Democrats going at each other will please orange45 no end.
Cuomos probably looking to distract from his own contribution to NY's covid outcome like his initial inaction and unpopular cuts to hospitals etc. He's no saint.
Gonna be interesting watching the fallout from police using tear gas and other force to drive clergy from church grounds so that the Lyin' King can posture in front of it for a photo op. What with the long history of churches holding a privileged status as sanctuaries from governmental action an'all.
The one in the the tweet talking about "ten minutes later" looks to me more like a Blackhawk than any of the other current US military helicopters. But sure, the images are fuzzy and I'm no expert, so maybe it's some other US military helicopter. In DC. Deployed against US citizens.
I never said that I agreed with military helicopters intimidating people.
It is shit.
But the top picture even has red cross badging so it is obviously checking out no one is hurt.
Even if it were a black hawk, which they aren't, it could just be Trump being an even bigger prick than normal as that is what he flies round in, I think. (may not be totally correct, as think it changes)
Well, the bit before "but" was pointless, and the remaining two comments were bullshit.
So yeah, I selected the funniest bit of your ~adjacent-apologia to quote.
Motherfuckers have deployed more resources to avoid changing police culture than they did while 105k died under their watch, and you're trying to spin this particular shit as either potus or medivac concern. If they didn't want people hurt, they wouldn't be firing "rubber" bullets.
No, you did more than point it out, you invented some motivation to the helicopter crew, after your intitial takeaway that the main point was whether it was a uh60 (medical or not).
Whereas the effects of the helicopter count more than its model number or its decal set. The effects included actual force and, yes, intimidation (which you disagree with while looking for any unlikely excuse for it to be causing those effects).
Unless the pilots go on camera to apologise and explain that they really were super concerned someone might have broken a fingernail and they were also completely unaware of the well documented effects of low level flight, I'll stick with occam's razor on their motives.
Then what are the two different types of helicopter shown in the various images and videos? Sure, the one in the image at the top of the article isn't a Blackhawk, it appears most likely to be a Lakota as McFlock says. But nobody claiming "it isn't a Blackhawk" has ponied up an alternative for the second type of helicopter as shown in the tweet in the original article and helpfully reproduced for you above in the response to lprent. That one sure as shit ain't a Lakota, and the landing gear wheels, window configuration, cabin shape, engine intakes, tapered tail boom etc all appear awfully similar to a Blackhawk and unlike any other helicopter in US military service (except Blackhawk derivatives).
So your article confirms that there was indeed a Blackhawk on the scene. But it doesn't appear to have any info from anybody that was actually at the event. Just someone speculating the Blackhawk might have been a bit higher, guessing from a brief video.
Here's from a second reporter on the actual scene:
As we noted, UH-60s have been conducting similar shows of force, as well. New York Times reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff said that one of the Black Hawks had flown so low that it broke a large branch off a tree with its rotor wash, which fell, but thankfully didn't injure anyone on the ground below.
“To reinforce this message, the time has come for the armed forces command and Congress to prevent an expansion of the US military role in domestic crowd control roles. The institutional integrity at the core of democratic governance depends on it.”
Unfortunately, whatever military personnel still serving that might have the principle to refuse to carry out illegal orders are busy resigning in protest. To be replaced by suckups eager to carry out whatever Kim Jong Orange commands.
Nothing is going to go through Congress that puts any kind of leash on the stygian homunculus. Not while Mitch the Mean-age Mutant MAGA Turtle has a stranglehold on the Senate.
Buckle up, everybody. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. For just the next seven months if we're lucky, four and a half years if we're not.
It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel—including members of the National Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president’s visit outside St. John’s Church. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump’s leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent.
Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces.
There was little good in the stunt.
While no one should ever condone the violence, vandalism, and looting that has exploded across our city streets, neither should anyone lose sight of the larger and deeper concerns about institutional racism that have ignited this rage.
As a white man, I cannot claim perfect understanding of the fear and anger that African Americans feel today. But as someone who has been around for a while, I know enough—and I’ve seen enough—to understand that those feelings are real and that they are all too painfully founded.
We must, as citizens, address head-on the issue of police brutality and sustained injustices against the African American community. We must, as citizens, support and defend the right—indeed, the solemn obligation—to peacefully assemble and to be heard. These are not mutually exclusive pursuits.
And neither of these pursuits will be made easier or safer by an overly aggressive use of our military, active duty or National Guard. The United States has a long and, to be fair, sometimes troubled history of using the armed forces to enforce domestic laws. The issue for us today is not whether this authority exists, but whether it will be wisely administered.
..,
Furthermore, I am deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of our military will be co-opted for political purposes.
Even in the midst of the carnage we are witnessing, we must endeavor to see American cities and towns as our homes and our neighborhoods. They are not “battle spaces” to be dominated, and must never become so.
We must ensure that African Americans—indeed, all Americans—are given the same rights under the Constitution, the same justice under the law, and the same consideration we give to members of our own family. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so.
Too many foreign and domestic policy choices have become militarized; too many military missions have become politicized.
The point being that Mullen is no longer anywhere in the chain of command and therefore has zero influence over whether illegal or just plain wrong orders get carried out or not.
It's pleasing to see that Admiral Mullen has at last started to show signs he has a heart and a conscience. Ten years ago he was one of the most callous, merciless liars one could find in any sphere of life.
I'm not into hero worship, but if ever there were politicians over my lifetime that are deserving of star status, they'd be the likes of JA, H1 (at least in the 1st and 2nd term) and Norman Kirk.
However while I still support Labour, I'm hoping people don't get complacent because there are a few things that could go very wrong over the next 3 months, and I'm hoping I won't have to feel so bad about not giving them my vote next election unless they get their shit together over a few things.
Bernard Hickey expresses one (actually more than one) of those things very well:
The more things evolve, the more I'm inclined to the belief that JA is carrying a bit of dead wood in some Ministerial portfolios, AND that she's inclined to believe some of her civil servants without question, whilst what they're telling her is not necessarily what's going on in the real world.
Given Helen Clark also said the other day that the civil service doesn't have the capacity it once had, and that its operated in a neo-lib, managerialist nirvana – JA would be wise to get a new model of bullshit detector (H1 or H2 might do).
Alternatively she could start putting as much weight on advice she receives from people at the coal face and from academia as she does from some of her ‘officials’
Ministers responsible for MBIE MPI NZTA and even MSD have been fed a lot of shit over time.
Perhaps my biggest disappointment is I L-G. One of my hero-worshiping siblings tells me he's a really 'nice guy'. I'm sure that's true enough but being a nice guy doesn't always make for being a good or competent minister and it seems to me that's often a trap people fall into. No question though that any one of them is a better bet when put beside the current crop of gNats.
Lately, I've had cause to remember what my father-in-law (a staunch Labour supporter) said when he ditched them during the 80s – to the effect that the likes of Prebble, Douglas and Co didn't have the guts to start their own party – instead hijacking Labour. That stench seems to have 'trickled down to parts of our public service.
I L-G is one minister that rumour in the hood has it was grappling with his department. Remember that furore about the czech? migrant that was put through his office and blew up in the media? Sending H2 down to Mobie to start breaking it up might not be a bad call. And immigration is tricky
"Grappling with his department". I've been saying that for nigh on 4 years now. It's not just rumour. But its a good example of the state of our ps (at least the senior ranks). The person/people/responsible for that 'demographic profiling' are still there. Why the high turnover in some areas also? And ANYone that thought it OK to use T&C to spy on people should not be in ps roles.
Under MBIE, its 'the business of people', with their families treated as though they are a COST of doing that business – baggage. Any social considerations are secondary.
As far as I can make out a reasonable chunk of our upper civil servants are wedded to the more market less government approach so there won't be an argument from me about repurposing them.
And yes heads never seem to roll – not in Mobie, Police, Defence no matter how much their dodgy deeds cost us taxpayers. Same with a lot of the state appointed boards.
Labour may have struggled to clear this pre covid but a reset is badly overdue so that we can appreciate our good public servants.
If we fail to vote for Labour and Greens, and allow National to squeak in, those prats in civil service you're talking about will have their methods entrenched.
We have to remember all the good things done and put in place while meeting huge problems, of ongoing obstacles, all of which have been dealt with incredibly well.
The National Party dirty tricks brigade would have us believe that Jacinda Grant and Winston are the only Ministers doing their roles well. Bollocks. That is designed to make Jacinda out to be a power hungry control freak
They can feck off. She is inclusive well informed and able to take advice. She has shown she won't accept bullying, but will use her discretion where ministers make errors of judgement.
In her own words, "Be a good human, be kind and support each other" She will live by those words and look for her Ministers and staff to do the same.
This same story about the few cans of beans for a family of seven migrants has been amplified. She said that was not good enough and asked for more information. 30 million was given to meet those types of need. Granted a month later half this fund has been spent.
When these people arrive they agree to support themselves if they become ill. This Government has supported them through this pandemic with shelter and food after their employers who brought them here dropped them off their workers lists.
The paucity of airfares and the cancellation of flights has added to their woes.
Bryce Edwards has always been a closet National supporter in my view, often taking parts of other stories to support a biased angle of the story, and seldom presents an overview.
He drips his bias steadily trying to build his already decided hypothesis. He is too obvious. Unfortunately, many forget how Winston's views are really quite conservative, and he could agree with Muller's take on things.
This could eat into Labour's new polling margin, though a factor may be that Winston sees Muller as "Like Jim Bolger" Stubborn intractable and rather slow and inflexible, Muller having worked for Jim Bolger who has similar traits.
After working with Jacinda Ardern I can't see him doing that except for political survival. But pundits like Bryce Edwards will muddy the waters happily.
How do you rock a good leader’s boat? By implying her other ministers are poor managers, purposefully magnifying their erros.
Rest assured @ Patricia, I'll be voting either Green or Labour depending on the promises they make between now and the election – most likely Green.
In the meantime, I'm sure MoBIE has 'several pieces of work underway in that space to ensure some joined up services might be wrapped around the unfortunate"
“Ultimately”, it might even come down to the amount of neo-liberal speak I hear from Labour in the meantime, or whether they propose getting off their chuffs and doing something about the state of media
Personally I was a bit disappointed with Bernard's story ( immigration visa's ) as there are some real issues there but it's difficult to get a handle on the actual scope of them which he did not really address and how widespread they are – lots, some , a few?
Again this is a issue inherited from National who used excessive visa's like crack cocaine for employers to disrupt the local employment markets. Labour by lifting salaries etc had tried to wind it back gently but the process was far from complete.
Still any broad brush local solutions ( untying work permits , providing welfare) are expensive. Either way we could be potentially adding 200,000 to 300,000 to our welfare role costing about a $1 billion every 6 weeks either as a direct welfare recipient or because they have displaced a local in a job. While a lot of visa holders may see this as an opportunity to attain a situation that they might otherwise not have gained I suspect there is little local appetite for that. Also don't forget that there is a least some evidence that the benefits of the visa's have been heavily oversold by some offshore agents – presumably for a large fee.
And it is an area where we need good stop gap policy plus a great deal better long term settings. Take the student work visa – there are some 65,000 apparently and according to the education institutes (dying to get their fee payers back to support the bloated salaries at the top) around a third stay on for the work visa's. Our birth cohort leaving education every year is around 50,000 to 60,000. We are suddenly adding another 25%-30%(22,000) to that number of people looking for entry level jobs. No wonder we have such a large number of NEET,s in that age group. They really don't need that level of competition.
Lastly the farmers. Could the news media give their employer sob stories a harder frame? The various audits in the last couple of years showed that the bulk of them where non compliant with any employment and wage law. Yes they may have an employee stuck overseas but employees can be suddenly unavailable for any number of reasons so get over yourself and hire another one either temporarily or permanently.
Demanding a government fly them back in again is the height of over entitlement.
However for whatever reason – whether that 'lack of capacity' H1 talked about, Euro-centric and racist mindset others have talked about (with good reason and incidentally examples – from inside the tent), or incompetence, there are a few basic things that could have been done and should be done now.
– (Haven't checked their website in a while), but MBIE were encouraging all and sundry to become immigration advisors – so they got what they asked for: complete charlatans mixed in with highly competent and experienced ones. So you'd get someone running say a security firm, or a PTE, or Labour Hire Company providing immigration advice on the side. Hopefully you can see a problem right there!
– Then you had/have a load of closures and presence in key 'markets'. Note the word MARKETS which even Mr Nice Guy seems perfectly comfortable with.
– And in those 'markets' where the charlatans and scamsters operate – places that contribute to that $5b export education sector for example, NOT even the slightest attempt to warn people of the dangers.
– Then you have a Labour Inspectorate which we were assured by an official just before the election had enough inspectors, and who now seems to have changed his tune. An Inspectorate that made excuses when cases of exploitation were reported to them. For some reason, unwilling to involve the Police – probably because they were intent on building their own little police force.
– Then you have the practice of tying visas to a specific employer, rather than sector, and expecting nothing to go wrong in terms of exploitation and contributing to the trend of driving down wages, AND wondering why employers prefer immigrant labour over Kiwis. Money to be made doncha know and its "best practice"
I'll leave it at that for now although I could go on. But if I L-G is and was "grappling" with his department, then (provided all the purchase agreements and KPIs and shit are in order), then the State Services Commissioner should have been called in (as in say a James Casson, or a demographic spreadsheeting) – repeatedly called in if necessary and told (asked very nicely) that performance isn't satisfactory. He could probably even be remiinded that we're a sovereign Pacific Nayshun that punches above its weight, albeit under HRH Madge.
I think the fuckup that is the Ministry for Everything that started out with largesse and designed by a couple of shithouse rats whose intentions should now be obvious has been allowed to contiinue is going to be on this government – even though it's probably quite a convenient entity for them to deal with.
Some really good discussion there, I hope that it is read and absorbed by some whose hearts are still beating in Labour or HM (High Management) or HR (Hyperbole Recherche').
Insomniac as I am @ Grey, you'd probably appreciate my last night.
It was a dream – call it a nightmare really in which Julie Christie was Jacinda's producer in Julie's latest reality TV show. I L-G was at home up the road in Tinakori with Clark (with an e) arguing over Neve who should be giving whom media training – while Neve was howling her eyes out.
I can see now why it happened after all I encountered yesterday (and believe me, I'm totally drugless other than the standard statins, beta blockers and aspirin) – although I sometimes wonder whether or not a puff or two of the ganga (incidentally – not exactly foreign to that hero worshiping sibling I mentioned above) would be preferable.
Thankfully, I woke up PDQ thinking today is the day I finally get to see the emergency dentist (which as it transpired, didn't go well due to a 3 month Cov19 happenstance) – Shit happens, but not half as much as it has for most of our recent immigrants. I could even get to wear a set of pearly white bleached teeth yet, at a cost of thousands, false though they may be – or not (hopefully)
Look fixing those basics ASAP would be excellent . And reining in the dodgy education sector stuff. I too find it a bit worrying that there have been few policy announcements in this area even quite basic ones so that we don' t have anyone who may be overseas looking to get a new work visa having false expectations.
“Take the student work visa – there are some 65,000 apparently and according to the education institutes (dying to get their fee payers back to support the bloated salaries at the top) around a third stay on for the work visa's.”
They do not need to come back and the institutes can keep their staff at the top on their bloated salaries and we can shut the back door visa entry which was never put to New Zealanders before being implemented. The NZ Auckland university students have been doing their studies and are continuing to do their studies and the tests from home , online , until the end of this term, So yes the overseas students can do the same – study at NZ universities online at home, in whatever that country happens to be.
And the likes of Guilford are desperate to get it all going again.
Here in lil 'ole NuZull that punches above its weight, you too can provide your child with a year (or less) of tertiary education for the mere cost of a modest house. Your chiid can recover the cost of this investment in your family and child's future through our generous 20 hour-per-week work allowance that will enable them to recover your investment in double-quick time and more!
Invest now! Don't Delay! Places are vanishing fast.
We'll even teach them the fundamentals of how to suck eggs; of the basic laws of supply and demand that are already second nature to them; or even how they can use 'apps' and proprietry products to develop and set up a web site.
Book now! Places are limited and going fast! Contact your nearest immigration specialist. This is YOUR child's future and an investment for the familiy's future
Thanks to @MrAndyNgo for stopping by today. We had a great discussion about political violence, what happened to him in Portland, and what changes need to happen to make sure the city restores rule of law. Watch here: https://t.co/rRCP0Dpb8upic.twitter.com/5kJGTnXVDn
This viral tweet claiming to be Antifa calling for violence in residential areas was actually tweeted by white nationalist group Identity Evropa, Twitter told NBC News.https://t.co/AwOBphuMB7pic.twitter.com/DK02xNsCka
We've been in level 4 too long, move to level 3 now
We should be moving from level 3 to level 2 now
It's confusing, we should go from level 2 to level 1 now
1,2 and 3 – Simon Bridges, 4 – Todd Muller. So what's changed with the leadership spill? Looks like not much. The same cavalier attitude to public health and the instinctive privileging of business interests above everything else. It's what led to the collapse in their support over the lock-down period and it's still there.
Well, this sort of racist dog-whistling hasn't changed. Mind you, short of welcoming his application, there's very little else Muller could say. And of course, Muller couldn't bring himself to do that.
Maybe this leadership change isn't going to bring the nats' numbers up, and they won't be able to salvage even a moderate loss after all? The next poll's going to be pretty telling.
I heard a news item this morning about a group of local academics that are pushing for a relaxation of alert levels.
When asked about Sweden's approach, a position I assume the group had favoured earlier in the crisis, we are told to refer to the website.
That is the thing with the opposition, various industry spokesfolk, and your local diehard tory, their reckons don't amount to much, they bear no responsibility, and do not credit the position we are in now to the PTB.
THREAD: I recently spent some time talking privately with a former Washington DC CBP senior management official. This is what stuck with me: Border Patrol does not believe they are a civilian law enforcement agency. They believe they are kin to the Marine Corps.
2) They do not believe they are accountable to Congress, which is why they have no issues lying to them even while under oath. They believe they are only accountable to the President and even then, only to presidents like Trump.
3) Border Patrol believes it is not required to answer to local police, FBI, CIA or any other law enforcement agency. They claim to be to “premiere” law enforcement agency, superior to all others. They say they will become a “national police force.” To be used by a president
Also: 700 members of the 82nd are at Joint Base Andrews and Fort Belvoir. 1,400 more soldiers are ready to be mobilized within an hour. Soldiers are armed and have riot gear. They also were issued bayonets—standard issue but some feel could be inflammatory https://t.co/Ieo86bc4yF
Tonight, multiple C-130J and C-17A cargo aircraft from Fort Riley, Fort Drum, and Fort Bragg are arriving into Andrews AFB. (@AP reporting 82nd Airborne Division activated) 10th Mountain Division & 1st Infantry Division which were on standby, also appear to be activated. pic.twitter.com/eTJB7QT8GG
The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News.
[…]
“In order for DEA to assist to the maximum extent possible in the federal law enforcement response to protests which devolve into violations of federal law, DEA requests that it be designated to enforce any federal crime committed as a result of protests over the death of George Floyd,” Shea wrote in the memo. “DEA requests this authority on a nationwide basis for a period of fourteen days.”
Yes it was. There have been some good signs in recent times. For example, I think the police handling of the Covid 19 requirements has been excellent. The Public Service has needed a clean up for the past 30 years and there's hope that too is now in progress.
Amazing, really. They should have had an easy win. Of course the level 1/2 inconsistency is a problem. Of course PM and deputy PM disagreeing is a bad look.
Audrey Young pointed to the PM V DPM difference but…:
“The differences between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Peters, her deputy, does not affect the stability of the coalition between Labour and New Zealand First.
makes sense, but given the problems with the MoH, isn't it the Minister's job (and behind them, govt caucus) to sort those problems out by setting expectations and direction?
Say your wish was granted, I doubt he would fit Labour, as its likely ideas such as setting health targets, centralising health boards, providing services by need not ethnicity may be pushed to provide better outcomes for National Health.
… providing services by need not ethnicity may be pushed to provide better outcomes for National Health.
False dichotomy. There are many and major health disparities that are caused by ethnicity. The same can be said about education and crime stats, for example. The approach and philosophy that you seem to be advocating will never overcome these engrained inequalities and will therefore never provide better outcomes at a national level but rather further reinforce the current situation.
Why do some people say such incredibly stupid things?
"One option that's been discussed is bumping Māori and Pacific patients up a priority band in certain instances, the Weekend Herald understands. Another might be making Māori and Pacific ethnicity a factor when working out a priority rating score."
All NZ-trained health professionals are acutely aware and have a good understanding of the health inequalities in this country. The same is true of biomedical researchers trained and/or working here.
I’d put it to you that ignorance, denial, normalised racism, and poor leadership and management are just some of the factors why we have seen little improvement on this issue.
I agree with what you have put to me. That's why I doubt Bloomfield would be a good fit for Labour if it is was proposed that he should replace the current Minister of Health.
"The PM should avoid the public at all costs" is a novel attack line from the opposition.
Her bodyguards didn't push people out of the way when they got too close? It's a disgrace! Use tear gas like Trump does, that'll ensure appropriate distancing.
Don't often visit that toxic site, but it was worth it today when I saw their adjusted curia poll published on it.
National 28.9% Hehehe that will be hurting the tories, a lovely reminder for them on every page.
Back to the topic, maybe the difference is, the nat mp had to ask for someone to take his photo, and that's why the tories are upset…. just a thought 🙂
Read the comments under Farrar and was horrified SPC. I hope that when Farrar supporters read the Standard would they be as horrified with what is written here?
I don’t think it indicates that at all. But clearly NZFirst lacks relevance in the current polling scenario. They’re just trying to even up the playing field and deal themselves back in. Frankly Ardern only has herself to blame for this latest incident.
Heh, my tween daughter just showed me her KPop stars have hijacked the MAGA tag and are bombarding it with fan videos, cute anime, dance and songs. And there's 1000s of them.
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Hello from the middle of a long weekend where I’m letting the last few days unspool, not ready, not yet, to give words to the hardest of what we heard.Instead, today, here are some good words from other people.Mother CourageWhen I wrote last year about Mum and Dad’s move to ...
Workers Now is a new slate of candidates contesting this year’s general election. James Robb and Don Franks are the people behind this initiative and they are hoping to put the spotlight on working people’s interests. Both are seasoned activists who have campaigned for workers’ rights over many decades. Here is ...
Buzz from the Beehive Politicians keen to curry favour with Māori tribal leaders have headed north for Waitangi weekend. More than a few million dollars of public funding are headed north, too. Not all of this money is being trumpeted on the Beehive website, the Government’s official website. ...
Insurers face claims of over $500 million for cars, homes and property damaged in the floods. They are already putting up premiums and pulling insurance from properties deemed at high risk of flooding. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: This week in the podcast of our weekly hoon webinar for paying subscribers, ...
Our Cranky Uncle Game can already be played in eight languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. About 15 more languages are in the works at various stages of completion or have been offered to be done. To kick off the new year, we checked with how ...
The (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding.Co-governance cannot be derived from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not use the word. It refers to ‘government’ on ...
It’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump on this link for our chat about the week’s news with special guests Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and Auckland City Councillor Julie Fairey, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which ...
In March last year, in a panic over rising petrol prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government made a poor decision, "temporarily" cutting fuel excise tax by 25 cents a litre. Of course, it turned out not to be temporary at all, having been extended in May, July, ...
This month’s open thread for climate related topics. Please be constructive, polite, and succinct. The post Unforced variations: Feb 2023 first appeared on RealClimate. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two fresh press releases had been posted when we checked the Beehive website at noon, both of them posted yesterday. In one statement, in the runup to Waitangi Day, Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis drew attention to happenings on a Northland battle site in 1845. ...
It’s that time of the week again when I’m on the site for an hour for a chat in an Ask Me Anything with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump in for a chat on anything, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which are set to cost insurers and the Government well over ...
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
New Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...
An historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...
The Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
The Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
A potential cyclone that could bring more severe wet weather to the upper North Island is now forecast to form a day earlier, Stuff reports. Due to ideal cyclone-formation conditions over the Coral Sea, a low south of the Solomon Islands has a high chance of turning into a cyclone ...
Author I.S. Belle reveals the top five influences on her debut LGBT horror/paranormal YA novel, Zombabe.Zombabe is a LGBT found family horror/paranormal YA about a group of friends putting down an ancient evil inextricably linked to their sleepy town of Bulldeen, Maine. Does all of that bring anything to ...
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese are holding a joint press conference in Canberra. Watch live here. ...
The New Zealand government is providing $1.5 million in humanitarian support to those affected by destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last night, foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. The contribution of $1m to Turkey and $500,000 to Syria will be made via the International Federation of Red Cross and ...
In a state-of-the-nation-style lunchtime speech in Auckland today, the leader of the Act Party has taken aim at both major party leaders. “Throughout this speech,” David Seymour told supporters at the Maritime Museum, “I will do my best to differentiate between the Chrisses, but it may not be easy.” Seymour ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has met with Australia’s Anthony Albanese in Canberra, exchanging a few brief words to gathered reporters before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Hipkins was driven into the courtyard of Parliament House, where he was greeted by Albanese in person. “Welcome prime minister,” said Albanese. A beaming ...
The acclaimed fashion designer has been crowned the ‘undisputed king of the frock’ – but with identical dresses widely available on fast fashion outlets, questions are being asked about his design practices.This story was first published on Stuff. He has been described as the “knight of New Zealand fashion”, his ...
In Canberra New Zealand’s media pack has arrived at Australia’s parliament ahead of this afternoon’s visit from prime minister Chris Hipkins. The PM will be met by his counterpart Anthony Albanese in the courtyard of parliament house, before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Following the 45 minute meeting, ...
Two new funding initiatives, totalling $22 million, have been approved by Cabinet today to help ensure the cultural sector has the “certainty and support to thrive”, announced Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. $10 million of Covid-19 recovery funding will support established arts, cultural and diversity festivals, while $12 ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayWAITANGI, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Thomas Cranmer: Waitangi Day and the quiet revolution Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waitangi in 2023: Plenty ...
ACT leader David Seymour has delivered a speech painting National and Labour as two sides of the same coin, and calling co-governance a "culture war". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Quigley, Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne Mustafa Karali / AP A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kalinda Griffiths, Scientia lecturer, UNSW Sydney Getty/Marianne Purdie Cancer figures provide stark evidence of the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The difference is confronting – and it’s increasing over ...
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have used a joint media conference to affirm the nations' relationship is that of "family". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Alcohol bans are being reimposed on Northern Territory Indigenous communities, as the federal and territory governments grapple with intractable problems in Alice Springs and elsewhere in the NT. The situation in Alice Springs and the ...
I was told to avoid gluten. I was told it was all in my head. When 10% of women experience endometriosis, why does it take so long for its classic symptoms to be recognised? It was 2011 when I had my first period. It felt like a very exciting moment ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has touched down in Australia’s capital – his first overseas visit since becoming prime minister just three weeks ago. After disembarking from the Airforce Boeing, Hipkins was greeted by his former caucus colleague and current high commissioner to Australia, Dame Annette King. The pair hugged on ...
The rise of TikTok-inspired ‘algospeak’ is making online communication even more of a nightmare, writes SYSCA‘s Lucy Blakiston.This is an excerpt from the Shit You Should Care About daily newsletter – sign up here.Content warning: sexual assault The other day I was chatting with a friend about algospeak – ...
School, finally, is back this week in the nation’s largest city to howls of relief from many parents and (one hopes) some students also. Yet the resumption of normal service shouldn’t obscure a curious inconsistency. The past few weeks have shown ...
MediaRoom column: On the eve of a Cabinet decision on the fate of the proposed public broadcasting merger, questions emerge over the engagement by the TVNZ chief executive of two former National government aides to change the narrative and push TVNZ's view on the Government's plan Within weeks of taking over ...
Olivia Sisson performs a good old-fashioned cost comparison – and it might change the way you buy your veges.The price of food in New Zealand is shocking. So, how to cope? The recommendations are starting to feel like the avo-toast-flat-white trope. Cut those items out and there it is, ...
An early morning fire at an egg-laying farm in Orini, Waikato yesterday has claimed the lives of at least 50,000 hens. The farm is operated by New Zealand’s largest egg producer Zeagold, the country’s biggest egg producer, whose eggs are sold under ...
The Natural and Built Environment Bill and Spatial Planning Bill will make resource management issues worse and should be withdrawn, Federated Farmers has told the Environment Select Committee. "Farmers agree the costly, slow and unpredictable processes ...
New police minister Stuart Nash has met with new health minister Ayesha Verrall to talk about the issue with the aim of preventing ram raids. Nash wants to speed up the scheduled reduction of dairies that can sell cigarettes. Nash made the comments at a police graduation ceremony in Porirua last ...
It’s Tuesday, February 7 and welcome to a special edition of The Spinoff’s live updates. Stewart Sowman-Lund will be on the ground in Canberra today as PM Chris Hipkins meets with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. What you need to know Chris Hipkins will meet Australian PM ...
Politicking by politicians was less overt but whether there was less politics probably depends on your definition of the word and what lay beneath the optics, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Why is it becoming harder to achieve debt-free status? Money Sweetspot is a new company that uses compassion and incentives to help people pay off their debts. Co-founder Sasha Lockley talks to Simon about using gamification to increase financial literacy, breaking the cycle of poverty, and how she intends to ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is heading to Australia today for his first face-to-face meeting with an international leader. He’ll be meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese during his single-day visit to Canberra. The Spinoff live updates will be on the ground in Australia as the meeting takes place and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney Pexels/Uriel Mont The question of whether and to what extent face masks work to prevent respiratory infections such as COVID and influenza ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Mackinnon, Professor and Director, Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices, Queensland University of Technology Superconducting cables transmit electicity without lossesShutterstock For most of us, transmitting power is an invisible part of modern life. You flick the switch and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Munro, Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Many students are returning to school this year face a renewed focus on grammar. Just before Christmas, the NSW curriculum was overhauled to include the “explicit teaching of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debra Dudek, Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University Universal Life is full of surprises – some pleasant and some painful – but there can be no surprises without expectations. We expect the sun to come up ...
News stories have honed in on the fact Wayne Brown and his staff were left off a ‘vital’ email distribution list on the night of the Auckland floods. But internal emails from the mayor’s chief of staff show he was getting regular briefings from officials.Internal council emails obtained by ...
In a reality shaped by climate crisis, how do you think and feel about the changed present – and the changing future – without spiralling into despair?In the midst of a flood there’s not much time to think about the future. But when the water recedes, the reality of ...
06 Feb The news today of the death of 75,000 chickens at an egg farm in Waikato is yet another outrageous and avoidable tragedy. “The fact that so many hens died in this fire in the Waikato is a testament to the systemic neglect and disregard ...
Lawmakers are being urged to bridge the legal and scientific divide over braided rivers. David Williams reports What is a river? More particularly, what is a braided river? An expert group known as The Land The Law Forgot is urging politicians considering the Natural and Built Environment Bill – one ...
As Auckland copes with unprecedented flooding, Mairi Jay points to lessons from extreme weather events in British Columbia that could be vitally important for policy-makers and administrators here “Expect extreme weather events” the climate scientists tell us. But sometimes the extreme is beyond our imagining. On Thursday January 26, New Zealand’s Met Service predicted ...
UK and US deals for NZ novels Three of the best New Zealand novels of recent years are about to be published in the UK and the US. All three books – She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall, Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, and The New Animals ...
Confidence from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell kept markets buoyant. But mortgage payments and job losses could dampen consumer spending in NZ ...
Someone left the Swift out in the rain - insurance agents are overloaded with calls about flood-damaged vehicles It’s been a big week for testing the submarining abilities of the family station wagon. Thousands of cars around the upper North Island have been written off following the devastating floods of ...
The first of the air force's new Poseidon aircraft has landed in New Zealand. But is this the sort of workhorse the military needs? Our old heroes of the Air Force, the P-3 Orions, have retired after 56 years of service - and the first of the flash new Poseidon ...
Chris Hipkins’ first overseas trip as Prime Minister comes on relatively friendly territory. But while there have been marked improvements in the trans-Tasman relationship since a change in Canberra, there is still plenty to discuss, as Sam Sachdeva writes In many ways, it is fitting Chris Hipkins should make Australia the ...
Fiordland National Park is the crowning jewel of our national parks and arguably our greatest tourist magnet. But conservationists warn that marine life has been put at risk because the park’s waters are unprotected. Heidi Bendikson’s investigation shows they are right. Tourists on the 'M.V Sinbad' clamber to the bow to ...
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Useless vs. Useless
https://abc7ny.com/cuomo-criticizes-de-blasio-nypd-on-nyc-looting/6226962/
Democrats going at each other will please orange45 no end.
Cuomos probably looking to distract from his own contribution to NY's covid outcome like his initial inaction and unpopular cuts to hospitals etc. He's no saint.
Gonna be interesting watching the fallout from police using tear gas and other force to drive clergy from church grounds so that the Lyin' King can posture in front of it for a photo op. What with the long history of churches holding a privileged status as sanctuaries from governmental action an'all.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clergy-st-johns-church-trump_n_5ed6403ac5b6f9c2444b5851
Blackhawks deployed against Americans in DC.
https://www.salon.com/2020/06/02/army-helicopter-uses-counterinsurgency-tactics-after-protesters-tear-gassed-for-trumps-photo-op/
Funny looking "Blackhawk" Fan the flames Andre, let them burn
[I’ve looked at your comment history and unless you lift your game, you’ll be swooped up in the Pre-Election Clear-Out and Clean-Up – Incognito]
The one in the the tweet talking about "ten minutes later" looks to me more like a Blackhawk than any of the other current US military helicopters. But sure, the images are fuzzy and I'm no expert, so maybe it's some other US military helicopter. In DC. Deployed against US citizens.
See my Moderation note @ 8:27 AM.
tRump gets his Mubarak on.
Complete bullshit – that isn’t a blackhawk. Twin vertical tail for a starter.
This is a blackhawk…
The one shown in this tweet further down the article, not the one at the top, what do you reckon it is?
edit: plenty of news organisations are reporting at least one Blackhawk being used, such as here:
https://www.newsweek.com/low-flying-military-helicopters-used-disperse-george-floyd-protesters-washington-dc-1508013
Top one appears to be a UH-72 Lakota, but the actual make of the military helicopter is less pertinent than the fact it is a military helicopter..
Um. That isn't a Blackhawk
Maybe if it had hovered even lower the type ID would have been more accurate /sarc
I never said that I agreed with military helicopters intimidating people.
It is shit.
But the top picture even has red cross badging so it is obviously checking out no one is hurt.
Even if it were a black hawk, which they aren't, it could just be Trump being an even bigger prick than normal as that is what he flies round in, I think. (may not be totally correct, as think it changes)
Gotcha. It was concern rotorwash. Just to make sure the rubber bullets weren't hurting anyone. Fucksake.
Fantastic
Selective quoting of a post rules the waves
Well, the bit before "but" was pointless, and the remaining two comments were bullshit.
So yeah, I selected the funniest bit of your ~adjacent-apologia to quote.
Motherfuckers have deployed more resources to avoid changing police culture than they did while 105k died under their watch, and you're trying to spin this particular shit as either potus or medivac concern. If they didn't want people hurt, they wouldn't be firing "rubber" bullets.
No. I just pointed out it was a medical helicopter. Which is kind of fucking obvious, if you look at the photo.
And the bit before the "but" might be pointless to you, but I disagree with the use of helicopters to intimidate people.
This might not fit your obviously bad opinion of me, but I don't really give a shit.
No, you did more than point it out, you invented some motivation to the helicopter crew, after your intitial takeaway that the main point was whether it was a uh60 (medical or not).
Whereas the effects of the helicopter count more than its model number or its decal set. The effects included actual force and, yes, intimidation (which you disagree with while looking for any unlikely excuse for it to be causing those effects).
Unless the pilots go on camera to apologise and explain that they really were super concerned someone might have broken a fingernail and they were also completely unaware of the well documented effects of low level flight, I'll stick with occam's razor on their motives.
Whatever
You are the man of the people, and I to you am apparently an arsehole who loves helicopters terrorising people.
All is good for you.
I wouldn't go that far, but you certainly found the model of the helicopter to be a more pressing point than what it was actually doing.
??
Andre did.
I was just replying to him talking about the model ffs
Talk about taking something out of context.
2.1: "Blackhawks deployed against Americans in DC."
Obviously the most important part of that line was "blackhawks", rather than the rest of the sentence. /sarc
Then what are the two different types of helicopter shown in the various images and videos? Sure, the one in the image at the top of the article isn't a Blackhawk, it appears most likely to be a Lakota as McFlock says. But nobody claiming "it isn't a Blackhawk" has ponied up an alternative for the second type of helicopter as shown in the tweet in the original article and helpfully reproduced for you above in the response to lprent. That one sure as shit ain't a Lakota, and the landing gear wheels, window configuration, cabin shape, engine intakes, tapered tail boom etc all appear awfully similar to a Blackhawk and unlike any other helicopter in US military service (except Blackhawk derivatives).
Rather than twittser or mainstream media, I find it is better to go with the geeks who are more into the facts than the hype.
Apparently the helicopter geeks, say there was a Black Hawk, But higher up and in a different place.
https://www.verticalmag.com/news/low-flying-national-guard-helicopters-disperse-protests-washington-dc/
So your article confirms that there was indeed a Blackhawk on the scene. But it doesn't appear to have any info from anybody that was actually at the event. Just someone speculating the Blackhawk might have been a bit higher, guessing from a brief video.
Here's from a second reporter on the actual scene:
Think I will wait till a credible link of the bloke actually saying that, but if true, not good.
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2020/06/for-us-civil-military-relations-a-slippery-slope/
“To reinforce this message, the time has come for the armed forces command and Congress to prevent an expansion of the US military role in domestic crowd control roles. The institutional integrity at the core of democratic governance depends on it.”
Unfortunately, whatever military personnel still serving that might have the principle to refuse to carry out illegal orders are busy resigning in protest. To be replaced by suckups eager to carry out whatever Kim Jong Orange commands.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/i-wish-you-the-best-us-military-adviser-resigns-after-trumps-controversial-photo-op-at-church/ar-BB14WhpK?li=BBqdg4K
Nothing is going to go through Congress that puts any kind of leash on the stygian homunculus. Not while Mitch the Mean-age Mutant MAGA Turtle has a stranglehold on the Senate.
Buckle up, everybody. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. For just the next seven months if we're lucky, four and a half years if we're not.
Admiral Mike Mullen speaks out:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/american-cities-are-not-battlespaces/612553/
my bold
Retired Admiral Mike Mullen.
No he retains his rank on reaching retiring age for rank, as we do here in NZ.
Correctly he is Admiral M Mullen USN (Rtd.)
As I am Lt Cdr RNZN (Rtd).
As acting Director Officer Postings (Navy) it was my task to Gazette these things 🙂
The point being that Mullen is no longer anywhere in the chain of command and therefore has zero influence over whether illegal or just plain wrong orders get carried out or not.
It's pleasing to see that Admiral Mullen has at last started to show signs he has a heart and a conscience. Ten years ago he was one of the most callous, merciless liars one could find in any sphere of life.
https://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/07/29/wikileaks.mullen.gates/index.html
I'm not into hero worship, but if ever there were politicians over my lifetime that are deserving of star status, they'd be the likes of JA, H1 (at least in the 1st and 2nd term) and Norman Kirk.
However while I still support Labour, I'm hoping people don't get complacent because there are a few things that could go very wrong over the next 3 months, and I'm hoping I won't have to feel so bad about not giving them my vote next election unless they get their shit together over a few things.
Bernard Hickey expresses one (actually more than one) of those things very well:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro/2020/06/02/1215973/our-compassionate-pms-mean-policies (no on PRO)
The more things evolve, the more I'm inclined to the belief that JA is carrying a bit of dead wood in some Ministerial portfolios, AND that she's inclined to believe some of her civil servants without question, whilst what they're telling her is not necessarily what's going on in the real world.
Given Helen Clark also said the other day that the civil service doesn't have the capacity it once had, and that its operated in a neo-lib, managerialist nirvana – JA would be wise to get a new model of bullshit detector (H1 or H2 might do).
Alternatively she could start putting as much weight on advice she receives from people at the coal face and from academia as she does from some of her ‘officials’
which portfolios do you see as the worst for that?
Ministers responsible for MBIE MPI NZTA and even MSD have been fed a lot of shit over time.
Perhaps my biggest disappointment is I L-G. One of my hero-worshiping siblings tells me he's a really 'nice guy'. I'm sure that's true enough but being a nice guy doesn't always make for being a good or competent minister and it seems to me that's often a trap people fall into. No question though that any one of them is a better bet when put beside the current crop of gNats.
Lately, I've had cause to remember what my father-in-law (a staunch Labour supporter) said when he ditched them during the 80s – to the effect that the likes of Prebble, Douglas and Co didn't have the guts to start their own party – instead hijacking Labour. That stench seems to have 'trickled down to parts of our public service.
I L-G is one minister that rumour in the hood has it was grappling with his department. Remember that furore about the czech? migrant that was put through his office and blew up in the media? Sending H2 down to Mobie to start breaking it up might not be a bad call. And immigration is tricky
"Grappling with his department". I've been saying that for nigh on 4 years now. It's not just rumour. But its a good example of the state of our ps (at least the senior ranks). The person/people/responsible for that 'demographic profiling' are still there. Why the high turnover in some areas also? And ANYone that thought it OK to use T&C to spy on people should not be in ps roles.
Under MBIE, its 'the business of people', with their families treated as though they are a COST of doing that business – baggage. Any social considerations are secondary.
But…..gotta go, back later
As far as I can make out a reasonable chunk of our upper civil servants are wedded to the more market less government approach so there won't be an argument from me about repurposing them.
And yes heads never seem to roll – not in Mobie, Police, Defence no matter how much their dodgy deeds cost us taxpayers. Same with a lot of the state appointed boards.
Labour may have struggled to clear this pre covid but a reset is badly overdue so that we can appreciate our good public servants.
If we fail to vote for Labour and Greens, and allow National to squeak in, those prats in civil service you're talking about will have their methods entrenched.
We have to remember all the good things done and put in place while meeting huge problems, of ongoing obstacles, all of which have been dealt with incredibly well.
The National Party dirty tricks brigade would have us believe that Jacinda Grant and Winston are the only Ministers doing their roles well. Bollocks. That is designed to make Jacinda out to be a power hungry control freak
They can feck off. She is inclusive well informed and able to take advice. She has shown she won't accept bullying, but will use her discretion where ministers make errors of judgement.
In her own words, "Be a good human, be kind and support each other" She will live by those words and look for her Ministers and staff to do the same.
This same story about the few cans of beans for a family of seven migrants has been amplified. She said that was not good enough and asked for more information. 30 million was given to meet those types of need. Granted a month later half this fund has been spent.
When these people arrive they agree to support themselves if they become ill. This Government has supported them through this pandemic with shelter and food after their employers who brought them here dropped them off their workers lists.
The paucity of airfares and the cancellation of flights has added to their woes.
Bryce Edwards has always been a closet National supporter in my view, often taking parts of other stories to support a biased angle of the story, and seldom presents an overview.
He drips his bias steadily trying to build his already decided hypothesis. He is too obvious. Unfortunately, many forget how Winston's views are really quite conservative, and he could agree with Muller's take on things.
This could eat into Labour's new polling margin, though a factor may be that Winston sees Muller as "Like Jim Bolger" Stubborn intractable and rather slow and inflexible, Muller having worked for Jim Bolger who has similar traits.
After working with Jacinda Ardern I can't see him doing that except for political survival. But pundits like Bryce Edwards will muddy the waters happily.
How do you rock a good leader’s boat? By implying her other ministers are poor managers, purposefully magnifying their erros.
Rest assured @ Patricia, I'll be voting either Green or Labour depending on the promises they make between now and the election – most likely Green.
In the meantime, I'm sure MoBIE has 'several pieces of work underway in that space to ensure some joined up services might be wrapped around the unfortunate"
“Ultimately”, it might even come down to the amount of neo-liberal speak I hear from Labour in the meantime, or whether they propose getting off their chuffs and doing something about the state of media
Personally I was a bit disappointed with Bernard's story ( immigration visa's ) as there are some real issues there but it's difficult to get a handle on the actual scope of them which he did not really address and how widespread they are – lots, some , a few?
Again this is a issue inherited from National who used excessive visa's like crack cocaine for employers to disrupt the local employment markets. Labour by lifting salaries etc had tried to wind it back gently but the process was far from complete.
Still any broad brush local solutions ( untying work permits , providing welfare) are expensive. Either way we could be potentially adding 200,000 to 300,000 to our welfare role costing about a $1 billion every 6 weeks either as a direct welfare recipient or because they have displaced a local in a job. While a lot of visa holders may see this as an opportunity to attain a situation that they might otherwise not have gained I suspect there is little local appetite for that. Also don't forget that there is a least some evidence that the benefits of the visa's have been heavily oversold by some offshore agents – presumably for a large fee.
And it is an area where we need good stop gap policy plus a great deal better long term settings. Take the student work visa – there are some 65,000 apparently and according to the education institutes (dying to get their fee payers back to support the bloated salaries at the top) around a third stay on for the work visa's. Our birth cohort leaving education every year is around 50,000 to 60,000. We are suddenly adding another 25%-30%(22,000) to that number of people looking for entry level jobs. No wonder we have such a large number of NEET,s in that age group. They really don't need that level of competition.
Lastly the farmers. Could the news media give their employer sob stories a harder frame? The various audits in the last couple of years showed that the bulk of them where non compliant with any employment and wage law. Yes they may have an employee stuck overseas but employees can be suddenly unavailable for any number of reasons so get over yourself and hire another one either temporarily or permanently.
Demanding a government fly them back in again is the height of over entitlement.
100%
Pure
I agree it is a very complex issue.
However for whatever reason – whether that 'lack of capacity' H1 talked about, Euro-centric and racist mindset others have talked about (with good reason and incidentally examples – from inside the tent), or incompetence, there are a few basic things that could have been done and should be done now.
– (Haven't checked their website in a while), but MBIE were encouraging all and sundry to become immigration advisors – so they got what they asked for: complete charlatans mixed in with highly competent and experienced ones. So you'd get someone running say a security firm, or a PTE, or Labour Hire Company providing immigration advice on the side. Hopefully you can see a problem right there!
– Then you had/have a load of closures and presence in key 'markets'. Note the word MARKETS which even Mr Nice Guy seems perfectly comfortable with.
– And in those 'markets' where the charlatans and scamsters operate – places that contribute to that $5b export education sector for example, NOT even the slightest attempt to warn people of the dangers.
– Then you have a Labour Inspectorate which we were assured by an official just before the election had enough inspectors, and who now seems to have changed his tune. An Inspectorate that made excuses when cases of exploitation were reported to them. For some reason, unwilling to involve the Police – probably because they were intent on building their own little police force.
– Then you have the practice of tying visas to a specific employer, rather than sector, and expecting nothing to go wrong in terms of exploitation and contributing to the trend of driving down wages, AND wondering why employers prefer immigrant labour over Kiwis. Money to be made doncha know and its "best practice"
I'll leave it at that for now although I could go on. But if I L-G is and was "grappling" with his department, then (provided all the purchase agreements and KPIs and shit are in order), then the State Services Commissioner should have been called in (as in say a James Casson, or a demographic spreadsheeting) – repeatedly called in if necessary and told (asked very nicely) that performance isn't satisfactory. He could probably even be remiinded that we're a sovereign Pacific Nayshun that punches above its weight, albeit under HRH Madge.
I think the fuckup that is the Ministry for Everything that started out with largesse and designed by a couple of shithouse rats whose intentions should now be obvious has been allowed to contiinue is going to be on this government – even though it's probably quite a convenient entity for them to deal with.
Off.Chuff.On.Get.With
Some really good discussion there, I hope that it is read and absorbed by some whose hearts are still beating in Labour or HM (High Management) or HR (Hyperbole Recherche').
Insomniac as I am @ Grey, you'd probably appreciate my last night.
It was a dream – call it a nightmare really in which Julie Christie was Jacinda's producer in Julie's latest reality TV show. I L-G was at home up the road in Tinakori with Clark (with an e) arguing over Neve who should be giving whom media training – while Neve was howling her eyes out.
I can see now why it happened after all I encountered yesterday (and believe me, I'm totally drugless other than the standard statins, beta blockers and aspirin) – although I sometimes wonder whether or not a puff or two of the ganga (incidentally – not exactly foreign to that hero worshiping sibling I mentioned above) would be preferable.
Thankfully, I woke up PDQ thinking today is the day I finally get to see the emergency dentist (which as it transpired, didn't go well due to a 3 month Cov19 happenstance) – Shit happens, but not half as much as it has for most of our recent immigrants. I could even get to wear a set of pearly white bleached teeth yet, at a cost of thousands, false though they may be – or not (hopefully)
Look fixing those basics ASAP would be excellent . And reining in the dodgy education sector stuff. I too find it a bit worrying that there have been few policy announcements in this area even quite basic ones so that we don' t have anyone who may be overseas looking to get a new work visa having false expectations.
“Take the student work visa – there are some 65,000 apparently and according to the education institutes (dying to get their fee payers back to support the bloated salaries at the top) around a third stay on for the work visa's.”
They do not need to come back and the institutes can keep their staff at the top on their bloated salaries and we can shut the back door visa entry which was never put to New Zealanders before being implemented. The NZ Auckland university students have been doing their studies and are continuing to do their studies and the tests from home , online , until the end of this term, So yes the overseas students can do the same – study at NZ universities online at home, in whatever that country happens to be.
Won't work.
The overseas students come here for the residency carrot, not education, for most of them.
The “bums on seats” business model for education, is not good enough to compete with really good distance learning on offer from elsewhere.
+100
And the likes of Guilford are desperate to get it all going again.
Here in lil 'ole NuZull that punches above its weight, you too can provide your child with a year (or less) of tertiary education for the mere cost of a modest house. Your chiid can recover the cost of this investment in your family and child's future through our generous 20 hour-per-week work allowance that will enable them to recover your investment in double-quick time and more!
Invest now! Don't Delay! Places are vanishing fast.
We'll even teach them the fundamentals of how to suck eggs; of the basic laws of supply and demand that are already second nature to them; or even how they can use 'apps' and proprietry products to develop and set up a web site.
Book now! Places are limited and going fast! Contact your nearest immigration specialist. This is YOUR child's future and an investment for the familiy's future
Hey, chisellers gotta chisel.
When English is a 2nd language.
1,2 and 3 – Simon Bridges, 4 – Todd Muller. So what's changed with the leadership spill? Looks like not much. The same cavalier attitude to public health and the instinctive privileging of business interests above everything else. It's what led to the collapse in their support over the lock-down period and it's still there.
Well, this sort of racist dog-whistling hasn't changed. Mind you, short of welcoming his application, there's very little else Muller could say. And of course, Muller couldn't bring himself to do that.
Maybe this leadership change isn't going to bring the nats' numbers up, and they won't be able to salvage even a moderate loss after all? The next poll's going to be pretty telling.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300026388/national-party-deeply-suspicious-of-refugee-behrouz-boochanis-visa
I heard a news item this morning about a group of local academics that are pushing for a relaxation of alert levels.
When asked about Sweden's approach, a position I assume the group had favoured earlier in the crisis, we are told to refer to the website.
That is the thing with the opposition, various industry spokesfolk, and your local diehard tory, their reckons don't amount to much, they bear no responsibility, and do not credit the position we are in now to the PTB.
Thank goodness a woman was in charge !
tRump's Praetorian Guard.
18 February 2020 at 10:48 pm
Deploying their military surveillance drones over Minneapolis. More than 500km from any border where they might have any legitimate reason to operate.
https://www.salon.com/2020/06/02/police-are-using-protests-as-an-excuse-to-unleash-new-surveillance-tech/
They're about to find out how Iraqis felt.
Fascists do like a party.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News.
[…]
“In order for DEA to assist to the maximum extent possible in the federal law enforcement response to protests which devolve into violations of federal law, DEA requests that it be designated to enforce any federal crime committed as a result of protests over the death of George Floyd,” Shea wrote in the memo. “DEA requests this authority on a nationwide basis for a period of fourteen days.”
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/george-floyd-police-brutality-protests-government
Today Todd must get the award for the shortest QT question:
Q3 TODD MULLER to the Prime Minister:
“Why isn’t New Zealand already in alert level 1?”
8 words! Wow! And then he will ask the same question multiple times
Exquisite timing seeing two NZ cops charged with manslaughter for negligence while holding someone in the Hawea station.
More to come in the trial if they don't plead out.
Haven’t seen that yet – link?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300026518/three-police-officers-charged-with-manslaughter-after-alleged-gross-negligence-led-to-mans-death-in-cell
They called out the fire service to assist, sounds like there might have been some lifting required in a hurry.
That news rang out at me today.
I may be an etenral optimist, but I hope this may be a sign of culture change within the police. Perhaps to do with the new boss.
One of the, I assume, PM's appointments. If so, it could be one part of the Public Service being cleaned up.
Like I say, I am an eternal optimist.
Yes it was. There have been some good signs in recent times. For example, I think the police handling of the Covid 19 requirements has been excellent. The Public Service has needed a clean up for the past 30 years and there's hope that too is now in progress.
Thanks Jacinda and company.
Watching question time, makes me wonder how many bullets can fit into the oppositions feet?
Amazing, really. They should have had an easy win. Of course the level 1/2 inconsistency is a problem. Of course PM and deputy PM disagreeing is a bad look.
Yet somehow they stuff it up.
Audrey Young pointed to the PM V DPM difference but…:
“The differences between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Peters, her deputy, does not affect the stability of the coalition between Labour and New Zealand First.
It does not affect the coalition relationship which has endured more damaging differences than this one. It has been an informally managed disagreement that both parties get something from.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=12336639
I believe Labour is looking for a competent minister of health. How about offering Sir Ashley Bloomfield a high list place?
We don't have a tradition here of seconding Ministers (or indeed from the private sector) to run political office. I think the UK does it.
We have a good few in the Labour caucus who have medical degrees, but a whole bunch of senior leadership or management experience.
We are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overdue for a proper reshuffle.
With the MoH Capital Committee, and DHBs, and Treasury, and the Covid Response team, I really can’t see what the Minister of Health does at all.
well they manage most of the disability funding, as well as funding the DHBs, and managing a range of contracts (govt and NGO).
Yes that's where Dodo ex-Ministers get put once they've been shuffled.
That would explain quite a lot.
That's the Ministry, not the Minister. Let's not waste Bloomfield on a less-essential role.
makes sense, but given the problems with the MoH, isn't it the Minister's job (and behind them, govt caucus) to sort those problems out by setting expectations and direction?
The salary won't enthuse him.
Say your wish was granted, I doubt he would fit Labour, as its likely ideas such as setting health targets, centralising health boards, providing services by need not ethnicity may be pushed to provide better outcomes for National Health.
False dichotomy. There are many and major health disparities that are caused by ethnicity. The same can be said about education and crime stats, for example. The approach and philosophy that you seem to be advocating will never overcome these engrained inequalities and will therefore never provide better outcomes at a national level but rather further reinforce the current situation.
Why do some people say such incredibly stupid things?
+100
Hence the proven need and delivery of Whanau Ora.
"One option that's been discussed is bumping Māori and Pacific patients up a priority band in certain instances, the Weekend Herald understands. Another might be making Māori and Pacific ethnicity a factor when working out a priority rating score."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330248
These are the sorts of ideas I don't think Ashley Bloomfield would support, that's why he would not be a good bet for Labour.
All NZ-trained health professionals are acutely aware and have a good understanding of the health inequalities in this country. The same is true of biomedical researchers trained and/or working here.
I’d put it to you that ignorance, denial, normalised racism, and poor leadership and management are just some of the factors why we have seen little improvement on this issue.
I'd be interested to know what health inequalities people ascribe to racism in NZ be it via government, medical professionals or another group.
I’d think that you’re eminently qualified to take a first bite at this. Go for it!
I agree with what you have put to me. That's why I doubt Bloomfield would be a good fit for Labour if it is was proposed that he should replace the current Minister of Health.
I’d put it to you that you are waffling.
The National Party's intelligence unit at work. Trawling through social media …
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/06/do_as_we_say_not_as_we_do-2.html
"The PM should avoid the public at all costs" is a novel attack line from the opposition.
Her bodyguards didn't push people out of the way when they got too close? It's a disgrace! Use tear gas like Trump does, that'll ensure appropriate distancing.
Don't often visit that toxic site, but it was worth it today when I saw their adjusted curia poll published on it.
National 28.9% Hehehe that will be hurting the tories, a lovely reminder for them on every page.
Back to the topic, maybe the difference is, the nat mp had to ask for someone to take his photo, and that's why the tories are upset…. just a thought 🙂
Read the comments under Farrar and was horrified SPC. I hope that when Farrar supporters read the Standard would they be as horrified with what is written here?
If Winston has been leaking Cabinet papers to Todd Muller, that is a clear indication of where he intends to side come any post-election negotiations.
Hoping NZF gets buried this time around. They have been woeful in government.
I don’t think it indicates that at all. But clearly NZFirst lacks relevance in the current polling scenario. They’re just trying to even up the playing field and deal themselves back in. Frankly Ardern only has herself to blame for this latest incident.
The menu on the top of the “Leave a Comment Page” no longer there. Anyone else?
Starting to see the effects of QE on settlement balances.
https://i.imgur.com/ezbgKwl.png
Heh, my tween daughter just showed me her KPop stars have hijacked the MAGA tag and are bombarding it with fan videos, cute anime, dance and songs. And there's 1000s of them.