Interesting how the current government reaches for the urgency button in repealing legislation by its predecessor, despite not having replacement processes ready to roll, and without a discernible justification for urgency in many cases, but when it comes to the question of a functioning media landscape, where regulation and possibly financial intervention might be necessary, or at least highly advisable, and where warnings have been sounded for months, it's suddenly unavoidable to wait months for the select committee.
An important in depth piece by Katie Newton here. Apart from the dereliction of duty by the associate health minister, it looks at the tobacco industry and their lobbyists:
The tobacco industry has long since moved on from the days when it tried to discredit or distract from a mounting body of evidence that smoking kills.
But researchers say it’s now applying the same tactics to a raft of next-generation alternatives to cigarettes.
Otago University Professor of Public Health Janet Hoek says a really important part of that strategy is to “shape the discourse” and normalise the industry’s new products among members of the public, media – and politicians.
“People have picked up on that [discourse] without realising how it’s been socialised and seeded.”
This is the type of strategy coached by the think tank of think tanks, the Atlas Network; how to embed ultra free market thought within unsuspecting societies and their vulnerable communities, regardless of the damage it causes. In this case, normalising vaping through advertising and media as some sort of saviour product against their own previous product. Gaslighting, anyone? And seeding ideas that anti-smoking legislation is dangerously experimental. And framing the peddlers of this suite of killer products as innocent, victimised, hardworking families.
It's why it's really important to identify early what these groups, their political clients, and their ultimate clients like the tobacco industry, do because the penalty is a drawn out war with many casualties.
These groups know how important the strategy is, and they know how important it is to keep people from scrutinising that strategy which is why so much effort has been made to discredit and trivialise discussion around the new big lobbying movement.
In short, you go down the rabbit holes as fellow believers then over time you drag them back out again.
Fascinating read. When it comes to countering disinformation and conspiracy theories, there is no reason why the methods used could not be as successful today.
Yes, interesting piece Anne. The shift from an analogue world to a digital one is likely the difference now. NZ public attention seems splintered, collectivism and public participation in civic affairs eroded for 40 years.
Every village has an idiot, but with TikTok and Meta they can connect with 25,000 other idiots in seconds. That the right can outspend us is a significant issue. But never a white flag, there is always some new avenue to try.
Clearly there is anger and disappointment at this regime's direction of travel and the carnage they are visiting upon us.
It must be a better approach to look at all lobbying in parliament and the public serv8ce to solve this and, arguably, other more important issues – housing reform, migration exploitation, trucking industry not paying it's way.
Lobbying in all forms undermines democracy and weakens trust in institutions.
Just going apeshit at tobacco lobbying is rather like killing the occasional ant rather than destroying the nest.
Some people I talk with are not overly concerned about the Govt. “snatch the patch” plans because they are not keen on Mighty Mongrel Mob, Mangu Kaha, Tribesmen and so on. There will possibly be a “proscribed” list, there are more mild patch wearers–Destiny Church, grey beard riders in say Ulysses and HOG, Harley Owners Group.
It is actually a sneaky attack on everyone’s freedoms of association, assembly and expression. Who will be next I have said in letters to local papers and online blogs…union badges, GreenPeace banners, Rainbow clothing, Te Pāti Māori signs? Nah, don’t worry bro…well filthy Talleys/AFFCO have done it again, standing down workers for wearing union branded shirts (because they resemble gang regalia apparently…)–at least people not in an AFFCO plant will be better off from a health and safety point of view perhaps…
Seymour/Atlas Network (capital on high above all below) wants
1.all media and political party funding to be dependent on either private ownership or funding
2.to attack any identifiable resistance to neo-liberalism – whether from within academic institutions or via charitable foundation funding alternative opinion media.
The focus of that hit was David Parker because Seymour and his fellow travellers are absolutely terrified of CGT and wealth taxes. Not only because of what they mean to property grifters and the idle rich, but because they are a thing in many countries and it's not hard to make the case in NZ, will notwithstanding.
Here's an exclusive list of counties with a low or no CGT:
Former Dominion Editor and long-time blogger Karl du Fresne recently called for the sacking of TVNZ’s Chief Correspondent John Campbell for hijacking “the government’s most potent communication medium” for his own “highly political mission”. Jeremy Rose takes a look at the accusation and the long-running debate on whether “objectivity” is desirable or even possible.
Yes, I totally agree there is a concerted campaign to get Campbell. It's an example of RW activists and politicians working in concert to seed media and public opinion that Campbell has to go.
I suspected @3 on this thread that these are new tools, developed globally through well funded think tanks, RW activists and politicians employ to, “shape the discourse”,eliminate opposition, and push through agenda.
Singapore seems odd – it is on the face of it low tax and has generally first-world quality of life. But there are some oddities – highest private car ownership charges in the world, profit-making government-owned public transport and 80% of the population live in costly government-owned housing – so a lot of revenue (and possibly property value capital gain) is collected by other means.
That, along with ground rents and other Government income, such as property capital gains retained by the State, accounts for the ability of the Singapore Government to pay for first World services without higher income taxes.
Yeah, Big problem with that list is CGT have very little to do with public spending and the size of the public sector in the economy.
That surplus is not a valid economic goal of the public sector should at least be understood by commentators on the left, but unfortunately neo-liberalism has run such circles around even left wing thought that its frequently pushed in it's name.
A hint that your thinking is wrong on CGT is, the ideal result of a CGT is that nobody earns capital gains (or excess capital gains) and the tax collects no or minimal revenue as a result. It's not that the government collects loads of CGT because speculators a making loads of capital gains.
The phrasing was probably based on ignorance of the move south – to a place where people ride bikes.
It is true that blog posts are not written the same way as published articles in the news media – they are rushed off in a shorter time (without revision to make it more temperate). Warning, unconcealed partisanship can involve emotive language.
Elaboration contributes to the “pearls before swine” phenomenon, SPC at 6.1.1.1 is right. Write a novella online and many will skip it. Pithy works unfortunately in this culture.
Simple, no nonsense stuff from Barbara Edmonds. Be afraid Willis will jack up GST to 17.5%, and yes, we are considering a, "fairer and more progressive tax system". Deal with it.
A quick look through the financial position of NZ Govt. The actual accounts rather than the fantasy land, austerity-justifying crap we are fed by politicians (and a mostly confused media). First up – here's the scary 'debt'. Aaaagh. Look at those private sector assets! [1/n]
NZ Govt has built up a massive portfolio of shares, equity, cash – saving up for a 'rainy day'. As a result, NZ Govt is not in 'net debt' at all. They just invented a definition of debt that didn't include their savings so they could pretend to be skint / prudent etc… [3/n]
Seymour wants the food in schools programme to end and with this agenda openly stated is seeking to convince coalition partners to spend less on it because he wants them to agree that this is not good use of taxpayer money – that is assist in the well-being of children to ensure equality of opportunity.
He is going to use the old, cannot it afford it right now argument to get others to buy in – but really wants to end all of it.
The amount of waste is lower than the administrative programme of other spending programmes.
I thought she had already been discharged without conviction. I stand corrected.
Given that she can use exactly the same points for her defence (“getting caught up in it”, a claim of neurodiversity, “remorse”, and future employment prospects) I have zero confidence that this violent political attack will be treated as such.
His counsel said her client had ADHD and autism, it was the judge who cited "neurodiversity" and accepted the man was genuinely remorseful and acted in a way that was completely out of character.
As per usual, the difficulty of gaining employment, if there is a conviction, is an argumement made by the defence counsel.
She said a conviction would be out of proportion to his offending and would result in difficulty in the young man gaining employment.
her client had taken responsibility, was truly remorseful and willing to engage in restorative justice
Since the offending, he has undertaken 180 hours of volunteer work at the Red Cross, completed the Man Alive programme and counselling sessions, Priest said.
The man also offered to pay $1000 in reparation.
The defence had a fully formed position.
The judge could have convicted and yet provided name suppression, as the police asked, but this would have to be mentioned if asked by employers.
Sure, a fully formed position I disagree with fundamentally. This wasn't a random assault in a bar. This was a violent (and IMHO successful) political act. The whole debacle was violent suppression of the right of a marginalised group to organise and discuss their rights.
Since when is “getting caught up in it” a defence against such a serious crime? What message does this send to women? Yes, you may be violently assaulted, but hey… people get caught up in the moment! No biggie!
Also what should have been considered in the granting of name suppression is danger to the individual. We've already seen Leo Molloy harass and threaten him outside court and now the deputy PM is whipping up fear and hatred.
Getting punched repeatedly in the head by a young, strong 21 year-old male is a "danger to the individual". Not applying any meaningful consequences to said male makes this type of "danger to the individual" more likely, since now any trans-identifying male (or even someone who actually believes that TERFs are Nazis) will likely take this ruling to mean: I can hit women with little consequence as long as I'm "getting caught up in things" (ie in a mob).
Why is it that in this case, the very real assault on an elderly woman that actually happened (and the light sentence handed down) is not thought of as "a danger" but the possibility of a violent man being accurately named as a violent man is thought of as "a danger"?
Because danger to women isn't taken seriously.
Just because Winston is a wally and a climate ignoramus doesn’t mean he’s always wrong. The sentence was absolutely ridiculous and out of touch.
I'll go out on a limb here and say most, nearly all, violence by men towards women is domestic/sexual in nature. The violence in this case was not, it was at a protest where the perpetrator and victim did not know each other and it was not sexual assault.
So you can't frame this incident as part of the general, 'danger to women' culture which continues to be problematic in all societies.
The sentence is ok given the context, and the name suppression is justified because there are not a few people who would like to teach him a lesson.
So you can't frame this incident as part of the general, 'danger to women' culture which continues to be problematic in all societies.
I explicitly framed it as a political act designed to stop women from gathering and talking about their rights.
there are not a few people who would like to teach him a lesson.
Then those people should also attract the attention of the criminal justice system. It's not a reason to minimise and trivialise serious, politically motivated violence directed specifically against a marginalised group in society.
Just as an aside: even though I explicitly framed this as a violent political act..
So you can't frame this incident as part of the general, 'danger to women' culture which continues to be problematic in all societies.
I kind of can, you know. Because it's at least partially a result of the societal minimisation and indifference towards violence towards women. Which is on full display in this case, due to the very light sentence, which shows exactly the indifference and minimisation I'm talking about. The perpetrator now knows that you can commit violence against women and as long as you show "remorse" and retraumatise the person you assaulted by offering to meet with them (why would they want to?), it's all gravy.
And so does everyone else. And that's why I say: us men will never solve the problem of male violence against women (a male problem caused by men) by minimising it, dismissing it and trivialising it. Hasn't worked for 10,000 years, isn't going to work now.
Apologies if this has already been covered – my reading on TS has been a bit spotty recently (life, work, etc.)
But it looks as though the long boom in mining revenue in Australia has come to a crunching halt – with the collapse in international prices of their most significant minerals.
Given that mining profits account for around 15% of their economy (IIRC) – we may well see Kiwis returning home after finding that Oz isn't such a great place to be.
Given that mining profits account for around 15% of their economy (IIRC) – we may well see Kiwis returning home after finding that Oz isn't such a great place to be.
Let's hope that any homeward-bound Kiwis will boost NZ's productivity and resilience.
Dig this [4 March 2024]
“In 2040, if I have anything to do with it, there will be a flourishing mining sector employing all my nephews who are currently going to the figurative Kalgoolies of the world, and I will have served my penance for having acquiesced in the closure of oil and gas off the coast of Taranaki.”
In three weeks, RMA Minister Chris Bishop will introduce legislation which will enable Jones’ promises to be realised.
That legislation will reach back to the Muldoon 1981-84 government for its inspiration in that it will reserve the right for the final approval of resource consent for Ministers rather than independent tribunals.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
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What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
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This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Flag-bearing duties were shared between boxer David Nyika and Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini in Tokyo three years ago. Triple Olympic medallist in boardsailing, Barbara Kendall was the first female flag bearer in Atlanta in 1996. Since 2004, the flagbearers have worn a kākahu (cloak) as they led ...
Nice.
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Prof. Eliot Jacobson
@EliotJacobson
A sudden feeling of nausea and existential dread is a normal reaction:
https://twitter.com/EliotJacobson/status/1763973421585883468
Interesting how the current government reaches for the urgency button in repealing legislation by its predecessor, despite not having replacement processes ready to roll, and without a discernible justification for urgency in many cases, but when it comes to the question of a functioning media landscape, where regulation and possibly financial intervention might be necessary, or at least highly advisable, and where warnings have been sounded for months, it's suddenly unavoidable to wait months for the select committee.
An important in depth piece by Katie Newton here. Apart from the dereliction of duty by the associate health minister, it looks at the tobacco industry and their lobbyists:
This is the type of strategy coached by the think tank of think tanks, the Atlas Network; how to embed ultra free market thought within unsuspecting societies and their vulnerable communities, regardless of the damage it causes. In this case, normalising vaping through advertising and media as some sort of saviour product against their own previous product. Gaslighting, anyone? And seeding ideas that anti-smoking legislation is dangerously experimental. And framing the peddlers of this suite of killer products as innocent, victimised, hardworking families.
It's why it's really important to identify early what these groups, their political clients, and their ultimate clients like the tobacco industry, do because the penalty is a drawn out war with many casualties.
These groups know how important the strategy is, and they know how important it is to keep people from scrutinising that strategy which is why so much effort has been made to discredit and trivialise discussion around the new big lobbying movement.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/in-depth-special-projects/story/2018928347/smoke-signals-the-tobacco-industry-language-that-found-its-way-into-ministerial-papers
Part of the question then is how come left wing parties and trade unions etc are not able to use similar methods to change discourse?
Apart from Labour being too neo-liberal rightwing to want to do so.
@ muttonbird and DoS;
Herein may lie the answer to the problem:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/02/the-man-who-tricked-nazi-germany-lessons-from-the-past-on-how-to-beat-disinformation
In short, you go down the rabbit holes as fellow believers then over time you drag them back out again.
Fascinating read. When it comes to countering disinformation and conspiracy theories, there is no reason why the methods used could not be as successful today.
This link might work:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/02/the-man-who-tricked-nazi-germany-lessons-from-the-past-on-how-to-beat-disinformation
Yes, interesting piece Anne. The shift from an analogue world to a digital one is likely the difference now. NZ public attention seems splintered, collectivism and public participation in civic affairs eroded for 40 years.
This Govt. constituent parties spent a lot of dosh with online outfits.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/20-10-2023/who-spent-most-on-online-ads-this-election
Every village has an idiot, but with TikTok and Meta they can connect with 25,000 other idiots in seconds. That the right can outspend us is a significant issue. But never a white flag, there is always some new avenue to try.
Auckland library has this "book on order". Six in the queue.
The neo-liberal rightwing have a much easier narrative that aims to maintain status quo and BAU.
LW: go out, find others to connect & collaborate with for the greater good.
RW: stay in, don’t let anybody in, because the world is a dangerous and bad place and you cannot trust anybody but yourself.
Clearly there is anger and disappointment at this regime's direction of travel and the carnage they are visiting upon us.
It must be a better approach to look at all lobbying in parliament and the public serv8ce to solve this and, arguably, other more important issues – housing reform, migration exploitation, trucking industry not paying it's way.
Lobbying in all forms undermines democracy and weakens trust in institutions.
Just going apeshit at tobacco lobbying is rather like killing the occasional ant rather than destroying the nest.
Some people I talk with are not overly concerned about the Govt. “snatch the patch” plans because they are not keen on Mighty Mongrel Mob, Mangu Kaha, Tribesmen and so on. There will possibly be a “proscribed” list, there are more mild patch wearers–Destiny Church, grey beard riders in say Ulysses and HOG, Harley Owners Group.
It is actually a sneaky attack on everyone’s freedoms of association, assembly and expression. Who will be next I have said in letters to local papers and online blogs…union badges, GreenPeace banners, Rainbow clothing, Te Pāti Māori signs? Nah, don’t worry bro…well filthy Talleys/AFFCO have done it again, standing down workers for wearing union branded shirts (because they resemble gang regalia apparently…)–at least people not in an AFFCO plant will be better off from a health and safety point of view perhaps…
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/business/union-shirts-look-like-gang-insignia-affco-claims/
Soft target. Unlike the real gangs.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/03/02/john-campbell-when-will-hipkins-stop-drifting-and-start-leading/
Our Advantage gets mentioned by John Campbell (and dissed on X by David Seymour!) Just goes to show who reads this site.
fantastic. Great quote too.
Here's the Seymour tweet.
https://twitter.com/dbseymour/status/1764176551850238459
There's a general RW strategy atm of criticising Campbell for being left wing while being TVNZ (govt tele) senior journo.
Seymour/Atlas Network (capital on high above all below) wants
1.all media and political party funding to be dependent on either private ownership or funding
2.to attack any identifiable resistance to neo-liberalism – whether from within academic institutions or via charitable foundation funding alternative opinion media.
The focus of that hit was David Parker because Seymour and his fellow travellers are absolutely terrified of CGT and wealth taxes. Not only because of what they mean to property grifters and the idle rich, but because they are a thing in many countries and it's not hard to make the case in NZ, will notwithstanding.
Here's an exclusive list of counties with a low or no CGT:
See a pattern there?
https://jaserodley.com/no-capital-gains-tax-countries/
*Switzerland has a very effective wealth tax earning 5.12% of revenues in 2020.
Both I guess.
https://northandsouth.co.nz/2024/02/19/john-campbell-objectivity-in-journalism/
Yes, I totally agree there is a concerted campaign to get Campbell. It's an example of RW activists and politicians working in concert to seed media and public opinion that Campbell has to go.
I suspected @3 on this thread that these are new tools, developed globally through well funded think tanks, RW activists and politicians employ to, “shape the discourse”, eliminate opposition, and push through agenda.
To hell with Cayman Islands bank accounts, may as well keep your ill-gotten gains here and save a lot of trouble.
Interesting list.
Singapore seems odd – it is on the face of it low tax and has generally first-world quality of life. But there are some oddities – highest private car ownership charges in the world, profit-making government-owned public transport and 80% of the population live in costly government-owned housing – so a lot of revenue (and possibly property value capital gain) is collected by other means.
https://www.marketurbanist.com/blog/the-pros-cons-of-singapores-housing-model
https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/9964/how-is-singapore-able-to-provide-first-world-public-services-given-its-low-inco
Singapore is run as a giant SOE. Temasek Holdings – Wikipedia
That, along with ground rents and other Government income, such as property capital gains retained by the State, accounts for the ability of the Singapore Government to pay for first World services without higher income taxes.
Yeah, Big problem with that list is CGT have very little to do with public spending and the size of the public sector in the economy.
That surplus is not a valid economic goal of the public sector should at least be understood by commentators on the left, but unfortunately neo-liberalism has run such circles around even left wing thought that its frequently pushed in it's name.
A hint that your thinking is wrong on CGT is, the ideal result of a CGT is that nobody earns capital gains (or excess capital gains) and the tax collects no or minimal revenue as a result. It's not that the government collects loads of CGT because speculators a making loads of capital gains.
This is a brilliant opinion piece by Campbell I think – very worth reading.
Becoming one of our best and most insightful political and social commentators I believe.
I better look up my urban dictionary more often then, and use some modern language… or more Mao quotes…
I am a bit miffed at the criticism of Advantage's prose!
The phrasing was probably based on ignorance of the move south – to a place where people ride bikes.
It is true that blog posts are not written the same way as published articles in the news media – they are rushed off in a shorter time (without revision to make it more temperate). Warning, unconcealed partisanship can involve emotive language.
There's so little reader patience now for anything over 300 words, so concision may indeed make it gallopy.
Sure, 20 years ago even discussions on blog posts were written like letters to the editor, with a deliberate elaboration of the points made.
Elaboration is achievable by asking questions in the comments if one desires
Elaboration contributes to the “pearls before swine” phenomenon, SPC at 6.1.1.1 is right. Write a novella online and many will skip it. Pithy works unfortunately in this culture.
Here is another angle of austerity Aotearoa style.
2 young workers, killed and Worksafe decides sitting on it's hands is the fiscally appropriate thing to do.
There is power imbalance, cruelty and exploitation visited upon the families of two young men.
The
bean counterpublic servant that made this decision should be ashamed of themselves.https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350200103/whanau-gutted-after-worksafe-declines-investigate-young-mens-death
Simple, no nonsense stuff from Barbara Edmonds. Be afraid Willis will jack up GST to 17.5%, and yes, we are considering a, "fairer and more progressive tax system". Deal with it.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/why-labour-s-new-finance-spokesperson-barbara-edmonds-thinks-a-tax-hike-could-be-on-the-cards.html
Looks like Nactional's been making shit up.
.
@MusicalChairs14
A quick look through the financial position of NZ Govt. The actual accounts rather than the fantasy land, austerity-justifying crap we are fed by politicians (and a mostly confused media). First up – here's the scary 'debt'. Aaaagh. Look at those private sector assets! [1/n]
[…]
@MusicalChairs14
NZ Govt has built up a massive portfolio of shares, equity, cash – saving up for a 'rainy day'. As a result, NZ Govt is not in 'net debt' at all. They just invented a definition of debt that didn't include their savings so they could pretend to be skint / prudent etc… [3/n]
https://twitter.com/MusicalChairs14/status/1764191798090678323
Seymour wants the food in schools programme to end and with this agenda openly stated is seeking to convince coalition partners to spend less on it because he wants them to agree that this is not good use of taxpayer money – that is assist in the well-being of children to ensure equality of opportunity.
He is going to use the old, cannot it afford it right now argument to get others to buy in – but really wants to end all of it.
The amount of waste is lower than the administrative programme of other spending programmes.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/david-seymour-slams-free-school-lunches-scheme-as-wasteful-as-fate-to-be-considered-by-coalition-government.html
For whom is the food in school progamme wasteful?
Those with children in private schools, for those in his Epsom decile electorate …
Pure Trans Joy news: a young man violently and repeatedly assaulted an elderly woman who wanted to listen to other women discussing their rights.
As a result, he was discharged with no conviction and permanent name suppression. Because he “ got caught up in things” and because neurodiversity.
By my count that’s two assaults on women on camera in broad daylight resulting in zero convictions.
Wat
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350200471/man-discharged-without-conviction-after-punching-71-year-old-posie-parker-event
By my count thats:
2 assaults on women in broad daylight
0 convictions
what was the 2nd one?
The other case was scheduled for February 29.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/posie-parker-assault-case-tomato-juice-protester-eli-rubashkyn-fails-in-bid-to-have-charges-dropped/5BT76CBC3RCM3CVTDYXGA6DLWI/
I can find no report about it.
James Olsen may be off shore again. Her lawyer is a navy reserve.
I thought she had already been discharged without conviction. I stand corrected.
Given that she can use exactly the same points for her defence (“getting caught up in it”, a claim of neurodiversity, “remorse”, and future employment prospects) I have zero confidence that this violent political attack will be treated as such.
His counsel said her client had ADHD and autism, it was the judge who cited "neurodiversity" and accepted the man was genuinely remorseful and acted in a way that was completely out of character.
As per usual, the difficulty of gaining employment, if there is a conviction, is an argumement made by the defence counsel.
The defence had a fully formed position.
The judge could have convicted and yet provided name suppression, as the police asked, but this would have to be mentioned if asked by employers.
Sure, a fully formed position I disagree with fundamentally. This wasn't a random assault in a bar. This was a violent (and IMHO successful) political act. The whole debacle was violent suppression of the right of a marginalised group to organise and discuss their rights.
Since when is “getting caught up in it” a defence against such a serious crime? What message does this send to women? Yes, you may be violently assaulted, but hey… people get caught up in the moment! No biggie!
Also what should have been considered in the granting of name suppression is danger to the individual. We've already seen Leo Molloy harass and threaten him outside court and now the deputy PM is whipping up fear and hatred.
Getting punched repeatedly in the head by a young, strong 21 year-old male is a "danger to the individual". Not applying any meaningful consequences to said male makes this type of "danger to the individual" more likely, since now any trans-identifying male (or even someone who actually believes that TERFs are Nazis) will likely take this ruling to mean: I can hit women with little consequence as long as I'm "getting caught up in things" (ie in a mob).
Why is it that in this case, the very real assault on an elderly woman that actually happened (and the light sentence handed down) is not thought of as "a danger" but the possibility of a violent man being accurately named as a violent man is thought of as "a danger"?
Because danger to women isn't taken seriously.
Just because Winston is a wally and a climate ignoramus doesn’t mean he’s always wrong. The sentence was absolutely ridiculous and out of touch.
I think you are reaching a bit there.
I'll go out on a limb here and say most, nearly all, violence by men towards women is domestic/sexual in nature. The violence in this case was not, it was at a protest where the perpetrator and victim did not know each other and it was not sexual assault.
So you can't frame this incident as part of the general, 'danger to women' culture which continues to be problematic in all societies.
The sentence is ok given the context, and the name suppression is justified because there are not a few people who would like to teach him a lesson.
I explicitly framed it as a political act designed to stop women from gathering and talking about their rights.
Then those people should also attract the attention of the criminal justice system. It's not a reason to minimise and trivialise serious, politically motivated violence directed specifically against a marginalised group in society.
Just as an aside: even though I explicitly framed this as a violent political act..
I kind of can, you know. Because it's at least partially a result of the societal minimisation and indifference towards violence towards women. Which is on full display in this case, due to the very light sentence, which shows exactly the indifference and minimisation I'm talking about. The perpetrator now knows that you can commit violence against women and as long as you show "remorse" and retraumatise the person you assaulted by offering to meet with them (why would they want to?), it's all gravy.
And so does everyone else. And that's why I say: us men will never solve the problem of male violence against women (a male problem caused by men) by minimising it, dismissing it and trivialising it. Hasn't worked for 10,000 years, isn't going to work now.
Even a stopped clock is right occasionally , enough of this name suppression bullshit ,. let the sunlight clean it all …
Apologies if this has already been covered – my reading on TS has been a bit spotty recently (life, work, etc.)
But it looks as though the long boom in mining revenue in Australia has come to a crunching halt – with the collapse in international prices of their most significant minerals.
Given that mining profits account for around 15% of their economy (IIRC) – we may well see Kiwis returning home after finding that Oz isn't such a great place to be.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/australia-on-the-brink-as-iron-ore-nickel-lithium-prices-collapse/news-story/85c15642b6e4a62e99df761c7dfa4964
The real story is why.
It only impacts on those in the mining industry and those in mining states where there is a wider economic downturn.
Pretty big impact on the tax take. And even bigger if the government needs to bail out the mining industry (not saying they should – but if they do)
More likely to tip Australia into recession.
Let's hope that any homeward-bound Kiwis will boost NZ's productivity and resilience.
Oops, that Harman article is two weeks old – my bad.