Today is a good day. There is change in the wind. I feel Paul Mason has kicked off something with ‘Post Capitalism’
I have been following Paul Mason since I read an article from him on ‘Post Capitalism’
I can recommend Googling ‘Post Capitalism’ and selecting ‘News’. Sure some establishment hacks have written reviews that are somewhat dismissive, but it is not the reviews themselves that I find heartwarming but the readers comments, It seems a growing number are fed up and wanting change. Significant change.
This review is one of the more thoughtful and makes good reading but I do highly recommend seeking out the others and after reading the review, take a meander through the comments. Today is a good day.
Mike Hosking has some advice for the people of Gaza:
“Sort out middle east peace, get some food in the house.” Seven Sharp, Television One, Monday 3 August 2015
MIKE HOSKING: “Tonight we get to meet a guy who’s chucked in the day job and at a moment’s notice is jetting to any corner of the world to help out our furry friends. Here’s Erin Conway.”
Cue vaguely disquieting electronic music….
What followed was an item about New Zealand man Anton Leach from the animal rescue group Four Paws, who’s recently gone into
the Middle Eastern battleground of Gaza, where lion cubs are being used as pets, the owners unaware of how dangerous the kings of the jungle can become.
“The Gaza thing was bang, we’re going in. And you know there was no forewarning … we piled the lions and everybody into vehicles and then you speed through Gaza,” he said, describing the rescue.
The Four Paws team was left in limbo for several days as the Israelis denied their return from Gaza and at one point told if they moved they would be “shot”. However, the Israeli Defence Forces eventually allowed the team to cross the border.
“A lot of these missions are potentially secretive, because if people knew that we were coming there are various things that they could do to these animals, one is they could kill them.”
He said he has rescued twelve dancing bears in Kosovo, but admits, the rescues can at times get a little hairy.
“People running around with machine guns, I’m in my shorts running around with my camera and we’re looking for poachers,” he said.
Mr Leach’s rescues will soon be part of a documentary series.
Not a mention that Gaza is under a brutal, illegal, internationally condemned siege, although Erin Conroy does hint at it when she observes that “getting into Gaza is harrowing, to say the least,….. crossing borders in this part of the world is tricky”, and Toni Street notes lightheartedly that it is “one of the most TURBULENT places in the world!”
So far, so mediocre. But what made this especially insulting, cruel and disrespectful was what Mike Hosking said at the end of Erin Conroy’s item: he grimaced to show how unimpressed and bored he was, then delivered this sour little homily: “With all respect, if you’re in Gaza wouldn’t you have other things on your mind? Sort out middle east peace, get some food in the house?”
To her credit, Toni Street didn’t perform her usual duty of braying in obedient laughter, but looked a bit troubled.
NOTE: Although Hosking and Street’s flippant introduction to this item is on this TVNZ clip, Hosking’s lecture to the people of Gaza at the end has been left off.
Is John Key our Minister of Tourism or the Minister of Hawaii?
The video his son Max recently posted on social media showed the Prime Minister at ease in Hawaii, where he owns a holiday home. I’m sure the bloke deserves a holiday.
But it still strikes me as odd that our Minister of Tourism’s most renowned holiday breaks are offshore. Imagine sitting down to watch this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup test match with the Minister for Sport and Recreation and hearing him cheer for the Wallabies. Or attending a banquet hosted by the Minister for Primary Industries where he serves Chilean wine and apples from Queensland’s fruit fly heartland.
Seagulls also bully their competition, scavenge and freeload off others. Saw one hitch a ride on the rising air currents off a Cook Strait ferry, scarcely beat its wings once while crossing the strait. Bludger! They also freeload onto others.
Well adapted bird to the modern commercial and economic environment, all in all.
This government’s plan is for a repeat of Christchurch; they’re just waiting for the alpine fault to go so they can “rebuild Greymouth”.
Of course when the alpine fault does go, the West Coast is going to be completely screwed and will be lucky if 1/4th of the pre-quake population is still there 10 years later.
In that sense, further investment into the West Coast economy is really mal-investment, so the sooner the economy over there declines and shrinks, the less of an economic loss we’ll feel when the inevitable arrives.
Similarly we should move government back to Auckland or maybe Hamilton, ’cause when Wellington’s quake arrives, it will not be re-built up to where it is now, and as we’ve seen with Christchurch, the show must go on, so all the departments will have to move to other cities and the chances of them ever returning to Wellington are remote.
But talking about these sorts of things is unpalatable, so it’s better to just pretend the bad times will never arrive and keep on mal-investing into bad situations and let future generations deal with the burden.
Have to agree 100% on shifting Parliament ,the insanity of having our seat of power in a city that will get likely be flattened makes me shake my head.
Auckland’s know good ether palmy or Blenheim would be my pick.
You don’t know Blenheim’s history then. B Waghorn?
Two doozies of earthquakes in 1848 (7.4) and 1855 (8.2). The first, the Marlborough earthquake of 1848, left no European dwelling upright, men were thrown off their horses and the ground shook for three weeks. The Wairau plain sank about 1.2 metres which made the Opawa river navigable for the first time to coastal shipping and gave the rise to Blenheim as a port and town.
The second in 1855 was of course the Wairarapa earthquake which was also big in Blenheim.
There is evidence for the main Wairau fault to have triggered about 600 years ago. We await its successor.
Oh cheers learnt my new thing for the day then.
My thinking was more about keeping it central and in a low population area of course with the internet we supposedly should be able to spread government departments all over the country.
You know Auckland is in a volcanic field, the next eruption of which will see Auckland wrecked too, right? And that Blenheim is in just as seismically a problematic area as Wellington?
Bloody clunky brain of mine, it was meant to be Auckland s no good ,for the reason you said also because its already suspected of scewing nz politics and add to that the last thing it needs is more people.
The reason Wellington was picked is the distance for ALL Nzlanders to the capital and access to parliament.
Whilst the fault lines are mostly (researched) on the lower NI and the mainland, volcanoes are exactly on the opposite end.
Auckland has a few dormant volcanoes dotted around, about 50 or so. Not sure where I rather be if something big comes down.
I think if you look at the voting patterns their fates probably sealed with this vindictive govt and they get to flog off something else to the backers…win win.
Many Kiwi’s are now waking up to the saying “Never trust a third term National Government” and for very good reason.
National’s agenda was always selling off our State owned assets and the continuation carrys on with Solid Energy being refused funding. National’s preferred option is liquidation. While coal mining is currently out of vogue the Nats will grasp the opportunity to sell it off for a song to overseas interests, probably China. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/280419/solid-energy-in-'precarious-position‘
Phase 2, or part of the dirty sell off will be the West Coast Rail line to be sold as part of a sweetened package. Taking a steer from what is happening to the Napier Line, where rather than the Nats fund the washout repairs and maintenance costs of the currently mothballed line, it is being lumped on to local councils to fund for the private sector. Not too surprised Nash is mooting this model could be rolled out to other Regions. I hope Little and Tywford silence the Phil Goff-Off wannabe, he is a loose cannon and a disgrace! http://m.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11490508
@ Logie97 (7) Yep same here. My deaf old ears went into overdrive when I heard this on Morning Report this morning. My imagination took flight at the thought and my spirit soared.
However it wasn’t to be this time. But we can live in hope. Can’t we? His time will come.
Also heard there is more to come. Maybe, just maybe …. 🙂
Evening TV is usually off-limits for me: stops me kicking the TV through the wall. But I’m really glad I caught this by chance. It was so exciting and uplifting (some controversy, too, perhaps…), a complete anomaly to usual programming:
The invitation for story ideas at the end of Native Affairs was very tempting. First thought for a story idea: “Why did Mihirangi Forbes leave the show?”
Yes, I see where you’re heading with that. And on a similar note:
Did you see Mt. Zion played on Maori TV on the weekend?
Someone there at MTV edited out the… how shall we say… “meaty scenes”. The DVD release goes much further into outlining racial/pakeha/Maori relationship in NZ. It’s pretty explicit stuff. Haven’t seen anything so purposeful since the church/pastor scene in Utu. Without Mt. Zion’s dysfunctional relationship scenes, the tone of the film is reduced from “honest, angry and poignant”, to just pointlessly depressing and hopeless. There’s something sinster about leaving in the stuff with “Booker D” and erasing the stuff with the promoter-boyfriend. On another less political – and perhaps more important level – it’s just plain vandalism of artistic material.
In the beginning, MTV had a habit of programming some quite powerful films, films that by no means supported the Hollywood recipe – in fact actively pushed back against it in the extreme. I hope the disappearance of Mihirangi Forbes, and the neutering and removal of certain themes from Maori TV ( …did you see Opal Dreams, too, recently? Waaay out of early MTV character) doesn’t mean it’s begun a slide into pandering to “the easily offended”.
But anyway… think happy thoughts… think happy thoughts…
Former British PM, Edward Heath implicated in child sex abuse accusations. British police stymie 1990s investigation as soon as it becomes apparent Heath was involved. So, how many cases did our police “stymie” in order to protect senior politicians and notable NZ leaders?
Anne.Plenty.their are 2 former MP’s who have name suppression for child sex abuse that we know of Finem reckons their maybe some current MP’s as they also have name suppression.
Anne Name suppression allows these perpetrators to avoid the consequences of their actions while their victims are still suffering the consequences.
It also prevents other victims coming forward.
In most cases of child sex abuse stats reveal that perpetrators have abused many dozens of victims as we have seen with Rolf Harris and Bill Cosby once people are aware others were victims of these predator’s they are less frighted of these predator’s.
For this very reason the suppression orders on the 2 prominent and powerful NZ politicians should be lifted.
I believe political pressure was put on the judicial system as the judicial system was more worried about the predators rights over the Victims.
Power is what these predator’s use to destroy the Victims self esteem to prevent them coming forward and being credible witness’s,the perpetrator knows he is breaking the law and doing untold damage to the victim.
The Govt and the Judicial system side withe rich and powerful rapist.
To protect the political careers of the perpetrators mates.
I see that as a criminal act in it self of conspiracy to cover up and therefore being an accessory to a crime.
Those in power now could face the full force of the law like is happening in the UK now.
John Key was involved in an operation described as Patient Zero in a book called Infectious Greed. The book was written by Frank Partnoy, once a Wall street banker but now a professor in law.
The operation was an attack on a currency with a new financial instrument. It was naked short selling ans it was a great success. Him and his mate Andrew Krieger made $ 300 million US and he is lying about it. Wouldn’t you if you managed to bring down a currency 5% on the Thursday after Black Monday 1987?
+100 travellerev…I have heard that story before ….and it is very disturbing!….some would call it traitorish…and theft
…it needs to be given much greater exposure ..so every New Zealander knows about it! ( how about Morning Report…just for starters?…but they wouldnt dare…and the msm crucified David Cunliffe!)
….and jonkey nact is the guy who thinks he has a mandate to change New Zealand’s flag
The Council of Trade Unions has succesfully prosecuted a forestry compnay over a worker’s death on the job. The workplace safety regulator, WorkSafe declined to persue any legal action – why? Helen Kelly is the President of the CTU.
Given that there has long been an association with digestive problems, picky eating habits and children on the austitic spectrum, perhaps the issue is not a “mental illness” one, but one of undiagnosed children who are not supported in their learning, social and emotional challenges.
It is a throwaway headline that could cause more anxiety with parents who have a child with different needs rather than a mental illness.
Jane Kelsey spoke strongly today.
– Originally aired on Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm, Tuesday 4 August 2015
New Zealand has not learnt the lessons of the last global financial crisis, so says the author of a new book. Professor Jane Kelsey says we need to make changes or the so-called rock star economy will fail again, perhaps more catastrophically than it did last time.
Also from The Daily Blog
IKA – 3 Mt Eden Rd, 7.15 pm Tuesday 11th August –
doors open 5 pm. This event will book out so book NOW. There will be space at the bar for those who get in early enough and the entire debate will be live streamed on The Daily Blog from 7.15pm and then available on demand afterwards.
IKA Seafood Bar & Grill + Voyager + The Daily Blog present
Table Talk 5: – TPPA or not TPPA??
Join RNZs Wallace Chapman for Table Talk 5 – TPPA or not TPPA?
The panel will include
– PROFESSOR JANE KELSEY, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND LAW FACULTY
– HON. DR WAYNE MAPP, FORMER NATIONAL MP & LAW COMMISSIONER
– MICHAEL BARNETT, CHIEF EXEC AUCKLAND REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
– DR JOSHUA FREEMAN, SPECIALIST MICROBIOLOGIST AT AUCKLAND HOSPITAL
With guest tweeter Sacha Dylan live tweeting the event
And tomorrow Wednesday, Wellington
Hear Professor Jane Kelsey speak about her new book “The Fire Economy”
WHEN: 5:30pm on Wednesday August 5th
WHERE: Lecture Theatre 1, Old Government Buildings, Stout Street, Wellington. http://www.openureyes.org.nz/blog/?q=node/6862
Now we wait for NatzKEY to pass an ominous law behind closed doors in the dark of night, making it illegal for two or more people to gather or congregate in any one place at any one time, thereby banning free speech, association and expression!
Call me a mad old cynic, but I really can see it coming!
You mad old cynic! They’ll go to urgency with the new measures after the next strange happening that they can put a sinister connotation on, and we’ll have curfews set. No wait, the Hospitality industry that provides lots of campaign finance and hosp. bags of booze wouldn’t like their premises empty after 10 p.m. and there would be less tax for gummint from excise etc.
we needed more media coverage of these things before now. its about this time last year that kelsey debated mapp at the fabians in auckland. mantras versus information. salesman vs educator.
I went to that and thought they both presented themselves really well – I thought Jane’s argument was much more compelling but it was nice to have a measured polite debate between two well informed people.
Thanks Greywarshark. And straight after Jane had carefully explained the issues to Mike he followed up a few minutes later with his usual bored, lazy pro -TPP misinformation. Expect he gets plenty of freebies from John.
“And the bit with Mike Hosking referred to recently. http://mananews.co.nz/wp/?p=7005
Mana News with Mike Hosking”
Professor Kelsey must get frustrated by the attempted dismissive shallowness of ‘useful idiots’ from TV land.
Nice to see someone, just someone, from the university system courageous enough to analyze and be critical of what’s really happening in our society.
I think Northland shocked them, and now with dairy prices the way they are I think the nats are beginning to realise just how far they’ve ignored their rural base in favour of their corporate base.
I think I have finally defeated the botnet in the US that was causing brief outages over the last few weeks.
Nasty adaptive and quite stupid system. Smart enough to stay below lockout protocols. Smart enough to shift it’s IPs. But It was trying to use a system that got coded out in previous versions of wordpress. And it was too stupid to move on when it found it was making no impact.
Just a stupid waste of time. Having an afternoon off with nothing else apart from looking at logs made its pattern obvious.
Eventually, as well as complaining about it, I locked out the whole of the aws-west cloud network that it was coming from.
RadioNZ just reported that, having received and researched information they asked for from the ombudsman, that there was never a business case for the “Saudi sheep farm in a desert” fiasco.
In fact it seems everything National said about it, including blaming Labour, was lies and more lies. Surely not?
McCully refuses to be interviewed on the issue.
Parker is ripping the deal to shreds right now. “Looking at the papers released it’s a facilitation agreement (bribe) to get a trade deal”. “It was kept quiet for 3 years”. “Nobody knows about a legal claim.” etc etc etc
Just been there mate – they’ve come a long way in the past sixty years – most of them are pretty straight and downright nice guys. Their government is trying to make things better – wish I could say as much for ours.
I think a large part of our industry in each country are going to be in repairing and restoring after storms, running around putting out bush fires, literally. Forget about Olympics, casinos and vanity architecture. Look at the image for it. Like a giant orange poppy.
Super Typhoon Soudelor developed into the world’s most powerful storm of the year Tuesday as it took aim at Japan, Taiwan and China after trashing the Northern Marianas.
The storm was roaring across the western Pacific Ocean packing wind gusts up to 354 kph according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center which rated it a maximum category five.
It was stronger than Cyclone Pam, the previous strongest storm of 2015, which killed at least 15 people when it slammed into Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, five months ago.
Bryan Crump interview was interesting on Monday night. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201765000
World Weather
8:40 PM. MetService severe weather forecaster Erick Brenstrum on how a day doesn’t go by without some weather… a tropical cyclone named Raquel appeared in the South Pacific in July for the first time on record, Pakistan had it’s most deadly heat-wave on record, and hundreds of wildfires have sparked in Canada.
And warmer seas produce more storms. Forgotten the principle, but have a listen and you will probably find something you didn’t know.
If anyone is interested here is a link from the BBC regarding the UK Labour party contest for a new leader.With an interview with our very own Mr Gould.
The interview starts about 3/4 s the way through to podcast at 03.06.52
I have found a very good article by Christos Tsiolkas (in conversation with Yanis Varoufakis), MONTHLY magazine
An extract from the article by Christos Tsiolkas with Yanis Varoufakis (former Greek Finance Minister)
Yanis Varoufakis said about the Greek Banks – “I discovered at some point that the law that constituted the EFSF ( European Financial Stability Facility, my insert) allowed me one power, and that was to determine the salary of these people. I realised that the salaries of these functionaries were monstrous by Greek standards. In a country with so much hunger and where the minimum wage has fallen to €520 a month, these people were making something like €18,000 a month.
“So I decided, since I had the power, I would exercise that power. I used a really simple rule. Pensions and salaries have fallen by an average of 40% since the beginning of the crisis. I issued a ministerial decree by which I reduced the salaries of these functionaries by 40%. Still a huge salary, still a huge salary. You know what happened? I got a letter from the Troika, saying that my decision has been overruled as it was insufficiently explained. So in a country in which the Troika is insisting that people on a €300-a-month pension now live on €100, they were refusing my cost-cutting exercise, my ability as a minister of finance to curtail the salaries of these people.”
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
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Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
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Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
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Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
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Today is a good day. There is change in the wind. I feel Paul Mason has kicked off something with ‘Post Capitalism’
I have been following Paul Mason since I read an article from him on ‘Post Capitalism’
I can recommend Googling ‘Post Capitalism’ and selecting ‘News’. Sure some establishment hacks have written reviews that are somewhat dismissive, but it is not the reviews themselves that I find heartwarming but the readers comments, It seems a growing number are fed up and wanting change. Significant change.
This review is one of the more thoughtful and makes good reading but I do highly recommend seeking out the others and after reading the review, take a meander through the comments. Today is a good day.
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2015/08/03/postcapitalism-a-review/
This would most certainly be a much much brighter future for all generations compared with the dystopia we now face.
thanks for the link
Mike Hosking has some advice for the people of Gaza:
“Sort out middle east peace, get some food in the house.”
Seven Sharp, Television One, Monday 3 August 2015
MIKE HOSKING: “Tonight we get to meet a guy who’s chucked in the day job and at a moment’s notice is jetting to any corner of the world to help out our furry friends. Here’s Erin Conway.”
Cue vaguely disquieting electronic music….
What followed was an item about New Zealand man Anton Leach from the animal rescue group Four Paws, who’s recently gone into
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/-if-you-move-re-shot-meet-the-james-bond-of-animal-rescues-q04052
Not a mention that Gaza is under a brutal, illegal, internationally condemned siege, although Erin Conroy does hint at it when she observes that “getting into Gaza is harrowing, to say the least,….. crossing borders in this part of the world is tricky”, and Toni Street notes lightheartedly that it is “one of the most TURBULENT places in the world!”
So far, so mediocre. But what made this especially insulting, cruel and disrespectful was what Mike Hosking said at the end of Erin Conroy’s item: he grimaced to show how unimpressed and bored he was, then delivered this sour little homily: “With all respect, if you’re in Gaza wouldn’t you have other things on your mind? Sort out middle east peace, get some food in the house?”
To her credit, Toni Street didn’t perform her usual duty of braying in obedient laughter, but looked a bit troubled.
NOTE: Although Hosking and Street’s flippant introduction to this item is on this TVNZ clip, Hosking’s lecture to the people of Gaza at the end has been left off.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/-if-you-move-re-shot-meet-the-james-bond-of-animal-rescues-q04052
An utterly repulsive man.
Early onset dementia for Hosking?
Is John Key our Minister of Tourism or the Minister of Hawaii?
The video his son Max recently posted on social media showed the Prime Minister at ease in Hawaii, where he owns a holiday home. I’m sure the bloke deserves a holiday.
But it still strikes me as odd that our Minister of Tourism’s most renowned holiday breaks are offshore. Imagine sitting down to watch this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup test match with the Minister for Sport and Recreation and hearing him cheer for the Wallabies. Or attending a banquet hosted by the Minister for Primary Industries where he serves Chilean wine and apples from Queensland’s fruit fly heartland.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=11491169
and max is making his own way… not cos of who his father is…
🙄
Fancy the Herald allowing such a slightly a column which is slightly critical of the fly-away PM. Well spotted ropata.
Do you know the term “seagull manager”? Flies in, squawks, leaves shit everywhere, flies away. He’s a seagull PM.
And go to Kaikoura to an outside cafe, a seagull may dive in and steal your food on your way to your mouth. Another unfortunate trait.
Seagulls also bully their competition, scavenge and freeload off others. Saw one hitch a ride on the rising air currents off a Cook Strait ferry, scarcely beat its wings once while crossing the strait. Bludger! They also freeload onto others.
Well adapted bird to the modern commercial and economic environment, all in all.
dont be mean to seagulls …comparing them with jonkey nact!…they are innocent lovely little birdies
Let their droppings fall where they may……… one man’ s bird shit is another man’s guano.
Anyone got a rescue plan for the West Coast’s economy now that the government is preparing to kill Solid Energy?
29 people dead at Pike River, hundreds of miners unemployed across all its towns, more hundreds to come. No plan.
Top work Prime Minister.
This government’s plan is for a repeat of Christchurch; they’re just waiting for the alpine fault to go so they can “rebuild Greymouth”.
Of course when the alpine fault does go, the West Coast is going to be completely screwed and will be lucky if 1/4th of the pre-quake population is still there 10 years later.
In that sense, further investment into the West Coast economy is really mal-investment, so the sooner the economy over there declines and shrinks, the less of an economic loss we’ll feel when the inevitable arrives.
Similarly we should move government back to Auckland or maybe Hamilton, ’cause when Wellington’s quake arrives, it will not be re-built up to where it is now, and as we’ve seen with Christchurch, the show must go on, so all the departments will have to move to other cities and the chances of them ever returning to Wellington are remote.
But talking about these sorts of things is unpalatable, so it’s better to just pretend the bad times will never arrive and keep on mal-investing into bad situations and let future generations deal with the burden.
Have to agree 100% on shifting Parliament ,the insanity of having our seat of power in a city that will get likely be flattened makes me shake my head.
Auckland’s know good ether palmy or Blenheim would be my pick.
You don’t know Blenheim’s history then. B Waghorn?
Two doozies of earthquakes in 1848 (7.4) and 1855 (8.2). The first, the Marlborough earthquake of 1848, left no European dwelling upright, men were thrown off their horses and the ground shook for three weeks. The Wairau plain sank about 1.2 metres which made the Opawa river navigable for the first time to coastal shipping and gave the rise to Blenheim as a port and town.
The second in 1855 was of course the Wairarapa earthquake which was also big in Blenheim.
There is evidence for the main Wairau fault to have triggered about 600 years ago. We await its successor.
Oh cheers learnt my new thing for the day then.
My thinking was more about keeping it central and in a low population area of course with the internet we supposedly should be able to spread government departments all over the country.
You know Auckland is in a volcanic field, the next eruption of which will see Auckland wrecked too, right? And that Blenheim is in just as seismically a problematic area as Wellington?
Bloody clunky brain of mine, it was meant to be Auckland s no good ,for the reason you said also because its already suspected of scewing nz politics and add to that the last thing it needs is more people.
The reason Wellington was picked is the distance for ALL Nzlanders to the capital and access to parliament.
Whilst the fault lines are mostly (researched) on the lower NI and the mainland, volcanoes are exactly on the opposite end.
Auckland has a few dormant volcanoes dotted around, about 50 or so. Not sure where I rather be if something big comes down.
Auckland was briefly the capital. A few years or so. Apparently it took 40 hours of travelling to reach from Dunedin.
Now it takes 1 3/4 hours.
A volcano in Auckland is much less likely to destroy all the buildings compared to a quake in Wellington.
I think if you look at the voting patterns their fates probably sealed with this vindictive govt and they get to flog off something else to the backers…win win.
To Ropata – ‘Honest’John Key – our Minimum of Tourism.
And did you know ponytails are de rigueur in Maui? probably
Cool, maybe he will stay there
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLTyNOxXWCM
Many Kiwi’s are now waking up to the saying “Never trust a third term National Government” and for very good reason.
National’s agenda was always selling off our State owned assets and the continuation carrys on with Solid Energy being refused funding. National’s preferred option is liquidation. While coal mining is currently out of vogue the Nats will grasp the opportunity to sell it off for a song to overseas interests, probably China. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/280419/solid-energy-in-'precarious-position‘
Phase 2, or part of the dirty sell off will be the West Coast Rail line to be sold as part of a sweetened package. Taking a steer from what is happening to the Napier Line, where rather than the Nats fund the washout repairs and maintenance costs of the currently mothballed line, it is being lumped on to local councils to fund for the private sector. Not too surprised Nash is mooting this model could be rolled out to other Regions. I hope Little and Tywford silence the Phil Goff-Off wannabe, he is a loose cannon and a disgrace!
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11490508
Nash typifyies what’s wrong with labour currently. Should’ve been taken aside months ago for a stern chat about being a team player and policy.
Hope 2017 sees the back of him, he’s proving quite the liability along with the usual dead weights of curran, cosgrove, mallard, shearer etc
Just for a brief moment there the hopes were up.
Headline on the Herald website “Former money trader gets 14 years …”
But alas.
@ Logie97 (7) Yep same here. My deaf old ears went into overdrive when I heard this on Morning Report this morning. My imagination took flight at the thought and my spirit soared.
However it wasn’t to be this time. But we can live in hope. Can’t we? His time will come.
Also heard there is more to come. Maybe, just maybe …. 🙂
Evening TV is usually off-limits for me: stops me kicking the TV through the wall. But I’m really glad I caught this by chance. It was so exciting and uplifting (some controversy, too, perhaps…), a complete anomaly to usual programming:
Harakeke meets modern fashion.
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/native-affairs/S09E022/native-affairs
You’ll have to forward the video to 43:00 minutes yourself.
“You can’t wear that down the dairy…”
“You’re not meant to wear it to the dairy!”
Enjoyed that item too.
The invitation for story ideas at the end of Native Affairs was very tempting. First thought for a story idea: “Why did Mihirangi Forbes leave the show?”
Yes, I see where you’re heading with that. And on a similar note:
Did you see Mt. Zion played on Maori TV on the weekend?
Someone there at MTV edited out the… how shall we say… “meaty scenes”. The DVD release goes much further into outlining racial/pakeha/Maori relationship in NZ. It’s pretty explicit stuff. Haven’t seen anything so purposeful since the church/pastor scene in Utu. Without Mt. Zion’s dysfunctional relationship scenes, the tone of the film is reduced from “honest, angry and poignant”, to just pointlessly depressing and hopeless. There’s something sinster about leaving in the stuff with “Booker D” and erasing the stuff with the promoter-boyfriend. On another less political – and perhaps more important level – it’s just plain vandalism of artistic material.
In the beginning, MTV had a habit of programming some quite powerful films, films that by no means supported the Hollywood recipe – in fact actively pushed back against it in the extreme. I hope the disappearance of Mihirangi Forbes, and the neutering and removal of certain themes from Maori TV ( …did you see Opal Dreams, too, recently? Waaay out of early MTV character) doesn’t mean it’s begun a slide into pandering to “the easily offended”.
But anyway… think happy thoughts… think happy thoughts…
No. Didn’t see Mt. Zion, but coincidentally, the film was made in my neck of the woods. The pub is my local, and the landscape is outside my window…
I’m also waiting for the other boot to drop with MTV. Missing Mihirangi Forbes and her quiet persistence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11491603
Former British PM, Edward Heath implicated in child sex abuse accusations. British police stymie 1990s investigation as soon as it becomes apparent Heath was involved. So, how many cases did our police “stymie” in order to protect senior politicians and notable NZ leaders?
Anne.Plenty.their are 2 former MP’s who have name suppression for child sex abuse that we know of Finem reckons their maybe some current MP’s as they also have name suppression.
Anne Name suppression allows these perpetrators to avoid the consequences of their actions while their victims are still suffering the consequences.
It also prevents other victims coming forward.
In most cases of child sex abuse stats reveal that perpetrators have abused many dozens of victims as we have seen with Rolf Harris and Bill Cosby once people are aware others were victims of these predator’s they are less frighted of these predator’s.
For this very reason the suppression orders on the 2 prominent and powerful NZ politicians should be lifted.
I believe political pressure was put on the judicial system as the judicial system was more worried about the predators rights over the Victims.
Power is what these predator’s use to destroy the Victims self esteem to prevent them coming forward and being credible witness’s,the perpetrator knows he is breaking the law and doing untold damage to the victim.
The Govt and the Judicial system side withe rich and powerful rapist.
To protect the political careers of the perpetrators mates.
I see that as a criminal act in it self of conspiracy to cover up and therefore being an accessory to a crime.
Those in power now could face the full force of the law like is happening in the UK now.
John Key was involved in an operation described as Patient Zero in a book called Infectious Greed. The book was written by Frank Partnoy, once a Wall street banker but now a professor in law.
The operation was an attack on a currency with a new financial instrument. It was naked short selling ans it was a great success. Him and his mate Andrew Krieger made $ 300 million US and he is lying about it. Wouldn’t you if you managed to bring down a currency 5% on the Thursday after Black Monday 1987?
The currency? The New Zealand dollar!
John Key is a Wall street banker and he is here to sell our country to the Wall street/City of London banking criminal elite by signing the TPPA.
Anyone who believes the story about Key being worth +/- $50m is [add your own terminology here]
Believing that story allows the downplaying, and disbelief about the financial terrorism club he is part of.
Thanks for that heads up Lanthanide. Don’t know why it has taken so long to be out in the open.
Don’t thank me!
Oh right. Well thanks travellerev. And you L. for pointing it out.
+100 travellerev…I have heard that story before ….and it is very disturbing!….some would call it traitorish…and theft
…it needs to be given much greater exposure ..so every New Zealander knows about it! ( how about Morning Report…just for starters?…but they wouldnt dare…and the msm crucified David Cunliffe!)
….and jonkey nact is the guy who thinks he has a mandate to change New Zealand’s flag
Union succeeds in prosecution over forestry death
Good news.
Surely child development and nutrition experts would already be aware of this connection:
Picky eating may point to mental illness”
Given that there has long been an association with digestive problems, picky eating habits and children on the austitic spectrum, perhaps the issue is not a “mental illness” one, but one of undiagnosed children who are not supported in their learning, social and emotional challenges.
It is a throwaway headline that could cause more anxiety with parents who have a child with different needs rather than a mental illness.
Jane Kelsey spoke strongly today.
– Originally aired on Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm, Tuesday 4 August 2015
New Zealand has not learnt the lessons of the last global financial crisis, so says the author of a new book. Professor Jane Kelsey says we need to make changes or the so-called rock star economy will fail again, perhaps more catastrophically than it did last time.
And the bit with Mike Hosking referred to recently.
http://mananews.co.nz/wp/?p=7005
Mana News with Mike Hosking
Also from The Daily Blog
IKA – 3 Mt Eden Rd, 7.15 pm Tuesday 11th August –
doors open 5 pm. This event will book out so book NOW. There will be space at the bar for those who get in early enough and the entire debate will be live streamed on The Daily Blog from 7.15pm and then available on demand afterwards.
IKA Seafood Bar & Grill + Voyager + The Daily Blog present
Table Talk 5: – TPPA or not TPPA??
Join RNZs Wallace Chapman for Table Talk 5 – TPPA or not TPPA?
The panel will include
– PROFESSOR JANE KELSEY, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND LAW FACULTY
– HON. DR WAYNE MAPP, FORMER NATIONAL MP & LAW COMMISSIONER
– MICHAEL BARNETT, CHIEF EXEC AUCKLAND REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
– DR JOSHUA FREEMAN, SPECIALIST MICROBIOLOGIST AT AUCKLAND HOSPITAL
With guest tweeter Sacha Dylan live tweeting the event
This will book out quickly – please book now to avoid disappointment.
***Want to support this work? Donate today
***Follow us on Twitter & Facebook
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/08/03/table-talk-5-tppa-or-not-tppa/#sthash.oaXAa4hl.dpuf
And tomorrow Wednesday, Wellington
Hear Professor Jane Kelsey speak about her new book “The Fire Economy”
WHEN: 5:30pm on Wednesday August 5th
WHERE: Lecture Theatre 1, Old Government Buildings, Stout Street, Wellington.
http://www.openureyes.org.nz/blog/?q=node/6862
@ greywarshark (14.1) – thanks for the info.
Now we wait for NatzKEY to pass an ominous law behind closed doors in the dark of night, making it illegal for two or more people to gather or congregate in any one place at any one time, thereby banning free speech, association and expression!
Call me a mad old cynic, but I really can see it coming!
You mad old cynic! They’ll go to urgency with the new measures after the next strange happening that they can put a sinister connotation on, and we’ll have curfews set. No wait, the Hospitality industry that provides lots of campaign finance and hosp. bags of booze wouldn’t like their premises empty after 10 p.m. and there would be less tax for gummint from excise etc.
Cool, thanks for the heads up.
we needed more media coverage of these things before now. its about this time last year that kelsey debated mapp at the fabians in auckland. mantras versus information. salesman vs educator.
I went to that and thought they both presented themselves really well – I thought Jane’s argument was much more compelling but it was nice to have a measured polite debate between two well informed people.
Thanks Greywarshark. And straight after Jane had carefully explained the issues to Mike he followed up a few minutes later with his usual bored, lazy pro -TPP misinformation. Expect he gets plenty of freebies from John.
“And the bit with Mike Hosking referred to recently.
http://mananews.co.nz/wp/?p=7005
Mana News with Mike Hosking”
Professor Kelsey must get frustrated by the attempted dismissive shallowness of ‘useful idiots’ from TV land.
Nice to see someone, just someone, from the university system courageous enough to analyze and be critical of what’s really happening in our society.
nats must be worried about NZF. cos Armstrong is championing its demise and irrelevance
I think Northland shocked them, and now with dairy prices the way they are I think the nats are beginning to realise just how far they’ve ignored their rural base in favour of their corporate base.
+100
I think I have finally defeated the botnet in the US that was causing brief outages over the last few weeks.
Nasty adaptive and quite stupid system. Smart enough to stay below lockout protocols. Smart enough to shift it’s IPs. But It was trying to use a system that got coded out in previous versions of wordpress. And it was too stupid to move on when it found it was making no impact.
Just a stupid waste of time. Having an afternoon off with nothing else apart from looking at logs made its pattern obvious.
Eventually, as well as complaining about it, I locked out the whole of the aws-west cloud network that it was coming from.
Thanks lprent for keeping the bots at bay, now for the next crusade of the caped avenger?
This is an interesting little demographic device from the last election.
http://s3.newsapps.nz.s3.amazonaws.com/andrew_chen/original_visualisation.html
Damn. Almost unreadable. Greys out tin. Might be my Mac?
RadioNZ just reported that, having received and researched information they asked for from the ombudsman, that there was never a business case for the “Saudi sheep farm in a desert” fiasco.
In fact it seems everything National said about it, including blaming Labour, was lies and more lies. Surely not?
McCully refuses to be interviewed on the issue.
Parker is ripping the deal to shreds right now. “Looking at the papers released it’s a facilitation agreement (bribe) to get a trade deal”. “It was kept quiet for 3 years”. “Nobody knows about a legal claim.” etc etc etc
recommended reading for McCully and co,….The House of Saud by S.K .Aburish they rate as barely human.
Just been there mate – they’ve come a long way in the past sixty years – most of them are pretty straight and downright nice guys. Their government is trying to make things better – wish I could say as much for ours.
But they’re trying to eliminate corruption these days too – McCully probably hasn’t impressed.
Why oh why do people like Parker use words like ‘ facilitation agreement’? A spade is a spade. KISS.
I think a large part of our industry in each country are going to be in repairing and restoring after storms, running around putting out bush fires, literally. Forget about Olympics, casinos and vanity architecture. Look at the image for it. Like a giant orange poppy.
Super Typhoon Soudelor developed into the world’s most powerful storm of the year Tuesday as it took aim at Japan, Taiwan and China after trashing the Northern Marianas.
The storm was roaring across the western Pacific Ocean packing wind gusts up to 354 kph according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center which rated it a maximum category five.
It was stronger than Cyclone Pam, the previous strongest storm of 2015, which killed at least 15 people when it slammed into Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, five months ago.
Bryan Crump interview was interesting on Monday night.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201765000
World Weather
8:40 PM. MetService severe weather forecaster Erick Brenstrum on how a day doesn’t go by without some weather… a tropical cyclone named Raquel appeared in the South Pacific in July for the first time on record, Pakistan had it’s most deadly heat-wave on record, and hundreds of wildfires have sparked in Canada.
And warmer seas produce more storms. Forgotten the principle, but have a listen and you will probably find something you didn’t know.
Frightening.
http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/westpac/movies/gmsirn/gmsirnjava.html
If anyone is interested here is a link from the BBC regarding the UK Labour party contest for a new leader.With an interview with our very own Mr Gould.
The interview starts about 3/4 s the way through to podcast at 03.06.52
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063zmt5
I have found a very good article by Christos Tsiolkas (in conversation with Yanis Varoufakis), MONTHLY magazine
An extract from the article by Christos Tsiolkas with Yanis Varoufakis (former Greek Finance Minister)
Yanis Varoufakis said about the Greek Banks – “I discovered at some point that the law that constituted the EFSF ( European Financial Stability Facility, my insert) allowed me one power, and that was to determine the salary of these people. I realised that the salaries of these functionaries were monstrous by Greek standards. In a country with so much hunger and where the minimum wage has fallen to €520 a month, these people were making something like €18,000 a month.
“So I decided, since I had the power, I would exercise that power. I used a really simple rule. Pensions and salaries have fallen by an average of 40% since the beginning of the crisis. I issued a ministerial decree by which I reduced the salaries of these functionaries by 40%. Still a huge salary, still a huge salary. You know what happened? I got a letter from the Troika, saying that my decision has been overruled as it was insufficiently explained. So in a country in which the Troika is insisting that people on a €300-a-month pension now live on €100, they were refusing my cost-cutting exercise, my ability as a minister of finance to curtail the salaries of these people.”
If that is not “let them eat cake” revolution provoking material I don’t know what is.
For the complete article go to
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/08/03/9698/
From The Guardian:
Homeownership: the generation that had it so good
Dramatic increases in house prices have locked out younger buyers. Does the baby boomer generation now enjoy an unfair level of property wealth?
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/aug/04/homeownership-the-generation-that-had-it-so-good
The parallels with NZ are striking.