The new United States ambassador to Aotearoa is an indigenous rights supporter.
Udall has said some of his "proudest achievements" came through working working with Native American tribal leaders in his state, including progressing tribal self-governance, native language revitalisation and protecting sacred areas.
He was also instrumental in helping secure $8 billion in funding for tribal governments in their Covid-19 responses. Upon stepping down from his post, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said Udall had been an "advocate and champion for the Navajo people".
Asked what he'd learned during his work with tribes, he said the importance of sovereignty. "The first thing is, is the indigenous people of New Mexico, the Native Americans really care about the fact that they are nations within the nation, and they care about their sovereignty."
The first thing is, is the indigenous people of New Mexico
Oh dear. Udall is another American double-izzer. There's a growing group of yanks that double the "is" in sentences for no sensible reason. The thing is, is that… The point is, is that… What it is, is that…
This bizarre form of phrasing is spreading like a disease from the US tv channels all around the world. Some TV1 reporters & commentators & presenters have even picked it up & started using it. As have others. Judith Collins was a frequent double-izzer.
I find it amusing (not a worry) when people mangle English & it becomes a “thing” that others just copy & repeat, unthinkingly.
In particular I find it funny that at the same time as TV presenters arecdoing their best to get the pronunciation & grammar right when using Te Reo Māori, they happily abandon correct English grammar & syntax & spout such nonsense.
I’m sleeping better now than I have for years, oddly, given my recent diagnosis.
Are you a user & an advocate of the “double is” usage then?
Why? It actually makes no sense.
I wonder if teachers of English teach that it’s a grammatically valid use of “is”.
English is an evolving language, sure, one only has to look at early writings & spellings from Shakespeare to see how much it has evolved, but some things like this are not so much evolving the language as advertising the user’s laziness or ignorance, imo.
Yes then they could start on 'ahold of' instead of 'hold of'. Was it Winston Churchill/George Bernard Shaw who coined the apt saying of US & English- English
'Two great nations divided by a a common language.'
They need to first eliminate double negatives, imo, because these often logically lead to an absurd positive. Classic example we’ve all heard.
Mant individuals who are stony broke in the US will often say:
“I ain’t got no money.”
Broken down, “ain’t” means haven’t, so the individual is saying:
“I haven’t got no money”.
If you haven’t got ‘no money’, logic says you must have ‘some money’. But they don’t.
They should probably say: “I ain’t got ANY money” but the double negative phrase “ain’t got no” has now been so deeply embedded into American English-speakers’ minds (via movies & tv and music & literature) it’s illogicality is simply ignored & people just interpret it (by context) to mean that the individual is broke.
The thing the plonkers who go on about Grammar Nazis & Spelling Nazis when errors in English are amusedly pointed out forget is that ALL languages have syntax & rules of spelling & postioning & placement etc becos without such forms of common control & usage every language would quickly become unintelligible to others if there weren’t some common agreed rules.
It's just an aside – a side issue I picked up because the writer actually reported the double is. Often they don't.
You seemingly haven't noticed how the thread continues below for anyone that wants to comment on it. Have you anything to say on the thread yourself? Or just that?
I went to the office of the New Zealand prime minister. She, after all, had got this one right – the colour in the Covid response traffic light framework is clear, unambiguous and true: orange. After a delay of some days – were they hiding something? – they came back and confirmed they didn’t focus group the colours. They didn’t do market research.
It was clear they hadn’t consulted sections 3.2 and 3.4 of the Road User Rule or AS/NZS2144:2002 or the South Australian Driver’s Handbook. They’ve got a pandemic to tackle. What they’d done instead is look at traffic lights, noticed that the middle one was orange and written down “Orange”.
I leave the final word to my colleague Natalie, probably the sharpest knife in the office; a person who calls a spade a spade, bullshit bullshit and something that is orange orange. “You’re either an amber gambler or running a late orange,” she said, in response to other colleagues who had shared wrong opinions in our work Slack. “There is no yellow. If there was, Cobb & Co would use pineapple instead of orange juice. End of.”
I recall reading an article in the Christchurch Press about twenty-five years ago or so, reporting how a chap had been pulled over by the police and fined for running an 'orange' light recklessly close, only to contest the charge successfully on the grounds that there was no such thing as an 'orange' traffic light.
The article I read all those years ago did state that the intermediate stage between green and red was 'yellow' or 'amber', but the only official references I've ever seen are to its being yellow.
Frank Nordern and Dennis Muir say 'amber'. Peter Sellers did their script "Balham Gateway to the South", a brilliant spoof of a travel documentary.
"Night falls on Balham. Beneath Quill's Folly, Balham's famous beauty spot, which stands nearly ten feet above sea level, the town is spread below us in a fairyland of glittering lights, changing all the time- green, amber, red and amber and back to green."
A long-overdue regeneration of coastal shipping seems to be in the pipeline:
The amount of domestic freight moved by sea rather than road or rail could double in the future if a new coastal shipping network is set up.
That's one of the key conclusions of a new report on how Waka Kotahi should invest more than $30 million in funding that had been earmarked for coastal shipping in the latest National Land Transport Programme.
The report, commissioned by the transport agency and written by shipping consultants Pacific Marine Management, also finds a new feeder network oriented around hubs in Auckland and Tauranga could improve the resilience of New Zealand's supply chains.
If Sealord's are that keen they should be able to buy their own freight ship. They're just hanging out for needless state subsidy into an imagined service that is never going to come back.
Kiwirail are a never-ending suck-hole of money for marginal network improvements on a shrinking network. Hard to see the Nightcaps or West Coast lines surviving once Fonterra converts to woodwaste boilers.
Minister Wood will consult by pushing that report straight back on the shelf.
"Minister Wood will consult by pushing that report straight back on the shelf"
If only.
Minister Wood will decide that the project is a wonderful idea except that it is not big enough. He will without doubt demand that it get at least a billion dollars. After all he has saved the taxpayer that much by not insisting on the stupid bike bridge across Auckland Harbour so there is plenty of money available for this new white elephant.
Meanwhile he is going to extend the Auckland – Hamilton train service through to Invercargill. The first stage has been enormously successful and we will therefore push ahead with extending it to the whole country.
The article strongly suggests Luxon is a supporter of LGBTQI initiatives & has no issues with the “rainbow community”.
There are many Christians who don’t have a problem with LGBTQIs, and as as those who do are seemingly in the minority in both the community & Parliament they are unlikely to cause any problems for them politically as they’ll be outvoted.
That won’t stop some folk who really like to hate on National & other things from stirring the pot & suggesting dark things with no supporting evidence about Luxon.
ANALYSIS: Shortly after Christopher Luxon was elected leader of the Opposition a rumour that had been swirling for years resurfaced on social media.
The rumour goes: During Luxon’s time in charge at Air New Zealand he axed the popular Mardi Gras “pink flights” because it didn’t align with his Christian views. Much has been said about Luxon’s Christian faith, but he says it has been “misrepresented and portrayed very negatively”.
The pink flights rumour is case in point because, in reality, Air New Zealand made huge progress to promote diversity and support transgender and gay staff under Luxon’s leadership.
… … … A spokesman for Luxon said he did not make any decisions to end the Mardi Gras flights. Luxon was a big supporter of the LGBTQI community, he said.
“Christopher is very proud of Air New Zealand’s record during his time of supporting greater diversity in general and the rainbow community specifically,” the spokesman said.
An unnamed source with knowledge of the situation said the decision to stop the pink flights was an operational one, and such a decision would not have gone all the way to the chief executive.
Craig Featherby, head of the Flight Attendants Association, said he had not heard anything to suggest Luxon made an executive decision to axe the flights.
Featherby, who is gay, worked as a Boeing 787-9 in-flight service manager while Luxon was chief executive. Featherby said the handful of times he met Luxon at Air New Zealand he always came across as accepting of all people. “I certainly never felt uncomfortable under his reign,” Featherby said.
Feathery said Air New Zealand underwent a lot of operational change during Luxon’s time leading the airline, and flight cancellations were exacerbated by the Rolls-Royce engine issues on the airline’s 787-9 Dreamliner over several years.
… … … …
The rest of the article basically just continues on demolishing your grubby rumour-generated conspiracy theory.
1+1 = 2, sure, but correlation does not equal causation, & your “evidence” would be laughed out of a Court. You’ve got nothing proving Luxon instructed those flights should cease because he has a religion-based problem with LGBTQI folk & a mountain of evidence he was a supporter of Air NZ’s positive LGBTQI policies.
There’s no need. You haven’t proven a plausible case.
Within that article are “operational decisions are not within the purview of the CEO” and references to engine problems curtailing some flights. All you’ve got is a runoured conspiracy theory with no direct evidence linking the cancellation of those flights to any decision by Luxon to cancel them.
I’m ending here. Wasted enuf time on you. You carry on rumour mongering & punching at shadows if you like.
'A spokesman for Luxon said he did not make any decisions to end the Mardi Gras'
'An unnamed source with knowledge of the situation said the decision to stop the pink flights was an operational one, '
'Craig Featherby, head of the Flight Attendants Association, said he had not heard anything to suggest Luxon made an executive decision to axe the flights.'
Could not get more unconvincing statements than these.
I like the word enuf. I’m a bit of a fan of finetic spelling. I sometimes spell though as tho, for the same reason.
In fact, I think there’s a lot of merit to the following idea, altho now Britain’a out of the EU, it’s not likely to ever be a starter….
EURO-ENGLISH
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty’s Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as “Euro-English”.
In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of the “k”. This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like “fotograf” 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent “e”s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.
By the fourth year, pepl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”. During ze fifz year, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.
After ze fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru! And zen ze world vil be ourz!
a person who disingenuously expresses concern about an issue with the intention of undermining or derailing genuine discussion.
"he is regarded among climate scientists as a concern troll""
1. I'm not, nor have I ever been, a concern troll. I'm just a non-politically tribal reader & occasional commenter on a left-leaning blog that discusses political & social issues of the day.
2. I'm not motivated by almost pathological hatreds some fortunately few commenters here seem to have for political opponents or their parties. But if you have a go at me, I'm a typical bloke, expect to get a return serve if I think it's worth doing. If you're just blithering crap I might just ignore you.
3. Some of the most offensive commenters here employ the disingenuous tactic of criticising you for the same sins they commit, in the hope of deflecting criticism away from their nastiness. Narcissists & psychopaths do that.
Comprehension 101: nowhere did I name anyone as a concerned troll, I just made a general statement. You may infer I meant you; I couldn’t possibly comment.
So transparently disingenuous I’m embarrassed for you over how pathetically inept that attempt at a clever & sophisticated cheap shot was.
Why not crawl back under the rock you usually hide under & watch tv or something?
The article states that Luxon was international airline General Manager May 2011 to December 2012 so cancellation of international flights may have been in his purview during that time? also rolls royce engine problems seem to have to occurred in 2017 so maybe a red herring?
Look, Jag, don’t get me wrong. I realise that some woebegone, hateful people loathe their political opponents so much that they’ll happily indulge in character assassination on the flimsiest of evidence, especially on blogs or social media.
I generally find it best to avoid these types as they’re often miserable, forever moaning buggers to be around, prone to making various allegations & buying into any conspiracies involving their usual targets.
My comment below explains why I don’t see any evidence yet that confirms Luxon banned Mardi Gras flights because he’s got it in for LGTBQI folk owing to hiscrekigious beliefs. If, in fact, he does – and he did – that evidence will surface eventually.
Until it does, it’s just malicious gossip really. Some people, I realise, really like spreading that. But I’m not one of them.
Unfortunately this is part of the dirt in political life. Clark was subject to it. Mike Williams shot off to Australia to try to dig the dirt on Key. Seriously if being a wealthy, bald, christian male is as bad as it gets, Luxon is going to be dead boring.
"You carry on rumour mongering & punching at shadows if you like."
There's a bit of that around. Luxon seesm to have excited some on the left. it's quite humorous.
In an org the size of Air NZ, & with the number of LGBTQI employees it probably has, any decision by Luxon like that would soon get around & piss them off mightily. Once he left I’d expect one or more of aggrieved individuals (not necessarily just LGBTQIs either) to leak details to the msm or publish on social media to hit back at him.
Hasn’t happened. Why? Because it probably never happened. Time should tell.
The coincidental timing bodes poorly for him, but isn't overtly conclusive. Nor is his pastor's online content allegedly being trimmed indicative of sermons about which NZers might generally not approve.
Things that bode well for Luxon being a more progressive and forgiving christian than one of the conservative, bigoted ones? Not many so far. There are some very inclusive churches around, but there are others that aren't so openminded.
Which path do Luxon's beliefs travel? As you say, time will tell.
If that comment was directed at me, thank you. I can also say that YOU are a commenter I always read because, even though your views are sometimes at odds with the general views of most commenters on this left-leaning blog, you explain & defend your views clearly, you seem honest, & your posts are easy to understand.
There’s not much ambiguity. You also say what you mean and mean ONLY what you say.
You are also, in my view, quite sophisticatedly witty on many occasions. I like commenters with a GSOH.
It speaks volumes that you not only survive here as a regular but that many commenters with who you might sometimes be at odds politically seem to regard you with considerable affection.
For those who can cope with a transcribed interview, this is the Lowy Institute interviewing the White House key advisor on the Asia-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell. He's the guy who gave us the 'pivot to Asia', 'the Quad', and AUKUS.
The density of the exchange with the Lowy Institute and in how he engages about Australia gives a good and quite detailed sense of how important and how deep that White House-Canberra relationship is and will be.
Australia has a deeply significant strategic role play both globally and in the Indo-pacific. It values its partnership in the United States, but does not seek nor act in a way that is simply an adjunct to Washington. That's just so far, from how Australia conducts its independent foreign policy. And I see it every day. And I'm extraordinarily impressed by its dexterity, and its nuance. I fully believe that over time, that China will reengage with Australia. But it will, I believe, re-engage on Australian terms. I think Australia – China's preference would have been too broke, to break Australia. To drive Australia to its knees. And then you know, find a way forward. I don't believe that's going to be the way it's going to play out. I believe that China will engage because it is in its own interest to have a good relationship with Australia. I believe that will happen naturally, and I think that China is a country that deep down, fundamentally respects strength fortitude and resilience. And I can't imagine a country that has demonstrated that more clearly than Australia.
Duterte wasn't just playing one off against the other, he was looking for a global realignment. He had some pretty good reasons for being as anti-US as he was, but China is encroaching upon his doorstep.
Chauncey De Vega does a good job today with some of the consequences for US minorities and Democrats should Republicans gain Senate majority back next year and White House in 2024.
He quotes historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, around preparing to leave the country if one is in an oppressed or substantially marginalised US minority:
"So, one answer would be: start exploring your options now if you are in a threatened category of people, as are many of those who write to me. "Better exile than prison," wrote former Italian Prime Minister Francesco Nitti to King Victor Emmanuel III in 1925, explaining why he'd left Italy when the Fascists took power. Nitti worked from abroad to counter authoritarian propaganda about what was happening in his native country, as exiles from Hong Kong, Myanmar, and other places do today.
It's unlikely that Republican rule would mean mass imprisonment for political opponents, the way there is in Erdogan's Turkey. Viktor Orbán, darling of the GOP, has not gone that route. And it's a shame to lose capable people when they are most needed at home — which would be the situation in the USA if Republicans gain more power and if they retake the White House in 2024.
(…)
Each person acts for their own reasons, and each situation is unique. But there is one constant in the history of exile. It means watching from afar the travails of your country, and, for those who desire to return, entering into a state of suspension: waiting for things to get better, waiting for the tyrant to die, waiting for freedoms to be restored."
With so many competent-but-uninspiring Democrat leaders retiring and not a great surge of inspiring leaders replacing them, we may well find more exiles seeking somewhere peaceful and competent to live.
Heres one for you…I'm always unimpressed by how quick the U.S is to label people terrorists,or insurgents or 'bad' people ,when the record shows they are the guiltiest of all those charges.
Absolutely – the US has made all manner of stupid mistakes that it rightly deserves to be heavily criticised for. But the difference is this – you are able to say these things without too much fear of censorship, or being disappeared.
Many people who speak freely in the USA rapidly die from car accidents or jumping out of windows etc etc, especially in the run up to court cases. Move on, nothing to see here. God bless America. Yeah ,right.
I'm sure members of the 200 or so countries the US has invaded, destroyed, rendered a 'failed state' are pleased you have rights that the US took from them.
Incidentally, the US has not made 'stupid mistakes'. Ever action it took against every country it sought to punish was a carefully considered and well thought out plan to destroy, to bring to its knees.
How many countries can you list where the CIA has murdered the incumbent democratically elected head of state or has overthrown the existing government and replaced it with their sycophant regime.
Yet despite the hated US invading, occupying, crushing and colonising more that every single nation on earth there is the peculiar fact that in 2021 the average person is far less likely to die in war than at any time in human history.
US going full fascist has massive implications for other countries, humanity and basically all of life. More so than say Brazil going full fascist. Athough obviously that would be bad for Brazilians and the region, it's not like they have nuclear weapons, an army the size of the US, or the kind of economic and political influence that the US has. Even allowing for the impact of the destruction of Brazil's forests (which they're already doing).
If it's all propaganda the CCP has but to restore her original post to the internet. and let her speak freely and openly in a trusted setting to Western journalists.
After dinner, I was still not willing to have sex. You said you hated me. You said in those seven years, you never forgot about me, and you will treat me well etc… I was terrified and anxious. Taking into consideration the affection I had for you seven years ago, I agreed… yes, we had sex.
She talked for 30 minutes with the IOC, who were satisfied she was ok, not being held captive or coerced.
I'm afraid it's now beyond whether Shuai is well and freely living her life, China's adversaries will not be cheated of an opportunity to rob them of the Games
In the West it would be immediately called out as a 'power imbalance'. And the fact of her post being scrubbed from the local internet is really all we need to know here. Not to mention her prolonged absence that triggered real concern.
Oh and we have a contact here in Brisbane who knows Shuai personally. So there's that as well.
Red, I haven't got a clue what actually happened here.
But neither am I willing to participate in an all out assault on China every time someone writes something on social media.
I feel sorry for Shuai, an absolute storm has broken loose, she may have endangered her beloved sport in her own country, she's been the conduit for a lot of very fierce threats to cancel the Beijing games.
She is now probably under so much pressure from both sides, it's intolerable, and the western media and sports organisations are intensifying it all. Who wouldn't go to ground?And she needs those western tennis associations to continue her career.A great little wedge has been leveraged.
Anyway, maybe you'll be assuaged by the third conversation the IOC has with her, in person next month .
Yes from what I've been told Shuai will be feeling extremely vulnerable from all sides at the moment. Anything she says now will be couched in the most careful terms.
Of course now she has become a symbol for a much larger story about the PRC and it's routine disregard for what you and I take for granted as human rights. She didn't intend this – but this is one of the downsides of being so very well known. (Yes I had heard of her prior.)
And in Tara Reade's case (she was the wrong kind of victim who had the misfortune to have been assaulted by a Democrat candidate) the victim was torn apart by the press.
In a time of me too believe the woman,Tara's reputation was trashed by the very same media affecting deep concern for Peng Shuai and demanding investigation .It's the hypocrisy, partisanship,and crude politicisation of these awful events in women's lives I can't stand .It's yet another cynical abuse of women for political purposes.They don't give a flying fuck when it comes down to it, just another opportunity to land some blows.
Every single Olympics being held in an adversary country has been hounded .The rooms aren't ready, its a total fuckup, the toilets don't work, human rights dictate that we have a boycott, Zika virus is running amok, don't go, there'll be riots, you won't be safe.Now its you tennis girls will be molested, we'll have to cancel
John Ralston Saul suggested all are corporate fascist.
“Now listen to the first three aims of the corporatist movement in Germany, Italy and France during the 1920s. These were developed by the people who went on to become part of the Fascist experience:
(1) shift power directly to economic and social interest groups;
(2) push entrepreneurial initiative in areas normally reserved for public bodies;
(3) obliterate the boundaries between public and private interest — that is, challenge the idea of the public interest.
This sounds like the official program of most contemporary Western governments.”
RL, you'd probably enjoy JRS, especially his book "On Equilibrium" which excoriates extreme ideology in favour of his notion of equilibrium, which he defines as a harmony of "common sense, ethics, creativity, intuition, memory and reason"
Looks interesting – although I don't do Twitter as a matter of principle. Nor FB for that matter.
However I can't help but note that in one breath the US is excoriated for the 'cult of individualism' that puts the individual interest ahead of the public – and in the next it's rotten with 'corporate fascism' that puts crushes the individual in pursuit of it's own state imposed interests.
Seems fairly logical that corporations would use "individualism" to market narcissistic crap and undermine class solidarity. That is far from the Enlightenment vision of elevating the individual human spirit
That is far from the Enlightenment vision of elevating the individual human spirit
Yes and that of course was a time when Christianity informed the basic narrative of society. In it's place we got materialism – which is the name I'd give to what you're speaking to.
Red "I'm always impressed at how people are so ready to yell 'fascist' at the USA, while remaining silent on the actually fascist regimes around the world."
Yeah nah Red, you're out of line in demanding that I comment on all other fascist regimes around the world at the same time as commenting on US fascism. Where on earth do you get that from?
Yes, well maybe.. tho I suspect that is more a result of the view angle from behind your own eyes than anything else ..
And you went and derailed my whole comment by bringing in something that wasn't even in there… jeez…
My comment was around how things might play out if the US instead had a Mandela rather than a Trump. Or how South Africa at the end of apartheid might have gone with a Trump rather than a Mandela. And about genies and bottles, though I have never some across one of those myself…
My comment was around how things might play out if the US instead had a Mandela rather than a Trump. Or how South Africa at the end of apartheid might have gone with a Trump rather than a Mandela.
Interesting counterfactual. The only way I can think to approach an answer is this – if you were an educated black person and given a choice to live in either SA or the USA in 2021 – which would you pick?
yes well you see that has been the problem the whole way through this mini-thread…. i talk about something (people – trump, mandela) and red talks about something else (countries)…
so i answered in the context of what i was talking about (people), not red (countries)…
and which would you go for gezza..? trump ? or mandela ?
If it was just a straight choice of 'who would you prefer as a leader' Trump or Mandela the answer scarcely needs typing out – Mandela. But this is pretty meaningless, because in no real world election was anyone ever going to have that choice.
Instead Americans got a choice between Trump and Clinton – and a majority picked Trump. Hell it's odds on they may pick him a second time.
It might be meaningless in the context you have put my question into but that isn't my intended context
Thinking through the question (which is ‘how would it have turned out’ not ‘who would you choose’) should highlight the importance of the person in charge to how a nation progresses through difficult times. (the question of how they got there is immaterial to this)
Upon completion of said ponderance thought can then turn to the consequences of having such leader (because how they got there is in fact immaterial at this important point).
Upon completion of said ponderance thought can then turn to the consequences of having such leader
Well yes – what were the consequences? And my answer attempted just that and asked which nation would you prefer to live in?
The obvious objection is of course that SA and the USA are very different places – but if leadership matters at all we might conclude that while Mandela was probably the best SA could hope for at that moment, the outcome in the long term is not very promising. And while the USA could certainly have hoped for better than Trump, he wasn't the unmitigated disaster many here would like to paint him as.
And if the answer to a choice between Mandela and Trump is obvious, the answer to a choice between living in SA and the USA is also plain.
What's not mentioned in this pearl clutcher is that the Democrats are on track to not only lose the up coming Senate elections, but the next Presidency as well. Never mind a 'rigged election system' – they simply cannot win on their current polling.
And this article reads as pre-positioning 'a stolen election' narrative all over again. Getting tedious.
Trump is right, the system is rigged. But not in the way that he claimed. Red and Blue teams are just distractions while Wall St pillages the public purse.
Mine got downloaded to my gmail address 3 days ago. When I went to open & save it somewhere on my phone yesterday to show the visiting Occupational Therapist, it had come down with all my particulars missing. It’s just a blank pass.
Bloody shambles. I’ll have to go thru the whole process of requesting it & proving identity again. 😠
So, I assume some kind of system glitch ocurred when the system checked my particulars from my driver’s licence, told me I had successfully applied for my vaccine pass, & that it would be emailed to my gmail address, but all it delivered was a completely blank pass with my particulars name dob vax dates not specified on it.
Just tried 3 times to repeat the process. But couldn’t remember the password I used to register. (I wrote down the 6 digit verification code it sent me originally.)
No problem, thinks I. There’s a standard Forgot password? link underneath the password text field. I’ll just click on that & it’ll offer me the option of entering a new password (that this time I’ll write down!).
Nuh uh. All that does is loop me back constantly to the login email & password fields, which repeatedly tells me the password is incorrect. FFS!
High call volumes, & mass passport extensions, the blank pass & this sort of very obvious screw-up of what is an easy password reset experience everywhere else tells me that incompetence & inadequate testing are unfortunately likely features of the current system.
I downloaded GooglePay as a way to store a persistent copy of the Vaccine Pass on the Android phone. Having an old phone I had to mess around making enough storage space to install GooglePay. I refuse to habitually and expensively upgrade my phone every couple of years to get assorted crap I don't want.
Anyway, it seems to work. Obviously from a speed of development perspective, integrating with existing tools/apps like GooglePay that are already out there is a much faster and smarter way of working than building and testing new stuff. But the whole thing does contain assumptions about how much spare cash people have to splash around on tech. Which sort of fits with all the hype about now being able to go to bars and restaurants in Auckland – who can afford that either except occasionally?
And even odder that we now equate 'freedom' with stuffing our gobs and bellies with expensive slops.
It's a QR code you carry around. Venues will scan it to check your vaccination status.
So it can be saved on your phone (generally in the secure wallet feature, where credit cards reside), or printed out.
Yes it can be easily circumvented. IMO it’s just another bit of pandemic safety theatre to reassure the public. But it will probably help weed out the really obnoxious antisocial types.
The pass is supplied as a PDF file, which isn't the most convenient really (for opening on a phone etc). My household have printed and laminated ours.
There is an app on Google Play for androids, that will verify passes on a phone (my massage-therapist friend downloaded it this morning – was working fine). On scanning a QR code, the verification app simply displays the information that is already shown on the front of the pass and says whether it is valid (i.e. the digital signature is legit). The app doesn't upload or store data to my knowledge.
The app works offline, except for the first scan (this will be when it downloads the encryption public key). Presumably an app for iPhone also, but I wouldn't know.
At the local cafe this morning they scanned it with another app called the "NZ Pass Verifier"
The data is not supposed to be collected or stored. It's only supposed to confirm the customer's vax status.
From the Privacy Policy (IMO technical loopholes are still possible)
NZ Pass Verifier will enable app users to verify a My Vaccine Pass as an authentic record of vaccination or exemption. The app will display the name, date of birth and expiry date recorded in the QR Code of the Pass presented.
You must use any personal information accessed by the app in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and in accordance with any Order requirements. The app may only be used in compliance with current Orders, and users are not permitted to collect and/or use information about the presenter of the Pass via the app for any unrelated purpose.
No identifiable information about the user of the device or the Pass is retained by the app.
Basic analytics events are captured to record the number of successful and unsuccessful scans that have occurred. These events do not contain any personal information and are not able to be linked to an individual or location
I am guessing they simply lost the file, nothing to do with the QR code or the pass – could've just as easily lost a word document containing their favourite cake recipes…guessing!
There is a technical explanation here, including a link to even more technical info on Github and the full technical specification. It all is open source so the security can be examined by anyone.
It is not necessarily that easily circumvented, in the sense that it is difficult to produce a fake, verifiable pass with your details. You can produce a fake that visually looks like a legit pass, but it will be rejected by the verifier app.
The pass deploys asymmetric cryptography, which means the MOH has the private key and each QR code is signed so it can be verified with the freely-available public key. It is very difficult (near impossible) to produce a signature that matches the pass plain-text data, without possession of the private key.
Pretty easy to print several copies of a valid pass and share it around with your mates. Most businesses aren't going to double check against another form of ID
Yep, need to check against other (photo) ID to confirm the name matches the person.
Many close-contact businesses know all their customers by name already, and being asked for photo ID at entry of pubs, concerts etc is not unusual.
What I think is unfair and disadvantages poorer people, is the lack of free, easily-accessible photo ID, especially for young people (the vaccine pass requirement applies to everyone over 12 years old). The "kiwi access card" costs $55 and is only for people over 18 years old.
Agree as you say above. A drivers license is acceptable, but again not everyone has one of those. There was some debate a few years ago, as I recall, of the govt issuing an ID card. Lots of people against such a move because – privacy. But you can see that a card would have its uses in such a situation as we are now experiencing.
258 Altering, concealing, destroying, or reproducing documents with intent to deceive
(1)Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years who, with intent to obtain by deception any property, privilege, service, pecuniary advantage, benefit, or valuable consideration, or to cause loss to any other person,—
(a) alters, conceals, or destroys any document, or causes any document to be altered, concealed, or destroyed; or
(b) makes a document or causes a document to be made that is, in whole or in part, a reproduction of any other document.
(2) An offence against subsection (1) is complete as soon as the alteration or document is made with the intent referred to in that subsection, although the offender may not have intended that any particular person should—
(a) use or act upon the document altered or made; or
(b) act on the basis of the absence of the document concealed or destroyed; or
(c)be induced to do or refrain from doing anything.
(3)Every person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who, without reasonable excuse, sells, transfers, or otherwise makes available any document knowing that—
(a) the document was altered, concealed, or made, in whole or in part, as a reproduction of another document; and
(b)the document was dealt with in the manner specified in paragraph (a) with intent to—
(i) obtain any property, privilege, service, pecuniary advantage, benefit, or valuable consideration; or
(ii)cause loss to any other person.
259 Using altered or reproduced document with intent to deceive
(1)Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years who, knowing any document to have been made or altered in the manner and with the intent referred to in section 258, with intent to obtain by deception any property, privilege, service, pecuniary advantage, benefit, or valuable consideration, or to cause loss to any other person,—
(a) uses, or deals with, or acts upon, the document; or
(b)causes any person to use or deal with, or act upon, the document.
(2) For the purposes of this section, it does not matter that the document was altered or made outside New Zealand.
Not advisable for them. Didn't say you were advising them.
But that's the first bit. Deterrence. That'll stop a few, although admittedly risk assessment is a problem for the potential crowd.
Then there's the fact that the name and date of birth come up. Even without parallel ID checks, if a middle-aged regular called "Charlie" comes up as 23 year old "Tristan", that's another issue altogether. And maybe Charlie is a bit of a dick. That might make someone care.
Is it completely perfect? Nope. Some vendors won't notice or care. But an organised effort has a high likelihood of quickly being identified, and the copied code being blacklisted when vendor apps receive the next update. Or even better, "contact police" coming up when it's tried.
That probably doesn't apply because entering somewhere in breach of Covid orders is not usually intended to gain pecuniary advantage by deception ("service" in that context is paid services, not something like service at a bar). It's a breach of the Covid order however and punishable by a hefty fine.
I'm no lawyer, fair call. But there'd be something dodgy as feck about it beyond the covid regs.
Forgery (s256) has some wider criteria.
I almost hope someone tries it – if it's not a dishonesty offence of some sort, it bloody should be and that might be the incentive for the government to do something about it.
Yes that's it. To display it on your phone you have to first verify that it is you ( the owner of the phone by password or finger print) and the mycovid website verifies that you are the owner of the phone before it initially sends the pass to the phone.
I understand what the QR code is for. I don't understand the various techs being used, and consequently the privacy and security issues (and please, nobody tell me 'trust us it's safe').
The email has a link so if you open the email on your phone, you press that link and it sends the qrcode to the app.
Sorry, it sends the QR code to the "digital wallet" the phone might have.
The only tech that is required is:
the vendor's app so e.g. the cafe knows you're ok
the QR code itself
Everything else is up to the person who gets the pass. They can store it and present it however they want (paper print-out, photo on their phone, digital wallet on their phone, tattoo, stone tablet, literally anything), as long as a vendor's app can read the QR code.
Whether the person who gets the pass is opening themselves up to security issues based on the medium they choose is up to them.
If the vendor is using the official NZGovt app, that spec is online. If the vendor uses a third-party app developed using the spec, the only information that can possibly be compromised is the information about you in the QR code:
If you are using a phone to store your pass the easiest way on an android phone is to have the google pay app. You supposedly can get by, not having that app, but I found I needed to down load it to get past go. The thing is the google pay app is set up so you have to erify that you are the user each time you use it by setting up a PIN or in my case using a fingerprint. That protects your info from being accessed by someone else who may have got hold of your phone for nefarious reasons.
Once you have the google pay app on your phone and set up, the Vaccine pass set up is smooth. You can then set up a shortcut so that you do not have to access google pay – just a touch of a icon – verify you are the correct user, and hey presto there is your pass, as displayed in your photo above.
thanks McFlock. I've probably got a wallet app on my iphone that I don't use for anything else, might use it for this, so good to know the full range of options.
Do most people not have their battery run down on their phone?
two top gender clinicians (who are also both transgender) admit that puberty blockers in some children may lead to the inability to orgasm……….Jazz Jennings the post child for transitioning (had her own reality tv series about it) being a Case in point.
gender ideologists want immediate affirmation and confirmation of young persons gender identity and access to medical transition without question…the idea that puberty blockers are harmless is untrue. They are experimental and we are only realising the harm they do
Under the proposed Conversion Practices Bill counsellors and parents are at risk of a police complaint and up to five years in jail if they query a young person desire to medically transition. It may not be how the law pans out, but I believe and there is some evidence for this, that that is how gender ideology activists want it to be. I base this on the submissions I heard and read to the select committee
Yes Redlogix. Not to mention fertility issues and permanant changes to their presentation e.g facial hair, deep voice, Adam's apple on a biological women who tranistioned then has regrets.
Its sad, but it is outrageous that some adults are enabling this.
Luxon giving stand-up in Auckland. Says the city should be at "green", doesn't want restrictions. Open up, all good.
He seems oblivious to reality.
It's also politically inept. There are many other issues to challenge the gov't on. He (or his advisers) should be saying "leave Covid alone, the polls on that speak for themselves".
I've had a good search and I can't find a single qualified voice (public health, epidimeology etc) who thinks Auckland should simply drop all restrictions, right now.
It's incredible that Luxon would go doolally on this. I suppose he's relying on the "honeymoon" to deflect the obvious Qs.
If Ardern/Bloomfield said what Luxon just did there would be uproar.
Luxon doesn't even need to be serious about Auckland going green light. He knows he can't make that happen so it is a cheap way of getting those who are frustrated with restrictions on board. It is kind of a win win for him.
I agree he is only doing it for show, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a safe bet.
At this stage it may not hurt him but he doesn't need the Brian Tamaki fan club (1%), he needs the 20% who support the gov't on Covid but not on various other issues.
Statements like this on the record stack up over time.
I agree Observer. Its a strategy that could back fire. But he may still pick up votes from it. And its so easy saying how things should be and please those who want it that way, when you can't deliver.
Maybe he's dangerously emboldened by the rapturous fawning of the Herald/ZB sycophants – and is saying out loud the thing that should only be whispered among friends? Or maybe he reckons no-one's listening, the phone's off the hook and he can say all sorts of dumb sh*t with impunity?
Totally! He's playing up to the Elite and Business class as per Air NZ – but even Air NZ are more responsible than that now.
There are over 6000 active cases of Covid in Auckland. 56 of yesterdays cases were active in the community. It took only 1 unknown case in the community to start this latest outbreak. True over 90% of eligible persons in Auckland are now fully vaccinated, but they are still 10's of thousands including all children under 12 who are not.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has been in the city's viaduct harbour today, speaking to hospitality business owners. He told reporters that the city should have gone to the orange setting, as the red light is for when the health system is overwhelmed and vaccination rates are low – neither of which is happening in Auckland.
The new leader of the National Party is questioning the government's call to put Auckland into the red setting under the traffic light system, as the city emerges from four months of lockdown today.
Auckland cafes and gyms opened their doors today as New Zealand dropped alert levels and moved into the Covid-19 protection framework.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has been in the city's viaduct harbour today, speaking to hospitality business owners. He told reporters that the city should have gone to the green setting, as the red light is for when the health system is overwhelmed and vaccination rates are low – neither of which is happening in Auckland.
He says Auckland hospitality businesses are worried about the city emptying over the summer and being hit again in the pocket.
Yes i know the msm are reporting that. But he doesn't actually say that in the video interview as available. Perhaps he answered questions after or issued a press release?
You are quoting the RNZ interpretation of what they are claiming he said. As usual they are misquoting him because the Labour Party provided tax-payer funded grant to RNZ requires them to do so.
What Luxon did was to explain what the traffic light system was meant to represent. In particular Red was for when the health system was overwhelmed and the vaccination rates were low. As he said, and as the Government itself says, the vaccination rates in Auckland are high and there is no threat to overwhelm the hospitals.
If the Government was setting the colours as their system claimed they should then, as he pointed out they should have, following their own defined rules, have been displayed a Green light.
He then pointed out how stupid the traffic light system actually is and why National were opposed to it.
He never once advocated that Auckland should be Green, He simply pointed out that, using the Government explanation of their own system, they would have had to declare it to be Green.
As usual the msm journalists have chosen to misquote those MPs who are not on the left wing of politics. You have chosen to follow the party line.
Why don't you try listening to what he actually said during the question time instead of believing the bs that the reporter has invented?
The Stuff report has also been edited. Originally they said the Luxon had called for the whole city to be in Green. They have corrected it by adding the following,
"Clarification: An earlier version of this article said Luxon wanted Auckland to be in green. He in fact said that hospitality was ready for green, and National was against the traffic-light system. (Amended December 3, 2021, 2:14pm)"
As far as I can see they are the only ones to include the whole statement and answers he gave.
As I commented above he simply pointed out that if the Government had followed the rules they had laid down for what the various colours meant they would have had to call it a Green zone.
So yes he does say to reporters in his opinion Auckland should have gone to green. What is there to misunderstand about that. The only thing you can take away from that sentiment is one of complete callousness or a complete failure to appreciate just how serious the threat of reinfection is. There are 6000 plus active cases in Auckland alone right now. Dozens of cases active in the community every day.
Or have you not had a recent auditory test? Go back and listen carefully this time. His words clearly imply that in his "humble" opinion Auckland should be in green. That is the clear impression he wants to give.
Baldfinger
'He's the man, the man with the Midas touch
A spider's touch
Such a cold finger
Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in
Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a swinging voter knows when he's kissed them
It's the kiss of death from
Mister Baldfinger
Voters beware of this heart of gold
This heart is cold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold'
Now that would be interesting. I’m not sure if Auckland voters are up for a left wing, Polynesian mayor. He’d win the South and West, might struggle with the isthmus and north of the bridge.
After 50 years of reading the Herald I have cancelled my subscription this morning.There has been no attempt by the paper at even handedness at all.I have had to endure endless carping from Prebble ,Hosking ,the ex national mp Fran O'Sullivan etc etc .Ireland an island has a population of 5million people like us and they have lost 5400 people to covid .I think we have lost 38 or there abouts.Instead of the endless specious arguments we should be celebrating what can only be described as a monumental success.
Agreed TV…when she said 92 at the presser I thought maybe, just maybe, with fierce contact tracing we can keep Covid at very low to negligible numbers…..if we keep MIQ at the borders of course.
But now we have 7-houses saying Auckland should go Green today-he would open the border today too.
Of course if his cobbers had got in in 2017 he wouldn't be opening the border today because faced with the pandemic they would've done things differently across the board. There would've been no lockdowns, no mandates on anything, Simon Thornley would've been their chief expert and everything would've been sweet.
He is all piss-and-wind because he can be and he knows cretinous National supporters will be orgasmic at having a 'sensible man of business' with a handle on covid reality at the helm. Joke.
I'm imagining him organising a cup of tea in Mt Eden with David Seymour. John Key did that to give Act one seat. I wonder if the new master businessman will be trying for a repeat to get the 10 seats back.
luxum will be so busy barking at passing cars, he will miss his appointment with seymour to have a cuppa. luckily ,his handlers will sort that out ,as well as satanising, sorry, sanatising his backstory. expect to see him at next big gay out , and at his local bunnings, backing a trailer in to pick up some handyman type thingies. expect to see his handlers try and put distance between john and notjohn . john in hawiian shirts, notjohn in blue shirts and preworn jeans . to pretend he's one of us, he might even cross the bridge one night and slum it at the speedway . rt wing polies have a habit of using speedway to pretend they are real kiwis. don brash frantically wedging into a midget. blenglish driving a stock car at baypark around the same time he went boxing, collins slumming at te marua(welly) speedway one night, that last one was really cringeworthy(crusher having to be nice to boy(and girl) racers) LOL.
I see the (ex) CEO is calling for Auckland's regime to be reduced to "green lights" forthwith.
Of course that's why he was a CEO and not the Pilot.
The pilot warns that there is a storm ahead and may have to depart from flight plans in order to minimise passenger discomfort and possible damage to the aircraft. The altered route may add a few minutes to the flight time and cost a little more in fuel.
The CEO, on the other hand, sitting in the relative comfort of Business Class, instructs the cabin crew to relay an order, "Sod the passenger discomfort – your instructions are to get this flight to its destination in the quickest and cheapest means possible!"
Enjoyed my first proper cafe visit this morning. Sat in the sunshine and scoffed my croissant. Then back to the salt mines. WFH ain't so bad in Parnell.. probably 20 cafe's in easy walking range
Yes. Support for the Greens is 15.5%, among voters under 50. (That is consistent with other polls on climate change + environment, and the voter demographics).
Pretty clear lesson for National: don't drag your feet (like Labour) or worse, go into reverse. Over to you, Mr Luxon.
I do think we shouldn't be complacent (and am aware I did say the other day that short of the arrival of someone charismatic like Key I couldn't see National winning the next election. ACT on the other hand…)
Also big thanks should be given to the divine Ms Collins for getting National back into the frame for a resounding National victory at the next election
another way to look at the latest poll is ; election is two years away. if we have learnt anything from the last two years(many havent) ,is that anything can happen between now and next election…..
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
The new United States ambassador to Aotearoa is an indigenous rights supporter.
The first thing is, is the indigenous people of New Mexico
Oh dear. Udall is another American double-izzer. There's a growing group of yanks that double the "is" in sentences for no sensible reason. The thing is, is that… The point is, is that… What it is, is that…
This bizarre form of phrasing is spreading like a disease from the US tv channels all around the world. Some TV1 reporters & commentators & presenters have even picked it up & started using it. As have others. Judith Collins was a frequent double-izzer.
Where will it end? 😳 😀
Oh no!…Grammar Nazis will never get to sleep at…night.
This is…a crisis.
Says … Mr Ellipsis.
People have always used, abused and mangled English since the start of whenever.
That "becomes a “thing” that others just copy & repeat, unthinkingly" and it becomes part of the evolving the language.
Are you a user & an advocate of the “double is” usage then?
Why? It actually makes no sense.
I wonder if teachers of English teach that it’s a grammatically valid use of “is”.
English is an evolving language, sure, one only has to look at early writings & spellings from Shakespeare to see how much it has evolved, but some things like this are not so much evolving the language as advertising the user’s laziness or ignorance, imo.
The thing is, is that the Americans have to get rid of "off of" first.
Yes then they could start on 'ahold of' instead of 'hold of'. Was it Winston Churchill/George Bernard Shaw who coined the apt saying of US & English- English
'Two great nations divided by a a common language.'
They need to first eliminate double negatives, imo, because these often logically lead to an absurd positive. Classic example we’ve all heard.
Mant individuals who are stony broke in the US will often say:
“I ain’t got no money.”
Broken down, “ain’t” means haven’t, so the individual is saying:
“I haven’t got no money”.
If you haven’t got ‘no money’, logic says you must have ‘some money’. But they don’t.
They should probably say: “I ain’t got ANY money” but the double negative phrase “ain’t got no” has now been so deeply embedded into American English-speakers’ minds (via movies & tv and music & literature) it’s illogicality is simply ignored & people just interpret it (by context) to mean that the individual is broke.
The thing the plonkers who go on about Grammar Nazis & Spelling Nazis when errors in English are amusedly pointed out forget is that ALL languages have syntax & rules of spelling & postioning & placement etc becos without such forms of common control & usage every language would quickly become unintelligible to others if there weren’t some common agreed rules.
grandma nazis are a pain, neelee as bad as spelleng nazis.
Gezza just demonstrated how to derail a thread!
It's just an aside – a side issue I picked up because the writer actually reported the double is. Often they don't.
You seemingly haven't noticed how the thread continues below for anyone that wants to comment on it. Have you anything to say on the thread yourself? Or just that?
"…progressing tribal self-governance, native language revitalisation and protecting sacred areas…."
Somebody give him a copy of He Puapua to take back home when he goes.
He'll also enjoy browsing Te Tiriti o Waitangi documents and commentaries and might have some valuable perspectives to offer around those.
He sounds like a worthwhile person to have visit Aotearoa 🙂
Robert ,,,,But will they/he/she visit Te Wai Pounamu, where we live.
The umpteenth case of prominent media person in the USA campaigning against getting vaccinated, then getting Covid and … you can guess what happened:
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/01/1060699340/marcus-lamb-daystar-television-network-dies-covid
Strangely, I'd never realised our bureaucrats can't tell the difference between orange and yellow. Toby Manhire noticed: https://thespinoff.co.nz/covid-19/02-12-2021/excuse-me-what-colour-is-this
I recall reading an article in the Christchurch Press about twenty-five years ago or so, reporting how a chap had been pulled over by the police and fined for running an 'orange' light recklessly close, only to contest the charge successfully on the grounds that there was no such thing as an 'orange' traffic light.
I haven’t read the article but isn’t in Amber light?
Bugger. 😠 Let me start again.
I haven’t read the article but isn’t it an Amber light
The article I read all those years ago did state that the intermediate stage between green and red was 'yellow' or 'amber', but the only official references I've ever seen are to its being yellow.
Frank Nordern and Dennis Muir say 'amber'. Peter Sellers did their script "Balham Gateway to the South", a brilliant spoof of a travel documentary.
"Night falls on Balham. Beneath Quill's Folly, Balham's famous beauty spot, which stands nearly ten feet above sea level, the town is spread below us in a fairyland of glittering lights, changing all the time- green, amber, red and amber and back to green."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RTWk9QIKS0
A long-overdue regeneration of coastal shipping seems to be in the pipeline:
If Sealord's are that keen they should be able to buy their own freight ship. They're just hanging out for needless state subsidy into an imagined service that is never going to come back.
Kiwirail are a never-ending suck-hole of money for marginal network improvements on a shrinking network. Hard to see the Nightcaps or West Coast lines surviving once Fonterra converts to woodwaste boilers.
Minister Wood will consult by pushing that report straight back on the shelf.
"Minister Wood will consult by pushing that report straight back on the shelf"
If only.
Minister Wood will decide that the project is a wonderful idea except that it is not big enough. He will without doubt demand that it get at least a billion dollars. After all he has saved the taxpayer that much by not insisting on the stupid bike bridge across Auckland Harbour so there is plenty of money available for this new white elephant.
Meanwhile he is going to extend the Auckland – Hamilton train service through to Invercargill. The first stage has been enormously successful and we will therefore push ahead with extending it to the whole country.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127179360/te-huia-train-service-has-earned-300000-and-cost-3m-but-councillor-confident-itll-get-back-on-track
Only double ? Thats not nearly enough !
So under Fyfes leadership the popular Mardi Gras flights went ahead.
As soon as Christopher took over ,they were cancelled,and when he left they were reinstated.
Clearly nothing to do with…him!
Air NZ's support for rainbow community reached new heights under Christopher Luxon's watch | Stuff.co.nz
Luxon's "Upper Room" involvement suggests he's not an admirer of rainbows, imo.
His spokesman (in the link Blazer supplied) says otherwise.
Christophers PR team…'neutralise this quicksmart…find someone gay at Air to quote and soften this up'.
'executive decisions' are made by executives when they have a positive perception and by 'junior staffers',people who have left or FIIK….if negative.
My feeling also. The fact that the "pink flights" cancellation coincided with Luxon's tenure is neither here
nor
there…
The article strongly suggests Luxon is a supporter of LGBTQI initiatives & has no issues with the “rainbow community”.
There are many Christians who don’t have a problem with LGBTQIs, and as as those who do are seemingly in the minority in both the community & Parliament they are unlikely to cause any problems for them politically as they’ll be outvoted.
That won’t stop some folk who really like to hate on National & other things from stirring the pot & suggesting dark things with no supporting evidence about Luxon.
evidence-1+1=2
'So under Fyfes leadership the popular Mardi Gras flights went ahead.
As soon as Christopher took over ,they were cancelled,and when he left they were reinstated.'
You can refute this with evidence as to WHY these flights, that were always booked out were cancelled ,specifically in Christophers time at Air.
ANALYSIS: Shortly after Christopher Luxon was elected leader of the Opposition a rumour that had been swirling for years resurfaced on social media.
The rumour goes: During Luxon’s time in charge at Air New Zealand he axed the popular Mardi Gras “pink flights” because it didn’t align with his Christian views. Much has been said about Luxon’s Christian faith, but he says it has been “misrepresented and portrayed very negatively”.
The pink flights rumour is case in point because, in reality, Air New Zealand made huge progress to promote diversity and support transgender and gay staff under Luxon’s leadership.
… … …
A spokesman for Luxon said he did not make any decisions to end the Mardi Gras flights. Luxon was a big supporter of the LGBTQI community, he said.
“Christopher is very proud of Air New Zealand’s record during his time of supporting greater diversity in general and the rainbow community specifically,” the spokesman said.
An unnamed source with knowledge of the situation said the decision to stop the pink flights was an operational one, and such a decision would not have gone all the way to the chief executive.
Craig Featherby, head of the Flight Attendants Association, said he had not heard anything to suggest Luxon made an executive decision to axe the flights.
Featherby, who is gay, worked as a Boeing 787-9 in-flight service manager while Luxon was chief executive. Featherby said the handful of times he met Luxon at Air New Zealand he always came across as accepting of all people. “I certainly never felt uncomfortable under his reign,” Featherby said.
Feathery said Air New Zealand underwent a lot of operational change during Luxon’s time leading the airline, and flight cancellations were exacerbated by the Rolls-Royce engine issues on the airline’s 787-9 Dreamliner over several years.
… … … …
The rest of the article basically just continues on demolishing your grubby rumour-generated conspiracy theory.
1+1 = 2, sure, but correlation does not equal causation, & your “evidence” would be laughed out of a Court. You’ve got nothing proving Luxon instructed those flights should cease because he has a religion-based problem with LGBTQI folk & a mountain of evidence he was a supporter of Air NZ’s positive LGBTQI policies.
All you have done is repost the content of my original link.
You have not been able to overcome the circumstantial evidence with a plausible explanation of WHY the flights were cancelled…have you?
I’m ending here. Wasted enuf time on you. You carry on rumour mongering & punching at shadows if you like.
You must be very naive….'
'A spokesman for Luxon said he did not make any decisions to end the Mardi Gras'
'An unnamed source with knowledge of the situation said the decision to stop the pink flights was an operational one, '
'Craig Featherby, head of the Flight Attendants Association, said he had not heard anything to suggest Luxon made an executive decision to axe the flights.'
Could not get more unconvincing statements than these.
Pure sanitising…spin.
Wonder how many LGBT members the Upper Room has!
"Wonder how many LGBT members the Upper Room has!"
My guess, "several" but none willing to declare; won't want to ruin the atmosphere 🙂
Evidence, as we know, is not the same thing as proof. You were asked for evidence, Blazer, and you provided that elegantly, imo.
"An unnamed source with knowledge of the situation said…"
Hahahaha!
The article fair oozes truthiness!
Gezza, why do you consistently misspell enough?
Is it because you don't care about the correct spelling of English words?
Or do you genuinely don't know how to spell this word?
Could it be you think 'enuf' has now become a 'thing', and therefore is now acceptable.
I like the word enuf. I’m a bit of a fan of finetic spelling. I sometimes spell though as tho, for the same reason.
In fact, I think there’s a lot of merit to the following idea, altho now Britain’a out of the EU, it’s not likely to ever be a starter….
EURO-ENGLISH
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty’s Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as “Euro-English”.
In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of the “k”. This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like “fotograf” 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent “e”s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.
By the fourth year, pepl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”. During ze fifz year, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.
After ze fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru! And zen ze world vil be ourz!
This will be known in five hundred years as Ze Grat Konsonantal Shift.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift
Vry drol
Complete change to no vowels? Back to the future with cartouches?
Write like an Egyptian? Ppl n th Stndrd Ptrc? Wk? Gzz? lol
"finetic" spelling is idiomatic fonetik spelling but with the great Nu Zulund monovowel.
Gezza has an unfortunate tendency for double standards .
Name calling,perjoratives are verboten unless he makes them.
Same rules for spelling and grammar.
He is a nice person however.
I'm not sure I think concern trolls are nice people.
"concern troll noun
DEROGATORY•INFORMAL
a person who disingenuously expresses concern about an issue with the intention of undermining or derailing genuine discussion.
"he is regarded among climate scientists as a concern troll""
1. I'm not, nor have I ever been, a concern troll. I'm just a non-politically tribal reader & occasional commenter on a left-leaning blog that discusses political & social issues of the day.
2. I'm not motivated by almost pathological hatreds some fortunately few commenters here seem to have for political opponents or their parties. But if you have a go at me, I'm a typical bloke, expect to get a return serve if I think it's worth doing. If you're just blithering crap I might just ignore you.
3. Some of the most offensive commenters here employ the disingenuous tactic of criticising you for the same sins they commit, in the hope of deflecting criticism away from their nastiness. Narcissists & psychopaths do that.
Comprehension 101: nowhere did I name anyone as a concerned troll, I just made a general statement.
You may infer I meant you; I couldn't possibly comment.
Comprehension 101: nowhere did I name anyone as a concerned troll, I just made a general statement. You may infer I meant you; I couldn’t possibly comment.
So transparently disingenuous I’m embarrassed for you over how pathetically inept that attempt at a clever & sophisticated cheap shot was.
Why not crawl back under the rock you usually hide under & watch tv or something?
The article states that Luxon was international airline General Manager May 2011 to December 2012 so cancellation of international flights may have been in his purview during that time? also rolls royce engine problems seem to have to occurred in 2017 so maybe a red herring?
Look, Jag, don’t get me wrong. I realise that some woebegone, hateful people loathe their political opponents so much that they’ll happily indulge in character assassination on the flimsiest of evidence, especially on blogs or social media.
I generally find it best to avoid these types as they’re often miserable, forever moaning buggers to be around, prone to making various allegations & buying into any conspiracies involving their usual targets.
My comment below explains why I don’t see any evidence yet that confirms Luxon banned Mardi Gras flights because he’s got it in for LGTBQI folk owing to hiscrekigious beliefs. If, in fact, he does – and he did – that evidence will surface eventually.
Until it does, it’s just malicious gossip really. Some people, I realise, really like spreading that. But I’m not one of them.
Unfortunately this is part of the dirt in political life. Clark was subject to it. Mike Williams shot off to Australia to try to dig the dirt on Key. Seriously if being a wealthy, bald, christian male is as bad as it gets, Luxon is going to be dead boring.
"You carry on rumour mongering & punching at shadows if you like."
There's a bit of that around. Luxon seesm to have excited some on the left. it's quite humorous.
He is a gift to humour….short,bald,relies on a collection of tired cliches…and doesn't even play ..golf..AFAIK.
More remarks about his looks.
He's reposted it because clearly you didn't read it!
Surely 1 minus 1 = 0 plus 1 = 1
Fyfe instituted the flights; Luxon removed them then replaced after he left ….
Where’s the evidence Luxon removed them?
In an org the size of Air NZ, & with the number of LGBTQI employees it probably has, any decision by Luxon like that would soon get around & piss them off mightily. Once he left I’d expect one or more of aggrieved individuals (not necessarily just LGBTQIs either) to leak details to the msm or publish on social media to hit back at him.
Hasn’t happened. Why? Because it probably never happened. Time should tell.
' any decision by Luxon like that would soon get around & piss them off mightily.'
That's what happened….now time for damage control.
As the CEO ,he has the final say.
People working there now ,want to stay working there and not upset the directors who usually have very right wing leanings.
Time will indeed tell.
The coincidental timing bodes poorly for him, but isn't overtly conclusive. Nor is his pastor's online content allegedly being trimmed indicative of sermons about which NZers might generally not approve.
Then there's Luxon saying he'll support safe zones around abortion services, after voting against them on the first reading.
Things that bode well for Luxon being a more progressive and forgiving christian than one of the conservative, bigoted ones? Not many so far. There are some very inclusive churches around, but there are others that aren't so openminded.
Which path do Luxon's beliefs travel? As you say, time will tell.
@ Puckish Rogue
.https://thestandard.org.nz/chris-luxon-is-not-nationals-messiah/#comment-1838559
If that comment was directed at me, thank you. I can also say that YOU are a commenter I always read because, even though your views are sometimes at odds with the general views of most commenters on this left-leaning blog, you explain & defend your views clearly, you seem honest, & your posts are easy to understand.
There’s not much ambiguity. You also say what you mean and mean ONLY what you say.
You are also, in my view, quite sophisticatedly witty on many occasions. I like commenters with a GSOH.
It speaks volumes that you not only survive here as a regular but that many commenters with who you might sometimes be at odds politically seem to regard you with considerable affection.
Keep up the good work 😀
Tip of the hat to you sir
For those who can cope with a transcribed interview, this is the Lowy Institute interviewing the White House key advisor on the Asia-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell. He's the guy who gave us the 'pivot to Asia', 'the Quad', and AUKUS.
In Conversation: Kurt Campbell, White House Indo-Pacific Coordinator (lowyinstitute.org)
The density of the exchange with the Lowy Institute and in how he engages about Australia gives a good and quite detailed sense of how important and how deep that White House-Canberra relationship is and will be.
Got to the nub of it here:
Scomo goes where Duterte fears to tread…
‘Want trouble? You first!’ Philippines’ Duterte dares US to bring its fleet & declare war on China — RT World News
Might want to update Duterte's positioning. China wasn't the great ally he'd hoped for.
A common policy ,even in the Pacific…play one off against the other.
And no one from either side would have much confidence in…Duterte.
It does not alter the original link that he suggested the U.S wanted the Philipines to engage with China.
Doesn't alter it, just makes it out of date.
Duterte wasn't just playing one off against the other, he was looking for a global realignment. He had some pretty good reasons for being as anti-US as he was, but China is encroaching upon his doorstep.
Chauncey De Vega does a good job today with some of the consequences for US minorities and Democrats should Republicans gain Senate majority back next year and White House in 2024.
He quotes historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, around preparing to leave the country if one is in an oppressed or substantially marginalised US minority:
If America really surrenders to fascism, then what? Painful questions lie ahead | Salon.com
"So, one answer would be: start exploring your options now if you are in a threatened category of people, as are many of those who write to me. "Better exile than prison," wrote former Italian Prime Minister Francesco Nitti to King Victor Emmanuel III in 1925, explaining why he'd left Italy when the Fascists took power. Nitti worked from abroad to counter authoritarian propaganda about what was happening in his native country, as exiles from Hong Kong, Myanmar, and other places do today.
It's unlikely that Republican rule would mean mass imprisonment for political opponents, the way there is in Erdogan's Turkey. Viktor Orbán, darling of the GOP, has not gone that route. And it's a shame to lose capable people when they are most needed at home — which would be the situation in the USA if Republicans gain more power and if they retake the White House in 2024.
(…)
Each person acts for their own reasons, and each situation is unique. But there is one constant in the history of exile. It means watching from afar the travails of your country, and, for those who desire to return, entering into a state of suspension: waiting for things to get better, waiting for the tyrant to die, waiting for freedoms to be restored."
With so many competent-but-uninspiring Democrat leaders retiring and not a great surge of inspiring leaders replacing them, we may well find more exiles seeking somewhere peaceful and competent to live.
The US needs a Ghandi, or a Mandela.
Instead it has a Trump…
Imagine South Africa at the end of apartheid if it instead had a Trump..
…
It is all over bar the shouting in the US.. imo there is no way the fascist genie will go back in the bottle.. it now has to play itself out…
I'm always impressed at how people are so ready to yell 'fascist' at the USA, while remaining silent on the actually fascist regimes around the world.
I think people are yelling F****d, rather than F*****t.
Uncle Sams staunchest defender with a deflection.
Heres one for you…I'm always unimpressed by how quick the U.S is to label people terrorists,or insurgents or 'bad' people ,when the record shows they are the guiltiest of all those charges.
Absolutely – the US has made all manner of stupid mistakes that it rightly deserves to be heavily criticised for. But the difference is this – you are able to say these things without too much fear of censorship, or being disappeared.
Good point…
Assange and Snowden really have nothing to…fear!
And I will stand on my long record here both defending Assange and Snowden – and deploring the US govt's extremely bad faith actions in these cases.
'But the difference is this – you are able to say these things without too much fear of censorship, or being disappeared.'
So you concede there is in fact….no difference.Very good.
And yet here you are still speaking freely. Amazing.
Many people who speak freely in the USA rapidly die from car accidents or jumping out of windows etc etc, especially in the run up to court cases. Move on, nothing to see here. God bless America. Yeah ,right.
I'm sure members of the 200 or so countries the US has invaded, destroyed, rendered a 'failed state' are pleased you have rights that the US took from them.
Incidentally, the US has not made 'stupid mistakes'. Ever action it took against every country it sought to punish was a carefully considered and well thought out plan to destroy, to bring to its knees.
How many countries can you list where the CIA has murdered the incumbent democratically elected head of state or has overthrown the existing government and replaced it with their sycophant regime.
@Brigid
Yet despite the hated US invading, occupying, crushing and colonising more that every single nation on earth there is the peculiar fact that in 2021 the average person is far less likely to die in war than at any time in human history.
Weird.
Which countries did you have in mind?
US going full fascist has massive implications for other countries, humanity and basically all of life. More so than say Brazil going full fascist. Athough obviously that would be bad for Brazilians and the region, it's not like they have nuclear weapons, an army the size of the US, or the kind of economic and political influence that the US has. Even allowing for the impact of the destruction of Brazil's forests (which they're already doing).
You know the list of countries as well as I do. But let me offer one name – Peng Shuai.
Oh please don't tell me you've swallowed the Peng Shuai cool aid.
Please don't let your sinophobia rot your brain any more with this latest laughable propaganda.
Straight under the bus.
If it's all propaganda the CCP has but to restore her original post to the internet. and let her speak freely and openly in a trusted setting to Western journalists.
Leave her alone
She doesn't have to account to you or your western journalists, who, as you well know, have quite a habit of telling lies.
Weasel.
The actual transcript does seem to describe some degree of coercion, (verbal?) who knows it's actually hard to gauge, in the end it's consensual
"I agreed"
I regret to say after some endless badgering I've agreed to have sex at times just to get it over with ,I think it's not that uncommon
.More than than anything it's a sad complaint that the man doesn't want to see her anymore and denies the relationship
https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/qmn69a/full_translation_of_peng_shuais_weibo_post/
In the West it would be immediately called out as a 'power imbalance'. And the fact of her post being scrubbed from the local internet is really all we need to know here. Not to mention her prolonged absence that triggered real concern.
Oh and we have a contact here in Brisbane who knows Shuai personally. So there's that as well.
Red, I haven't got a clue what actually happened here.
But neither am I willing to participate in an all out assault on China every time someone writes something on social media.
I feel sorry for Shuai, an absolute storm has broken loose, she may have endangered her beloved sport in her own country, she's been the conduit for a lot of very fierce threats to cancel the Beijing games.
She is now probably under so much pressure from both sides, it's intolerable, and the western media and sports organisations are intensifying it all. Who wouldn't go to ground?And she needs those western tennis associations to continue her career.A great little wedge has been leveraged.
Anyway, maybe you'll be assuaged by the third conversation the IOC has with her, in person next month .
Yes from what I've been told Shuai will be feeling extremely vulnerable from all sides at the moment. Anything she says now will be couched in the most careful terms.
Of course now she has become a symbol for a much larger story about the PRC and it's routine disregard for what you and I take for granted as human rights. She didn't intend this – but this is one of the downsides of being so very well known. (Yes I had heard of her prior.)
sorry ,I've bungled that ,didn't mean to subject anyone to so much text
No problem from me – I was aware that this was not a simple matter and the open text of the post in question clarifies matters.
That translation seems to suggest the classic woman scorned scenario.
Almost a Monica Lewinsky situation.
Powerful,rich,famous men can do anything, even grab their 'pussy',according to ex leader of the free world-D.Trump.
And in Tara Reade's case (she was the wrong kind of victim who had the misfortune to have been assaulted by a Democrat candidate) the victim was torn apart by the press.
In a time of me too believe the woman,Tara's reputation was trashed by the very same media affecting deep concern for Peng Shuai and demanding investigation .It's the hypocrisy, partisanship,and crude politicisation of these awful events in women's lives I can't stand .It's yet another cynical abuse of women for political purposes.They don't give a flying fuck when it comes down to it, just another opportunity to land some blows.
Every single Olympics being held in an adversary country has been hounded .The rooms aren't ready, its a total fuckup, the toilets don't work, human rights dictate that we have a boycott, Zika virus is running amok, don't go, there'll be riots, you won't be safe.Now its you tennis girls will be molested, we'll have to cancel
So, so predictable
Yes. I completely agree with you here – the political weaponisation of 'always believe the women' was both predictable and deplorable.
And once turned into a weapon it was always going to be selectively used to suit the agenda – as you rightly say in the Tara Reade case.
John Ralston Saul suggested all are corporate fascist.
JRS needs a cold Coke Zero and a lie down
aren't those two things relatively incompatible?
It’s not just JRS’s definition:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1221518-fascism-should-more-appropriately-be-called-corporatism-because-it-is
Well that does encompass the PRC more than any other nation I can think of other than say North Korea.
RL, you'd probably enjoy JRS, especially his book "On Equilibrium" which excoriates extreme ideology in favour of his notion of equilibrium, which he defines as a harmony of "common sense, ethics, creativity, intuition, memory and reason"
https://twitter.com/roblogic_/status/1332155870503866368?s=20
Looks interesting – although I don't do Twitter as a matter of principle. Nor FB for that matter.
However I can't help but note that in one breath the US is excoriated for the 'cult of individualism' that puts the individual interest ahead of the public – and in the next it's rotten with 'corporate fascism' that puts crushes the individual in pursuit of it's own state imposed interests.
It's all a bit incoherent.
Seems fairly logical that corporations would use "individualism" to market narcissistic crap and undermine class solidarity. That is far from the Enlightenment vision of elevating the individual human spirit
That is far from the Enlightenment vision of elevating the individual human spirit
Yes and that of course was a time when Christianity informed the basic narrative of society. In it's place we got materialism – which is the name I'd give to what you're speaking to.
please supply a link.
Its a book from JRS lectures.
https://www.johnralstonsaul.com/non-fiction-books/the-unconscious-civilization/
Sure, but I don't think this is what RL meant 😉
Red "I'm always impressed at how people are so ready to yell 'fascist' at the USA, while remaining silent on the actually fascist regimes around the world."
Yeah nah Red, you're out of line in demanding that I comment on all other fascist regimes around the world at the same time as commenting on US fascism. Where on earth do you get that from?
Listening to some regulars here you'd imagine the USA is the sole source of all evil in the world.
Yes, well maybe.. tho I suspect that is more a result of the view angle from behind your own eyes than anything else ..
And you went and derailed my whole comment by bringing in something that wasn't even in there… jeez…
My comment was around how things might play out if the US instead had a Mandela rather than a Trump. Or how South Africa at the end of apartheid might have gone with a Trump rather than a Mandela. And about genies and bottles, though I have never some across one of those myself…
My comment was around how things might play out if the US instead had a Mandela rather than a Trump. Or how South Africa at the end of apartheid might have gone with a Trump rather than a Mandela.
Interesting counterfactual. The only way I can think to approach an answer is this – if you were an educated black person and given a choice to live in either SA or the USA in 2021 – which would you pick?
Mandela
🤔 Whereabouts is there a country named Mandela? 😳
yes well you see that has been the problem the whole way through this mini-thread…. i talk about something (people – trump, mandela) and red talks about something else (countries)…
so i answered in the context of what i was talking about (people), not red (countries)…
and which would you go for gezza..? trump ? or mandela ?
does highlight such importance it does
If it was just a straight choice of 'who would you prefer as a leader' Trump or Mandela the answer scarcely needs typing out – Mandela. But this is pretty meaningless, because in no real world election was anyone ever going to have that choice.
Instead Americans got a choice between Trump and Clinton – and a majority picked Trump. Hell it's odds on they may pick him a second time.
It might be meaningless in the context you have put my question into but that isn't my intended context
Thinking through the question (which is ‘how would it have turned out’ not ‘who would you choose’) should highlight the importance of the person in charge to how a nation progresses through difficult times. (the question of how they got there is immaterial to this)
Upon completion of said ponderance thought can then turn to the consequences of having such leader (because how they got there is in fact immaterial at this important point).
Upon completion of said ponderance thought can then turn to the consequences of having such leader
Well yes – what were the consequences? And my answer attempted just that and asked which nation would you prefer to live in?
The obvious objection is of course that SA and the USA are very different places – but if leadership matters at all we might conclude that while Mandela was probably the best SA could hope for at that moment, the outcome in the long term is not very promising. And while the USA could certainly have hoped for better than Trump, he wasn't the unmitigated disaster many here would like to paint him as.
And if the answer to a choice between Mandela and Trump is obvious, the answer to a choice between living in SA and the USA is also plain.
What's not mentioned in this pearl clutcher is that the Democrats are on track to not only lose the up coming Senate elections, but the next Presidency as well. Never mind a 'rigged election system' – they simply cannot win on their current polling.
And this article reads as pre-positioning 'a stolen election' narrative all over again. Getting tedious.
Trump is right, the system is rigged. But not in the way that he claimed. Red and Blue teams are just distractions while Wall St pillages the public purse.
Yes Mr De Vega is getting in the catastrophising early, and agree it's parallel to the Republican catastrophising.
The uncommitted in either MSM viewers or Party affiliation are however very, very small so the drive to extremes is pretty apparent.
I like Biden but it's hard to see the next Democratic President coming through.
Watching Zeihan you have to remember he makes a living by presenting geopolitics in an entertaining fashion – but here's his take on the US:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afj2FPt4kqg
Thanks Red I'll book that for later viewing.
My vaccine passport disappeared so I had to reload it. Thanks google !
Keep an eye on that folks as tech 'upgrades' occur without asking for permission often.
Go to your Chemist and get a hard copy, then get it laminated Cheers. $2
Mine got downloaded to my gmail address 3 days ago. When I went to open & save it somewhere on my phone yesterday to show the visiting Occupational Therapist, it had come down with all my particulars missing. It’s just a blank pass.
Bloody shambles. I’ll have to go thru the whole process of requesting it & proving identity again. 😠
So, I assume some kind of system glitch ocurred when the system checked my particulars from my driver’s licence, told me I had successfully applied for my vaccine pass, & that it would be emailed to my gmail address, but all it delivered was a completely blank pass with my particulars name dob vax dates not specified on it.
Just tried 3 times to repeat the process. But couldn’t remember the password I used to register. (I wrote down the 6 digit verification code it sent me originally.)
No problem, thinks I. There’s a standard Forgot password? link underneath the password text field. I’ll just click on that & it’ll offer me the option of entering a new password (that this time I’ll write down!).
Nuh uh. All that does is loop me back constantly to the login email & password fields, which repeatedly tells me the password is incorrect. FFS!
High call volumes, & mass passport extensions, the blank pass & this sort of very obvious screw-up of what is an easy password reset experience everywhere else tells me that incompetence & inadequate testing are unfortunately likely features of the current system.
My vaccine passport disappeared so I had to reload it. Thanks google !
Thanks for that just checked mine and it's gone. My son said to look in google pay it mite be in there. But I don't have google pay.
I downloaded GooglePay as a way to store a persistent copy of the Vaccine Pass on the Android phone. Having an old phone I had to mess around making enough storage space to install GooglePay. I refuse to habitually and expensively upgrade my phone every couple of years to get assorted crap I don't want.
Anyway, it seems to work. Obviously from a speed of development perspective, integrating with existing tools/apps like GooglePay that are already out there is a much faster and smarter way of working than building and testing new stuff. But the whole thing does contain assumptions about how much spare cash people have to splash around on tech. Which sort of fits with all the hype about now being able to go to bars and restaurants in Auckland – who can afford that either except occasionally?
And even odder that we now equate 'freedom' with stuffing our gobs and bellies with expensive slops.
Has anyone been able to supply an explanation of what the My Vaccine Pass is exactly? (technically, for those that don't have one yet).
It's a QR code you carry around. Venues will scan it to check your vaccination status.
So it can be saved on your phone (generally in the secure wallet feature, where credit cards reside), or printed out.
Yes it can be easily circumvented. IMO it’s just another bit of pandemic safety theatre to reassure the public. But it will probably help weed out the really obnoxious antisocial types.
Ok, have I got this right?
The pass is supplied as a PDF file, which isn't the most convenient really (for opening on a phone etc). My household have printed and laminated ours.
There is an app on Google Play for androids, that will verify passes on a phone (my massage-therapist friend downloaded it this morning – was working fine). On scanning a QR code, the verification app simply displays the information that is already shown on the front of the pass and says whether it is valid (i.e. the digital signature is legit). The app doesn't upload or store data to my knowledge.
The app works offline, except for the first scan (this will be when it downloads the encryption public key). Presumably an app for iPhone also, but I wouldn't know.
yep, yep.
At the local cafe this morning they scanned it with another app called the "NZ Pass Verifier"
The data is not supposed to be collected or stored. It's only supposed to confirm the customer's vax status.
From the Privacy Policy (IMO technical loopholes are still possible)
As it's open source it may only be a matter of time before someone comes up with a custom version with a backdoor to pilfer your personal information.
You could certainly write an alternative app that harvested / stored / published on facebook all the data. There is nothing stopping this technically.
I expect this would be illegal of course, same as gathering and publishing your customer's private information by any other means.
In light of that, can you please also explain what this means from TC above?
I am guessing they simply lost the PDF file, possibly from a cloud storage service (e.g. google drive, gmail or something).
You can just get another one emailed to you from MOH.
ah, so "tech 'upgrades' occur without asking for permission often." is probably unrelated to the QR code?
I am guessing they simply lost the file, nothing to do with the QR code or the pass – could've just as easily lost a word document containing their favourite cake recipes…guessing!
There is a technical explanation here, including a link to even more technical info on Github and the full technical specification. It all is open source so the security can be examined by anyone.
It is not necessarily that easily circumvented, in the sense that it is difficult to produce a fake, verifiable pass with your details. You can produce a fake that visually looks like a legit pass, but it will be rejected by the verifier app.
The pass deploys asymmetric cryptography, which means the MOH has the private key and each QR code is signed so it can be verified with the freely-available public key. It is very difficult (near impossible) to produce a signature that matches the pass plain-text data, without possession of the private key.
Pretty easy to print several copies of a valid pass and share it around with your mates. Most businesses aren't going to double check against another form of ID
Yep, need to check against other (photo) ID to confirm the name matches the person.
Many close-contact businesses know all their customers by name already, and being asked for photo ID at entry of pubs, concerts etc is not unusual.
What I think is unfair and disadvantages poorer people, is the lack of free, easily-accessible photo ID, especially for young people (the vaccine pass requirement applies to everyone over 12 years old). The "kiwi access card" costs $55 and is only for people over 18 years old.
Agree as you say above. A drivers license is acceptable, but again not everyone has one of those. There was some debate a few years ago, as I recall, of the govt issuing an ID card. Lots of people against such a move because – privacy. But you can see that a card would have its uses in such a situation as we are now experiencing.
Easy. Not advisable:
I am not advising fraud or false declarations in any of my comments. Just thinking of possible weaknesses of the system.
Not advisable for them. Didn't say you were advising them.
But that's the first bit. Deterrence. That'll stop a few, although admittedly risk assessment is a problem for the potential crowd.
Then there's the fact that the name and date of birth come up. Even without parallel ID checks, if a middle-aged regular called "Charlie" comes up as 23 year old "Tristan", that's another issue altogether. And maybe Charlie is a bit of a dick. That might make someone care.
Is it completely perfect? Nope. Some vendors won't notice or care. But an organised effort has a high likelihood of quickly being identified, and the copied code being blacklisted when vendor apps receive the next update. Or even better, "contact police" coming up when it's tried.
That probably doesn't apply because entering somewhere in breach of Covid orders is not usually intended to gain pecuniary advantage by deception ("service" in that context is paid services, not something like service at a bar). It's a breach of the Covid order however and punishable by a hefty fine.
I'm no lawyer, fair call. But there'd be something dodgy as feck about it beyond the covid regs.
Forgery (s256) has some wider criteria.
I almost hope someone tries it – if it's not a dishonesty offence of some sort, it bloody should be and that might be the incentive for the government to do something about it.
The personal information in the pass is printed in plaintext on the front, and is in the QR code also. It is only:
– full name
– date of birth
– pass start date
– pass expiry date
thank-you!
found a pic too
Yes that's it. To display it on your phone you have to first verify that it is you ( the owner of the phone by password or finger print) and the mycovid website verifies that you are the owner of the phone before it initially sends the pass to the phone.
It is linked to your email address, not a device. Or in my case it was.
True, but if you want to register your phone as well they want to verify that as well obviously.
wait, what? So I can't just take a photo of the printed or emailed PDF and use that? How do they verify the paper copies?
Wait, what? I thought it was being emailed? Are you saying it's also an option to send it straight to a phone? How?
The email has a link so if you open the email on your phone, you press that link and it sends the qrcode to the app.
The medium (paper, photo, app, email) is irrelevant. All that matters is the QR code.
The QR code contains all the information required to both state whether you're vaccinated and to internally verify that the code is genuine.
I understand what the QR code is for. I don't understand the various techs being used, and consequently the privacy and security issues (and please, nobody tell me 'trust us it's safe').
What app?
I appreciate all the answers 👍 Just odd that there's no simple, all in one place explanation.
Sorry, it sends the QR code to the "digital wallet" the phone might have.
The only tech that is required is:
Everything else is up to the person who gets the pass. They can store it and present it however they want (paper print-out, photo on their phone, digital wallet on their phone, tattoo, stone tablet, literally anything), as long as a vendor's app can read the QR code.
Whether the person who gets the pass is opening themselves up to security issues based on the medium they choose is up to them.
If the vendor is using the official NZGovt app, that spec is online. If the vendor uses a third-party app developed using the spec, the only information that can possibly be compromised is the information about you in the QR code:
If you are using a phone to store your pass the easiest way on an android phone is to have the google pay app. You supposedly can get by, not having that app, but I found I needed to down load it to get past go. The thing is the google pay app is set up so you have to erify that you are the user each time you use it by setting up a PIN or in my case using a fingerprint. That protects your info from being accessed by someone else who may have got hold of your phone for nefarious reasons.
Once you have the google pay app on your phone and set up, the Vaccine pass set up is smooth. You can then set up a shortcut so that you do not have to access google pay – just a touch of a icon – verify you are the correct user, and hey presto there is your pass, as displayed in your photo above.
Macro, how is that easier than taking a photo and keeping that in a notes app?
I someone steals my phone I think them using my vax pass is the least of my worries.
thanks McFlock. I've probably got a wallet app on my iphone that I don't use for anything else, might use it for this, so good to know the full range of options.
Do most people not have their battery run down on their phone?
Weka Jacinda had a print of hers laminated and on the back of her phone. Cute.
Yes, she said on 7 Sharp she did that because she wasn’t very “techie” – or something along those lines.
that's cool.
Pass start date has been revoked so won't be on new passes.
https://abigailshrier.substack.com/p/why-marci-matters?
Ok so it’s all starting to come out now……
two top gender clinicians (who are also both transgender) admit that puberty blockers in some children may lead to the inability to orgasm……….Jazz Jennings the post child for transitioning (had her own reality tv series about it) being a Case in point.
gender ideologists want immediate affirmation and confirmation of young persons gender identity and access to medical transition without question…the idea that puberty blockers are harmless is untrue. They are experimental and we are only realising the harm they do
Under the proposed Conversion Practices Bill counsellors and parents are at risk of a police complaint and up to five years in jail if they query a young person desire to medically transition. It may not be how the law pans out, but I believe and there is some evidence for this, that that is how gender ideology activists want it to be. I base this on the submissions I heard and read to the select committee
I can only imagine the profound and bitter regrets these people will go through in later life.
Yes Redlogix. Not to mention fertility issues and permanant changes to their presentation e.g facial hair, deep voice, Adam's apple on a biological women who tranistioned then has regrets.
Its sad, but it is outrageous that some adults are enabling this.
This mania for de-sexing people is the akin to lobotomies and leeching. Bizarre social contagion.
Luxon giving stand-up in Auckland. Says the city should be at "green", doesn't want restrictions. Open up, all good.
He seems oblivious to reality.
It's also politically inept. There are many other issues to challenge the gov't on. He (or his advisers) should be saying "leave Covid alone, the polls on that speak for themselves".
https://twitter.com/nealejones/status/1466538219298721797
But good for business (big end of town!)
I've had a good search and I can't find a single qualified voice (public health, epidimeology etc) who thinks Auckland should simply drop all restrictions, right now.
It's incredible that Luxon would go doolally on this. I suppose he's relying on the "honeymoon" to deflect the obvious Qs.
If Ardern/Bloomfield said what Luxon just did there would be uproar.
Luxon doesn't even need to be serious about Auckland going green light. He knows he can't make that happen so it is a cheap way of getting those who are frustrated with restrictions on board. It is kind of a win win for him.
I agree he is only doing it for show, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a safe bet.
At this stage it may not hurt him but he doesn't need the Brian Tamaki fan club (1%), he needs the 20% who support the gov't on Covid but not on various other issues.
Statements like this on the record stack up over time.
I agree Observer. Its a strategy that could back fire. But he may still pick up votes from it. And its so easy saying how things should be and please those who want it that way, when you can't deliver.
Maybe he's dangerously emboldened by the rapturous fawning of the Herald/ZB sycophants – and is saying out loud the thing that should only be whispered among friends? Or maybe he reckons no-one's listening, the phone's off the hook and he can say all sorts of dumb sh*t with impunity?
Consistently irresponsible like Collins etc as expected.
Seriously!!! That's wacky
Totally! He's playing up to the Elite and Business class as per Air NZ – but even Air NZ are more responsible than that now.
There are over 6000 active cases of Covid in Auckland. 56 of yesterdays cases were active in the community. It took only 1 unknown case in the community to start this latest outbreak. True over 90% of eligible persons in Auckland are now fully vaccinated, but they are still 10's of thousands including all children under 12 who are not.
Not according to RNZ:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/457097/live-updates-traffic-light-system-operational-aucklanders-emerge-from-lockdown
I watched Luxon speak live. So did Stuff.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300469396/national-leader-christopher-luxon-says-auckland-should-be-in-green-traffic-light-setting-now
The Herald was listening too. There is no doubt about what he said:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-national-leader-christopher-luxon-says-auckland-should-be-in-green-setting/XDBNMH3T52JLBGXE3GEPFWBDMQ/
I just listened to it three times and i could not find where he used the word "green".
The RNZ link you posted above has now been edited:
"He told reporters that the city should have gone to the green setting"
I can't account for your hearing, I'm afraid. Are you listening to the whole stand-up or just clips?
I've been watching the one on stuff which is the only video of his statement in the three links.
(my bold)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/457097/live-updates-traffic-light-system-operational-aucklanders-emerge-from-lockdown
Yes i know the msm are reporting that. But he doesn't actually say that in the video interview as available. Perhaps he answered questions after or issued a press release?
You are quoting the RNZ interpretation of what they are claiming he said. As usual they are misquoting him because the Labour Party provided tax-payer funded grant to RNZ requires them to do so.
What Luxon did was to explain what the traffic light system was meant to represent. In particular Red was for when the health system was overwhelmed and the vaccination rates were low. As he said, and as the Government itself says, the vaccination rates in Auckland are high and there is no threat to overwhelm the hospitals.
If the Government was setting the colours as their system claimed they should then, as he pointed out they should have, following their own defined rules, have been displayed a Green light.
He then pointed out how stupid the traffic light system actually is and why National were opposed to it.
He never once advocated that Auckland should be Green, He simply pointed out that, using the Government explanation of their own system, they would have had to declare it to be Green.
As usual the msm journalists have chosen to misquote those MPs who are not on the left wing of politics. You have chosen to follow the party line.
Why don't you try listening to what he actually said during the question time instead of believing the bs that the reporter has invented?
The Stuff report has also been edited. Originally they said the Luxon had called for the whole city to be in Green. They have corrected it by adding the following,
"Clarification: An earlier version of this article said Luxon wanted Auckland to be in green. He in fact said that hospitality was ready for green, and National was against the traffic-light system. (Amended December 3, 2021, 2:14pm)"
As far as I can see they are the only ones to include the whole statement and answers he gave.
I never understand why people do this in online debate … make a claim and hope that nobody knows how to Google.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_tcvkM7wMw
https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/12/02/live-stream-nationals-luxon-speaks-to-media-on-auckland-visit/
As I commented above he simply pointed out that if the Government had followed the rules they had laid down for what the various colours meant they would have had to call it a Green zone.
So yes he does say to reporters in his opinion Auckland should have gone to green. What is there to misunderstand about that. The only thing you can take away from that sentiment is one of complete callousness or a complete failure to appreciate just how serious the threat of reinfection is. There are 6000 plus active cases in Auckland alone right now. Dozens of cases active in the community every day.
You didn't bother to listen to it did you?
You can't find him saying that can you?
I"m sorry my ears must have deceived me.
Or have you not had a recent auditory test? Go back and listen carefully this time. His words clearly imply that in his "humble" opinion Auckland should be in green. That is the clear impression he wants to give.
He's the devil !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU0ICJwCAi8
The overall best scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr-_vFQoCv8
The scene that never fails to make me laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I2-14y6-jM
Luxon gone by Christmas time.
What a complete tosser.
Out of the frypan into the fire.
Own goal .
Looks like he is trying to win votes back from ACT but leak more votes to Labour.
Conehead alien out of his depth.
Not cone head thanks, that just encourages name calling.
Yep Luxon sounds like a moaner and whinger already.
He's making a great…start.
apologies to the original composers
Baldfinger
'He's the man, the man with the Midas touch
A spider's touch
Such a cold finger
Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in
Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a swinging voter knows when he's kissed them
It's the kiss of death from
Mister Baldfinger
Voters beware of this heart of gold
This heart is cold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold'
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127175300/councillor-efeso-collins-puts-name-forward-in-aucklands-mayoral-race
Now that would be interesting. I’m not sure if Auckland voters are up for a left wing, Polynesian mayor. He’d win the South and West, might struggle with the isthmus and north of the bridge.
I think you might be surprised. We are ready for tis.
After 50 years of reading the Herald I have cancelled my subscription this morning.There has been no attempt by the paper at even handedness at all.I have had to endure endless carping from Prebble ,Hosking ,the ex national mp Fran O'Sullivan etc etc .Ireland an island has a population of 5million people like us and they have lost 5400 people to covid .I think we have lost 38 or there abouts.Instead of the endless specious arguments we should be celebrating what can only be described as a monumental success.
Just watching the 1pm presser with Grant Robertson.
With dropping cases and NZers embracing vaccination in overwhelming numbers, the questions are quite low key and amicable. Even Barry Soper was civil.
The Natz have an uphill task trying to fault this governments' world-leading response to Covid 19.
On top of that, the session only lasted about 40 minutes!
Agreed TV…when she said 92 at the presser I thought maybe, just maybe, with fierce contact tracing we can keep Covid at very low to negligible numbers…..if we keep MIQ at the borders of course.
But now we have 7-houses saying Auckland should go Green today-he would open the border today too.
He is saying he would open the border today.
Of course if his cobbers had got in in 2017 he wouldn't be opening the border today because faced with the pandemic they would've done things differently across the board. There would've been no lockdowns, no mandates on anything, Simon Thornley would've been their chief expert and everything would've been sweet.
He is all piss-and-wind because he can be and he knows cretinous National supporters will be orgasmic at having a 'sensible man of business' with a handle on covid reality at the helm. Joke.
I'm imagining him organising a cup of tea in Mt Eden with David Seymour. John Key did that to give Act one seat. I wonder if the new master businessman will be trying for a repeat to get the 10 seats back.
Heavens above. I thought he’d have had enuf sense to keep a low profile now until he’s announced his spokespeople allocations.
Looks like barking at every passing car in the hope of scoring some (old, already-committed National voters’) votes each time might be the strategy.
luxum will be so busy barking at passing cars, he will miss his appointment with seymour to have a cuppa. luckily ,his handlers will sort that out ,as well as satanising, sorry, sanatising his backstory. expect to see him at next big gay out , and at his local bunnings, backing a trailer in to pick up some handyman type thingies. expect to see his handlers try and put distance between john and notjohn . john in hawiian shirts, notjohn in blue shirts and preworn jeans . to pretend he's one of us, he might even cross the bridge one night and slum it at the speedway . rt wing polies have a habit of using speedway to pretend they are real kiwis. don brash frantically wedging into a midget. blenglish driving a stock car at baypark around the same time he went boxing, collins slumming at te marua(welly) speedway one night, that last one was really cringeworthy(crusher having to be nice to boy(and girl) racers) LOL.
if the Nats were in charge they would fudge the numbers and privatise the health system
The difference in roles in an airline.
I see the (ex) CEO is calling for Auckland's regime to be reduced to "green lights" forthwith.
Of course that's why he was a CEO and not the Pilot.
The pilot warns that there is a storm ahead and may have to depart from flight plans in order to minimise passenger discomfort and possible damage to the aircraft. The altered route may add a few minutes to the flight time and cost a little more in fuel.
The CEO, on the other hand, sitting in the relative comfort of Business Class, instructs the cabin crew to relay an order, "Sod the passenger discomfort – your instructions are to get this flight to its destination in the quickest and cheapest means possible!"
Enjoyed my first proper cafe visit this morning. Sat in the sunshine and scoffed my croissant. Then back to the salt mines. WFH ain't so bad in Parnell.. probably 20 cafe's in easy walking range
Interesting Roy Morgan poll today
Yes. Support for the Greens is 15.5%, among voters under 50. (That is consistent with other polls on climate change + environment, and the voter demographics).
Pretty clear lesson for National: don't drag your feet (like Labour) or worse, go into reverse. Over to you, Mr Luxon.
Here's a link
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8869-nz-national-voting-intention-november-2021-202112020109
If this keeps going it won’t be NAct…it’ll be ACTional !!
Or, L/G, Mp (49.5) are well ahead of NACT (44).
All depends on how one spins it 😉
I do think we shouldn't be complacent (and am aware I did say the other day that short of the arrival of someone charismatic like Key I couldn't see National winning the next election. ACT on the other hand…)
Its the trend darling
Also big thanks should be given to the divine Ms Collins for getting National back into the frame for a resounding National victory at the next election
Without Judith at the helm though, it would be a hollow victory.
I know there will be tears in the Rogue family home.
I weep manly tears at the thought of Jude the Captivating not fixing the woes of the country
I suspect she is too.
Another way to look at the latest CB Poll is
Labour 36.0%
NOTlabour 64.0%
Elections here are usually lost not won
another way to look at the latest poll is ; election is two years away. if we have learnt anything from the last two years(many havent) ,is that anything can happen between now and next election…..
a) it's not the latest CB poll, and b) we've had MMP for 25 years.
But I look forward to your idea of an ACT-National-NZF-Greens-TPM-TOP-NewCons coalition.
CB => Complete B…S
Get with the progrom!
Yep A multi-party coalition may well have a few stability problems …..