for NZ, the trucks are heavily-laden in both directions.
Tariana Turia thinks homelessness hasn’t got worse over the last 9 years. Says homeless people aren’t the Govt's responsibility. @maraetv— Jackal (@Jackalblog) September 30, 2017
100% Pure spin and head in the sand all at the same time.
Of course it all looks fine sitting atop the Whanau Ora trough National provided from the Health Budget for her party.
Her enabling of NACT as leader of the MP makes her, Flavell, Sharples and what followed, such as the the self serving Marama Fox, directly culpable. Only Hone can hold his head high as he called them for what they are and walked away.
I have never forgotten Peter Sharples’ comment some years ago when he was Minister of Maori Affairs. He was (iirc) contemplating the possibility he might lose his seat at the next election (must have been 2011) and he said in an interview he would be in big trouble if he lost because he’d just bought a larger home and he needed his ministerial salary to pay off the mortgage.
I’m all for referenda, I mean hey something binding like an election would have made Syria a bit easier. Even something dumbly non-binding like the Australian gay marriage one has at least some civil purpose, if you squint. And seriously the Spanish federal police acting at the direction of the Spanish government on purely political direction is deeply corrupt.:
But I would not want Europe to split into further pointless factions. We went through that with the rump Yugoslavia in the 1990s and it is a vortex of puirity and ethnic cleanising for which there is no limiting principle and therefore no end, only blood and destruction. Not to mention the impending chaos of Brexit.
The Catalan government is walking into a trap that can be cured by actual region-to-state diplomacy rather than orchestrating its population into foolish separatism achieving nothing except the polished egos of a few.
Where you getting this idea that people merely seeking greater levels of accountability/empowerment are spiteful and hateful little beasties Ad? And where’s this idea that people seeking a greater level of civic identity have to be “orchestrated” coming from?
I’d guess you to be one of these people who watch Hollywood “end of the world” movies who actually and uncritically accepts the “nasty, brutish and short” sub-narrative that casts the working class (variously) as zombies/cannibals/tooled up misanthropes “out to get” the valiant middle class – the worthy survivors and sole suppositories of civilisation’s knowledge and hope. 🙄
Your first para is essentially an adherence dominant narratives.
An aside. There have been elections in Syria (maybe you missed them under all the bullshit “prop on a spoon” that was coming our way?)
You have some criticism of the actions of the Spanish state that you then excuse by appealing to some notion of a “greater good” (that resides in a centralised and rather far reaching nexus of institutional power) protecting us from ….well, some realisation or reification of a rather dim and fearful view of ourselves.
No, not “the Russians are coming”.
No T-90 tanks outside the bull ring.
Simply that a destabilised and fractured Europe is a Russian foreign policy objective, in order to gain piecemeal diplomatic leverage over Western Europe and to exercise direct political/military control over portions of Eastern Europe.
And here was me thinking that vast swathes of Eastern Europe had been pulled into an EU and/or NATO orbit, and that the US had more military bases in Europe than could shake a stick at…and some nuclear shit too…alongside a more or less free pass when it comes to promoting it’s political, cultural and economic norms throughout Europe.
But no. Seems I’m imagining stuff and there’s not nuffin to see there. Not a fing.
Well no. Not as “opposed to Russian tanks”. And we all know societal elites and governments reflect the will of populaces and make decisions accordingly, aye? 😉
Hmmm… Has the West been guilty of fostering unrest in Eastern Europe? Could this be retribution? Or could people be seeing phantoms? I suspect that this is part of the legacy of Franco’s victory and subsequent style of government.
I suspect that it’s both a legacy of Franco’s victory and heartily encouraged by Putin. A less coherent Europe provides a less coordinated response to Russian military expansionism into its bordering nations.
And bill – yeah, definitely “as opposed to Russian tanks”. Russian troops have an interesting habit of crossing Russian borders. Starting in Chechnya in the 1990s.
The peoples of Catalonia, who have been seeking greater autonomy since “whenever”, are just idiotic or witless agents of Morgan ‘Friedbrain’ Freeman’s Putin – just like the peoples of Scotland and Wales and Ireland and any other people who might seek measures of self governance.
Nek minute you’ll be saying that any thoughts around tino rangatiratanga are being melded by Evil Ruskies (capital E, capital R) …kinda like how any socialist was under the hypnotic sway of The Kremlin (capital T capital K) throughout the periods of the Red Scares (capital R, capital S)
If only they’d stop clicking into all that Russian social media stuff that’s egging them on, eh?
You should visit Europe. Seriously. Maybe even talk to ordinary Europeans. Report back on their sense of foreboding or fear with regards Russia. (I know, I know. They know not what they truly think because “Evil Putin and social media”)
There you go again: nowhere have I said that Catalan independence shouldn’t be entertained or considered.
You stated that the fear of decentralisation was due to some fear about whateverthefuckyou’reon.
My response was that a very strong argument for keeping a federalised nation-state system in Europe inside a centralised European organisation was the fact that Russia has upped its expansionist position in the last ten or fifteen years, and a key part of preventing this piecemeal expansion is to have a coordinated european response.
Nato and europe are expanding westwards because the countries bordering Russia fear invasion, see better trade opportunities in Europe, and request membership. Funnily enough, countries and regions seem to request to join Russia only after they’ve had leaders poisoned and Russian-speaking troops set up the polling stations.
As for the Catalans, fair cop to them. But don’t be surprised if a major purchaser of pro-independence social media ads is the russian foreign ministry, because western European discord helps their foreign policy objectives.
The US was previously wanting a weak Europe rubberstamping “NATO” (i.e. US) decisions, but now wants the rep of making it rain but without actually throwing cash around the club – in fact sitting down and splitting the bill strictly according to what everybody ordered. Yeah, THAT guy in the party when everyone orders pizza…
What I committed to in the first place was democratic responsiveness.
Your aside is pointless. Fresh elections are required in Syria.
The “greater good” argument is the same sad slippery slope I have seen multiple times, with no limiting principle. It goes like this:
1. Area A is richer than the rest of the place it belongs to.
2. Area A therefore pays more tax. (According to 2014 figures, Catalonia paid E9.89 more into Spain’s tax authorities than it received in spending – the equivalent of 5% of its GDP.)
3. Area A feels unfairly treated, and a little political movement is formed to achieve this, which brings in all sorts of mythic shit about their essential essentialness.
4. Everyone in the rest of the area knows it’s pure code for fuck the poor everywhere else so the rich area stays rich.
5. Civil war ensues, and no one but the arms suppliers gets any richer.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Syrians can determine their own internal political processes without our ‘wise council’.
But anyway. You want to turn the tables around on what was being referenced as “the greater good”?
Okay.
How long has it been that Catalonia has sought greater autonomy? What’s the history and reasoning?
And then, what about the Basque region? (It a richer area of France and Spain than other areas of those countries, is it?)
Scotland and/or Wales are imbued with all sorts of mythic shit about their essential essentialness are they?
Your “Area A” argument is entirely contrived and hardly representative. How could it be ffs, unless reality is that only wealthier regions seek political/cultural autonomy, and that all desire for political/cultural autonomy is driven solely by economic considerations.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Syrians can determine their own internal political processes without our ‘wise council’.
They did have a go at it, but discovered that totalitarian dictatorships have their own means of determining political processes, means that are highly unpleasant but also very effective. True enough that no amount of ‘wise counsel’ on our part can assist them though.
The Baathist government ceded every demand made of it (multi-party elections, freeing of prisoners etc).
Can you name a demand they didn’t attempt to satisfy?
Oh. That’s right. You simply don’t get that the bullshit in Syria has its roots in the somewhat historical conflict between the secularism of Arab “state socialism” (‘orrible oxymoron) and the religious extremism that some Shia Muslims indulge in.
It’s all “bad Assad regime” and “noble, freedom loving rebels”…just as the BBC, NBC, CNN, ABC and all the rest of the alphabet soup media keep saying.
I seem to recall Assad responding to protests with snipers and to the Arab Spring in general with the comment “Reform is not a seasonal issue,” but no doubt his party’s official version of events does indeed describe it acceding to every demand made by the protesters.
It’s certainly true that I “don’t get” how you can pretend a guy who inherited the country from his dad and maintains his rule via a massive police state and extensively skilled and experienced torturers is some kind of democratically-elected leader. But don’t fret, I also have no desire to “get” whatever it is that results in that mindset.
I recall that propaganda too PM. Seems the difference between us is that I questioned it and wondered at the numbers of dead police officers who had been shot off the back of supposedly peaceful protests. I admit, I had the whole Venezuelan coup scenario sitting at the back of my mind. Remember that? Remember who the snipers killing protesters were in that instance?
Anyway. You have no example of a demand not responded to in a positive fashion.
Assad didn’t inherit. He had to have the nod from the Baathist party apparatus. Not hugely democratic at all, but not ‘inheritance’ like Queeny following Georgie aye?
And now all elections are contested and the general populace has a vote – just like here.
Shia radicalism, that’s implacably opposed to anything that might be considered as a western notion of secularism (and by extension anything Baathist or socialist or state driven) – that I thought you were against (don’t you keep referring to Islamofascists?) – is the reason the Syrian state developed a huge and fucked up security apparatus.
You are out on a very, very, long and thin limb if you think Syria doesn’t need elections and won’t need help with ensuring they are free and fair.
As to your questions, it goes roughly like this:
It started way back, but they started getting really itchy about the same time Portugal had a war for proper independence from Spain in the 1730s under King Philip III. All about tax and preserving the existence of an independent nobility.
The independence impulse was repressed under Franco.
They got pretty substantial autonomy under the 1978 constitution.
They got even more in a 2006 statute, but Spain’s constitutional court reversed that.
Most of Spain’s economy has been shit since the GFC, but the north-east less so due to massive tourism.
Cultural considerations in Catalonia are a code – as they usually are – for protecting wealth, class, and tax.
You are out on a very, very, long and thin limb if you think Syria doesn’t need elections and won’t need help with ensuring they are free and fair.
I’m not on that limb. There have been free and fair elections in Syria and further ones are scheduled when current terms expire….just like as in other countries that hold multi-party parliamentary elections and/or contested presidential elections.
If you thought that was free and fair as an election I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
This is supremely the wrong time to start splitting further parts of Europe up further. Works great on tv getting sympathy. But that’s not where the work needs to be.
They need an argument about tax redistribution across Spain.
Not really but it appears to have been the West supported rebels that caused the problems.
Not to mention that Syrian embassies were shut down by numerous countries, meaning that Syrians within those countries couldn’t vote.
edit – and that’s “western supported Jihadists” – not “rebels”. (“Funny” how every fighter willingly picking up arms and fighting against the Syrian Arab Army is Shia, no?)
I saw this morning Teuila Blakely on the AM Show voted for Winstone Peters and prefers a National/NZ First coalition.
Considering she never has her eyes on the road and she distracts driver’s from having their eyes on the road – does this woman really know where she’s going?
Don’t do it—you’re only encouraging them. Online polls have about as much credibility as John Key’s assertion that he couldn’t remember his stance on the 1981 Springbok Tour.
I’ve heard of e-mail but what is this letter, as in “write a letter of objection” you mention?
Were they those things my grandparents used to talk about?
You can write a letter and deliver it by e-mail as an attachment. You can even write a letter, sign it, scan it in and deliver it by e-mail. The e-mail bit is new; the letter bit is not.
This is the plan eh, MMP isn’t delivering for New Zealanders.
Overheard at Mt hot pools last evening – “gotta get rid of this MMP, its all bullshit. We got the most votes, the , we got the, the majority and now winstons holding us to ransom…”
Catalan Independence Referendum results are through and very strongly pro; despite (or perhaps because of) Spanish state intimidation tactics:
[00:01] Jordi Turull, a Catalan regional government spokesman, said early on Monday that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted on Sunday voted in favour of independence. The region has 5.3 million voters…
[00:31] The turnout was 42%, say Catalan officials. On Sunday afternoon, the Spanish interior ministry said police had closed 79 of the 2,315 polling stations set up for the referendum. Earlier,, the Catalan government had reported that, despite the police’s efforts, voting was taking place in 96% of polling stations…
[00:36] Turull, the Catalan government spokesman, says authorities have calculated that a total of 770,000 votes were lost because of the disruption. “Four hundred schools [used as polling stations] have been sealed and many votes have been directly stolen,” he said.
“Your call is important to me and I will return your call as soon as I feel like it possible. Please leave your name & number and a short message after the national anthem beep. The answer still is No”.
Environmental ‘supergroup’ puts future government on notice
“Environmental issues were at the centre of the 2017 election campaign. No matter who ends up in Government, they will have a clear mandate and a responsibility to take action on fresh water, climate change, and conservation. And they should know that we will be right there to make sure they do.”
A winner in this year’s election was the New Zealand environment. It featured as a bigger concern amongst the electorate than ever before. All of you through your party manifestos made commitments to improve the state of our environment. We congratulate you for those promises.
As environmental leaders, we wish to offer our congratulations to all parties and to both sitting and new MPs for their election success. We also wish to acknowledge those parties and MPs who are departing Parliament and thank them for their work.
There is now a strong public expectation that whichever parties form the next Government, there must be clear gains for fresh water, the climate and conservation in the next three years.
We offer our help in achieving these gains:
FRESHWATER
It is clear that ecologically healthy freshwaters, and the ability of New Zealanders to safely swim in their rivers and lakes, will be a key measure of environmental success for the new Government. This can only be achieved if government facilitates and supports a transformation of the primary sector toward new, environmentally-friendly land uses and practices, coupled with tougher regulation and market signals which reflect the true costs of resource use.
CLIMATE
There must be a more structured and transparent approach to tackling the greatest challenge of our time – climate change. New Zealand’s emissions have continued to climb and we need an ambitious plan on how to reduce them. Transformative change is required through a new law to establish a statutory carbon budgeting process overseen by an independent Climate Commission to plan, monitor and report on the transition to net zero by 2050. Anything less betrays this and future generations.
CONSERVATION
The jewels in the crown of our national identity are the unique species which inhabit our lands, waters and wild places. We need the new Government to institute real measures to protect and enhance the viability of our precious species. This includes the health of the diverse and invaluable terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that sustain both them and valued introduced species. An increase in funding of DOC’s core budget must be a key component in that strategy.
These issues, and the many others that fall under the umbrella of “environment”, are at the heart of the richness of our quality of life in New Zealand, and underpin our international reputation. They are also at the core of a genuinely sustainable future and are therefore true legacy issues. The natural world is our home and there are few greater gifts we can bestow our children than a vibrant, vital and healthy natural world.
We promise to continue our strong advocacy for the environment and look forward to working with all political parties, both in the next government and in the opposition, to achieve positive gains for our environment.
Ad Wondered about the
“Rt. Hon. Bill English Leader, National Party”
after Lisa McLaren’s name?
Is that to mean English helped write it or is it a copy for his information?
Sue Moroney’s recent commitment to whistleblowing is to be commended. The Panel, RNZ National, Monday 2 October 2017
Jim Mora, Julia Hartley-Moore, Mike Rehu, Megan Whelan
First topic for the light and breezy once-over this afternoon was the Joanne Harrison fraud case. The Member of Parliament who pushed this case was Labour’s Sue Moroney, who dutifully answered a few questions from the Panelists about it. Sue Moroney did a very good job here, but she has not always defended whistleblowers as robustly as she did in the Harrison case.
In fact, an infamous performance by her on the Backbenchers television show in 2013 showed her to be anything BUT a defender of Edward Snowden…
WALLACE CHAPMAN: Here’s a simple question for you Sue Moroney. If the U.S. whistleblower sought asylum in New Zealand, would you support him? SUE MORONEY:[face frozen in rictus grin] Ahhhhhhhhhhh. [extended pause] No. I don’t think so. Ask me something that matters.
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Trump administration, after less than one full first term, has every likelihood of being adjudged the most anti-climate, anti-science, and anti-environment executive branch in U.S. history. With numerous high-level Trump nominees having cut their teeth as lobbyists with major polluting industries, the administration ...
Does National have any chance of winning the election in September? It’s looking very unlikely, especially after National’s change of leadership hasn’t exactly produced Mullermania in the first two weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I summarised in Tuesday’s Political Roundup column: Todd Muller’s torrid start as National leader. ...
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ...
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard EdwardsThis blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...
Last month I noted that the public policy debate was all about how we deal with covid-19. That’s changing now, and will change more over the next couple of months as the buffering impact of the wage subsidy disappears and we see starkly the economic hole out of which we ...
The mission of the New Zealand Police is to make this country the safest nation in the world. To achieve that aim, there is one important step the police need to take at the end of this month. When the evaluation of the Armed Response Teams’ trial is completed, the ...
The right of employees to strike is an internationally recognised employment right that has been a feature of New Zealand’s industrial relations system for over a century, albeit with different constraints and limitations at different times. Although more restricted, this right even continued under the anti-union Employment Contracts Act (1993-2000). ...
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf we stopped oil, gas and coal extraction immediately – ...
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...
The latest opinion poll is out, and it’s more bad news for the National Party, with Roy Morgan putting them on only 26.5% support, against Labour’s 56.5%. You can see the details here: Roy Morgan May opinion poll. Roy Morgan is regarded as less accurate than other polling companies, and the ...
When miners pillage conservation land, they are typically required to "rehabilitate" it afterwards. Its not much compared to the damage they do, but its something. But apparently even that is now too much to expect. NZG Limited, a company owned by Oravida directors James Blackwell, Julia Jiyan Xu, Stone Shi, ...
Like everyone else, I've spent too much of the weekend watching the protests in America, and the increasingly brutal response to them. The overwhelming impression is of a nationwide police riot, as people speaking out against a murder and demanding change are beaten, gassed and shot by racist, militarised thugs ...
In mid-April, as New Zealand entered its fourth week of alert level 4, the Prime Minister warned us not to make comparisons with other countries over our Covid-19 pandemic response. This extraordinary advice came after Simon Bridges had urged the government to adopt a less-stringent lockdown similar to those in ...
Wales has lowered the voting age to 16: 16 and 17 year olds can now officially vote in Wales for Senedd elections. Votes at 16 & 17 come into force on Monday, as part of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020. Next year’s Senedd elections will ...
The government announced more changes to the ETS today, including to the emissions budget for 2021 - 2025. The overall budget for that period will stay at 354 million tons of CO2-equivalent. But the ETS component of that - stockpile reduction, free allocation, and credits to be auctioned - budget ...
The new National Party leader, Todd Muller, had been at pains to portray himself as a solid, serious, safe pair of hands, in contrast to the increasingly Trumpian leanings of Simon Bridges, who Muller deposed in a leadership coup last Friday. But after an uneventful, if uninspiring, first press conference, ...
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...
Becoming the leader of a political party is a bit like having a baby. Not so much the screaming and sleepless nights, as the fact that you’ve waited and hope and planned for something and it’s finally here. And when that wonderful gift finally arrives, you want to be ready, ...
The US appears to be headed towards what Antonio Gramsci and other Italian political theorists call an “organic crisis of the State.” It involves the simultaneous and compounded fractures of economy, society and politics, which together constitute a tipping point in a nation’s history. Social contradictions are exacerbated, class and ...
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week...
Climate concerns as Siberia experiences record-breaking heatHeat wave sparks concerns about devastating wildfire season and melting permafrost.Satellite ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 24 through Sat, May 30, 2020Editor's ChoiceAntarctic Ocean Reveals New Signs of Rapid Melt of Ancient Ice, Clues About Future Sea Level RiseA study of seafloor ripples ...
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk A banner on the International Energy Agency website spells it out in bold font: “The global oil industry is experiencing a shock like no other in its history.” As the response to the coronavirus pandemic upends the lives of billions of ...
The ownership of newspapers and televison channels is in turmoil, and they want to redisorganise public broadcasting. *Three years ago, I expressed concern in a column about the future of the (traditional) media. Nothing has happened since to reduce the concern. It was based on an earlier column which ...
Australia's High Court has ruled that the "palace letters" between the queen and then-Governor-General John Kerr are public records rather than private papers: Historian Jenny Hocking has won her High Court bid to access the letters exchanged between then governor-general Sir John Kerr and the Queen around the time of ...
SATURDAY MAY 30Six60: Live at Western Springs 2020 (TVNZ 1, 8.45pm). Remember live concerts? The day will come again, friends, when we will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an uncomfortable sweaty venue with people we don’t know. It will happen. Sometimes the sound of concerts drifts over to the ...
New Zealand and its prime minister Jacinda Ardern have received international attention and praise, rightly so, for decisive leadership, clear communication and scientific management of the coronavirus pandemic. Observers point out that the nation has been through multiple crises under Ardern’s leadership – such as the Christchurch terrorist attack and ...
…a lot of things unrelated to the pandemic were happening. Relatively little attention was given to some major events on the global stage, so I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the high (or low) -lights, starting with something familiar. The common theme throughout is human ...
Labour's talk of gutting the RMA to push through "shovel ready" projects to boost employment after the pandemic predictably has every half-arsed pipe-dream crawling out of the woodwork demanding special treatment. Today, it's the West Coast inbreds, who are demanding a host of laws be rescinded so they can dig ...
"I can't breathe, Mama. I'm dying." - Last words of George Floyd.LOOK HARD at this image. Think about what it depicts. Ask yourself how one human-being could behave so brutally when so many eye-witnesses – and very soon millions of people online around the world – were there to watch ...
Since the government announced its pandemic wage subsidy, there have been regular stories about companies taking it and then sacking or refusing to pay their workers - essentially committing fraud. But how often does this happen? The Minister just doesn't want to know: Government ministers are not receiving up to ...
"You call that a conservative?Nah, this is a conservative!" New Zealanders are in the market for a quiet and reassuring small-c conservative political centrist. The critical question, however, is which politician is currently playing that role? Who has mastered the art of relaxed, informal and intimate political communication? Who ...
I’VE OFTEN WONDERED if South African immigrants passing through towns like Kerikeri and Kaikohe ever wonder how we do it. In their homeland, through the bitter years of Apartheid, keeping the races segregated required pass laws, Alsatian dogs, tear gas, rubber bullets and, all-too-often, live rounds. Not here. Not in ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from July 31, 2019 to September 30, 2019. Sports categories must be by sex, not gender identity Queer theory glossary Woke misogyny and homophobia: a gay critique of trans ideology Another unfortunate experiment? New Zealand’s transgender health policy and ...
Smart Energy Europe: A Plan to provide 100% of ALL ENERGY using Renewable Energy to EuropeIntroductionAll Energy renewable energy systems are often commented on here at Skeptical Science. Many comments suggest that it will be difficult, expensive or impossible to use renewable energy to power the world. To ...
The government released its Action for Healthy Waterways package today, ostensibly with the goal of cleaning up our rivers and making them swimmable within a generation. Doing that, of course, requires confronting the cow in the room: the dairy industry which causes most of the pollution. But while they've imposed ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI would like to know if New Zealand’s carbon emissions ...
Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonBack in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth’s deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant ...
Remember KiwiBuild? Previously the government's flagship policy, it was supposed to build thousands of new homes every year for kiwi families. But instead of flooding the market, we've got a pathetic dribble: The Government's former flagship housing policy is so far behind schedule it will take more than 400 years ...
Don Franks Now Covid-19 restrictions allow gatherings of a hundred, an urgent hui needs calling. A special conference of the Council of Trade Unions. Today, workers face the greatest attack on employment, pay and conditions since the depression, we need a strong united union voice. As it stands now, organised ...
George Henderson New Zealand schools have introduced a climate change resource that suggests children “eat less meat and dairy”, even though teachers will not know how much meat or dairy any child in their care has eaten. Opinion pieces in the papers have called for the reduction of meat and ...
Questioning the number of district health boards in New Zealand has got to the extent that “too many DHBs” has become a perceived truth requiring no further elaboration. It is rarely challenged by policy advisers, academics, and journalists. But when one drills down further it becomes clear that the number ...
The emergence of a new National party leader, seemingly out of nowhere, has – not surprisingly – raised a number of questions as to who Todd Mulller actually is and what makes him tick. He has been an MP for some time but seems to have hidden his light under ...
Costa Rica has become the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage: The first same-sex weddings have taken place in Costa Rica, the first Central American country to equalise its marriage legislation. A lesbian couple became the first to tie the knot in a ceremony that took ...
There's a new twist in the Winston Peters secret donation story. It appears that a significant chunk of NZ First's secret laundered donations goes straight into the pockets of the people administering the scheme: Tens of thousands in donor's funds given to the New Zealand First Foundation were spent paying ...
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a ...
We all know that many so-called journalists and political commentators in New Zealand work directly or indirectly for political parties or for certain political factions. This was obviously the case when pundit for hire Matthew Hooton launched a campaign against then National Party leader, Simon Bridges, over their numerous polling ...
Let's Roll! The easy victory over a Bridges-led National Party which the Left had every cause to anticipate just a few days ago is no longer in the offing. Our enemy’s position has changed. His numbers are swelling. A rapid thrust to the left, followed by an audacious outflanking manoeuvre ...
New National Party leader Todd Muller has been interviewed about his policies, and has promised to restart offshore fossil fuel exploration if elected: The Bay of Plenty MP rolled former leader Simon Bridges last week, but says the party has not changed its stance on previous promises. "That is ...
Anyone who keeps an eye on evidence around cannabis and public health will be familiar with the Christchurch Health and Development Study. It's one of two local longitudinal studies frequently cited with respect to cannabis and youth development. But in a new article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, it is ...
In the age of covid we are Jacinda’s team of five million, except for some. There has rarely been a more blatant case of discrimination against beneficiaries than Grant Robertson’s announcement yesterday that people who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus will receive weekly payments of $490 per week for 12 weeks and $250 per week for part time ...
It was 75 years ago this month that Germany surrendered and the Allies celebrated VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Millions of people around the world had been killed and many more injured or captured. It was an end to war not just for Europeans, but their allies too, in countries across Africa. But its impact is ...
Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...
Watching Todd Muller make his first speech as the newly minted Leader of the Opposition after Simon Bridges’ defenestration on Friday brought to mind a headmaster addressing a school assembly. He showed no particular desire to ingratiate himself with his audience although the occasional flash of self-deprecating humour indicated a ...
The government has announced another income support scheme for people affected by the economic aftershocks of the pandemic: a $490 a week tax-free payment for the newly unemployed, which you can get even if you have a working partner. Which is great, because its supporting people who need help, but ...
The Greens have released their party list, and it contains a few surprises. The one that's getting all the news is that the membership are clearly fans of Chlöe Swarbrick, and she has worked hard to earn that. But they've also favoured incumbent protection over new blood, and in the ...
age credit:Science and Politics – Skeptically.org It seems impossible to keep politics out of science. It’s a pity because politics can end up forcing science to produce the results desired by ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Matthew Parry, Dr Ayesha Verrall, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Martin Eichner (author details*)This blog details a recent modelling study we conducted. In it we estimated that it would take between 27 and 33 days of no new detected cases of COVID-19 for there to be ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced two diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Consul-General to Hong Kong. “As New Zealand recovers from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever. That is ...
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...
We’re confident in the ability of Kiwi businesses to succeed in the face of COVID-19, and our Government is committed to doing our bit to enable that success. Kiwi businesses have always been innovative and resilient, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proven this yet again. Many businesses are finding new, creative ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its first tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. The includes all sitting New Zealand First Members of Parliament except Clayton Mitchell MP who earlier today announced he will not be seeking re-election. In alphabetical order they are: MP ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Tauranga New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell has decided not to seek re-election in this year’s General Election. “After serious consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to pursue other passions in my life and spend a lot ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced that new Lockheed Martin Super Hercules aircraft would replace the outdated and costly 1960s Hercules fleet. The $1.521b project will include a flight simulator for staff training and other supporting infrastructure. "This fleet will ensure the Defence Force can continue to support New Zealand's ...
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has described Labour's original COVID-19 commercial rent dispute proposal as "poorly targeted". Justice Minister Andrew Little hasannounced a temporary law changeto force commercial landlords and renters to consider COVID-19 in disputes over rent issues, almost two months after the Government first floated the idea. But ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First acknowledges that some small businesses have been struggling to meet fixed costs due to the loss of revenue by COVID-19. We also know some businesses are at greater risk of insolvency when they cannot come to a reasonable ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First is disappointed that the removal of the spousal deductions has had to be delayed by the Ministry fo Social Development, due to COVID19 workload pressures. “New Zealand First has always stood for fairness when it comes to superannuation ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First On the steps of Parliament today the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters received a petition from registered nurse Anna Maria Coervers, requesting an amendment to the Protection for First Responders Bill which will ensure the legislation also include registered ...
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says alert level 2 restrictions have to be discussed during today's Cabinet meeting. Thousands gathered across the country, including at Parliament, yesterday forBlack Lives Matter marcheswhere social distancing and mass gathering rules were flouted. Mr Peters said the breaching of Alert Level 2 rules at ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Owned Enterprises KiwiRail’s Northland rail upgrade steps up another gear today and will help Northland recover from the impacts of COVID-19, State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters says. The Government is investing $204.5 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to ...
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation The West Coast forests of Mount Te Kinga at Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner are the latest predator free project to receive Government funding, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
The Green Party says major freshwater reforms announced today provide the strongest ever protections of our waterways, to help ensure the next generation can swim in the rivers of Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Megan Woods, Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Health Minister David Clark today announced a COVID-19 vaccine strategy, ...
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together, supporting jobs, getting business moving and the books back into the black. It’s an integral part of our COVID-19 economic response, and our plan to grow our economy and get New Zealand moving again.Here’s a quick look at the five top things you ...
The Green Party is pleased to reveal its candidate list for the upcoming election. With a mix of familiar faces and fresh new talent, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to lead the Greens back into Government. ...
The Coalition Government has approved $206 million in essential upgrades at Ōhakea Air Base. Defence Minister Ron Mark said the money would be spent on improving old infrastructure. He said safety issues would be addressed, as well as upgrades to taxiways, accommodation and fresh, storm and waste water systems. "This ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First “I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached. Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future. We now ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones has introduced a Bill to Parliament that he says will "force more transparency, integrity and respect" for the domestic wood-processing sector through the registration of log traders and practice standards. The Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill had its first reading in ...
Green MP Golriz Ghahraman is joining over 300 lawmakers from around the world in calling on the big banks and the IMF to forgive the debt of developing countries, in the wake of the COVID crisis. ...
Extra 40,000 businesses to be eligible for wage subsidy extension Small business cashflow support application period extended The Government is today announcing further support for businesses that continue to be affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as the broader economy becomes one of the most open in the world following ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft will be purchased to replace the existing fleet, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “Last year, Cabinet selected these aircraft as the preferred option to replace the current Hercules fleet. Procurement of the Super Hercules has been ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage is celebrating World Environment Day with an announcement of a major step towards Wairarapa Moana being recognised as an internationally significant wetland. “Wairarapa Moana is an ecosystem of 10,000 hectares of wetland and open water that provides a home for indigenous fish, birds and ...
New public housing that will save tenants money in energy bills, and provide warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, is setting the standard for the Government’s future public housing programme, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. Dr Woods opened the new Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities complex, which has a ...
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...
Mobile traders and truck shops must adhere to responsible lending requirements Interest rate cap on high-cost loans Lenders prohibited from offering further credit to an applicant who has taken two high-cost loans in the past 90 days The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, has signalled an end ...
94% of firms say wage subsidy had positive impact on cashflow 62% of firms say support helped to manage non-wage costs like rent A survey of business that have received the Government’s wage subsidy show it has played a significant role in saving jobs, and freed up cash flow to ...
New legislation introduced to Parliament today will support growth and assist businesses on the road to economic recovery, said Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill proposes that businesses can get tax deductions for ‘feasibility expenditure’ on new investments,” said Mr ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has welcomed the first release of funds from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced as part of Budget 2020. Sport NZ has announced that $4.6 million in funding will go to the Wellington Phoenix, NZ Warriors, Super Rugby teams and the ANZ Premiership ...
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection ...
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair ...
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery. Last month Government ministers wrote to significant private enterprises and the banking industry to request they join efforts by government agencies to ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
$196 million for Crown Research Institutes $150 million for R&D loan scheme $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers will benefit from a ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
The Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister and Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, has today announced the appointment of Tristan Gilbertson as the new Telecommunications Commissioner and member of the Commerce Commission. “Mr Gilbertson has considerable experience in the telecommunications industry and a strong reputation amongst his peers,” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vikrant Minhas, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Although bacteria are single-celled and microscopically small, they still need energy to survive, just like us. One of the most efficient ways of acquiring energy for bacteria is through sweet, soluble carbohydrates: sugars. In fact, ...
PACIFIC PANDEMIC DIARY:By David Robie Three cartoonists had especially poignant takes on the tragic and toxic political aftermath of martyr George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a white American policeman in Minneapolis last week. The Boston Globe’s Christopher Weyant featured a split frame contrasting a red-capped “Make ...
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis?There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Sarder, Senior Strategic Analyst, Monash University Algorithmic decision-making has enormous potential to do good. From identifying priority areas for first response after an earthquake hits, to identifying those at risk of COVID-19 within minutes, their application has proven hugely beneficial. But ...
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Thomas, Associate professor, Flinders University We have seen ten days of protests in the United States over the death of George Floyd. While thousands of people have gathered to express their outrage peacefully, some demonstrations have been marred by vandalism and ...
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...
Auckland writer Caroline Barron has a terrific book out today called Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death. Here, she writes about the memoirs that have been a balm, a lesson, or both. Throughout my life, I’ve sought solace between the covers of books, particularly memoirs. There, I’ve learnt ...
An exclusive interview with Steve McSteverson about his traumatic and tragic ordeal this week.Many New Zealanders are struggling with the news that a children’s book not commissioned or authorised by Jacinda Ardern was advertised in a newsletter for children’s books. This horrific attack on New Zealanders whose ears are permanently ...
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr. Bodean Hedwards, Lecturer, Monash University This week the leaders of India and Australia reaffirmed their mutual interest in closer diplomatic and economic ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their long-delayed Thursday “virtual summit”: ...
The Herald reported this morning that MediaWorks was on the verge of selling its TV assets to US TV giant Discovery – but an internal email and senior source suggest the story may have been premature.A senior MediaWorks source has emphatically denied a report in the NZ Herald that a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gery Karantzas, Associate professor in Social Psychology / Relationship Science, Deakin University Life in lockdown has been tough on many relationships. But negotiating the transition back to “normal” as restrictions continue to lift could also be a challenge for couples. So what ...
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Adelaide HomeBuilder is a good idea gone bad. It is possibly the most complex and least equitable program the government could have devised to deliver construction jobs. It gives $25,000 to people who already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Keller, Professor of Cognitive Science, Western Sydney University The coronavirus pandemic has silenced the world’s concert halls and opera theatres. Organisations specialising in live performance face an existential crisis under current restrictions on social gatherings, with up to 75% of people ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, wearing his Sport and Recreation ministerial hat, can show he can be a big spender and draw voters’ attention to his largess each time he dispenses money from the funds under his control – or the control of an agency within his ministerial bailiwick. Yesterday he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Scott Morrison wants to overhaul the skills workforce to ensure a better post-COVID-19 recovery. But there may not be enough people with the necessary skills to do so. And travel restrictions, which ...
As we transition out of a Covid-focused world and prepare for what comes next, New Zealand’s ICT industry is gearing towards growth.From app development helping track the Covid-19 virus to website engineering keeping businesses in touch and online, ICT knowledge has been crucial to keeping New Zealand working over the ...
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...
Ten days is too long. That from insurance claimant advocate, Ali Jones. EQC has today made contact with homeowners via email after accidentally releasing confidential details of 8000 insurance claims on May 26. Jones says although she has not received ...
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 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. The other day, ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin. The conversation around the 2020 covid19 pandemic has been widely framed as ‘health versus the economy’. It has been quite political, with people leaning to the left emphasising ‘health’, and people leaning to the right emphasising ‘the economy’. A couple of weeks ago ...
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books.“What if James Bond was a teenager?”The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 ...
Analysis - The PM resists pressure to move immediately to level 1, Winston Peters' tactics play into the hands of the Opposition and the government at last works out a commercial rent solution, writes Peter Wilson. ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHAFrom Washington DC Federal charges against the four protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy, who defended the building in Washington DC against violent opposition crowds for several weeks between April 10 and May 16 of 2019, were completely dropped in a case that ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHA Editorial TeamFrom Washington DC The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) joins the Black Alliance for Peace[1] and other pro-democracy organizations throughout the world in calling for the United Nations to address the systemic violations of human rights by the police and ...
Being shot by police had a profound, transformational effect on Rob Mokaraka’s life in more ways than you’d expect. A new documentary, airing on Māori TV at 7.30pm on Sunday, explores the work he’s done to heal his own mind and to ensure nobody has to go through the same ...
Human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned the demand by Indonesian prosecutors seeking 17 and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin. On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor’s Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin. In the document, the Public Prosecutor ...
The arrival of Dan Carter is far from the first time the ever-struggling Auckland team has hoped to turn around its fortunes with a star signing, writes Jamie Wall.New Zealand rugby Twitter is a generally desolate place, especially lately given that there’s been nothing to talk about ever since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity US President Donald Trump delivered an address this week in which he threatened military action on the nation. Then he walked to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Why do we burp? We sometimes also burp before meals, why does this happen? — Ahaana, age 7 That is a really interesting question, Ahaana! There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland After years of litigation, Australia’s highest court will today make a major decision on the fate of the controversial proposed expansion to the New Acland Coal mine in Queensland. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Williams, Associate Professor in Urban Ecology and Urban Horticulture, University of Melbourne Tomorrow is the first World Green Roof Day. Cities around the world will celebrate the well-documented environmental, economic and social benefits of green roofs. New ground-level green spaces are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Robodebt isn’t the only measure the government should consider withdrawing. Late last Friday, after a long press conference from the prime minister which avoided any mention of the topic, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Harvard University’s Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, “there was no academic field of political economy. Today, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University What keeps democracies together? As America burns, Brazilians die and Europe braces for another wave of the coronavirus, the question assumes an alarming immediacy. If the answer is complicated in one way, it is ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Millions of dollars divvied up by Sport NZ, MSD’s problem with wrongly denied payments grows, and internal coalition battles emerge in time for election.It’s Friday, and there hasn’t been a lot of it recently, so we’re going to start with ...
The Government picks Waitomo caves as 'strategic tourism asset' and grants $4m to Tourism Holdings, boosting shares another 7.8 percent. Facebook staff and alumni revolt over Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan NZ bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias.NON-FICTION 1 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 2 Stop Surviving Start Fighting by Jazz Thornton (Penguin Random House, $38) 3 So Delish! by Simone Anderson ...
Anomalies in the policy for superannuitants with overseas pensions are an indictment on the justice process in New Zealand, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale Along with many others, the Retirement Policy and Research Centre has worked assiduously for more than a decade to alert the public, policy-makers ...
A new study indicates native plants, despite their tendency to grow more slowly than exotic species like Pinus Radiata, are better at storing carbon in the soil for longer periods of time. ...
Systemic white violence against black Americans is alive and well, and it's white violence that sustains white supremacy Current scenes from the United States are both familiar and shocking. George Floyd’s life being brutally snuffed out by Minneapolis police, followed by peaceful protests of Floyd’s murder as well as legitimate ...
The US isn't the only country with a broken criminal justice system that works to criminalise and destroy the lives of black and brown families. Dylan Asafo puts forward two ways NZ could lead in dismantling systems of white supremacy. If you were to imagine a society without racial oppression, ...
The British Tribe Next Door attracted over 60 complaints of racist themes from viewers when it first aired in the UK. Now TVNZ is streaming it on its OnDemand service attracting concerns from members of Aotearoa’s African community and a letter from race relations commissioner Meng Foon.When The British Tribe ...
When approached by The Spinoff Jeanette Wilson denied having told participants in an online session that the product ‘lined the lungs’, despite clear evidence to the contrary.The Covid-19 crisis has sparked misinformation in every corner of the world. In New Zealand, a “psychic healer” whose fixations read like a conspiracy ...
The union movement launched a push earlier this week to double the legal minimum of sick leave from five days a year to 10. Is a change likely?What’s all this then?In light of the recent global pandemic putting the focus on health in the workplace, unions have called for changes ...
An African American pastor from George Floyd's community gives The Detail a special insight into what's happening there - and gives us hope for the future. “Nobody in America wants to be a racist.” David Hill is a pastor in the Third Ward neighbourhood of Houston where George Floyd grew ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, last week effectively pronounced dead the prospect of a referendum on indigenous recognition being put to the people this parliamentary term, the demise of his hoped-for timetable ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government will significantly strengthen its scrutiny of foreign investment to protect sensitive national security technology and information and further ring fence the nation’s critical infrastructure. It will insert a new “national security test” ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Does National have any chance of winning the election in September? It’s looking very unlikely, especially after National’s change of leadership hasn’t exactly produced Mullermania in the first two weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I summarised in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Mathematics, University of Canterbury There is now a 95% chance COVID-19 has been eliminated in New Zealand, according to our modelling, based on official Ministry of Health data. As of June 4, New Zealand has had 20 consecutive ...
In 2014, Duncan Greive was invited to interview Dan Carter on the back of the All Black’s spokesmodelling gig for Jockey underwear – a meeting that would eventually lead to Greive co-writing Carter’s autobiography, My Story. To celebrate today’s big Dan Carter news, we republish that original Metro story here.In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute Scott Morrison’s new housing stimulus package is straight-out retail politics. HomeBuilder offers homeowners (including first home buyers) a grant of A$25,000 to build a new home worth less than $750,000 or to spend between ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Rachel Taulelei, CEO of Kono.Demand for New Zealand produce overseas is currently up. ...
By Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie in Jakarta A panel of judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has granted a lawsuit filed by civil society groups against the Indonesian government’s decision to impose an internet blackout during weeks of protests in Papua and West Papua provinces last year, declaring ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Mitchell, Professor of Nursing, University of Newcastle With coronavirus restrictions gradually lifting across the country, we’re now able to resume many of our regular activities. A lot of us might have been particularly keen to get back to the gym, which ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Perhaps at no point in Australia’s history has the demand for real-time figures been stronger than during the coronavirus crisis. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stepped up its efforts to get data fast, to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Senior Lecturer, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jolynna Sinanan, Research Fellow in Digital Media and Ethnography, University of Sydney Earlier this week, you might have seen your social media taken over by a stream of posts showing simple images of a black square. These posts, often tagged with #BlackoutTuesday, ...
A strong vote for sustainability would make the resulting Labour-Greens government a confident and ambitious reformer, having shed its NZ First handbrake ...
Open Mike 02/10/2017 
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...8 hours ago
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...9 hours ago
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...10 hours ago
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Trump administration, after less than one full first term, has every likelihood of being adjudged the most anti-climate, anti-science, and anti-environment executive branch in U.S. history. With numerous high-level Trump nominees having cut their teeth as lobbyists with major polluting industries, the administration ...21 hours ago
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ... 2 days ago
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard Edwards This blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...2 days ago
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...2 days ago
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...3 days ago
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...3 days ago
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...4 days ago
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...5 days ago
Image credit: Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference? I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is ... 5 days ago
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...6 days ago
SATURDAY MAY 30Six60: Live at Western Springs 2020 (TVNZ 1, 8.45pm). Remember live concerts? The day will come again, friends, when we will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an uncomfortable sweaty venue with people we don’t know. It will happen. Sometimes the sound of concerts drifts over to the ...1 week ago
1 week ago
Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...2 weeks ago
age credit: Science and Politics – Skeptically.org It seems impossible to keep politics out of science. It’s a pity because politics can end up forcing science to produce the results desired by ... 2 weeks ago
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced two diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Consul-General to Hong Kong. “As New Zealand recovers from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever. That is ...11 hours ago
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...11 hours ago
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...19 hours ago
...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vikrant Minhas, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Although bacteria are single-celled and microscopically small, they still need energy to survive, just like us. One of the most efficient ways of acquiring energy for bacteria is through sweet, soluble carbohydrates: sugars. In fact, ...5 hours ago
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis? There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...7 hours ago
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...10 hours ago
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...11 hours ago
Auckland writer Caroline Barron has a terrific book out today called Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death. Here, she writes about the memoirs that have been a balm, a lesson, or both. Throughout my life, I’ve sought solace between the covers of books, particularly memoirs. There, I’ve learnt ...11 hours ago
New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell will leave Parliament after the general election. ...11 hours ago
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...12 hours ago
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...13 hours ago
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, wearing his Sport and Recreation ministerial hat, can show he can be a big spender and draw voters’ attention to his largess each time he dispenses money from the funds under his control – or the control of an agency within his ministerial bailiwick. Yesterday he ...13 hours ago
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...14 hours ago
The Government picks Waitomo caves as 'strategic tourism asset' and grants $4m to Tourism Holdings, boosting shares another 7.8 percent. Facebook staff and alumni revolt over Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump ...21 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan NZ bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. NON-FICTION 1 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 2 Stop Surviving Start Fighting by Jazz Thornton (Penguin Random House, $38) 3 So Delish! by Simone Anderson ...22 hours ago
Anomalies in the policy for superannuitants with overseas pensions are an indictment on the justice process in New Zealand, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale Along with many others, the Retirement Policy and Research Centre has worked assiduously for more than a decade to alert the public, policy-makers ...22 hours ago
A new study indicates native plants, despite their tendency to grow more slowly than exotic species like Pinus Radiata, are better at storing carbon in the soil for longer periods of time. ...22 hours ago
NZTA is allegedly exploring options for its $1b road to be built with a different set of builders. ...22 hours ago
Systemic white violence against black Americans is alive and well, and it's white violence that sustains white supremacy Current scenes from the United States are both familiar and shocking. George Floyd’s life being brutally snuffed out by Minneapolis police, followed by peaceful protests of Floyd’s murder as well as legitimate ...22 hours ago
The US isn't the only country with a broken criminal justice system that works to criminalise and destroy the lives of black and brown families. Dylan Asafo puts forward two ways NZ could lead in dismantling systems of white supremacy. If you were to imagine a society without racial oppression, ...22 hours ago
An African American pastor from George Floyd's community gives The Detail a special insight into what's happening there - and gives us hope for the future. “Nobody in America wants to be a racist.” David Hill is a pastor in the Third Ward neighbourhood of Houston where George Floyd grew ...22 hours ago
A strong vote for sustainability would make the resulting Labour-Greens government a confident and ambitious reformer, having shed its NZ First handbrake ...1 day ago
Today National are claiming ballot box tampering is occurring now !!!!!!
They are so desperate for power they will invent anything at all now!!!!!
So the Labour, Green. NZ First coalition is the best option now to save our country.
We need to sack the corrupt Government now.
National are now watching their “career dissapation light” deminish inside their eye now, as the reality of MMP sets in.
“old father time” has caught up with them finally.
They couldn’t have got away with their wanton stealing of all our public assets, and the selloff’s forever could they?
“National are claiming ballot box tampering”.
If you are going to make such an incredibly serious thing can you please provide a reference. I want to see who is claiming this and exactly what they are saying.
I suspect this is a reference to LInkwater polling station in the Kaikoura electorate where 123 votes were falsely attributed to the Maori Party by clerical error. The locals all knew about the predominance of National voters in the area and questions were raised. All a minor weather event in a drinking vessel, really.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/97402483/the-small-rural-township-that-stood-up-and-was-counted–wrongly?cid=edm:stuff:marlboroughexpress&bid=371546290
Thanks.
Hardly the story that our “cleangreen” friend was spouting is it?
“so desperate for power they will invent anything”
What utter rubbish, if that is all his(her) wild hyperbole is based on.
And half a dozen exclamation marks after each sentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Some of the more rabid and unhinged of your ilk Alwyn….https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/10/data_entry_error_is_not_good_enough.html#comments
Yes they were getting a rather extreme set of reactions weren’t they?
Accidents happen and it is very easy to do something like that in the haste of the count on the night I should say. The critical bit is getting it right before the final results are announced.
I was once Returning Officer in a University Students Association election.
Long, long ago.
Someone accidentally put a set of 100 votes on the wrong pile while doing the count. It was spotted before the results were announced luckily as I would have had to go back and announce a different winner later on.
Those idiots national don’t get It . It’s the people it’s the people it’s the people.
When all our people get a fair share of OUR resources everyone benefits our sports stadiums full up all eCommerce flourishes all our bad stats will be reversed a healthy happy population is a must . No winning Sports team under funds its health programs or keeps all the money in managements pockets if you find a winning team that behaves like national and wins . YEA RIGHT never going to happen .Its the people that make a good economy not just money. One just has to cast the eyes across our World and see these country’s with large populations and a small resource base and they are flourishing because they no that happy healthy people = happy healthy economy the trick for the Coalition is to change thing and keep everyone happy ,
What I don’t get is we run computer models to predict the weather we run computation models to predict lots of things so what’s so why don’t we have computation models to give us in site on what is the best way to run a country’s economy and Government systems is it because some people don’t want this information out in the public hands because the most positive out comes are a total reverse OF THE BULLSHIT POLICY’S THAT THE neo liberals AROUND OUR WORLD ARE RAMMING DOWN OUR THROATS .Well even a uneducated broke ass Maori like me can see this. You all no that im a kiwi to Ka Pai
There’s lots of economic computational modelling being done. It’s just a lot less reliable than weather modelling for a very simple reason.
All computational models need equations to relate how different variable interact with each other.
For weather models, those equations are based on physics, with just a few empirically derived relations from observations and historical data where the physics theory isn’t yet sufficiently complete.
For most economic models, those equations are mostly from assumptions about human behaviour. Since they are assumptions, they are heavily influenced by the political worldview of whoever is making the assumptions.
Most scientific theories have assumptions. Even the physical modelling of the climate has assumptions. We simply don’t know everything and throw in an assumption. That said, scientific assumptions are usually backed by logic. In other words, the scientists have a reason for the assumptions that they use.
The problem with the assumptions used in economics is that they date back to Ricardo and further. Now, Ricardo and other economists of the time knew that they were assumptions and that they could be wrong. They expected that the assumptions that they used would be researched and the missing information filled in.
This hasn’t happened and the economics ‘profession’ is still using those same assumptions despite the fact that many have been proved wrong in other fields of study. It’s why I keep posting this video:
I say we should have modern computation models built as if one was using old info or technology to operate a organization now it would go broke.
Thanks you did confirm my assumption that there is political interference with all of our data
Don’t get all conspiratorial though @ eco Maori.
Some of it is just muppets running things. Some of it is intentional underfunding or down to cronyism.
THe Electoral Commission will be having a debrief apparently.
When they do, no doubt the reason for 123 Natzi votes attributed to their (once was Mary Party – going forward) will emerge.
Then there’ll be a ‘how come?’ married couple people with PR showed up with both sets of parents in tow demanding to vote (the 4 unable to speak a word of English or Te Reo) …. as well as it being acceptable for ballot boxes being taken home (rather than perhaps locking them up in the local Police Cell).
Well ….. maybe we should be getting concerned at muppets running things but I think it’s still down to idiocy rather than intent (going forward). Give them a pay rise maybe – and shift them sideways (preferably off a fucking cliff)
Actually….. it could be a PPP toll cliff – we could tax them on the way down.
A win win! They’d pay their debt to sussoighty, realise that with roights cum responsibilities, but if not …… whooooar
But whether human behaviour is considered at all is dependent on the branch of economics you are following. The neo-liberal economists like to think that economics is a science that can be reduced to formulas, algorithms and derivatives. People, beyond being consumers of mostly crap, have no other economic reason to exist.
From Newsroom – updated 2 hours ago:
The truth about National Party priorities on health and housing – killing young Kiwis before their time:
Those meth testing guys must have the most awesome fucking lobbyists on the planet. Either that, or the current government has an interest in demonising the poor and finding ways to weasel out of its housing responsibilities – but it couldn’t possibly be that, could it? Must be just some awe-inspiring lobbying skills by the meth-testing industry…
Another sham by national and this one is the tip of the iceberg
Probably agree with you re Cleangreen’s excited lurch there Alwyn but what I’m smelling more particularly from you is utter terror…….the superiority and entitlement of a decade turned into smelly old chocolate pooling at your feet. Trashy bogan Paula would be very unpleasant to be around right now…….
Thanks for highlighting this, Carolyn.
From your link
“NZ Drug Foundation president Ross Bell said the science does not back up the need for such an industry and it has played on the fears of New Zealand people in order to make a profit.
“More concerning, he said the Government has fallen for these scare tactics and created new standards and an Act amendment, currently before a select committee, which will unjustifiably perpetuate this culture of fear.
“He called the meth testing and remediation industry ‘the biggest scam this country has ever seen'”
The question now is, will Labour overturn this if they attain power?
Could have built 500+ houses and given them away for that $52m. Would have produced better social and economic outcomes.
From Stuff: new Kapiti Expressway “Road of National Significance” already needs resealing.
But only the inside lanes, mind. Wonder why that is.
Back in the early ’90s, I drove some German friends from Berlin to Dresden. Being not long after re-unification, the Autobahn was still pretty much as Hitler built it. They got me to drive in the fast lane, because the slow lane was incredibly corrugated and potholed. I tried driving in it to see if they were bullshitting me and it was so horrible I got back in the fast lane within a few hundred meters. “40 years of heavily-laden trucks heading east,” said Detlef. “But don’t worry, we’ll be able to drive in the right lane on the way back – the trucks always returned empty.”
Unfortunately for NZ, the trucks are heavily-laden in both directions.
From leaky homes to leaky roads.
Declining standards and cheap builds up against increased use.
The result is predictable shortened lifespan of the infrastructure.
If you want to keep your job you should do a mediocre job 😉
WTF is this?
Showing her true colours.
Yeah……Toryana Torya. Sad fraud.
Pre-senile dementia?
100% Pure spin and head in the sand all at the same time.
Of course it all looks fine sitting atop the Whanau Ora trough National provided from the Health Budget for her party.
Her enabling of NACT as leader of the MP makes her, Flavell, Sharples and what followed, such as the the self serving Marama Fox, directly culpable. Only Hone can hold his head high as he called them for what they are and walked away.
I have never forgotten Peter Sharples’ comment some years ago when he was Minister of Maori Affairs. He was (iirc) contemplating the possibility he might lose his seat at the next election (must have been 2011) and he said in an interview he would be in big trouble if he lost because he’d just bought a larger home and he needed his ministerial salary to pay off the mortgage.
That said it all for me.
I’m all for referenda, I mean hey something binding like an election would have made Syria a bit easier. Even something dumbly non-binding like the Australian gay marriage one has at least some civil purpose, if you squint. And seriously the Spanish federal police acting at the direction of the Spanish government on purely political direction is deeply corrupt.:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/01/dozens-injured-as-riot-police-storm-catalan-ref-polling-stations
But I would not want Europe to split into further pointless factions. We went through that with the rump Yugoslavia in the 1990s and it is a vortex of puirity and ethnic cleanising for which there is no limiting principle and therefore no end, only blood and destruction. Not to mention the impending chaos of Brexit.
The Catalan government is walking into a trap that can be cured by actual region-to-state diplomacy rather than orchestrating its population into foolish separatism achieving nothing except the polished egos of a few.
Where you getting this idea that people merely seeking greater levels of accountability/empowerment are spiteful and hateful little beasties Ad? And where’s this idea that people seeking a greater level of civic identity have to be “orchestrated” coming from?
I’d guess you to be one of these people who watch Hollywood “end of the world” movies who actually and uncritically accepts the “nasty, brutish and short” sub-narrative that casts the working class (variously) as zombies/cannibals/tooled up misanthropes “out to get” the valiant middle class – the worthy survivors and sole suppositories of civilisation’s knowledge and hope. 🙄
Might want to re-read the first paragraph of the comment. It’s better than guessing.
Your first para is essentially an adherence dominant narratives.
An aside. There have been elections in Syria (maybe you missed them under all the bullshit “prop on a spoon” that was coming our way?)
You have some criticism of the actions of the Spanish state that you then excuse by appealing to some notion of a “greater good” (that resides in a centralised and rather far reaching nexus of institutional power) protecting us from ….well, some realisation or reification of a rather dim and fearful view of ourselves.
I suspect the fear isn’t so much “ourselves” as “Russia”.
edit:… which seems to be expanding and improving on British foreign policy objectives
Aw ffs McFlock. You really want to peddle the “it’s the Russians! the Russians is coming!!” bullshit!!!?
Hmm – you heard the one about the Hollywood director, the actor and the embittered politician?
I guess you’ll be telling me to stop laughing and take it seriously 🙄
No, not “the Russians are coming”.
No T-90 tanks outside the bull ring.
Simply that a destabilised and fractured Europe is a Russian foreign policy objective, in order to gain piecemeal diplomatic leverage over Western Europe and to exercise direct political/military control over portions of Eastern Europe.
Really?
And here was me thinking that vast swathes of Eastern Europe had been pulled into an EU and/or NATO orbit, and that the US had more military bases in Europe than could shake a stick at…and some nuclear shit too…alongside a more or less free pass when it comes to promoting it’s political, cultural and economic norms throughout Europe.
But no. Seems I’m imagining stuff and there’s not nuffin to see there. Not a fing.
“Applied for membership” apparently equals “pulled into an EU and/or NATO orbit”.
As opposed to Russian tanks.
Well no. Not as “opposed to Russian tanks”. And we all know societal elites and governments reflect the will of populaces and make decisions accordingly, aye? 😉
Hmmm… Has the West been guilty of fostering unrest in Eastern Europe? Could this be retribution? Or could people be seeing phantoms? I suspect that this is part of the legacy of Franco’s victory and subsequent style of government.
I suspect that it’s both a legacy of Franco’s victory and heartily encouraged by Putin. A less coherent Europe provides a less coordinated response to Russian military expansionism into its bordering nations.
And bill – yeah, definitely “as opposed to Russian tanks”. Russian troops have an interesting habit of crossing Russian borders. Starting in Chechnya in the 1990s.
Sure thing McFlock.
The peoples of Catalonia, who have been seeking greater autonomy since “whenever”, are just idiotic or witless agents of Morgan ‘Friedbrain’ Freeman’s Putin – just like the peoples of Scotland and Wales and Ireland and any other people who might seek measures of self governance.
Nek minute you’ll be saying that any thoughts around tino rangatiratanga are being melded by Evil Ruskies (capital E, capital R) …kinda like how any socialist was under the hypnotic sway of The Kremlin (capital T capital K) throughout the periods of the Red Scares (capital R, capital S)
If only they’d stop clicking into all that Russian social media stuff that’s egging them on, eh?
You should visit Europe. Seriously. Maybe even talk to ordinary Europeans. Report back on their sense of foreboding or fear with regards Russia. (I know, I know. They know not what they truly think because “Evil Putin and social media”)
f.f.s.
oh, ffs.
There you go again: nowhere have I said that Catalan independence shouldn’t be entertained or considered.
You stated that the fear of decentralisation was due to some fear about whateverthefuckyou’reon.
My response was that a very strong argument for keeping a federalised nation-state system in Europe inside a centralised European organisation was the fact that Russia has upped its expansionist position in the last ten or fifteen years, and a key part of preventing this piecemeal expansion is to have a coordinated european response.
Nato and europe are expanding westwards because the countries bordering Russia fear invasion, see better trade opportunities in Europe, and request membership. Funnily enough, countries and regions seem to request to join Russia only after they’ve had leaders poisoned and Russian-speaking troops set up the polling stations.
As for the Catalans, fair cop to them. But don’t be surprised if a major purchaser of pro-independence social media ads is the russian foreign ministry, because western European discord helps their foreign policy objectives.
U.S.A tanks bring freedom ….. and are the recommended tool for dealing with Palestinian children throwing stones https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F49%2F61%2F7b%2F49617b2af30f70729dd5f65026d69d94–david-and-goliath-palestine.jpg&sp=e7a43796171b9708ee367bd0363ce1d8
Russians fight terrorists …. the sort Cameron, May etc support ….. Isis/Al-nusrade Al Qaeda flavored demonocracy
that’s nice, reason.
Question: Israel’s in Europe now?
Another q: that looks like a cool video – is it a trailer for the next Assassin’s Creed game?
Actually, I suspect that the USA doesn’t want an over-powerful Europe either. I trust nobody!!
The US was previously wanting a weak Europe rubberstamping “NATO” (i.e. US) decisions, but now wants the rep of making it rain but without actually throwing cash around the club – in fact sitting down and splitting the bill strictly according to what everybody ordered. Yeah, THAT guy in the party when everyone orders pizza…
US foreign policy in the age of trump.
What I committed to in the first place was democratic responsiveness.
Your aside is pointless. Fresh elections are required in Syria.
The “greater good” argument is the same sad slippery slope I have seen multiple times, with no limiting principle. It goes like this:
1. Area A is richer than the rest of the place it belongs to.
2. Area A therefore pays more tax. (According to 2014 figures, Catalonia paid E9.89 more into Spain’s tax authorities than it received in spending – the equivalent of 5% of its GDP.)
3. Area A feels unfairly treated, and a little political movement is formed to achieve this, which brings in all sorts of mythic shit about their essential essentialness.
4. Everyone in the rest of the area knows it’s pure code for fuck the poor everywhere else so the rich area stays rich.
5. Civil war ensues, and no one but the arms suppliers gets any richer.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Syrians can determine their own internal political processes without our ‘wise council’.
But anyway. You want to turn the tables around on what was being referenced as “the greater good”?
Okay.
How long has it been that Catalonia has sought greater autonomy? What’s the history and reasoning?
And then, what about the Basque region? (It a richer area of France and Spain than other areas of those countries, is it?)
Scotland and/or Wales are imbued with all sorts of mythic shit about their essential essentialness are they?
Your “Area A” argument is entirely contrived and hardly representative. How could it be ffs, unless reality is that only wealthier regions seek political/cultural autonomy, and that all desire for political/cultural autonomy is driven solely by economic considerations.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Syrians can determine their own internal political processes without our ‘wise council’.
They did have a go at it, but discovered that totalitarian dictatorships have their own means of determining political processes, means that are highly unpleasant but also very effective. True enough that no amount of ‘wise counsel’ on our part can assist them though.
The Baathist government ceded every demand made of it (multi-party elections, freeing of prisoners etc).
Can you name a demand they didn’t attempt to satisfy?
Oh. That’s right. You simply don’t get that the bullshit in Syria has its roots in the somewhat historical conflict between the secularism of Arab “state socialism” (‘orrible oxymoron) and the religious extremism that some Shia Muslims indulge in.
It’s all “bad Assad regime” and “noble, freedom loving rebels”…just as the BBC, NBC, CNN, ABC and all the rest of the alphabet soup media keep saying.
I seem to recall Assad responding to protests with snipers and to the Arab Spring in general with the comment “Reform is not a seasonal issue,” but no doubt his party’s official version of events does indeed describe it acceding to every demand made by the protesters.
It’s certainly true that I “don’t get” how you can pretend a guy who inherited the country from his dad and maintains his rule via a massive police state and extensively skilled and experienced torturers is some kind of democratically-elected leader. But don’t fret, I also have no desire to “get” whatever it is that results in that mindset.
I recall that propaganda too PM. Seems the difference between us is that I questioned it and wondered at the numbers of dead police officers who had been shot off the back of supposedly peaceful protests. I admit, I had the whole Venezuelan coup scenario sitting at the back of my mind. Remember that? Remember who the snipers killing protesters were in that instance?
Anyway. You have no example of a demand not responded to in a positive fashion.
Assad didn’t inherit. He had to have the nod from the Baathist party apparatus. Not hugely democratic at all, but not ‘inheritance’ like Queeny following Georgie aye?
And now all elections are contested and the general populace has a vote – just like here.
Shia radicalism, that’s implacably opposed to anything that might be considered as a western notion of secularism (and by extension anything Baathist or socialist or state driven) – that I thought you were against (don’t you keep referring to Islamofascists?) – is the reason the Syrian state developed a huge and fucked up security apparatus.
You think it was developed “just ’cause”?
As usual, the rabbit hole goes way further down than I’m willing to follow.
You are out on a very, very, long and thin limb if you think Syria doesn’t need elections and won’t need help with ensuring they are free and fair.
As to your questions, it goes roughly like this:
It started way back, but they started getting really itchy about the same time Portugal had a war for proper independence from Spain in the 1730s under King Philip III. All about tax and preserving the existence of an independent nobility.
The independence impulse was repressed under Franco.
They got pretty substantial autonomy under the 1978 constitution.
They got even more in a 2006 statute, but Spain’s constitutional court reversed that.
Most of Spain’s economy has been shit since the GFC, but the north-east less so due to massive tourism.
Cultural considerations in Catalonia are a code – as they usually are – for protecting wealth, class, and tax.
I guess Syria needs elections like Iraq and Afghanistan needed the western “democratic” invasions in 2001 and 2003 eh?
You are out on a very, very, long and thin limb if you think Syria doesn’t need elections and won’t need help with ensuring they are free and fair.
I’m not on that limb. There have been free and fair elections in Syria and further ones are scheduled when current terms expire….just like as in other countries that hold multi-party parliamentary elections and/or contested presidential elections.
Further free and fair elections have been scheduled, and the ballot forms have already filled in /sarc
You mean like the one that was held and the rebels tried to prevent by killing people?
If Catalan want to be their own separate nation then we should be supporting them in that – not condemning them for it.
If you thought that was free and fair as an election I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
This is supremely the wrong time to start splitting further parts of Europe up further. Works great on tv getting sympathy. But that’s not where the work needs to be.
They need an argument about tax redistribution across Spain.
Not really but it appears to have been the West supported rebels that caused the problems.
Not really but it appears to have been the West supported rebels that caused the problems.
Not to mention that Syrian embassies were shut down by numerous countries, meaning that Syrians within those countries couldn’t vote.
edit – and that’s “western supported Jihadists” – not “rebels”. (“Funny” how every fighter willingly picking up arms and fighting against the Syrian Arab Army is Shia, no?)
Your position is in support the police violence and shooting in Catalonia, because it’s about a united Europe? Is that it Ad?
Some Utopian Beige world you live in mate, if you think violence is the answer to anything.
Edit:
Take 5 minutes to have a look on line at all the police brutality. And God Bless the Catalonia Fire Brigade.
I saw this morning Teuila Blakely on the AM Show voted for Winstone Peters and prefers a National/NZ First coalition.
Considering she never has her eyes on the road and she distracts driver’s from having their eyes on the road – does this woman really know where she’s going?
The blind leading the blind methinks.
yes,I found her nauseating to say the least .
Newshub online Poll: Should we get rid of MMP:
It was 51% “No”, when I did it. It’s now dropped down to 49%
Don’t do it—you’re only encouraging them. Online polls have about as much credibility as John Key’s assertion that he couldn’t remember his stance on the 1981 Springbok Tour.
+1
back at 51% No. I voted twice. Once on Chrome. Once on Firefox. (Just to show that it is possible.)
If you voted twice, I wonder how many times each of the National Party slaves pushed that “Yes” button.
These “polls” are an insult. Instead of participating in them, why not write a letter of objection to Newshub instead?
I’ve heard of e-mail but what is this letter, as in “write a letter of objection” you mention?
Were they those things my grandparents used to talk about?
You can write a letter and deliver it by e-mail as an attachment. You can even write a letter, sign it, scan it in and deliver it by e-mail. The e-mail bit is new; the letter bit is not.
I really will have to learn that I must put, probably above and below the comment when it is really only meant as a joke.
Probably? a good plan? probably.
It was a joke on a joke. I got your joke, but did you get mine?
This is the plan eh, MMP isn’t delivering for New Zealanders.
Overheard at Mt hot pools last evening – “gotta get rid of this MMP, its all bullshit. We got the most votes, the , we got the, the majority and now winstons holding us to ransom…”
Catalan Independence Referendum results are through and very strongly pro; despite (or perhaps because of) Spanish state intimidation tactics:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/oct/01/catalan-independence-referendum-spain-catalonia-vote-live
See Scoop today, both NZ Labour and National have left voicemail /or phoned and had a response from NZ First.
“Your call is important to me and I will return your call as soon as
I feel like itpossible. Please leave your name & number and a short message after thenational anthembeep. The answer still is No”.Tinder would have made the whole thing a bit faster.
Environmental ‘supergroup’ puts future government on notice
“Environmental issues were at the centre of the 2017 election campaign. No matter who ends up in Government, they will have a clear mandate and a responsibility to take action on fresh water, climate change, and conservation. And they should know that we will be right there to make sure they do.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1710/S00002/environmental-supergroup-puts-future-government-on-notice.htm
Anyone remember the joyous pro-union days of The Pajama Game?
Well, get ready for goodbye clothing machinists, and hello to machines that make clothes right down to the buttons:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-10-02/u-s-talking-to-north-korea-on-nukes-video
Good organising post-election.
Sure hoping this lot stay toe-to-toe against NZDairy and Fonterra inthe years to come:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1710/S00002/environmental-supergroup-puts-future-government-on-notice.htm
Dear Party leaders,
A winner in this year’s election was the New Zealand environment. It featured as a bigger concern amongst the electorate than ever before. All of you through your party manifestos made commitments to improve the state of our environment. We congratulate you for those promises.
As environmental leaders, we wish to offer our congratulations to all parties and to both sitting and new MPs for their election success. We also wish to acknowledge those parties and MPs who are departing Parliament and thank them for their work.
There is now a strong public expectation that whichever parties form the next Government, there must be clear gains for fresh water, the climate and conservation in the next three years.
We offer our help in achieving these gains:
FRESHWATER
It is clear that ecologically healthy freshwaters, and the ability of New Zealanders to safely swim in their rivers and lakes, will be a key measure of environmental success for the new Government. This can only be achieved if government facilitates and supports a transformation of the primary sector toward new, environmentally-friendly land uses and practices, coupled with tougher regulation and market signals which reflect the true costs of resource use.
CLIMATE
There must be a more structured and transparent approach to tackling the greatest challenge of our time – climate change. New Zealand’s emissions have continued to climb and we need an ambitious plan on how to reduce them. Transformative change is required through a new law to establish a statutory carbon budgeting process overseen by an independent Climate Commission to plan, monitor and report on the transition to net zero by 2050. Anything less betrays this and future generations.
CONSERVATION
The jewels in the crown of our national identity are the unique species which inhabit our lands, waters and wild places. We need the new Government to institute real measures to protect and enhance the viability of our precious species. This includes the health of the diverse and invaluable terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that sustain both them and valued introduced species. An increase in funding of DOC’s core budget must be a key component in that strategy.
These issues, and the many others that fall under the umbrella of “environment”, are at the heart of the richness of our quality of life in New Zealand, and underpin our international reputation. They are also at the core of a genuinely sustainable future and are therefore true legacy issues. The natural world is our home and there are few greater gifts we can bestow our children than a vibrant, vital and healthy natural world.
We promise to continue our strong advocacy for the environment and look forward to working with all political parties, both in the next government and in the opposition, to achieve positive gains for our environment.
Yours sincerely
Kevin Hague
Forest and Bird
Russel Norman
Greenpeace New Zealand
Livia Esterhazy
WWF New Zealand
Bryce Johnson
Fish & Game New Zealand
Gary Taylor
Environmental Defence Society
Guy Salmon
Ecologic
Lisa McLaren
Generation Zero
Ad Wondered about the
“Rt. Hon. Bill English Leader, National Party”
after Lisa McLaren’s name?
Is that to mean English helped write it or is it a copy for his information?
Sue Moroney’s recent commitment to whistleblowing is to be commended.
The Panel, RNZ National, Monday 2 October 2017
Jim Mora, Julia Hartley-Moore, Mike Rehu, Megan Whelan
First topic for the light and breezy once-over this afternoon was the Joanne Harrison fraud case. The Member of Parliament who pushed this case was Labour’s Sue Moroney, who dutifully answered a few questions from the Panelists about it. Sue Moroney did a very good job here, but she has not always defended whistleblowers as robustly as she did in the Harrison case.
In fact, an infamous performance by her on the Backbenchers television show in 2013 showed her to be anything BUT a defender of Edward Snowden…
So the trump administration is doing another surge,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/08/30/afghan-troop-surge-likely-to-include-thousands-of-paratroopers-marines-and-heavy-bombers/?utm_term=.c3bf73b90105
It seems that the pomes’ are joining in
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4332517/sas-afganistan-taliban-surge-trump/
We are supporting this madness in our own small way
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/337984/nz-to-send-more-defence-personnel-to-afghanistan