The site was a victim of spring cleaning. Looks like we knocked the power off at the UPS while cleaning up cables and reorganising furniture late night at about 10pm.
Probably somewhere between law and order and climate change.
Wow! No kidding?
Winston Peters and Willie Jackson have helpfully laid out comprehensive Jack Tame manifesto positions by choosing, in conversations with Jack Tame, to talk a lot about Jack Tame.
Jackson is, of course, the current broadcasting minister (encompassing Jack Tame), and presumptive broadcasting minister under a Labour-Green-Te-Pāti-Māori coalition of chaos. Peters, meanwhile, revealed to Jack Tame yesterday that he would seek the ministerial warrant for broadcasting in a National-Act-NZ-First coalition of chaos.
So no matter the election outcome we get a coalition of chaos & interesting times. Cool.
Top of Peters’ list for Jack Tame reforms is stopping Jack Tame being “corrupt” and, as he put it, “trying to get rid of New Zealand First because your masters told you to”. It is unclear whether, under a change of government, Jack Tame would be permitted to try to get rid of New Zealand First if his masters did not tell him to.
Yeah, obviously the situation will require a certain amount of head-scratching. Could wheel out a few political scientists into the mix to pontificate on the health of democracy in this scenario. Get Jack Tame to rate their comparative credibility.
Jack Tame is going well into the Lindsay Perigo scale of political importance, but he probes largely on political tactics and dynamics rather than what actual government or – dare we expect it – what kind of New Zealand each kind of coalition would deliver.
He's hardly Ian Fraser in gravitas or actual use beyond the standard beltway echo-chamber.
He lacks media training. If he doesn't know the cost of something he should admit that, but then say the issue, whatever it is, is one that we should be considering, regardless of cost. That would stop Jack Tame’s silly nonsense in its tracks.
Now when I noticed this right wing puff piece by the toilet paper escaping NZ Herald I developed something of an itch in the back of my mind. The article lead with
"The wealthy businessman who gifted Act leader David Seymour his personal plane without cost to help his election campaign says he did so to allow Seymour to replicate the “whistle-stop” tours commonly seen in the United States."
Now that itch at the back of my mind was starting to piss me off and while I felt that excreable article was in the 'right' vein it wasn't what was pissing me off soo much.
My curse/blessing of a bloody good memory delivered with the association my subconscious was trying to propel me to. – and viola
"The Nazis adopted a populist sort of approach to politics, which no one had witnessed earlier in Germany. It was called a Deutschlandflug. Hitler took to the skies, flying from city to city in an airplane. He was a manvonvolk, a man from the people. They created an image of a peripatetic, all-powerful man who could be at all places at all times." (my bold)
David Seymour – perhaps the new 'Minister of Social Welfare Warfare' in a coming NACT Government
Business hotshots aren't keen on Willie but they rate the Maori radicals higher! Who don't they rate?? Failures that failed to make the list at all: Seymour & co, Winston & co. I'm intrigued Farrar didn't notice this significant failure!
Why not? Seems very significant that they rate leftist politicians highly. It breaks the mould that people carry around in their heads: capitalists = rightists. Shows they ain't as dumb as they seem.
Or, to put the point more elegantly, the extent to which they reward leftist politicians mentally for supporting the established economy.
Nats apart from #8 which I noted above was James. Too scared to go & see for yourself? Don't blame you. Spiritual pollution is real, and it does infect!
I zip in & out after a quick scan to avoid that – just to stay informed at this point in the campaign.
Strange, I saw it on Farrar's blog no problem, didn't encounter a paywall, but yeah, interesting that they don't rate Lux highly even though he was one of that elite group!!
NZHerald invents different Top 10 Power Brokers for this or that industry from horse racing to real estate.
What they never get to is the harder one: who are the top 20 most powerful people in New Zealand?
And what you would get to quickly is that politicians under the top 3 are now well down to the top families and billionaires, and those who Chair multiple listed companies. That is the real rank of power.
Ranking NZ power is very, very different to ranking Parliamentary power.
I take your point but hierarchical rankings always impress people en masse. Social darwinism effects in the psyche of voters.
I believe such listings work on a similar basis to imagery: they evoke feelings, form impressions. The interface tween political culture & people is at play…
Yep. These lists are useful only anthropologically: first you see which groups the Herald deems worthy of having their opinions published; second you see the prejudices of the selected group laid out. It's boring because it's quite easy to predict both these things fairly accurately without the Herald having to do the actual survey in the first place.
Yeah I didn't go into it earlier because I read it on his front page. Frank the tank wrote "Lot of corporate wokesters are CEOs now. Explains Shaw at above 3".
He was actually #8 which isn't above 3. That Frank seems to be using his inability to do simple arithmetic to demonstrate rightist solidarity.
Another, krazykiwi, notes that "the ‘result’ is a Bayesian data crime." Literary references to top 19th century mathematicians are unlikely to impress rightist readers due to them not having a clue what he's talking about.
Anyone get the irony of theNats complaining about how unfair life is because their Lead Sook is accused of running scared while they plan to slash the poorest’s income and sack up to 15,000 people before Christmas. Arseholes!.
God apparently is well on record to wipe people out through climatic events, written with Genesis in about 1400BC. So it's not some recent preserve of evangelicals.
There are plenty of telos-driven end-timers on many parts of the political spectrum. You can find them in their billionaire bunkers in Queenstown and Wanaka, in Far North communes, all across Southland from Tuatapere to Owaka, in parts of the Green Party, in the peace movement, all over the place.
National and Labour can be described as delaying our inevitable end.
Yeah. I'm optimistic enough to discount end-times as inevitable, yet realistic enough to acknowledge that addiction to neoliberalism keeps escalating their probability of happening.
Humanity evolves via catharsis experiences. System crash is a viable possibility at all times. Being locked into any particular mental state diminishes survival prospects and that logic applies to all of us. Hold your beliefs lightly to survive any testing times, shift and adapt when situations compel it.
The problem with Maori is they just won't accept that I know best. They don't even know Maori health outcomes did really well over the last National government.
This is another lie from Chris Hipkins. Robertson was never put forward as a stand-in. We offered the Deputies – Nicola v Kelvin. We’ve never had a response to that. Offer remains open.
Quote
Ben McKay
@benmackey
·1h
Hipkins tells AM Labour put forward Grant Robertson as a debate stand-in tonight. "Unfortunately the National party weren't happy with that" Still hopes it could happen next week "I understand Christopher Luxon is going to be in Christchurch on Monday so that would be a good day"
Should perhaps Labour offer to have the debate using only former Big Tobacco shills – oops dang thats right Labour, unlike National, is in a severe shortage of those sociopaths.
Carmel Sepuloni is deputy PM. Kelvin Davis is deputy leader.
But it should be leader versus leader. Hipkins has offered alternative dates. A woman spokesperson from The Press said that this was possible this morning on RadioNZ, but that the Chicken had refused to change his schedule. The Chicken has admitted this. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018909455
You are a bs artist Frank. If you are going to have a debate then you offer like with like. You have spent the past few weeks throwing rocks and Labour and "lefties" in general so don't try to fool me or most people here what you are up to.
I'm curious. Do you see all onsite commentators here who don't agree with you as such? If not, precisely what in my commentary makes you think like that??
Don’t think he is a troll, but he does come up with bullshit (I use the full word since he did) from time to time. I note that – like me – not too many people bother to respond to it. 🙂
That's a bit purist Dennis. Since elections are so much about economic policy, it would be silly and unfair to put a non-finance minister against a finance shadow minister – just because of the accident of how the deputy-leader roles have been assigned.
Yeah it's a valid point re parity, but the chicken thing side-steps the rules of the game: status parity. Debates must do that to seem fair to audience.
Wasn't clear to me what you meant then. I could comment better on your position if you clarified further how you see parity being provided by Labour in their debate stance…
They probably did Dennis Frank, or at least framed it in such a way they invited National to accordingly respond. They chose not to.
After 50 plus years of political experience as part of an inner circle and observing closely from the periphery, together with another experience not aligned to Labour, I easily detect lying, cheating and disingenuous behaviour. This is how the National Party under Luxon is operating. I would not believe anything that man says nor his deputy and certainly not his campaign manager. They are an extension of the dirty politics Nicky Hager wrote about nearly ten years ago. Nothing has changed.
Yep, same here. The insurance premium increased by 50% and 30% (Content and House) for us. For me the Climate Crises and Cost-of-Living Crises are closely interlinked.
Oh, the insurance company didn't mention another important factor… greed-flation.
So Luxon thinks he's "in the last week of a campaign" – but isn't this the second-to-last week? Has Lux been consulting his would-be finance minister about "technical numbers"?
Chippy has already offered to turn up on next Monday and do the Press Leaders debate, live with audience questions. Luxon is scheduled to be in Ch Ch that day and if he doesn't turn up to the debate that is going to be a very very very bad look……..
The lefties who wouldn't vote National if you paid them?
For the rest, Luxon has already done what he needs to in the debates (i.e. looked reasonably competent to the online/TV audience) [as judged by the commentators – of course he won't look competent in the eyes of the left wing]
There are no further wins for him to take out of debates with Hipkins. And this particular one wasn't even going to be televised – so an audience of max 2,000.
It's a piece of basic electioneering. And National have judged he can maximise his opportunities to convince wavering voters, elsewhere.
National have made the call that the 'undecideds' won't be materially affected by the Christchurch election debate.
And are more likely to be affected by alternative electioneering strategies. National candidates and supporters in ChCh have already made their minds up (and probably already voted) – no point in preaching to the choir.
TBH – I'd tend to agree – after the first one, and absent a major debating coup ("show me the money" "this glitter is going to settle") – which is not going to come from Mr Bland and Mr Blander – the debates don't change opinion.
And, yes, I do find political analysis interesting. Those who don't are doomed to fester in their own little corner of the internet echo chamber – and will find the real world rather a shock when it comes calling.
While I could make some response to your personalization of the discussion. I’ll leave it at the fact that those without a coherent argument, degenerate to name-calling.
And, that it takes someone with a rather tough self-concept to continue commenting as a Centrist on a left-leaning site like TS.
Ok, finding political analysis interesting is a long stretch from basing your thinking on said analysis. But hey, who am I to argue with such depth of awareness of someone so grounded in the real world…..phew! please send autograph to moderator……
Name calling….mmmmn….not that I mentioned anything but now that you have, Primadonna seems to fit……
Naming is a way of placing order on our world by helping us differentiate between things. It also helps others know what we are referring to when having a conversation…………..
If you struggle to differentiate between 'naming' (using the preferred name for a person or thing, or the commonly used term) and 'name calling' (using a pejorative term or phrase, designed to slur to denigrate) – then I'm sorry for you.
“Being forced into a room with men when unwell and vulnerable – often separated by only a curtain – may be traumatising to many women, even if the perception of threat or danger isn’t realised. It’s not surprising that the practice has been a frequent topic of complaint in feedback from patients, their families and the staff who care for them.
“Mixed-gender rooms breach the psychological safety of these patients, but this is avoidable by changing bed management practices,” Towns says.
…
“Male and female patients express a preference for single-gender rooms. For female patients, this preference is associated with fear of violence while for male patients it is expressed as general concern and discomfort.
“Respecting these preferences is essential to maintain patient dignity during their hospital stay.”
Gee why on earth would they do this (mixed rooms) Surely they they should be all gender specific ?
– Could it perhaps have something to do with maximising the use of available facilities to provide treatment? If you insist on gender specific rooms you are going to have more empty beds that won't be allowed to be used and you will have less health care delivered.
Where is the budget coming from to build more treatment facilities so that you can manage a lower utilisation rate? You may get more comfortable patients but you bloody well aren't going to be able to treat as many.
Grant Robertson – There is a formal Foreign Policy part of the manifesto. We’re sticking with the long standing Bi-Partisan approach to a 2 state solution in the Middle East and what we are doing is working with the Palestinian representative on closer discussions but that doesn’t make a change to a formal recognition. It just means that we open that dialogue up.
Q – So no formal recognition?
GR – Not until there is a state to recognise. But we have long stood for a 2 state solution and what we have said is that we want to have more open and regular dialogue with Palestinian Representatives.
Presumably GR is doing pr for Labour on the basis that finance ministers are the right people inform the public about foreign policy. A leftist thought process.
However I can't fault the excellent exposition of the Grant. I'm tempted to suggest that Minto is doing grumpy old man syndrome on the topic.
Yesterday Labour implied in their manifesto release that they would recognise the state of Palestine although the wording was unclear and ambiguous. What is clear now is that the slippery wording was deliberately meant to mean all things to all people.
They're establishment politicians, what do you expect?? A moon-walk?
138 other countries have recognised Palestine as a state and haven’t had the “problem” of recognition that Grant Robertson has manufactured for Labour.
Good point but it could be valid to dispose of them by assigning them to the category flakey. I'm inclined to be agnostic on this one. Wearing my Green hat I'd assert the relevant principle: any political group with a tradition of national identity in their collective reality – even if merely aspirational – has an inherent right to collective recognition of their common identity.
Meanwhile Israel is no longer recognising some of those converting to Judaism and becoming Rabbi's as eligible to for migration to Israel for this years sukkoth.
It appears to be the beginning of a gambit (with the change to the basic law) to question the eligibility of those with a Jewish grandfather to become citizens.
No, they got an offer of land for peace (most of the West Bank and Gaza) in 2000, with East Jerusalem as a capital. And Arafat rejected it because he also wanted right of return to Israel for the 1948 refugees.
A mistake.
Then his successor allowed Hamas to compete in PA elections, despite the fact they did not accept the Oslo Accords setting up the PA. Then Hamas won and there have been no elections since – soon to be a multiple decade thing.
What they were offered was one thing, but they definitely got KFC.
And when Israel and Saudi Arabia sign their full security and diplomatic pact, they both do a full end-run around Jordan's historic claims which could have supported Palestine.
House of Saud may as well be the Harkkonens for the play they are doing to bind US, Israel and Saudi Arabia together.
The mere suggestion of SA going with an alternative to the US dollar/swift axis towards China …. and a full guarantee of US security ... tied to a SA-Israel deal to ensure that the GOP is enraptured to full accord.
I doubt they will touch on the Jordan role as to Temple regime co-operation (remnant of the international city concept of 1947).
Nor on any peace outcome between Israelis and Palestinians, not when the Israeli right has eretz Israel (permanent occupation without West Bank Arab citizens) with a united Jerusalem capital aspiration and SA will still officially support a two state outcome with East Jerusalem as a capital for a new one.
So what is the Israeli-SA angle that would allow the GOP to accept this .(make it bi-partisan)?
First SA recognition of Israel. Second SA aid to the PA that comes with strings as to how the PA operates (no reward to families of those who do bad things, but welfare to all families in need)(end to anti Jewish Semite propaganda in education)(one control of the gun)(WB PA elections)(PA regards all 1948 refugees as Palestinian citizens and no longer refugees and gets the AL to go along with this and allow them rights of residency, allowed to leave the camps).
In return Israel will have to promise to play nice (…..
The consequences of this going wrong – Jordan left with the Palestinian baby – Hashemite dynasty and PLO 1970's state away from state discord. The Temple run by Zionists for Zionists and invasion plans from the east via Iraq.
New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party plans to recognize the State of Palestine if it is re-elected on October 14.
The Labour Party’s commitment entails extending an invitation to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine, allowing them to present their credentials as an Ambassador to New Zealand.
New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party plans to recognise the State of Palestine if it is re-elected on 14 October.
The Labour Party’s commitment entails extending an invitation to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine, allowing them to present their credentials as an Ambassador to New Zealand
The presumption is allowing the representative to present their credentials is formal recognition, Labour have managed to make it a process, showing all the innovation required to be seen as a sophisticated player in the international community.
His Excellency Izzat Salah Abdulhadi is the Head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
In 2018 and 2021 Labor’s national conference backed a resolution that “supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders” and “calls on the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a state”.
But those resolutions were passed when Labor was not in government, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has so far declined to commit to a timeframe for recognising a Palestinian state.
Good reporting as it provides essential context, thus meaning relevant to any observer. Wonder why Albo is so hesitant to proceed.
That bit at the end of the Guardian report about Israel's stance being peace will only come via agreement between Palestine & Israel is rather disingenuous. True on the face of it yet it masks the role of peacemakers as brokers of a deal.
Biden lacks the ambition to go down in history as the magical transformer of the status quo, seemingly. Same for the UN head. Sad.
In inventing and consolidating the Principles, advocates for a kinship-based political structure have used traditional ideology to provide a timeless, spiritually authorised quality to their very time-bound interests.
The erroneous partnership Principle is given the greatest weight, opening up a wide backdoor to power. Tribal corporations can now move beyond their economic interests to demand political power – to be entrenched first as co-governance, then as tribal sovereignty.
How do you get people to believe in an invention and then to agree to its consolidation in legislation? Retribalists simply used age-old strategies.
She presents a strategic triad used to drive novelty into our traditional stasis, then:
Embedding one of those partners in the status of indigeneity with the other partner an intruder into Arcadia expands the moral distinction into a timeless mythical realm. Romantic evocations of the evil coloniser and the indigenous colonised provide a more seductive narrative for the nation’s collective memory than the more prosaic fact that, from the thirteen century to the present, all New Zealanders are settlers. Our history is one of waves of settlers. It is a shared experience that trumps an arbitrary division into the indigenous on the one hand and all other settlers on the other, but language control is most successful when it evokes the sacred.
The interface between the sacred and politics is a mental shared space where politicos rarely go, yet salient to the issues. She extends triad to tetrad:
It is in the revelation of sacred meaning that the fourth strategy has proved to be most effective. Today’s secular priests – the activist judges, tribalist law professors, and lawyer-politicians – have claimed the authority to interpret the truth from the Treaty runes.
Ethos usually emerges from mythos, morality generates in consequences of like-minded ethos, then you get articulated laws. Co-governance as a principle is mired in deep context. No clear common ground in legislative application of the principle thus far!
The bold headline at the end stating "Labour needs honest soul-searching about its defeat" at this stage of the election cycle proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the fear mongering, manipulation and orchestration of disinformation, misinformation and general sycophantic editorials amount to nothing less than 'quid pro quo' by the big end of town.
If there is ever a bloody civil uprising in this country as many predict, I fear for the likes of Bryce Edwards head……..
Yes Ad. That was a quote from Trump outside the Court. And by the looks on the faces on faces of his team they were aghast. Sorry that I was ill informed.
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Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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The site was a victim of spring cleaning. Looks like we knocked the power off at the UPS while cleaning up cables and reorganising furniture late night at about 10pm.
Fate often intervenes in life. Glad to see you on the ball in fix-it mode.
Yep. 11 hours is definitely on the ball 😈
Dashboard is looking pretty bloody weird.
I see Jack Tame has become an election issue. How much?
Yeah, but how much?
Wow! No kidding?
So no matter the election outcome we get a coalition of chaos & interesting times. Cool.
Yeah, obviously the situation will require a certain amount of head-scratching. Could wheel out a few political scientists into the mix to pontificate on the health of democracy in this scenario. Get Jack Tame to rate their comparative credibility.
Jack Tame is going well into the Lindsay Perigo scale of political importance, but he probes largely on political tactics and dynamics rather than what actual government or – dare we expect it – what kind of New Zealand each kind of coalition would deliver.
He's hardly Ian Fraser in gravitas or actual use beyond the standard beltway echo-chamber.
Ad, what is your considered opinion of Winston Peters’ behaviour during that interview?
He lacks media training. If he doesn't know the cost of something he should admit that, but then say the issue, whatever it is, is one that we should be considering, regardless of cost. That would stop Jack Tame’s silly nonsense in its tracks.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/revealed-how-acts-david-seymour-was-gifted-a-plane-for-the-election-campaign/
Now when I noticed this right wing puff piece by the toilet paper escaping NZ Herald I developed something of an itch in the back of my mind. The article lead with
"The wealthy businessman who gifted Act leader David Seymour his personal plane without cost to help his election campaign says he did so to allow Seymour to replicate the “whistle-stop” tours commonly seen in the United States."
Now that itch at the back of my mind was starting to piss me off and while I felt that excreable article was in the 'right' vein it wasn't what was pissing me off soo much.
My curse/blessing of a bloody good memory delivered with the association my subconscious was trying to propel me to. – and viola
https://www.wondriumdaily.com/hitlers-presidential-campaign-of-1932/
"The Nazis adopted a populist sort of approach to politics, which no one had witnessed earlier in Germany. It was called a Deutschlandflug. Hitler took to the skies, flying from city to city in an airplane. He was a manvonvolk, a man from the people. They created an image of a peripatetic, all-powerful man who could be at all places at all times." (my bold)
David Seymour – perhaps the new 'Minister of Social
WelfareWarfare' in a coming NACT GovernmentNice correlation. Check out 34 below for Seymour's relevance in the collective thinking of our business elite – a blend of Nat/Lab/Greens/TMP!
Sorry, typo, I meant #4…
Stops at which to dog whistle.
Farrar has an interesting take on our business elite here: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/
Here's the bottom 4 on that list:
33. Kelvin Davis 1.66
34. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer 1.65
35. Jan Tinetti 1.62
36. Rawiri Waititi 1.60
37. Willie Jackson 1.52
Business hotshots aren't keen on Willie but they rate the Maori radicals higher! Who don't they rate?? Failures that failed to make the list at all: Seymour & co, Winston & co. I'm intrigued Farrar didn't notice this significant failure!
Don't buy in to this bollocks Dennis.
Why not? Seems very significant that they rate leftist politicians highly. It breaks the mould that people carry around in their heads: capitalists = rightists. Shows they ain't as dumb as they seem.
Or, to put the point more elegantly, the extent to which they reward leftist politicians mentally for supporting the established economy.
Well who are numbers 1,2,3 4, 6 and 8?
Nats apart from #8 which I noted above was James. Too scared to go & see for yourself? Don't blame you. Spiritual pollution is real, and it does infect!
I zip in & out after a quick scan to avoid that – just to stay informed at this point in the campaign.
It's paywalled.
So the first 6 people with highest scores from CEO's are Nats. D'oh!
Strange, I saw it on Farrar's blog no problem, didn't encounter a paywall, but yeah, interesting that they don't rate Lux highly even though he was one of that elite group!!
Sage advice there BG. Farrar behind grannys paywall asking CEO'S was enough.
Another useful tool for the right Davey Boy.
It's not useful for anything.
NZHerald invents different Top 10 Power Brokers for this or that industry from horse racing to real estate.
What they never get to is the harder one: who are the top 20 most powerful people in New Zealand?
And what you would get to quickly is that politicians under the top 3 are now well down to the top families and billionaires, and those who Chair multiple listed companies. That is the real rank of power.
Ranking NZ power is very, very different to ranking Parliamentary power.
I take your point but hierarchical rankings always impress people en masse. Social darwinism effects in the psyche of voters.
I believe such listings work on a similar basis to imagery: they evoke feelings, form impressions. The interface tween political culture & people is at play…
Go and stretch your political mind and list the top 20 most powerful people in New Zealand.
Use every measure you can think of.
Yep. These lists are useful only anthropologically: first you see which groups the Herald deems worthy of having their opinions published; second you see the prejudices of the selected group laid out. It's boring because it's quite easy to predict both these things fairly accurately without the Herald having to do the actual survey in the first place.
please supply a direct link. Go to the post, click on the title, copy and paste from the address bar.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2023/09/mood_of_the_boardroom_ratings.html
Yeah I didn't go into it earlier because I read it on his front page. Frank the tank wrote "Lot of corporate wokesters are CEOs now. Explains Shaw at above 3".
He was actually #8 which isn't above 3. That Frank seems to be using his inability to do simple arithmetic to demonstrate rightist solidarity.
Another, krazykiwi, notes that "the ‘result’ is a Bayesian data crime." Literary references to top 19th century mathematicians are unlikely to impress rightist readers due to them not having a clue what he's talking about.
Anyone get the irony of theNats complaining about how unfair life is because their Lead Sook is accused of running scared while they plan to slash the poorest’s income and sack up to 15,000 people before Christmas. Arseholes!.
"sack up to 15,000 people before Christmas"
What evidence do you have for your claim that the National Party plan to do this? When have they said that they plan to do so?
Any thoughts on the courage (or lack of) in the rejected idea of the deputies filling in?
After all, that is what deputies are for.
Evangelists believe that their god is all powerful.
Therefore their god would not allow a disastrous Climate change to happen.
Thus for people like Luxon they can pat the believers of Climate change on the head and leave it all to their god.
Perhaps that is why National is not active climatically but delay delay delay.
Perhaps we should also get biblical
"To burn the earth is a great sin and the wages of sin is death Mr Luxon"
(I wrote that – just now)
You ever read the story of Noah?
It's a story …and even those who hold it to be true were told it would not happen again.
The real issue with them is their belief in end time God intervention to sort out the liberals and also fix all of the CC problem.
God apparently is well on record to wipe people out through climatic events, written with Genesis in about 1400BC. So it's not some recent preserve of evangelicals.
There are plenty of telos-driven end-timers on many parts of the political spectrum. You can find them in their billionaire bunkers in Queenstown and Wanaka, in Far North communes, all across Southland from Tuatapere to Owaka, in parts of the Green Party, in the peace movement, all over the place.
National and Labour can be described as delaying our inevitable end.
Yeah. I'm optimistic enough to discount end-times as inevitable, yet realistic enough to acknowledge that addiction to neoliberalism keeps escalating their probability of happening.
Humanity evolves via catharsis experiences. System crash is a viable possibility at all times. Being locked into any particular mental state diminishes survival prospects and that logic applies to all of us. Hold your beliefs lightly to survive any testing times, shift and adapt when situations compel it.
I would be lucky to withstand reading a few lines without losing it.
perhaps I should've said
"To drown or burn the earth is a great sin and…..et cetera
Oldie but a goodie (GOP Jesus)
Well..thats a smiler for the morning : ) GOP and Evangelical Luxon Christian? Humour…does help in these (and other) times….
FYI..(just in case?) I say..Truth in Humour !
Chief Sook displaying his mendacious arrogance.
Christopher Luxon ChatGPT
@rugbyintel
The problem with Maori is they just won't accept that I know best. They don't even know Maori health outcomes did really well over the last National government.
https://twitter.com/rugbyintel/status/1708752874216493546
The Hui livestream: October 02, 2023 @5:40>
https://www.youtube.com/live/UP0hZ8vp1Nk?si=hKDNVKwRos8hjAcT&t=340
Projection again. It is not Hipkins playing dirty and lying.
Should perhaps Labour offer to have the debate using only former Big Tobacco shills – oops dang thats right Labour, unlike National, is in a severe shortage of those sociopaths.
Note: Kelvin Davis is not the Deputy PM. Grant Robertson is. His opposite no. is Nicola Willis who, in the event of a Nat win would become Deputy PM.
So there's dirty politics from C Bishop for starters.
Carmel Sepuloni is deputy PM. Kelvin Davis is deputy leader.
But it should be leader versus leader. Hipkins has offered alternative dates. A woman spokesperson from The Press said that this was possible this morning on RadioNZ, but that the Chicken had refused to change his schedule. The Chicken has admitted this.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018909455
Sepuloni is Deputy PM. I think Robertson was Deputy PM under Ardern. My bad. 😳
No he isn't.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/portfolio/labour-2020-2023/deputy-prime-minister
Thought so. Why, then, did Hipkins tell AM (as Anne cited above) that Labour offered Robertson instead. No faith in their deputy, obviously!
Quite right for the Nats to reject a fake leaders debate when Labour put forward a fake leader instead of a real leader! Goddam charade. Pathetic.
You are a bs artist Frank. If you are going to have a debate then you offer like with like. You have spent the past few weeks throwing rocks and Labour and "lefties" in general so don't try to fool me or most people here what you are up to.
Look Anne, there's no need to try offensive bullshit in order to avoid the reality that you don't want to face up to. Face the facts!
If you believe anything I wrote is wrong, prove it by quoting facts. If you can't, have the grace to apologise.
Speaking francisly Luxon said he was a bit pressed……….
Agree with that Anne. I think Dennis is a troll.
I'm curious. Do you see all onsite commentators here who don't agree with you as such? If not, precisely what in my commentary makes you think like that??
Don’t think he is a troll, but he does come up with bullshit (I use the full word since he did) from time to time. I note that – like me – not too many people bother to respond to it. 🙂
That's a bit purist Dennis. Since elections are so much about economic policy, it would be silly and unfair to put a non-finance minister against a finance shadow minister – just because of the accident of how the deputy-leader roles have been assigned.
Oops – sorry Dennis, my mistake. Should read: "put a non-finance minister (Sepuloni) against the leader of the opposition"
Yeah it's a valid point re parity, but the chicken thing side-steps the rules of the game: status parity. Debates must do that to seem fair to audience.
So you agreed with AB re the "parity" point but not my "like with like" @ 1132am which means exactly the same thing. Interesting.
Wasn't clear to me what you meant then. I could comment better on your position if you clarified further how you see parity being provided by Labour in their debate stance…
Debate twosomes.
Leaders Hipkin (PM) Luxon (would be PM)
Deputies Sepuloni (DPM) Willis (would be DPM)
Last but not least:
Finance Minister Robertson (former DPM) Willis (would be Finance Minister and DPM)
All of those pairs have acceptable parities or in my words 'like with like'.
Okay, I see your reasoning & have no disagreement with it. Not sure how it bears on what Labour actually did tho!
If they really did offer the debate to Robertson, why didn't they provide parity framing so the Nats could reciprocate??
They probably did Dennis Frank, or at least framed it in such a way they invited National to accordingly respond. They chose not to.
After 50 plus years of political experience as part of an inner circle and observing closely from the periphery, together with another experience not aligned to Labour, I easily detect lying, cheating and disingenuous behaviour. This is how the National Party under Luxon is operating. I would not believe anything that man says nor his deputy and certainly not his campaign manager. They are an extension of the dirty politics Nicky Hager wrote about nearly ten years ago. Nothing has changed.
Sure you do Anne
Letter from Insurance company today listing main factors for changes in house and contents policy with rise in premiums:
And here I was being made to think it was all due to Labour's 'wasteful spending'………
Yep, same here. The insurance premium increased by 50% and 30% (Content and House) for us. For me the Climate Crises and Cost-of-Living Crises are closely interlinked.
Oh, the insurance company didn't mention another important factor… greed-flation.
The 'cost of living crisis' has been leveraged to the max with price increases……..similar to throwing petrol on a fire…..
So Luxon thinks he's "in the last week of a campaign" – but isn't this the second-to-last week? Has Lux been consulting his would-be finance minister about "technical numbers"?
Chippy has already offered to turn up on next Monday and do the Press Leaders debate, live with audience questions. Luxon is scheduled to be in Ch Ch that day and if he doesn't turn up to the debate that is going to be a very very very bad look……..
Bad look in whose eyes?
The lefties who wouldn't vote National if you paid them?
For the rest, Luxon has already done what he needs to in the debates (i.e. looked reasonably competent to the online/TV audience) [as judged by the commentators – of course he won't look competent in the eyes of the left wing]
There are no further wins for him to take out of debates with Hipkins. And this particular one wasn't even going to be televised – so an audience of max 2,000.
It's a piece of basic electioneering. And National have judged he can maximise his opportunities to convince wavering voters, elsewhere.
Luxon……"looked reasonably competent to the online/TV audience…."
"…as judged by the commentators…."
Oh of course….the "commentators"…the ones that decide thinking……..
And the debate was to be livestreamed….meaning it can be watched on TV with the push of a button……
Well, who do you think does decide?
If you can't accept analysis by political commentators – then there really is little point in discussing anything with you.
It doesn't make your opinion wrong – just not widely shared….
What about the still undecideds…….the National candidates and supporters in Christchurch……
If you base your thinking on the analysis of current mainstream political commentators then no wonder you appear to have a fragile self concept.
National have made the call that the 'undecideds' won't be materially affected by the Christchurch election debate.
And are more likely to be affected by alternative electioneering strategies. National candidates and supporters in ChCh have already made their minds up (and probably already voted) – no point in preaching to the choir.
TBH – I'd tend to agree – after the first one, and absent a major debating coup ("show me the money" "this glitter is going to settle") – which is not going to come from Mr Bland and Mr Blander – the debates don't change opinion.
And, yes, I do find political analysis interesting. Those who don't are doomed to fester in their own little corner of the internet echo chamber – and will find the real world rather a shock when it comes calling.
While I could make some response to your personalization of the discussion. I’ll leave it at the fact that those without a coherent argument, degenerate to name-calling.
And, that it takes someone with a rather tough self-concept to continue commenting as a Centrist on a left-leaning site like TS.
Ok, finding political analysis interesting is a long stretch from basing your thinking on said analysis. But hey, who am I to argue with such depth of awareness of someone so grounded in the real world…..phew! please send autograph to moderator……
Name calling….mmmmn….not that I mentioned anything but now that you have, Primadonna seems to fit……
Naming is a way of placing order on our world by helping us differentiate between things. It also helps others know what we are referring to when having a conversation…………..
If you struggle to differentiate between 'naming' (using the preferred name for a person or thing, or the commonly used term) and 'name calling' (using a pejorative term or phrase, designed to slur to denigrate) – then I'm sorry for you.
Here's a song for you, I am sure you will enjoy it……
Well, Lux was the guy who spells "Cat"…. : )
Maybe a sentence might have helped?
The fat cat sat, on the mat…….
Luxon is the man who opposes the clean-car discount but took it himself.
Clearly he is entirely trustworthy.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/call-for-single-gender-hospital-rooms-to-protect-human-rights-new-report/CFVSTEUIUZEADPOJ7LFASBD33A/
Gee why on earth would they do this (mixed rooms) Surely they they should be all gender specific ?
– Could it perhaps have something to do with maximising the use of available facilities to provide treatment? If you insist on gender specific rooms you are going to have more empty beds that won't be allowed to be used and you will have less health care delivered.
Where is the budget coming from to build more treatment facilities so that you can manage a lower utilisation rate? You may get more comfortable patients but you bloody well aren't going to be able to treat as many.
ED,s separated by curtains, Acute medicat assessment units separated by curtains, Recovery separated by curtains, whats the problem ?.
If they have separate areas for males and females in the UK, that would explain the concern about gender ID in their health system then …
Twyford announces foreign policy decision by Labour, Minto freaks out:
Presumably GR is doing pr for Labour on the basis that finance ministers are the right people inform the public about foreign policy. A leftist thought process.
However I can't fault the excellent exposition of the Grant. I'm tempted to suggest that Minto is doing grumpy old man syndrome on the topic.
They're establishment politicians, what do you expect?? A moon-walk?
Good point but it could be valid to dispose of them by assigning them to the category flakey. I'm inclined to be agnostic on this one. Wearing my Green hat I'd assert the relevant principle: any political group with a tradition of national identity in their collective reality – even if merely aspirational – has an inherent right to collective recognition of their common identity.
Meanwhile Israel is no longer recognising some of those converting to Judaism and becoming Rabbi's as eligible to for migration to Israel for this years sukkoth.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skieqtk16
It appears to be the beginning of a gambit (with the change to the basic law) to question the eligibility of those with a Jewish grandfather to become citizens.
All the Palestinians got from Oslo was KFC in Ramallah.
No, they got an offer of land for peace (most of the West Bank and Gaza) in 2000, with East Jerusalem as a capital. And Arafat rejected it because he also wanted right of return to Israel for the 1948 refugees.
A mistake.
Then his successor allowed Hamas to compete in PA elections, despite the fact they did not accept the Oslo Accords setting up the PA. Then Hamas won and there have been no elections since – soon to be a multiple decade thing.
What they were offered was one thing, but they definitely got KFC.
And when Israel and Saudi Arabia sign their full security and diplomatic pact, they both do a full end-run around Jordan's historic claims which could have supported Palestine.
House of Saud may as well be the Harkkonens for the play they are doing to bind US, Israel and Saudi Arabia together.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-saudi-defence-pact-tied-israel-deal-palestinian-demands-put-aside-2023-09-29/
The mere suggestion of SA going with an alternative to the US dollar/swift axis towards China …. and a full guarantee of US security ... tied to a SA-Israel deal to ensure that the GOP is enraptured to full accord.
I doubt they will touch on the Jordan role as to Temple regime co-operation (remnant of the international city concept of 1947).
Nor on any peace outcome between Israelis and Palestinians, not when the Israeli right has eretz Israel (permanent occupation without West Bank Arab citizens) with a united Jerusalem capital aspiration and SA will still officially support a two state outcome with East Jerusalem as a capital for a new one.
So what is the Israeli-SA angle that would allow the GOP to accept this .(make it bi-partisan)?
First SA recognition of Israel. Second SA aid to the PA that comes with strings as to how the PA operates (no reward to families of those who do bad things, but welfare to all families in need)(end to anti Jewish Semite propaganda in education)(one control of the gun)(WB PA elections)(PA regards all 1948 refugees as Palestinian citizens and no longer refugees and gets the AL to go along with this and allow them rights of residency, allowed to leave the camps).
In return Israel will have to promise to play nice (…..
The consequences of this going wrong – Jordan left with the Palestinian baby – Hashemite dynasty and PLO 1970's state away from state discord. The Temple run by Zionists for Zionists and invasion plans from the east via Iraq.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/its-official-new-zealands-ruling-party-commits-to-recognizing-palestine-if-re-elected/
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231002-new-zealands-labour-party-pledges-recognition-of-palestine-if-re-elected/
The presumption is allowing the representative to present their credentials is formal recognition, Labour have managed to make it a process, showing all the innovation required to be seen as a sophisticated player in the international community.
Fair point there. Funny how Minto doesn't see it eh? Doing the 2-step with Oz as interim measure is genuine lateral thinking.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/06/australia-should-recognise-state-of-palestine-as-part-of-fair-go-ethos-de-facto-ambassador-says
Good reporting as it provides essential context, thus meaning relevant to any observer. Wonder why Albo is so hesitant to proceed.
That bit at the end of the Guardian report about Israel's stance being peace will only come via agreement between Palestine & Israel is rather disingenuous. True on the face of it yet it masks the role of peacemakers as brokers of a deal.
Biden lacks the ambition to go down in history as the magical transformer of the status quo, seemingly. Same for the UN head. Sad.
Brilliant exposition on the meanings of Te Tiriti: https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2023/10/03/elizabeth-rata-two-treaties-of-waitangi-the-articles-treaty-and-the-principles-treaty/
She presents a strategic triad used to drive novelty into our traditional stasis, then:
The interface between the sacred and politics is a mental shared space where politicos rarely go, yet salient to the issues. She extends triad to tetrad:
Ethos usually emerges from mythos, morality generates in consequences of like-minded ethos, then you get articulated laws. Co-governance as a principle is mired in deep context. No clear common ground in legislative application of the principle thus far!
This in the Herald is not paywalled and a must read.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/political-roundup-ten-reasons-labours-support-has-halved/3I3F36OCRFFB3PPCIKZL2TH6VI/
The bold headline at the end stating "Labour needs honest soul-searching about its defeat" at this stage of the election cycle proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the fear mongering, manipulation and orchestration of disinformation, misinformation and general sycophantic editorials amount to nothing less than 'quid pro quo' by the big end of town.
If there is ever a bloody civil uprising in this country as many predict, I fear for the likes of Bryce Edwards head……..
It's on his own site.
Bracing but sound.
https://democracyproject.nz/2023/10/03/bryce-edwards-ten-reasons-labours-support-has-halved/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bryce-edwards-ten-reasons-labours-support-has-halved
Gee whiz, that sure as hell is a stunning indictment of Labour's track record in govt! I await various feeble attempts to prove it flawed!
I recommend you gush your praises of Bryce Edwards "honest" analysis and remarkable foresight on his Substack.
(https://democracyproject.substack.com/p/political-roundup-ten-reasons-labours)
He's more likely to see them that way.
https://democracyproject.nz/2023/09/26/bryce-edwards-the-vested-interests-shaping-national-party-policies/
A director ahead of his interesting times – doesn't get much clearer than this, imho.
The Judge of Trumps trial has declared that 80% of the charges are outside the Statute of Limitations. Therefore he will evade accountability.
I think you'll find it's Trump's team that have asserted that, not a ruling from the judge.
Yes Ad. That was a quote from Trump outside the Court. And by the looks on the faces on faces of his team they were aghast. Sorry that I was ill informed.
nationals are a gang of clowns just this side of the freak show and not up to government.