the tweetsident is losing it again quite deliberately imo
Without citing evidence, Donald Trump on Saturday accused Barack Obama of a Watergate-style “wire tapping” of his offices in New York before the US presidential election, a move critics dismissed as an attempt to deflect attention from investigations of his ties to Russia.
from the twit on twitter
…“How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process,” Trump tweeted. “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”
Obama’s former deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, tweeted back at Trump: “No president can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you.”
It’s the second time inside a week Trump has attacked his predecessor.
In an interview on Fox News on Monday (Tuesday NZT), Trump accused Obama of orchestrating protests again his new administration.
Some current and former intelligence officials cast doubt on Trump’s latest accusations.
“It’s highly unlikely there was a wiretap on the president-elect,” said one former senior intelligence official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told The Washington Post.
“It seems unthinkable. If that were the case by some chance, that means that a federal judge would have found that there was either probably cause that he had committed a crime or was an agent of a foreign power.”
This of course will be analysed because it is textbook projection and textbook attempted distraction from his teams unsavory associations with russia and lying about it.
It shows the venal, small minded and vindictive trump for what he is – a low bum, a “bad or sick guy” – so sad.
Yet another sign of the budding despot/fascist: paranoia
(oops, I was only going to read and not post on this site. Apologies – I’m not the perfect specimen)
All part of the playbook – “our enemies are plotting against us and conspiring to overthrow our legitimate government, so uh yeah please be handing over extraordinary powers, like just totally temporarily while we deal with this, OK?”
He is a very loose cannon too who probably misintrepreted some statement in a briefing that caused him to lose it via tweet. I can’t work out if his handlers are filled with joy or horror everytime trump opens that tight little talking hole and puts out all his insecurities and fears, his petty worries and blinding egowanking. He seems too stupid to be fake but maybe that is his gift.
I think Trump is closer to the truth with his comments than whatever the fake MSM news propaganda outlets can come up with, as they try and remove him from office.
Jill Stein would be facing the same if she made it to President.
The ongoing decline of RNZ gives me the shits! And you know it’s getting worse when sports (Rugby) becomes the 1st cab off the rank for today’s most important “story”
I couldn’t agree more JuN.
I am so sick of hearing American voices whining away on just about everyone’s show. Tedious to say the least.
Underfunding has driven them to the bottom of the barrel .
“New Zealand’s leading independent conservation body says most rivers and streams are excluded from Government’s new goal to have 90% of New Zealand’s rivers swimmable by 2040.
Forest and Bird released a series of maps today which, it claims, shows the majority of rivers and streams won’t be covered by any swimmability standard under the Government’s proposed new water quality measures.”
Most streams excluded from Govt goal: Forest & Bird
“While the United States faces a major environmental backslide under President-elect Donald Trump, a small central European nation has become the first to enshrine the right to drinking water in their constitution. The new amendment to Slovenia‘s constitution states that drinkable water is a human right. Largely to prevent the commercialization of the country’s water resources, the Slovenian parliament just voted in favor of the new law. Prime Minister Miro Cerar, in favor of the amendment, described water as “the 21st century’s liquid gold.””
Slovenia becomes first EU nation to enshrine human right to water in their constitution
If only our government would follow suit, Robert G. Hopeless wish. Our government is too tied up in farming and large corporate farms to do anything like this brilliant move from Slovenia.
Within those five simple words, Tolley has revealed the the eventual outcome and excuse whenever one of National’s target-goals fails: they are only “aspirational”.
This is critical, because like the “Predator Free New Zealand by 2050” or “90 per cent of rivers and lakes ‘swimmable’ by 2040”, the target dates for these goals to be accomplished are so far into the future that (a) no one will recall these committments being made (b) most National ministers who made them will be long-retired, residing in rest-homes and having drool wiped from their slack-jawed faces by under-paid caregivers or (c) dead.
In short, no one will ever be held to account for these failures of policy.
The great mistake made by National is that, at the beginning when they dreamed up these feel-good gimmicks, they set target-goal dates too close to the present. For example, when John Key and Bill English published a document entitled “Better Public Services” in February 2014, issuing a whole raft of target-goals, they set the date for accomplishment at 2017 (for most, though not all).
That left National minister in office only three years later having to explain their failure to achieve their target-goals.
In Tolley’s case, she could only offer the lame excuse that they were “aspirational” goals only.
As Susie Ferguson pointed out to Nick Smith on Radio NZ’s ‘Morning Report‘;
“The long time frame of this though means that you are going to be long gone whether we see that this has happened or not.”
The ultimate Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card for a politician.
In the meantime – stay out of the rivers and lakes. Nick Smith has been seen bull-shitting in them.”
@Robert:
Do you remember this Nick Smith bullshit artist not too many years ago when he first entered parlyarmint?
Admittedly a bit of a joke back then, but oh how the little pus-filled pimple has succumbed to Natzi ideology in the name of self preservation.
Actually, if I were CT, I’d be recommending the Gnats blame everything on him, and dump him at the next Cow Poke Shuffle
I am loving the e-tangata series and this article is very good
However, I also have to say that, with hindsight, I think the argument in the Treaty claim over te reo Māori was not quite right. Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau, myself included, claimed the Crown’s obligation was to protect “ō rātou taonga katoa”. Actually, it is to protect “te tino rangatiratanga o … ō rātou taonga katoa” – which is different.
Here’s an analogy. Think of the beautiful carved houses on display in museums around the country. The taonga themselves are almost perfectly preserved – no rot or insect pests, no faded paint or weathered timber.
But, housed within a public (Crown) institution, the ancestral house’s cultural relationships with its Māori community are seriously compromised. The hapū’s control over the use of the house, its cultural value within their community, the direct personal relationships between the people and their house are largely lost. So the taonga is protected, but not its rangatiratanga.
such a great point
…I really love the current enthusiasm for learning Māori, but let’s be careful not to overwhelm the ongoing efforts that Māori communities have been making for 40 years. I see the role of Treaty partners as creating space for Māori control. Our wish for our children to be taught Māori in all schools must not override Māori priorities for funding and support, or we might inadvertently undermine tino rangatiratanga in our well-meaning efforts to protect te reo Māori.
I love that first bit too, and it’s a good example of the differences in values between the cultures. Which wouldn’t be so bad if Pākehā understood that and stopped trying to get everything done on their own culturally-blind terms.
Re te reo, I wondered that too, what would happen if the uptake of te reo happened suddenly via schools and basically via Pākehā institutions and values. Would te reo in schools still be taught via kaupapa Māori and within that culture? Or would it become a technical thing that could be taught by anyone, something learned by rote separate from the culture? I guess I should ask the Greens that.
Sadly quite a bit more of the latter, I would think. Perhaps answers as to what is likely to happen could be found in other areas where languages have been revived like Wales, Ireland, the Basque country.
Once installed
– Right click on the icon to open a context menu
-Click on Options
-Click the Settings tab
-Tick Advanced user
-Close and left click the icon again
-Scroll down to statcounter.com and click on the column to the right of statcounter heading
if the colour has changed to red stat counter has been blocked.
First, this government minister, Collins, could not even write an effective law.
Second, it shows that even a young man from rural Otago is able to circumvent this law. He should do well in this modern world. The article says that he attempted to sell his celebrity story to the newspaper for $2000. I fully expect that he will be pursuing a political career as the member for Clutha-Southland.
Third, the police themselves added to the failure by not processing their paperwork on time.
It also shows that what a silly approach it is to write a law which attempts to punish people by a process which is circumventable and is destined to fail because it tries to address lawless behaviour with cars by destroying a car – a car which is easily replaced- when the problem is really a social problem in general and a particular problem with a young man’s continued misbehaviour.
Yet another clear example of Natz ineptitude (either by design or sheer stupidity). Headlines and multiple photos ops of how this new law/rule/legislation will make rivers cleaner/housing availability better/corporates pay their true tax burden/rid us of these dangerous drivers. Lots of hype and rah rah from the complicit media then no follow up on how piss poor the new changes work in the real world.
@ weka – it’s happening gubbamint-wide.
We should ekshully back the truck up a bit and ask how and why all this shite gets a smooth ride.
I’m not hopefull.
….and just as aside, I appreciate your endeavours and those of the PRENTS, but you really need to get over yourselves as well. IF ONLY the readiness to ban opinion and anecdotal, whilst readiness to accomodate the TROLL and the ego.
(the latter could even include your master and the wonderful WONDERFUL work in the north eastern – how she tolerates the cnut bewilders me.
Maybe relationship is her addiction (but ew? really?)
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election, devastating images and memories of the First and Second World Wars flood our minds. Anti-rationalism, racialized violence, scapegoating, misogyny and homophobia have been unleashed from the margins of society and brought into the political mainstream.
Meanwhile, humanity itself runs in a life-or-death race against time. The once-unthinkable turmoil of climate change is now becoming reality, and no serious attempts are being undertaken by powerful actors and institutions to holistically and effectively mitigate the catastrophe. As the tenuous and paradoxical era of American republicanism comes to an end, nature’s experiment in such a creative, self-conscious creature as humanity reaches a perilous brink.
Precisely because these nightmares have become reality, now is the time to decisively face the task of creating a free and just political economic system. For the sake of humanity — indeed for the sake of all complex life on earth as we know it — we must countervail the fascism embodied today in nation-state capitalism and unravel a daunting complex of interlocking social, political, economic and ecological problems. But how?
As a solution to the present situation, a growing number of people in the world are proposing “communalism”: the usurpation of capitalism, the state, and social hierarchy by the way of town, village, and neighborhood assemblies and federations. Communalism is a living idea, one that builds upon a rich legacy of political history and social movements.
It’s something that I’ve noticed over the least few years of my studies and participation in politics. It’s capitalism, in all its forms, that restricts freedom, reason and creativity of people and it does so because the only ideas that are allowed to exist are ones that support the status quo, ones that keep rich people rich.
Election In WA (western Australia) today, looks like Labor are going to romp in, with a pretty big wing in their favour. One interesting thing, which I’ve been meaning t put up is the break down of the coalition between the liberals and national.
Here is just some analysis of that. Oh and the liberals are running off to join up with one nation – you remember one nation, the nationalist far right group around Pauline Hanson. The one time you can say the band was better.
Just a side note, one of my mates who has been a national supporter all his life, has put labour second in his preferences. Shocked me, but as he said, “if the liberals are going to go with One Nation, may they rot in hell”.
The WA Election is next weekend mate and I’m looking forward to it. Just to see the Lab, Nat’s and the Lib’s poo their pants when One nation hold’s the balance of power.
lprent
Timed – 4 minutes to get onto The Standard and about 4 minutes to go from Home page to Open Mike. I haven’t noticed this happening elsewhere. Have just changed to Firefox 50.2. Not on super highway yet, still on copper.
lprent
Waited for about 4 minutes to send last comment on access through, most of the time was waiting for secure.statcounter.com. I cleaned out all my cookies recently to try and stop me getting into TS spam content – seems I have made it worse. Any ideas. Some of the others have had difficulties recently about something – can-t remember.
TS is running slow this weekend. I think you have two things going on, not necessarily related. The slow access thing, and the historic issue of you going into Pending all the time.
Re the latter, have you tried a different device? Or a different browser? Maybe try commenting from a public access computer and see what happens.
Yeah, I’m also spending a lot of time waiting for the secure.statcounter.com. Also got a blank replies tab, but we’ll see if that turns up after submitting this comment.
Having said that David Seymour is actually quite a talented politician, if he wants to continue a career in politics though, he’s going to have to be a National party Mp.
Why wouldn’t National continue the scam? As it stands, they get one more MP than their share of the party vote entitles them to. If they make him officially a National MP, they lose that advantage. With the vote share so close, one MP more than your party share is well worth having.
(Sounds like he is not considering decreasing immigration that is making up the demand on the city infrastructure (44,000 new cars in Auckland last year alone), nor looking at the corruption charges amongst the 1 billion of rate payers money given to Auckland Transport which is clearly not up to the job, or the 1 billion of failed IT that was never investigated by the council, or the corporate welfare like money spent on Westgate Mall that the rate payers were funding the private developers for, or the eye watering amounts spent on corporate private lawyers at the council who are spending up a storm helping Auckland council, do such things as helping Ports of Auckland steal the harbour, cutting down ancient Kauri trees in Titirangi, paying for prosecuting the corrupt Auckland Transport officials and their advice and evidence in the unitary plan which was so poor it got withdrawn after being challenged …, or wonder why they did not get transport in place before the SHA and zoning changes in particular at the outer limits.. )
Nope apparently in the neoliberal ‘user pays – he’s going to introduce congestion charges to the most poor in Auckland. (Because most rich people live in central suburbs and therefore don’t have to commute).
In Phil’s mythical Neoliberal land, workers can then tell their employers to ‘shove it’ as they won’t come into work between 8 – 6 pm as to expensive….
Then they wonder why many locals can’t afford the cost of living any more…
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Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...
The controversial 101 East episode Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown on 3 July 2020. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch Newsdesk Malaysian police summoned six Al Jazeera media workers today for questioning relating to an investigation for defamation and violation of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), reports IFJ Asia-Pacific. ...
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Epidemiologist, UNSW Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly today recommended people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire wear masks when leaving the house: […] If people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Wynne, Director, Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Western Sydney University Over the past week, we’ve seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections among health-care workers in Victoria. This includes a doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the return to lockdown in Victoria, National Cabinet setting to slow the flow of Australian’s ...
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps.During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ou Yang, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Donald Trump has ordered US federal agencies to bypass environmental protection laws and fast-track pipeline, highway and other infrastructure projects. Signing the executive order last month, the US president declared regulatory delays would hinder “our ...
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...
Takuta Ferris, Te Tai Tonga candidate for the Māori Party, is urging government to place whānau first in the wake of announcements around Tiwai Point. “The declaration that one of the region's major employers the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is closing ...
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s managing editor, mall rat and self-confessed food philistine Duncan Greive.On this month’s Dietary Requirements, the gang’s back in the studio, and ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1: United States and Australia rising. Chart by Keith Rankin. These charts look at Covid19 incidence in China (the most important first-wave country, with a limited second wave), Italy (the lead second-wave country), and USA and Australia (second-wave countries – drawing their caseload from Europe ...
The Government must listen to the Muslim community to rectify its failure to act in the past, says the Human Rights Commission. The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry was released this week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics. Senior Research Fellow, Moral philosophy, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Law Futures Centre., Griffith University Earlier this week, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine ...
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Connor, Lecturer, James Cook University While many people may enjoy a game of backyard cricket, only a few go on to become elite professional batsmen in Australia. Cricket batting is example of what human skills can achieve. The fastest bowling delivery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native ...
CEAC review of pre-election National’s “outline plan” just sent to us by Todd Muller 9/7/20 was actually his speech about his plan and was described as ‘an outline’. So in our review of National Party response to A Greener, Smarter Future; climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University In Hidden Hand, China scholars Clive Hamilton and Marieke Ohlberg examine the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Europe and North America in a similar way to how Hamilton dissected the CCP’s influence ...
“I can see why people are fed up, many are wondering how to clothe and feed their kids, or how they are going to pay their rent next week and still others are wondering what has happened to our beautiful Kiwi Way of Life. Well no party in parliament ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Sixty press freedom groups and civil society organisations, journalism institutions, filmmakers, and other supporters have formed a coalition in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines, united around the call to #HoldTheLine. Today the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for ...
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...
The government is extending border exceptions to allow overseas victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks and their support people to attend the shooter's sentencing. ...
Ever wanted to be Iron Man? Sam Brooks prefers Pepper Potts, but he had a great time stepping into the iron suit anyway.The first few moments of Iron Man VR are where it plays its hand, confidently and assuredly. You hold your palms out in front of you, and Iron ...
SAP has released to the public a policy paper, “Helping Kiwis get back to work: How data and technology can drive a bigger, better, faster economic recovery.” ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel.Mermaids When you lose grip and start to drift.The first thing you’re supposed to do issteer into it or steer away? Not all mermaids are royaltysomeone needs to audit the oceanprovide cashflow projectionssome mermaids are actuallymiddle-aged accountants named Stephendreaming of a land-view holiday home. I saw a ...
Want to work for The Spinoff? We’re looking for someone to fill an exciting new role based in our Auckland office. We’re looking for a video and podcast content manager: an experienced writer or sub-editor with a strong understanding of social media to manage our video and podcast content across various channels. ...
National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also received four unsolicited emails. ...
By RNZ News Opposition National list MP Dr Jian Yang has announced his retirement from New Zealand politics and says he will not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. He said politics was “demanding” and he wanted to spend more time with his ...
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office over Lawrence Yule’s new taxpayer funded billboards promoting Mr Yule as the ‘Voice in Tukituki’. Union spokesman, Louis Houlbrooke ...
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...
National list MP Dr Jian Yang announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. ...
A new political party, the New Zealand TEA Party, with headquarters in Auckland, has been established. The party aims to contest the queen- or kingmaker position to form a coalition with the largest parliamentary party as part of the general elections ...
A review has determined fish oils are non-hazardous and no longer require oversight by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). We regulate pesticides, household chemicals and other dangerous goods and substances under the Hazardous Substances ...
New Conservative calls on the government to join with our Five Eyes allies and add New Zealand's signature to a joint statement condemning the continued removal of freedoms in Hong Kong. New Conservative also calls on the government to give safe-haven ...
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luciano Beheregaray, Professor in Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University As the global climate shifts, it’s important to know which species have adaptations to survive. Our research published today in PNAS found it largely depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity ...
From eggplant emojis and twerking llamas to sweaty anthropomorphic butts, we present some of the most fascinating, hilarious and outrageous complaints dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from 2019 to now.Avocadon’t (January 2019)The ad: In this ad from Specsavers, a man gets ready to join a cricket match, but ...
They might sound like the same thing, but light rail is quite different from light metro – the system that transport minister Phil Twyford now favours for Auckland. Katy Wakefield and Jessica Rose of Women in Urbanism explain why the metro option is a poor substitute for LRT. Transport is ...
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...
An intensive care doctor is outraged health officials are giving helicopter rescue trusts a daily list of Covid-19 patients, saying it's completely unnecessary. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Seth Lazar, Professor, Australian National University In the US, tireless opposition to state use of facial recognition algorithms has recently won some victories. Some progressive cities have banned some uses of the technology. Threetechcompanies have pulled facial recognition products from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Facial recognition technology is increasingly being trialled and deployed around Australia. Queensland and Western Australia are reportedly already using real-time facial recognition through CCTV cameras. 7-Eleven Australia is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor of Human Resource Management, University of South Australia The coronavirus pandemic has forced many of us to work from home, often in less than ideal circumstances. Many employees had little choice in the decision, limited time to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katja Hogendoorn, University of Adelaide This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s bushfire tragedy. Sign up to The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By SriPallavi Nadimpalli, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne Women manage many overlapping responsibilities in both public and private spheres. Their busy routines leave them with just a little time to take a break or a pause in their activity. These pauses are a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Adelaide The pandemic has changed the way we think about supply chains, in particular the chains that feed our need for food, medical supplies, and defence equipment. It has led Prime Minister Scott Morrison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW As Victoria grapples with a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of large-scale testing has again been highlighted. Without its “testing blitz” aiming at 10,000 tests a day, the extent of the outbreak would have been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jean Burgess, Professor and Director, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology Perhaps no single character has been as iconic a symbol of Twitter as the now-ubiquitous hashtag. The syntax of the hashtag has a few simple rules: it consists of ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major implications from Tiwai Pt closure, diplomatic rift over Hong Kong deepens, and grim new approach to managed isolation.The story of Rio Tinto pulling out of the Tiwai Point smelter is one that shows the deep connections between regional stories ...
How can Southland cope without its engine and biggest employer, the Tiwai Point smelter? Invercargill's deputy mayor Toni Biddle and Dee St businesswoman Anne Marie Thomas on what happens nowToni Biddle: "We've always known this could potentially happen. So, therefore, there has been a huge amount of work done in the background ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.NON-FICTION 1 Pull No Punches by Judith Collins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) Junk. 2 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 3 The Book of Overthinking by Gwendoline ...
Most Kiwis aren't aware that the end of life choice act is not a concept they'll be voting for, but specific, unmovable legislation. And if we make a mistake, death is a heavy penalty, writes Caralise Trayes. A new Colmar Brunton poll revealed last weekend doesn’t do any favours in helping people ...
Talented teenage shooter Khiarna Williams is committed to travelling 18 hours a week - after school - to realise her netball dreams. Three times a week, 17-year-old Khiarna Williams gets picked up from school to make a six-hour round trip, from Whakatāne to Hamilton, to train with the Magic. Her designated driver ...
Dr Michael SW Lee uses an Easter egg hunt analogy to explain wealth distribution and our innate sense of fairness Ten kids are at an Easter egg hunt searching for 100 eggs. Donald was fortunate, he inherited an Easter egg detector. He spends four hours looking and collects 40 eggs. Steve is a ...
In theory, the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter should bring down electricity prices and help get New Zealand closer to its Carbon Zero 2050 goal. In practice, that isn’t so easy. The announcement Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will close by August next year is a massive blow for the ...
Today The Beths release Jump Rope Gazers, the follow-up to their beloved and acclaimed debut album Future Me Hates Me. Back in December, Side Eye cartoonist Toby Morris joined the band in the studio while they recorded ‘Just Shy of Sure’, which you can listen to here: ...
Three big announcements this week heralded our healthy and profitable future. Those standing in the way, argues Rod Oram, are as out of step as the Think Big world from which they hail. ...
Making the capital earthquake resilient involves billions of dollars, a tonne of anxiety and apartment owners who've had enough of the yellow-sticker nightmare. Time is running out for hundreds of apartment owners in Wellington who face big bills to fix their earthquake-risk buildings. About 1000 buildings in the capital ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By David Robie, who sailed on the original Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap and is author of the bookEyes of Fire. Thirty five years ago today the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour by French secret agents in a blatant act of state terrorism, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison summoned his self-restraint and resisted temptation. Invited on Thursday to attack the Victorian government over its disastrous decision to use private security guards to monitor people in hotel quarantine, the prime minister was ...
A new EP from an unknown Auckland singer ignited a bidding war before she’d released a single. Today ‘Call You Out’ is released, with eerie parallels to Lorde’s rise. Duncan Greive meets the artist known as Deryk.Madeline Bradley wasn’t expecting a lot. She’d been to dozens of these meetings over ...
Open Mike 05/03/2017 
...3 hours ago
Check out Speak Up For Women’s new podcasts: Episode 3 In this episode Speak Up For Women spokeswoman Ani O’Brien (@aniobrien) is joined by Beth Johnson (@beth_nosnhoj) to discuss the proposal from Statistics NZ to change standard data collection policy to “gender by default” rather than sex. They discuss why the ...6 hours ago
During a recent public consultation on the future of Archives New Zealand, a key report was suppressed. The Ombudsman has ruled that the refusal was unjustified. Sadly, the consultation was over by the time of the the decision has been made. However, the law on the use of the ...7 hours ago
National MP - Michael WoodhouseUnbelievable! Michelle Boag also sent National’s Michael Woodhouse confidential emails about COVD-19 patients, and he continued to publicly attack the Government over these very same breaches of privacy.This is the biggest political self-own since the Act Party’s David Garrett admitted in Parliament that he used a ...13 hours ago
Everyone is paying attention today to the Supreme Court ruling that the President is not above the law and that Trump's tax returns can be given to a New York grand jury investigating him. But the Supreme Court decided another, far more important case yesterday, and effectively restored Native American ...13 hours ago
Transcript: National Party policy announcement on roads – 8 July, 2020 Muller: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for coming. Reporter 1: Is Hamish Walker a racist? Muller: Hang on… you haven’t even said good afternoon to me yet. Reporter 1: Good afternoon Mr Muller. Is Hamish Walker a racist? ...15 hours ago
Back in April, I wrote about trials in Iran of a fixed-dose combination of two existing anti-viral drugs used to treat hepatitis C – sofosbuvir and daclatasvir – that could point to an effective treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.At the time, data from those trials was not available outside the hospitals ...16 hours ago
Today’s content Tiwai Point to close Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government subsidising practically everything plays hardball with Rio Tinto (paywalled) Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sudden closure of aluminium smelter worst outcome for jobs, consumers and the environment Brian Fallow (Herald): Tiwai closure sad news – and an opportunity for the environment (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Rio ...16 hours ago
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael Baker The pandemic-related lockdown is possibly the most dramatic public health intervention in NZ history. It helped achieve the elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in NZ. But it was also associated with 548 fewer total ...17 hours ago
Reprehensible: There is much that could be said about Michael Woodhouse, but what would be the point? Any man who willingly involves himself in a situation as reprehensible as the one depicted in the above photograph has already vouchsafed all that decent people need to know about his character. That there have ...18 hours ago
79 Articles Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Six hundred years of South American tree rings reveal an increase in severe hydroclimatic events since mid-20th century (open access) Late summer temperature variability for the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA) since 1735 CE: applying blue light intensity to low-latitude ...2 days ago
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...2 days ago
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...3 days ago
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Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...1 week ago
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...3 days ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...5 days ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...1 week ago
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...4 hours ago
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...6 hours ago
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps. During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...7 hours ago
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...8 hours ago
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...9 hours ago
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...11 hours ago
Ever wanted to be Iron Man? Sam Brooks prefers Pepper Potts, but he had a great time stepping into the iron suit anyway.The first few moments of Iron Man VR are where it plays its hand, confidently and assuredly. You hold your palms out in front of you, and Iron ...11 hours ago
Alan Brent looks at how NZ's solar resources can be used more effectively to address energy demand in our transitioning economy. ...14 hours ago
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...14 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...15 hours ago
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...17 hours ago
Tiwai Point closure decision hammers Meridian, Contact and Genesis shares on fears wholesale power prices could drop ...18 hours ago
Experts say ECE staff ratios are not fit for purpose, and the ministry has no record of how they were set in the first place. ...18 hours ago
How can Southland cope without its engine and biggest employer, the Tiwai Point smelter? Invercargill's deputy mayor Toni Biddle and Dee St businesswoman Anne Marie Thomas on what happens now Toni Biddle: "We've always known this could potentially happen. So, therefore, there has been a huge amount of work done in the background ...19 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias. NON-FICTION 1 Pull No Punches by Judith Collins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) Junk. 2 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 3 The Book of Overthinking by Gwendoline ...20 hours ago
Most Kiwis aren't aware that the end of life choice act is not a concept they'll be voting for, but specific, unmovable legislation. And if we make a mistake, death is a heavy penalty, writes Caralise Trayes. A new Colmar Brunton poll revealed last weekend doesn’t do any favours in helping people ...20 hours ago
Talented teenage shooter Khiarna Williams is committed to travelling 18 hours a week - after school - to realise her netball dreams. Three times a week, 17-year-old Khiarna Williams gets picked up from school to make a six-hour round trip, from Whakatāne to Hamilton, to train with the Magic. Her designated driver ...20 hours ago
Dr Michael SW Lee uses an Easter egg hunt analogy to explain wealth distribution and our innate sense of fairness Ten kids are at an Easter egg hunt searching for 100 eggs. Donald was fortunate, he inherited an Easter egg detector. He spends four hours looking and collects 40 eggs. Steve is a ...20 hours ago
In theory, the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter should bring down electricity prices and help get New Zealand closer to its Carbon Zero 2050 goal. In practice, that isn’t so easy. The announcement Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will close by August next year is a massive blow for the ...20 hours ago
Three big announcements this week heralded our healthy and profitable future. Those standing in the way, argues Rod Oram, are as out of step as the Think Big world from which they hail. ...21 hours ago
Making the capital earthquake resilient involves billions of dollars, a tonne of anxiety and apartment owners who've had enough of the yellow-sticker nightmare. Time is running out for hundreds of apartment owners in Wellington who face big bills to fix their earthquake-risk buildings. About 1000 buildings in the capital ...21 hours ago
the tweetsident is losing it again quite deliberately imo
from the twit on twitter
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/04/donald-trump-wiretap-barack-obama-coup
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/90064508/us-president-donald-trump-accuses-barack-obama-of-wire-tapping-trump-tower
This of course will be analysed because it is textbook projection and textbook attempted distraction from his teams unsavory associations with russia and lying about it.
It shows the venal, small minded and vindictive trump for what he is – a low bum, a “bad or sick guy” – so sad.
Yet another sign of the budding despot/fascist: paranoia
(oops, I was only going to read and not post on this site. Apologies – I’m not the perfect specimen)
All part of the playbook – “our enemies are plotting against us and conspiring to overthrow our legitimate government, so uh yeah please be handing over extraordinary powers, like just totally temporarily while we deal with this, OK?”
He is a very loose cannon too who probably misintrepreted some statement in a briefing that caused him to lose it via tweet. I can’t work out if his handlers are filled with joy or horror everytime trump opens that tight little talking hole and puts out all his insecurities and fears, his petty worries and blinding egowanking. He seems too stupid to be fake but maybe that is his gift.
I think Trump is closer to the truth with his comments than whatever the fake MSM news propaganda outlets can come up with, as they try and remove him from office.
Jill Stein would be facing the same if she made it to President.
The ongoing decline of RNZ gives me the shits! And you know it’s getting worse when sports (Rugby) becomes the 1st cab off the rank for today’s most important “story”
I couldn’t agree more JuN.
I am so sick of hearing American voices whining away on just about everyone’s show. Tedious to say the least.
Underfunding has driven them to the bottom of the barrel .
“New Zealand’s leading independent conservation body says most rivers and streams are excluded from Government’s new goal to have 90% of New Zealand’s rivers swimmable by 2040.
Forest and Bird released a series of maps today which, it claims, shows the majority of rivers and streams won’t be covered by any swimmability standard under the Government’s proposed new water quality measures.”
Most streams excluded from Govt goal: Forest & Bird
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/most-streams-excluded-govt-goal-forest-bird?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
“While the United States faces a major environmental backslide under President-elect Donald Trump, a small central European nation has become the first to enshrine the right to drinking water in their constitution. The new amendment to Slovenia‘s constitution states that drinkable water is a human right. Largely to prevent the commercialization of the country’s water resources, the Slovenian parliament just voted in favor of the new law. Prime Minister Miro Cerar, in favor of the amendment, described water as “the 21st century’s liquid gold.””
Slovenia becomes first EU nation to enshrine human right to water in their constitution
http://inhabitat.com/slovenia-becomes-first-eu-nation-to-enshrine-human-right-to-water-in-their-constitution/?inf_contact_key=1c1797ba4349222f8c51b7157bea1fee53d11c83f94b44da51ec5d7523935d37
If only our government would follow suit, Robert G. Hopeless wish. Our government is too tied up in farming and large corporate farms to do anything like this brilliant move from Slovenia.
Bill will be being leaned on by his brothers, Jenny.
The Great Aspirational excuse – Frank Macskasy
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2017/03/05/election-17-countdown-the-promise-of-nirvana-to-come/
““It’s a very aspirational target.”
Within those five simple words, Tolley has revealed the the eventual outcome and excuse whenever one of National’s target-goals fails: they are only “aspirational”.
This is critical, because like the “Predator Free New Zealand by 2050” or “90 per cent of rivers and lakes ‘swimmable’ by 2040”, the target dates for these goals to be accomplished are so far into the future that (a) no one will recall these committments being made (b) most National ministers who made them will be long-retired, residing in rest-homes and having drool wiped from their slack-jawed faces by under-paid caregivers or (c) dead.
In short, no one will ever be held to account for these failures of policy.
The great mistake made by National is that, at the beginning when they dreamed up these feel-good gimmicks, they set target-goal dates too close to the present. For example, when John Key and Bill English published a document entitled “Better Public Services” in February 2014, issuing a whole raft of target-goals, they set the date for accomplishment at 2017 (for most, though not all).
That left National minister in office only three years later having to explain their failure to achieve their target-goals.
In Tolley’s case, she could only offer the lame excuse that they were “aspirational” goals only.
As Susie Ferguson pointed out to Nick Smith on Radio NZ’s ‘Morning Report‘;
“The long time frame of this though means that you are going to be long gone whether we see that this has happened or not.”
The ultimate Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card for a politician.
In the meantime – stay out of the rivers and lakes. Nick Smith has been seen bull-shitting in them.”
@Robert:
Do you remember this Nick Smith bullshit artist not too many years ago when he first entered parlyarmint?
Admittedly a bit of a joke back then, but oh how the little pus-filled pimple has succumbed to Natzi ideology in the name of self preservation.
Actually, if I were CT, I’d be recommending the Gnats blame everything on him, and dump him at the next Cow Poke Shuffle
I am loving the e-tangata series and this article is very good
such a great point
http://e-tangata.co.nz/news/who-should-call-the-shots-on-reo-maori-priorities
I love that first bit too, and it’s a good example of the differences in values between the cultures. Which wouldn’t be so bad if Pākehā understood that and stopped trying to get everything done on their own culturally-blind terms.
Re te reo, I wondered that too, what would happen if the uptake of te reo happened suddenly via schools and basically via Pākehā institutions and values. Would te reo in schools still be taught via kaupapa Māori and within that culture? Or would it become a technical thing that could be taught by anyone, something learned by rote separate from the culture? I guess I should ask the Greens that.
btw, I’ve been enjoying the kinds of links you’ve been putting up marty.
Have to agree weka, keep em coming marty mars.
Thank you both
Sadly quite a bit more of the latter, I would think. Perhaps answers as to what is likely to happen could be found in other areas where languages have been revived like Wales, Ireland, the Basque country.
TS was slow in loading yesterday. Is loading fine today. Thanks.
I’m finding it pretty slow today too.
Me too, for both days
It seems to be the stat counter plugin.
If you block it the site runs quite fast.
how would one block that?
If you’re running chrome go to the chrome store and install this extension
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm
Once installed
– Right click on the icon to open a context menu
-Click on Options
-Click the Settings tab
-Tick Advanced user
-Close and left click the icon again
-Scroll down to statcounter.com and click on the column to the right of statcounter heading
if the colour has changed to red stat counter has been blocked.
ah, not chrome.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/
ta.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/89883198/crushed-the-real-story-of-how-a-boyracer-saved-his-condemned-car-from-the-crusher
A charming story which highlights three things.
First, this government minister, Collins, could not even write an effective law.
Second, it shows that even a young man from rural Otago is able to circumvent this law. He should do well in this modern world. The article says that he attempted to sell his celebrity story to the newspaper for $2000. I fully expect that he will be pursuing a political career as the member for Clutha-Southland.
Third, the police themselves added to the failure by not processing their paperwork on time.
It also shows that what a silly approach it is to write a law which attempts to punish people by a process which is circumventable and is destined to fail because it tries to address lawless behaviour with cars by destroying a car – a car which is easily replaced- when the problem is really a social problem in general and a particular problem with a young man’s continued misbehaviour.
Yet another clear example of Natz ineptitude (either by design or sheer stupidity). Headlines and multiple photos ops of how this new law/rule/legislation will make rivers cleaner/housing availability better/corporates pay their true tax burden/rid us of these dangerous drivers. Lots of hype and rah rah from the complicit media then no follow up on how piss poor the new changes work in the real world.
@ weka – it’s happening gubbamint-wide.
We should ekshully back the truck up a bit and ask how and why all this shite gets a smooth ride.
I’m not hopefull.
….and just as aside, I appreciate your endeavours and those of the PRENTS, but you really need to get over yourselves as well. IF ONLY the readiness to ban opinion and anecdotal, whilst readiness to accomodate the TROLL and the ego.
(the latter could even include your master and the wonderful WONDERFUL work in the north eastern – how she tolerates the cnut bewilders me.
Maybe relationship is her addiction (but ew? really?)
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
🙂 I bet they did
Reason, Creativity and Freedom: The Communalist Model
It’s something that I’ve noticed over the least few years of my studies and participation in politics. It’s capitalism, in all its forms, that restricts freedom, reason and creativity of people and it does so because the only ideas that are allowed to exist are ones that support the status quo, ones that keep rich people rich.
The age old question (as answered by radio yerevan)..
Q: Is there a difference between capitalism and communism?
A: In principle, yes. In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it’s the reverse.
Ah, RWNJ sloganeering used to spread lies and misinformation.
Really, I suggest you read the article. You may find out why the USSR, China and the DPRK aren’t communist.
Radio yerevan again.
Our listeners asked us, “When the final phase of socialism, namely communism, is built, will there still be thefts and pilfering?”
We’re answering: “No, because everything will be already pilfered during socialism.”
eg fourth labour government.
Ah, more fact free sloganeering from the RWNJs.
The 4th Labour government implemented full capitalism.
see first post.
Radio Yerevan was an Armenian radio station broadcasting during the soviet era.
A number of the jokes have recently been declassified by the CIA.
EG.
Question: When the elections were first held using the Soviet method?
Answer: When Adam was electing his wife, and Eve her husband.
http://nypost.com/2017/02/21/azerbaijans-leader-names-his-wife-as-first-vice-president/
Whats the difference?
Perhaps you should read the article I linked to and find out?
Election In WA (western Australia) today, looks like Labor are going to romp in, with a pretty big wing in their favour. One interesting thing, which I’ve been meaning t put up is the break down of the coalition between the liberals and national.
Here is just some analysis of that. Oh and the liberals are running off to join up with one nation – you remember one nation, the nationalist far right group around Pauline Hanson. The one time you can say the band was better.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/mar/05/western-australia-election-labor-pulls-ahead-to-winning-position-in-poll
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/17/john-howard-backs-liberal-preference-deal-with-one-nation-in-wa
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/wa-election-2017/wa-liberals-one-nation-deal-a-political-game-says-turnbull-20170221-guho0d.html
Just a side note, one of my mates who has been a national supporter all his life, has put labour second in his preferences. Shocked me, but as he said, “if the liberals are going to go with One Nation, may they rot in hell”.
The WA Election is next weekend mate and I’m looking forward to it. Just to see the Lab, Nat’s and the Lib’s poo their pants when One nation hold’s the balance of power.
Great performance on The Nation by Bill English ” you’ll just have to wait and see. ” Fantastic answer in March, six months from the election.
Shows a lack of honesty and integrity, not to mention ideas. No surprises there.
He binglesed it all right.
Scraping the barrel much?
lprent
Timed – 4 minutes to get onto The Standard and about 4 minutes to go from Home page to Open Mike. I haven’t noticed this happening elsewhere. Have just changed to Firefox 50.2. Not on super highway yet, still on copper.
lprent
Waited for about 4 minutes to send last comment on access through, most of the time was waiting for secure.statcounter.com. I cleaned out all my cookies recently to try and stop me getting into TS spam content – seems I have made it worse. Any ideas. Some of the others have had difficulties recently about something – can-t remember.
TS is running slow this weekend. I think you have two things going on, not necessarily related. The slow access thing, and the historic issue of you going into Pending all the time.
Re the latter, have you tried a different device? Or a different browser? Maybe try commenting from a public access computer and see what happens.
I’m not having any problems with it.
lucky you.
It was slow for me yesterday on firefox, and slightly better on safari.
But today TS is loading sweetly for me.
Yeah, I’m also spending a lot of time waiting for the secure.statcounter.com. Also got a blank replies tab, but we’ll see if that turns up after submitting this comment.
edit: nope, replies tab still blank.
lol
a cunning tory plan to reduce TS’ web traffic stats 😉
Damn it, foiled again, 😀
Thanks. Well whaddaya know, it gave me back the replies tab too.
Maybe I should lose my habit of just scrolling past your offerings.
……nah…..
Bud, I don’t really give a fuck what you do
😀
So much for NZ First and ACT being in the same government together. Rowing in different directions much?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/325884/nz-first-and-act-at-odds-over-super-age
If National goes with NZ First, Act is history anyway.
Seymour had better start attacking Peters if he wants a job.
He’s a dead man walking and he knows it.
Having said that David Seymour is actually quite a talented politician, if he wants to continue a career in politics though, he’s going to have to be a National party Mp.
Why wouldn’t National continue the scam? As it stands, they get one more MP than their share of the party vote entitles them to. If they make him officially a National MP, they lose that advantage. With the vote share so close, one MP more than your party share is well worth having.
Seymour’s an unpopped zit who can see the approaching tweezers
Yeah, but they’ll all pop out in Epsom and vote for him.
Goff bemoans $4b shortfall to cover city’s needs…
(Sounds like he is not considering decreasing immigration that is making up the demand on the city infrastructure (44,000 new cars in Auckland last year alone), nor looking at the corruption charges amongst the 1 billion of rate payers money given to Auckland Transport which is clearly not up to the job, or the 1 billion of failed IT that was never investigated by the council, or the corporate welfare like money spent on Westgate Mall that the rate payers were funding the private developers for, or the eye watering amounts spent on corporate private lawyers at the council who are spending up a storm helping Auckland council, do such things as helping Ports of Auckland steal the harbour, cutting down ancient Kauri trees in Titirangi, paying for prosecuting the corrupt Auckland Transport officials and their advice and evidence in the unitary plan which was so poor it got withdrawn after being challenged …, or wonder why they did not get transport in place before the SHA and zoning changes in particular at the outer limits.. )
Nope apparently in the neoliberal ‘user pays – he’s going to introduce congestion charges to the most poor in Auckland. (Because most rich people live in central suburbs and therefore don’t have to commute).
In Phil’s mythical Neoliberal land, workers can then tell their employers to ‘shove it’ as they won’t come into work between 8 – 6 pm as to expensive….
Then they wonder why many locals can’t afford the cost of living any more…