Open mike 04/05/2024
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- Interview: Shamubeel Eaqub on an even tighter Budget for 2025/26
I spoke last night with Simplicity Chief Economist and Head of Policy about the Government's latest budget policy tightening, the risks for infrastructure investment and a potential dampening of GDP growth.He points out that the Government has cut capital expenditure so far in the current financial year, rather than ...35 minutes ago - Ukraine’s air force has survived. Taiwan’s almost certainly couldn’t
The Ukrainian air force went to war against invading Russian forces in February 2022 with just 125 combat aircraft concentrated at around a dozen large bases. Given Russia’s overwhelming deep-strike advantage—hundreds of deployed warplanes and ...1 hour ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes on Wednesday, April 30
Briefly this morning: Nicola Willis rules out charities tax or any tax hike to reduce budget deficit. She’s focused instead on spending cuts. There are 1,000 at-risk kids without a social worker, NZ Herald reports.Housing shortages are a factor in high-risk sex offenders being put out early into uncontrolled community ...2 hours ago - Bad advice on public sector discount rates
A couple of months ago now I wrote a post about the new set of discount rates government agencies are supposed to use in undertaking cost-benefit analysis, whether for new spending projects or for regulatory initiatives. The new, radically altered, framework had come into effect from 1 October last year, ...16 hours ago - Indonesia is hooked on Huawei
Huawei dominates Indonesia’s telecommunication network infrastructure. It won over Indonesia mainly through cost competitiveness and by generating favour through capacity-building programs and strategic relationships with the government, and telecommunication operators. But Huawei’s dominance poses risks. ...16 hours ago
- Bookshelf: The myth of American liberalism
Democracy and the liberal tradition have long been seen as among the most basic tenets of the American way of life. They are also the main reason the West has for the past 80 years ...17 hours ago
- Cutting even deeper against the grain
Nicola Willis continues to compare the economy to a household needing to tighten its belt to survive. Photo: Getty Images The key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, April 29 are: Nicola Willis today announced a cut in the Government’s new spending ...17 hours ago - Gas is dead
The Herald had another announcement today about a new solar farm being officially opened - this time the 63MW Lauriston solar farm in Canterbury. It is of course briefly "NZ’s biggest solar farm", but it will soon be overtaken by Kōwhai park at Christchurch airport (168MW) and Tauhei (202MW), both ...18 hours ago - Shoving the future aside
I woke this morning to the shock news that Tory Whanau was no longer contesting the Wellington mayoralty, having stepped aside to leave the field clear for Andrew Little. Its like a perverse reversal of Little's 2017 decision to step aside for Jacinda - the stale, pale past rudely shoving ...18 hours ago
- A pre-Budget speech
In a pre-Budget speech this morning the Minister of Finance announced that this year’s operating allowance – the net amount available for new initiatives – was being reduced from $2.4 billion to $1.3 billion (speech here, RNZ story here). Operating allowance numbers in isolation don’t mean a great deal (what ...22 hours ago
- Weak tax revenue is a national security issue
Of the two things in life that are certain, defence and national security concern themselves with death but need to pay more attention to taxes. Australia’s national security, defence and domestic policy obligations all need ...22 hours ago
- Chris Penk’s Leaky Homes 2.0
The Coalition of Chaos is at it again with another half-baked underwhelming scheme that smells suspiciously like a rerun of New Zealand’s infamous leaky homes disaster. Their latest brainwave? Letting tradies self-certify their own work on so-called low-risk residential builds. Sounds like a great way to cut red tape to ...23 hours ago - Assumed Competence
Perfect by natureIcons of self indulgenceJust what we all needMore lies about a world thatNever was and never will beHave you no shame don't you see meYou know you've got everybody fooledSongwriters: Amy Lee / Ben Moody / David Hodges.“Vote National”, they said. The economic managers par excellence who will ...1 day ago - The ADF isn’t nearly fast enough. It must rush into the cheap-drone revolution
The Australian Defence Force isn’t doing enough to adopt cheap drones. It needs to be training with these tools today, at every echelon, which it cannot do if it continues to drag its feet. Cheap drones ...1 day ago
- “You and me need to hang out. As in, just us 2!”
Hi,Just over a year ago — in March of 2024 — I got an email from Jake. He had a story he wanted to tell, and he wanted to find a way to tell it that could help others. A warning, of sorts. And so over the last year, as ...1 day ago
- National Has Mismanaged The Economy
Back in the dark days of the pandemic, when the world was locked down and businesses were gasping for air, Labour’s quick thinking and economic management kept New Zealand afloat. Under Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson, the Wage Subsidy Scheme saved 1.7 million jobs, pumping billions into businesses to stop ...1 day ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes at 6am on Tuesday, April 29
The Big Six at 6am on Tuesday, April 29Politics news by NZ Herald: Tory Whanau exits Wellington mayoral race, reveals why she's not running again & RNZ: Tory Whanau quits Wellington mayoral raceHealth news scoop by Marc Daalder for Newsroom Pro-$: Weekly data reveals scale of Govt’s waiting list crisis.’ ...1 day ago - No going back
When I was fifteen I discovered the joy of a free bar. All you had to do was say Bacardi and Coke, thanks to the guy in the white shirt and bow tie. I watched my cousin, all private school confidence, get the drinks in, and followed his lead. Another, ...1 day ago - Beijing finally slices off Sandy Cay
The Financial Times reported last week that China’s coast guard has declared China’s sovereignty over Sandy Cay, posting pictures of personnel holding a Chinese flag on a strip of sand. The landing apparently took place ...2 days ago
- National’s Stalling New Zealand’s Electric Future
You might not know this, but New Zealand’s at the bottom of the global league table for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and the National government’s policies are ensuring we stay there, choking the life out of our clean energy transition.According to the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Global EV Outlook, we’ve ...2 days ago
- EGU2025 – Presentation about our collaborations
As mentioned in the recently published prolog to EGU2025 article, I submitted an abstract to talk about some of the collaborations we've had with other groups and websites over the years. This blog post is a "companion article" to that presentation in session EOS1.1 Science and Society: Science Communication Practice, Research, and ...2 days ago - Rudd and Shearer aren’t enough. Washington needs to see more Australian heavy hitters
We need more than two Australians who are well-known in Washington. We do have two who are remarkably well-known, but they alone aren’t enough in a political scene that’s increasingly influenced by personal connections and ...2 days ago
- “Protecting frontline services”
When National embarked on slash and burn cuts to the public service, Prime Minister Chris Luxon was clear that he expected frontline services to be protected. He lied: The government has scrapped part of a work programme designed to prevent people ending up in emergency housing because the social ...2 days ago
- Climate Change: National supports pollution subsidies
When the Emissions Trading Scheme was originally introduced, way back in 2008, it included a generous transitional subsidy scheme, which saw "trade exposed" polluters given free carbon credits while they supposedly stopped polluting. That scheme was made more generous and effectively permanent under the Key National government, and while Labour ...2 days ago
- Atlas Network Makes Australian Mainstream
Australia Shows The WayAustralian media and their investigative journalists have published two articles on the Atlas Network’s modus operandi in recent weeks:‘Copied the MAGA model’: The ‘grassroots’ lobby group funded by some of Australia’s richestHow Atlas Network amassed a global network of free market think tanks and reached into Australia ...2 days ago - Australia’s defence readiness—a critical assessment
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...2 days ago
- The Suspicious Death of Virginia Giuffre
The news of Virginia Giuffre’s untimely death has been a shock, especially for those still seeking justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Giuffre, a key figure in exposing Epstein’s depraved network and its ties to powerful figures like Prince Andrew, was reportedly struck by a bus in Australia. She then apparently ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28
An official briefing to the Health Minister warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are: There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 ...2 days ago - Deep sea mining is the new front in Pacific competition
We should have been thinking about the seabed, not so much the cables. When a Chinese research vessel was spotted near Australia’s southern coast in late March, opposition leader Peter Dutton warned the ship was ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On A Neglected, Enduring Aspect Of The Francis Era
Now that the formalities of saying goodbye to Pope Francis are over, the process of selecting his successor can begin in earnest. Framing the choice in terms of “liberal v conservative” is somewhat misleading, given that all members of the College of Cardinals uphold the core Catholic doctrines – which ...2 days ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
A listing of 30 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 20, 2025 thru Sat, April 26, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...3 days ago
- Governments Are Letting Big Tech Trash Our Planet
Let’s rip the shiny plastic wrapping off a festering truth: planned obsolescence is a deliberate scam, and governments worldwide, including New Zealand’s, are complicit in letting tech giants churn out disposable junk. From flimsy smartphones that croak after two years to laptops with glued-in batteries, the tech industry’s business model ...3 days ago
- In Loving Memory Of Kyle Whorrall
When I first saw press photos of Mr Whorrall, an America PhD entomology student & researcher who had been living out a dream to finish out his studies in Auckland, my first impression, besides sadness, was how gentle he appeared.Press released the middle photo from Mr Whorrall’s Facebook pageBy all ...3 days ago - National’s Betrayal of Renters and First-Time Buyers
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...3 days ago
- Would I Lie to You?
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...3 days ago - Fact brief – Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific c...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...4 days ago
- A culture of cruelty.
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...4 days ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...4 days ago
- Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to April 26
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...4 days ago - Debt Is A Form Of Government Control
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...4 days ago
- The 2025 Budget in a World of Trade Warfare
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...5 days ago - EGU2025 – Presentation about our translation activities
As mentioned in the recently published prolog to EGU2025 article, I submitted an abstract to talk about some of our translation activities and the challenges we have been facing with those. This blog post is a "companion article" to that presentation in session EOS4.3 Geoethics and Global Anthropogenic Change: Geoscience for Policy, ...5 days ago
- The drums of war revisited
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...5 days ago
- Cameron Slater’s New Website: Same Old Defamation
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...5 days ago
- David Seymour’s Atlas Network Receiving Unwanted Attention
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...5 days ago
- Nicola Willis To Blame For Family Boost Debacle
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...5 days ago
- Editors’ pick: ‘On the value of military service’
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...5 days ago
- Rest easy, my friend.
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...5 days ago - The Hoon around the week to April 25
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...5 days ago
- The Men Commenting on Lorde
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...5 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2025
Open access notables Internal variability effect doped by climate change drove the 2023 marine heat extreme in the North Atlantic, Guinaldo et al., Communications Earth & Environment The year 2023 shattered numerous heat records both globally and regionally. We here focus on the drivers of the unprecedented warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies which started in ...6 days ago
- Military denial: the basis of deterrence, and of response if deterrence fails
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...6 days ago
- Fiscal failure
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: Fucking the ETS again
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...6 days ago
- What’s secret? When is it secret? Well, that’s complicated
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...6 days ago
- Today’s Headlines: David Seymour’s ECE Risks & Coalition Government Lies
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...6 days ago - Is The NZ Media Awards Sponsored By a Conspiracy Theorist?
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...6 days ago - Australia-India defence cooperation should be about more than navies
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...6 days ago
- When in Rome
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...6 days ago - Thursday 24 April
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...6 days ago - John Campbell Investigates Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church
John Campbell’s Under His Command, a five-part TVNZ+ investigation series starting today, rips the veil off Destiny Church, exposing the rot festering under Brian Tamaki’s self-proclaimed apostolic throne. This isn’t just a church; it’s a fiefdom, built on fear, manipulation, and a trail of scandals that make your stomach churn. ...6 days ago
- Decrypting tomorrow’s threats: critical infrastructure needs post-quantum protection today
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. Just ...6 days ago
- Inside my quest for a climate-friendly bank
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Pearl Marvell (Photo credit: Pearl Marvell. Image credit: Samantha Harrington. Dollar bill vector image: by pch.vector on Freepik) Igrew up knowing that when you had extra money, you put it under a bed, stashed it in a book or a clock, or, ...6 days ago
- Winston Peters Has Lost The Plot
The political petrified piece of wood, Winston Peters, who refuses to retire gracefully, has had an eventful couple of weeks peddling transphobia, pushing bigoted policies, undertaking his unrelenting war on wokeness and slinging vile accusations like calling Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick a “groomer”.At 80, the hypocritical NZ First leader’s latest ...6 days ago
- The one who left
It's raining in Cockermouth and we're following our host up the stairs. We’re telling her it’s a lovely building and she’s explaining that it used to be a pub and a nightclub and a backpackers, but no more.There were floods in 2009 and 2015 along the main street, huge floods, ...6 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Trump Upside, And Peters Persecution Of Trans People
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has been a disaster for working class families. No doubt, Donald Trump is an uncertainty machine that is tanking the stock market and the growth prospects ...6 days ago
- Is Mark Mitchell a racist?
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...7 days ago
- Australian statecraft must restore the link between deterrence and non-proliferation to survive in t...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...7 days ago
- J.K. Rowling – Arsehole of the Week
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...7 days ago
- The rotten, unaccountable crown
Between 1950 and 1993 the New Zealand government tortured and abused up to 250,000 children in residential care facilities. They then proceeded to cover it up in order to minimise their liability, dragging out cases, slandering their victims and ultimately denying redress. In its final report, the Inquiry into Abuse ...7 days ago
- To prepare for future threats, treat health security as national security
Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...7 days ago
- What’s on the Label -vs- What’s in the Tin.
Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...7 days ago - Simeon Brown Doesn’t Consider Abortion To Be Healthcare As Services Scaled Back
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...7 days ago - Another Munich crisis? Understanding the limits of policymaking by analogy
We see it often enough. A democracy deals with an authoritarian state, and those who oppose concessions cite the lesson of Munich 1938: make none to dictators; take a firm stand. And so we hear ...7 days ago
- Wednesday 23 April
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...7 days ago
- Release: Simeon Brown hid Dunedin Hospital downgrade
Simeon Brown needs to come clean to the people of Dunedin about why he hid plans to downgrade their new hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. ...19 hours ago - Release: Govt cuts will cost jobs, health, and homes
Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...19 hours ago
- Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to ...1 day ago - Ban on engineered stone essential to protect workers
The Green Party has renewed its call for the Government to ban the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone products, as the CTU launches a petition for the implementation of a full ban. ...2 days ago
- Release: Anzac Day a time to recommit to veterans
This Anzac Day, Labour recognises veterans and the service they have given to our country. ...5 days ago
- Education Should be Led by Experts-Not Economists
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt’s flagship cost of living policy a failure
After promising $250 a fortnight to many families, the Government has been forced to admit just a couple hundred families are receiving it. ...6 days ago
- Release: Transparency needed on changes to early childhood education
The Government is putting children at risk in early childhood education (ECE) by proposing to loosen the requirement for qualified teachers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt funding needed to combat invasive seaweed
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...1 week ago
- New Zealand First Introduces Bill Defining ‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Law
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...1 week ago - Release: Labour marks the passing of Pope Francis
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joins those mourning the passing of Pope Francis. ...1 week ago
- Release: Boot camps blog post fails to provide clarity
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Inflation rises and families feel the squeeze
Inflation is rising again and it’s landing hardest on families already stretched thin. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt doesn’t know how to fund new hospitals
The Government’s health infrastructure plan is big on promises but coy on where the money is coming from. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: $10 million for only 215 students in charter schools
David Seymour is pouring $10 million into charter schools that only have 215 students enrolled. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Food prices further stretching the family budget
Families already stretched by rising costs will struggle with the news food prices are going up again. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mental health staff and patients at risk without plan
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Driver licensing proposal doesn’t put safety first
The Government’s proposal to change driver licensing rules is a mixed bag of sensible and careless. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Students struggling as Govt sits on hands
The Government is continuing to sit on its hands as students struggle to pay rent due to delays with StudyLink. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: More must be done to stop children going hungry
More children are going hungry and statistics showing children in material hardship continue to get worse. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens continue to call for Pacific Visa Waiver
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...3 weeks ago
- More children going hungry under Coalition govt
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire- Ka ora te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te iwi Māori
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...3 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins speech: Treaty Principles Bill second reading
Normally, when I rise in this House to speak on a bill, I say it's a great privilege to speak on the bill. That is not the case today. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: End to the Treaty Principles Bill, but challenges remain ahead for Aotearoa
Ka mate te pire I te rā neiThe bill dies today ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire, ka ora Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty Principles Bill dead, Te Tiriti o Waitangi m...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...3 weeks ago
- Member’s Bill an opportunity for climate action
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Bill to make trading laws fairer passes first hurdle
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...3 weeks ago
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- Ngāpuhi at a crossroads: Unity, settlement and the future of the North
The largest iwi in Aotearoa has yet to settle its Treaty claim. As debate continues, Pene Dalton makes the case for clarity and courage. And settlement. Ngāpuhi is the largest iwi in Aotearoa, with over 180,000 people connected by whakapapa – and our population is growing. That growth brings pride ...16 minutes ago - State of the states: the campaign is almost over, so how has it played out across Australia?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney While many Australians have already voted at pre-poll stations and by post, the politicking continues right up until May 3. So what’s happened across the country over the past five weeks? ...40 minutes ago - ‘No compassion… just blame’: how weight stigma in maternity care harms larger-bodied women and...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Briony Hill, Deputy Head, Health and Social Care Unit and Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Kate Cashin Photography According to a study from the United States, women experience weight stigma in maternity care at almost every visit. We expect this experience ...40 minutes ago
- Renewables, coal or nuclear? This election, your generation’s energy preference may play a surpris...
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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?
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.
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/