Another day, another piece of spin for the TPP from the Herald. This time it’s Audrey Young doing her owners’ bidding.
After years of not reporting it, now they seem to be advertising it.
Would you call those ‘spin’ also?
Seems to me The Herald is reporting both sides of the story.
Your problem is that you wake up each morning with only one eye open a bad case of confirmation bias.
what about the multiple audreys, frans, claires, etc etc
yes the herald does have some critical articles – but its pretty hard to deny that they arent engaging in a ramp up of once over lightly, put down the dissenters, spin articles
Ok – im really only looking at the opinion section there so will freely admit theres stuff i dont see
Produce an honest good number for the government – let’s do an easy one – How many houses has Nick Smith built in Auckland?
I’m betting it’s less than half a dozen.
This ‘government’ is completely worthless – they cost more and achieve less than any previous NZ government – and by golly the competition isn’t stellar.
You’ve heard of the phrase “false balance”, I’m sure.
I’m sure you are aware that there are actually several manifestations of ‘false balance’, including the very common use of it as an attempt to avoid bias.
So unless you have a specific allegation of a specific use of ‘false balance’ by The Herald? I’ll take it that you are simply pulling your usual trick of implying something dark and then leaving the believers to join up the dots in the way that best suits their personal bias.
Perhaps you’re even aware of the argument that it distorts public discourse.
Yes. And you may be aware of some of the objections and qualifications to that argument.
1. In order for ‘public discourse’ to be significantly distorted, a specific manifestation of ‘false balance’ would need to be consistently applied to a sufficiently large bloc of all available media.
In simple terms, in an environment where an educated public have access to many media sources, it is impossible for a single media outlet of the size of The Herald to produce enough bias to have an appreciable effect on ‘public discourse’. (This is why truly repressive Governments always have overt media control as a priority).
2. ‘Truly balanced’ reporting is an impossibility.
Except perhaps in a case where there are no factors involved that are open to dispute, and the protagonists to the issue are split a perfect 50/50 among the public. But when did that ever happen?
Most if not all Human issues are complex and there are as many different views of it as there are members of the public. How then does a journalist of editor judge what the perfect balance of reportage should be?
It is inevitable that ‘balance’ is to some degree subjective, and will vary across media outlets according to their judgement and personal inclination – and it will be nearly impossible for any one outlet to get balance perfect – let alone all outlets.
3. ‘Perfect balance’ is not actually desirable!
When you access The Guardian, or Independent, or Huffington Post, or Al Jazeera, or The Daily Blog, or The Standard…..do you want them to be ‘perfectly balanced’ in their reporting?
Or do you expect them to be showing a ‘balance’ of reporting somewhere in line with your own worldview of what is ‘right’ and ‘important’?
Think about it. What would the difference between those outlets be if each one was striving to achieve a ‘perfect balance’ of all different views? Fuck all eh?
And more disturbingly, think about what kind of mechanism would be necessary in order to establish a standard of ‘balance’, and how that would be imposed? Yup, we’re back in the territory of repressive governments again…
4. The Public have a critical faculty of their own with which to filter bias. This means that even when bias exists, it’s ability to ‘distort’ an individuals opinions is very limited.
‘Balance’ is actually provided by having a wide variety of free media outlets that are freely available to the public, and allowing the public free rein to choose among them, and make up their own minds about what they actually think.
Happily, That’s the situation here in Aotearoa, as reflected in our World Press Freedom ranking.
So I reckon you can stop worrying about Granny.
Did I quote The Herald? Did I say I was worried about them?
1. in an environment where an educated public have access to many media sources, it is impossible for a single media outlet of the size of The Herald to produce enough bias to have an appreciable effect on ‘public discourse’.
That depends what the other media sources report.
2. There’s no such thing as a “balance” between facts and bullshit. Take the “debate” about the Greenhouse Effect, for example.
3. If opinions can’t be swayed why does the National Party spend so much money on ratfucking and propaganda? Whither advertising? Why does Bill English say low income earners pay no tax while John Key says they’ll have to pay for the tertiary education budget?
In short, reporting lies isn’t “balance”. Facts don’t have sides. The “story” is as like as not “PM caught lying. Again”.
As i point out above. the fact that the NZ public has numerous free media outlets to freely access ensures that no one outlet can, or is, limiting the free flow of information.
There’s no such thing as a “balance” between facts and bullshit. Take the “debate” about the Greenhouse Effect, for example.
Of course there is no ‘balance’ between facts and bullshit. For the very obvious reason that there is a substantial blurred line between those two states. As a compulsive obfuscatator, you should know that better than most.
Yes, take Greenhouse debate. Over the many years since it was first raised (1824), how often have the ‘facts’ changed? How long were the ‘facts’ in debate before enough of a consensus emerged to establish even the basic premise as a widely accepted ‘fact’? Even now how many aspects of the effect are still in debate? How many ‘facts’ will change as research and debate evolve?
So tell me me OAB, over the years the evolving issue has been in the media, and so many ‘facts’ were unknown or in debate, how would journalists and editors have gone about ensuring that they were only printing ‘facts’?
In short, reporting lies isn’t “balance”. Facts don’t have sides. The “story” is as like as not “PM caught lying. Again”.
You seem to be assuming it is the role of the media to arbitrate the ‘truth’, and then filter the news so that ‘truth’ is all we have presented to us.
It is not of course.
The medias role is to present us with the whole glorious mess of stuff that is out there, and let us make up our own minds what is truth and what is lies.
I’ve read enough from you OAB to know that your problem with this is that you believe ‘the people’ are stupid empty vessels with no free will and therefore incapable of assessing the validity of what is put in front of them. Behind your complaints about the media, I sense a yearning for a Ministry of Truth that would do that for them.
If opinions can’t be swayed why does the National Party spend so much money on ratfucking and propaganda? Whither advertising? Why does Bill English say low income earners pay no tax while John Key says they’ll have to pay for the tertiary education budget?
See above. Because if you have a message you want to put in front of people and give them the opportunity to agree or disagree.
Once again, you are assuming that because a message is put in front of someone, it must influence them against their free will and own critical faculty.
It does not.
Does all advertising succeed? Does all political propaganda have the desired effect?
As Orwell said, “Propaganda is only effective with people who are already inclined to accept it”.
In short OAB, you and the others on this forum that have an unhealthy conspiracy tinged obsession with the theory that the media is the reason your ‘message’ is not being adopted by the majority of the people, need to drop that delusion.
The issue is with the message itself.
The medias role is to present us with the whole glorious mess of stuff that is out there, and let us make up our own minds what is truth and what is lies.
No, it isn’t: this is the very stuff of false balance. As I said: your beliefs say something about you: in this case that you don’t have the first inkling what a journal of record is.
Has it never occurred to you to wonder why people who’ve been overseas have a low opinion of our “news” media? Or why you Righties always think that academics have a left-wing bias, to the extent that you have to set up think tanks because you can’t pass peer review?
While you’re thinking about those questions of something to say, here’s another: if journalism consists of writing down any old shit and letting the public decide, why do we have s.68 of the evidence act and a Press Council?
What’s the matter? My answer didn’t fit your preconceptions? Or are you incapable of joining the dots between journalistic freedom, the rule of law, the bill of rights and money in politics?
Must I spell it all out for you in one syllable words?
You asked me what I’d do about this particular issue: I thought about it, and those are the things I’d do.
The matter is that you are avoiding making an honest answer to a perfectly straightforward question.
So yes, do please spell it out in very clear and simple terms.
If you genuinely believe the ‘measures’ you suggest would lead to a change in the ‘balance’ of media information in NZ, can you please explain exactly what the specific ‘mechanisms’ would be that cause that change?
I honestly don’t know if I can be bothered. It’s difficult, teaching is so much harder than learning, whine whine it’s too hot and humid for that kind of effort please don’t make me.
1. Getting money out of politics: propaganda relies on repetition, effective repetition costs money.
2. The BoRA provides tools by which the citizenry can defend themselves against institutional wrongdoing.
3. The rule of law makes politicians (and the Crown) answerable to the same rules as everyone else.
4. Te Tiriti O Waitangi is the founding document of our nation – it also provides checks and balances against authoritarian predations.
See, that wasn’t so hard was it? I even had to think.
I asked you specifically about mechanisms that would change the way The Media currently apply (false) ‘balance’.
None of the measures you quote contain any such mechanism?
1. Would change the way Political Parties put forward information, but it would not effect the ability of The Media to present that information with what ever ‘balance’ they chose.
2, 3, and 4 are all existing structures that are part of the environment The Media currently operate under, and so without changing them in some way, they contain no mechanism that would require The Media to change their behavior.
So the measures you quote would have no effect what so ever in addressing ‘false balance’ or the publication of ‘lies’ in The Media?
As for 2, 3 and 4, they’re insufficiently entrenched. Entrenching them would assist opportunities that are presently being throttled by vested interests.
If you believe that wouldn’t change local media behaviour I suggest you try thinking about it.
“Why do you say “require” the media to change? Is your authoritarian bias showing?
No, YOU are the one who started this thread with a complaint about about Media ‘false balance’, and YOU are the one saying it would be desirable to change that.
I’m just very interested to know how specifically you would go about it.
On that note, you are still talking in exceeding vague terms OAB.
Specifically HOW would you further entrench 2,3,4? Specifically WHAT opportunities would that ‘assist’? Specifically HOW would that change media behaviour?
And, if you ‘took the money’ out of politics, specifically HOW would that alter the ability of the media to chose to publish whatever political ‘balance’ they chose?
These should be easy questions to answer in a straightforward manner?
Your entire bullshit rests on the fatuous drivel that I want to compel the media to do things my way. Are you so fucking dense you can’t conceive other ways to affect change?
That’s all you’re getting this evening – I’m having far too much fun afk.
Nah, still can’t be bothered: what’s the point in explaining it to you again – especially since you seem to think shouting at me is some sort of debating strategy.
You advocate moves to to ‘change the balance of power’, but you are not willing to be specific about exactly what you mean by politspeak phrases like “Entrenching them would assist opportunities”.
Naturally, I always see a flag raised when people are not willing to openly discuss their proposals. After all the discussion around that very point re. the TPPA, i thought most people here agree secrecy is a very bad thing.
So what is your reason for not being willing to openly specify how you would ‘adjust the balance of power’?
At a rough guess, I’d say your references to ‘authoritarianism’ above are a clue.
You know that there is no way you can ‘adjust the balance of power’ without invoking mechanisms that most people would see as increasing the level of the states involvement / control in such matters. You might look a bit like you were advocating something that was authoritarian in short.
‘Remove money from politics’ and ‘Further entrench Te Tiriti O Waitangi, BORA, The rule of Law, are not specifics OAB, they are generalities.
They give as no indication what so ever as to exactly what specific changes to those mechanisms or their role in law you would propose.
The devil is in the detail as they say, and frankly the range of possibilities you leave open by being so vague is extremely wide, if not open ended. Under that circumstance I think it is only fair to have a healthy interest in what the details might be?
So if you have nothing to hide, it should be no problem for you to detail a few of the specific changes you would make to those mechanisms in order to adjust the balance of power?
That’s a straight forward enough question isn’t it?
Do you understand the meaning of the word ‘entrench’ in this context? It’s self-explanatory.
Similarly, repairing the rule of law is self-explanatory. It probably involves little more than re-funding the various watch-dogs the National Party has ratfucked. Perhaps a firm statement from the AG to the judiciary re-establishing the Crown’s commitment. After that leave it to the bench.
As for getting money out of politics, some variation on ‘one person one dollar one vote’ might work, and I’d like to see info on how other countries address the issue before going any further.
‘Entrench’ is obvious. It means you would change the current status of some legislation in relation to those mechanisms.
What exactly you would change, and therefore how deep the ‘entrenchment’ went…..?
It’s a bit like a mechanic telling you he is going to ‘repair’ your car, and when you asked him ‘how’ he was going to repair it, he answers that he has already explained that he is going to he is going to repair it…isn’t that self explanatory ad nauseum.
As for getting money out of politics, and theories like the ‘one person, one dollar, one vote’ thing, yes they are very problematic.
I do note however, that there does not seem to be much debate around such things in NZ?
Perhaps that is because there isn’t actually much of a concern that money is in fact significantly distorting the democratic will of the people here?
Are you aware of any credible research that suggest it is?
lol
so sheepy doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Big surprise there /sarc
“Entrench” has a precise meaning. When a precise meaning is applied to specific documents, then that constitutes a specific, exact, and straightforward description of the action under consideration.
Hi Molly (1.1.4) – Yes, Seems this is a habit of NZH. It puts opinions across, sometimes inviting comments, but doesn’t open the article for debate. On the odd occasion, the opinion piece is open for discussion, but that’s the case more often than not, usually well after the topic has been relegated far into the realms of history!
I guess that keeps a smooth and even playing field for msm’s dear leader.
Eight years of incompetent and reckless mismanagement of the economy and we are starting feel the effects.
When are Key and his clowns going to be held to account?
Thanks i read the link. Can’t find anything in it to say john key is to blame for the fall dairy prices. May we can blame key for the drop in oil as well.
John Key is responsible for everything bad that happens anywhere in the world.
He was, after all, the one who created the Ebola virus and is almost certainly the person who has unleashed the Zika virus as well.
To keep up with the play you only need to remember one thing.
“Everything is John Key’s fault”
True.
Both the cricket and the tennis.
On the other hand I am quite willing to forgive him fixing the outcome of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups.
I never forgave the last lot for messing up the 2007 competition’s result.
It is quite hard for National to totally avoid figures from the underworld.
National sit on the Speaker’s right. The underworld figures sit directly opposite them on the Speaker’s left, all 32 of them.
National MPs have to sit there and look at them.
I blame the 2007 cock-up on Helen not keeping the arrangements in her own office. H2 would have so terrified the other teams they would have thrown the games. Instead she passed it over to that twerp Trevor Mallard.
It only seem’s like yesterday that Key and Co were prepared to take credit for the headline act of the rock star economy – Taranaki -. The land of black & white “gold”. Of course the diminishing returns on both commodities is out of the control of government, but so also is being able to claim any credit when returns were great.
John Key and National are to blame because they supported, both through legislation and rhetoric, the ramping up of the dairy sector. They should have been pushing diversification instead.
Is it just me or did the Tory idiots on this board, just take a statement which blamed this national government for economic mismanagement, and turn it into commentators on the standard bagging Key.
Paul did say ” Key and his clowns”, which means this national government.
Poor Tory scum, who have to twist things to feel better.
New information released by the board shows 44 people had cancelled the service since January 18… In explanation, the board said it had not been aware of cancellations handled by its own staff, and only counted cancellations handled by Compass Group…
Grey Power has taken issue with a claim it gave good feedback to the meals in a taste-testing session held last year.
In a statement, Ms Heatly said Grey Power and others gave “positive feedback” after the sessions.
Grey Power Otago president Jo Millar said this was incorrect, and she believed the situation was misrepresented.
Mrs Millar said the test meals were not good, and the group was told there was an issue with the oven.
Yesterday, it was 11 cancellations (but the link to that article on the ODT is 502 broken, this update has the gist):
Information provided to the Otago Daily Times this afternoon shows 44 people have cancelled in the past two weeks – not 11 as the board previously said.
Even 11 cancellations would be a 4.4% in a fortnight, which if it continued at the same rate would leave no one by the end of the year. 44 of 250 is 17.6%, and if continued would go to zero by April!
In these days of mass communication and the worlds cultures exposed and crashing into each other all over the place, it seems it is very difficult to avoid sensitivities in many many places, simply because people do not know of said sensitivities….
I really don’t think it is that hard to either get it right or err on the side of caution.
i’m calmish at the moment but later on i’m going to allow my anger to come forth. I’m very disappointed that this shit is happening here – but maybe I’m just not taking the hint eh.
Yeah I see that. Perhaps in this world of crashing cultures people should err on the side of caution.
After all, that is what we all do when we go into people’s homes – err on the side of caution. We don’t go in and barge around with no manners – that would just be plain rude.
It might take some more time for the internet culture to grasp these things though – it is still rough, young, and raw imo.
In the days of mass communication and 40 years of the Māori renaissance into the view of Pākehā, how is it that the left wing is still so ignorant of such matters?
I don’t mean ignorant as pejorative, just a statement of fact about our (Pākehā) lack of knowledge. When I saw the picture I had a pretty negative gut reaction to it (there was something very wrong with it), considered saying something but didn’t know what to say and then scrolled on past. As soon as marty posted that it was offensive, I went ‘duh!’, of course. Even with the little bit of exposure to te Ao Māori that I’ve had, I know that there are issues with both messing with heads, and messing with ritual.
If we (all of us) want left wing spaces to be anything other than Pākehā dominant, this is not the kind of thing we can get wrong. Also, we (Pākehā) do get this stuff wrong a lot, so it’s not about having a go at whoever put it up, but I think there is an opportunity here to learn and to change.
I think the image should be removed, in the same way if a misogynistic image had been put up it should be removed too.
Maybe the image should have been removed. But removing it now means that any discussion around it becomes meaningless.
I saw it last night (prior to any comments about it) and felt very uncomfortable with it, but couldn’t quite articulate why. Because I couldn’t pin down exactly what was wrong with it, I didn’t comment, and just moved on. I still can’t. Maybe I’ll get there and the penny will drop.
Heads are of no particular significance to me, so the source of my discomfort isn’t the same as for Marty being offended. Regardless, the image comes across as (somehow) just plain fucking wrong and racist.
How’d I feel if it was pigs heads or some such? How’d I feel if it was pigs bodies? The former would be as similarly (though maybe more obviously) fucked up as the one posted, and the latter would be just another photo mash up.
Maybe I’ll come back to this conversation later today and see if the penny drops.
the ignorance around Māoridom on here is astounding and disgusting. Fucking embarrassing – seriously I don’t know why I bother – oh that’s right I’m trying to help alleviate ignorance – waste of time
that is not directed solely at you bill as I’m sure you will realise but ffs
I agree with that and fully acknowledge my understanding of Māoridom is woeful. But having said that, is knowledge of Māoridom really necessary in this instance marty?
If it is, then ignorance of a specific cultural perspective potentially serves to get perpetrators of offence off the hook.
I mean, if a similar photo had been produced with the heads photo-shopped onto the bodies of some First Nations people, I’d have had the same basic reaction.
For me, as best as I articulate at the moment, there is something unacceptable about presenting an image that over-lays colonised peoples/cultures with expressions or signifiers of colonial dominance.
That perspective is neither ‘right’ nor ‘wrong’, ‘adequate’ or ‘inadequate’…just illustrative of the fact that there can be a number of roads leading to the same basic conclusion.
Except the issues around heads and ritual, if not learned about, just come up again in another context some other time and so it goes on, because we ignored the specifics. So yes, it’s good to recognise the general racism issues and on our own terms, but it’s also vital that we learn what is important to Māori.
Criticising/understanding the image from a Tau Iwi perspective is useful, but not if it’s done at the expense of understanding the Māori one.
It’s not just about this one image, it’s about the fact that this space is still so bad at this, and the only way to remedy that is to learn some tikanga Māori. That’s honouring the Treaty too.
Which brings me to the fact that as much as I’d love to hear and would welcome marty’s thoughts at this point (and other Māori Standardistas), it’s not up to him (or other Māori) to educate Tau Iwi here about what the specific issues are. Thankfully we have the internet now and there’s no reason why some non-Māori here can’t go and educate ourselves. I don’t think the internet is the best way to learn what’s important by any means, but at least we do have resources in the public domain from Māori, and Tau Iwi who have done the mahi of listening to Māori directly on Māori terms. It’s the least we can do to get up to speed with those. Then perhaps we might find that Māori are willing to be here and engage more.
Is it really necessary (web wise) to have comprehensive knowledge of particular cultures in order to not offend people?
If it is, then when and where do we find the time to lift our heads from all that cultural immersion of the 1001 cultures we’ve indulged in?
And how does one ‘correctly’ navigate instances where aspects of particular cultures are themselves considered offensive to, contradict or clash with, one’s own?
In the final analysis I’d rather a world with no cultural identities or tradition given the nonsense and conflict it all has and does give rise to, but hey…
…in the meantime, and in recognition that I can’t learn, store or reconcile all the cultural and traditional knowledges out there, I’ll just have to settle for using whatever (culturally informed 😉 ) common sense and sensibility or empathy I have in order to avoid inadvertently and somewhat pointlessly offering up offence.
you live here Bill maybe start with the cultural aspects of this country – Waitangi Day is here – go to a marae for the ‘celebration’ – that might be a good first step
really sorry you’ve had to deal with this marty. Thanks for taking us to task despite it all. I’ll support you in any way I can if you want more to happen here (I’ve got my own RL mahi going on over the next few days so will be in and out). I’m doing some thinking about what I can do otherwise as well. Hope you can take good care of yourself too.
Marty, please forgive my ignorance: how far does the sacred nature of the head extend? For example, does it apply to (say) drawn caricature? Or doodling on a newspaper photograph? Pakeha have been juxtaposing heads and bodies to comic effect for centuries. That’s not meant to be some sort of excuse it’s just true.
My atheist side wants to reject the whole notion of “sacred” as I would any other mumbo pocus, and yet these are the terms I employ to ridicule the religions and spirituality of my own culture, and I feel quite uncomfortable with them in this context, as I would for example, in going to a Buddhist or Hindu country and mocking their beliefs.
I think this example that pissed me off was too far. Whether sacred or special the head is used as a target for insult and ridicule across the board here and elsewhere – just got to be careful about who to and how specific.
I’m okay with that approach from the atheist side too – I prefer it to the ‘my god is better’ approach of other belief systems.
“Maybe the image should have been removed. But removing it now means that any discussion around it becomes meaningless.”
I think the standard group should take it’s direction directly from Māori on that rather than deciding what is meaningful or not (I’m sidestepping the whole anarchic, who makes decisions etc thing). Which means not just listening but making an effort to find out (thanks for your comment btw).
Thanks for putting your hand up as one of the most ignorant people in the room (quite an achievement that) as well as one of the biggest shit stirrers. Well done BM.
Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.
I think that’s looking at it arse about face: in any given situation (especially one which might further your interests), would you rather give offence deliberately or from ignorance?
Had I seen marty’s comment last night (not to mention the others) it would have reinforced my gut reaction and I’ve have replaced the image. (Without my gut reaction, the same action would likely have been taken)
The point I was making here is that time has elapsed and that a conversation has ensued – one that might be productive, but also one that would seem to rely on the source of the discussion being available.
It’s been done. It’s shit. Hitting a delete button now doesn’t undo what’s been done..doesn’t catch shit from sailing towards the fan.
That makes sense and if it were say a gender issue I might agree (depending on the image). I guess my point is that it’s not up to us to decide whether that takes predecent because we don’t have the cultural knowledge on which it make the decision.
The ensuing conversation can still happen, it just requires those of us who have seen the image to explain what the issues are. That’s probably a good thing, because it makes it about the cultural safety issue rather than that particular photo.
I chose the picture. I can recall a while ago using the Key picture with the tattoed Merril Lynch face and you raised concern and I was happy to take it down and have not used it since.
I thought about this when I chose this picture but I did not think it would cause offence because Maori have made a very principled decision concerning the TPPA and the picture was to poke fun at the Government and its lack of Maori support.
Clearly I will need to recalibrate my thinking on the issue.
My apologies for my lack of sensitivity and causing distress.
The current media frenzy over Key/Harawiras /Waitangi is great publicity and the result will be reported as positive for Key.
Greatest show in Aotearoa written and produced by Crosby Textor.
The US Senate will not be voting on the TPP in 2016. So we won’t see any vote on it until after the presidential election most likely.
And the 4 possible Presidents – Hillary, Bernie, Ted Cruz, and Trump – all say they oppose the TPP. So is the TPP dead? Well, maybe at least for another year…
The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto. The Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law… the bill does not become law, unless each house of Congress votes to override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
If you follow the links: “Historically, the Congress overrides the Presidential veto less than 10% of the time”. Although that was 33% of GW Bush’s 12 vetos and 0% so far of Obama’s 9. FDR had 635 vetos with only 9 over-ridden!
The Congress cannot negotiate or pursue trade agreements itself, it can only vote on them. Only the President can actually do the negotiation, bring it to the Congress, and then sign it.
And in latest competition removal news fletchers look to acquire higgins. Higgins were bought into rangiriri bypass on sh1 as fletchers screwed the first earthmoving crowd so hard they went broke.
So send one out of business then buy one of the remaining players, tough decision for fletchers that one.
Clearly all the people spending so much time commenting on this site don’t live in Wellington.
At the moment it a warm (well 26C) day with an absolutely cloudless blue sky and the barest hint of a breeze. I have just come inside to collect my togs to go to the beach.
It is far to nice to waste any more time indoors.
It doesn’t rhyme very well but locals here are singing “wonderful, wonderful Wellington, salty old dame of the sea”.
Eat your heart out jafas. I believe you are cloudy and it is very windy.
Seems Alwyn and his now banned stablemate fisiani are Wellington people and that makes a lot of sense because their glossy views on the state of the nation are consistent with a Wellington centric outlook on life. Basically, it’s the same old right wing mantra: I’m alright, so why can’t you be too?
Well, speaking as a life-long resident of Welling-on-Sea, New Zealand’s answer to the French Riviera (in fact, some would go as far as saying The Venice of the South), can I just say that Wellington is second only to Dunedin in its Left-leaning proclivities (alwyn and fisi represent a dysfunctional, Tory-leaning minority of grizzled malcontents).
The good burghers of my unusually fetching city (very much Cinderella to Jaffaville’s Ugly Big Sister*) are significantly to the Left of that humid, half-crazed cultural wasteland in the North.
* I suspect I’ll pay dearly for the previous 3 words.
You are generous, Anne, and it’s a credit to you. I’ve not time for the incessant barbed attacks on social responsibility from the likes of Alwyn and fisiani.
An attempt at the joke from these types leaves me cold.
Eat your heart out jafas. I believe you are cloudy and it is very windy.
You have been misinformed. Beautiful sunny day (27 degrees) with a cooling easterly breeze. A few small and harmless cumulous clouds wafting by to give brief respite from the wall to wall sunshine.
I believe you. And I believe DTB.
On a day as gorgeous as this I will believe almost anything.
I looked at one of the weather sites which said that about Auckland.
It is now still calm and clear and the temperature is back down to 26C. According to the Met Office it got to 28C, although the thermometer in my car said 30C (in the shade).
“Wonderful, wonderful etc, etc.”
…Why is Europe not looking at the root causes of the refugee crisis?
…Are the ordinary people being listened to ?
…or are political elites foisting their views against the will of the people of sovereign democratic nations?
….Issues of listening to the grassroots opinions of indigenous people in sovereign nations on mass refugee influx /immigration ….and its effects on sovereignty and cultural identity of nations
“When it comes to mass migration and the current refugee crisis hitting the EU, it is getting harder and harder to remain an idealist. The reality is that Europe not only must manage its external borders, but also internal ones. There are of course economic issues to deal with, but what about the importance of culture?
CrossTalking with Marcus Papadopoulos, Matthew Goodwin and Alan Posener.”
Mike “I Agree With Matthew” Williams is now
spouting nonsense about AMERICAN politics The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 3 March 2016
Jim Mora, Simon Pound, Mike Williams, Julie Moffett
The Pre-Panel segment today is, once again, vacuous and determinedly trivial. As usual, they say nothing interesting….
JULIE MOFFETT: Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is selling three of his luxury Porsches. That’s out of his collection of 47.
JIM MORA: He’s got 47 has he?
JULIE MOFFETT:[curtly, after a significant pause] Yes.
MORA: They’d stop being drivable wouldn’t they, just languishing in the garage?
JULIE MOFFETT: They’re not languishing, he’s got a full-time mechanic working on them.
MORA: He’s got a mechanic?
….et cetera, ad nauseam….
An hour later, they’re discussing American politics with about the same level of insight you’d expect on Larry “Lackwit” Williams’ Drivetime program over on NewstalkZB….
MIKE “I AGREE WITH MATTHEW” WILLIAMS: Ted Cruz is an extremist, and so is Bernie Sanders.
On the plus side, Simon Pound was both lucid and intelligent, but the sad fact is that this program has ten Mike Williams equivalents for every Simon Pound.
The right wing media are loving this. The plaintive cries from Hosking, Ralston, and Williams that the office of the prime minister should be respected on this issue, the issue of the prime minister’s right to attend Waitangi falls on deaf ears as far as I’m concerned because the it has been the prime minister himself who has disrespected the office in recent times…
His kid’s baseball over Kiwi soldiers
Presides over increasing public sector corruption
Calls a red top ‘gay’ in perforative terms
Ignores the OIA and is comfortable with it
Harasses waitresses in their place of work
Sets the SIS on the leader of the opposition
Texts his bud, hate speech peddler, Cameron Slater
Jokes with the Chilean government about a killer his corrections dept just released
Entertains shock jocks…
…and participates in jokes about prison rape
Chops and changes ministers to minimise accountability
I am reminded of the vitriolic response by the media (including the Herald) when Helen Clark forsook going to Waitangi and attended another ceremony in the South Island- I think. And the reason why she didn’t attend was because she had previously been denied speaking rights. Helen (rightly) took that as an insult to her as a female political leader and also women across the board.
The one that gets me is Armstrong’s ‘Resign Cunliffe’ rant. Even Armstrong was ashamed of it – not in time to save the election of course.
Helen handled it about right – though she didn’t have a good answer to it on the day she got disrespected.
Key should be there as PM – but speaking rights are not a given – if I were Maori I wouldn’t want him grandstanding from Waitangi. He should go to listen – God knows he never does anywhere else.
No Daily Review so will leave here
Methinks the NAct government is in a bit of a tizz!
Just had call from David Farrar’s Curia outfit. Started out with the usual. Who are you voting for… why etc.etc. Went on to ask “which is the best party for:
1. the economy
2. housing
3. education
4. immigration
5. employment issues
and there were others.
Next:
Who is the best political leader – rate them from 1 to 5 with 5 being the top score.
Who is the strongest leader – ditto
Further questions on what you look for in a leader.
At the end of all that:
Who will win the next election.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
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. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
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 ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
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. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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, Thursday 28 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
Another day, another piece of spin for the TPP from the Herald. This time it’s Audrey Young doing her owners’ bidding.
After years of not reporting it, now they seem to be advertising it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11583642
And if you go to the Politics page of the Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=280) you will also find the 2 articles below that are highly critical of the TPPA Paul.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11583470
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11573810
Would you call those ‘spin’ also?
Seems to me The Herald is reporting both sides of the story.
Your problem is that you wake up each morning with only one eye open a bad case of confirmation bias.
2 goulds – hmm
what about the multiple audreys, frans, claires, etc etc
yes the herald does have some critical articles – but its pretty hard to deny that they arent engaging in a ramp up of once over lightly, put down the dissenters, spin articles
Ok – im really only looking at the opinion section there so will freely admit theres stuff i dont see
If its anything positive for the government its spin, if its anything negative for the government then its good, honest, unbiased reporting
This (below) was interesting.
Who is Gregory Baughen?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11573810
wow
spin isnt defined by a binary + or – argument is it
I guess the people who were in favour of the editorial about the Green costing proposal the other day won’t be quite as keen on today’s editorial.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11583567
True.
Produce an honest good number for the government – let’s do an easy one – How many houses has Nick Smith built in Auckland?
I’m betting it’s less than half a dozen.
This ‘government’ is completely worthless – they cost more and achieve less than any previous NZ government – and by golly the competition isn’t stellar.
Seems to me The Herald is reporting both sides of the story.
You’ve heard of the phrase “false balance”, I’m sure.
Perhaps you’re even aware of the argument that it distorts public discourse.
It might pay you to think about this a bit harder. Yes, that again.
You’ve heard of the phrase “false balance”, I’m sure.
I’m sure you are aware that there are actually several manifestations of ‘false balance’, including the very common use of it as an attempt to avoid bias.
So unless you have a specific allegation of a specific use of ‘false balance’ by The Herald? I’ll take it that you are simply pulling your usual trick of implying something dark and then leaving the believers to join up the dots in the way that best suits their personal bias.
Perhaps you’re even aware of the argument that it distorts public discourse.
Yes. And you may be aware of some of the objections and qualifications to that argument.
1. In order for ‘public discourse’ to be significantly distorted, a specific manifestation of ‘false balance’ would need to be consistently applied to a sufficiently large bloc of all available media.
In simple terms, in an environment where an educated public have access to many media sources, it is impossible for a single media outlet of the size of The Herald to produce enough bias to have an appreciable effect on ‘public discourse’. (This is why truly repressive Governments always have overt media control as a priority).
2. ‘Truly balanced’ reporting is an impossibility.
Except perhaps in a case where there are no factors involved that are open to dispute, and the protagonists to the issue are split a perfect 50/50 among the public. But when did that ever happen?
Most if not all Human issues are complex and there are as many different views of it as there are members of the public. How then does a journalist of editor judge what the perfect balance of reportage should be?
It is inevitable that ‘balance’ is to some degree subjective, and will vary across media outlets according to their judgement and personal inclination – and it will be nearly impossible for any one outlet to get balance perfect – let alone all outlets.
3. ‘Perfect balance’ is not actually desirable!
When you access The Guardian, or Independent, or Huffington Post, or Al Jazeera, or The Daily Blog, or The Standard…..do you want them to be ‘perfectly balanced’ in their reporting?
Or do you expect them to be showing a ‘balance’ of reporting somewhere in line with your own worldview of what is ‘right’ and ‘important’?
Think about it. What would the difference between those outlets be if each one was striving to achieve a ‘perfect balance’ of all different views? Fuck all eh?
And more disturbingly, think about what kind of mechanism would be necessary in order to establish a standard of ‘balance’, and how that would be imposed? Yup, we’re back in the territory of repressive governments again…
4. The Public have a critical faculty of their own with which to filter bias. This means that even when bias exists, it’s ability to ‘distort’ an individuals opinions is very limited.
‘Balance’ is actually provided by having a wide variety of free media outlets that are freely available to the public, and allowing the public free rein to choose among them, and make up their own minds about what they actually think.
Happily, That’s the situation here in Aotearoa, as reflected in our World Press Freedom ranking.
So I reckon you can stop worrying about Granny.
Did I quote The Herald? Did I say I was worried about them?
1. in an environment where an educated public have access to many media sources, it is impossible for a single media outlet of the size of The Herald to produce enough bias to have an appreciable effect on ‘public discourse’.
That depends what the other media sources report.
2. There’s no such thing as a “balance” between facts and bullshit. Take the “debate” about the Greenhouse Effect, for example.
3. If opinions can’t be swayed why does the National Party spend so much money on ratfucking and propaganda? Whither advertising? Why does Bill English say low income earners pay no tax while John Key says they’ll have to pay for the tertiary education budget?
In short, reporting lies isn’t “balance”. Facts don’t have sides. The “story” is as like as not “PM caught lying. Again”.
That depends what the other media sources report.
As i point out above. the fact that the NZ public has numerous free media outlets to freely access ensures that no one outlet can, or is, limiting the free flow of information.
There’s no such thing as a “balance” between facts and bullshit. Take the “debate” about the Greenhouse Effect, for example.
Of course there is no ‘balance’ between facts and bullshit. For the very obvious reason that there is a substantial blurred line between those two states. As a compulsive obfuscatator, you should know that better than most.
Yes, take Greenhouse debate. Over the many years since it was first raised (1824), how often have the ‘facts’ changed? How long were the ‘facts’ in debate before enough of a consensus emerged to establish even the basic premise as a widely accepted ‘fact’? Even now how many aspects of the effect are still in debate? How many ‘facts’ will change as research and debate evolve?
So tell me me OAB, over the years the evolving issue has been in the media, and so many ‘facts’ were unknown or in debate, how would journalists and editors have gone about ensuring that they were only printing ‘facts’?
In short, reporting lies isn’t “balance”. Facts don’t have sides. The “story” is as like as not “PM caught lying. Again”.
You seem to be assuming it is the role of the media to arbitrate the ‘truth’, and then filter the news so that ‘truth’ is all we have presented to us.
It is not of course.
The medias role is to present us with the whole glorious mess of stuff that is out there, and let us make up our own minds what is truth and what is lies.
I’ve read enough from you OAB to know that your problem with this is that you believe ‘the people’ are stupid empty vessels with no free will and therefore incapable of assessing the validity of what is put in front of them. Behind your complaints about the media, I sense a yearning for a Ministry of Truth that would do that for them.
If opinions can’t be swayed why does the National Party spend so much money on ratfucking and propaganda? Whither advertising? Why does Bill English say low income earners pay no tax while John Key says they’ll have to pay for the tertiary education budget?
See above. Because if you have a message you want to put in front of people and give them the opportunity to agree or disagree.
Once again, you are assuming that because a message is put in front of someone, it must influence them against their free will and own critical faculty.
It does not.
Does all advertising succeed? Does all political propaganda have the desired effect?
As Orwell said, “Propaganda is only effective with people who are already inclined to accept it”.
In short OAB, you and the others on this forum that have an unhealthy conspiracy tinged obsession with the theory that the media is the reason your ‘message’ is not being adopted by the majority of the people, need to drop that delusion.
The issue is with the message itself.
In fact, journalism involves a fair degree of fact-checking.
The rest of your bullshit says something about you, and nothing whatsoever about me.
‘Bullshit’ that you have no counter arguments to?
O.K.
Since your bullshit consists of assertions about me, what “argument” do I need other than to point out that fact?
Why don’t you get a PR company or think tank to figure out an answer for you: it’s not like anyone credible would waste their time.
The medias role is to present us with the whole glorious mess of stuff that is out there, and let us make up our own minds what is truth and what is lies.
No, it isn’t: this is the very stuff of false balance. As I said: your beliefs say something about you: in this case that you don’t have the first inkling what a journal of record is.
you don’t have the first inkling what a journal of record is.
Yes, but i don’t see what that has to do with the discussion above, unless it is that you think we should have one?
Here’s a little clue: journal, journalism.
Has it never occurred to you to wonder why people who’ve been overseas have a low opinion of our “news” media? Or why you Righties always think that academics have a left-wing bias, to the extent that you have to set up think tanks because you can’t pass peer review?
While you’re thinking
about those questionsof something to say, here’s another: if journalism consists of writing down any old shit and letting the public decide, why do we have s.68 of the evidence act and a Press Council?Think.
If you believe the current situation is not satisfactory OAB, what changes would you advocate?
Get money out of politics.
Entrench te Tiriti O Waitangi and the BoRA.
Repair the rule of law.
A bit shy about giving a honest answer OAB?
This is an honest debating forum, so I’d really like you to answer my question directly please.
What’s the matter? My answer didn’t fit your preconceptions? Or are you incapable of joining the dots between journalistic freedom, the rule of law, the bill of rights and money in politics?
Must I spell it all out for you in one syllable words?
You asked me what I’d do about this particular issue: I thought about it, and those are the things I’d do.
The matter is that you are avoiding making an honest answer to a perfectly straightforward question.
So yes, do please spell it out in very clear and simple terms.
If you genuinely believe the ‘measures’ you suggest would lead to a change in the ‘balance’ of media information in NZ, can you please explain exactly what the specific ‘mechanisms’ would be that cause that change?
it seems that monosyllabic it must be 🙂
I honestly don’t know if I can be bothered. It’s difficult, teaching is so much harder than learning, whine whine it’s too hot and humid for that kind of effort please don’t make me.
1. Getting money out of politics: propaganda relies on repetition, effective repetition costs money.
2. The BoRA provides tools by which the citizenry can defend themselves against institutional wrongdoing.
3. The rule of law makes politicians (and the Crown) answerable to the same rules as everyone else.
4. Te Tiriti O Waitangi is the founding document of our nation – it also provides checks and balances against authoritarian predations.
See, that wasn’t so hard was it? I even had to think.
I asked you specifically about mechanisms that would change the way The Media currently apply (false) ‘balance’.
None of the measures you quote contain any such mechanism?
1. Would change the way Political Parties put forward information, but it would not effect the ability of The Media to present that information with what ever ‘balance’ they chose.
2, 3, and 4 are all existing structures that are part of the environment The Media currently operate under, and so without changing them in some way, they contain no mechanism that would require The Media to change their behavior.
So the measures you quote would have no effect what so ever in addressing ‘false balance’ or the publication of ‘lies’ in The Media?
Why do you say “require” the media to change? Is your authoritarian bias showing?
What do you think “getting money out of politics” entails? Perhaps you’re forgetting how much Crosby Textor charge per hour.
As for 2, 3 and 4, they’re insufficiently entrenched. Entrenching them would assist opportunities that are presently being throttled by vested interests.
If you believe that wouldn’t change local media behaviour I suggest you try thinking about it.
“Why do you say “require” the media to change? Is your authoritarian bias showing?
No, YOU are the one who started this thread with a complaint about about Media ‘false balance’, and YOU are the one saying it would be desirable to change that.
I’m just very interested to know how specifically you would go about it.
On that note, you are still talking in exceeding vague terms OAB.
Specifically HOW would you further entrench 2,3,4?
Specifically WHAT opportunities would that ‘assist’?
Specifically HOW would that change media behaviour?
And, if you ‘took the money’ out of politics, specifically HOW would that alter the ability of the media to chose to publish whatever political ‘balance’ they chose?
These should be easy questions to answer in a straightforward manner?
“Complaint” no, it’s an observation.
Your entire bullshit rests on the fatuous drivel that I want to compel the media to do things my way. Are you so fucking dense you can’t conceive other ways to affect change?
That’s all you’re getting this evening – I’m having far too much fun afk.
I might respond more fully tomorrow.
Nah, still can’t be bothered: what’s the point in explaining it to you again – especially since you seem to think shouting at me is some sort of debating strategy.
Those are the things I’d do. Get over it.
Hint: it’s all about the balance of power. That’s all you’re getting: if you need more clarity try re-reading my comments and thinking about them.
What I read in your comments is that there are some areas of your beliefs that you are not willing to discuss openly in a straightforward matter.
Wonder why that would be?
It’s because you’re confused about the meaning of words, and projecting your broken-ass preconceptions onto me.
You advocate moves to to ‘change the balance of power’, but you are not willing to be specific about exactly what you mean by politspeak phrases like “Entrenching them would assist opportunities”.
Naturally, I always see a flag raised when people are not willing to openly discuss their proposals. After all the discussion around that very point re. the TPPA, i thought most people here agree secrecy is a very bad thing.
So what is your reason for not being willing to openly specify how you would ‘adjust the balance of power’?
At a rough guess, I’d say your references to ‘authoritarianism’ above are a clue.
You know that there is no way you can ‘adjust the balance of power’ without invoking mechanisms that most people would see as increasing the level of the states involvement / control in such matters. You might look a bit like you were advocating something that was authoritarian in short.
I openly specified how I’d adjust the balance of power. Do you actually understand the meaning of words?
‘Remove money from politics’ and ‘Further entrench Te Tiriti O Waitangi, BORA, The rule of Law, are not specifics OAB, they are generalities.
They give as no indication what so ever as to exactly what specific changes to those mechanisms or their role in law you would propose.
The devil is in the detail as they say, and frankly the range of possibilities you leave open by being so vague is extremely wide, if not open ended. Under that circumstance I think it is only fair to have a healthy interest in what the details might be?
So if you have nothing to hide, it should be no problem for you to detail a few of the specific changes you would make to those mechanisms in order to adjust the balance of power?
That’s a straight forward enough question isn’t it?
Do you understand the meaning of the word ‘entrench’ in this context? It’s self-explanatory.
Similarly, repairing the rule of law is self-explanatory. It probably involves little more than re-funding the various watch-dogs the National Party has ratfucked. Perhaps a firm statement from the AG to the judiciary re-establishing the Crown’s commitment. After that leave it to the bench.
As for getting money out of politics, some variation on ‘one person one dollar one vote’ might work, and I’d like to see info on how other countries address the issue before going any further.
‘Entrench’ is obvious. It means you would change the current status of some legislation in relation to those mechanisms.
What exactly you would change, and therefore how deep the ‘entrenchment’ went…..?
It’s a bit like a mechanic telling you he is going to ‘repair’ your car, and when you asked him ‘how’ he was going to repair it, he answers that he has already explained that he is going to he is going to repair it…isn’t that self explanatory ad nauseum.
As for getting money out of politics, and theories like the ‘one person, one dollar, one vote’ thing, yes they are very problematic.
I do note however, that there does not seem to be much debate around such things in NZ?
Perhaps that is because there isn’t actually much of a concern that money is in fact significantly distorting the democratic will of the people here?
Are you aware of any credible research that suggest it is?
lol
so sheepy doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Big surprise there /sarc
“Entrench” has a precise meaning. When a precise meaning is applied to specific documents, then that constitutes a specific, exact, and straightforward description of the action under consideration.
Seek and ye shall find.
hint: >50+1
Another hint: 266
Both of Audrey’s articles have no comments.
Allowing her work to stand without visible criticism.
A common tactic when driving narrative.
Bryan Gould seems to be more robust, allowing comments and debate on what he has written.
Audrey’s stories are supposedly ‘news’.
Gould’s are contributed ‘opinion’.
Hi Molly (1.1.4) – Yes, Seems this is a habit of NZH. It puts opinions across, sometimes inviting comments, but doesn’t open the article for debate. On the odd occasion, the opinion piece is open for discussion, but that’s the case more often than not, usually well after the topic has been relegated far into the realms of history!
I guess that keeps a smooth and even playing field for msm’s dear leader.
No chance of debate, no chance of criticism!
Isn’t that just how a despotic leader likes it?
Eight years of incompetent and reckless mismanagement of the economy and we are starting feel the effects.
When are Key and his clowns going to be held to account?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11583451
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/76491017/nz-dairy-prices-drop-sharply-at-globaldairytrade-auction
Thanks i read the link. Can’t find anything in it to say john key is to blame for the fall dairy prices. May we can blame key for the drop in oil as well.
John Key is responsible for everything bad that happens anywhere in the world.
He was, after all, the one who created the Ebola virus and is almost certainly the person who has unleashed the Zika virus as well.
To keep up with the play you only need to remember one thing.
“Everything is John Key’s fault”
Pretty sure I saw John Key on the grassy knoll as well…
You mean in the Fed’s secret meetings
Shhh! That’s a secret!
I’ll bet the bugger nearly ruined your shot.
you forgot match fixing
True.
Both the cricket and the tennis.
On the other hand I am quite willing to forgive him fixing the outcome of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups.
I never forgave the last lot for messing up the 2007 competition’s result.
ah well the last lot didn’t have the contacts in the underworld did they
It is quite hard for National to totally avoid figures from the underworld.
National sit on the Speaker’s right. The underworld figures sit directly opposite them on the Speaker’s left, all 32 of them.
National MPs have to sit there and look at them.
I blame the 2007 cock-up on Helen not keeping the arrangements in her own office. H2 would have so terrified the other teams they would have thrown the games. Instead she passed it over to that twerp Trevor Mallard.
But according to John Key himself everything is Labour’s fault. Oh! and Helen Clark did it too.
It only seem’s like yesterday that Key and Co were prepared to take credit for the headline act of the rock star economy – Taranaki -. The land of black & white “gold”. Of course the diminishing returns on both commodities is out of the control of government, but so also is being able to claim any credit when returns were great.
John Key and National are to blame because they supported, both through legislation and rhetoric, the ramping up of the dairy sector. They should have been pushing diversification instead.
That’s what he’s done
Intensified a commodity that would crash at one stage
Is it just me or did the Tory idiots on this board, just take a statement which blamed this national government for economic mismanagement, and turn it into commentators on the standard bagging Key.
Paul did say ” Key and his clowns”, which means this national government.
Poor Tory scum, who have to twist things to feel better.
Key has ruined our economy , dragging us into ever deepening debt and he is surrendering our sovereignty.
Pretty easy to bag such a character.
“Surrendering”.
Nah, he’s just let it go for some beads and blankets.
When we surrendered our sovereignty to the ILO, that was a good thing, because it’s a fair exchange.
Lies on lies from the SDHB & Compass:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/371838/44-cancel-meals-wheels#sthash.x7LWBGDV.dpuf
Yesterday, it was 11 cancellations (but the link to that article on the ODT is 502 broken, this update has the gist):
– See more at: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/371783/more-meals-wheels-cancellations#sthash.VpIaj9wF.dpuf
Even 11 cancellations would be a 4.4% in a fortnight, which if it continued at the same rate would leave no one by the end of the year. 44 of 250 is 17.6%, and if continued would go to zero by April!
For me
the head is sacred
ritual welcomes are sacred
I don’t care who produced the picture
It is over the line
don’t you get that?
Please enlighten us
What on earth are you talking about?
http://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-02022016/#comment-1127820
Thank you. Now I understand.
I hadn’t looked at the daily review yesterday, so this comment here didn’t make any sense to me.
In these days of mass communication and the worlds cultures exposed and crashing into each other all over the place, it seems it is very difficult to avoid sensitivities in many many places, simply because people do not know of said sensitivities….
how to deal with?
That is a very generous interpretation vto
I really don’t think it is that hard to either get it right or err on the side of caution.
i’m calmish at the moment but later on i’m going to allow my anger to come forth. I’m very disappointed that this shit is happening here – but maybe I’m just not taking the hint eh.
Yeah I see that. Perhaps in this world of crashing cultures people should err on the side of caution.
After all, that is what we all do when we go into people’s homes – err on the side of caution. We don’t go in and barge around with no manners – that would just be plain rude.
It might take some more time for the internet culture to grasp these things though – it is still rough, young, and raw imo.
In the days of mass communication and 40 years of the Māori renaissance into the view of Pākehā, how is it that the left wing is still so ignorant of such matters?
I don’t mean ignorant as pejorative, just a statement of fact about our (Pākehā) lack of knowledge. When I saw the picture I had a pretty negative gut reaction to it (there was something very wrong with it), considered saying something but didn’t know what to say and then scrolled on past. As soon as marty posted that it was offensive, I went ‘duh!’, of course. Even with the little bit of exposure to te Ao Māori that I’ve had, I know that there are issues with both messing with heads, and messing with ritual.
If we (all of us) want left wing spaces to be anything other than Pākehā dominant, this is not the kind of thing we can get wrong. Also, we (Pākehā) do get this stuff wrong a lot, so it’s not about having a go at whoever put it up, but I think there is an opportunity here to learn and to change.
I think the image should be removed, in the same way if a misogynistic image had been put up it should be removed too.
Maybe the image should have been removed. But removing it now means that any discussion around it becomes meaningless.
I saw it last night (prior to any comments about it) and felt very uncomfortable with it, but couldn’t quite articulate why. Because I couldn’t pin down exactly what was wrong with it, I didn’t comment, and just moved on. I still can’t. Maybe I’ll get there and the penny will drop.
Heads are of no particular significance to me, so the source of my discomfort isn’t the same as for Marty being offended. Regardless, the image comes across as (somehow) just plain fucking wrong and racist.
How’d I feel if it was pigs heads or some such? How’d I feel if it was pigs bodies? The former would be as similarly (though maybe more obviously) fucked up as the one posted, and the latter would be just another photo mash up.
Maybe I’ll come back to this conversation later today and see if the penny drops.
the ignorance around Māoridom on here is astounding and disgusting. Fucking embarrassing – seriously I don’t know why I bother – oh that’s right I’m trying to help alleviate ignorance – waste of time
that is not directed solely at you bill as I’m sure you will realise but ffs
I agree with that and fully acknowledge my understanding of Māoridom is woeful. But having said that, is knowledge of Māoridom really necessary in this instance marty?
If it is, then ignorance of a specific cultural perspective potentially serves to get perpetrators of offence off the hook.
I mean, if a similar photo had been produced with the heads photo-shopped onto the bodies of some First Nations people, I’d have had the same basic reaction.
For me, as best as I articulate at the moment, there is something unacceptable about presenting an image that over-lays colonised peoples/cultures with expressions or signifiers of colonial dominance.
That perspective is neither ‘right’ nor ‘wrong’, ‘adequate’ or ‘inadequate’…just illustrative of the fact that there can be a number of roads leading to the same basic conclusion.
Except the issues around heads and ritual, if not learned about, just come up again in another context some other time and so it goes on, because we ignored the specifics. So yes, it’s good to recognise the general racism issues and on our own terms, but it’s also vital that we learn what is important to Māori.
Criticising/understanding the image from a Tau Iwi perspective is useful, but not if it’s done at the expense of understanding the Māori one.
It’s not just about this one image, it’s about the fact that this space is still so bad at this, and the only way to remedy that is to learn some tikanga Māori. That’s honouring the Treaty too.
Which brings me to the fact that as much as I’d love to hear and would welcome marty’s thoughts at this point (and other Māori Standardistas), it’s not up to him (or other Māori) to educate Tau Iwi here about what the specific issues are. Thankfully we have the internet now and there’s no reason why some non-Māori here can’t go and educate ourselves. I don’t think the internet is the best way to learn what’s important by any means, but at least we do have resources in the public domain from Māori, and Tau Iwi who have done the mahi of listening to Māori directly on Māori terms. It’s the least we can do to get up to speed with those. Then perhaps we might find that Māori are willing to be here and engage more.
Is it really necessary (web wise) to have comprehensive knowledge of particular cultures in order to not offend people?
If it is, then when and where do we find the time to lift our heads from all that cultural immersion of the 1001 cultures we’ve indulged in?
And how does one ‘correctly’ navigate instances where aspects of particular cultures are themselves considered offensive to, contradict or clash with, one’s own?
In the final analysis I’d rather a world with no cultural identities or tradition given the nonsense and conflict it all has and does give rise to, but hey…
…in the meantime, and in recognition that I can’t learn, store or reconcile all the cultural and traditional knowledges out there, I’ll just have to settle for using whatever (culturally informed 😉 ) common sense and sensibility or empathy I have in order to avoid inadvertently and somewhat pointlessly offering up offence.
you live here Bill maybe start with the cultural aspects of this country – Waitangi Day is here – go to a marae for the ‘celebration’ – that might be a good first step
Bill, look at it this way: giving offence feels so much better when it’s done deliberately. Clumsy blunders let you* down.
*or me, or anyone, when we make them.
really sorry you’ve had to deal with this marty. Thanks for taking us to task despite it all. I’ll support you in any way I can if you want more to happen here (I’ve got my own RL mahi going on over the next few days so will be in and out). I’m doing some thinking about what I can do otherwise as well. Hope you can take good care of yourself too.
Thanks weka
Marty, please forgive my ignorance: how far does the sacred nature of the head extend? For example, does it apply to (say) drawn caricature? Or doodling on a newspaper photograph? Pakeha have been juxtaposing heads and bodies to comic effect for centuries. That’s not meant to be some sort of excuse it’s just true.
My atheist side wants to reject the whole notion of “sacred” as I would any other mumbo pocus, and yet these are the terms I employ to ridicule the religions and spirituality of my own culture, and I feel quite uncomfortable with them in this context, as I would for example, in going to a Buddhist or Hindu country and mocking their beliefs.
Thanks for bringing this up.
I think this example that pissed me off was too far. Whether sacred or special the head is used as a target for insult and ridicule across the board here and elsewhere – just got to be careful about who to and how specific.
I’m okay with that approach from the atheist side too – I prefer it to the ‘my god is better’ approach of other belief systems.
“Maybe the image should have been removed. But removing it now means that any discussion around it becomes meaningless.”
I think the standard group should take it’s direction directly from Māori on that rather than deciding what is meaningful or not (I’m sidestepping the whole anarchic, who makes decisions etc thing). Which means not just listening but making an effort to find out (thanks for your comment btw).
I’m tangata whenua and I don’t care.
There you go, problem solved, the image can stay.
Thanks for putting your hand up as one of the most ignorant people in the room (quite an achievement that) as well as one of the biggest shit stirrers. Well done BM.
@Weka. Stop being so precious. I too am tangata whenua, and the image didn’t bother me in the slightest.
Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.
Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.
I think that’s looking at it arse about face: in any given situation (especially one which might further your interests), would you rather give offence deliberately or from ignorance?
Had I seen marty’s comment last night (not to mention the others) it would have reinforced my gut reaction and I’ve have replaced the image. (Without my gut reaction, the same action would likely have been taken)
The point I was making here is that time has elapsed and that a conversation has ensued – one that might be productive, but also one that would seem to rely on the source of the discussion being available.
It’s been done. It’s shit. Hitting a delete button now doesn’t undo what’s been done..doesn’t catch shit from sailing towards the fan.
Informed dialogue on the other hand….
-sigh- seeing pros and cons on all sides now.
That makes sense and if it were say a gender issue I might agree (depending on the image). I guess my point is that it’s not up to us to decide whether that takes predecent because we don’t have the cultural knowledge on which it make the decision.
The ensuing conversation can still happen, it just requires those of us who have seen the image to explain what the issues are. That’s probably a good thing, because it makes it about the cultural safety issue rather than that particular photo.
+1 Weka
I can see issues with the image and I have removed it. I will let the poster know, they should have right of reply.
Apologies to marty mars and anyone else who was offended.
thanks r0b
Cheers marty
Hi marty
I chose the picture. I can recall a while ago using the Key picture with the tattoed Merril Lynch face and you raised concern and I was happy to take it down and have not used it since.
I thought about this when I chose this picture but I did not think it would cause offence because Maori have made a very principled decision concerning the TPPA and the picture was to poke fun at the Government and its lack of Maori support.
Clearly I will need to recalibrate my thinking on the issue.
My apologies for my lack of sensitivity and causing distress.
Thanks micky
The current media frenzy over Key/Harawiras /Waitangi is great publicity and the result will be reported as positive for Key.
Greatest show in Aotearoa written and produced by Crosby Textor.
That’s why the PM should visit other maraes around the country, might stop all the histrionics the media love
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1602/S00024/morale-at-beleaguered-eqc-hits-rock-bottom.htm
and so it continues….
What complete and utter rant and BS by Mike Hosking re Waitangi.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11583922
http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/2/2/10895670/mitch-mcconnell-2016
The US Senate will not be voting on the TPP in 2016. So we won’t see any vote on it until after the presidential election most likely.
And the 4 possible Presidents – Hillary, Bernie, Ted Cruz, and Trump – all say they oppose the TPP. So is the TPP dead? Well, maybe at least for another year…
I’m not as up with how the American government works but I’m pretty sure the American president can’t just say “I don’t like it” and that’s it
PR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States#Administrative_powers
If you follow the links: “Historically, the Congress overrides the Presidential veto less than 10% of the time”. Although that was 33% of GW Bush’s 12 vetos and 0% so far of Obama’s 9. FDR had 635 vetos with only 9 over-ridden!
I’m not bothered, the military-industrial crypto-fascist new world order will ensure this goes through
Or so I’ve heard…
The Congress cannot negotiate or pursue trade agreements itself, it can only vote on them. Only the President can actually do the negotiation, bring it to the Congress, and then sign it.
Actually, the US president can veto legislation.
Never said they couldn’t.
I didn’t reply to you but PR.
International order by the Human Rights Council and professor of international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy – say DON’T SIGN TPPA!
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17005&LangID=E#sthash.uakqAUnE.gbpl&st_refDomain=web.facebook.com&st_refQuery=/
+100 savenz…that says it all really !…about why New Zealanders and our country should NOT be party to the TPPA!
And in latest competition removal news fletchers look to acquire higgins. Higgins were bought into rangiriri bypass on sh1 as fletchers screwed the first earthmoving crowd so hard they went broke.
So send one out of business then buy one of the remaining players, tough decision for fletchers that one.
Clearly all the people spending so much time commenting on this site don’t live in Wellington.
At the moment it a warm (well 26C) day with an absolutely cloudless blue sky and the barest hint of a breeze. I have just come inside to collect my togs to go to the beach.
It is far to nice to waste any more time indoors.
It doesn’t rhyme very well but locals here are singing “wonderful, wonderful Wellington, salty old dame of the sea”.
Eat your heart out jafas. I believe you are cloudy and it is very windy.
Fine days are not such a novelty in Auckalofa. 🙂
Heh yeah with the choking humidity and sudden subtropical down pours heh
hey, the region was a subtropical rainforest.
Nope
Seems Alwyn and his now banned stablemate fisiani are Wellington people and that makes a lot of sense because their glossy views on the state of the nation are consistent with a Wellington centric outlook on life. Basically, it’s the same old right wing mantra: I’m alright, so why can’t you be too?
Lol.
Well, speaking as a life-long resident of Welling-on-Sea, New Zealand’s answer to the French Riviera (in fact, some would go as far as saying The Venice of the South), can I just say that Wellington is second only to Dunedin in its Left-leaning proclivities (alwyn and fisi represent a dysfunctional, Tory-leaning minority of grizzled malcontents).
The good burghers of my unusually fetching city (very much Cinderella to Jaffaville’s Ugly Big Sister*) are significantly to the Left of that humid, half-crazed cultural wasteland in the North.
* I suspect I’ll pay dearly for the previous 3 words.
In defence of alwyn I think this was a friendly tongue-in- cheek exchange on both sides Muttonbird.
You are generous, Anne, and it’s a credit to you. I’ve not time for the incessant barbed attacks on social responsibility from the likes of Alwyn and fisiani.
An attempt at the joke from these types leaves me cold.
some of us are stuck indoors waiting for machines to go “ping!”
Dunners today was about right – maybe a touch too warm for me, but I have a certain amount of insulation pre-installed.
Eat your heart out jafas. I believe you are cloudy and it is very windy.
You have been misinformed. Beautiful sunny day (27 degrees) with a cooling easterly breeze. A few small and harmless cumulous clouds wafting by to give brief respite from the wall to wall sunshine.
I believe you. And I believe DTB.
On a day as gorgeous as this I will believe almost anything.
I looked at one of the weather sites which said that about Auckland.
It is now still calm and clear and the temperature is back down to 26C. According to the Met Office it got to 28C, although the thermometer in my car said 30C (in the shade).
“Wonderful, wonderful etc, etc.”
Colonial V might have the last laugh. Choking humidity and semi-tropical downpours are in the mix for Auckland on Fri. and Sat.
I see what you mean.
http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/auckland/auckland-central
Ours looks a bit better but nothing like today. A bit of drizzle around.
http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/wellington/wellington-city
I feel sorry for poor old muttonbird at 11.2.1. The weather must be absolutely horrible where he is if he is that grumpy.
A little sticky but the renowned Castlecliff sea breeze keeps things comfortable.
http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/whanganui
…Why is Europe not looking at the root causes of the refugee crisis?
…Are the ordinary people being listened to ?
…or are political elites foisting their views against the will of the people of sovereign democratic nations?
….Issues of listening to the grassroots opinions of indigenous people in sovereign nations on mass refugee influx /immigration ….and its effects on sovereignty and cultural identity of nations
‘Waves of refugees’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/330558-mass-migration-crisis-eu/
“When it comes to mass migration and the current refugee crisis hitting the EU, it is getting harder and harder to remain an idealist. The reality is that Europe not only must manage its external borders, but also internal ones. There are of course economic issues to deal with, but what about the importance of culture?
CrossTalking with Marcus Papadopoulos, Matthew Goodwin and Alan Posener.”
Mike “I Agree With Matthew” Williams is now
spouting nonsense about AMERICAN politics
The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 3 March 2016
Jim Mora, Simon Pound, Mike Williams, Julie Moffett
The Pre-Panel segment today is, once again, vacuous and determinedly trivial. As usual, they say nothing interesting….
JULIE MOFFETT: Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is selling three of his luxury Porsches. That’s out of his collection of 47.
JIM MORA: He’s got 47 has he?
JULIE MOFFETT: [curtly, after a significant pause] Yes.
MORA: They’d stop being drivable wouldn’t they, just languishing in the garage?
JULIE MOFFETT: They’re not languishing, he’s got a full-time mechanic working on them.
MORA: He’s got a mechanic?
….et cetera, ad nauseam….
An hour later, they’re discussing American politics with about the same level of insight you’d expect on Larry “Lackwit” Williams’ Drivetime program over on NewstalkZB….
MIKE “I AGREE WITH MATTHEW” WILLIAMS: Ted Cruz is an extremist, and so is Bernie Sanders.
On the plus side, Simon Pound was both lucid and intelligent, but the sad fact is that this program has ten Mike Williams equivalents for every Simon Pound.
Mora’s panel sinks into the abyss.
One out of two right isn’t too bad is it? I mean he was the Labour Party President and they aren’t really renowned for intellect are they?
He got it wrong about Cruz but right about Sanders is what you are trying to say I assume.
free education and healthcare is “extremist” eh?
are you trying to turn NZ into Mordor? How’s Sauron been lately?
TPP post coming up?
In the meantime, this is a must read before tomorrow.
For Independence and Freedom: March against the TPPA!
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/02/03/for-independence-and-freedom-march-against-the-tppa/
The Herald continues to fawn at The Dear Leader.
TheIr online heading.
John Key will brave Waitangi.
Wonder whether they thought he was such a hero when he flew off to the US to watch his son play baseball before attending the funerals of NZ soldiers.
What a parody of the media the Herald has become.
It should be in North Korea.
The right wing media are loving this. The plaintive cries from Hosking, Ralston, and Williams that the office of the prime minister should be respected on this issue, the issue of the prime minister’s right to attend Waitangi falls on deaf ears as far as I’m concerned because the it has been the prime minister himself who has disrespected the office in recent times…
His kid’s baseball over Kiwi soldiers
Presides over increasing public sector corruption
Calls a red top ‘gay’ in perforative terms
Ignores the OIA and is comfortable with it
Harasses waitresses in their place of work
Sets the SIS on the leader of the opposition
Texts his bud, hate speech peddler, Cameron Slater
Jokes with the Chilean government about a killer his corrections dept just released
Entertains shock jocks…
…and participates in jokes about prison rape
Chops and changes ministers to minimise accountability
I could go on.
I am reminded of the vitriolic response by the media (including the Herald) when Helen Clark forsook going to Waitangi and attended another ceremony in the South Island- I think. And the reason why she didn’t attend was because she had previously been denied speaking rights. Helen (rightly) took that as an insult to her as a female political leader and also women across the board.
The one that gets me is Armstrong’s ‘Resign Cunliffe’ rant. Even Armstrong was ashamed of it – not in time to save the election of course.
Helen handled it about right – though she didn’t have a good answer to it on the day she got disrespected.
Key should be there as PM – but speaking rights are not a given – if I were Maori I wouldn’t want him grandstanding from Waitangi. He should go to listen – God knows he never does anywhere else.
The NZ Herald have been pro-Tory and pro-ruling class for…decades. Are we really still complaining about them.
Pointing out the bias.
No Daily Review so will leave here
Methinks the NAct government is in a bit of a tizz!
Just had call from David Farrar’s Curia outfit. Started out with the usual. Who are you voting for… why etc.etc. Went on to ask “which is the best party for:
1. the economy
2. housing
3. education
4. immigration
5. employment issues
and there were others.
Next:
Who is the best political leader – rate them from 1 to 5 with 5 being the top score.
Who is the strongest leader – ditto
Further questions on what you look for in a leader.
At the end of all that:
Who will win the next election.
And last but not least:
Which flag are you going to vote for.
Decided to answer honestly.
Heh heh I just had a vision of farrar crawling up a long carpet on his belly to give his master the answers you gave