With the election silly season fast approaching I feel tempted to make some predictions/observations (yes, just my ‘reckons.’)
First, Chippy will take Labour to north of 35% and could even be touching 40%. Chippy is very relatable, and a consummate politician; he will slaughter Luxon in any televised leaders debate.
Expect Seymour to agitate for a wider leaders panel than just Labour and National, in an effort to shore up support for the right.
Luxon was an a-licker as he rose through the corporate business ranks and surrounded himself with a-lickers as a CEO. He’s not used to people questioning him (and it shows) and he’s politically shallow – a repeater of meaningless slogans and empty catch-phrases. He will be hopelessly outclassed in any debates.
National will barely make 30% under Luxon (but could touch 33% under Willis) and the greater % Act achieves, the lesser the Natz will get.
Willis would be a disaster for NZ (another Ruth Richardson). She has zero sympathy for bottom feeders (about the only thing she agrees with her CEO on); her ‘hard-working taxpayers’ are her own upper middle class, whose concern about the cost of living crisis is whether they can only afford the Gold Coast rather than the Turkish Riviera for their second overseas trip this year.
Seymour is going to be a very busy boy this election cycle. The Act party lacks even a modicum of talent outside Seymour and perhaps van Velden; to be fair, Seymour has held the party together silently and tightly these last few years, but he must be terrified one of his largely anonymous MPs will say or do something outrageous. Particularly the NRA gun-nut lady.
Act could very possibly reach 15%, but that’s about their limit, unless they start robbing the Natz of votes. If Act reach 20% the Natz will plummet to a record low (even lower than Bill English managed).
The Greens will achieve their customary 10% and could/will do much better, maybe north of 15% (at Labour’s expense). Most thinking people recognise the Greens as the party of environmental and social change, and with climate change biting us on the bum big time, most realise that the only way we may be able to get through the crisis is with a strong, well-resourced and interventionist government.
A party [Natz] that promises to make the wealthy more wealthy, the bottom-feeders more desperate, to flood the country with cheap labour, to hock off parts of the health and education systems and service industries so their mates can make a quick bob or two (ref. water services in England) is so very very out of touch.
Te Paarti Maori could/will be the dark horse of this election. If they can marshal their voting base to secure four or five seats, while I don’t believe they’ll hold the balance of power, they could, with the Greens, force Labour to the left.
A lot depends on the Labour tax policy. If it is progressive it may take some of the support the Greens will enjoy, but I’m not holding my breath!
This election really is a ‘me’ vs ‘we’ election; with the boomers staging their last stand (a bit like General Gordon at Khartoum in 1883; the defence lasted a long time, but failed in the end), the voting momentum has swung to the younger generations, and if they turn out to vote in numbers, we shall have a third term Labour government with the Greens and TPM achieving some spectacular concessions!
The politcal polls are close to junk esp re minor parties now at least part of the panel is self selecting. There has been a pretty concerted effort to sign up to the panels with a view to essentially trolling / manipulating the polling companies. Eminates from a couple reddit subs.
Well done Tony. Of course Nat/Act won't be interested in the poorer people or their vote and therefore their message is for the rich and the would/be rich.
Wonder why the very rich are investing big money in Nat/Act?
“. Most thinking people recognise the Greens as the party of environmental…”- pity that impression is very misplaced – whist their constitution places this prominently they continue to select list candidates that on their bios make little or no mention. Action speaks louder than hollow words !!!I commented this when their list at the last election came out and of those that were to make parliament based on the polls at the time only 2 made any environmental claims !!I bet only a few older supporters would know anything about “ban the dam” song or its history! Time to call the greens out I am sorry they are not the environmental party of the 1990’s but still trade on that. And for your climate change any party that believes that we can buy Carbon credits form overseas to cover for our failure to meet international commitments, by action IMO displays that they do not take this seriously.
Get personal instead of addressing any issues raised – Typical. And the world continues to get hotter and we are let down by a lack lustre Green Party and supporters who accept blindly.
as I said the Green party today and an inferior image of what was. And as an aside do you know with searching the environmental history of this country and John Hanlon’s song ??
perhaps you need to educate yourself ??🤫 thinking you are not.
Tony has made some nice points here. To respond to just two…Act MP Nicole McKee of COLFO (NZ Council of Licensed Firearms Owners) fame downplayed her “love is a warm gun” views since becoming an MP. COLFO did have links to the American NRA via International Sports Shooting organisations, but the references were deleted from their online presence. COLFO makes out it is a grassroots outfit but in reality more represents the gun industry and lobby.
Get ’em enrolled, get ’em on the Māori roll, and importantly–get ’em voting! At Kaitaia market every Sat an Electoral Commission stand has been doing good business. The guy in charge has full moko and has been around a bit.
Some of my reckons are…the generational voter shift is starting to become evident, though it will likely be 2026 before it fully impacts.
The rise of Act in parliamentary politics was initiated by the Natzos Epsom deal, without that life support they would have been out of Parliament years ago. ACT is AO/NZ’s MAGA in many ways and their policy if ever allowed, would swing a wrecking ball through Te Tiriti, Fair Pay Agreements, and hundreds of other incremental reforms achieved in the last few years.
The primary task is to keep Natzo/Act preferably well away, or even a seat away if it comes down to it, from political office on October 14.
Bartholomew Frintin Smurth, Humphrey Wigbert Porter. and Quinton Breckenridge have been suspended by the Marylebone Cricket Club because of frightfully bad behaviour over Australia cheating at cricket.
You won't believe it, but the education establishment is actually doing something clever! Naturally, teachers are freaking out in response:
Science teachers are shocked that an advance version of the draft school science curriculum contains no mention of physics, chemistry or biology.
The so-called "fast draft" said science would be taught through four contexts – the Earth system, biodiversity, food, energy and water, and infectious diseases. It was sent to just a few teachers for their feedback ahead of its release for consultation next month, but some were so worried by the content they leaked it to their peers.
Teachers who had seen the document told RNZ they had grave concerns about it. It was embarrassing, and would lead to "appalling" declines in student achievement, they said.
Teachers predicting the future. Fearfully so. You can see the tacit assumption operating: we must do as we've always done, and pretend that global disaster isn't happening.
Dunno who we ought to credit for steering education towards survival and resilience. Run it by any youngsters you know, see if they like the idea of learning how to survive.
"What we are pushing towards with the current fast draft is more of a holistic approach to how the different science concepts interact with each other rather than a purist, siloed approach."
Nat/Lab voters will be bamboozled by this. They are congenitally unable to think in such a sophisticated manner. Silos forever!
The Ministry of Education said it was still finalising the draft document. "We are currently in the process of completing the draft science content based on feedback from fast testing, as well as being guided by national and international research such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). We will then go out for wider sector and public feedback from August to late October this year, with a full draft, and sufficient time for people to give us feedback," it said.
Actually being wholistic about science is a good idea. Most topics are multi "subject". Imagine dealing with flooding as having many legs with Biology and Physics and Chemistry involved. Would a Chemistry trained expert be much help?
If such a person had specialised in biochem, then yes. Focus would be on remedial action such as desalinating sea incursions into arable land, or the effect of excess silt & clay from river floods…
Has a year nine lad visit to help with his homework. While he worked on his computer, I bottled a brew.
The science involved in that! Alcohol by volume, yeast working, airborne yeasts and contamination, vinegar, sugar and CO2, sterilisation of bottles, accuracy of measurement with hydrometers and with ingredients, specific gravity, optimum temperatures for brewing, secondary fermentation…. it goes on.
A science teacher at my school taught science by brewing beer. However, the boys weren't allowed to sample the finished product. Some staff did help out.
A few years back I read a description of bacteria riding air currents in the upper atmosphere – part of Gaia. Invisible ecosystems up above.
That contamination effect you mention reminds us that we breathe in such organisms routinely too. Cilia in the lungs evolved to remove particles we breathe in but maybe we absorb organisms into our microbiome too…
My guess is that the new curriculum is written by people with education PhDs – which are considered joke qualifications among others with PhDs.
In my experience they are generally not very bright and spend a lot of time promoting philosophical ideas they don't really understand. I have zero confidence that these changes will be positive.
In view of the track record of our educational establishment, such scepticism is inevitable. However traditionalism = collective brain death nowadays. So any innovative trend ought to be encouraged.
I specifically agree with you re the promoting/applying interface. Leftwingers usually default towards idealism, and thus impracticality. It's vital to get the application of any survival strategy right. Education must not produce another generation of virtue-signallers. Enough of that shit already!
Return to first principles by examining the root of the word:
there are two different Latin roots of the English word "education." They are "educare," which means to train or to mold, and "educere," meaning to lead out. While the two meanings are quite different, they are both represented in the word "education." Thus, there is an etymological basis for many of the vociferous debates about education today.
The opposing sides often use the same word to denote two very different concepts. One side uses education to mean the preservation and passing down of knowledge and the shaping of youths in the image of their parents. The other side sees education as preparing a new generation for the changes that are to come–readying them to create solutions to problems yet unknown. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ724880
It's that latter meaning which provides the survival skill. The former will merely produce another generation of suitwearing dorks failing at everything they do.
Your comment is rude, biased, and ignorant. You trash Education PhDs based on hearsay, without any rational & reasonable argument, and without any evidence to back it up. I guess that you have no idea of what Science is or how to teach it. You have drawn a conclusion based on virtually nothing other than hot air about a leaked but non-disclosed document without even knowing what’s in it. I consider your comment a sick joke.
I find it incredible the Tenancy Tribunal considers $12000 a high award. It should be 10x that as a starting point. The pathetically small penalties NZ’s amateur landlords face are no disincentive for criminal behaviour.
Soundly based on our neocolonial history, therefore impossible to invalidate, his thesis stands. However our economy is based on more than that triad. It ramped up to a tetrad via the inclusion of tech as 4th element. Invention, innovation, know-how, are all fundamental drivers of western economies.
Just look at the transformative effect of refrigeration in the 1880s, that produced seven or eight decades of wealth flow from Britain to here. I recall NZ being identified as having the highest standard of living in the world when I was a kid.
Which really does force us to include trade as a 5th element, ramping the whole up into a pentad. But look at the interesting part of his 2nd pillar: migrant workers. I heard on the radio recently folks discussing Labour's immigration stats – apparently last year back up to record inflow. Doesn't matter if infrastructure can't cope & the country gets constipated in consequence, jam more foreigners in somehow. Shanty-towns along the desert road could become a tourist attraction…
So much of our intellectual, artistic and call work can be done from anywhere now that the centralisation of work to main centres could be reversed and jobs spread more widely across rural areas. This would add to rural economies, boost Maori employment into better quality sustainable work, make NZ more resilient and reduce pressure on urban infrastructure.
We only don't do this due to a failure of our poor management elite to be able to cope and adapt despite the high undeserved salaries they are paid.
It is time for government to take a lead on this who are likely one of the worst at taking jobs away from regions and sticking them in main centres – to the point that departments like IRD, TEC, MBIE etc have no boots on the ground.
The world's average temperature reached a new high on Monday 3 July, topping 17 degrees Celsius for the first time.
US researchers said the new record was the highest in any instrumental record dating back to the end of the 19th century. Last month has also been confirmed as the world's warmest June yet recorded.
So Labour & National are on the right track. Suit-wearers will be delighted that their culture is producing such dramatic results. Grab a Nat/Lab politician & slap them on the back, tell them to remain staunch & they can reach further new heights of achievement.
Historical Notes affirms that "Plato wished to burn all the writings of Democritus that he could collect". In his own lifetime, Plato was not in a position to destroy all copies of his rival's writings, but Plato's purpose was largely achieved through the choices made by scribes in later Classical times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_book-burning_incidents
Operation Dark Heart, memoir by Anthony Shaffer (by the U. S. Dept. of Defense). On September 20, 2010, the Pentagon bought and burned 9,500 copies of Operation Dark Heart, nearly all the first run copies for supposedly containing classified information.
The Conseil scolaire catholique Providence that oversees elementary and secondary schools in Southwestern Ontario held a "flame purification" ceremony in 2019, burning and burying 5,000 books from 30 Southwestern Ontario French-language schools for depicting racist stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Tintin in America and Asterix and the Great Crossing were among the burned books.
That shit happened all the time at the school I was at.
Would have been nice at the time if people were concerned at all about stopping it. Like this instance those in charge i.e. teachers were part of the problem in condoning it.
Guess it was supposed to make you a man.
About twenty years ago I met an 88 year old man. The father of a colleague. She happened to mention to him that I too had gone to the same school as he had. The mere mention of the school had him visibly shaking. Took us half an hour to calm him down. His treatment at that school had him scarred and hurt for life. His daughter was completely unaware of the trauma he had gone through.
We have heard similar stories from the recent enquiries into abuse in state care. How the fuck is this still happening? The more the rhetoric of crime and punishment is pushed, the more the bring back the cane it didn't do me any harm brigade pushes their message, the more gangs push the don't nark, might is right attitude and behaviour the more it will continue.
While the extreme right attitudes and the community culture in gangs mirror each other in the survival of the fittest approach this will continue.
Years ago, the anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about clay pots, tools for hunting, grinding-stones, or religious artifacts.
But no. Mead said that the first evidence of civilization was a 15,000 years old fractured femur found in an archaeological site. A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. This particular bone had been broken and had healed.
Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, you cannot drink or hunt for food. Wounded in this way, you are meat for your predators. No creature survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. You are eaten first.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that another person has taken time to stay with the fallen, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended them through recovery. A healed femur indicates that someone has helped a fellow human, rather than abandoning them to save their own life.
No doubt Israel Adesanya and his gym mates are heroes of many of the inmates in the Oranga Tamariki residence. I wonder if the aim of the fighting in this instance was entertainment, (in MMA/UFC smashing someone's head in is great entertainment) or to see someone 'get a hiding.'
Could the staff instead have taken the young people out for a game of league with whooping and hollering for big hits, the bigger the smashes the louder the acclamation?
All of Shanidar 1’s injuries show signs of healing, so none of them resulted in his death. In fact, scientists estimate he lived until 35–45 years of age. He would have been considered old to another Neandertal, and he would probably not have been able to survive without the care of his social group.
The poem was written in response to Meads' findings but in late 2019 into early 2020 as some descended into various dark tunnels during Covid this was a great revelation hence the references to being woke, to compassion, to caring.
This sits so well with post #8 about the 10 symptoms of the woke virus.
Law and order are going to be a major policy plank for the Nats etc. So I went looking for answers to the issue society is having with youth crime. Looking at the range of articles I found on Google Scholar, we are not alone.
”To summarize these changes and overall impact of COVID-19 in the words of an essential employee from the Northeast United States [U.S.], “It’s f***ing chaos” (M.B., personal communications, May 13, 2020).”
Despite all the platitudes coming from the likes of Mark Mitchell, there are no easy answers.
”COVID-19 as a Seminal Event for Ongoing Reform
Community-based diversionary practices show to be more cost-effective and safer for youths’ health. We hope to see even greater implementation of evidence-based practices that account for youths’ risks and needs by responding accordingly with proper services and resources in the community. We also recommend that we learn from the lived experiences of juvenile justice-involved youths, staff, and other essential personnel. By directly asking their insights on an unprecedented situation and lessons learned for the future, we can better support our juvenile populations and essential employees.”
Fat chance an intelligent debate will be had with the vacuous Luxon, and Mitchell banging the Laura Norder drum.
I think the Kiri Allen situation is a massive beat up… But the PM is making a massive mistake by not seeing her face to face before he goes to Europe.
All he's going to get in Europe are questions about her and whatever dirt nationals got on some other minister mp.
It's weird af that he's not seeing her before he goes and means the issue is going to fester and be the top story every day for two weeks till he sees her when he gets back.
He should have demanded to see her this week and then expressed confidence or fired her not leave it up in the air or make excuse like "she needs time with her family" so do most workers, but they can't get a day off.
He should see her, express confidence or fire her and then to change the narrative, announce an election policy, then fly out to Europe.
Labour has been horrendously bad at coms for two years now.
Spray and walk away, change the narrative
Announcing a tax package just before he goes wouldn't be a bad idea.
People are getting quite sick and tired of hearing policies from every other party, and whenever a party comes up with a new idea, labour shrugs and craps all over the idea, without telling us their ideas.
It makes labour look like National in 2017. Whenever any idea was thrown out national would say no and pretend there's no problem and that we should change nothing.
Agree Hipkins should deal with this..and by not doing so opens himself up to incessant (irrelevant) questioning for the next period.
Can only assume that for whatever reason they (Labour) believe this is the best way of dealing with it….as you note, their form to date dosnt inspire confidence.
who watched the rude and hectoring interrogation by manbum ryuan bridges of Kelvin Davis on the telly this morning. I was disgusted by his behaviour and if this is so called civil society then I will go he.
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Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
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. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
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 ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. 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 ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
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With the election silly season fast approaching I feel tempted to make some predictions/observations (yes, just my ‘reckons.’)
This election really is a ‘me’ vs ‘we’ election; with the boomers staging their last stand (a bit like General Gordon at Khartoum in 1883; the defence lasted a long time, but failed in the end), the voting momentum has swung to the younger generations, and if they turn out to vote in numbers, we shall have a third term Labour government with the Greens and TPM achieving some spectacular concessions!
Nice summary Veitchy…I hope you are right.
TPM got 7% in yesterday's Roy Morgan and could be more of a force than you think.
The politcal polls are close to junk esp re minor parties now at least part of the panel is self selecting. There has been a pretty concerted effort to sign up to the panels with a view to essentially trolling / manipulating the polling companies. Eminates from a couple reddit subs.
Well done Tony. Of course Nat/Act won't be interested in the poorer people or their vote and therefore their message is for the rich and the would/be rich.
Wonder why the very rich are investing big money in Nat/Act?
“. Most thinking people recognise the Greens as the party of environmental…”- pity that impression is very misplaced – whist their constitution places this prominently they continue to select list candidates that on their bios make little or no mention. Action speaks louder than hollow words !!!I commented this when their list at the last election came out and of those that were to make parliament based on the polls at the time only 2 made any environmental claims !!I bet only a few older supporters would know anything about “ban the dam” song or its history! Time to call the greens out I am sorry they are not the environmental party of the 1990’s but still trade on that. And for your climate change any party that believes that we can buy Carbon credits form overseas to cover for our failure to meet international commitments, by action IMO displays that they do not take this seriously.
Ah, but I did say 'thinking' people!
Get personal instead of addressing any issues raised – Typical. And the world continues to get hotter and we are let down by a lack lustre Green Party and supporters who accept blindly.
as I said the Green party today and an inferior image of what was. And as an aside do you know with searching the environmental history of this country and John Hanlon’s song ??
perhaps you need to educate yourself ??🤫 thinking you are not.
None of the political parties address the issue of climate change with the urgency it requires!
But . . . the Greens are light years ahead of the Natz, and Act don't even believe climate change is a thing!
Give me the Greens any day over ALL the rest!
Tony has made some nice points here. To respond to just two…Act MP Nicole McKee of COLFO (NZ Council of Licensed Firearms Owners) fame downplayed her “love is a warm gun” views since becoming an MP. COLFO did have links to the American NRA via International Sports Shooting organisations, but the references were deleted from their online presence. COLFO makes out it is a grassroots outfit but in reality more represents the gun industry and lobby.
Re Te Pāti Māori, being the er, “dark horse”…
TPM are well aware of the age bubble re young Māori numbers…
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/maori-population-estimates-at-30-june-2022/
Get ’em enrolled, get ’em on the Māori roll, and importantly–get ’em voting! At Kaitaia market every Sat an Electoral Commission stand has been doing good business. The guy in charge has full moko and has been around a bit.
Some of my reckons are…the generational voter shift is starting to become evident, though it will likely be 2026 before it fully impacts.
The rise of Act in parliamentary politics was initiated by the Natzos Epsom deal, without that life support they would have been out of Parliament years ago. ACT is AO/NZ’s MAGA in many ways and their policy if ever allowed, would swing a wrecking ball through Te Tiriti, Fair Pay Agreements, and hundreds of other incremental reforms achieved in the last few years.
The primary task is to keep Natzo/Act preferably well away, or even a seat away if it comes down to it, from political office on October 14.
Should add that Act of course did have a higher profile previous to the collapse of the ’00s. All sorts of scandals with their various MPs over the years–Mr Garrett swiping a dead kids ID, that sort of thing.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4130949/MP-used-dead-childs-birth-certificate
Natzos came to the rescue of course for MMP reasons, amusing now as Baldrick struggles.
Bartholomew Frintin Smurth, Humphrey Wigbert Porter. and Quinton Breckenridge have been suspended by the Marylebone Cricket Club because of frightfully bad behaviour over Australia cheating at cricket.
For the many not the few.
That was a spoof report. It's been doing the rounds and some have been taken in, but the names are made up.
ah ok…thanks Observer. Sounded too good to be true.
You won't believe it, but the education establishment is actually doing something clever! Naturally, teachers are freaking out in response:
Teachers predicting the future. Fearfully so. You can see the tacit assumption operating: we must do as we've always done, and pretend that global disaster isn't happening.
Dunno who we ought to credit for steering education towards survival and resilience. Run it by any youngsters you know, see if they like the idea of learning how to survive.
Nat/Lab voters will be bamboozled by this. They are congenitally unable to think in such a sophisticated manner. Silos forever!
Actually being wholistic about science is a good idea. Most topics are multi "subject". Imagine dealing with flooding as having many legs with Biology and Physics and Chemistry involved. Would a Chemistry trained expert be much help?
Would a Chemistry trained expert be much help?
If such a person had specialised in biochem, then yes. Focus would be on remedial action such as desalinating sea incursions into arable land, or the effect of excess silt & clay from river floods…
Has a year nine lad visit to help with his homework. While he worked on his computer, I bottled a brew.
The science involved in that! Alcohol by volume, yeast working, airborne yeasts and contamination, vinegar, sugar and CO2, sterilisation of bottles, accuracy of measurement with hydrometers and with ingredients, specific gravity, optimum temperatures for brewing, secondary fermentation…. it goes on.
A science teacher at my school taught science by brewing beer. However, the boys weren't allowed to sample the finished product. Some staff did help out.
airborne yeasts
A few years back I read a description of bacteria riding air currents in the upper atmosphere – part of Gaia. Invisible ecosystems up above.
That contamination effect you mention reminds us that we breathe in such organisms routinely too. Cilia in the lungs evolved to remove particles we breathe in but maybe we absorb organisms into our microbiome too…
My guess is that the new curriculum is written by people with education PhDs – which are considered joke qualifications among others with PhDs.
In my experience they are generally not very bright and spend a lot of time promoting philosophical ideas they don't really understand. I have zero confidence that these changes will be positive.
In view of the track record of our educational establishment, such scepticism is inevitable. However traditionalism = collective brain death nowadays. So any innovative trend ought to be encouraged.
I specifically agree with you re the promoting/applying interface. Leftwingers usually default towards idealism, and thus impracticality. It's vital to get the application of any survival strategy right. Education must not produce another generation of virtue-signallers. Enough of that shit already!
Return to first principles by examining the root of the word:
It's that latter meaning which provides the survival skill. The former will merely produce another generation of suitwearing dorks failing at everything they do.
FFS!
Your comment is rude, biased, and ignorant. You trash Education PhDs based on hearsay, without any rational & reasonable argument, and without any evidence to back it up. I guess that you have no idea of what Science is or how to teach it. You have drawn a conclusion based on virtually nothing other than hot air about a leaked but non-disclosed document without even knowing what’s in it. I consider your comment a sick joke.
There's a post up about it now
.https://thestandard.org.nz/new-curriculum-science-to-be-taught-in-the-context-of-the-great-challenges-of-our-time/
Well done! I'll contemplate how to frame a contribution.
I find it incredible the Tenancy Tribunal considers $12000 a high award. It should be 10x that as a starting point. The pathetically small penalties NZ’s amateur landlords face are no disincentive for criminal behaviour.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/132468594/vulnerable-tenants-subject-to-dreadful-living-conditions-with-absentee-landlord
A register for property owners and their agents is crucial. The Greens are the only party demanding this.
Analysts often use triadic framing (due to 3 influencing mental processes – because it's an archetype). Here's Bomber's economic triad:
Soundly based on our neocolonial history, therefore impossible to invalidate, his thesis stands. However our economy is based on more than that triad. It ramped up to a tetrad via the inclusion of tech as 4th element. Invention, innovation, know-how, are all fundamental drivers of western economies.
Just look at the transformative effect of refrigeration in the 1880s, that produced seven or eight decades of wealth flow from Britain to here. I recall NZ being identified as having the highest standard of living in the world when I was a kid.
Which really does force us to include trade as a 5th element, ramping the whole up into a pentad. But look at the interesting part of his 2nd pillar: migrant workers. I heard on the radio recently folks discussing Labour's immigration stats – apparently last year back up to record inflow. Doesn't matter if infrastructure can't cope & the country gets constipated in consequence, jam more foreigners in somehow. Shanty-towns along the desert road could become a tourist attraction…
So much of our intellectual, artistic and call work can be done from anywhere now that the centralisation of work to main centres could be reversed and jobs spread more widely across rural areas. This would add to rural economies, boost Maori employment into better quality sustainable work, make NZ more resilient and reduce pressure on urban infrastructure.
We only don't do this due to a failure of our poor management elite to be able to cope and adapt despite the high undeserved salaries they are paid.
It is time for government to take a lead on this who are likely one of the worst at taking jobs away from regions and sticking them in main centres – to the point that departments like IRD, TEC, MBIE etc have no boots on the ground.
So Labour & National are on the right track. Suit-wearers will be delighted that their culture is producing such dramatic results. Grab a Nat/Lab politician & slap them on the back, tell them to remain staunch & they can reach further new heights of achievement.
Ten symptoms of woke mind virus:
1. You read books, and don't burn them.
2. You embrace science.
3. You are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available.
4. You understand that most issues aren't black and white.
5. You believe in true equality for all people.
6. You like to share.
7. You embrace cooperation.
8. You respect others' rights.
9. You believe culture and the arts has value.
10. You care for the planet and all of its life.
So that's the virus I've got. At the moment I have more symptoms including coughing, congestion and sore throat….. and it hurts to laugh!
Excellent listing there. Problem is the dichotomy between that and wokeist behaviour, hmm? Your viral thesis seems to be based on a flawed assumption.
Re #1, christians weren't the only folks into public fire rituals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_burning
Here's #11: You can laugh at yourself
Hi Newshub and Christopher, MMA/UFC is to blame for this, not Oranga Tamariki.
Stop. Selling. Violence.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/07/christopher-luxon-says-mma-style-fight-video-in-youth-justice-residence-is-heartbreaking-and-sickening.html
totally.
From that link:
Luxon wouldn't say if National would build more of these youth justice facilities.
"I don't know, I haven't thought that part through".
Like his sentencing policy at the conference, he simply doesn't bother to do any homework at all. He's the emptiest leader National have ever had.
Luxon confronted by reality.
"I don't know, I haven't thought that part through."
That is so revealing.
That shit happened all the time at the school I was at.
Would have been nice at the time if people were concerned at all about stopping it. Like this instance those in charge i.e. teachers were part of the problem in condoning it.
Guess it was supposed to make you a man.
About twenty years ago I met an 88 year old man. The father of a colleague. She happened to mention to him that I too had gone to the same school as he had. The mere mention of the school had him visibly shaking. Took us half an hour to calm him down. His treatment at that school had him scarred and hurt for life. His daughter was completely unaware of the trauma he had gone through.
We have heard similar stories from the recent enquiries into abuse in state care. How the fuck is this still happening? The more the rhetoric of crime and punishment is pushed, the more the bring back the cane it didn't do me any harm brigade pushes their message, the more gangs push the don't nark, might is right attitude and behaviour the more it will continue.
While the extreme right attitudes and the community culture in gangs mirror each other in the survival of the fittest approach this will continue.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/remyblumenfeld/2020/03/21/how-a-15000-year-old-human-bone-could-help-you-through-the–coronavirus/?sh=19b3c7d137e9
Years ago, the anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about clay pots, tools for hunting, grinding-stones, or religious artifacts.
But no. Mead said that the first evidence of civilization was a 15,000 years old fractured femur found in an archaeological site. A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. This particular bone had been broken and had healed.
Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, you cannot drink or hunt for food. Wounded in this way, you are meat for your predators. No creature survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. You are eaten first.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that another person has taken time to stay with the fallen, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended them through recovery. A healed femur indicates that someone has helped a fellow human, rather than abandoning them to save their own life.
No doubt Israel Adesanya and his gym mates are heroes of many of the inmates in the Oranga Tamariki residence. I wonder if the aim of the fighting in this instance was entertainment, (in MMA/UFC smashing someone's head in is great entertainment) or to see someone 'get a hiding.'
Could the staff instead have taken the young people out for a game of league with whooping and hollering for big hits, the bigger the smashes the louder the acclamation?
Getting suitable staff must be very difficult.
Sadly, I suspect some staff are also fans of fighting as entertainment.
And encouraged it.
Wrote this sonnet two years ago in response to the Mead article.
Dry Bones
A fractured femur is the clue. Broken
Bones do not heal in nature, where predators
Will sóon kíll animals hurt or lame.
Healed bones instead are a blesséd relic,
A sign our cave ancestors were awoken
To know civil folk cared for each other,
Bound wounds, found foods, tended without blame
Those who could not run to hunt, too sick
To forage in the forest. Compassion
Is no new millennial phenomenon
But part of our species' habituation.
Loving concern, never to be despised,
Preconditions us to being civilised.
Care is core to our continuation.
Meet Nandy.
All of Shanidar 1’s injuries show signs of healing, so none of them resulted in his death. In fact, scientists estimate he lived until 35–45 years of age. He would have been considered old to another Neandertal, and he would probably not have been able to survive without the care of his social group.
https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/shanidar-1
The poem was written in response to Meads' findings but in late 2019 into early 2020 as some descended into various dark tunnels during Covid this was a great revelation hence the references to being woke, to compassion, to caring.
This sits so well with post #8 about the 10 symptoms of the woke virus.
Humanity is at a choosing point.
Law and order are going to be a major policy plank for the Nats etc. So I went looking for answers to the issue society is having with youth crime. Looking at the range of articles I found on Google Scholar, we are not alone.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-020-09549-x
”To summarize these changes and overall impact of COVID-19 in the words of an essential employee from the Northeast United States [U.S.], “It’s f***ing chaos” (M.B., personal communications, May 13, 2020).”
Despite all the platitudes coming from the likes of Mark Mitchell, there are no easy answers.
”COVID-19 as a Seminal Event for Ongoing Reform
Community-based diversionary practices show to be more cost-effective and safer for youths’ health. We hope to see even greater implementation of evidence-based practices that account for youths’ risks and needs by responding accordingly with proper services and resources in the community. We also recommend that we learn from the lived experiences of juvenile justice-involved youths, staff, and other essential personnel. By directly asking their insights on an unprecedented situation and lessons learned for the future, we can better support our juvenile populations and essential employees.”
Fat chance an intelligent debate will be had with the vacuous Luxon, and Mitchell banging the Laura Norder drum.
I put a post up about it
.https://thestandard.org.nz/new-curriculum-science-to-be-taught-in-the-context-of-the-great-challenges-of-our-time/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/waikato/132482735/national-backs-third-medical-school-in-waikato
so something to vote National for. I heard Reti say about a year ago, he had costed a new medical school
Pity he did not cost repairing the plumbing in the Whangarei Hospital Anker. No votes in that for him?
Not Reti, it was Nats 2017 election policy, and I don't think he was around then. It would be set up at Waikato, according to RNZ item.
I think the Kiri Allen situation is a massive beat up… But the PM is making a massive mistake by not seeing her face to face before he goes to Europe.
All he's going to get in Europe are questions about her and whatever dirt nationals got on some other minister mp.
It's weird af that he's not seeing her before he goes and means the issue is going to fester and be the top story every day for two weeks till he sees her when he gets back.
He should have demanded to see her this week and then expressed confidence or fired her not leave it up in the air or make excuse like "she needs time with her family" so do most workers, but they can't get a day off.
He should see her, express confidence or fire her and then to change the narrative, announce an election policy, then fly out to Europe.
Labour has been horrendously bad at coms for two years now.
Spray and walk away, change the narrative
Announcing a tax package just before he goes wouldn't be a bad idea.
People are getting quite sick and tired of hearing policies from every other party, and whenever a party comes up with a new idea, labour shrugs and craps all over the idea, without telling us their ideas.
It makes labour look like National in 2017. Whenever any idea was thrown out national would say no and pretend there's no problem and that we should change nothing.
She's on holiday, mate.
Just imagine the slant the media would put on a special meeting between the two. It's a no win situation.
Agree Hipkins should deal with this..and by not doing so opens himself up to incessant (irrelevant) questioning for the next period.
Can only assume that for whatever reason they (Labour) believe this is the best way of dealing with it….as you note, their form to date dosnt inspire confidence.
What do you crackpots not understand about a person being on holiday?
Enjoy your holiday…and add to the chance you lose the position that enables the holiday
Honestly, this is typical right wing thought. A person’s duty is to authority rather than their own children.
Rot in hell.
Think you may be the 'rights' greatest asset
Please don't pretend you are of the socially conscious left. None of your comments on this forum back that up.
who watched the rude and hectoring interrogation by manbum ryuan bridges of Kelvin Davis on the telly this morning. I was disgusted by his behaviour and if this is so called civil society then I will go he.
I thought you would be more disgusted by the video showing staff encouraging the people in their care to beat the shit out of each other.
I know you are a triggered gammon, but would you please explain what it is you are excised about this particular time?
Ryan Bridges is just another National Party Poodle always was, always will be.