And defended Matt Gaetz with the angle that no charges have been made so folks are jumping the gun, and some pretty shonkey interpretation of the term "age of consent"..
Yes, my comment was totes all about you (and had nothing to do with Greenwald claiming an age of consent of 17 when in fact the law in several of the relevant states was that the sexual partners of a man in his thirties need to be aged at least 18). /sarc
See, here's the thing: we can get into a debate about the ethics of a 31 year old having sex with a 17 year old, we can debate the semantics of whether that, in many instances, would involve a de facto power imbalance to the point of negating informed consent for someone of the younger age and thereby possibly constituting sexual assault or rape in a specific case, or even whether the Floridian legislation is appropriate (often a doubtful issue).
But my comment had nothing to do with any of that.
Greenwald's efforts to defend a 31yo representative who allegedly had sex with a person under the age of consent include a basic misunderstanding of age of consent legislation in the relevant jurisdictions. Feel free to address that point at any time.
But whatevs. Your relationship as a 16yo with a 26yo was fine. Fair enough.
Were you in Florida at the time? I suspect not. So the Florida law is still irrelevant. Just as Gaetz apparently using venmo to pay a 17yo for sex has nothing to do with NZ prostitution law.Heck, in Russia or Alabama you could have started procreating at something like 14. That is equally irrelevant to Greenwald's apparent commitment to reality.
But in a thread about Greenwald, again, whatever Gaetz did or didn't do and the legality about those alleged actions is irrelevant. The fact is Greenwald, a former reporter still much respected as a blogger ( 👿 ) by some commenters here, is using a fundamentally incorrect understanding of applicable law to defendMatt Gaetz.
Sex we can' live with it and can't do without it. All these thousands of years and we still are arguing about every aspect of it and building higher soapboxes to declaim about it.
mind its not only the sex with a minor (statuatory rape) that is at Gaetzes problem it is the trafficking a minor across statelines for the prupose of sex (Man Act) , and paying her for the services.
so there is the issue with what would be considered statuatory rape
What is Statutory Rape? Florida's statutory rape law is codified in F.S. 794.05. Generally, the age of consent in Florida is 18. … The law says that if a person who is 24 or older engages in sexual activity with a person who is 16 or 17, he or she commits a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
then there is the issue of moving a underage person across statelines is of a different nature altogether.
and paying for sex and receiving making money of sex by pimping a girl ( in this case) out.
In Florida, it is a crime for people who are not married to each other to buy, sell, offer, solicit, or agree to engage in sexual favors in exchange for money. Florida's law against prostitution applies to both prostitutes and “johns.” (Fla. … For more information on prostitution laws generally, see Prostitution.
So even if the statuatory rape charges could be thrown out – and chances are if they stood alone know one would care tbh, it would still leave sex trafficking and pimping. Not sure what Glenn has to say about that.
He's the world's most renowned journalist, and that's your considered response.
The fact that he stands for the principle of free speech (which leads him to support people you have scoffed at and/or vilified, such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange) and the principle that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is no doubt the key driver of your animus towards him.
Morrissey it says volumes about McFlock and Co that they side with the AuthoritarianRight in attacking the journalist whose work actually freed from wrongful imprisonment one of the most important Left wing politicians in the world today…like I said before, these people are just Liberal Imperialists who haven't seen a western led sanction, foreign intervention or war that they didn't like in a long long time.
Glenn Greenwald Took on the Authoritarian Right in Brazil — and Won
On the contrary, McFlock is not necessarily against the presumption of innocence. Just that in this situation its a bit of a hinderance to 'throw everything at the courts and let them sort it out', which is after all just good politics is it not.
All I'm saying about Gaetz is that if "the world's most renowned journalist" comes to your defence and he finds it necessary to mislead people about the age of consent, you might want to top up your budget for an actual legal defense.
To roughly quote john Oliver, the poverty line is like the age of consent: if you feel the need to parse exactly where it is, then you’ve probably already done something very, very wrong.
See, the thing about that is the only source I saw was where Greenwald both describes the age of consent as being 18 in Virginia and that there really need to be charges before considering Gaetz guilt. So if Greenwald is missleading people I need to see where he is doing that (and this point was elided from your prior link).
“If you don’t think it should be legal for 17 year-olds to have sex with anyone they want, go write to the governors and legislatures in 37 states & the District of Columbia which made it legal,” Greenwald recently tweeted while defending Gaetz.
That quoted quote is from my link. Is the quote incorrect? Because it seems to suggest that the age of consent in states relevant to the Gaetz story is not 18.
As for considering legal guilt, I'm not. Sure, it looks damned suss on the face of it. And yeah, I tend to be of the opinion that the further the age gap gets from the old "half your age plus seven" guide, the odds of a relationship between equals gets lower and the odds of exploitation seem to get higher. And Gaetz looks like a sleazebag in the style of Roy Moore or Berlusconi, and Greenwald is well past his days of being "world renowned".
But hey, if it gets to court and turns out to be all a fit-up, it doesn't make Greenwald's comments about the age of consent any less misleading.
The point is Greenwalds quote is factually accurate for the US and yet you are repeatedly claiming its missleading. So we need to see the part of the conversation where Gaetz exoneration is supposedly implied by Greenwald. Unfortunately for some reason the author left it out though.
Daamit. If only there were some sort of computer algorithm or website that let us search for a direct quote across all the www in the hope of finding an original source. I guess we can never truly know the tru- oh wait here's the exact thread.
Wow, context really does help. Greenwald seems to be arguing that if a person is above the age of consent in some of the US states (in some circumstances), "woman" is always a more applicable term than "minor".
Thats just the same tweet again, doesn' t show me any earlier tweets. It also seems more clear that Greenwald intended that tweet in the general US context than before.
In his zeal to disparage one of the few decent American intellectuals, one "millsy" writes, sans evidence, that "Greenwald has swung to the right in recent years", and then compounds that outlandish, unsupported statement with something that is plain false, viz., "The guy thinks Tucker Carlson is a 'socialist'." There is no evidence, anywhere, that Glenn Greenwald has ever said anything that even implies that.
“I would describe a lot of people on the right as being socialist. I would consider Steve Bannon to be socialist. I would consider the 2016 iteration of Donald Trump the candidate to be a socialist, based on what he was saying. I would consider Tucker Carlson to be a socialist.”
– Glenn Greenwald, on the Daily Caller, 3 March 2021
I don't normally engage with you anymore, you being a lost cause and hopeless case, especially considering the amount you're moderated and me not wanting to get caught up in your maladies, but on this occasion, tell me where "a bit further down" I should have been reading?
Of course you don't get moderated..are far as I can see you are a 'colour inside the lines' kind of guy..not that there is anything wrong with that.
…read down to where he explains what he meant by socialist…" not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I guess he is getting political crossover confused with Socialism, but he is not wrong about that crossover.
@arkie, You left out this bit of important context, not on purpose I am sure."“I think the vision is, you know, you have this kind of right wing populism, which really is socialism, that says we should close our borders, not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I used the pull quote used in the article in the second link, the context is present in the video straight from the Daily Caller site in the first.
You take my desire for an accurate discussion on this forum as malicious or a defense of the status quo, not on purpose I am sure, but as a leftist, I think Greenwald is just wrong in his understanding of socialism, and it does it no favour to be associated or equated to right wing populism, they are fundamentally at odds and it needs to be constantly repeated.
You may be are right in that Greenwalds understanding of Socialism leaves a bit to be desired, but I think that his point of there being some crossover with traditional conservatives and Socialists (in the US) in their views on the working classes/unions, end to US foreign interventions/wars and of course their mutual hatred of freemarket neoliberalism is a good point.
In fact I would say that anyone with real progressive Socialist political plans have more to fear from the Freemarket Liberal Centrists in the short term than they do from the Right or Conservatives, as was proven out in the open for us all to see vis a vis Corbyn and Sanders.
Where are these traditional conservatives that are similar to socialists in their views on the working classes/unions? Certainly not any of those above that Greenwald listed so there is no ‘point’ there.
If you think the answers to the pressing issues of our time will come solely through electoral politics then I think you are entitled to your fear but I do not proscribe to such a worldview.
Banks give money away, inflation is higher than interest rates. Affected: Those who save or have savings (pensioners, first home buyers etc..). Hahahahahaha… yeah lets just spend spend spend and print money… what a sound concept that is.
Meanwhile… we are certainly not raising a generation that will participate being part of the community and has to be supported by the taxpayers. Years 1-11 attending less than 70 per cent (of learning days).
Individuals who need immediate essential help can get up to six weeks of benefit payments which is then repaid back. Since 2016, the number of beneficiaries asking to be paid early has been steadily rising – almost 230,000 in this year's March quarter, at a cost of $87 million.
…
“What we're seeing is the need being met in a way that’s not sustainable,” advocate Kay Bereton said. She was on the Government's Welfare Expert Advisory Group three years ago and says beneficiaries need to earn more and private landlords incentivised to take them in.
“People are paying 80, 90, 110 per cent of their benefit income on their rent and there’s just not enough left,” Bereton said.
You need to read the post by Mickey, Labour is raining down money on our poor unfortunate unemployed. Its gonna come gushing down the drains that windfall of $ 57 (before tax lol) over the next 2.5 years.
They just simply care no more then National does. I think that myth should finally be put to rest.
I have seen enough in my community over the last year to not expect anything else but hardship. Couched in some cynical sugar coated baby babbling about kindness and niceness and gentleness. Not for the poor, now they need the hard treatment. Lest they get comfortable in their poorness.
And here we see how Tory all our parties are in regards to the unemployed and other unfortunate poor and those that actually can't be shoved back into work due to physical and other issues.
But Sepuloni says the Government has created change.
“On top of the income support that we've increased and provided better access to through the welfare system, we've been working really hard to provide access to employment and the upskilling,” she said.
But the National Party doesn’t buy it.
“With an increase in the number of people on Job-Seeker Benefit over 80,000 since Labour came into office, more people are doing it tough and we don’t think the Government is doing enough to support them into employment,” National’s Louise Upston said.
“In the last quarter we've seen the largest exits off benefits into work than what we've seen since 1996 when electronic records started to be kept,” Sepuloni maintained.
Yeah, shove them into what ever jobs never mind they are still on a benefit, cause they still can't pay a rent, food and shoes at the same time.
Carmel Sepuloni can't soon enough join her predecessor in selling property, as is befitting such callous people.
On top of the article is a little clip about a guy who just received a rent increase of over 100 NZD, cause why not. Obviously someone will pay it, if not him who cares…
Watch it without noise, just the writing over the images.
From the article seems to me like the tenant had a very generous landlord only charging $370 for over 2 years! (Think of all the money the tenant has saved over those two years by being lucky enough to have such cheap rent). Now the tenant complains when the rent finally increases to $525 (which is still cheap as the average is $560).
I guess as Grant Robertson says, if he considers the increase unfair, he simply moves out to another place.
???? the real world is charging rent way beyond what can be afforded. This is why the taxpayer forks out 1 Million a day (let this melt on your tongue) to support the landlords collecting these extraordinary amounts.
Solid in depth interview with David Bell, the whistleblower at the Tavistock in the UK which treats children with gender dysphoria. He’s just retired so is now able to speak freely.
Lots of important issues in this case: the over medicalisation of children, the ideological influence of lobby groups, the fact that when the GIDS clinic was finally taken to court it was unable to present evidence for efficacy or not of treatment or even data on number and ages of children treated, that so many people are afraid to speak out.
Two things that stand out particularly, which are related to that last one. The number of girls being referred for treatment of gender dysphoria has exploded exponentially. Could be an increase in awareness of need for treatment or it could be a developing social dynamic where girls now experience bring female as so difficult they’d rather transition. But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Hence we have the situation of teen girls and young women eventually having non reversible medical and surgical treatments like double mastectomies and hormone treatments that leave them sterile, and finding their gender dysphoria remains unresolved and later they detransition. Many are lesbian and end up resuming life as lesbian women but with permanently altered bodies. Think about that in the current debate about conversion therapy.
Which leads us to the second point. The left is actively complicit in this by its refusal to allow debate of women’s rights in relation to trans rights and discussion of the issues by the public and academia. Bell notes the chilling effect generally from the left, and gender critical feminists have been writing about this for years now and are still being written off as transphobes. This article is a good exploration of the issues because it’s outside that political arena but still clinical people were afraid to speak and those that did faced sanctions.
The left needs to take a long hard look at itself and what it’s freeze peach, no debate rhetoric is doing.
Didn’t get back to this, but thanks so much for posting. Yes some on the left are complicit with this and have swallowed uncritically the gender identity narrative, which is pushed as the only way to think.
there is an annual fair held in Masterton (book fair I think) and every year they have a Harry Potter quiz for kids. This year it has been canceled because of JK Rowling’s so called trans phobic comments
But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Two thoughts. You'd think that GIDS' record keeping would be absolutely first class… bearing in mind that for many of their patients' treatment would involve chemical and surgical interventions (to mostly healthy bodies) with irreversible effects. It's almost as if GIDS never expected to ever have to be held accountable or face close public/judicial scrutiny.
The suppression and de- platforming of anyone with an opinion that is counter to the 'accepted narrative' has gone beyond concerning. It is Orwellian, and truly frightening.
Between this issue and Te Virus (origin, symptoms, treatments, supportive therapies and vaccines etc) I have read many, many articles and research papers that are automatically dismissed because they run (even slightly) counter to what fuck knows who decided is The Truth.
Respect, weka, for continuing to bring this issue to the fore.
Where do our tax dollars go? A wee it of a run down of motels in Rotorua that house 'district clients' aka homeless New Zealand families, kids, and anyone in between with no fixed abode.
District Clients, i wonder how much time was spend to come up with that euphemism and if it involved any sense of shame even just typing them. They are not clients, they are homeless. And thus as Stephanie Rodgers said a few years ago, the state gave up. Charity even government Charity is now business and homeless kiwis become 'district clients'
Jimmy, when you are passionate about an issue/s then you make time.
I maybe from the centre-right side of the divide but I don’t generally visit political blogs that align with my views as they tend to be echo chambers, only reinforcing my views.
I like coming here and hearing from commentators such as Sabine because it challenges my view point. On housing and alleviation of poverty Sabine makes some very salient points.
I agree Sabine does make some interesting comments but genuinely wondered how They find the time as some of the comments are quite long and detailed and obviously a lot of thought has gone in to them.
She finds the time as much as you do. But she has lived poverty, homelessness, sexual abuse, and such, so she knows it. She remembers being poor, hungry, cold, and being fucked around by some very comfortable people in very comfortable offices with very comfortable salaries that could not care one bit about hte damage they heep onto already damaged people.
Poverty and homelessness are my fights. I understand them. There are many things that are being discussed here on the Standard or elsewhere were i contribute by not saying a thing. But poverty, homelessness that is something that i understand in detail. Hunger i understand. What i still grapple with today is being so comfortable all your life that one takes wellbeing and riches for granted, while i can't enjoy mine of the moment because i don't want to get used to it. 🙂 Poverty does fuck one up for a long time.
An inquiry into a police spy scandal (which had its origins decades ago) is currently in progress in Britain. For those who might be interested, I leave here two podcasts which give some idea of the pernicious activity of the under-cover police officers involved, and how it affected the lives of many decent, law abiding British folk – women in particular.
Each podcast is 30 minutes in actual length and well worth the listen. The amount of wasted police hours and the over-all astronomical cost is in itself a scandal.
The time is overdue for a similar inquiry in NZ because the NZ Police ran a similar campaign here for years. It began in the 1970s around the time Muldoon became PM – no surprises there.
They infiltrated organisations which they perceived to be left-wing and therefore posed a threat to society. The NZ Labour Party was one of them. Incredibly hard to believe but it is true.
I know the identity of two people who acted in an undercover capacity (there would have been others) and who spied on me for years. I was also used by one of them to elicit information which I happily supplied… thinking the friendship was genuine. The fallout proved to be extremely harrowing for me.
The damage that was done to many innocent individuals was huge and is, in itself, worthy of a government initiated investigation into past police practices.
An inquiry is required or access to a highly qualified QC at no cost.
I do think those who have been mistreated (understated) and then have confronted the police and not had the issue resolved when superiors have sanctioned what was done, there needs to be consequences for the police.
Muldoon either told the office of the commissioner of police to use police resources to harm innocent people or the office of the Commissioner of Police acted unlawfully.
I will listen to the links you provided and I was aware of women being exploited by the police covertly. Years have not faded the injustice. Finding ways to live with the harm done is how I deal with it.
Muldoon was responsible for politicising the NZ police in the first place and it continued long after he was gone. Some of the behaviour was scurrilous and imo unlawful, and those of us on the receiving end were left high and dry without a shred of support from anyone.
It was a truly disgraceful period in the history of the NZ police and will remain so until they or the government front up and conduct a full inquiry.
The government cannot ignore those who are brave enough to speak out against a serious historical situation even though 40 – 45 years have gone by. When it comes to an operational police matter the office of the commissioner needs to have a process in place where a person can get the answers to why it was done to them. The person who it was done to needs to be able to say how it impacted.
For sure there would have been files and establishing who controlled the files is where I would start.
I managed to establish long since why they targeted me. It related to my father and a situation in the early 1970s they had misinterpreted. The police special branch in those days were a brash and ignorant lot. When I later joined the Labour Party they started on me.
You deserve an explanation as to what was misinterpreted and by whom, I hope you get one.
I was summoned to CIB in 1979 when 19 because I told a cop I was going to go to the newspaper in 2 weeks time. For 2 years I had to listen through the media about what was done to Moyle by the police and Muldoon knowing the cop had told me in March 1976. In late 2003 he said to me, "If you did it and I didn't report it."
Dealing with a cop perjuring himself at an inquiry (December 1976 and cops name was released mid April 1978) all on my own caused a huge impact. I worked at a police barracks in early 1976 and no one from there ever gave me a thought as to what I knew or how I was. I dated the cop for 6 months and he was involved in the Moyle incident in 17 June 1975. Every approach made toward the police had an impact. I am thinking about giving it one last go with Coster as it was a police commissioner's file. The cop was a fool as he probably has a case against the way his employer used him.
I am aware of you previously raising your interminable situation due to there being an impasse with the police.
I was not a party to anything, but a jealous and vindictive 'friend' made false claims in high places and together with the background I alluded to earlier… it resulted in me becoming "a person of interest".
While Muldoon was in office under-cover persons linked to the police committed practices that at the very least were corrupt, and at worst were possibly criminal in their execution. When I started investigating I never imagined for a moment there was a police element to my case. The relatively recent discovery shocked me to the core. But it has made me even more resolute that justice is going to prevail one day.
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Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
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The substandard Grauniad opinionist James Ball had a go at Glenn Greenwald
Bad mistake. Very, very bad mistake….
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1388884000270438402
Greenwald has swung to the right in recent years mind you. The guy thinks Tucker Carlson is a 'socialist'.
And defended Matt Gaetz with the angle that no charges have been made so folks are jumping the gun, and some pretty shonkey interpretation of the term "age of consent"..
I found the original article on his substack, but screw him, here's a response to the tweet teasers he sent of it.
Oh goodness
I began a 17 year span relationship with the father of my four children at the age of 16, first child at 18 , and he was some years older than me
Crikey , the Florida law would have me as a tragic victim of rape, a characterisation I don't share. It was a good relationship and I have no regrets.
Believe me , if that was rape, I far prefer it to the violent kind, which is absolutely devastating
But carry on , with your mansplaining of rape semantics
Yes, my comment was totes all about you (and had nothing to do with Greenwald claiming an age of consent of 17 when in fact the law in several of the relevant states was that the sexual partners of a man in his thirties need to be aged at least 18). /sarc
And my comment referred largely to the Florida law
But I also remember well your Assange rape comments
See, here's the thing: we can get into a debate about the ethics of a 31 year old having sex with a 17 year old, we can debate the semantics of whether that, in many instances, would involve a de facto power imbalance to the point of negating informed consent for someone of the younger age and thereby possibly constituting sexual assault or rape in a specific case, or even whether the Floridian legislation is appropriate (often a doubtful issue).
But my comment had nothing to do with any of that.
Greenwald's efforts to defend a 31yo representative who allegedly had sex with a person under the age of consent include a basic misunderstanding of age of consent legislation in the relevant jurisdictions. Feel free to address that point at any time.
"or even whether the Floridian legislation is appropriate (often a doubtful issue)."
in my case an injustice would have been done
Can't remember responding to your Greenwald statements..in fact didn't , rather addressed the Florida law as it applied to my personal circumstances
Feel free McFlock
Interesting use of the reply button, then.
But whatevs. Your relationship as a 16yo with a 26yo was fine. Fair enough.
Were you in Florida at the time? I suspect not. So the Florida law is still irrelevant. Just as Gaetz apparently using venmo to pay a 17yo for sex has nothing to do with NZ prostitution law.Heck, in Russia or Alabama you could have started procreating at something like 14. That is equally irrelevant to Greenwald's apparent commitment to reality.
But in a thread about Greenwald, again, whatever Gaetz did or didn't do and the legality about those alleged actions is irrelevant. The fact is Greenwald, a former reporter still much respected as a blogger ( 👿 ) by some commenters here, is using a fundamentally incorrect understanding of applicable law to defend Matt Gaetz.
How old was he, if you don't mind me asking?
As Francesca said:
16+some
10 years older
Not as big an age gap as the Florida senator, who is pushing 20 years older than the girls he was "with".
Also age of consent laws are generally older than 16 in the USA.
Indeed Millsy
18 in some states , which would have made my partner a rapist
Sex we can' live with it and can't do without it. All these thousands of years and we still are arguing about every aspect of it and building higher soapboxes to declaim about it.
she was seventeen, he was over thirty.
mind its not only the sex with a minor (statuatory rape) that is at Gaetzes problem it is the trafficking a minor across statelines for the prupose of sex (Man Act) , and paying her for the services.
so there is the issue with what would be considered statuatory rape
then there is the issue of moving a underage person across statelines is of a different nature altogether.
and paying for sex and receiving making money of sex by pimping a girl ( in this case) out.
So even if the statuatory rape charges could be thrown out – and chances are if they stood alone know one would care tbh, it would still leave sex trafficking and pimping. Not sure what Glenn has to say about that.
https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/state-crime/pandering-laws-florida.htm#:~:text=In%20Florida%2C%20it%20is%20a,(Fla.&text=For%20more%20information%20on%20prostitution%20laws%20generally%2C%20see%20Prostitution.
but screw him…
He's the world's most renowned journalist, and that's your considered response.
The fact that he stands for the principle of free speech (which leads him to support people you have scoffed at and/or vilified, such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange) and the principle that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is no doubt the key driver of your animus towards him.
Morrissey it says volumes about McFlock and Co that they side with the Authoritarian Right in attacking the journalist whose work actually freed from wrongful imprisonment one of the most important Left wing politicians in the world today…like I said before, these people are just Liberal Imperialists who haven't seen a western led sanction, foreign intervention or war that they didn't like in a long long time.
Glenn Greenwald Took on the Authoritarian Right in Brazil — and Won
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/04/glenn-greenwald-securing-democracy-review-death-threats-journalism-leaks-lula
On the contrary, McFlock is not necessarily against the presumption of innocence. Just that in this situation its a bit of a hinderance to 'throw everything at the courts and let them sort it out', which is after all just good politics is it not.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30-04-2021/#comment-1790353
[link fixed]
Nah dude.
All I'm saying about Gaetz is that if "the world's most renowned journalist" comes to your defence and he finds it necessary to mislead people about the age of consent, you might want to top up your budget for an actual legal defense.
Although a line I used about poverty a few years back also seems to bode poorly for Gaetz' future before I even recall hearing about the individual:
See, the thing about that is the only source I saw was where Greenwald both describes the age of consent as being 18 in Virginia and that there really need to be charges before considering Gaetz guilt. So if Greenwald is missleading people I need to see where he is doing that (and this point was elided from your prior link).
That quoted quote is from my link. Is the quote incorrect? Because it seems to suggest that the age of consent in states relevant to the Gaetz story is not 18.
As for considering legal guilt, I'm not. Sure, it looks damned suss on the face of it. And yeah, I tend to be of the opinion that the further the age gap gets from the old "half your age plus seven" guide, the odds of a relationship between equals gets lower and the odds of exploitation seem to get higher. And Gaetz looks like a sleazebag in the style of Roy Moore or Berlusconi, and Greenwald is well past his days of being "world renowned".
But hey, if it gets to court and turns out to be all a fit-up, it doesn't make Greenwald's comments about the age of consent any less misleading.
So you didn't see the start of that thread either?
If you have a point, feel free to elaborate.
The point is Greenwalds quote is factually accurate for the US and yet you are repeatedly claiming its missleading. So we need to see the part of the conversation where Gaetz exoneration is supposedly implied by Greenwald. Unfortunately for some reason the author left it out though.
Daamit. If only there were some sort of computer algorithm or website that let us search for a direct quote across all the www in the hope of finding an original source. I guess we can never truly know the tru- oh wait here's the exact thread.
Wow, context really does help. Greenwald seems to be arguing that if a person is above the age of consent in some of the US states (in some circumstances), "woman" is always a more applicable term than "minor".
Thats just the same tweet again, doesn' t show me any earlier tweets. It also seems more clear that Greenwald intended that tweet in the general US context than before.
It shows me the thread when I scroll up or down. Even when I logged out.
Not sure if I can help you use twitter.
Then again he might not be trying to mislead anyone, but instead shock horror – use twitter to express his liberal personal views.
He was quoting excerpts of his latest blog post.
citation required
In his zeal to disparage one of the few decent American intellectuals, one "millsy" writes, sans evidence, that "Greenwald has swung to the right in recent years", and then compounds that outlandish, unsupported statement with something that is plain false, viz., "The guy thinks Tucker Carlson is a 'socialist'." There is no evidence, anywhere, that Glenn Greenwald has ever said anything that even implies that.
– Glenn Greenwald, on the Daily Caller, 3 March 2021
https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/03/glenn-greenwald-interview-tucker-carlson-socialism-christian-datoc-omeed-malik-populism/
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/why-glenn-greenwald-says-tucker-carlson-is-a-true-socialist.html
I looked out of the window and saw three monkeys running for the hills.
Shot! Right between the sock puppet's eyes lol
Al1en, As usual you are shooting blanks….maybe try reading a bit further down next time.
I don't normally engage with you anymore, you being a lost cause and hopeless case, especially considering the amount you're moderated and me not wanting to get caught up in your maladies, but on this occasion, tell me where "a bit further down" I should have been reading?
Cheers.
Of course you don't get moderated..are far as I can see you are a 'colour inside the lines' kind of guy..not that there is anything wrong with that.
…read down to where he explains what he meant by socialist…" not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I guess he is getting political crossover confused with Socialism, but he is not wrong about that crossover.
Which post number is that?
1.1.2.1.3
I first posted at 4.32pm, and the post you made at 1.1.2.1.3, was done at 5.57pm.
So when you say "maybe try reading a bit further down next time", what you really meant was 'try reading into the future'.
Firing blanks you say lol
I meant read further down the piece linked too that the quote came from… 1.1.2.1
https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/03/glenn-greenwald-interview-tucker-carlson-socialism-christian-datoc-omeed-malik-populism/
FYI, The Al1en has been moderated and banned before. However, they have learned to self-moderate. I do like your colouring-in metaphor 😀
Every day is a lesson
@arkie, You left out this bit of important context, not on purpose I am sure."“I think the vision is, you know, you have this kind of right wing populism, which really is socialism, that says we should close our borders, not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I used the pull quote used in the article in the second link, the context is present in the video straight from the Daily Caller site in the first.
You take my desire for an accurate discussion on this forum as malicious or a defense of the status quo, not on purpose I am sure, but as a leftist, I think Greenwald is just wrong in his understanding of socialism, and it does it no favour to be associated or equated to right wing populism, they are fundamentally at odds and it needs to be constantly repeated.
You may be are right in that Greenwalds understanding of Socialism leaves a bit to be desired, but I think that his point of there being some crossover with traditional conservatives and Socialists (in the US) in their views on the working classes/unions, end to US foreign interventions/wars and of course their mutual hatred of freemarket neoliberalism is a good point.
In fact I would say that anyone with real progressive Socialist political plans have more to fear from the Freemarket Liberal Centrists in the short term than they do from the Right or Conservatives, as was proven out in the open for us all to see vis a vis Corbyn and Sanders.
The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend.
Where are these traditional conservatives that are similar to socialists in their views on the working classes/unions? Certainly not any of those above that Greenwald listed so there is no ‘point’ there.
If you think the answers to the pressing issues of our time will come solely through electoral politics then I think you are entitled to your fear but I do not proscribe to such a worldview.
subscribe
Thank you for such a thoughtful and important contribution to this thread.
It's a secret, but we can't tell you why it's a secret.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9497015/Lawmakers-want-immediate-release-secret-docs-Saudi-role-9-11.html
Interesting times, where in the end the general public will have to pay:
Political Correctness, payable by the taxpayer and certainly the elderly:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/300288785/twostorey-senior-housing-complex-without-a-lift-makes-no-sense-says-councillor
Neglect without consequence for those highly paid. Representing the community and yes, you guessed it, the community will pay:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124971151/councils-risk-credit-rating-downgrades-if-they-do-not-spend-enough-on-infrastructure-sp-says
Banks give money away, inflation is higher than interest rates. Affected: Those who save or have savings (pensioners, first home buyers etc..). Hahahahahaha… yeah lets just spend spend spend and print money… what a sound concept that is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/124980580/bank-term-deposit-rates-are-so-low-savers-cant-be-bothered-putting-savings-in-them
Meanwhile… we are certainly not raising a generation that will participate being part of the community and has to be supported by the taxpayers. Years 1-11 attending less than 70 per cent (of learning days).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/truancy-crisis-30000-chronically-absent-students-out-of-reach-for-under-funded-services/XPONVFNFHPRENHBC2SE3XDK7SY/
The week started well. Perhaps someone can provide highlights that mitigate the above and make things look a bit better.
Record advance welfare payouts (=debt) as housing swallows income in last quarter. (2m clip in story). https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/over-200-000-early-welfare-benefit-payments-have-been-paid-in-last-three-months-figures-show
You need to read the post by Mickey, Labour is raining down money on our poor unfortunate unemployed. Its gonna come gushing down the drains that windfall of $ 57 (before tax lol) over the next 2.5 years.
They just simply care no more then National does. I think that myth should finally be put to rest.
Ta. Had not seen that post. Guess we have only a few more weeks to see how much they are prepared to put their money where their mouths have been.
I have seen enough in my community over the last year to not expect anything else but hardship. Couched in some cynical sugar coated baby babbling about kindness and niceness and gentleness. Not for the poor, now they need the hard treatment. Lest they get comfortable in their poorness.
And here we see how Tory all our parties are in regards to the unemployed and other unfortunate poor and those that actually can't be shoved back into work due to physical and other issues.
Yeah, shove them into what ever jobs never mind they are still on a benefit, cause they still can't pay a rent, food and shoes at the same time.
Carmel Sepuloni can't soon enough join her predecessor in selling property, as is befitting such callous people.
And Carmel Honey, providing access is as good as handing out a phone number. There you have provided access, now hire some people to actually answer the goddamn phone.
Also Carmel Ghoul, so the fact that people gone back to some jobs re Covid, is now something you celebrate? Maybe we need more pandemic so you can massage your stats a bit more?
from Sachas link https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/over-200-000-early-welfare-benefit-payments-have-been-paid-in-last-three-months-figures-show
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300290534/green-party-starts-new-push-for-reasonable-rent-controls-to-fix-very-sick-market
On top of the article is a little clip about a guy who just received a rent increase of over 100 NZD, cause why not. Obviously someone will pay it, if not him who cares…
Watch it without noise, just the writing over the images.
From the article seems to me like the tenant had a very generous landlord only charging $370 for over 2 years! (Think of all the money the tenant has saved over those two years by being lucky enough to have such cheap rent). Now the tenant complains when the rent finally increases to $525 (which is still cheap as the average is $560).
I guess as Grant Robertson says, if he considers the increase unfair, he simply moves out to another place.
Rent controls would ensure this didn't happen.
'I guess as Grant Robertson says, if he considers the increase unfair, he simply moves out to another place.'
Yes straight to emergency housing in a swamped market…
???? the real world is charging rent way beyond what can be afforded. This is why the taxpayer forks out 1 Million a day (let this melt on your tongue) to support the landlords collecting these extraordinary amounts.
Convert that money into houses. Short term government needs to ensure people can pay the shortfall in rent until homes are built..
Solid in depth interview with David Bell, the whistleblower at the Tavistock in the UK which treats children with gender dysphoria. He’s just retired so is now able to speak freely.
Lots of important issues in this case: the over medicalisation of children, the ideological influence of lobby groups, the fact that when the GIDS clinic was finally taken to court it was unable to present evidence for efficacy or not of treatment or even data on number and ages of children treated, that so many people are afraid to speak out.
Two things that stand out particularly, which are related to that last one. The number of girls being referred for treatment of gender dysphoria has exploded exponentially. Could be an increase in awareness of need for treatment or it could be a developing social dynamic where girls now experience bring female as so difficult they’d rather transition. But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Hence we have the situation of teen girls and young women eventually having non reversible medical and surgical treatments like double mastectomies and hormone treatments that leave them sterile, and finding their gender dysphoria remains unresolved and later they detransition. Many are lesbian and end up resuming life as lesbian women but with permanently altered bodies. Think about that in the current debate about conversion therapy.
Which leads us to the second point. The left is actively complicit in this by its refusal to allow debate of women’s rights in relation to trans rights and discussion of the issues by the public and academia. Bell notes the chilling effect generally from the left, and gender critical feminists have been writing about this for years now and are still being written off as transphobes. This article is a good exploration of the issues because it’s outside that political arena but still clinical people were afraid to speak and those that did faced sanctions.
The left needs to take a long hard look at itself and what it’s freeze peach, no debate rhetoric is doing.
https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/02/tavistock-trust-whistleblower-david-bell-transgender-children-gids
https://twitter.com/timbarnsley1/status/1388809500388384769?s=21
But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Two thoughts. You'd think that GIDS' record keeping would be absolutely first class… bearing in mind that for many of their patients' treatment would involve chemical and surgical interventions (to mostly healthy bodies) with irreversible effects. It's almost as if GIDS never expected to ever have to be held accountable or face close public/judicial scrutiny.
The suppression and de- platforming of anyone with an opinion that is counter to the 'accepted narrative' has gone beyond concerning. It is Orwellian, and truly frightening.
Between this issue and Te Virus (origin, symptoms, treatments, supportive therapies and vaccines etc) I have read many, many articles and research papers that are automatically dismissed because they run (even slightly) counter to what fuck knows who decided is The Truth.
Respect, weka, for continuing to bring this issue to the fore.
+1
Hear hear Weka. Will respond more in full later. Busy day
Where do our tax dollars go? A wee it of a run down of motels in Rotorua that house 'district clients' aka homeless New Zealand families, kids, and anyone in between with no fixed abode.
District Clients, i wonder how much time was spend to come up with that euphemism and if it involved any sense of shame even just typing them. They are not clients, they are homeless. And thus as Stephanie Rodgers said a few years ago, the state gave up. Charity even government Charity is now business and homeless kiwis become 'district clients'
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/homeless-crisis-top-10-emergency-housing-motel-earners-in-rotorua-revealed/U3HR6LGT7OBJBNNKRJZVKLUZ4E/
https://twitter.com/bootstheory/status/963923595238846464
How do you get the time to spend so much time on TS Sabine? I haven't counted but almost half the comments on here seem to be from yourself today.
Jimmy, when you are passionate about an issue/s then you make time.
I maybe from the centre-right side of the divide but I don’t generally visit political blogs that align with my views as they tend to be echo chambers, only reinforcing my views.
I like coming here and hearing from commentators such as Sabine because it challenges my view point. On housing and alleviation of poverty Sabine makes some very salient points.
I agree Sabine does make some interesting comments but genuinely wondered how They find the time as some of the comments are quite long and detailed and obviously a lot of thought has gone in to them.
She finds the time as much as you do. But she has lived poverty, homelessness, sexual abuse, and such, so she knows it. She remembers being poor, hungry, cold, and being fucked around by some very comfortable people in very comfortable offices with very comfortable salaries that could not care one bit about hte damage they heep onto already damaged people.
This one to me is close. Also i am She / her.
I find that I can only fight so many battles at once without losing quality – but I appreciate most of your comments – so, as the Koreans say, 화이팅!
Poverty and homelessness are my fights. I understand them. There are many things that are being discussed here on the Standard or elsewhere were i contribute by not saying a thing. But poverty, homelessness that is something that i understand in detail. Hunger i understand. What i still grapple with today is being so comfortable all your life that one takes wellbeing and riches for granted, while i can't enjoy mine of the moment because i don't want to get used to it. 🙂 Poverty does fuck one up for a long time.
An inquiry into a police spy scandal (which had its origins decades ago) is currently in progress in Britain. For those who might be interested, I leave here two podcasts which give some idea of the pernicious activity of the under-cover police officers involved, and how it affected the lives of many decent, law abiding British folk – women in particular.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/dec/08/the-spy-cops-scandal-part-1
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/dec/09/the-spy-cops-scandal-part-2
Each podcast is 30 minutes in actual length and well worth the listen. The amount of wasted police hours and the over-all astronomical cost is in itself a scandal.
The time is overdue for a similar inquiry in NZ because the NZ Police ran a similar campaign here for years. It began in the 1970s around the time Muldoon became PM – no surprises there.
They infiltrated organisations which they perceived to be left-wing and therefore posed a threat to society. The NZ Labour Party was one of them. Incredibly hard to believe but it is true.
I know the identity of two people who acted in an undercover capacity (there would have been others) and who spied on me for years. I was also used by one of them to elicit information which I happily supplied… thinking the friendship was genuine. The fallout proved to be extremely harrowing for me.
The damage that was done to many innocent individuals was huge and is, in itself, worthy of a government initiated investigation into past police practices.
An inquiry is required or access to a highly qualified QC at no cost.
I do think those who have been mistreated (understated) and then have confronted the police and not had the issue resolved when superiors have sanctioned what was done, there needs to be consequences for the police.
Muldoon either told the office of the commissioner of police to use police resources to harm innocent people or the office of the Commissioner of Police acted unlawfully.
I will listen to the links you provided and I was aware of women being exploited by the police covertly. Years have not faded the injustice. Finding ways to live with the harm done is how I deal with it.
Muldoon was responsible for politicising the NZ police in the first place and it continued long after he was gone. Some of the behaviour was scurrilous and imo unlawful, and those of us on the receiving end were left high and dry without a shred of support from anyone.
It was a truly disgraceful period in the history of the NZ police and will remain so until they or the government front up and conduct a full inquiry.
I tried to edit but ran out of time.
The government cannot ignore those who are brave enough to speak out against a serious historical situation even though 40 – 45 years have gone by. When it comes to an operational police matter the office of the commissioner needs to have a process in place where a person can get the answers to why it was done to them. The person who it was done to needs to be able to say how it impacted.
For sure there would have been files and establishing who controlled the files is where I would start.
I managed to establish long since why they targeted me. It related to my father and a situation in the early 1970s they had misinterpreted. The police special branch in those days were a brash and ignorant lot. When I later joined the Labour Party they started on me.
You deserve an explanation as to what was misinterpreted and by whom, I hope you get one.
I was summoned to CIB in 1979 when 19 because I told a cop I was going to go to the newspaper in 2 weeks time. For 2 years I had to listen through the media about what was done to Moyle by the police and Muldoon knowing the cop had told me in March 1976. In late 2003 he said to me, "If you did it and I didn't report it."
Dealing with a cop perjuring himself at an inquiry (December 1976 and cops name was released mid April 1978) all on my own caused a huge impact. I worked at a police barracks in early 1976 and no one from there ever gave me a thought as to what I knew or how I was. I dated the cop for 6 months and he was involved in the Moyle incident in 17 June 1975. Every approach made toward the police had an impact. I am thinking about giving it one last go with Coster as it was a police commissioner's file. The cop was a fool as he probably has a case against the way his employer used him.
I am aware of you previously raising your interminable situation due to there being an impasse with the police.
I was not a party to anything, but a jealous and vindictive 'friend' made false claims in high places and together with the background I alluded to earlier… it resulted in me becoming "a person of interest".
While Muldoon was in office under-cover persons linked to the police committed practices that at the very least were corrupt, and at worst were possibly criminal in their execution. When I started investigating I never imagined for a moment there was a police element to my case. The relatively recent discovery shocked me to the core. But it has made me even more resolute that justice is going to prevail one day.
Just on the facts as reported here, was there a sexual assault?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/124992156/novel-point-of-law-halts-court-martial-for-woman-in-air-force-charged-with-indecent-assault-and-drug-charges
Thought some would appreciate this..
https://twitter.com/noamchomskyT/status/1389077764083535875