You may have heard that Wilson Security has decided being associated with rape & abuse is bad for their bottom line. Less than 48 hours before today’s Australia-wide & Newmarket protests and calls for boycott (they are part of Wilson Offshore Group, which also owns Wilson Parking), they announced that they won’t continue running Nauru and Manus Island detention centres once their existing sub-contract is up next October.
Their announcement states they’ve been “professional” in fulfilling their duties and are “proud” of their performance.
So our protest this afternoon goes on, as 13 more months of the status quo is simply unacceptable. These modern day concentration camps must be closed immediately.
If you share my disgust at the degradation of New Zealand’s good reputation under Key, don’t wait until next year’s election to reclaim our moral leadership. Come along today and tell Australia to #CloseTheCamps Stand in solidarity with the members of Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance (waca.net.au/Boycott_Wilson) And let’s challenge Wilson’s social license as I don’t want a corporation this unethical (they are also implicated in HK’s biggest bribery & corruption scandal, appear in the Panama Papers and haven’t been obeying Australian filing requirements) operating in New Zealand.
Now that Celia’s not standing she can be frank (and mostly astutely accurate) about the Wellington mayoral contenders. Not surprisingly, nice Justin Lester comes out top.
Did you read the comments that followed the article in the paper?
I personally find Celia a very pleasant person but she was out of her depth as Mayor. The comments that follow the article are much more anti than I would be.
However I think the Island Bay cycleway fiasco was the last straw. An excellent wide, safe road that is now too narrow for the buses and seems to have accidents every week. There are very few cyclists who use it and those who do don’t even use the cycle lanes most of the time. I think they find them too dangerous to ride along.
Sorry Celia but it is time to go. Your term will not be remembered as a great one for the city.
Celia was a very effective and largely consensus and mildly green mayor. The cycleway was a visionary attempt at making a wide street cycle friendly. Having the cycleway next to the footpath is the way it is done in cycle friendly cities. No reason why large cars need to park on both sides of any street. A blogger spent several hours driving up and down the cycleway a few weeks ago and found numerous children and families cycling or playing and counted over 600 driveways with no problems of people coming in or out. So a beat up by the very powerful car and driving brigade. Most mayoral candidates are also stuck on the addiction to driving a personal car without regard to the urgent needs of environmental survival. Light rail is only a possibility with one or two of them eg Justin Lester.
The hyperfocus on roads! roads! roads! by some of the Wellington mayoral candidates (especially Nick Leggett and Jo Coughlan) is bizarre. It’s just not an issue which dominates the narrative here the way it does in Auckland.
I guess I have to ask.
Do you live in Wellington?
Have you actually seen, walked along and driven on the road concerned?
Did you see it, walk on it and drive on it before they started putting in the cycle lane?
If the said blogger thinks there are no problems how do they account for the string of accidents?
Do you really think 87% of the Island Bay residents are stupid? http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1603/S00268/switch-the-cycleway-back-island-bay-has-spoken.htm
That survey is a joke. It was self-selected, offered no “don’t know” options, and was heavily promoted by an organisation which is openly anti-cycleway.
Yes, there are issues with the cycleway, and yes, a lot of people are angry about it, but the anti-cycleway lobby only make themselves look ridiculous using such shabby “data” to support their case.
Yep it would be interesting to see how the candidates promoting $1 billion of new roading marry that up with the impending incineration of Africa from climate change.
[lprent: A warning to readers in the same style as this pointless conspiracy dipshit.
‘reason’ appears to be a dickless wonder who appears to think he has something important to say. However that reason appears to be invisible unless you too happen to be a obsessed misogynist fuckwit quite obviously with a skull riven with syphilitic holes.
On reading ‘his’ material it appears that the only thing he has is claims that are of as a dubious provenance as his implied claims of intellectual power. But of course the pathetic dimwit manages to read trash like the bloody awful UK Daily Mirror.
Be warned. ]
Killary Clinton is a blood thirsty woman who often when I look at her eyes, or hear her brittle forced laugh, or see her pain-full insincere forced smiles, appears to me more than a little crazy ……..
I fear Bill sticking his dick in quite a few women and the worldwide exposure of this could be deadly …..
Humiliated repeatedly by Bill …. the world talking and sniggering about it …..we could all burn for this …..
More seriously though……… she supported the illegal invasion of Iraq ….. and still seems to believe the American game plan of George Bush, rumsfield etc to go to war and change the governments of 7 nations in the middle east region ( Iraq, Lebbanon, Syria, Libiya, Sudan, Somallia, Iran ) ………….. after the great success of Afghanistan.
It was all supposed to take 5 years ……. and not involve millions of refugees flooding Europe.
But back to Hillary ……… I’ve recently watched the short doco ,.. “Hillary Clinton’s Business of Corporate Shilling & War Making (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUeHZMfQ-Uc
In it she claims,….. as an excuse,…. that she voted for the illegal Iraq invasion because Bush offered her $20 Billion for New York city ………… it’s at the 19 minute mark ….
[lprent: Yep, I think I got the style of ‘reason’ about right – but I couldn’t quite descend to the level of stupidity. But I guess that journos at the mirror know their audience. ]
This is just vicious, nasty personal bullshit. I’ve said it once and will apparently keep saying it until 8 November (if not 8 November 2024): there are more than enough real, serious things to criticise Hilary Clinton for. This endless stream of “she’s a crazy illuminati sex-starved bitch” misogynist conspiracy theorising just makes her critics look ridiculous.
Gosh ….Sorry Stephenie and Lprent ………….. let me mansplain and try to dig my way out.
First of all I blame Bill for being a selfish randy dick…….. no partner should be disrespectful like that…. casual indiscretions are a form of relationship and mental abuse imo.
Personally if I had a political career path that meant I had to stay with a serial cheater to attain my ambition ……such a toxic arrangement would make me angry and twisted…. there would be no warm fluffy s and it would all be cold prickly s and sad campers ….
Being gender specific it should be common knowledge and recognized that it is most often men who ‘end the world’ when they can not control their partner or they feel that their love has been ‘betrayed’ ….
familicide and murder suicides that result from relationship psychosis is most often done by men …
Threats to kill are most often an abusive mans tools of control ……..
Women may get bitter over an unhappy relationship …… but its men who most often go psychotic and kill …
My bad taste joke of Hillary being a bitter woman and ready to nuke the world and emasculate Putin all because of Bills very public blow jobs is irrelevant to my honest view of her being a dangerous psychopath …….. In the Thatcher or Albright mold …,
“Leslie Stahl said to Albright, “We have heard that a half-million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And — and, you know, is the price worth it?”
Madeleine Albright replied, “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price — we think the price is worth it.”…..
Trump strikes me as a rich bullying Archie Bunker …. with his racist sexist bigotry and sweeping white american stereotypes .
Joe Aprio, guns and chain gangs seem to be part of the Trump vision for ‘making america great again’…..
This is a good documentry on the con that is the Donald …. and it reveals amongst other things that he raped his wife Ivana when their marriage was breaking up …and it insinuates he paid her so his attack would not have legal or criminal consequences . Documentary The Mad World of Donald Trump (Full). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M08RYheIuI…
It’s also an interesting doco when you think that the bottom of the gene pool white trash racist rednecks on display in support of Trump are fearful gun nuts ……….
Its impossible for me to know out of Hillary and Donald which ones dishonesty will be the worst for the world and the usa should they win …
I’d guess Trump internally and Hillary externally
I suspect Hillary will drop more bombs and kill more people than Trump if she gets to be the commander in charge of their military industrial complex…..
I’d also expect more death squads and Killings in South America Kissenger style under Hillary with her support for the Honduras coup being a recent example…
“Earlier this week, the former secretary of state publicly defended her role in the 2009 coup in Honduras that ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. Since the coup, Honduras has become one of the most violent places in the world. “http://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/13/hear_hillary_clinton_defend_her_role
“bloodshed reigns supreme in Honduras today, not only in terms of its astronomically high murder rate, but also for activists, LGBT persons, journalists and indigenous leaders. At least 174 LGBT persons have been killed in Honduras since 2009. According to Global Witness, 101 environmental activists were murdered between 2010 and 2014, including Berta Cáceres, a fearless environmentalist who fought for indigenous land rights”
p.p.s I put ‘the mirror ‘ link up for people on limited bandwith who did not want to watch a video ….. I selected it from a random google search of ‘banksy+crazyhorse and liked the big colorful photos showing the artwork and the related story seemed accurate on a skim read.
It’s not a site I usually visit….and I’ve make a mental note that it can make people madder than Whaleoil
At least I ad blocked the tory? house of mirrors in my 30 seconds there
I’d clicked away from TDB before I saw that announcement. I didn’t watch it as much as I’d like; what with evening child wrangling preventing my watching the live stream. But it was good to catch up on once it was up on youtube, and I still have a few shows left unwatched to me (which may be dated, but still better than most TV current affairs shows).
[edit] Haven’t watched the clip yet, but see over on TDB that it only says; “final show of 2016”, so maybe there’s hope for next year:
[edit; this fixed itself as soon as I posted, but it’s unusual not to be able to see comments until you make one yourself] It’s past noon and OM has no visible comments – is this a glitch, or is there some huge event on that I’ve totally missed?
There’s a good piece on the Corbyn campaign over on TDB by Keith Locke (which I don’t have open just now). For those who avoid the site, this link regarding the “rampacked” train is enlightening:
TLDR is that the “empty” seats were reserved rather than vacant. So, even though the Labour leader probably could’ve grabbed one and been shielded by his status, he instead chose to sit with those who would’ve been chucked off if they’d tried that.
These included a mother with baby. At which point I have to wonder about those other passengers who had seats but let her remain: “…on the floor between the carriages because there wasn’t enough room for me and my two children to get seats…”. You can’t blame all of that on Virgin’s mismanagement, even if that’s where it started.
“If the YouGov poll is accurate Jeremy Corbyn will easily be re-elected as British Labour leader. He polls 62% to his opponent Owen Smith’s 38% and leads in every region and age group.
Corbyn’s opponents have tried every trick in the book to dent the Labour leader’s support.
The party’s national executive, then with an anti-Corbyn majority, voted to exclude 130,000 new members from voting. That only seems to have riled those longer-term members who could vote.
Then Labour deputy leader Tom Watson tried red-baiting, claiming the party was being taken over by hard-left “Troskyist entryists”. Jeremy Corbyn responded by asking Watson to “do the maths – 300,000 people have joined the Labour Party. At no stage in anyone’s most vivid imagination are there 300,000 sectarian extremists at large in the country who have suddenly descended on the Labour Party.”
Corbyn’s supporters have also been accused of nastiness towards Owen Smith, yet Smith himself has called Corbyn a lunatic.
The almost daily mass media scandal-mongering about Corbyn has fallen flat. They thought they’d finally nailed the Labour leader when Richard Branson released a video appearing to disprove Corbyn’s claim that he couldn’t get a seat on one of Branson’s over-crowded trains. Corbyn had been photographed sitting on the floor. It transpired that Corbyn had witnesses to testify the seats were taken or reserved. The net result was more publicity for Corbyn’s campaign to re-nationalise Britain’s broken rail system.
At bottom it’s Corbyn’s policies that so frighten the Labour Right. ”
This is interesting – home ownership world statistics. Australia are ahead of us, as are Romania (no 1), Cuba, Singapore, India, Russia, Mexico, Finland, Israel, etc etc
The problem with us, at 37, is that we treat home-ownership as the norm, and renting as something you do until you get around to buying. As home-ownership gets further and further out of reach, renting continues to be treated as something casual and temporary. Many of the countries lower on the list have stable, long-term renting as a central feature of their housing policies. We have embraced the worst of both worlds – a home-owning culture whose homes are unaffordable.
That is why I think NZ should be aiming for the top of home ownership or at least as high as some of the other countries – i mean if Finland and India can do it – you have to wonder about NZ.
People who are vulnerable should have access to State houses, and those that don’t need a permanent home such as students and families on contracts etc should be the private rentals which are well run.
While some lefties advocate renting for life like Germany, the reality is, you are reliant on the government and with a change in government such as in NZ in the 1980’s and beyond, government ideology can affect you so much more than if you could control housing yourself.
I can see your point, especially given the way governments that are backed by the powerful can get away with almost anything. In my eyes, either model would be better than the worst features of both models harnessed together.
Who decides who is vulnerable, the line between individual accountability and hand up vs hand out, not rewarding stupidity or laziness. So only the truly vulnerable are looked after The problem with most comment here is. you just want to dish it out willy nilly and throw others people’s money at every perceived problem or inequity and assume if you do so all will be well with no unintended consequences in respect of how economic actors will react to such signals. As such demonstrated in many so called socialist experiments
New Zealand is not suffering from a socialist experiment.
It is suffering from a neoliberal experiment.
New Zealand was fundamentally a socialist country from 1935 to 1984.
Since the Douglas led coup d’état, employment, the country’s wealth and independence have all declined.
Inequality, poverty, obesity, crime, rates of imprisonment, drug abuse, and foreign ownership have all surged.
Trust, home ownership and a sense of community have all declined.
32 years on and the experiment has become a nightmare for most New Zealanders.
Not you, that’s for sure: there are plenty of appropriate measures and you’ve rote-learned rejection of all of them.
National are fucked if you outlaw “rewarding stupidity or laziness”.
you just want to dish it out willy nilly
Flaccid smears are the best you can do: cf: appropriate measures.
others people’s money
My taxes are not your money, shithead.
We know exactly how “economic actors” respond to left wing policy because unemployment fell to its lowest level since the 1970s in 2007. Meanwhile, you have some rote-learned smears to dribble.
Your arguments aren’t arguments, your opinions aren’t yours. Choke on it.
It’s interesting how the Right always demand we draw “a line” between the “really” deserving and the evil disgusting bludgers who are apparently waiting around every corner.
When they get into power, that line gets drawn shorter and shorter until eventually everyone’s on the wrong side of it.
Me? I care about people. So if a few people get a bit extra, in order to ensure everyone has the basics covered? That’s the margin of error for having a heart.
The Herald fails again.
Reports on the P epidemic.
Fails to make any connection with the country’s embrace of neoliberalism and consequential exponential growth in inequality.
Pity there are no journalists at the Herald, who might have heard of the Spirit Level.
Why do you keep reading the herald when you outlined all those wonderful publication the other day that agree with your world view. Stop punishing yourself unless self flagellation is your thing
Well Chuck you have to wonder how all that P gets into NZ, we are an island after all. Great that MAF etc have their funding cut so less staff to patrol the borders and we welcome anyone into this country no questions asked.
Apparently its a tie up made in Heaven between the well organised Head Hunters joining forces with the Chinese Triads who bring in the raw ingredients.
Not sure what happened to the war on P that John Key was waging.
He seems to be more interested in getting ideal P making conditions – globalism at work.
Should be fixed now. There was a plugin with a very bad habit..
Amongst other things it removed the CSS (cascading style sheets) which are what makes the site look the way it does. What you saw was the naked site showing the top menus.
I see the same thing. Not sure if it helps, but this is the error I get for most of the images on the page:
cdn.thestandard.org.nz uses an invalid security certificate.
The certificate is only valid for the following names:
cloudfront.net, *.cloudfront.net
“With South Korea’s biggest shipping company filing for bankruptcy protection, the vessels, sailors and cargo of Hanjin Shipping are stuck in limbo, stranded at sea.
Ports, fearing they will not get paid, refuse to let them dock or unload.
That means the ships are forced to wait for Hanjin, its creditors or partners to find a solution.
It’s a case of unprecedented scale, with experts expecting the deadlock to last for weeks, if not months.
“[It is] a major disaster for the shipping companies and for the companies that own the goods in those containers,” Greg Knowler, maritime and trade analyst with IHS Markit, told the BBC from Hong Kong.”Quote end.
Probably not that significant unless your years production or stock is stuck on one of their vessels, or want to buy container space tomorrow. Hanjin are 3% of world shipping and it looks like the market will soak that up easily. https://www.wired.com/2016/09/hanjin-bankruptcy-shipping-economy/
But if it plays out like some of the Korean bankruptcies we’ve seen in tourism, wil be messy and lengthy. Feel for the crews and creditors.
Maybe the unions in NZ could take a leaf out of the association’s book and widen its catchment to include representing the interests of the unemployed? The unemployed would benefit from the support that unions can provide (on a whole bunch of levels from practical to cultural), and the unions get to be relevant again in the face of changing employment patterns/values. It’d be a win/win. Heck, in these changing times the unions – while they mightn’t currently know it – need the unemployed more than ever. They should get to work.
That’s not a bad idea. How about an unemployed person’s union?? Sound’s like with what is going on with WINZ it is the most needed unions for it’s clients. I mean $1000 motel bills for emergency housing, being chucked out of your state house due to ‘p’ levels that are the same as bank notes, being put in prison for apparently being in a relationship while on the DPB, having your benefit constantly stopped or being overpaid or underpaid. Do the unemployed need a union??? Hell Yeah!!!
I’m suggesting more along the lines of the existing unions making that work part of their core business. There are already beneficiary advocacy groups like the Auckland Action Against Poverty and there are beneficiary advocacy services in other places like Napier and Gisborne and no doubt other places. But the power the unions would give the unemployed would be massive. A mandate for that happening would be the changing labour market, the need for a UBI etc etc.
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Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
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After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
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Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
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You may have heard that Wilson Security has decided being associated with rape & abuse is bad for their bottom line. Less than 48 hours before today’s Australia-wide & Newmarket protests and calls for boycott (they are part of Wilson Offshore Group, which also owns Wilson Parking), they announced that they won’t continue running Nauru and Manus Island detention centres once their existing sub-contract is up next October.
Their announcement states they’ve been “professional” in fulfilling their duties and are “proud” of their performance.
So our protest this afternoon goes on, as 13 more months of the status quo is simply unacceptable. These modern day concentration camps must be closed immediately.
If you share my disgust at the degradation of New Zealand’s good reputation under Key, don’t wait until next year’s election to reclaim our moral leadership. Come along today and tell Australia to #CloseTheCamps Stand in solidarity with the members of Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance (waca.net.au/Boycott_Wilson) And let’s challenge Wilson’s social license as I don’t want a corporation this unethical (they are also implicated in HK’s biggest bribery & corruption scandal, appear in the Panama Papers and haven’t been obeying Australian filing requirements) operating in New Zealand.
Today
Newmarket, Lumsden Green, Broadway and Khyber Pass
1 PM
http://bit.ly/2bai4UP
Now that Celia’s not standing she can be frank (and mostly astutely accurate) about the Wellington mayoral contenders. Not surprisingly, nice Justin Lester comes out top.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/83803202/celias-choice-wadebrown-delivers-frank-assessment-of-capitals-mayoral-contenders
Did you read the comments that followed the article in the paper?
I personally find Celia a very pleasant person but she was out of her depth as Mayor. The comments that follow the article are much more anti than I would be.
However I think the Island Bay cycleway fiasco was the last straw. An excellent wide, safe road that is now too narrow for the buses and seems to have accidents every week. There are very few cyclists who use it and those who do don’t even use the cycle lanes most of the time. I think they find them too dangerous to ride along.
Sorry Celia but it is time to go. Your term will not be remembered as a great one for the city.
Celia was a very effective and largely consensus and mildly green mayor. The cycleway was a visionary attempt at making a wide street cycle friendly. Having the cycleway next to the footpath is the way it is done in cycle friendly cities. No reason why large cars need to park on both sides of any street. A blogger spent several hours driving up and down the cycleway a few weeks ago and found numerous children and families cycling or playing and counted over 600 driveways with no problems of people coming in or out. So a beat up by the very powerful car and driving brigade. Most mayoral candidates are also stuck on the addiction to driving a personal car without regard to the urgent needs of environmental survival. Light rail is only a possibility with one or two of them eg Justin Lester.
+1 well spoken Sirenia. The car lobby hates to be crossed. Good job Celia.
The hyperfocus on roads! roads! roads! by some of the Wellington mayoral candidates (especially Nick Leggett and Jo Coughlan) is bizarre. It’s just not an issue which dominates the narrative here the way it does in Auckland.
Road users Transport lobby are big donors to the National party.
I guess I have to ask.
Do you live in Wellington?
Have you actually seen, walked along and driven on the road concerned?
Did you see it, walk on it and drive on it before they started putting in the cycle lane?
If the said blogger thinks there are no problems how do they account for the string of accidents?
Do you really think 87% of the Island Bay residents are stupid?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1603/S00268/switch-the-cycleway-back-island-bay-has-spoken.htm
That survey is a joke. It was self-selected, offered no “don’t know” options, and was heavily promoted by an organisation which is openly anti-cycleway.
Yes, there are issues with the cycleway, and yes, a lot of people are angry about it, but the anti-cycleway lobby only make themselves look ridiculous using such shabby “data” to support their case.
Yep it would be interesting to see how the candidates promoting $1 billion of new roading marry that up with the impending incineration of Africa from climate change.
Seems that none of a roughly dozen Blackberries that Clinton used while Sec State can be found. How odd.
Key destroys his every week and gets a fresh one.
Shit i thought only drug dealers are that paranoid .
In the Snowden and Facebook eras, we are all game.
Sounds like they’ve been professionally disposed of. So what’s the problem?
Hilary is the problem.
blames concussion for memory loss.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-clinton-emails-idUSKCN11829I
[lprent: A warning to readers in the same style as this pointless conspiracy dipshit.
‘reason’ appears to be a dickless wonder who appears to think he has something important to say. However that reason appears to be invisible unless you too happen to be a obsessed misogynist fuckwit quite obviously with a skull riven with syphilitic holes.
On reading ‘his’ material it appears that the only thing he has is claims that are of as a dubious provenance as his implied claims of intellectual power. But of course the pathetic dimwit manages to read trash like the bloody awful UK Daily Mirror.
Be warned. ]
Killary Clinton is a blood thirsty woman who often when I look at her eyes, or hear her brittle forced laugh, or see her pain-full insincere forced smiles, appears to me more than a little crazy ……..
I fear Bill sticking his dick in quite a few women and the worldwide exposure of this could be deadly …..
Humiliated repeatedly by Bill …. the world talking and sniggering about it …..we could all burn for this …..
More seriously though……… she supported the illegal invasion of Iraq ….. and still seems to believe the American game plan of George Bush, rumsfield etc to go to war and change the governments of 7 nations in the middle east region ( Iraq, Lebbanon, Syria, Libiya, Sudan, Somallia, Iran ) ………….. after the great success of Afghanistan.
It was all supposed to take 5 years ……. and not involve millions of refugees flooding Europe.
But back to Hillary ……… I’ve recently watched the short doco ,.. “Hillary Clinton’s Business of Corporate Shilling & War Making (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUeHZMfQ-Uc
In it she claims,….. as an excuse,…. that she voted for the illegal Iraq invasion because Bush offered her $20 Billion for New York city ………… it’s at the 19 minute mark ….
It just got me wondering what price crazy horse Wayne Mapp and the pony tail perv had in mind for our blood money ……https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COuQfs0VSs8
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/banksy-new-york-horses-night-vision-2369375
[lprent: Yep, I think I got the style of ‘reason’ about right – but I couldn’t quite descend to the level of stupidity. But I guess that journos at the mirror know their audience. ]
This is just vicious, nasty personal bullshit. I’ve said it once and will apparently keep saying it until 8 November (if not 8 November 2024): there are more than enough real, serious things to criticise Hilary Clinton for. This endless stream of “she’s a crazy illuminati sex-starved bitch” misogynist conspiracy theorising just makes her critics look ridiculous.
Gosh ….Sorry Stephenie and Lprent ………….. let me mansplain and try to dig my way out.
First of all I blame Bill for being a selfish randy dick…….. no partner should be disrespectful like that…. casual indiscretions are a form of relationship and mental abuse imo.
Personally if I had a political career path that meant I had to stay with a serial cheater to attain my ambition ……such a toxic arrangement would make me angry and twisted…. there would be no warm fluffy s and it would all be cold prickly s and sad campers ….
Being gender specific it should be common knowledge and recognized that it is most often men who ‘end the world’ when they can not control their partner or they feel that their love has been ‘betrayed’ ….
familicide and murder suicides that result from relationship psychosis is most often done by men …
Threats to kill are most often an abusive mans tools of control ……..
Women may get bitter over an unhappy relationship …… but its men who most often go psychotic and kill …
My bad taste joke of Hillary being a bitter woman and ready to nuke the world and emasculate Putin all because of Bills very public blow jobs is irrelevant to my honest view of her being a dangerous psychopath …….. In the Thatcher or Albright mold …,
“Leslie Stahl said to Albright, “We have heard that a half-million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And — and, you know, is the price worth it?”
Madeleine Albright replied, “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price — we think the price is worth it.”…..
Trump strikes me as a rich bullying Archie Bunker …. with his racist sexist bigotry and sweeping white american stereotypes .
Joe Aprio, guns and chain gangs seem to be part of the Trump vision for ‘making america great again’…..
This is a good documentry on the con that is the Donald …. and it reveals amongst other things that he raped his wife Ivana when their marriage was breaking up …and it insinuates he paid her so his attack would not have legal or criminal consequences . Documentary The Mad World of Donald Trump (Full). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M08RYheIuI…
It’s also an interesting doco when you think that the bottom of the gene pool white trash racist rednecks on display in support of Trump are fearful gun nuts ……….
Its impossible for me to know out of Hillary and Donald which ones dishonesty will be the worst for the world and the usa should they win …
I’d guess Trump internally and Hillary externally
I suspect Hillary will drop more bombs and kill more people than Trump if she gets to be the commander in charge of their military industrial complex…..
I’d also expect more death squads and Killings in South America Kissenger style under Hillary with her support for the Honduras coup being a recent example…
“Earlier this week, the former secretary of state publicly defended her role in the 2009 coup in Honduras that ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. Since the coup, Honduras has become one of the most violent places in the world. “http://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/13/hear_hillary_clinton_defend_her_role
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gonzalez-clinton-policy-latin-american-crime-story-article-1.2598456
“bloodshed reigns supreme in Honduras today, not only in terms of its astronomically high murder rate, but also for activists, LGBT persons, journalists and indigenous leaders. At least 174 LGBT persons have been killed in Honduras since 2009. According to Global Witness, 101 environmental activists were murdered between 2010 and 2014, including Berta Cáceres, a fearless environmentalist who fought for indigenous land rights”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/04/19/hillary-clintons-dodgy-answers-on-honduras-coup/?utm_term=.858fde411cd6
p.p.s I put ‘the mirror ‘ link up for people on limited bandwith who did not want to watch a video ….. I selected it from a random google search of ‘banksy+crazyhorse and liked the big colorful photos showing the artwork and the related story seemed accurate on a skim read.
It’s not a site I usually visit….and I’ve make a mental note that it can make people madder than Whaleoil
At least I ad blocked the tory? house of mirrors in my 30 seconds there
A bit like trumps tax returns…
Sad to hear Waatea 5th Estate has finished.
😢
Damn that’s a shame!
I’d clicked away from TDB before I saw that announcement. I didn’t watch it as much as I’d like; what with evening child wrangling preventing my watching the live stream. But it was good to catch up on once it was up on youtube, and I still have a few shows left unwatched to me (which may be dated, but still better than most TV current affairs shows).
[edit] Haven’t watched the clip yet, but see over on TDB that it only says; “final show of 2016”, so maybe there’s hope for next year:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/09/03/last-waatea-5th-estate-for-2016-tonight-political-wrap-of-2016-2017-predictions/
Very sad. It was a great show and it looks like they are applying for funding to keep it going. Just guessing from what was said on the final episode.
A sad lost.
[edit; this fixed itself as soon as I posted, but it’s unusual not to be able to see comments until you make one yourself] It’s past noon and OM has no visible comments – is this a glitch, or is there some huge event on that I’ve totally missed?
There’s a good piece on the Corbyn campaign over on TDB by Keith Locke (which I don’t have open just now). For those who avoid the site, this link regarding the “rampacked” train is enlightening:
http://www.beyondtheheadlines.co.uk/2016/08/23/the-london-to-newcastle-virgin-train-was-ram-packed/
TLDR is that the “empty” seats were reserved rather than vacant. So, even though the Labour leader probably could’ve grabbed one and been shielded by his status, he instead chose to sit with those who would’ve been chucked off if they’d tried that.
These included a mother with baby. At which point I have to wonder about those other passengers who had seats but let her remain: “…on the floor between the carriages because there wasn’t enough room for me and my two children to get seats…”. You can’t blame all of that on Virgin’s mismanagement, even if that’s where it started.
Yes Keith Locke’s piece is great on Corbyn.
“If the YouGov poll is accurate Jeremy Corbyn will easily be re-elected as British Labour leader. He polls 62% to his opponent Owen Smith’s 38% and leads in every region and age group.
Corbyn’s opponents have tried every trick in the book to dent the Labour leader’s support.
The party’s national executive, then with an anti-Corbyn majority, voted to exclude 130,000 new members from voting. That only seems to have riled those longer-term members who could vote.
Then Labour deputy leader Tom Watson tried red-baiting, claiming the party was being taken over by hard-left “Troskyist entryists”. Jeremy Corbyn responded by asking Watson to “do the maths – 300,000 people have joined the Labour Party. At no stage in anyone’s most vivid imagination are there 300,000 sectarian extremists at large in the country who have suddenly descended on the Labour Party.”
Corbyn’s supporters have also been accused of nastiness towards Owen Smith, yet Smith himself has called Corbyn a lunatic.
The almost daily mass media scandal-mongering about Corbyn has fallen flat. They thought they’d finally nailed the Labour leader when Richard Branson released a video appearing to disprove Corbyn’s claim that he couldn’t get a seat on one of Branson’s over-crowded trains. Corbyn had been photographed sitting on the floor. It transpired that Corbyn had witnesses to testify the seats were taken or reserved. The net result was more publicity for Corbyn’s campaign to re-nationalise Britain’s broken rail system.
At bottom it’s Corbyn’s policies that so frighten the Labour Right. ”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/09/03/dirty-tricks-against-corbyn-not-working/
To follow the news about Corbyn without the media bias, follow the Canary.
http://www.thecanary.co/
This is interesting – home ownership world statistics. Australia are ahead of us, as are Romania (no 1), Cuba, Singapore, India, Russia, Mexico, Finland, Israel, etc etc
We are 37th.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate
The problem with us, at 37, is that we treat home-ownership as the norm, and renting as something you do until you get around to buying. As home-ownership gets further and further out of reach, renting continues to be treated as something casual and temporary. Many of the countries lower on the list have stable, long-term renting as a central feature of their housing policies. We have embraced the worst of both worlds – a home-owning culture whose homes are unaffordable.
That is why I think NZ should be aiming for the top of home ownership or at least as high as some of the other countries – i mean if Finland and India can do it – you have to wonder about NZ.
People who are vulnerable should have access to State houses, and those that don’t need a permanent home such as students and families on contracts etc should be the private rentals which are well run.
While some lefties advocate renting for life like Germany, the reality is, you are reliant on the government and with a change in government such as in NZ in the 1980’s and beyond, government ideology can affect you so much more than if you could control housing yourself.
I can see your point, especially given the way governments that are backed by the powerful can get away with almost anything. In my eyes, either model would be better than the worst features of both models harnessed together.
Who decides who is vulnerable, the line between individual accountability and hand up vs hand out, not rewarding stupidity or laziness. So only the truly vulnerable are looked after The problem with most comment here is. you just want to dish it out willy nilly and throw others people’s money at every perceived problem or inequity and assume if you do so all will be well with no unintended consequences in respect of how economic actors will react to such signals. As such demonstrated in many so called socialist experiments
New Zealand is not suffering from a socialist experiment.
It is suffering from a neoliberal experiment.
New Zealand was fundamentally a socialist country from 1935 to 1984.
Since the Douglas led coup d’état, employment, the country’s wealth and independence have all declined.
Inequality, poverty, obesity, crime, rates of imprisonment, drug abuse, and foreign ownership have all surged.
Trust, home ownership and a sense of community have all declined.
32 years on and the experiment has become a nightmare for most New Zealanders.
The rose tinted glasses are strong on you Paul
Paul can take them off, but there’s nothing you can do about your grossly distended amygdala, nor your propensity to lie and smear.
Jeez lighten up Red, the sun is shining, etc….
Nah that’s just a signal from a solar actor you are receiving.
A photon is the word you are looking for
😀😀
Who decides?
Not you, that’s for sure: there are plenty of appropriate measures and you’ve rote-learned rejection of all of them.
National are fucked if you outlaw “rewarding stupidity or laziness”.
you just want to dish it out willy nilly
Flaccid smears are the best you can do: cf: appropriate measures.
others people’s money
My taxes are not your money, shithead.
We know exactly how “economic actors” respond to left wing policy because unemployment fell to its lowest level since the 1970s in 2007. Meanwhile, you have some rote-learned smears to dribble.
Your arguments aren’t arguments, your opinions aren’t yours. Choke on it.
Settle petal
It’s interesting how the Right always demand we draw “a line” between the “really” deserving and the evil disgusting bludgers who are apparently waiting around every corner.
When they get into power, that line gets drawn shorter and shorter until eventually everyone’s on the wrong side of it.
Me? I care about people. So if a few people get a bit extra, in order to ensure everyone has the basics covered? That’s the margin of error for having a heart.
Fair enough counter, a bit better than OABs diatribe
Good of you to rank the replies to your deluded flamebait. Guess those protons really do shine out of your arse..
Better watch out or someone might tell Anne on you.
The Herald fails again.
Reports on the P epidemic.
Fails to make any connection with the country’s embrace of neoliberalism and consequential exponential growth in inequality.
Pity there are no journalists at the Herald, who might have heard of the Spirit Level.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_Level:_Why_More_Equal_Societies_Almost_Always_Do_Better
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vxetq4u2bK4
Why do you keep reading the herald when you outlined all those wonderful publication the other day that agree with your world view. Stop punishing yourself unless self flagellation is your thing
Perhaps because the two exercises aren’t mutually exclusive?
Well that’s a first…blaming the P issue on neoliberalism!
Heck maybe the Headhunters and Hells Angels etc…all embrace neoliberalism?
The free market at its best
They’re a symptom, have you not been following that the Government blames everything on the gangs too. A convenient scapegoat.
Well Chuck you have to wonder how all that P gets into NZ, we are an island after all. Great that MAF etc have their funding cut so less staff to patrol the borders and we welcome anyone into this country no questions asked.
Apparently its a tie up made in Heaven between the well organised Head Hunters joining forces with the Chinese Triads who bring in the raw ingredients.
Not sure what happened to the war on P that John Key was waging.
He seems to be more interested in getting ideal P making conditions – globalism at work.
Top down hierarchical societies?
Yep, pure bloody capitalism.
this is what comes up when i opened my standard link Lprent then i clicked home and it came to the site.
Should be fixed now. There was a plugin with a very bad habit..
Amongst other things it removed the CSS (cascading style sheets) which are what makes the site look the way it does. What you saw was the naked site showing the top menus.
Umm… it’s still happening. Got to hit ‘home’ to get to home page. And the individual gravatars have gone.
I see the same thing. Not sure if it helps, but this is the error I get for most of the images on the page:
The certificate is only valid for the following names:
cloudfront.net, *.cloudfront.net
Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN
Ah. I must reissue the cert to include cdn and add the cert to see.
Or I could shift it back to cloudfront.
Changed to cloudfront
Off seeing my parents offshore (again).
Will look at it again when I get home.
interesting times
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37241727
“With South Korea’s biggest shipping company filing for bankruptcy protection, the vessels, sailors and cargo of Hanjin Shipping are stuck in limbo, stranded at sea.
Ports, fearing they will not get paid, refuse to let them dock or unload.
That means the ships are forced to wait for Hanjin, its creditors or partners to find a solution.
It’s a case of unprecedented scale, with experts expecting the deadlock to last for weeks, if not months.
“[It is] a major disaster for the shipping companies and for the companies that own the goods in those containers,” Greg Knowler, maritime and trade analyst with IHS Markit, told the BBC from Hong Kong.”Quote end.
Collapse
Probably not that significant unless your years production or stock is stuck on one of their vessels, or want to buy container space tomorrow. Hanjin are 3% of world shipping and it looks like the market will soak that up easily. https://www.wired.com/2016/09/hanjin-bankruptcy-shipping-economy/
But if it plays out like some of the Korean bankruptcies we’ve seen in tourism, wil be messy and lengthy. Feel for the crews and creditors.
Biggest creditors will be banks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/83867781/charlie-hebdo-cartoon-sparks-outrage-showing-italian-quake-victims-as-pasta
Turns out the hebdo people are just offensive arseholes.
Joyce dealing to these students is ridiculous and unnecessary.
Interesting, though, that it’s the Migrant Workers Association that’s taking up their cases.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/83854095/indian-community-blames-nz-authorities-schools-for-student-deportations
Maybe the unions in NZ could take a leaf out of the association’s book and widen its catchment to include representing the interests of the unemployed? The unemployed would benefit from the support that unions can provide (on a whole bunch of levels from practical to cultural), and the unions get to be relevant again in the face of changing employment patterns/values. It’d be a win/win. Heck, in these changing times the unions – while they mightn’t currently know it – need the unemployed more than ever. They should get to work.
That’s not a bad idea. How about an unemployed person’s union?? Sound’s like with what is going on with WINZ it is the most needed unions for it’s clients. I mean $1000 motel bills for emergency housing, being chucked out of your state house due to ‘p’ levels that are the same as bank notes, being put in prison for apparently being in a relationship while on the DPB, having your benefit constantly stopped or being overpaid or underpaid. Do the unemployed need a union??? Hell Yeah!!!
I’m suggesting more along the lines of the existing unions making that work part of their core business. There are already beneficiary advocacy groups like the Auckland Action Against Poverty and there are beneficiary advocacy services in other places like Napier and Gisborne and no doubt other places. But the power the unions would give the unemployed would be massive. A mandate for that happening would be the changing labour market, the need for a UBI etc etc.