The motion by ACT to debate in Parliament China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang is another example of their marketing strategy. The regularly use this strategy to advance their own profile.
It is dressed up as concern but in reality it is quite cynical and it too is exploitative of the very Muslim minorities in China they claim to be representing.
As with most of ACT's activities, it is 99% political charade.
Well if you are correct, then thank god for political charades.
If not, there would be no publicity whatsoever about the Xijiang situation. China is an empire and has systematically colonised and subjugated the Ughurs (Na the Tibetans) over the 70 years.
More shame on our lame PM that she and her government lacks the principles to do what ACT is doing, whatever their motive.
The enemy of an enemy of human rights is not necessarily a friend of human rights.
Frankly, ACT's concern for human rights in China is about as honest as the whataboutism of China's happy defenders.
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
NZ needs to avoid being dominated by both these nations, while trying to remember and assist all victims of oppression, regardless of the perpetrator. Sure it's aspirational and never perfectly attainable, but it's better than volunteering time to suck up to oppressors.
??? So it is wrong to point out that the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Australia have no moral ascendancy over China? To unhappily point out—and it is an unhappy task—that the U.S., France, U.K. and Australia are rogue states who have no right to lecture anyone else about human rights is to "happily defend China."
You want me to provide a syllogism to support something that runs opposite to what I actually wrote:
NZ needs to avoid being dominated by both these nations, while trying to remember and assist all victims of oppression, regardless of the perpetrator.
ACT pointing out the wrongs committed by China while ignoring (or even in order to distract from) wrongs committed by the USA etc is simply the flipside of some online sinophile pointing out the wrongs committed by the USA etc while ignoring (or even in order to distract from) wrongs committed by China.
My involvement with China goes way back, and knowledge of the Han colonisation of Xinjiang was well known and obvious to anyone who went there decades ago. You may deny reality because of your political views, but that does not change what has been happening in Xinjiang for the last 70 years.
And as for Xinzang/Tibet, yes it was a medieval theocracy prior to the Chinese invasion of 1949. That however in no way justifies todays colonisation by the Han.
Seriously, you need to learn about China. It is an empire just as evil and imperialistic as the Russian Empire, or USSR as they euphemistically called it.
I am not sure how to assess your knowledge of history, Peterchch. I agree about Russia, but why call 'USSR' a euphemism? Stalin was indeed the last of the great csars, because he ruled Russia with a rod of iron just as they did, and ignored many of Communism's ideals. Totalitarians they all were.
But as to the history of Tibet, etc? That area was always a province of China when a dynasty was strong. And when the Chinese were weak, Tibet, etc were independent.
Have you seen Frank Capra's "Why we Fight"? A series produced by the US Department of Information during WW2… In the episode of the war in China (episode 5, I think) the US Dept of Information clearly states that the 5th great province of China is Tibet.
There you are – the USA seeing Tibet as a province of China.
(But then the naughty Communists took over in China, and the propaganda narrative changed completely. Amazing historical gymnastics.)
Are you sure you know the history well, or are you just part of the latest exercise in US-directed historical gymnastics?
Oh we are so pure all of a sudden, so moral about China's abuses and yet we have been involved in the USA's abuses for decades also the UK – going to war about fictitious Weapons of Mass Destruction WMD is one. Supporting the USA drop of its nuclear bomb would be another, and I have just found that they fire-bombed Tokyo or Hiroshima or both before which hadn't reached my history memory store.
We need to keep considering these people in North China, those being badly treated in Myanmar, and the refugee camps, the Afghanistan people, etc. It goes on, I am playing an old CD to raise money from the children of the Bosnian war and have two books about forthright women who went to the area and saved orphans. Perhaps we could ask China for permission to go there and help the Muslims in the north, and perhaps as well we could work here to help the Muslims amongst us and our own anti-social people we are raising here.
We have to keep exporting, our economy has been built into the capitalist system of trade and desire for material things. Change that a bit and then we have options for moral and spiritual considerations. Just don't hit on our Labour government for doing what the country needs to do for us to survive.
We see in Ron Brierley's descent the true face of capitalism and materialism. That is the state of NZ and we have to work our way back to the place we were before. Try listening to the words of Hotel California about decadence and you will get an idea of where we are now.
Ron Brierly's behaviour is not exclusive to capitalist societies. In all of the noise, we should at least be grateful we live in a democratic society in which we learn about such horrors via a non-state media.
Criticism of China is hardly sudden, and rubberstamping the illegal invasion of Iraq eviscerated the Alliance party from within like a yankophile chestbursting alien.
On RNZ this morning Judith Collins managed to condemn Trevor Mallard's behaviour last night as 'vindictive.' It meant he is temperamentally unsuited to his role she said.
Her 2020 public crucifixion (along with Duncan Garner) of Iain Lees-Galloway means she is eminently suited to her role of course. Some roles need people who are nasty, vindictive [deleted sexist remark].
Interesting take on a Speaker who uses the cover of Parliamentary privilege to make further allegations against an individual. The same individual he ended up apologising to 18 months after the fact for getting his previous allegations wrong. Surely there are more appropriate bodies such as the Police to deal with such allegations than in the House under privilege.
You mean the allegations that were analogous to accusing someone of murder by firearm when they actually used a knife? Keep it up you tory bastards, theres nothing 'quite like endearing yourself to the public by defending a sexual predator.
Collins and Bishops brains trust of advisors are certainly a few neurons short.
Such a shame isn't it. Mallard has to resort to parliament to make a statement about a serious case of sexual assault against a woman (there were several women who complained in fact) because he knows that should he say it outside of the House, a vindictive opposition leader and her lackeys will gerrymander the ongoing process of justice – all in the name of politicking for personal gain.
And all of it would serve to re-victimise the young women in question, but who cares about them eh David?
Tova O'Brien says something has got to give to take the heat out of the situation.
Unfortunately for the victims it might have to be them presenting evidence, which of course re-victimises them. This would simply be collateral damage in the eyes of the National Party – they do not care about people or who they trample over in their quest for power.
Their exploitation of those women and this situation is disturbing, even for them.
"(The alleged perpetrator's) ongoing behaviour has caused distress to a number of women and he's been asked to stop and he hasn't," Mallard said in the chamber last night.
Mallard also directed his diatribe against National MP Chris Bishop, who Mallard believes came to the staffer's defence online.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Bishop is egging this guy on and deliberately trying to fuel the fire. National has form in this area.
I am not particularly keen on watching people shouting at each other. Was there any naming of; "the Staffer", or is that court-suppressed? It seems they still have their job, so it's hard to see how "Mallard ruined that man's career and his life" (unless Staffer is in past tense).
It sounds like there is an ongoing police investigation (or maybe pending trial?), though I have not seen details of that linked anywhere. I assume the Investigation he referenced last night was the Francis report?
"Mallard made the {original rape} comment after the Debbie Francis report into bullying and harassment at Parliament was made public in May 2019. He was commenting on the report's disclosure of sexual assault accusations in the report…
That man's life was destroyed when he sexually assaulted a woman. That's what did it," Mallard said. "I will support the woman and what she said, I will support the investigation that found that he seriously assaulted her… and I will support the police and their investigation and the results of that."
My take on Mallard and Bishop is that National will keep raising Mallard's blunder even though Mallard has faced the legal consequences for getting the terminology wrong.
I do think Mallard can survive this as something has happened. The process for keeping the women safe needs to be put in place according to their employment conditions. This is what National need to be in agreement about and not wanting the scalp of Mallard.
I would leave it to Mallard whether or not he considers his job as speaker to be right for him unless there are parliamentary legal grounds which can terminate his position as speaker.
I was interested in the comment Mallard made about the former staffer's "ongoing behaviour". This suggests a man who shows no remorse for touching women inappropriately, or groping or whatever it is he's done.
He also doesn't seem to be able to let it go, a bit like Chris Bishop, really.
A sociopath who knows how to play the victim card to the point where the real victims end up being blamed and/or re-victimised. Its been going on since God made little apples and still the fools among us fall for it – and that includes the tabloid media.
The system is set up that a complaint needs to be made for it to be investigated. When it comes to what the police investigate they can only investigate what they are told.
Bishop and Mallard are doing a disservice to the complainants as the way they are going about inappropriate behaviour is not in the interest of the complainants.
It is in the hands of the police to establish if an offence was committed and whether or not it will go to trial.
He has to go. The guy who used parliamentary privlidge to label a hug, a comment and allegedly inappropriate staring as rape and uses parliamentary press and spent hundreds of thousands of tax payers on defending himself can't be speaker during hate speech and sex crimes law reforms which the left don't realize how much political capital they are burning or how much scrutiny the public and media will give these reforms. Jan Logies already being attacked by law organizations left right and center as basically a law that wants to put poor people in jail regardless if they are guilty or not we don't need the speaker who wanted a good sound bite and declared a man a rapist over a hug overseeing the debate.
Trevor should have gone out with the fifth labour govt. What a relic. He's a violent, bullying ,shit kicking mudraking hypocritical dinosaur careerist of fourty years who noone in the party likes he's our gerry brownlee and he's a worse speaker than even Carter but there is literally noone in Labours ranks unfortunately who'd be a great speaker who isn't in cabinet already.
The biggest issue here is the fact that Bishop and Mallard hate each other. I could easily imagine a fist fight on the floor of the house. That would suit Collins because she is all about the vendettas of dirty politics and the distractions of court politics.
The meta issue is the total lack of control by Collins of her caucus. Whenever she is pulled up on the lack of discipline in her MPs she plaintively whines she can't tell them what to do, and boy does that weakness show. Her party is swirling mess of cliques pursuing personal vendettas, paranoid, US inspired conspiracy theories and plotting against each other.
She should shut this whole vendetta against Mallard down, because her party is sailing perilously close to the sort of seditious disloyal opposition territory traversed by Trump's Republican Party.
Unfortunately, you can be sure she’ll only double down and double down again until the National Party are presented with either trying to subvert democracy or look like complete idiots. Either way, the public will punish them for manufacturing such a crisis.
I'm not so sure Collins is the party leader who should be shutting this down. It was good to see the PM has given Mallard a ticking off over this whole episode, but frankly he should have been removed ages ago.
This is terrible economics. Public sector wage trends influence private sector wage trends. It also signals the return of the 'austerity' narrative which should have died already in 2008 but instead it took till 2020 for NZ to discover it controls its own budget.
The announcement of a pay freeze on public sector employees strikes me as a bad faith move that guarantees increased industrial action and employee turnover in the coming years. Very short sighted and a slap in the face to essential workers who helped guide the country through Covid in the first place.
Perhaps that move would be the first step in compressing the pay scale, and to put a pay freeze on everyone is applying equality, and not equity. This is an important point – equality is pie in the sky and that will come down to earth for most things, equity now that is fairness.
In areas where the government departments compete with private companies to recruit and retain talented people, like IT, where even average people are almost certainly above the $100,000 limit, this is going to be a disaster. The market for IT people picked up significantly the last couple of months and I already declined multiple project offers for the rest of this year.
Means the government departments have to use external consulting companies for the heavy lifting… and pay accordingly!
Keep this in mind when you read – and comment here – about another expensive government IT project.
I think I have worked out why the Herald has a column from Richard Prebble. They have comments open on his pieces and they know he is reliably offensive enough to juice their engagement stats for advertisers.
Hardly behaviour befitting a "responsible MSM" outlet, but then the Herald is really just the Daily Mail without the witty bits.
Wonder if ACT , with only one electorate MP but 9 list Mps, is continuing the 'scheme' they used in Prebbles time with all their list Mps having the same address a few blocks from parliament for their 'out of parliament' office ( similar to electorate Mps offices, but in their electorate).
Is there any way of getting the 'office' street address from Parliamentary services of all List Mps- and not PO box either
More from Grant McLaughlin who says the 'out of parliament' offices in Little Pipitea St were bogus as he was a researcher who went there only once even though PS paid them for 32 hours pw 'electorate agent' and only supposed to be 8 hours in the Act Party leaders office. Prebble was leader at the time and John Bishop was his right hand man in leaders office
"…languages that told a different story were an enemy. Indigenous languages and thought were as much an impediment to land-taking as were the vast herds of buffalo, and so were likewise targeted for extermination.
Linguistic imperialism has always been a tool of colonization, meant to obliterate history and the visibility of the people who were displaced along with their languages."
Punishment for using unacceptable language could be for Maori a sharp slap with a ruler across the knuckles at any age. Now, what parallel; a sharp rejoinder, a stream of invective worse than what was originally said, a punch in the head? Jonathan Pie says that it only needs someones feelings to be hurt to produce a complaint that can be acted upon.
Half way through reading this, so good and sparking so many ideas. Political within the left, and of course the politics of our relationship with place. It’s so clear that the further we are from nature the more imperilled we are, and as Kimmerer and Incognito point to the current battle is over language and power.
The question arose the minute federal agents began their search of Rudy Giuliani's home and office. Once again someone close to former President Donald Trump — someone who could testify against the former president — was in prosecutors' crosshairs.
He first big notes on how he "…received this email exchange between a former head of the Treasury and a former Reserve Bank Governor…" (by whom I assume he means his fellow inhabitants of the 1980s political rest home Don Brash and either his brother or his fellow ACT sidekick Graham Scott) where they fret about the decline of hair shirt austerity for other people and balanced budgets for all.
He reveals that he appears to think everyone in Wellington drinks cappuccinos, in what I suspect is a fashion miss-step from the superannuated political far right. I guess when your salad days were inhabited with nothing more threatening than instant all these new fangled styles must be practically indistinguishable.
He then does the usual Rogernomics cultural cringe of quoting some far right Aussie and comparing us with the usual suspects (Venezuela, Nigeria etc although somehow he failed to squeeze in the USSR) .
He then concludes democracy is the same as Muldoonism.
Reading the piece is the literary equivalent of being the rest home worker forced to listen to a couple of nasty old men playing checkers and complaining about everything.
When groundbreaking television writer Dennis Potter learned he was dying of cancer, he sat down with Melvyn Bragg for a final interview. The subject of media mogul Rupert Murdoch came up.
The HBO 'dark comedy satirical drama' "Succession" currently screening on NEON is apparently loosely based on the Murdoch family and the background drama over control of the Murdoch empire will be interesting and important the direction of media around the world. Lachlan seems like a chip from the block and James has shown slight signs of social responsibility. Odd are Lachlan will be in control when the time comes.
Thanks for the Dennis Potter clip. It would be worthwhile to get a view of the strange world we are drifting towards to see his Cold Lazarus and Karaoke among any others on Youtube.
The information is doubtless privileged six ways from Sunday to protect their privacy, but I really hope they are not real estate 'investors', a class that impoverish rather than enriching our country. Being a determination made by MBIE or Immigration, it's safe to assume that any investor will do, however pernicious their activities might be to the greater public. More work for Kris Faafoi I guess.
There are certain investment criteria to fulfil for investor visas:
Acceptable investments
If you are interested in applying under one of our investor policies, the opportunities you take up must fit our 'acceptable investment' criteria. Broadly speaking, acceptable investments can be:
Equity in NZ firms, public or private. An equity investment can be active or passive, and be made direct or via managed funds (only the proportion of the Fund that is invested in NZ is counted as acceptable).
Bonds, issued by the NZ Government, NZ local authorities or approved NZ banks, finance companies or firms.
New residential property development that is not for the investor’s personal use and designed to make a commercial return on the open market.
Up to 15% of the investment total can be philanthropic investment.
Generally, to be considered acceptable, an investment must:
Be capable of a commercial return under normal circumstances.
Be invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency.
Have the potential to contribute to New Zealand’s economy.
Not be for the personal use of the investor.
This is just an overview, and there are other conditions that apply.
It is very useful thank you. I'd be interested to see a value analysis that considered the degree to which NZ benefitted from such arrangements – financial and real estate investment typically do little beyond inflating the chosen sector, though on occasion something like a farm may benefit, in terms of productivity, from a capital injection.
They werent granted border exemptions…because they were wealthy
'INZ general manager for border and visa operations Nicola Hogg said the five approved for residencies – and their 14 associates – had travelled to New Zealand on other critical worker visas before having their applications for residency approved…"
Critical worker visas were generally higher end medical people or public company type CEOs or related to movies and Americas Cup
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Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
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The motion by ACT to debate in Parliament China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang is another example of their marketing strategy. The regularly use this strategy to advance their own profile.
It is dressed up as concern but in reality it is quite cynical and it too is exploitative of the very Muslim minorities in China they claim to be representing.
As with most of ACT's activities, it is 99% political charade.
Well if you are correct, then thank god for political charades.
If not, there would be no publicity whatsoever about the Xijiang situation. China is an empire and has systematically colonised and subjugated the Ughurs (Na the Tibetans) over the 70 years.
More shame on our lame PM that she and her government lacks the principles to do what ACT is doing, whatever their motive.
Pure BS, you have been sucked in. As for Tibet, it was still feudalist before China set the bonded slaves free.
The enemy of an enemy of human rights is not necessarily a friend of human rights.
Frankly, ACT's concern for human rights in China is about as honest as the whataboutism of China's happy defenders.
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
NZ needs to avoid being dominated by both these nations, while trying to remember and assist all victims of oppression, regardless of the perpetrator. Sure it's aspirational and never perfectly attainable, but it's better than volunteering time to suck up to oppressors.
… the whataboutism of China's happy defenders.
??? So it is wrong to point out that the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Australia have no moral ascendancy over China? To unhappily point out—and it is an unhappy task—that the U.S., France, U.K. and Australia are rogue states who have no right to lecture anyone else about human rights is to "happily defend China."
What moral syllogism is that exactly?
You want me to provide a syllogism to support something that runs opposite to what I actually wrote:
ACT pointing out the wrongs committed by China while ignoring (or even in order to distract from) wrongs committed by the USA etc is simply the flipside of some online sinophile pointing out the wrongs committed by the USA etc while ignoring (or even in order to distract from) wrongs committed by China.
My involvement with China goes way back, and knowledge of the Han colonisation of Xinjiang was well known and obvious to anyone who went there decades ago. You may deny reality because of your political views, but that does not change what has been happening in Xinjiang for the last 70 years.
And as for Xinzang/Tibet, yes it was a medieval theocracy prior to the Chinese invasion of 1949. That however in no way justifies todays colonisation by the Han.
Seriously, you need to learn about China. It is an empire just as evil and imperialistic as the Russian Empire, or USSR as they euphemistically called it.
I am not sure how to assess your knowledge of history, Peterchch. I agree about Russia, but why call 'USSR' a euphemism? Stalin was indeed the last of the great csars, because he ruled Russia with a rod of iron just as they did, and ignored many of Communism's ideals. Totalitarians they all were.
But as to the history of Tibet, etc? That area was always a province of China when a dynasty was strong. And when the Chinese were weak, Tibet, etc were independent.
Have you seen Frank Capra's "Why we Fight"? A series produced by the US Department of Information during WW2… In the episode of the war in China (episode 5, I think) the US Dept of Information clearly states that the 5th great province of China is Tibet.
There you are – the USA seeing Tibet as a province of China.
(But then the naughty Communists took over in China, and the propaganda narrative changed completely. Amazing historical gymnastics.)
Are you sure you know the history well, or are you just part of the latest exercise in US-directed historical gymnastics?
Oh we are so pure all of a sudden, so moral about China's abuses and yet we have been involved in the USA's abuses for decades also the UK – going to war about fictitious Weapons of Mass Destruction WMD is one. Supporting the USA drop of its nuclear bomb would be another, and I have just found that they fire-bombed Tokyo or Hiroshima or both before which hadn't reached my history memory store.
Gordon Campbell is like you Peter chch. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2105/S00009/on-our-determination-to-ignore-chinas-human-rights-abuses.htm
We need to keep considering these people in North China, those being badly treated in Myanmar, and the refugee camps, the Afghanistan people, etc. It goes on, I am playing an old CD to raise money from the children of the Bosnian war and have two books about forthright women who went to the area and saved orphans. Perhaps we could ask China for permission to go there and help the Muslims in the north, and perhaps as well we could work here to help the Muslims amongst us and our own anti-social people we are raising here.
We have to keep exporting, our economy has been built into the capitalist system of trade and desire for material things. Change that a bit and then we have options for moral and spiritual considerations. Just don't hit on our Labour government for doing what the country needs to do for us to survive.
We see in Ron Brierley's descent the true face of capitalism and materialism. That is the state of NZ and we have to work our way back to the place we were before. Try listening to the words of Hotel California about decadence and you will get an idea of where we are now.
Ron Brierly's behaviour is not exclusive to capitalist societies. In all of the noise, we should at least be grateful we live in a democratic society in which we learn about such horrors via a non-state media.
Criticism of China is hardly sudden, and rubberstamping the illegal invasion of Iraq eviscerated the Alliance party from within like a yankophile chestbursting alien.
I needed a good laugh, thank you 😀
Pleased to be of at least some value to you Incognito 😊
On RNZ this morning Judith Collins managed to condemn Trevor Mallard's behaviour last night as 'vindictive.' It meant he is temperamentally unsuited to his role she said.
Her 2020 public crucifixion (along with Duncan Garner) of Iain Lees-Galloway means she is eminently suited to her role of course. Some roles need people who are nasty, vindictive [deleted sexist remark].
I find it odd that the Law & Order party would side with a sexual harasser. I wonder what their motives are…
Interesting take on a Speaker who uses the cover of Parliamentary privilege to make further allegations against an individual. The same individual he ended up apologising to 18 months after the fact for getting his previous allegations wrong. Surely there are more appropriate bodies such as the Police to deal with such allegations than in the House under privilege.
You mean the allegations that were analogous to accusing someone of murder by firearm when they actually used a knife? Keep it up you tory bastards, theres nothing 'quite like endearing yourself to the public by defending a sexual predator.
Collins and Bishops brains trust of advisors are certainly a few neurons short.
Yes. Wasnt it some years back Helen Clark as PM had to make a payment for someone she said was a murderer, when the conviction was for manslaughter.
'Mr Yelash said he did not have a National Party background, but he hoped that the party would win the next election'
Such a shame isn't it. Mallard has to resort to parliament to make a statement about a serious case of sexual assault against a woman (there were several women who complained in fact) because he knows that should he say it outside of the House, a vindictive opposition leader and her lackeys will gerrymander the ongoing process of justice – all in the name of politicking for personal gain.
And all of it would serve to re-victimise the young women in question, but who cares about them eh David?
Or maybe if he said it outside the House he would once again be exposed as a bully making unsubstantiated claims.
IF sexual assault happened, let the Police investigate and take whatever action is appropriate.
Innocent until proven guilty seems an unfamiliar concept to many on TS. Thankfully the extreme Left will never have power.
Tova O'Brien says something has got to give to take the heat out of the situation.
Unfortunately for the victims it might have to be them presenting evidence, which of course re-victimises them. This would simply be collateral damage in the eyes of the National Party – they do not care about people or who they trample over in their quest for power.
Their exploitation of those women and this situation is disturbing, even for them.
All National are doing is giving the PM the chance to play the adult in the room.
Well that would be a first.
Maybe arresting the guy? Would that take the heat out of the sitch?
Yes. And this is new as far as I'm aware.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Bishop is egging this guy on and deliberately trying to fuel the fire. National has form in this area.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/trevor-mallard-parliament-an-absolute-powder-keg-with-national-to-go-full-throttle-in-bid-to-axe-mallard-o-brien.html
I am not particularly keen on watching people shouting at each other. Was there any naming of; "the Staffer", or is that court-suppressed? It seems they still have their job, so it's hard to see how "Mallard ruined that man's career and his life" (unless Staffer is in past tense).
It sounds like there is an ongoing police investigation (or maybe pending trial?), though I have not seen details of that linked anywhere. I assume the Investigation he referenced last night was the Francis report?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/house-leader-chris-hipkins-to-meet-with-speaker-trevor-mallard-after-parliament-stoush.html
My take on Mallard and Bishop is that National will keep raising Mallard's blunder even though Mallard has faced the legal consequences for getting the terminology wrong.
I do think Mallard can survive this as something has happened. The process for keeping the women safe needs to be put in place according to their employment conditions. This is what National need to be in agreement about and not wanting the scalp of Mallard.
I would leave it to Mallard whether or not he considers his job as speaker to be right for him unless there are parliamentary legal grounds which can terminate his position as speaker.
I think it may be Barry Soper who is "egging this guy on".
I was interested in the comment Mallard made about the former staffer's "ongoing behaviour". This suggests a man who shows no remorse for touching women inappropriately, or groping or whatever it is he's done.
He also doesn't seem to be able to let it go, a bit like Chris Bishop, really.
A sociopath who knows how to play the victim card to the point where the real victims end up being blamed and/or re-victimised. Its been going on since God made little apples and still the fools among us fall for it – and that includes the tabloid media.
The system is set up that a complaint needs to be made for it to be investigated. When it comes to what the police investigate they can only investigate what they are told.
Bishop and Mallard are doing a disservice to the complainants as the way they are going about inappropriate behaviour is not in the interest of the complainants.
It is in the hands of the police to establish if an offence was committed and whether or not it will go to trial.
Barry has his sights on Mallard.
Barry Soper: Trevor Mallard's outburst this week questions whether he understands what a serious sexual assault is – NZ Herald
He has to go. The guy who used parliamentary privlidge to label a hug, a comment and allegedly inappropriate staring as rape and uses parliamentary press and spent hundreds of thousands of tax payers on defending himself can't be speaker during hate speech and sex crimes law reforms which the left don't realize how much political capital they are burning or how much scrutiny the public and media will give these reforms. Jan Logies already being attacked by law organizations left right and center as basically a law that wants to put poor people in jail regardless if they are guilty or not we don't need the speaker who wanted a good sound bite and declared a man a rapist over a hug overseeing the debate.
Trevor should have gone out with the fifth labour govt. What a relic. He's a violent, bullying ,shit kicking mudraking hypocritical dinosaur careerist of fourty years who noone in the party likes he's our gerry brownlee and he's a worse speaker than even Carter but there is literally noone in Labours ranks unfortunately who'd be a great speaker who isn't in cabinet already.
It appears your punctuation is also a casualty of this stoush.
He said he was sorry he called the (alleged, unnamed) sexpest a rapist.
The biggest issue here is the fact that Bishop and Mallard hate each other. I could easily imagine a fist fight on the floor of the house. That would suit Collins because she is all about the vendettas of dirty politics and the distractions of court politics.
The meta issue is the total lack of control by Collins of her caucus. Whenever she is pulled up on the lack of discipline in her MPs she plaintively whines she can't tell them what to do, and boy does that weakness show. Her party is swirling mess of cliques pursuing personal vendettas, paranoid, US inspired conspiracy theories and plotting against each other.
She should shut this whole vendetta against Mallard down, because her party is sailing perilously close to the sort of seditious disloyal opposition territory traversed by Trump's Republican Party.
Unfortunately, you can be sure she’ll only double down and double down again until the National Party are presented with either trying to subvert democracy or look like complete idiots. Either way, the public will punish them for manufacturing such a crisis.
I'm not so sure Collins is the party leader who should be shutting this down. It was good to see the PM has given Mallard a ticking off over this whole episode, but frankly he should have been removed ages ago.
So meta!
Scientific understanding of Covid is still evolving.
Hopefully this leads to more effective therapies and targeted vaccines
This is the latest report from the Salk Institute,
Covid as a vascular disease as opposed to purely respiratory, how this happens ,and goes some way to explain neurological effects
https://www.salk.edu/news-release/the-novel-coronavirus-spike-protein-plays-additional-key-role-in-illness/
Yes. Similar links previously between seasonal influenza and CVD
'Increasing Evidence That Influenza Is a Trigger for Cardiovascular Disease'
I heard Collins pet yap battery, the incoherent Chris Bishop on RNZ this morning and wondered if 7am wasn't just a bit early to already be drinking.
If it helps you make sense of Basher Bish, then drink up.
Starship is still fundraising for some ICU beds. So if anyone has some spare cash behind the sofa cushions please consider to contribute.
• Donations can be made online at http://www.starshipicu.org.nz or by contacting the Starship Foundation directly.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mum-of-sick-2-year-old-writes-open-letter-begging-for-kids-hospital-beds/XOILOB3B6CNET23Q7XFT5ZVZT4/
How many ICU beds does $330,000 of taxpayers money buy?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300292597/government-announces-three-more-years-of-pay-restraint-for-public-servants
What can be justified as an emergency expedient often proves an unmitigated disaster if elevated to an operational principle.
Memo to all staff: Beatings will continue until morale improves.
This is terrible economics. Public sector wage trends influence private sector wage trends. It also signals the return of the 'austerity' narrative which should have died already in 2008 but instead it took till 2020 for NZ to discover it controls its own budget.
The announcement of a pay freeze on public sector employees strikes me as a bad faith move that guarantees increased industrial action and employee turnover in the coming years. Very short sighted and a slap in the face to essential workers who helped guide the country through Covid in the first place.
Ovid agree
Have you forgotten the pay drop some parliamentary people took. 10 and 20%.
Leading by example.
Perhaps that move would be the first step in compressing the pay scale, and to put a pay freeze on everyone is applying equality, and not equity. This is an important point – equality is pie in the sky and that will come down to earth for most things, equity now that is fairness.
Not sure how factual your comment is as it implies that the rate was a permanent reduction, when that is not the case. As it was only a short term guesture for 6 months – their pay has returned to its previous level.
How is screwing the Public sector leading by example when there are sectors just entering into pay rate negotiations ? Not great leadership for fair bargaining ?? I hope that this announcement will also apply to consultants rates as well 🙈
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-mps-pay-cuts-finally-in-effect-after-jacinda-ardern-promised-them-three-months-ago/WDCQYJTS4UOTTA3AXLMKRPHKA4/
[corrected typo in e-mail address]
Especially galling considering $200 million dollars can be found next year for new buildings for our parliamentarians.
Anyone that thinks this will not cost more than $200M, I have a bridge to sell you.
In areas where the government departments compete with private companies to recruit and retain talented people, like IT, where even average people are almost certainly above the $100,000 limit, this is going to be a disaster. The market for IT people picked up significantly the last couple of months and I already declined multiple project offers for the rest of this year.
Means the government departments have to use external consulting companies for the heavy lifting… and pay accordingly!
Keep this in mind when you read – and comment here – about another expensive government IT project.
It won't extend to the ceo class, surely. Just the peasants.
I think I have worked out why the Herald has a column from Richard Prebble. They have comments open on his pieces and they know he is reliably offensive enough to juice their engagement stats for advertisers.
Hardly behaviour befitting a "responsible MSM" outlet, but then the Herald is really just the Daily Mail without the witty bits.
Wonder if ACT , with only one electorate MP but 9 list Mps, is continuing the 'scheme' they used in Prebbles time with all their list Mps having the same address a few blocks from parliament for their 'out of parliament' office ( similar to electorate Mps offices, but in their electorate).
Is there any way of getting the 'office' street address from Parliamentary services of all List Mps- and not PO box either
More from Grant McLaughlin who says the 'out of parliament' offices in Little Pipitea St were bogus as he was a researcher who went there only once even though PS paid them for 32 hours pw 'electorate agent' and only supposed to be 8 hours in the Act Party leaders office. Prebble was leader at the time and John Bishop was his right hand man in leaders office
https://yournz.org/2020/10/02/act-party-taxpayers-union-and-national/
Was that the paper that had the pwitty t.ts?
weka, incognito et al. fyi
"…languages that told a different story were an enemy. Indigenous languages and thought were as much an impediment to land-taking as were the vast herds of buffalo, and so were likewise targeted for extermination.
Linguistic imperialism has always been a tool of colonization, meant to obliterate history and the visibility of the people who were displaced along with their languages."
https://orionmagazine.org/article/speaking-of-nature/
Thanks, Robert. I’ve just been reading an article on Cancel Culture; will read yours tonight, hopefully.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/readingroom/let-us-now-cancel-david-cohen
Punishment for using unacceptable language could be for Maori a sharp slap with a ruler across the knuckles at any age. Now, what parallel; a sharp rejoinder, a stream of invective worse than what was originally said, a punch in the head? Jonathan Pie says that it only needs someones feelings to be hurt to produce a complaint that can be acted upon.
Half way through reading this, so good and sparking so many ideas. Political within the left, and of course the politics of our relationship with place. It’s so clear that the further we are from nature the more imperilled we are, and as Kimmerer and Incognito point to the current battle is over language and power.
Will Rudy Giuliani flip against Trump?
CWouldn't happen to a nicer person.Can anyone with a Horrid subscription tell me what Richard Dribble is going on about here?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/richard-prebble-why-grant-robertson-is-the-worst-finance-minister-since-robert-muldoon/6IPSNCGSMIHSGK7ZUJJY2KKD7Y/
He first big notes on how he "…received this email exchange between a former head of the Treasury and a former Reserve Bank Governor…" (by whom I assume he means his fellow inhabitants of the 1980s political rest home Don Brash and either his brother or his fellow ACT sidekick Graham Scott) where they fret about the decline of hair shirt austerity for other people and balanced budgets for all.
He reveals that he appears to think everyone in Wellington drinks cappuccinos, in what I suspect is a fashion miss-step from the superannuated political far right. I guess when your salad days were inhabited with nothing more threatening than instant all these new fangled styles must be practically indistinguishable.
He then does the usual Rogernomics cultural cringe of quoting some far right Aussie and comparing us with the usual suspects (Venezuela, Nigeria etc although somehow he failed to squeeze in the USSR) .
He then concludes democracy is the same as Muldoonism.
Reading the piece is the literary equivalent of being the rest home worker forced to listen to a couple of nasty old men playing checkers and complaining about everything.
A Parting Shot from Dennis Potter: 1994
When groundbreaking television writer Dennis Potter learned he was dying of cancer, he sat down with Melvyn Bragg for a final interview. The subject of media mogul Rupert Murdoch came up.
The HBO 'dark comedy satirical drama' "Succession" currently screening on NEON is apparently loosely based on the Murdoch family and the background drama over control of the Murdoch empire will be interesting and important the direction of media around the world. Lachlan seems like a chip from the block and James has shown slight signs of social responsibility. Odd are Lachlan will be in control when the time comes.
Thanks for the Dennis Potter clip. It would be worthwhile to get a view of the strange world we are drifting towards to see his Cold Lazarus and Karaoke among any others on Youtube.
There was a story a day or two ago about how the so-called 'investor migrants' were able to continue their migration plans. Five wealthy investors granted border exemptions, then residency | RNZ News
The information is doubtless privileged six ways from Sunday to protect their privacy, but I really hope they are not real estate 'investors', a class that impoverish rather than enriching our country. Being a determination made by MBIE or Immigration, it's safe to assume that any investor will do, however pernicious their activities might be to the greater public. More work for Kris Faafoi I guess.
There are certain investment criteria to fulfil for investor visas:
Not sure if this helps.
It is very useful thank you. I'd be interested to see a value analysis that considered the degree to which NZ benefitted from such arrangements – financial and real estate investment typically do little beyond inflating the chosen sector, though on occasion something like a farm may benefit, in terms of productivity, from a capital injection.
They werent granted border exemptions…because they were wealthy
'INZ general manager for border and visa operations Nicola Hogg said the five approved for residencies – and their 14 associates – had travelled to New Zealand on other critical worker visas before having their applications for residency approved…"
Critical worker visas were generally higher end medical people or public company type CEOs or related to movies and Americas Cup