I awoke with that familiar sense of dread…after a nite of intertwined nightmares…featuring Peter's and Seymour…tying me in knots impossible to get out of…and constantly laughing at me ..and not in a nice way..
(Why can I no longer have the nice dreams I used to have..the rapture-ones…?)
To the bathroom…for the head-shave….I wish I hadn't started this bloody look..the upkeep is a killer…but like so much of my life now ..I am trapped ..I think I look like Mr potato-head…
Her indoors has my smoothy green (oh..!..the irony..!) breakfast ready…and the car is waiting..
My first hurdle of the day is meeting with Peter's and Seymour..(or as I call them ..pe-more..)..
God..!!.. it's tiresome…both of them constantly waving their dicks in the air.. trying to clamber on top of each other .. it's unsightly…
And this is my immediate future…
And the ministers they have foisted on me..(!)…have you seen these clowns..?…I wouldn't hire them to load suitcases on planes ..
I am enjoying wreaking tory havoc upon the lefty public servants..but it is those ministers I would like to fire..
And I have to work with them ..(!)
Well…I had the meeting…the usual bullshit went down…(They really loathe each other..)..and a new fear is solidifying within me ..(just what I need..!)
That is that Peter's wanted deputy p.m. job first…'cos he is planning to ensure his enemy has a much truncated go at the job..and he will pull the plug ..when he chooses ..bastard..!
He has this whole 'i've got a secret..vibe about him ..
I trust him as far as I could throw him…
Just got a new poll…it isn't good news…we are tanking..me especially…where is my bloody honeymoon..?..John promised me one..!
At this rate we will only be a one-term government ..and that is not long enough to do what I promised to the backers…(They didn't shell out $10 mill + for nothing..eh..?..they want their pay-day..their mines ..etc..)
Just finished question time…it didn't go well…nobody did what they are meant to..the pe-more ministers were their usual dismal selves…they were drowning..not waving..
(I have two and a half more years of this..?..it could make me wish for Peter's to pull the plug…so I can have another go ..)
And I hope that Parker doesn't take over from hipkins…he is too smart for his own good..with his bloody wealth tax/capital gains tax/land tax aspirations…he is the lefties lefty..and we can't have that..he would nail us…
And that has been my day… would you like it..?
I deserve a bigger pay raise than what I got..given what I have to put up with with pe-more. .
Like a lot of people, I was unimpressed with the government's announced intention of demanding 6.5 % public spending cuts across the board. If anything, some areas need strengthening. For example, we need more ICU capacity in hospitals. If there was a good reason for locking down the entire country, it was our lack of 1st world-level ICU capacity. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_hospital_beds
Oh dear, you moved to the country side from the big smoke for some peace and tranquility and now you’re upset with country folks who do country stuff. How about you try to get on with your neighbours, they may reciprocate with roast duck for dinner.
Weka..Duck numbers aren't a problem because of the annual shoot. Without the cull numbers would be a problem. There would be overpopulation and skinny hungry ducks. Its very tightly studied and controlled. Mallards 1 month, parries 2 months, pheasants 3 montgs. And to illustrate overpopulation Canada geese are no longer game birds and can be hunted all year by any means eg rifle or bow and arrow. I've just returned from a morning missing ducks with my two daughters. I think that will be their only 0530 start this season. I think they just wanted to be like their friends who play dress up with mums and dads, take thermos and bacon and egg pie. .its great being outdoors and gives my thumbs a rest from usual weekend trapping mishaps. Next weekend will be quieter for everyone.
Google harridan and you immediately see why. Tender males all over the nation will have absorbed her performance, done a collective shudder at the prospect of contagion, staring down the barrel of a future in which it becomes a fashion trend, like possums frozen in the headlights. You'd expect some females on the committee too though – perhaps they did a runner out of solidarity with the others?
Spinoff's editor spotted the opportunity to be erudite:
Genter walked across the house and stood over Matt Doocey, a National MP who, in addition to being associate transport minister is also the first minister for mental health – a position he pitched partly due to his own struggles. He has been very public about these, in a way which is strikingly copacetic with the Greens’ general “bring your whole self to work” philosophy. To cross the floor like that and stand yelling over anyone was incredibly strange, but Doocey was a particularly poor choice of target.
She was doing dominance/submission, which has always been the core of Nat ethos. Nats always come in two types: the dominant and the toadies. She had him pegged. Obviously he will complain to the privileges committee: "She hectored me, and my name's not Hector!" They will pronounce such othering totally unacceptable.
as far as I can see both the left and the right have hypocrites on this. Genter was wrong in what she did, she knows she was and she has apologised in parliament. I don't know if she has apologised to Doocey.
The lefties implying it's no big deal are doing the left a disservice, because it basically means we have no principles and we can be mean to the people we disagree with politically. What I don't understand is how people think that's going to end. If we establish that it's ok to be mean to those we disagree with, what do we think everyone else is going to do?
Yeah that's the impression created in the public mind. Could be she's been suffering some kind of pressure in her private life that made her slip out of character. The compounding effect though, of her spat with the florist woman, seems ominous.
Hard to see how an electorate MP can survive hostilities with one of her constituents becoming prime-time media feeding frenzy. Either Marama or Chloe ought to go & see the woman to figure out a solution that could prevail over the traffic-planning bureaucrats who created the problem.
The problem I have is they’ve said they’re not disputing the florist’s story and we can’t tell if that’s because of their internal process or because what JAG did was really that bad (the florist’s story reads to me as exaggerated, esp as she is known to be strongly anti-cycling or whatever)
The 'traffic planning bureaucrats' work in the context of political support. Reading some of the comments on TS in recent days from Wellingtonians, and media reports, it sounds as though there are serious problems with the way changes are being rolled out.
The trouble would seem to be that a lot of our city roads were put in place over a hundred years ago when horseback was a major means of transport, and there were very few cars around. The issues that we have today, relating to cycle lanes versus kerbside parking were simply not envisaged in those earlier times.
Absolutely! The street I live in was subdivided in 1905. Mostly villas, but the odd bungalow and "cottage". Sites of 330 to 350m2. Street is steep and narrow with parking on one side only. Many sites have no off street parking, some have only one space. It is a block from a major arterial route and was designed for working class accommodation, and for people who would walk, cycle, bus or tram into the CBD for employment. There was a neighbourhood shopping centre within walking distance.
As it is 1 stage to the CBD by bus we used to be infested with "hide and riders", but a P120 restriction with exemption for residents permits available has fixed that.
There is a cycleway/walkway at the bottom of the road which is part of a wider cycle network and is very well used. It had to be extended a few years ago because it was so popular.
…it sounds as though there are serious problems with the way changes are being rolled out
No doubt. It's hard to see how there couldn't be, especially when trying to retrofit a sane infrastructure to an insanely-designed city (I speak as an Aucklander.)
There's an old saying about breaking eggs to make an omelette. As one would expect, there's a double standard about the importance of different types of egg. A single business owner egg is a precious thing whose breakage is an atrocity that is shouted with horror from the rooftops – usually by the business owner themselves who is platformed assiduously by sympathetic media. But the public servant egg can be cracked in their thousands without much concern and even with glee in some quarters – because the process has been sold to the public as necessary and beneficial.
The politics of change is all about which omelettes get made and which eggs get broken. The CoC is doing this right now through the brutal application of raw power. The Green politics of just transition has to do better than that. It must show greater caritas. In that context, Green MP's blowing their stack is foolish and unhelpful.
Good comments. I am an Aucklander too, and what is happening in this city is anything but a 'just transition'. Consultation with local communities is opaque, at best. I have been to public meetings where people asking reasonable questions are ridiculed by transport planners and even local body politicians. I want to travel a pathway to less congestion, lower emissions and better alternative transport options, but the way this being imposed on Auckland (and from all reports Wellington) is causing deep division.
I'm inclined to agree. Progress can take many forms and for the mayor to ignore vested interests suggests she's aiming to be a one-termer. I normally oppose vested interests too but a local economy is a different context. One must be genuinely pro-people to succeed.
You can't just freeze out businesses in the CBD – that's a form of madness. The Green way is to be inclusive & work together to create a scheme that is win/win all around the table of stakeholders. Seems to me the mayor & Rongotai MP lack that Green authenticity. And from your link: “It was just very odd to be grabbed by a politician.” Any kiwi would feel that way!
So three strikes and she's out. The pattern is too strong to deny. The Greens will have to bite the bullet and create a minimised downside transition asap!
That is the truly ironic thing that the bluster and ramming things through without consultation has turned many of us who initially thought the concept of cycle lanes had something going for it, but lets discuss it further and aim for a win-win for WCC/cyclists and residents/cyclists, into fighting for the survival of our suburbs and the people who live there, who work at many of the jobs we don't do.
We value our little businesses here in the suburbs. They bring human scale and the village concept into our lives. We want them to succeed.
Certainly some of the local body politicians of yore of differing parties have more of the touch that signalled success than the Greens are currently showing.
I am not sure about political parties in local bodies. At the moment the Greens in WCC are using the
'application of raw power. The Green politics of just transition has to do better than that'. From AB
There has been precious little evidence of the concept of 'just transition'. Raw power I think has a fascination and the Greens are dancing so close to this flame that it is going to melt their wings. (just to mix several metaphors and a Greek legend)
I guess at base some of us were hoping for a change, a principled change but we've backed the wrong horses or perhaps the horses were wearing different colours from those we thought they were wearing.
I'm not a Green Party supporter, nor am I from the left of politics. However I have previously held them in high regard as principled and open. But they have morphed into a form of self-righteousness that IMHO is manifest in the recent behaviour of some of its parliamentarians. For all that, they hold a significant level of public support.
"survival of the suburbs and those who live there"
Jesus fucking wept! Hyperbole much?
Yes. I'm sure that a cycleway will cause everyone to either leave or commit mass suicide. Leaving Berhampore a smoking ruin haunted by the shades of lost souls moaning "once we had a car and could roam near and far, never more, never more! Cycle tyres now grind our bones and lycra and spokey dokies fill what once were our homes"
How's that for hyperbole?
Stop talking like you represent everyone in your suburb, it's an intellectually dishonest smoke screen for your desire to maintain the completely unsustainable status quo.
You seem totally oblivious to the enormous structural changes to retailing over the last decade.
You're a big fan of anecdotes, well my friends who run a very successful book store are much more worried about what the enormous loss of public service jobs will mean to their business than cycleways.
Covid forced them to change their business model and they thrived as result. Something little miss loading zone and yourself could learn from.
As a long standing member of my community and of the Residents Assn, member of many community groups I know that I have more knowledge of the workings of Berhampore as a community than you have. I'm certain of that. The groups I belong to get along well, we rarely tolerate rudeness though we do have and welcome thinkers.
If you look at my record you will note that far from wanting the status quo I am all for projects that will enhance the lives of residents and the environment.
Hence our work to move light industrial, so-called, businesses from Berhampore, to move the montrosity that was Athletic Park from our community, trees in streets, lower speed limits, the pull off lane near the Berhampore shops. We worked on/with height limits to new builds and we have some good looking shops in B'pore as a result. We worked with HNZC on the design of the social housing on Adelaide rd south of B'Pore.
Having been involved in the cycle way planning from earliest times you will need to do a bit better than grandstanding insults (and some pretty good cycle-related descriptors), to convince me that there are benefits to people losing access to close by parking.
The cases I am aware of where people will be affected are especially where they may be reliant on elder care, home cares, Meals on Wheels, living with mobility issues or families working multiple jobs. Not to mention tradies working on our lovely older houses or DIYers expecting the next delivery of Gib board or a bin.
One of the ideas that I gathered info on early on in the planning was the building/use of cycle ways in the planned town of Cromwell (planned by MWD after the inundation as part of the Clyde dam etc.)
At the time this was one of the few towns that had planned cycle ways. These made a point of not using main roads unless there was no option. They were planned specifically to minimise cars and bikes having to share the same space. The best examples were not linked to busy main roads but went along safer routes, including through nearby parks.
Particularly in Berhampore there was work done on off road options to skirt B'pore on the east & west. More practical on the west though
Unfortunately the bike lobby said it MUST, reason/s unknown, go along the narrow main roads despite the knowledge that people would/could lose access to their homes.
I am well aware of the changes to retail and also that communities wish to keep 'their' shops. I fail to see why the cycling lobby should be trying to put local shops out of business when with a bit of forethought/ fewer fixed ideas and goodwill they could remain fulfilling a function into the future.
My next move will be to an electric car as, despite what you say, the move is not to get people out of cars as a mode but to limit the use of fossil fuels. People can still have the benefits of travel but without fossil fuels. I get that batteries disposal is a problem but humans being innovative and creative we will solve this.
Public transport with its ability to move 80 or so people at a time should be getting a lion's share of transport monies. Same with rail for long distance. Move freight off roads back onto rail.
Or is your vision really to do without car-like transport modes? If so I'll probably buy shares in a candle making company as naughty electricity is bound to have you as a detractor. My brother in law will have room on his farm to breed some carthorses and we'll find a wheel-wright somewhere to make the wagon-wheels. Perhaps cyclists pulling wee trolleys like the Kaibosh bins could go around collecting the horse poo for gardens?
Perhaps you could also work on developing long life fresh flowers or convince people they don’t need flowers in their lives. Perhaps a nice bit of metal or a bike pump could be sent to mark graduation. Some long nails, a pump and one recycle scrunched up paper flower could make a great bridal bouquet. These have the benefit of not needing to be delivered in a timely fashion. Sure to catch on, not.
Many people love flowers and receiving them. Why should she be put out of business? What actually do the flower lovers get out of it if she is forced to go?
As you've kicked all this off on the Genter post, lets fucking go…
Especially with your snide little quip about politeness and thinking. You've demonstrated neither quality from the start.
I stand by my comments that you are in fact a grand old dame. You reek of blind privilege and your lack of self awareness is truly astonishing. You remind me of Felicity Wong – The "heritage expert" who decries new builds on aesthetic considerations even though she is legally blind. She admitted that to me when I dealt with her in a professional capacity. It was eye opening – Ha fucking ha!
I have attended many transport consultations and community board meetings throughout New Zealand so I know the demographic that shows up. Pakeha silverbacks with too much time on their hands, wanting to protect their property values and keep their privilege and convenience. Thats how I recognise you for what you are.
You have no understanding of traffic networks or urban planning. You really exposed yourself with the ridiculous comment asking that cyclists take the long way or risk their lives if they want to use arterial routes and the destinations that they connect to. It's no wonder that the local officials don't listen to you – you're ignorant and have no idea what you’re talking about. I'm embarrassed for you.
Buying an electric car are we? Thought the only thing we could afford was a Film Soc membership. Bit of a slip there wasn't it? Oh dear…
Cool little strawman calling me a luddite – allow me to respond.
You don't care if children and adults get killed or injured when cycling for travel or recreation. In fact, you'd like to see more of them killed and injured near the hospital – At least it will be easy to tidy up the mess I guess. Shame about the grief and trauma, but the flowers MUST get through.
You care more for flowers, which will rot, just like you, than people.
I think you're being exploited by little miss private loading bay – She knows a lonely old lady when she sees one and is happy listen to you rabbit on and will say anything to get your money. Are you sure you're not the victim of elder abuse?
Or is she bribing you with flowers to get you on side? Are you corrupt? Bribed with flowers – wouldn't that be a turn up for the books!
Your claims to politeness are a facade. You might say they're compromise-d… get it? Probably not, you don't seem very good at joining the dots – typical kiwi.
Your final comment s fucking hilarious!
Here is an idea – Try another fucking florist! One thats less vile and selfish. Or perhaps pick some wildflowers or grow some yourself – that way you can stick them up your ass whenever you want. Wouldn’t that be memorable!
Couldn't agree more. Another interesting observation is, try emailing any of the councillors who voted for this, and surprise, surprise, not a peep. Not even the decency to acknowledge receipt of said email.
Perhaps the poor dears are feeling overwhelmed by their inboxes overflowing from constituents upset about cycleways and leaking pipes?
WCC is now on a par with central government (of any stripe). Try communicating with a Minister when you have a very valid, major problem. Although, at least you get an auto-reply saying they got your email. And usually, a form follow up from a staffer down the track. If you're lucky, your local MP isn't MIA, like the last Rongotai one was (Eagle). Now the current Rongotai representative might end up MIA.
These politician forget they're public servants, and only have their jobs on the whim of the voting public. To refuse to own what they've done by ignoring the public will more than likely see them voted out.
It's very likely Wellington will shift Right again at the next council elections, and the main reason will be ramming through the cycleways and the total distain the public has been treated with.
As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney — who court records show immediately issued a legal threat.
If the woman proceeded with the abortion, even in a state where the procedure remains legal, Davis would seek a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abortion and “pursue wrongful-death claims against anyone involved in the killing of his unborn child,” the lawyer wrote in a letter, according to records.
Now, Davis has disclosed his former partner’s abortion to a state district court in Texas, asking for the power to investigate what his lawyer characterizes as potentially illegal activity in a state where almost all abortions are banned.
The previously unreported petition was submitted under an unusual legal mechanism often used in Texas to investigate suspected illegal actions before a lawsuit is filed. The petition claims Davis could sue either under the state’s wrongful-death statute or the novel Texas law known as Senate Bill 8 that allows private citizens to file suit against anyone who “aids or abets” an illegal abortion.
That's not a one off either. I doubt the Auditor General has anywhere near the resources to call out all of the 'sloppy' spending practices that have evolved in NZ in recent years.
Auditor-General John Ryan today published a letter to Inland Revenue Commissioner Peter Mersi voicing concerns the sloppy rollout of the payment did not exhibit good stewardship of public money.
"Ryan noted the scheme was designed to be delivered at speed in a changing environment, but said those circumstances were no excuse for the lack of documentation and the lack of clarity around decisions. Trust and confidence in government depends on transparency and accountability when spending public money," he said."
Auditor General didn't have anything about the work Joyce did, just the lack of appropriate policies and paperwork regarding an un-tendered single provider contract.
So publicly funded entities can spend money on shit, provided they let suppliers compete to supply the shit and keep the paper trail in order. Or have a policy on how to deal with an un-tendered contract, and have the paper trail to show they've followed that policy. Good o
What we've seen so far confirms what we've witnessed for the last couple of years: a wave of electoral annihilation is coming for the Conservative party under Rishi Sunak
[…]
It's early yet in the 2024 local elections. We don't know about most councils yet, or the mayoral contests, or the police and crime commissioners, whatever they are. But what we've seen so far confirms what we've witnessed for the last couple of years: a wave of electoral annihilation is coming for the Conservative party under Rishi Sunak. There are interesting wrinkles in the numbers, telling little phenomena that become visible in the right light. But the basic lesson this morning is the same as it ever was: The Tories are fucked, fucked, fucked. They really are utterly fucked.
The oft-considered idea of introducing a law for corporate manslaughter has been advanced once again with a Labour MP’s Bill, but how much support it will garner is unknown.
The Crimes (Corporate Homicide) Amendment Bill, put into the member’s ballot by Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich, would create a criminal offence for employers to cause the death of a person.
[…]
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said National wasn’t interested in the Bill, “Corporate manslaughter laws are not currently on our agenda as I am focused on our coalition commitments to restore law and order.”
A New York Times examination of more than 100 videos from clashes at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that violence ebbed and flowed for nearly five hours, mostly with little or no police intervention. The violence had been instigated by dozens of people who are seen in videos counterprotesting the encampment.
The videos showed counterprotesters attacking students in the pro-Palestinian encampment for several hours, including beating them with sticks, using chemical sprays and launching fireworks as weapons. As of Friday, no arrests had been made in connection with the attack.
To build a timeline of the events that night, The Times analyzed two livestreams, along with social media videos captured by journalists and witnesses.
[…]
Throughout the intermittent violence, officers were captured on video standing about 300 feet away from the area for roughly an hour, without stepping in.
I read the police & campus security retreated & stood back because the counter protesters threw things at them & the police didn't want to get hurt. & this…
"A video showing Annelise Orleck, 65, being taken to the ground intensified criticism of the decision by the college’s president to call in officers."
"Annelise Orleck, a labor historian who has taught at Dartmouth College for more than three decades, was at a protest for Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday night, when she was knocked to the ground. Dr. Orleck, 65, was zip-tied and was one of 90 people who were arrested, according to the local police."
The scary "book on terrorism" NYPD is using as evidence of criminal intent is an Oxford Press textbook from International Affairs U6387, a course taught this semester at Columbia by Michael E. O’Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.
Pencils, books, laptops, those are the tools of students and what you expect to find on a college campus. But here’s what the NYPD found in Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after we were able to arrest the protestors and agitators for commandeering and barricading themselves inside the building. Gas masks, ear plugs, helmets, goggles, tape, hammers, knives, ropes, and a book on TERRORISM. These are not the tools of students protesting, these are the tools of agitators, of people who were working on something nefarious. Thankfully, your NYPD was able to prevent whatever they were planning and stop them before they could do it. Continue to peacefully and lawfully protest; but know that if you engage in illegal conduct, the NYPD will hold you responsible and hold you accountable—someone has to.
The 2020s are starting to feel like a repeat performance of the 197Os… spilling into the 80s. The main issues then were the Vietnam War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. But the response from the respective authorities is the same – turn on the protestors and create the impression they are the baddies.
The issues now are the Israeli/Gaza war and climate change.
The protestors won back then and they will win again.
Edit: and lets not forget… the next generation of leaders is amongst them.
Very long form. Very to the point. The high court should be ashamed at allowing this obviously important information to be allowed to slither away from the Waitangi Tribunal and the ignorant to be comforted by its structural colonial paternalism. The mana of a court is reduced and it isn’t the Waitangi Tribunal.
After Warner Bros took various cost-cutting measures including turning movies into tax write-offs and refused to pay actors & writers for months, David Zaslav’s 2023 pay package is now at $49.7M, a 26.5% increase from 2022. (Source: https://wp.me/pc8uak-1lE1mC)
Oz has had a lot of crimes of violence against women this year and a decision has been made to identify the influence of porn on those under 18 as the reason and require a porn passport.
There is already the means for parents to place a porn block on the devices of their children – so it is about those parents who do not bother to do this being blamed for the violence.
The problem with age based ID online is that it might result in ID theft – and this has consequences (an online crime explosion is the risk here).
The Australian government is expected to spend $6.5 million on a pilot program that will check the age of a person before they enter a pornographic website.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the pilot will be able to identify “available age assurance products”.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the passports will be ‘electronic tokens’ that could also become used for online liquor stores and gambling sites.
Once a system to block on-line sites is established (for those without a "passport"), it is easier to set up the same system to block access to free streaming sites and thus the idea is probably popular with corporate industry sectors (film/TV/sport – content suppliers).
Revolutionary Iran continues its campaign against immodesty in the ME, from elimination of Zionist Jews from the region to domestic suppression of the presence of women not showing signs of fearful compliance to their patriarchy.
Using women against other women is adopting the East German tactic of “informing”. Paying them to do so is based on two factors, rewarding servility and the divide and conquer strategy (to create a risk for those involved in a feminist network).
Social media has the touched up photo and the evolution to deep fake, meanwhile in the real world … .
One wonders, the fate of the poor who cannot afford to present as one of the "class" above – I suppose they could watch Cherry 2000 and claim to be real, rather than a production line knock off.
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 ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
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 ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
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: 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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Steve Braunias, always a good Saturday morning read, now at Newsroom. Nails it:
The Secret Diary of .. Coalition Sheriff Luxon (newsroom.co.nz)
Brilliant. Nice to have access to Braunias again. No way was I ever going to pay for a Herald subscription.
Steve hits my nail on the head and hopefully nails the lid on the Luxon coffin.
(here's my go..)satire…
My day by Christopher (n.b.!) luxon .
I awoke with that familiar sense of dread…after a nite of intertwined nightmares…featuring Peter's and Seymour…tying me in knots impossible to get out of…and constantly laughing at me ..and not in a nice way..
(Why can I no longer have the nice dreams I used to have..the rapture-ones…?)
To the bathroom…for the head-shave….I wish I hadn't started this bloody look..the upkeep is a killer…but like so much of my life now ..I am trapped ..I think I look like Mr potato-head…
Her indoors has my smoothy green (oh..!..the irony..!) breakfast ready…and the car is waiting..
My first hurdle of the day is meeting with Peter's and Seymour..(or as I call them ..pe-more..)..
God..!!.. it's tiresome…both of them constantly waving their dicks in the air.. trying to clamber on top of each other .. it's unsightly…
And this is my immediate future…
And the ministers they have foisted on me..(!)…have you seen these clowns..?…I wouldn't hire them to load suitcases on planes ..
I am enjoying wreaking tory havoc upon the lefty public servants..but it is those ministers I would like to fire..
And I have to work with them ..(!)
Well…I had the meeting…the usual bullshit went down…(They really loathe each other..)..and a new fear is solidifying within me ..(just what I need..!)
That is that Peter's wanted deputy p.m. job first…'cos he is planning to ensure his enemy has a much truncated go at the job..and he will pull the plug ..when he chooses ..bastard..!
He has this whole 'i've got a secret..vibe about him ..
I trust him as far as I could throw him…
Just got a new poll…it isn't good news…we are tanking..me especially…where is my bloody honeymoon..?..John promised me one..!
At this rate we will only be a one-term government ..and that is not long enough to do what I promised to the backers…(They didn't shell out $10 mill + for nothing..eh..?..they want their pay-day..their mines ..etc..)
Just finished question time…it didn't go well…nobody did what they are meant to..the pe-more ministers were their usual dismal selves…they were drowning..not waving..
(I have two and a half more years of this..?..it could make me wish for Peter's to pull the plug…so I can have another go ..)
And I hope that Parker doesn't take over from hipkins…he is too smart for his own good..with his bloody wealth tax/capital gains tax/land tax aspirations…he is the lefties lefty..and we can't have that..he would nail us…
And that has been my day… would you like it..?
I deserve a bigger pay raise than what I got..given what I have to put up with with pe-more. .
Like a lot of people, I was unimpressed with the government's announced intention of demanding 6.5 % public spending cuts across the board. If anything, some areas need strengthening. For example, we need more ICU capacity in hospitals. If there was a good reason for locking down the entire country, it was our lack of 1st world-level ICU capacity. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_hospital_beds
But, there is some good news, in that cuts are now being more targeted on government entities of doubtful utility. I'm pleasantly surprised to learn the Pay Equity Taskforce is being disbanded: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/515831/pay-equity-taskforce-disbanded-no-longer-required-minister
Of course it won't be the end of the "gender pay-gap" grift, but at least there is now one less taxpayer-funded body pumping out activist propaganda.
Yet more stunning insight from Dolomedes the turd.
You want greater medical capacity, but don't want the nursing profession, dominated by women, to receive the appropriate pay for their skilled work.
Top pay rates for nursing following pay equity adjustments.
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-providers/pay-equity-settlements/nurses-pay-equity/
Meanwhile, in Australia where they are actively recruiting our nursing staff.
https://www.medshop.com.au/pages/nursing-salary-guide
So which is it genuis? Pay people appropriately for their equivalently skilled work, or yet further degradation of our health system?
Also, got any proof for your claim it's a grift? Thought not…
Didn't you claim you used to be a teacher? Any wonder the kids are such pricks nowadays.
I am semi-rural..
Today I have the soundtrack of r-soles running around with guns…
…trying to blow birds out of the sky…
..as I said…r-soles….
Oh dear, you moved to the country side from the big smoke for some peace and tranquility and now you’re upset with country folks who do country stuff. How about you try to get on with your neighbours, they may reciprocate with roast duck for dinner.
'country stuff'…like wholesale uncaring cruelties done to animals..?
Yeah…I noticed…
What predator are we going to release that will contain the explosion of introduced animals ,hooked and feathered, that will happen if Noone hunts.
are duck numbers a problem?
Not sure what would happen to mallards but Canada geese are an increasing problem.
Weka..Duck numbers aren't a problem because of the annual shoot. Without the cull numbers would be a problem. There would be overpopulation and skinny hungry ducks. Its very tightly studied and controlled. Mallards 1 month, parries 2 months, pheasants 3 montgs. And to illustrate overpopulation Canada geese are no longer game birds and can be hunted all year by any means eg rifle or bow and arrow. I've just returned from a morning missing ducks with my two daughters. I think that will be their only 0530 start this season. I think they just wanted to be like their friends who play dress up with mums and dads, take thermos and bacon and egg pie. .its great being outdoors and gives my thumbs a rest from usual weekend trapping mishaps. Next weekend will be quieter for everyone.
I googled to see who would pronounce the fate of JAG next week & the govt website told me "no items were found". So they've done a runner.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/privileges/tab/mp
Google harridan and you immediately see why. Tender males all over the nation will have absorbed her performance, done a collective shudder at the prospect of contagion, staring down the barrel of a future in which it becomes a fashion trend, like possums frozen in the headlights. You'd expect some females on the committee too though – perhaps they did a runner out of solidarity with the others?
Spinoff's editor spotted the opportunity to be erudite:
She was doing dominance/submission, which has always been the core of Nat ethos. Nats always come in two types: the dominant and the toadies. She had him pegged. Obviously he will complain to the privileges committee: "She hectored me, and my name's not Hector!" They will pronounce such othering totally unacceptable.
as far as I can see both the left and the right have hypocrites on this. Genter was wrong in what she did, she knows she was and she has apologised in parliament. I don't know if she has apologised to Doocey.
The lefties implying it's no big deal are doing the left a disservice, because it basically means we have no principles and we can be mean to the people we disagree with politically. What I don't understand is how people think that's going to end. If we establish that it's ok to be mean to those we disagree with, what do we think everyone else is going to do?
Yeah that's the impression created in the public mind. Could be she's been suffering some kind of pressure in her private life that made her slip out of character. The compounding effect though, of her spat with the florist woman, seems ominous.
Hard to see how an electorate MP can survive hostilities with one of her constituents becoming prime-time media feeding frenzy. Either Marama or Chloe ought to go & see the woman to figure out a solution that could prevail over the traffic-planning bureaucrats who created the problem.
it's a no win situation for the Greens.
The problem I have is they’ve said they’re not disputing the florist’s story and we can’t tell if that’s because of their internal process or because what JAG did was really that bad (the florist’s story reads to me as exaggerated, esp as she is known to be strongly anti-cycling or whatever)
The 'traffic planning bureaucrats' work in the context of political support. Reading some of the comments on TS in recent days from Wellingtonians, and media reports, it sounds as though there are serious problems with the way changes are being rolled out.
And now there's another one. Wellington business owner Nicola Cranfield claims Green MP Julie Anne Genter grabbed her – NZ Herald
The trouble would seem to be that a lot of our city roads were put in place over a hundred years ago when horseback was a major means of transport, and there were very few cars around. The issues that we have today, relating to cycle lanes versus kerbside parking were simply not envisaged in those earlier times.
Absolutely! The street I live in was subdivided in 1905. Mostly villas, but the odd bungalow and "cottage". Sites of 330 to 350m2. Street is steep and narrow with parking on one side only. Many sites have no off street parking, some have only one space. It is a block from a major arterial route and was designed for working class accommodation, and for people who would walk, cycle, bus or tram into the CBD for employment. There was a neighbourhood shopping centre within walking distance.
As it is 1 stage to the CBD by bus we used to be infested with "hide and riders", but a P120 restriction with exemption for residents permits available has fixed that.
There is a cycleway/walkway at the bottom of the road which is part of a wider cycle network and is very well used. It had to be extended a few years ago because it was so popular.
No doubt. It's hard to see how there couldn't be, especially when trying to retrofit a sane infrastructure to an insanely-designed city (I speak as an Aucklander.)
There's an old saying about breaking eggs to make an omelette. As one would expect, there's a double standard about the importance of different types of egg. A single business owner egg is a precious thing whose breakage is an atrocity that is shouted with horror from the rooftops – usually by the business owner themselves who is platformed assiduously by sympathetic media. But the public servant egg can be cracked in their thousands without much concern and even with glee in some quarters – because the process has been sold to the public as necessary and beneficial.
The politics of change is all about which omelettes get made and which eggs get broken. The CoC is doing this right now through the brutal application of raw power. The Green politics of just transition has to do better than that. It must show greater caritas. In that context, Green MP's blowing their stack is foolish and unhelpful.
Good comments. I am an Aucklander too, and what is happening in this city is anything but a 'just transition'. Consultation with local communities is opaque, at best. I have been to public meetings where people asking reasonable questions are ridiculed by transport planners and even local body politicians. I want to travel a pathway to less congestion, lower emissions and better alternative transport options, but the way this being imposed on Auckland (and from all reports Wellington) is causing deep division.
I'm inclined to agree. Progress can take many forms and for the mayor to ignore vested interests suggests she's aiming to be a one-termer. I normally oppose vested interests too but a local economy is a different context. One must be genuinely pro-people to succeed.
You can't just freeze out businesses in the CBD – that's a form of madness. The Green way is to be inclusive & work together to create a scheme that is win/win all around the table of stakeholders. Seems to me the mayor & Rongotai MP lack that Green authenticity. And from your link: “It was just very odd to be grabbed by a politician.” Any kiwi would feel that way!
So three strikes and she's out. The pattern is too strong to deny. The Greens will have to bite the bullet and create a minimised downside transition asap!
That is the truly ironic thing that the bluster and ramming things through without consultation has turned many of us who initially thought the concept of cycle lanes had something going for it, but lets discuss it further and aim for a win-win for WCC/cyclists and residents/cyclists, into fighting for the survival of our suburbs and the people who live there, who work at many of the jobs we don't do.
We value our little businesses here in the suburbs. They bring human scale and the village concept into our lives. We want them to succeed.
Certainly some of the local body politicians of yore of differing parties have more of the touch that signalled success than the Greens are currently showing.
I am not sure about political parties in local bodies. At the moment the Greens in WCC are using the
There has been precious little evidence of the concept of 'just transition'. Raw power I think has a fascination and the Greens are dancing so close to this flame that it is going to melt their wings. (just to mix several metaphors and a Greek legend)
I guess at base some of us were hoping for a change, a principled change but we've backed the wrong horses or perhaps the horses were wearing different colours from those we thought they were wearing.
@Dennis Frank
@ Shanreagh
Good comments, both.
I'm not a Green Party supporter, nor am I from the left of politics. However I have previously held them in high regard as principled and open. But they have morphed into a form of self-righteousness that IMHO is manifest in the recent behaviour of some of its parliamentarians. For all that, they hold a significant level of public support.
"survival of the suburbs and those who live there"
Jesus fucking wept! Hyperbole much?
Yes. I'm sure that a cycleway will cause everyone to either leave or commit mass suicide. Leaving Berhampore a smoking ruin haunted by the shades of lost souls moaning "once we had a car and could roam near and far, never more, never more! Cycle tyres now grind our bones and lycra and spokey dokies fill what once were our homes"
How's that for hyperbole?
Stop talking like you represent everyone in your suburb, it's an intellectually dishonest smoke screen for your desire to maintain the completely unsustainable status quo.
You seem totally oblivious to the enormous structural changes to retailing over the last decade.
You're a big fan of anecdotes, well my friends who run a very successful book store are much more worried about what the enormous loss of public service jobs will mean to their business than cycleways.
Covid forced them to change their business model and they thrived as result. Something little miss loading zone and yourself could learn from.
As a long standing member of my community and of the Residents Assn, member of many community groups I know that I have more knowledge of the workings of Berhampore as a community than you have. I'm certain of that. The groups I belong to get along well, we rarely tolerate rudeness though we do have and welcome thinkers.
If you look at my record you will note that far from wanting the status quo I am all for projects that will enhance the lives of residents and the environment.
Hence our work to move light industrial, so-called, businesses from Berhampore, to move the montrosity that was Athletic Park from our community, trees in streets, lower speed limits, the pull off lane near the Berhampore shops. We worked on/with height limits to new builds and we have some good looking shops in B'pore as a result. We worked with HNZC on the design of the social housing on Adelaide rd south of B'Pore.
Having been involved in the cycle way planning from earliest times you will need to do a bit better than grandstanding insults (and some pretty good cycle-related descriptors), to convince me that there are benefits to people losing access to close by parking.
The cases I am aware of where people will be affected are especially where they may be reliant on elder care, home cares, Meals on Wheels, living with mobility issues or families working multiple jobs. Not to mention tradies working on our lovely older houses or DIYers expecting the next delivery of Gib board or a bin.
One of the ideas that I gathered info on early on in the planning was the building/use of cycle ways in the planned town of Cromwell (planned by MWD after the inundation as part of the Clyde dam etc.)
At the time this was one of the few towns that had planned cycle ways. These made a point of not using main roads unless there was no option. They were planned specifically to minimise cars and bikes having to share the same space. The best examples were not linked to busy main roads but went along safer routes, including through nearby parks.
Particularly in Berhampore there was work done on off road options to skirt B'pore on the east & west. More practical on the west though
Unfortunately the bike lobby said it MUST, reason/s unknown, go along the narrow main roads despite the knowledge that people would/could lose access to their homes.
I am well aware of the changes to retail and also that communities wish to keep 'their' shops. I fail to see why the cycling lobby should be trying to put local shops out of business when with a bit of forethought/ fewer fixed ideas and goodwill they could remain fulfilling a function into the future.
My next move will be to an electric car as, despite what you say, the move is not to get people out of cars as a mode but to limit the use of fossil fuels. People can still have the benefits of travel but without fossil fuels. I get that batteries disposal is a problem but humans being innovative and creative we will solve this.
Public transport with its ability to move 80 or so people at a time should be getting a lion's share of transport monies. Same with rail for long distance. Move freight off roads back onto rail.
Or is your vision really to do without car-like transport modes? If so I'll probably buy shares in a candle making company as naughty electricity is bound to have you as a detractor. My brother in law will have room on his farm to breed some carthorses and we'll find a wheel-wright somewhere to make the wagon-wheels. Perhaps cyclists pulling wee trolleys like the Kaibosh bins could go around collecting the horse poo for gardens?![wink wink](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png)
Perhaps you could also work on developing long life fresh flowers or convince people they don’t need flowers in their lives. Perhaps a nice bit of metal or a bike pump could be sent to mark graduation. Some long nails, a pump and one recycle scrunched up paper flower could make a great bridal bouquet. These have the benefit of not needing to be delivered in a timely fashion. Sure to catch on, not.
Many people love flowers and receiving them. Why should she be put out of business? What actually do the flower lovers get out of it if she is forced to go?
As you've kicked all this off on the Genter post, lets fucking go…
Especially with your snide little quip about politeness and thinking. You've demonstrated neither quality from the start.
I stand by my comments that you are in fact a grand old dame. You reek of blind privilege and your lack of self awareness is truly astonishing. You remind me of Felicity Wong – The "heritage expert" who decries new builds on aesthetic considerations even though she is legally blind. She admitted that to me when I dealt with her in a professional capacity. It was eye opening – Ha fucking ha!
I have attended many transport consultations and community board meetings throughout New Zealand so I know the demographic that shows up. Pakeha silverbacks with too much time on their hands, wanting to protect their property values and keep their privilege and convenience. Thats how I recognise you for what you are.
You have no understanding of traffic networks or urban planning. You really exposed yourself with the ridiculous comment asking that cyclists take the long way or risk their lives if they want to use arterial routes and the destinations that they connect to. It's no wonder that the local officials don't listen to you – you're ignorant and have no idea what you’re talking about. I'm embarrassed for you.
Buying an electric car are we? Thought the only thing we could afford was a Film Soc membership. Bit of a slip there wasn't it? Oh dear…
Cool little strawman calling me a luddite – allow me to respond.
You don't care if children and adults get killed or injured when cycling for travel or recreation. In fact, you'd like to see more of them killed and injured near the hospital – At least it will be easy to tidy up the mess I guess. Shame about the grief and trauma, but the flowers MUST get through.
You care more for flowers, which will rot, just like you, than people.
I think you're being exploited by little miss private loading bay – She knows a lonely old lady when she sees one and is happy listen to you rabbit on and will say anything to get your money. Are you sure you're not the victim of elder abuse?
Or is she bribing you with flowers to get you on side? Are you corrupt? Bribed with flowers – wouldn't that be a turn up for the books!
Your claims to politeness are a facade. You might say they're compromise-d… get it? Probably not, you don't seem very good at joining the dots – typical kiwi.
Your final comment s fucking hilarious!
Here is an idea – Try another fucking florist! One thats less vile and selfish. Or perhaps pick some wildflowers or grow some yourself – that way you can stick them up your ass whenever you want. Wouldn’t that be memorable!
Sanctuary was bang on about this site last week.
Couldn't agree more. Another interesting observation is, try emailing any of the councillors who voted for this, and surprise, surprise, not a peep. Not even the decency to acknowledge receipt of said email.
Perhaps the poor dears are feeling overwhelmed by their inboxes overflowing from constituents upset about cycleways and leaking pipes?
WCC is now on a par with central government (of any stripe). Try communicating with a Minister when you have a very valid, major problem. Although, at least you get an auto-reply saying they got your email. And usually, a form follow up from a staffer down the track. If you're lucky, your local MP isn't MIA, like the last Rongotai one was (Eagle). Now the current Rongotai representative might end up MIA.
These politician forget they're public servants, and only have their jobs on the whim of the voting public. To refuse to own what they've done by ignoring the public will more than likely see them voted out.
It's very likely Wellington will shift Right again at the next council elections, and the main reason will be ramming through the cycleways and the total distain the public has been treated with.
Forced-birthers have a new strategy.
//
As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney — who court records show immediately issued a legal threat.
If the woman proceeded with the abortion, even in a state where the procedure remains legal, Davis would seek a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abortion and “pursue wrongful-death claims against anyone involved in the killing of his unborn child,” the lawyer wrote in a letter, according to records.
Now, Davis has disclosed his former partner’s abortion to a state district court in Texas, asking for the power to investigate what his lawyer characterizes as potentially illegal activity in a state where almost all abortions are banned.
The previously unreported petition was submitted under an unusual legal mechanism often used in Texas to investigate suspected illegal actions before a lawsuit is filed. The petition claims Davis could sue either under the state’s wrongful-death statute or the novel Texas law known as Senate Bill 8 that allows private citizens to file suit against anyone who “aids or abets” an illegal abortion.
https://archive.li/OlbkK (wapo)
https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2024/05/03/auditor-general-criticises-way-university-of-waikato-contracted-steven-joyce/
Pretty legal I expect. !!
That is Joyce's nickname..
Stephen 'pretty legal' Joyce..
..intimates call him p.l…
Joyce was what by fellow inm…
Sorry checking your spelling there?
That's not a one off either. I doubt the Auditor General has anywhere near the resources to call out all of the 'sloppy' spending practices that have evolved in NZ in recent years.
Auditor-General John Ryan today published a letter to Inland Revenue Commissioner Peter Mersi voicing concerns the sloppy rollout of the payment did not exhibit good stewardship of public money.
Jacinda Ardern fronts post-Cabinet press conference after Auditor-General criticises cost-of-living rollout – NZ Herald
"Ryan noted the scheme was designed to be delivered at speed in a changing environment, but said those circumstances were no excuse for the lack of documentation and the lack of clarity around decisions. Trust and confidence in government depends on transparency and accountability when spending public money," he said."
Auditor-General finds failings in $290m tourism support scheme | RNZ News
The letter is here:
https://www.oag.parliament.nz/2024/university-of-waikato
Auditor General didn't have anything about the work Joyce did, just the lack of appropriate policies and paperwork regarding an un-tendered single provider contract.
So publicly funded entities can spend money on shit, provided they let suppliers compete to supply the shit and keep the paper trail in order. Or have a policy on how to deal with an un-tendered contract, and have the paper trail to show they've followed that policy. Good o
The worst is paying millions there while cutting courses and staff, frontline staff in the current nomenclature.
@IanDunt has good news.
.
What we've seen so far confirms what we've witnessed for the last couple of years: a wave of electoral annihilation is coming for the Conservative party under Rishi Sunak
[…]
It's early yet in the 2024 local elections. We don't know about most councils yet, or the mayoral contests, or the police and crime commissioners, whatever they are. But what we've seen so far confirms what we've witnessed for the last couple of years: a wave of electoral annihilation is coming for the Conservative party under Rishi Sunak. There are interesting wrinkles in the numbers, telling little phenomena that become visible in the right light. But the basic lesson this morning is the same as it ever was: The Tories are fucked, fucked, fucked. They really are utterly fucked.
https://iandunt.substack.com/p/elections-2024-the-tory-day-of-reckoning
The Tories are fucked, fucked, fucked. They really are utterly fucked.
God, let's hope so. Especially on behalf of my English friends with disabilities who have been lucky to survive them. No exaggeration.
Anyone who tells you they want a 4 year term should immediately set off your warning bells.
The Tories have had two years of extra governing since they became clear lame ducks.
And they’ve got the HoL at least as something of a check on BS like these Rwanda flights.
Law and order is for poor people. Pricks.
/
The oft-considered idea of introducing a law for corporate manslaughter has been advanced once again with a Labour MP’s Bill, but how much support it will garner is unknown.
The Crimes (Corporate Homicide) Amendment Bill, put into the member’s ballot by Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich, would create a criminal offence for employers to cause the death of a person.
[…]
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said National wasn’t interested in the Bill, “Corporate manslaughter laws are not currently on our agenda as I am focused on our coalition commitments to restore law and order.”
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/02/new-push-for-corporate-killing-laws/
Well it would be rather embarrassing having to put their donors behind bars, wouldn't it?
Rich pricks, biggest gang in the country.
Oh well said Kay. Short, sweet and brilliant.![smiley smiley](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.png)
NYT freebie about the violent counter-protest at the University of California, Los Angeles.
(tl;dr acab)
A New York Times examination of more than 100 videos from clashes at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that violence ebbed and flowed for nearly five hours, mostly with little or no police intervention. The violence had been instigated by dozens of people who are seen in videos counterprotesting the encampment.
The videos showed counterprotesters attacking students in the pro-Palestinian encampment for several hours, including beating them with sticks, using chemical sprays and launching fireworks as weapons. As of Friday, no arrests had been made in connection with the attack.
To build a timeline of the events that night, The Times analyzed two livestreams, along with social media videos captured by journalists and witnesses.
[…]
Throughout the intermittent violence, officers were captured on video standing about 300 feet away from the area for roughly an hour, without stepping in.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/03/us/ucla-protests-encampment-violence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU0.ajl7.HGC4_MSwNCOu&smid=url-share
I read the police & campus security retreated & stood back because the counter protesters threw things at them & the police didn't want to get hurt. & this…
"A video showing Annelise Orleck, 65, being taken to the ground intensified criticism of the decision by the college’s president to call in officers."
"Annelise Orleck, a labor historian who has taught at Dartmouth College for more than three decades, was at a protest for Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday night, when she was knocked to the ground. Dr. Orleck, 65, was zip-tied and was one of 90 people who were arrested, according to the local police."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/us/dartmouth-professor-police-protests.html
Coast to coast cowardice and stupidity.
Timothy Burke
@bubbaprog
The scary "book on terrorism" NYPD is using as evidence of criminal intent is an Oxford Press textbook from International Affairs U6387, a course taught this semester at Columbia by Michael E. O’Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.
https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1786480486593774021
The 2020s are starting to feel like a repeat performance of the 197Os… spilling into the 80s. The main issues then were the Vietnam War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. But the response from the respective authorities is the same – turn on the protestors and create the impression they are the baddies.
The issues now are the Israeli/Gaza war and climate change.
The protestors won back then and they will win again.
Edit: and lets not forget… the next generation of leaders is amongst them.
They won a fight. Fifty years on and we're yet to win the war.
Why we need journalists. It’s funny when it’s the art spokesperson. Other vital portfolios not so much:
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/03/the-crown-versus-maori-children/
Very long form. Very to the point. The high court should be ashamed at allowing this obviously important information to be allowed to slither away from the Waitangi Tribunal and the ignorant to be comforted by its structural colonial paternalism. The mana of a court is reduced and it isn’t the Waitangi Tribunal.
I guess Newshub had to go.
/
@DiscussingFilm
After Warner Bros took various cost-cutting measures including turning movies into tax write-offs and refused to pay actors & writers for months, David Zaslav’s 2023 pay package is now at $49.7M, a 26.5% increase from 2022. (Source: https://wp.me/pc8uak-1lE1mC)
https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1781373865421054326
Vulture Capitalism, explanation ….
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/515987/nobody-s-coming-to-save-us-how-capitalism-became-a-vulture
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018936954
Oz has had a lot of crimes of violence against women this year and a decision has been made to identify the influence of porn on those under 18 as the reason and require a porn passport.
There is already the means for parents to place a porn block on the devices of their children – so it is about those parents who do not bother to do this being blamed for the violence.
The problem with age based ID online is that it might result in ID theft – and this has consequences (an online crime explosion is the risk here).
Once a system to block on-line sites is established (for those without a "passport"), it is easier to set up the same system to block access to free streaming sites and thus the idea is probably popular with corporate industry sectors (film/TV/sport – content suppliers).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350264837/australia-trials-porn-passport-what-it-and-should-we-try-it-too
Revolutionary Iran continues its campaign against immodesty in the ME, from elimination of Zionist Jews from the region to domestic suppression of the presence of women not showing signs of fearful compliance to their patriarchy.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350267543/iran-hires-hijab-enforcers-snitch-women-breaking-strict-clothing-rules
Using women against other women is adopting the East German tactic of “informing”. Paying them to do so is based on two factors, rewarding servility and the divide and conquer strategy (to create a risk for those involved in a feminist network).
Social media has the touched up photo and the evolution to deep fake, meanwhile in the real world … .
One wonders, the fate of the poor who cannot afford to present as one of the "class" above – I suppose they could watch Cherry 2000 and claim to be real, rather than a production line knock off.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/05/01/are-we-all-going-to-end-up-with-the-same-face/