Sroubek was made liable for deportation by the Minister of Immigration and the case is being appealed somewhere in the judicial system. Deportation is blocked while appeals are pending, so INZ is not legally able to do anything.
Extradition is not an immigration matter – it's not deportation, and it's handled by the justice system.
Here in Rotorua it is a calm blue day. In the garden the chrysanthemums are beautiful, covered in mauve flowers and loved by the bees. The trees in the garden and park view are glorious in reds and golds. It is a cool 13 degrees but will get warmer.
Just thought I'd post something cheerful for a change. Thankful for my lot.
Yes, May can be the loveliest time of the year. Calm, sunny and the beautiful Autumn colours. It lulls us into a sense of contentment and then along comes June, July and August.
Mallards illegal and ridiculous move is going to cost votes, along side Michael Woods disgusting comments about the protesters, a third of whom WERE Labour supporters .. how to blow an election well done guys!
Michael Wood tried to distinguish the individuals concerned from some of the ideologies that animated them – and maybe had even set out to capture them precisely because of their private vulnerabilities. It was the ideas, not the people, that were the river of filth. It's a useful distinction if you want to actually engage with reality, but one too subtle for a moronic age. Wood should have known this and not said it.
Trev is a bit of a goose. No matter how outraged he was by the whole thing, if he had an ounce of political nous he would have never let the ban occur. Ironically, in the case of Matt King and Stephen Franks, because they have always been off in far-right, anti-statist lala land, they did actually belong among the protesters and did deserve to be banned. Peters' actions were much more cynical and politically calculating – and therefore more reprehensible. Mallard should never have walked into such an obvious trap.
Back in the days of the Redalert Labour blog. Had a go at me and my work status in a reply which lead me to believe he had (as an admin) creeped around my deets. He's a bully.
Absolute rubbish AB ..A river of filth a river of violence a river of menace a river of Anti-Semitism A river is Islamaphobia a river of threats to the people who work in this place and our staff and also a river of fascism .. He was indeed talking about people, not ideas. Ideas don't hurt people .. I am going to door knock every house in his electorate and let people know what kind of arsehole represents them close to Election time, he calls himself a conservative christian and by their fruits you shall know them, I will make sure people are aware of his words. You say too subtle for a moronic age, your words betray you to be the moron …
Perhaps we were looking at different things Tony. I took it as self evident that Wood was referring to what these people said and what they did – not to who they intrinsically are. But we will never agree – which is fine by me.
Tony he was referring to online horrible misogynist cruel lies being spread about the P.M. and her partner and others. Just filthy stuff. That is what he meant by "River of filth". Not the people.
Of course this is the correct interpretation Patricia but it does not suit those making the type of comment made by Tony above. Obviously he/they did not read the actual speech or place it in its context.
Patricia Bremner, what horrible misogynist cruel lies about PM and her partner and others are you talking about? I do know there are two sticks of dynamite that are going to explode into the public arena which will destroy any chance of Labour regaining power for at least two election cycles.
Robert Guyton I can't share the substance of the explosive material but I do predict a change of leadership ..
ps Robert do you know Larry Wehner from Barrytown?
Tony – darkly alluding to a "bomb-shell" of national significance then failing to follow-up with any substance whatsoever, is the poorest form imaginable. If you can't "put-up", then …well, you know the rest.
I don't recognise Larry – ought I to know him? I interact with many people and my mind/memory is not a steel-trap! 🙂
That's worse than nothing, Tony – mere speculation at best, dirty politics at worst. It reflects badly on you that you allude to juicy news, but can't and won't deliver. Best you butt out.
Robert Guyton what juicy news and speculation are you talking about? I made a prediction let's wait and see what unfolds. You overstep the mark when you think you can make anyone butt out sorry Robby ..
Doing a Winston Peters? Alluding to sinister goings-on which never eventuated, or is it another crackpot story about Clarke Gayford. Has he kidnapped a couple of young women and got them hidden in a cave? (sarc)
Tony if you really know something, just go to the Police. There have been awful things online and whispered about. However the Police say there is no case for the PM's partner to answer. The things said about the PM and women in the Health Ministry are just vile misogyny.
Store your two sticks of dynamite carefully won't you. It has been known to weep and become gelignite and harms those who handle it.
Patricia Bremner, thank you for your advice, rest easy I am carrying no dynamite on my person, it's information on the ground and the Police are well notified, maybe I could have described it as a ticking time bomb ..
There was nothing in there he should resile from. He spoke about "a river of filth coming from some with threats to kill', islamaphobia and the far right, feeling sad for those mislead by misinformation who were out the front of Parliament, those who have been hurt by decisions which protect the many, (MIQ) and progress with wages for essential workers, and the rail decisions. He expressed full support of and pride in Jacinda Ardern and her clarity of purpose to protect as many as possible.
I think you are a fevered young Nat, believing gossip. You need more than that. You say "The Police are aware" so we will leave it in their hands shall we? As you say, time will tell.
Bearded Git, Bryce seldom mentions the changes made to make Parliament an inclusive work place. A place where MP mothers and fathers could bring their young.
Not to mention companion animals, a children's playground and a rest room and creche. The Speaker was often seen holding babies for busy Mums.
It is easy for Bryce to condemn from his Ivory Tower. I doubt he has had the difficult times this Parliament and the members have, Trevor Mallard has made mistakes in the past, as all people do, but Bryce did not mention his saving graces, just his flaws.
There is a growing narrative which loses the threats and physical verbal visual and spitting assaults by a number of protestors. Bryce calls it "A protest March' when it was a three week occupation loaded with defiance and threats.
Trespassing sympathisers seems a gesture rather than a punishment, and on review withdrawn in several cases.
Those who have been prosecuted for these behaviours were lucky in some cases not to be charged with threatening to kill (7 years ).
It amused me how Winston Peters became "Jacinda Ardern's ex Deputy Prime Minister" as journalists and commentators rushed to defend his right to visit.
Bandwagon Bryce just minimising what he does not want you to reflect on and emphasising what suits his hypothesis.
Those who have been prosecuted for these behaviours were lucky in some cases not to be charged with threatening to kill (7 years ).
Patricia…you didn't respond to my reply to you the other day regarding the largely Labour led protest against the sale of State Assets by the National Government in 2012.
You remember…the one where they carried a mock guillotine through the streets of Auckland and 'beheaded' Key, Collins, Bennett and English with associated mock blood. To cheers from the assembled. And there were children in attendance.
Explain to me please how the two protests differ in their displays of violence and threats?
Bearing in mind that in one of the protest actions the vast majority of people were fearing for the lives and livelihoods of themselves and their loved ones.
Sorry Rosemary I missed that. The skimming skills are fading I think. I also forgot to check the replies.
I was in Australia at the time of that July Bastile Day, visiting my sick brother and my sister-in-law in NSW.
We returned home to my Mother's fall, Billie becoming ill going into hospital and weeks of back and forth to Thames Acute Hospital where she later died. After the funeral we did up and sold her unit, then returned to Rotorua in late November.
That year was a blur, so I did not really remember that Parade. It was tasteless and I think it diminishes both parties. Cheers.
Patricia Bremner, you do not have to reply to Rosemary M's spiteful and distorted missives.
She was referring to the 'Occupy' protests of ten years ago. They set up unlawful campsites in Auckland and were eventually forced to move on. They did not leave anything like the filth and chaos which was left behind at parliament. The link comes from the Daily Blog and not an official news site.
'Occupy" was an international movement which appeared to consist of mostly young students and had nothing to do with the Labour Party.
Patricia…you didn't respond to my reply to you the other day regarding the largely Labour led protest against the sale of State Assets by the National Government in 2012.
What does the former Labour led protest against Assets Sales got to do with the recent infamous protest at parliament?
Then Rosemary says:
“You remember…the one where they carried a mock guillotine through the streets of Auckland and ‘beheaded’ Key, Collins, Bennett and English…”
Was this an attempt to conflate two separate protests, the Occupy movement which was world-wide, and the Labour Party's protest over asset sales in NZ around the same time?
Is this the latest anti-vax movement attack line on Jacinda Ardern and Labour because if so, dirty as…
…the filth and chaos which was left behind at parliament….
Before the Police riot squad showed up that morning the grounds were clean and tidy and ordered. If you watch the footage closely you will see the heavy mob move, move moving the protestors violently away from the grounds. The common garden cops moved in behind and pulled up tents and gazebos and laid waste to what had been built and refined over three weeks of activism. The filth and chaos was created almost entirely by our wonderful police force.
Former parliamentary insiders who risked life and limb by visiting the camp…even if it was done entirely for political mileage…saw for themselves that it was not the den of filth and rage and violence and incoherent hate that the government and mainstream media had portrayed. And oh so many so called Lefties fell for the bullshit.
The link comes from the Daily Blog and not an official news site.
Hmm. I think Bomber might have something to say about that.
So.,are you saying that there was no guillotine and no beheadings? There were no cheers and no fake blood. No children in the crowd?
Protesters vented their anger when the march reached the Town Hall.
Dummies of John Key, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and ministers Paula Bennett and Judith Collins were beheaded by a makeshift guillotine to cries of "off, off, off" from the crowd.
New Zealand gets left off the map lol So does the news. We don't get much news about NZ in Toowoomba. You would think it had sunk into the sea, until Jacinda that is….. Then Aussies made up poems and songs. That is possibly why Scomo feels obliged to slag her off now.
Bearded Git, I am not sure those politicians gave Mana to the protesters. I think people had pretty entrenched ideas about them along a wide spectrum.
I was very against the reason for the protest, as I am pro vax, pro health regulations.
And it was of interest to me to see that the Dunedin Multi Disciplinary study produced good evidence that their study participants who refused and were anti vacination had come from adversive backgrounds and learnt not to trust authority. Very unusually Richie Poultin the Director of the study said it was important to bare this in mind and try not to alienate these people any more than they already feel. This is not a direct quote, as I read this about one month ago.
However, I appreciate you have a different point of view
The protestors seem to have covered a wide spectrum. Along with the ones described in the study, many were "wellbeing" types who believe that yoga coupled with enough green tea will keep Covid at bay. I know this because I live among them at Hawea Flat. They also seem to believe that the whole vaccine thing is a giant drug company rort-there may be a smidgen of truth in this.
But I still say that Hide Fox Peters and King (a group I would not like to meet on a dark night) deserved all they got from Mallard because they should have known better and were using the demo for their own purposes.
This today received after an OIA request about the likely threat from the protestors. Only a small minority deemed a threat (who were anti communist, for Maori Sovereignty, Sovereign Citizen movement, Pike River and anti 3 waters, but my reading these people who were deemed a possible threat were not to do with Covid. So likely people who high jacked or tagged along with the protest for their own causes.
In the meantime, Bearded Git, did you happen to risk watching the 35 minute discussion between UnHerd and Professor Christine Stabell-Benn I posted on Daily Review last night?
Stabell-Benn has her name on over 400 scientific papers to do with Public Health and vaccines. She is an expert in her field.
She has looked at the data and concluded that the risks from the mRNA products outweigh the benefits for most people under the age of fifty. She would not recommend under twenty year olds take the mRNA vaccines.
The risk of cardiovascular harm is too great.
She also notes that the trials of these mRNA products were less than optimal and were unblinded way too soon to be able to comment with any confidence about potential long term harms.
Much of this was being discussed off mainstream media (because any such talk was censored) from the end of 2020…just after Pfizer released what passed in their minds as 'trial results'. Those of us expressing our concerns were labelled anti-vaxxers.
Some of us watched with increasing alarm as the obvious adverse effects were being systematically dismissed and minimised by medical professionals and bureaucrats and politicians alike.
Yet the data speaks for itself…the Pfizer product is not associated with reduced mortality…even though it does reduce serious illness, hospitalisation and death from Covid in some people.
The vast majority of those who assembled in Wellington to exercise their right to speak directly with those making laws (supposedly) on their behalf were concerned that the risks of this hurried pharmaceutical outweighed the benefits and that people were being harmed by it and were being killed by it.
That such a product could be mandated for 40% plus of all workers is an outrage, and good citizenship demanded that we did all we possibly and non violently could to get the lawmakers to see reason.
Now. You can carry on cheering Mallard for his contemptuous treatment of rightfully concerned citizens and you can continue to believe that the Pfizer product is so safe and effective for all… that those who decline it are nutbars and those who took it and claim it harmed them are deluded….or you can expand your mind and listen to this expert.
"Stabell-Benn is keen to stress that the sample is relatively small and is calling for further investigation, and also that the study took place during very low levels of Covid, so the relative advantage of protection against Covid would have been smaller at that time compared to at other points in the pandemic."
It is widely accepted, including by Stabell-Benn, that the covid vaccines are reducing Covid symptoms and hospitalisations. Most experts also say it reduces death and this would appear to be the case given the massive fall in deaths in the USA, UK and other western nations since vaccination became widespread.
I accept that the data is still in the pipeline on much of this.
You could easily say the same thing of media coverage of the protestors. Should journalists be trespassed from Parliament as well? I can't stand Matt King, but it's utterly absurd and anti-democratic to trespass a sitting MP from Parliament.
The Speaker carries the can for the trespass notices since he's in charge, but they were issued by others under delegated authority, not by the Speaker himself.
Seems pretty clear that he didn't agree with all of them because he revoked the notices for the former MPs once they were drawn to his attention.
I can't imagine a minister or CE issuing trespass notices for a government department themselves rather than delegating authority to do that to others, why would anyone expect the Speaker to? Some nous on the part of the staff who issued the notices might have been useful by way of informing the Speaker of at least the former MPs, but Parliament has provided the Speaker with the power to delegate authority to staff, presumably with the expectation that the Speaker would use that power.
The authority of the ‘Crown’ is now derived from the people of New Zealand, both Māori and Pākehā as well as members of other ethnic groups who live here, because in a democracy the people are the ultimate source of sovereignty.
His thesis is that interpretation has produced two claims – one based on sovereignty, the other on racial partnership.
In a liberal democracy, governing authority is ultimately derived from the people, power to decide is widely devolved, and rights of individuals and groups to govern themselves are recognised and enabled. Concerns about ‘the tyranny of the majority’ expressed by Māori are themselves derived from liberalism, the principles of which are well able to support the protection of group rights. Under the recognition of rangatiratanga Te Tiriti does give a special status to iwi, hapū, and other Māori authorities. That status should rightly receive explicit acknowledgment as New Zealand’s constitution evolves. Understood in this way, the text of Te Tiriti provides us with much more to work with than the vague and widely misunderstood concept of partnership.
Anne Salmond has been pointing out that Western dualism has influenced all aspects and interpretations, even by Māori, of ToW since it has been signed. She has warned and argued about this too. This Western PoV is now the dominating view, bordering on dogma, in all debate, policy making, and government (local as well as central) decision-making. The more contemporary ‘partnership’ interpretation inevitably leads to bi-culturalism and binary exclusion of other groups & cultures. She also has interesting things to say about the off-spring ‘co-governance’. Of all the views and interpretations that I have seen over the years – admittedly not that many – my views align most with hers.
Mine too. However it's a multidimensional situation, with plenty of nuances. I think Jack is onto something (even though he's using dualism) with his separating out of the sovereignty dimension & the partnership dimension.
I like that he anchors sovereignty in a contemporary sense, as deriving from the people collectively. Constitutional lawyers would have a bias against that I expect, since in law precedent rules and tradition prevails. Politically, I prefer the progressive option – it points to the future, allows shifting of views & evolution in the body politic. Which is where co-governance comes in, of course (as a principle only, at this stage)…
I also see the situation as part ethos, part ideology. I favour the ethos of partnership but suspect encoding it via ideology into law won't get traction. You could frame this ambivalence as heart vs head or feelings vs thoughts and I'd have no objection. Probably true for me – and plenty of other folk if not most.
Funding food banks is something governments have traditionally resisted, presumably to avoid accusations of attempting to replace rights-based welfare with private charity.
It seems government doesn't care about that now. Is this an admission that our welfare system is broken? Government has already passed responsibility for administering benefits for young people over to community groups. Now they're funding food banks.
Getting the basics so wrong like this just makes it easier for the next thing to slip by.
National and their media lapdogs are attacking the speaker. The instrument and the process of democracy. Apparently I’m not allowed to even in imagination wish you to gain empathy for what those working at parliament experienced (signs calling for their death, a destructive mob without qualms about violence intruding into their workplace) before calling the reaction petty. It’s not something most of us would be allowed to experience at work because we would be protected from such a thing.
And for the guy who allowed ‘we don’t have a measure for poverty’, the guy who is running to be National party president to be presented as some impartial commentator on the matter is very poor.
But hey- attack the legitimacy of the system. It’s just taken a while for it to get a foothold here.
The stunning hypocrisy of the law and order crowd is sadly in line with the foreign playbook we’d avoided for such a long time.
Here’s what I posted in the other thread:
I don’t wish to link to any of his ‘democracy’ if it involves supporting, however indirectly, a violent protest. The attack on the system, on the speaker of the house is very poor. And if we were in many other countries if a mob camped in parliament and behaved as they did…
I would suggest that Mr Edwards should put himself in the shoes of those who were considered fair game, not whatever he considers petty. Or whatever the talking point is he is spouting.
To be honest Peters deserved to trespassed as did everyone partaking in a protest that had been trespassed and ordered to leave by police. At that point you’re breaking the law.
However it’s such bad and dumb coms to give Peter oxygen like that Peters has now been on tv for days lapping up the attention and being seen as a figure for the freeDUMB. This is a man who got back into parliament just cos of a conversation at a coffee shop between the PM and an act candidate. Dumb move from the speaker.
Is also weird how noone reminds Peters he was a part of the govt he venomously spreads rumours about like the media rescue package which he was in cabinet when it was signed off on to give media funds via govt advertising , he calls it a scam but he signed off on it and noone says boo. Crazy.
The man has never made a wrong decision in his life according to him. Ever . He's always right. He never takes responsibility for his actions ever, and his sad pathetic desperation to get back in parliament at all costs instead of going out with dignity is just sad.
All that said. It's time for the speaker to move on. Everyone hates him. Not just cos of the mistakes since 2019 but also cos Noones ever really liked Trevor Mallard to begin with… Only the most one eyed labour supporter would be ready to die in a ditch over defending Mallard.
Besides speakers don't stick around for that long usually. Give him a nice ambassador role somewhere (same with a few sitting ministers) and have a nice cabinet reshuffle and govt reset.
Chris @ 6, If there is a ready charity infrastructure avenue, wouldn't that be useful while further work is done in a Pandemic…. which is not over, going by the figures presented daily.
The increase in benefits and lifting of ceilings plus additional allowances, the implementation of recommendations of the working groups all point to improvements made.
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Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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NZ Immigration has been a soft touch for too long imo.
These two need to be extradited…
'Sroubek told the Parole Board he still feared for his safety if he was deported to his country of birth, where he claims he witnessed a murder.'
'Justice Minister called 'callous' for not yet answering suspect's plea to be spared extradition to China | Stuff.co.nz
I believe the U.S.A and Singapore have death penalties.
Sroubek was made liable for deportation by the Minister of Immigration and the case is being appealed somewhere in the judicial system. Deportation is blocked while appeals are pending, so INZ is not legally able to do anything.
Extradition is not an immigration matter – it's not deportation, and it's handled by the justice system.
Here in Rotorua it is a calm blue day. In the garden the chrysanthemums are beautiful, covered in mauve flowers and loved by the bees. The trees in the garden and park view are glorious in reds and golds. It is a cool 13 degrees but will get warmer.
Just thought I'd post something cheerful for a change. Thankful for my lot.
Yes, May can be the loveliest time of the year. Calm, sunny and the beautiful Autumn colours. It lulls us into a sense of contentment and then along comes June, July and August.
… and September with its unrelenting rain over the past few years.
+1000
I am almost reluctant to post it after Patricia’s post about her garden! Good to be grateful for what we have.
I agree with Bryce that Mallards call was either petty or poor judgement, probably both.
Tangata Whenua, (Winston’s) being blocked from parliament! Where’s Willie Jackson when you need him.
This is what I posted yesterday on TS Anker, and I stand by it:
I'm with Mallard. That nasty bunch-Hide, Fox, Peters and King-gave succor and mana to that illegal and vicious protest outside parliament.
2 years isn't long enough.
Bryce Edwards invariably takes the populist (usually right-leaning) point of view-he is not a thinker like Chris Trotter etc.
Mallards illegal and ridiculous move is going to cost votes, along side Michael Woods disgusting comments about the protesters, a third of whom WERE Labour supporters .. how to blow an election well done guys!
Michael Wood tried to distinguish the individuals concerned from some of the ideologies that animated them – and maybe had even set out to capture them precisely because of their private vulnerabilities. It was the ideas, not the people, that were the river of filth. It's a useful distinction if you want to actually engage with reality, but one too subtle for a moronic age. Wood should have known this and not said it.
Trev is a bit of a goose. No matter how outraged he was by the whole thing, if he had an ounce of political nous he would have never let the ban occur. Ironically, in the case of Matt King and Stephen Franks, because they have always been off in far-right, anti-statist lala land, they did actually belong among the protesters and did deserve to be banned. Peters' actions were much more cynical and politically calculating – and therefore more reprehensible. Mallard should never have walked into such an obvious trap.
Mallard should never have walked into such an obvious trap.
He should look where he's going. Open season on mallards the day after tomorrow! Says so here:
https://fishandgame.org.nz/game-bird-hunting-in-new-zealand/game-season/game-bird-season-and-bag-limit/
His survival may depend on taking a sudden holiday in Hawaii. Or Timbuktu.
From your link: "Today there are about 4.5 million mallards, so many that they are sometimes a nuisance…" Yep.
He will holiday in Washington or London as ambassador cos jacinda loves him. I hate him. He was mean to me. Stopped voting labour cos of him.
How was he mean to you?
Back in the days of the Redalert Labour blog. Had a go at me and my work status in a reply which lead me to believe he had (as an admin) creeped around my deets. He's a bully.
Thanks for your reply. Wow not good. I can understand you'd be upset.
Absolute rubbish AB ..A river of filth a river of violence a river of menace a river of Anti-Semitism A river is Islamaphobia a river of threats to the people who work in this place and our staff and also a river of fascism .. He was indeed talking about people, not ideas. Ideas don't hurt people .. I am going to door knock every house in his electorate and let people know what kind of arsehole represents them close to Election time, he calls himself a conservative christian and by their fruits you shall know them, I will make sure people are aware of his words. You say too subtle for a moronic age, your words betray you to be the moron …
Perhaps we were looking at different things Tony. I took it as self evident that Wood was referring to what these people said and what they did – not to who they intrinsically are. But we will never agree – which is fine by me.
AB, what we say and do is who we are .. get it? He was referring to Human beings not ideas, self evident indeed!
Tony he was referring to online horrible misogynist cruel lies being spread about the P.M. and her partner and others. Just filthy stuff. That is what he meant by "River of filth". Not the people.
Of course this is the correct interpretation Patricia but it does not suit those making the type of comment made by Tony above. Obviously he/they did not read the actual speech or place it in its context.
Shanreagh, show me in the speech where he says he is talking about ideas? He is an ugly person and needs to be held to account for such words ..
I read and watched the whole speech it was vile ..
Patricia Bremner, what horrible misogynist cruel lies about PM and her partner and others are you talking about? I do know there are two sticks of dynamite that are going to explode into the public arena which will destroy any chance of Labour regaining power for at least two election cycles.
Two sticks?
Do tell, Tony!
Unless you … can't.
Robert Guyton I can't share the substance of the explosive material but I do predict a change of leadership ..
ps Robert do you know Larry Wehner from Barrytown?
Tony – darkly alluding to a "bomb-shell" of national significance then failing to follow-up with any substance whatsoever, is the poorest form imaginable. If you can't "put-up", then …well, you know the rest.
I don't recognise Larry – ought I to know him? I interact with many people and my mind/memory is not a steel-trap! 🙂
Robert Guyton, I have given you the outcome before the bomb has exploded, is that nothing? A change of leadership no less ..
That's worse than nothing, Tony – mere speculation at best, dirty politics at worst. It reflects badly on you that you allude to juicy news, but can't and won't deliver. Best you butt out.
Robert Guyton what juicy news and speculation are you talking about? I made a prediction let's wait and see what unfolds. You overstep the mark when you think you can make anyone butt out sorry Robby ..
I predict – a damp squib for Tony.
Looks like, walks like, smells like dirty politics.
Doing a Winston Peters? Alluding to sinister goings-on which never eventuated, or is it another crackpot story about Clarke Gayford. Has he kidnapped a couple of young women and got them hidden in a cave? (sarc)
Tony if you really know something, just go to the Police. There have been awful things online and whispered about. However the Police say there is no case for the PM's partner to answer. The things said about the PM and women in the Health Ministry are just vile misogyny.
Store your two sticks of dynamite carefully won't you. It has been known to weep and become gelignite and harms those who handle it.
Patricia Bremner, thank you for your advice, rest easy I am carrying no dynamite on my person, it's information on the ground and the Police are well notified, maybe I could have described it as a ticking time bomb ..
Tony, I watched Michael Woods' speech.
There was nothing in there he should resile from. He spoke about "a river of filth coming from some with threats to kill', islamaphobia and the far right, feeling sad for those mislead by misinformation who were out the front of Parliament, those who have been hurt by decisions which protect the many, (MIQ) and progress with wages for essential workers, and the rail decisions. He expressed full support of and pride in Jacinda Ardern and her clarity of purpose to protect as many as possible.
I think you are a fevered young Nat, believing gossip. You need more than that. You say "The Police are aware" so we will leave it in their hands shall we? As you say, time will tell.
A third, you say? So a far lower ratio than that which actually ticked Labour last election.
Makes sense.
Yes, Edwards is certainly not a thinker.
Bearded Git, Bryce seldom mentions the changes made to make Parliament an inclusive work place. A place where MP mothers and fathers could bring their young.
Not to mention companion animals, a children's playground and a rest room and creche. The Speaker was often seen holding babies for busy Mums.
It is easy for Bryce to condemn from his Ivory Tower. I doubt he has had the difficult times this Parliament and the members have, Trevor Mallard has made mistakes in the past, as all people do, but Bryce did not mention his saving graces, just his flaws.
There is a growing narrative which loses the threats and physical verbal visual and spitting assaults by a number of protestors. Bryce calls it "A protest March' when it was a three week occupation loaded with defiance and threats.
Trespassing sympathisers seems a gesture rather than a punishment, and on review withdrawn in several cases.
Those who have been prosecuted for these behaviours were lucky in some cases not to be charged with threatening to kill (7 years ).
It amused me how Winston Peters became "Jacinda Ardern's ex Deputy Prime Minister" as journalists and commentators rushed to defend his right to visit.
Bandwagon Bryce just minimising what he does not want you to reflect on and emphasising what suits his hypothesis.
"Bandwagon Bryce"….excellent That sums him up nicely.
Those who have been prosecuted for these behaviours were lucky in some cases not to be charged with threatening to kill (7 years ).
Patricia…you didn't respond to my reply to you the other day regarding the largely Labour led protest against the sale of State Assets by the National Government in 2012.
You remember…the one where they carried a mock guillotine through the streets of Auckland and 'beheaded' Key, Collins, Bennett and English with associated mock blood. To cheers from the assembled. And there were children in attendance.
Explain to me please how the two protests differ in their displays of violence and threats?
Bearing in mind that in one of the protest actions the vast majority of people were fearing for the lives and livelihoods of themselves and their loved ones.
Sorry Rosemary I missed that. The skimming skills are fading I think. I also forgot to check the replies.
I was in Australia at the time of that July Bastile Day, visiting my sick brother and my sister-in-law in NSW.
We returned home to my Mother's fall, Billie becoming ill going into hospital and weeks of back and forth to Thames Acute Hospital where she later died. After the funeral we did up and sold her unit, then returned to Rotorua in late November.
That year was a blur, so I did not really remember that Parade. It was tasteless and I think it diminishes both parties. Cheers.
Patricia Bremner, you do not have to reply to Rosemary M's spiteful and distorted missives.
She was referring to the 'Occupy' protests of ten years ago. They set up unlawful campsites in Auckland and were eventually forced to move on. They did not leave anything like the filth and chaos which was left behind at parliament. The link comes from the Daily Blog and not an official news site.
'Occupy" was an international movement which appeared to consist of mostly young students and had nothing to do with the Labour Party.
Rosemary said:
What does the former Labour led protest against Assets Sales got to do with the recent infamous protest at parliament?
Was this an attempt to conflate two separate protests, the Occupy movement which was world-wide, and the Labour Party's protest over asset sales in NZ around the same time?
Is this the latest anti-vax movement attack line on Jacinda Ardern and Labour because if so, dirty as…
…the filth and chaos which was left behind at parliament….
Before the Police riot squad showed up that morning the grounds were clean and tidy and ordered. If you watch the footage closely you will see the heavy mob move, move moving the protestors violently away from the grounds. The common garden cops moved in behind and pulled up tents and gazebos and laid waste to what had been built and refined over three weeks of activism. The filth and chaos was created almost entirely by our wonderful police force.
Former parliamentary insiders who risked life and limb by visiting the camp…even if it was done entirely for political mileage…saw for themselves that it was not the den of filth and rage and violence and incoherent hate that the government and mainstream media had portrayed. And oh so many so called Lefties fell for the bullshit.
The link comes from the Daily Blog and not an official news site.
Hmm. I think Bomber might have something to say about that.
So.,are you saying that there was no guillotine and no beheadings? There were no cheers and no fake blood. No children in the crowd?
Will Scoop do? https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1207/S00070/asset-sales-march-in-auckland-ends-in-beheading.htm?from-mobile=bottom-link-01
From ANFS itself? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2uCXIv9jOs
From the Herald? https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/asset-sales-threat-stirs-first-time-protester/EPJRFVXTSLWODLRZIWYNVTD4XI/
Protesters vented their anger when the march reached the Town Hall.
Dummies of John Key, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and ministers Paula Bennett and Judith Collins were beheaded by a makeshift guillotine to cries of "off, off, off" from the crowd.
New Zealand gets left off the map lol So does the news. We don't get much news about NZ in Toowoomba. You would think it had sunk into the sea, until Jacinda that is….. Then Aussies made up poems and songs. That is possibly why Scomo feels obliged to slag her off now.
Bearded Git, I am not sure those politicians gave Mana to the protesters. I think people had pretty entrenched ideas about them along a wide spectrum.
I was very against the reason for the protest, as I am pro vax, pro health regulations.
And it was of interest to me to see that the Dunedin Multi Disciplinary study produced good evidence that their study participants who refused and were anti vacination had come from adversive backgrounds and learnt not to trust authority. Very unusually Richie Poultin the Director of the study said it was important to bare this in mind and try not to alienate these people any more than they already feel. This is not a direct quote, as I read this about one month ago.
However, I appreciate you have a different point of view
Anker-that study is interesting; thank you.
The protestors seem to have covered a wide spectrum. Along with the ones described in the study, many were "wellbeing" types who believe that yoga coupled with enough green tea will keep Covid at bay. I know this because I live among them at Hawea Flat. They also seem to believe that the whole vaccine thing is a giant drug company rort-there may be a smidgen of truth in this.
But I still say that Hide Fox Peters and King (a group I would not like to meet on a dark night) deserved all they got from Mallard because they should have known better and were using the demo for their own purposes.
(I am triple vaxxed BTW)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/128528607/small-minority-of-parliament-protesters-likely-to-carry-out-extremist-violence-intelligence-agencies-warned
This today received after an OIA request about the likely threat from the protestors. Only a small minority deemed a threat (who were anti communist, for Maori Sovereignty, Sovereign Citizen movement, Pike River and anti 3 waters, but my reading these people who were deemed a possible threat were not to do with Covid. So likely people who high jacked or tagged along with the protest for their own causes.
Bearded Git, I am triple vacinated, masked up and leading a very low key life in terms of contact with others.
In the meantime, Bearded Git, did you happen to risk watching the 35 minute discussion between UnHerd and Professor Christine Stabell-Benn I posted on Daily Review last night?
Stabell-Benn has her name on over 400 scientific papers to do with Public Health and vaccines. She is an expert in her field.
She has looked at the data and concluded that the risks from the mRNA products outweigh the benefits for most people under the age of fifty. She would not recommend under twenty year olds take the mRNA vaccines.
The risk of cardiovascular harm is too great.
She also notes that the trials of these mRNA products were less than optimal and were unblinded way too soon to be able to comment with any confidence about potential long term harms.
Much of this was being discussed off mainstream media (because any such talk was censored) from the end of 2020…just after Pfizer released what passed in their minds as 'trial results'. Those of us expressing our concerns were labelled anti-vaxxers.
Some of us watched with increasing alarm as the obvious adverse effects were being systematically dismissed and minimised by medical professionals and bureaucrats and politicians alike.
Yet the data speaks for itself…the Pfizer product is not associated with reduced mortality…even though it does reduce serious illness, hospitalisation and death from Covid in some people.
The vast majority of those who assembled in Wellington to exercise their right to speak directly with those making laws (supposedly) on their behalf were concerned that the risks of this hurried pharmaceutical outweighed the benefits and that people were being harmed by it and were being killed by it.
That such a product could be mandated for 40% plus of all workers is an outrage, and good citizenship demanded that we did all we possibly and non violently could to get the lawmakers to see reason.
Now. You can carry on cheering Mallard for his contemptuous treatment of rightfully concerned citizens and you can continue to believe that the Pfizer product is so safe and effective for all… that those who decline it are nutbars and those who took it and claim it harmed them are deluded….or you can expand your mind and listen to this expert.
Rosemary-did you read this?
"Stabell-Benn is keen to stress that the sample is relatively small and is calling for further investigation, and also that the study took place during very low levels of Covid, so the relative advantage of protection against Covid would have been smaller at that time compared to at other points in the pandemic."
It is widely accepted, including by Stabell-Benn, that the covid vaccines are reducing Covid symptoms and hospitalisations. Most experts also say it reduces death and this would appear to be the case given the massive fall in deaths in the USA, UK and other western nations since vaccination became widespread.
I accept that the data is still in the pipeline on much of this.
You could easily say the same thing of media coverage of the protestors. Should journalists be trespassed from Parliament as well? I can't stand Matt King, but it's utterly absurd and anti-democratic to trespass a sitting MP from Parliament.
Populuxe 1 Matt King is a former MP. Not currently in Parliament.
Oops, I retract then.
All good. 9Personally in this case I think Trevor Mallard over reached and has tried to recover.)
Cheers
Hang them Gilead style from the charred kids playground is what I say. (Just to be clear I am joking here)
The Speaker carries the can for the trespass notices since he's in charge, but they were issued by others under delegated authority, not by the Speaker himself.
Seems pretty clear that he didn't agree with all of them because he revoked the notices for the former MPs once they were drawn to his attention.
I can't imagine a minister or CE issuing trespass notices for a government department themselves rather than delegating authority to do that to others, why would anyone expect the Speaker to? Some nous on the part of the staff who issued the notices might have been useful by way of informing the Speaker of at least the former MPs, but Parliament has provided the Speaker with the power to delegate authority to staff, presumably with the expectation that the Speaker would use that power.
Professor Jack Vowles has appraised our demos:
His thesis is that interpretation has produced two claims – one based on sovereignty, the other on racial partnership.
Can biculturalism be made definitive in a multicultural society? I doubt it.
Anne Salmond has been pointing out that Western dualism has influenced all aspects and interpretations, even by Māori, of ToW since it has been signed. She has warned and argued about this too. This Western PoV is now the dominating view, bordering on dogma, in all debate, policy making, and government (local as well as central) decision-making. The more contemporary ‘partnership’ interpretation inevitably leads to bi-culturalism and binary exclusion of other groups & cultures. She also has interesting things to say about the off-spring ‘co-governance’. Of all the views and interpretations that I have seen over the years – admittedly not that many – my views align most with hers.
my views align most with hers
Mine too. However it's a multidimensional situation, with plenty of nuances. I think Jack is onto something (even though he's using dualism) with his separating out of the sovereignty dimension & the partnership dimension.
I like that he anchors sovereignty in a contemporary sense, as deriving from the people collectively. Constitutional lawyers would have a bias against that I expect, since in law precedent rules and tradition prevails. Politically, I prefer the progressive option – it points to the future, allows shifting of views & evolution in the body politic. Which is where co-governance comes in, of course (as a principle only, at this stage)…
I also see the situation as part ethos, part ideology. I favour the ethos of partnership but suspect encoding it via ideology into law won't get traction. You could frame this ambivalence as heart vs head or feelings vs thoughts and I'd have no objection. Probably true for me – and plenty of other folk if not most.
It has happened already Frank, in language customs and education. Now it will be Health.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300580751/covid19-nz-government-widens-homebased-care-with-58m-of-funding-for-food-banks-and-social-workers
Funding food banks is something governments have traditionally resisted, presumably to avoid accusations of attempting to replace rights-based welfare with private charity.
It seems government doesn't care about that now. Is this an admission that our welfare system is broken? Government has already passed responsibility for administering benefits for young people over to community groups. Now they're funding food banks.
Getting the basics so wrong like this just makes it easier for the next thing to slip by.
Soon we'll all be back in the poor houses.
National and their media lapdogs are attacking the speaker. The instrument and the process of democracy. Apparently I’m not allowed to even in imagination wish you to gain empathy for what those working at parliament experienced (signs calling for their death, a destructive mob without qualms about violence intruding into their workplace) before calling the reaction petty. It’s not something most of us would be allowed to experience at work because we would be protected from such a thing.
And for the guy who allowed ‘we don’t have a measure for poverty’, the guy who is running to be National party president to be presented as some impartial commentator on the matter is very poor.
But hey- attack the legitimacy of the system. It’s just taken a while for it to get a foothold here.
The stunning hypocrisy of the law and order crowd is sadly in line with the foreign playbook we’d avoided for such a long time.
Here’s what I posted in the other thread:
I don’t wish to link to any of his ‘democracy’ if it involves supporting, however indirectly, a violent protest. The attack on the system, on the speaker of the house is very poor. And if we were in many other countries if a mob camped in parliament and behaved as they did…
I would suggest that Mr Edwards should put himself in the shoes of those who were considered fair game, not whatever he considers petty. Or whatever the talking point is he is spouting.
To be honest Peters deserved to trespassed as did everyone partaking in a protest that had been trespassed and ordered to leave by police. At that point you’re breaking the law.
However it’s such bad and dumb coms to give Peter oxygen like that Peters has now been on tv for days lapping up the attention and being seen as a figure for the freeDUMB. This is a man who got back into parliament just cos of a conversation at a coffee shop between the PM and an act candidate. Dumb move from the speaker.
Is also weird how noone reminds Peters he was a part of the govt he venomously spreads rumours about like the media rescue package which he was in cabinet when it was signed off on to give media funds via govt advertising , he calls it a scam but he signed off on it and noone says boo. Crazy.
The man has never made a wrong decision in his life according to him. Ever . He's always right. He never takes responsibility for his actions ever, and his sad pathetic desperation to get back in parliament at all costs instead of going out with dignity is just sad.
All that said. It's time for the speaker to move on. Everyone hates him. Not just cos of the mistakes since 2019 but also cos Noones ever really liked Trevor Mallard to begin with… Only the most one eyed labour supporter would be ready to die in a ditch over defending Mallard.
Besides speakers don't stick around for that long usually. Give him a nice ambassador role somewhere (same with a few sitting ministers) and have a nice cabinet reshuffle and govt reset.
Chris @ 6, If there is a ready charity infrastructure avenue, wouldn't that be useful while further work is done in a Pandemic…. which is not over, going by the figures presented daily.
The increase in benefits and lifting of ceilings plus additional allowances, the implementation of recommendations of the working groups all point to improvements made.
Maybe the PM should just chug down the dead rat.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/mike-hosking-surges-to-all-time-ratings-record-as-nzme-stations-reach-more-than-2-million-across-network/TDZD67BLCJYE3VBCS5P3LJTT6M/
An example of how to cut off your nose to spite your face
The nose is not the body-part I associate with Hosking.
He has a very …'brown' nose ,when it comes to privelege…and power.
I thought Tova over on the other station was going to make an impact on his ratings, but I didn't think she would increase his listeners!
Jimmy, I bet you love granny herald .
Nah, bloody hate it. Too left wing for me.
Best joke of the week Jimmy!!!! The Herald Left Wing??? I have a bridge to sell you.