Looks like Jonathan Cook isn't that impressed by George Monbiot.
I once admired George Monbiot. But his grim trajectory shows us where politics is heading.
Monbiot has form. For several years, he has been regularly smearing the other few icons of the progressive left, such as linguist Noam Chomsky and investigative journalist John Pilger. Now, it seems, it is comedian Russell Brand’s turn to come under Monbiot’s scalpel.
The truth is Monbiot has become just another advocate for managerial, technocratic liberalism – a liberalism that has been entirely discredited since the financial collapse of 2008, and is now the target of contempt and ridicule from that same younger demographic and figures like Greenwald and Brand.
Monbiot is desperate to maintain his credibility. And he imagines he can keep it a little longer by widening the circle of people on the left he smears: from Chomsky and Pilger, Fisk and Hersh, to Brand and Greenwald. But the only person he is damaging is himself, narrowing his relevance down to a group of liberal cultists, those who still believe that the very same people who destroyed our world are the ones who will fix it.
I am just going to repeat this one more time. Russell Brand is a glib grifter isn't half as clever as he sounds and even dumber than that. He needs to make a living, he's found his niche.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the US Justice Department and the FBI
Despite overwhelming calls from a large number of councils and community organisations, Labour MPs decided they couldn't conscience acting to minimise alcohol harm:
Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick's Alcohol Harm Minimisation bill has failed at its first reading, after only a handful of Labour MPs voted for it.
The bill would have banned alcohol sponsorship and advertising in sports.
National and ACT voted against the bill as blocs, but Labour treated it as a conscience issue, meaning MPs were free to vote however they wanted.
However the bill failed 85 votes to 29 – with just 18 Labour MPs supporting it.
The government has already planned to adopt one part of the bill, which will abolish the Special Appeals process from Local Alcohol Policies, so councils have more power to control alcohol sales, trading hours, and locations.
“Auckland Council, Christchurch City Council, Hamilton City Council and Wanganui have all passed motions for supporting the Bill, but also for delegating either the mayor or a councillor within that council to lobby directly all of the parties and the spokespeople to support this Bill bypassing the ballot,” she said.
This week, Palmerston North became the latest council to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s bill, with one councillor saying if they are going to be responsible for the social wellbeing of their community, they need to have the tools to manage that risk.
“This is just a demonstration of how grassroots communities are having to do all of the bloody work where parliament refuses to just get on with it because these pieces of evidence and enquiries have been sat in front of parliamentarians for twenty-plus years now and there just simply hasn’t been the action,” Swarbrick said.
It's pretty much up to the millennials, gen z's and other non aligned groups to form a party and get on with it.
Labour is a brand appealing to the diminishing centre, not upsetting the horses to keep power or simply keep the nact horror show out of power it seems now.
It blows my mind that in a democracy the entire media-political establishment basically tugs it forelock to an unelected bean counter with an explicit agenda to overturn several of the economic wins of the incumbent government.
No wonder Trumpists think the deep state is nothing but a financial conspiracy by the have class against Joe and Jane Sixpack on Struggle Street.
"The remit for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) outlines the objectives that the MPC must use monetary policy to pursue, as set by the Minister of Finance."
I think the government can be held responsible for the things they can control.
For instance, they should be putting government expenditure under the microscope to see how that is impacting on inflation, and what they can do to minimise unnecessary expenditure and waste.
Christopher Luxon: Isn’t it the case that this Government’s broken immigration settings have stoked labour shortages and fuelled inflation?
Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: If the member is arguing that we should open up the border in order to repress wages, which was the strategy of the last Government, then he can mount that argument at the next election.”
So, the government is definitely contributing to inflation by controlling the immigration settings.
And the government really needs to consider the flow-on effects from putting up the minimum wage so rapidly. The minimum wage increase itself may impact inflation all that much. But, it does impact other wages which are pressured to maintain the differential in relation to the minimum wage.
The social equity side of the argument is well understood. But, it is the impact on inflation that needs to be acknowledged and factored into government planning.
But, inflation is why wages are declining in real terms. So, there is a continued upward spiral that wages never catch up with.
I am not arguing so much about wages increasing. But more, that, if the government wants to increase minimum wages, they should offset that by taking the knife to government expenditure sop there isn’t any more money in the system overall. Then, wages actually will have a chance to catch up with inflation.
Something a left wing government is absolutely loathed to do.
Wage growth is not driving the inflation, at best they have been catching up with inflation. Monetary policy successfully suppressing wages makes that worse rather than actually improving economic conditions in NZ. It also doesn't really help with inflation in how its implemented because as I started with wages are not driving inflation.
Government expenditure is also not driving inflation. Most of the debated stuff to cut in this policy area will not have any impact on inflation what so ever. They would however have quite negative impacts on New Zealand.
If we want to deal with actual economic impacts on New Zealand we would need a viable understanding on inflation and the idea that there is a pool of money which is multiplied across an independent pool of productive capacity resulting in an inflation rate (which is the concept your applying), this is completely bankrupt.
If we want to tackle actual inflation you need to look at a few institutional things like, why are price setters in that industry increasing their prices, what reasons do they give, and are those reasonable explanations, and how much price setting power do they have.
You might then consider looking at if there are anti-competitive aspects, if companies could be encouraged to pass on price hikes to employees (esp when that's the explanation given, but they are profiteering instead), even sometimes if the public sector is out bidding the non-government undesirably (this is how government spending can drive inflation, but its not widely happening). One of the main things to be concerned about at present would be does New Zealand need a larger domestic version of that industry.
But if you just look at government total expenditure, give it a thumb suck and say that 30% is too big, cut it, because reasons. In that case your not even looking at the issue in any meaningful way.
Wage growth is not driving the inflation, at best they have been catching up with inflation.
The economy is blind to where money comes from. It responds to the fact that there is more money in the system, whatever the source. So, if you accept wages are increasing, then this will add to inflation, as will government expenditure, etc.
More money in the system devalues the value of money. (the law of supply and demand, right?). That is what inflation essentially is.
So, any factor that increases money supply in the economy will increase inflation.
Trying to say money from one particular source is or isn't driving inflation is therefore logically incorrect.
The government needs to be responsible and acknowledge its own effects on inflation, and do what it can to get inflation under control, rather than adding fuel to the fire.
And this policy of aiming to increase wages by restricting immigration is as retarded as it gets.
Businesses aren’t paying higher wages because they are earning more money themselves. They are just facing increased costs due to an artificial intervention from the government.
Hence, no good can come from that in the long run.
No, that's all reasoning based on the fundamentally flawed concept of inflation I alluded to you using in your argument.
Inflation is some kind of continuous price increases. If its to be understood you need to look into the institutional or individual reasons for those price hikes and the ability of those actors to influence their going prices anyway.
We can already throw your concept out once we realize that those people setting prices almost never look at the clearing balances held by banks (what the government spends in and taxes back). That would be enough, but they also don't look at the deposit balances which the banks hold either. This also makes it irrelevant that deposit balances are not a consistent multiple of clearing balances anyway and that banks are independently of their deposit base able to expand their balance sheets when lending and worst case purchase clearing balances at the OCR as a matter of government policy.
Rather than thinking of money like a durable good with a quantity, you should understand it like the supply of video views on a streaming service. Its not quantity constrained and doesn't derive its value from a quantity constraint anyway.
The underlying cause is usually that too much money is available to purchase too few goods and services, or that demand in the economy is outpacing supply. In general, this situation occurs when an economy is so buoyant that there are widespread shortages of labour and materials. People can charge higher prices for the same goods or services.
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
The issue is that infinite amounts of money can be created. But the goods money purchases are finite. Hence, as the quantity of money increases, the value of that money decreases against the finite goods, and prices rise.
As I said, the economy is completely blind to where that money comes from.
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
Rather than the results of shortages and sanctions arising from the invasion of Ukraine. Never mind, I'm sure they'll all retire on a fat sinecure irrespective of how woefully they underperform.
Rather than the results of shortages and sanctions arising from the invasion of Ukraine.
Sure. That amongst a myriad of things. Again, the economy is blind as to why there are shortages. The war in Ukraine is definitely one of those things contributing to shortages.
But, as stated, inflation is simply the result of too much money chasing too fewer goods, regardless of why there is too much money or too fewer goods.
An obvious example is in the cost of produce which responds very quickly to shortages. For instance, have you seen the price of Kumara lately after the flooding wiped out a lot of the crops?
We should probably have a public debate between Robertson and Orr to determine if its a cost of living crisis, or an excessive spending crisis. That would be at least entertaining though (as the RBNZ recently spoke about) with all the price hikes coming from overseas NZ has got poorer and probably should actually work that through domestically in the interests of fairness.
Also you've got to be incredibly careful interpreting such official statements in specific ways. They are quite carefully worded,
"The underlying cause is usually that too much money is available to purchase too few goods and services, or that demand in the economy is outpacing supply."
Even in their terms its highlighted that there are other causes of inflation than demand driven, and when it is demand driven its about a flow of spending not a quantity of money driving pricing decisions.
Any theory of inflation is fundamentally a theory of human and institutional behavior and MV=PQ has been known to be a complete failure for quite some time, especially as several of the quantities in that equation are subjective and not quantifiable.
The reserve bank is well aware that "infinite amounts of money can be created" and its actually things like credit criteria and capital ratios (NZ has no reserve ratios) which are the actual constraints on lending.
I will grant you that various factors can cause fluctuations in the trend. But the macro factors will result in the same end being reached eventually.
For instance, if people believe prices will rise tomorrow they will often bring forward their purchases in order to avoid price rises. This psychological factor can increase demand in the short-term and thus accelerate price increases. But, in the end, this effect will level off.
Conversely, people will often hold off making purchases if they believe prices will drop tomorrow because they want to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the future, thus accelerating price drops in the short-term.
This is one of the psychological factors the RB is relying on at the moment to dampen demand.
on the 22nd March i posted that i thought Sturgeons resigning in Scotland had a lot to do with her husband being involved in very shady dealings involving money, donations, party funds etc.
It has been in the news (the one that dared to report on it) for a while now but i guess "hard done by, bigottry, anti 'self identifying women hate' and thus resignation" sounds better then the Husband of the First Minister – feminist to their fingertips – and CEO of SNP, is a crook.
You still got my details? I nuked the account and printed yours but i can't find the doc. Would you mind texting or calling?
Trans identified male please not guilty to throwing liquids on women. And no this is not a women. [deleted] oneself does not make a male a women, it makes them a [deleted]. And sadly for the world this [deleted] is a danger to women. But that is ok. What is a little violence……..if that violence is for a 'good' cause.
And even sadder still, that [deleted] would get locked up in a female prison, with women who can not consent, but then its not as if anyone gave a flying shit about women, be they in a public space or in a female prison cell.
I've deleted some words. The noun in particular is not going to be ok here. It's technically inaccurate (dictionary definition) and thus is a pejorative. I don't know if it even applies to the person.
This debate is going to be long and intense, so there need to be some limits on inflammatory language. In the policy we encourage robust debate (thus there is no problem with being angry, or making strong political arguments like you just did), and we have limits on language or tone that will put others off from commenting, or contribute to flame wars.
I note that the lawyer has already made a start with the usual t**pe
“We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'
Hopefully the Judge will read the judgements on what constitutes hate speech in the SUFW case and is not convinced.
The anti women's issues, anti free speech protestors were not a mass Robin Hood like protest to fight back the baddies.
It involved a gross misreading of what the women were going to discuss and the use of force against ideas (sounds like the Dark Ages?)
For context of the "We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'" – some women spoke on Waiheke Island last weekend.
Viewers can determine for themselves the level of epousing of hate and discrimination:
Everything you need to know about why transing kids is a bad idea.
"This essay is an attempt to share with you what I’ve learned. Something hasgone very wrong in our attempt to help these young people, so much so that too many have been badlyharmed—and I hope to explain why. (If you prefer videos, you can watch this excellentdocumentary, one of many).
I read an article recently, which commented that a large swathe of left-wing Kiwis would simply stay home in November, rather than vote.
They can't support major policies for either the Greens or Labour – but can't stomach voting for National or Act.
[Sorry, I've had a look, but can't track it down again]
I’d hope it would be somewhere in between being absolutely random & unpredictable (stochastic, flick of a coin) and absolute certainty (birth, death, and taxes). Of course, there’s always an element of speculation, especially in politics. However, polls, surveys, and sound research can help being a little more accurate and a little less speculative.
Also based on anecdata – but older leftist women in my family – staunch feminists and lifelong Labour voters – are going noticeably quiet on the political front (usually, you can't shut them up (joke)). It's as though they can't support some of these policies, but also can't bring themselves to be disloyal and say so.
This is excellent because members are about to vote on list rankings 😈 I’d be happy with EK out of parliament (doubt that will happen but dropping her dues the list might teach her something).
Otoh if EK’s Bill got selected, we’d have a sex/gender wars election instead of a climate election, and I doubt the Greens would come out of that well.
Weka, having read the bill in full I noted that it leaves sections 43, 46 and 49 (which protect single sex facilities and sport) as they are. Not sure if this is intentional or an oversight by Dr Kerekere, but either way it makes the bill considerably less controversial than it would otherwise be.
More "assigned sex at birth" bulldust. And no idea of what the "self identified gender expression" actually means apart from "whatever I say it is". Plus the obligatory "rainbow washing" and inclusion of medical conditions.
When caught, she sent a generic – 'this message was inappropriate for this chat' apology; rather than acknowledging that the message was inappropriate for any forum she should be engaging in as an MP.
Then flat-out lied to RNZ – “I didn’t call Chlöe a crybaby, and I don’t think I can comment on it, but I didn’t call her that" – her words on the actual chat leaked to journalists were “omg what a crybaby”
It's difficult to see what sanctions Shaw and Davidson can apply. EK appears to only be sorry about being caught, not for her actions.
A “full internal investigation” should include all comms that EK has sent during her time as an MP. This is unlikely to be an isolated incident.
Will this (egregious example of disloyalty behind a colleague's back) be important enough to the Greens, for the Party membership to 'reward' her with a low list placing?
The unwillingness to apologise (because you think you are right) is the same – but the target is different.
Davidson's was a demographic that she's always had little time for; Kerekere was attacking her colleague (who she's supposed to support under the Greens kaupapa).
From a party perspective, Kerekere is by far the greater 'sinner'.
Both stupid. Both myopic (not seeing how this will play to the larger audience). . Both, ultimately, self-defeating.
I think difference is though that Labour has maintained it's internal discipline. This points to a factional internal party squabble – traditionally lethal to your electoral chances in NZ.
I agree with you. However, this from Kerekere isn't debate, but backbiting – and not about Swarbrick's political views, but about internal ranking chances in the GP. Not attractive.
This silly and spurious "crybaby" story is the headline in both Stuff and the Herald today. It will form part of a large number of coordinated attacks by the Right on Swarbrick before the election in order to dent her credibility as well as that of the Greens.
Spurious-"Not being what it purports to be, false, fake."
It is a non-story (false, fake) that the MSM has elevated to the level of a major issue with large front page banner headlines in both of the two major media outlets in NZ in order to attack both the Greens and Chloe.
As Chloe says today, she has "been called much worse" [I would suggest many times] and has refused to give the non-story any more oxygen by refusing further comment. Well played her.
How is it fake. Kerekere sent the text (then lied about it to a journalist).
I think we can all believe that the MSM didn't make this story up.
Surely the poor judgement and untrustworthiness of a politician and senior list candidate on the GP list – is a significant news story.
Every report I've read has been highly critical of Kerekere – and neutral-to-supportive to Swarbrick. EK comes out as someone with the political instincts of an amoeba, and the trustworthiness of a piranha; CK comes out as a politician doing her job, and rising above petty insults. It's not the insult that's the issue, it's the fact that it came from someone who is supposed to be a colleague.
I can't see any way that Swarbrick has been 'attacked' by the MSM. And, the GP leaders, coming out quickly to announce an investigation, and tell Kerekere not to come to work the next day – makes them look on-to-it and effective.
So, a bad news story for EK; a medium-to-good news story for CS and the GP.
You don't see the bold front page headline* "fellow Green MP calls Swarbrick a "crybaby"" as an attack on Chloe and the Greens?
With respect you are being naive. This is how the anti-left MSM works. It vastly exaggerates a very minor issue** that reflects badly on the Left/Greens and then keeps the story alive as long as possible.
*I forget the exact wording
** I think KK has already apologised?
But I agree with you that KK has not come out of this well, though I repeat it is a minor issue/transgression.
That's the apology you make when you accidentally send your work colleagues the plans for the family BBQ. Not the apology you make when you're caught making a nasty comment about a colleague.
And, with respect, you are being naive, if you think that MSM are magically not going to report poor behaviour from any MP – regardless of which party s/he belongs to.
Yup, another NZ MSM media beat-up for cheap & easy clicks that shows again how lazy (some) MSM have become. Content is no longer King, which is why chatbots will soon write most of the stuff and the public won’t even care because it sounds so ‘plausible’ (and because it can’t tell the difference).
If MSM want to stay relevant then they should stop acting like SM and start doing a proper job.
This puts the pressure back on our news media to impartially assess and critique events as they unfold.
What a farce. I've lost faith in the Green Party this year, but Chloe is a politician for whom I still have considerable respect. Her Alcohol Harm bill was an attempt to do something practically useful for the community rather than just navel gazing.
That would make me very happy. I think it would be a much better fit for her but she is so in deep with the Greens at this point it would be a big ask to make a clean break without damaging her reputation. If she took over as TOP leader it might just be the name recognition needed to get them over the 5% hump. She does seem to be consistently getting around 5% as preferred PM, indicating support for her personally as opposed to the Greens.
Her reputation is being damaged already by association with her Green Party colleagues' activities in the past few weeks….and her tweet after Albert Park.
Agree Ed. I thought her blindly loyal defence of that Albert Park shambles was the first major misstep I have seen from her. There will undoubtedly be another if she continues to hitch her raft to the current Green crew. If she's ever going to cut herself loose now seems like as good a time as any.
Fucking ridiculous, the greens get agitated by on mp saying something vaguely petty about their golden girl, but are allgood with their number one place holder being a racist,
Fuck the greens they've had my vote 3 times they won't get it again till they sort their shit.
By no means all – there are many good environmentalists and soft technology engineers among them still. But they have cuckoos among the leadership, grown fat, and trying to force their more honorable siblings out.
Anyone want to bet Parkers RMA replacement is dead with the Chief Justice and Commissioner for the Environment going to the select committee and lobbying very hard against it?
Isn't this a really unusual step for the Chief Justice?
My (non-legal) understanding is that she's basically saying it's so unclear and badly drafted, that there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent.
"there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent".
That is exactly what happened with the RMA, and that was introduced by a National government in 1990.
My understanding is (and I have considerable experience in working with the parts of the RMA that relate to rural subdivision and development) that the existing RMA related case law will still be relevant and have weight.
The Parker proposals are partially derived from the RMA. If something similar to the existing RMA Sections 5, 6 and 7 are carried forward much case law will remain relevant.
This is completely different to 1990 when the RMA represented a radical change in planning direction.
I find it hard to believe that Parker, who has a law degree and is a policy wonk, would have stuffed up this process. The Chief Justice's intervention may be, in part, a political reaction.
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Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
PNG Post-Courier New Zealand High Commissioner Peter Zwart and PNG Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph welcomed a C-130 Hercules to Port Moresby this week to support Papua New Guinea’s response to the March 24 earthquake and recent severe flooding. “Papua New Guinea has requested New Zealand’s assistance to transport emergency ...
Grub Street King Luxon rode through the streets Of King’s Landing, and was troubled By the sight of hungry urchins in the mud. “Who would be the best of my Lords To deal with this negative optic?” He pondered. The answer came to him instantly. “Seymour!” he said to himself. ...
“The Bill does not provide environmental protection, good quality decision making, certainty, public participation or speed. It should be withdrawn.” ...
RNZ News Television New Zealand has breached its collective agreement with the E tū union when deciding on discontinuing programmes, the Employment Relations Authority has ruled. It was announced in March that 68 staff members who work for news programmes Midday and Tonight, consumer justice programme Fair Go, current affairs ...
Asia Pacific Report Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member. This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
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Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
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Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
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The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
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Looking for a different topic to get foamed-up about?
George Monbiot talks about the vital issue.
Rusty Rockets; doing for the the clicks.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1634090091567095810
Looks like Jonathan Cook isn't that impressed by George Monbiot.
https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/i-once-admired-george-monbiot-but
I am just going to repeat this one more time. Russell Brand is a glib grifter isn't half as clever as he sounds and even dumber than that. He needs to make a living, he's found his niche.
The guardian is part of the problem not the solution.
of course it was all caps on "Truth Social"
(locker room talk true).
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2023/04/donald-trump-facing-criminal-charges-calls-for-defunding-of-fbi.html
He should perhaps save something for the Jan 6 and Georgia phone call charges.
Despite overwhelming calls from a large number of councils and community organisations, Labour MPs decided they couldn't conscience acting to minimise alcohol harm:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/487421/swarbrick-s-alcohol-harm-minimisation-bill-fails-at-first-reading
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018845214/local-authorities-urge-mps-to-support-alcohol-harm-minimisation-bill
It's pretty much up to the millennials, gen z's and other non aligned groups to form a party and get on with it.
Labour is a brand appealing to the diminishing centre, not upsetting the horses to keep power or simply keep the nact horror show out of power it seems now.
It is now very very hard to see Labour surviving the Election from the Reserve Bank actions this year.
It won't be fair, but rheyll be blamed for $500 a fortnight getting sucked out of family budgets.
It blows my mind that in a democracy the entire media-political establishment basically tugs it forelock to an unelected bean counter with an explicit agenda to overturn several of the economic wins of the incumbent government.
No wonder Trumpists think the deep state is nothing but a financial conspiracy by the have class against Joe and Jane Sixpack on Struggle Street.
Its entirely fair.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/about-monetary-policy/history-of-the-remit-and-policy-targets-agreement
"The remit for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) outlines the objectives that the MPC must use monetary policy to pursue, as set by the Minister of Finance."
I think the government can be held responsible for the things they can control.
For instance, they should be putting government expenditure under the microscope to see how that is impacting on inflation, and what they can do to minimise unnecessary expenditure and waste.
Secondly, they really need to consider their settings on immigration which seem to be purposefully limited to force up wages. In Question time the other day there was this exchange:
So, the government is definitely contributing to inflation by controlling the immigration settings.
And the government really needs to consider the flow-on effects from putting up the minimum wage so rapidly. The minimum wage increase itself may impact inflation all that much. But, it does impact other wages which are pressured to maintain the differential in relation to the minimum wage.
The social equity side of the argument is well understood. But, it is the impact on inflation that needs to be acknowledged and factored into government planning.
Real wages have been declining. NZ wage rates are not significantly driving inflation.
But, inflation is why wages are declining in real terms. So, there is a continued upward spiral that wages never catch up with.
I am not arguing so much about wages increasing. But more, that, if the government wants to increase minimum wages, they should offset that by taking the knife to government expenditure sop there isn’t any more money in the system overall. Then, wages actually will have a chance to catch up with inflation.
Something a left wing government is absolutely loathed to do.
Wage growth is not driving the inflation, at best they have been catching up with inflation. Monetary policy successfully suppressing wages makes that worse rather than actually improving economic conditions in NZ. It also doesn't really help with inflation in how its implemented because as I started with wages are not driving inflation.
Government expenditure is also not driving inflation. Most of the debated stuff to cut in this policy area will not have any impact on inflation what so ever. They would however have quite negative impacts on New Zealand.
If we want to deal with actual economic impacts on New Zealand we would need a viable understanding on inflation and the idea that there is a pool of money which is multiplied across an independent pool of productive capacity resulting in an inflation rate (which is the concept your applying), this is completely bankrupt.
If we want to tackle actual inflation you need to look at a few institutional things like, why are price setters in that industry increasing their prices, what reasons do they give, and are those reasonable explanations, and how much price setting power do they have.
You might then consider looking at if there are anti-competitive aspects, if companies could be encouraged to pass on price hikes to employees (esp when that's the explanation given, but they are profiteering instead), even sometimes if the public sector is out bidding the non-government undesirably (this is how government spending can drive inflation, but its not widely happening). One of the main things to be concerned about at present would be does New Zealand need a larger domestic version of that industry.
But if you just look at government total expenditure, give it a thumb suck and say that 30% is too big, cut it, because reasons. In that case your not even looking at the issue in any meaningful way.
The economy is blind to where money comes from. It responds to the fact that there is more money in the system, whatever the source. So, if you accept wages are increasing, then this will add to inflation, as will government expenditure, etc.
More money in the system devalues the value of money. (the law of supply and demand, right?). That is what inflation essentially is.
So, any factor that increases money supply in the economy will increase inflation.
Trying to say money from one particular source is or isn't driving inflation is therefore logically incorrect.
The government needs to be responsible and acknowledge its own effects on inflation, and do what it can to get inflation under control, rather than adding fuel to the fire.
And this policy of aiming to increase wages by restricting immigration is as retarded as it gets.
Businesses aren’t paying higher wages because they are earning more money themselves. They are just facing increased costs due to an artificial intervention from the government.
Hence, no good can come from that in the long run.
No, that's all reasoning based on the fundamentally flawed concept of inflation I alluded to you using in your argument.
Inflation is some kind of continuous price increases. If its to be understood you need to look into the institutional or individual reasons for those price hikes and the ability of those actors to influence their going prices anyway.
We can already throw your concept out once we realize that those people setting prices almost never look at the clearing balances held by banks (what the government spends in and taxes back). That would be enough, but they also don't look at the deposit balances which the banks hold either. This also makes it irrelevant that deposit balances are not a consistent multiple of clearing balances anyway and that banks are independently of their deposit base able to expand their balance sheets when lending and worst case purchase clearing balances at the OCR as a matter of government policy.
Rather than thinking of money like a durable good with a quantity, you should understand it like the supply of video views on a streaming service. Its not quantity constrained and doesn't derive its value from a quantity constraint anyway.
It looks like the Reserve Bank agrees with me more than you.
From the article:
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
The issue is that infinite amounts of money can be created. But the goods money purchases are finite. Hence, as the quantity of money increases, the value of that money decreases against the finite goods, and prices rise.
As I said, the economy is completely blind to where that money comes from.
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
Rather than the results of shortages and sanctions arising from the invasion of Ukraine. Never mind, I'm sure they'll all retire on a fat sinecure irrespective of how woefully they underperform.
Sure. That amongst a myriad of things. Again, the economy is blind as to why there are shortages. The war in Ukraine is definitely one of those things contributing to shortages.
But, as stated, inflation is simply the result of too much money chasing too fewer goods, regardless of why there is too much money or too fewer goods.
An obvious example is in the cost of produce which responds very quickly to shortages. For instance, have you seen the price of Kumara lately after the flooding wiped out a lot of the crops?
We should probably have a public debate between Robertson and Orr to determine if its a cost of living crisis, or an excessive spending crisis. That would be at least entertaining though (as the RBNZ recently spoke about) with all the price hikes coming from overseas NZ has got poorer and probably should actually work that through domestically in the interests of fairness.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/rbnz-we-need-to-accept-were-poorer/ZWTC5TIBEBCZNOBGH5ZQLUOOGU/
Also you've got to be incredibly careful interpreting such official statements in specific ways. They are quite carefully worded,
"The underlying cause is usually that too much money is available to purchase too few goods and services, or that demand in the economy is outpacing supply."
Even in their terms its highlighted that there are other causes of inflation than demand driven, and when it is demand driven its about a flow of spending not a quantity of money driving pricing decisions.
Any theory of inflation is fundamentally a theory of human and institutional behavior and MV=PQ has been known to be a complete failure for quite some time, especially as several of the quantities in that equation are subjective and not quantifiable.
The reserve bank is well aware that "infinite amounts of money can be created" and its actually things like credit criteria and capital ratios (NZ has no reserve ratios) which are the actual constraints on lending.
I will grant you that various factors can cause fluctuations in the trend. But the macro factors will result in the same end being reached eventually.
For instance, if people believe prices will rise tomorrow they will often bring forward their purchases in order to avoid price rises. This psychological factor can increase demand in the short-term and thus accelerate price increases. But, in the end, this effect will level off.
Conversely, people will often hold off making purchases if they believe prices will drop tomorrow because they want to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the future, thus accelerating price drops in the short-term.
This is one of the psychological factors the RB is relying on at the moment to dampen demand.
on the 22nd March i posted that i thought Sturgeons resigning in Scotland had a lot to do with her husband being involved in very shady dealings involving money, donations, party funds etc.
I was told that that was 'far fetched' https://thestandard.org.nz/sturgeon-like-ardern-a-casualty-of-online-abuse/#comment-1936272
lol……..today
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65187823
sometimes people really are as shitty as they appear. And Mr. Sturgeon was not a nice person.
Yep. You were right.
Many were just waiting for the official announcement.
It has been in the news (the one that dared to report on it) for a while now but i guess "hard done by, bigottry, anti 'self identifying women hate' and thus resignation" sounds better then the Husband of the First Minister – feminist to their fingertips – and CEO of SNP, is a crook.
You still got my details? I nuked the account and printed yours but i can't find the doc. Would you mind texting or calling?
Emailed a couple of times to reiterate the invitation for #LetWomenSpeak, but I couldn't attend as I was with my mother who had contracted Covid.
I'll send a text to your (partner's) mobile. Call or text anytime.
Hang on. Need to charge, will do it now.
Trans identified male please not guilty to throwing liquids on women. And no this is not a women. [deleted] oneself does not make a male a women, it makes them a [deleted]. And sadly for the world this [deleted] is a danger to women. But that is ok. What is a little violence……..if that violence is for a 'good' cause.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300848339/woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-assault-after-throwing-juice-on-posie-parker
And even sadder still, that [deleted] would get locked up in a female prison, with women who can not consent, but then its not as if anyone gave a flying shit about women, be they in a public space or in a female prison cell.
I've deleted some words. The noun in particular is not going to be ok here. It's technically inaccurate (dictionary definition) and thus is a pejorative. I don't know if it even applies to the person.
This debate is going to be long and intense, so there need to be some limits on inflammatory language. In the policy we encourage robust debate (thus there is no problem with being angry, or making strong political arguments like you just did), and we have limits on language or tone that will put others off from commenting, or contribute to flame wars.
Thanks Sabine
I note that the lawyer has already made a start with the usual t**pe
“We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'
Hopefully the Judge will read the judgements on what constitutes hate speech in the SUFW case and is not convinced.
The anti women's issues, anti free speech protestors were not a mass Robin Hood like protest to fight back the baddies.
It involved a gross misreading of what the women were going to discuss and the use of force against ideas (sounds like the Dark Ages?)
.
For context of the "We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'" – some women spoke on Waiheke Island last weekend.
Viewers can determine for themselves the level of epousing of hate and discrimination:
https://www.youtube.com/live/pgW3zQ–HSk?feature=share
Everything you need to know about why transing kids is a bad idea.
"This essay is an attempt to share with you what I’ve learned. Something has gone very wrong in our attempt to help these young people, so much so that too many have been badly harmed—and I hope to explain why. (If you prefer videos, you can watch this excellent documentary, one of many).
https://genspect.org/to-help-trans-identifying-kids-follow-the-science/?fbclid=IwAR2oehH9An_xD73OOkw2t-iEgfzqI5c7wkdPC4p1GrRb155zP8x4Wm2hBs4
Skewed data lead to skewed conclusions & decisions.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/census-turnout-low-despite-37m-blowout
I fear the turnout at the General Election might be quite low too. The lower voter turnout, the less representative the overall result.
I read an article recently, which commented that a large swathe of left-wing Kiwis would simply stay home in November, rather than vote.
They can't support major policies for either the Greens or Labour – but can't stomach voting for National or Act.
[Sorry, I've had a look, but can't track it down again]
Would be good to see if that article was based on reason, reckon, or wishful thinking.
Election Day is 14 October, so people are ok to stay home in November.
Well, it can only be based on speculation at this stage.
Apologies for the misdating of the election….
I’d hope it would be somewhere in between being absolutely random & unpredictable (stochastic, flick of a coin) and absolute certainty (birth, death, and taxes). Of course, there’s always an element of speculation, especially in politics. However, polls, surveys, and sound research can help being a little more accurate and a little less speculative.
Found it, better late than never.
Chris Trotter, and re-reading it, he doesn't give any source for his data – so anecdata and/or speculation.
I wouldn't ascribe it to 'wishful thinking' (I can't see any reason he'd want to see a National/ACT government) – so 'reckon' is probably the closest.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/04/sitting-this-one-out-how-angry.html
Also based on anecdata – but older leftist women in my family – staunch feminists and lifelong Labour voters – are going noticeably quiet on the political front (usually, you can't shut them up (joke)). It's as though they can't support some of these policies, but also can't bring themselves to be disloyal and say so.
Ta
The Green party seems to be planning to destroy itself.
This is excellent because members are about to vote on list rankings 😈 I’d be happy with EK out of parliament (doubt that will happen but dropping her dues the list might teach her something).
She certainly seems someone whose ambition and entitlement exceeds her talents.
very awkward – not a good few weeks for the left in the foot in mouth department
who leaked it to the media?
Otoh if EK’s Bill got selected, we’d have a sex/gender wars election instead of a climate election, and I doubt the Greens would come out of that well.
https://twitter.com/pen_ultimate__/status/1643803910489112579
Weka, having read the bill in full I noted that it leaves sections 43, 46 and 49 (which protect single sex facilities and sport) as they are. Not sure if this is intentional or an oversight by Dr Kerekere, but either way it makes the bill considerably less controversial than it would otherwise be.
More "assigned sex at birth" bulldust. And no idea of what the "self identified gender expression" actually means apart from "whatever I say it is". Plus the obligatory "rainbow washing" and inclusion of medical conditions.
Gender ideology at its most obvious.
It's like a new religion.
And, Good Lord!, talking about doubling down.
When caught, she sent a generic – 'this message was inappropriate for this chat' apology; rather than acknowledging that the message was inappropriate for any forum she should be engaging in as an MP.
Then flat-out lied to RNZ – “I didn’t call Chlöe a crybaby, and I don’t think I can comment on it, but I didn’t call her that" – her words on the actual chat leaked to journalists were “omg what a crybaby”
It's difficult to see what sanctions Shaw and Davidson can apply. EK appears to only be sorry about being caught, not for her actions.
A “full internal investigation” should include all comms that EK has sent during her time as an MP. This is unlikely to be an isolated incident.
Will this (egregious example of disloyalty behind a colleague's back) be important enough to the Greens, for the Party membership to 'reward' her with a low list placing?
Only time will tell.
It can be argued Kerekere is following her leader's example. When Davidson had her post Parker outburst she refused to apologise.
Kinda rank hypocricy for Davidson to get too uppitty about this.
The unwillingness to apologise (because you think you are right) is the same – but the target is different.
Davidson's was a demographic that she's always had little time for; Kerekere was attacking her colleague (who she's supposed to support under the Greens kaupapa).
From a party perspective, Kerekere is by far the greater 'sinner'.
Both stupid. Both myopic (not seeing how this will play to the larger audience). . Both, ultimately, self-defeating.
more than 'self defeating'…party damaging (both)
Labour can hardly complain about Green stability after needlessly losing a PM, firing the moronic Nash, and the dorky Kiri Allen at RNZ.
I think difference is though that Labour has maintained it's internal discipline. This points to a factional internal party squabble – traditionally lethal to your electoral chances in NZ.
It would be more preferable if our political economy – of which we are part – had the maturity for more actual live debate from all parties.
The UK and US main parties manage to achieve it without the world falling apart.
I agree with you. However, this from Kerekere isn't debate, but backbiting – and not about Swarbrick's political views, but about internal ranking chances in the GP. Not attractive.
This silly and spurious "crybaby" story is the headline in both Stuff and the Herald today. It will form part of a large number of coordinated attacks by the Right on Swarbrick before the election in order to dent her credibility as well as that of the Greens.
What's "spurious" about it?
Agree that it was a very silly thing for Kerekere to do.
But, I doubt that Swarbrick's credibility will be dented.
Spurious-"Not being what it purports to be, false, fake."
It is a non-story (false, fake) that the MSM has elevated to the level of a major issue with large front page banner headlines in both of the two major media outlets in NZ in order to attack both the Greens and Chloe.
As Chloe says today, she has "been called much worse" [I would suggest many times] and has refused to give the non-story any more oxygen by refusing further comment. Well played her.
How is it fake. Kerekere sent the text (then lied about it to a journalist).
I think we can all believe that the MSM didn't make this story up.
Surely the poor judgement and untrustworthiness of a politician and senior list candidate on the GP list – is a significant news story.
Every report I've read has been highly critical of Kerekere – and neutral-to-supportive to Swarbrick. EK comes out as someone with the political instincts of an amoeba, and the trustworthiness of a piranha; CK comes out as a politician doing her job, and rising above petty insults. It's not the insult that's the issue, it's the fact that it came from someone who is supposed to be a colleague.
I can't see any way that Swarbrick has been 'attacked' by the MSM. And, the GP leaders, coming out quickly to announce an investigation, and tell Kerekere not to come to work the next day – makes them look on-to-it and effective.
So, a bad news story for EK; a medium-to-good news story for CS and the GP.
You don't see the bold front page headline* "fellow Green MP calls Swarbrick a "crybaby"" as an attack on Chloe and the Greens?
With respect you are being naive. This is how the anti-left MSM works. It vastly exaggerates a very minor issue** that reflects badly on the Left/Greens and then keeps the story alive as long as possible.
*I forget the exact wording
** I think KK has already apologised?
But I agree with you that KK has not come out of this well, though I repeat it is a minor issue/transgression.
So, you're now accepting that the story isn't 'fake' (it really did happen).
And just objecting to how it's been presented.
The fact that the GP are investigating, indicates that they're taking it seriously – i.e. not just a "minor issue" – even if you are not.
I think that we'll just agree to differ on just who comes out badly from this.
If Kerekere has already apologized to Swarbrick or the GP, then it has yet to be released.
The only reported apology was:
"Kia ora everyone. I wrote an inappropriate message on here which was not meant for this thread and I apologise to everyone here"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/487463/green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-calls-chloe-swarbrick-a-crybaby-in-group-chat
That's the apology you make when you accidentally send your work colleagues the plans for the family BBQ. Not the apology you make when you're caught making a nasty comment about a colleague.
And, with respect, you are being naive, if you think that MSM are magically not going to report poor behaviour from any MP – regardless of which party s/he belongs to.
Incognito has it right in the post below.
Yup, another NZ MSM media beat-up for cheap & easy clicks that shows again how lazy (some) MSM have become. Content is no longer King, which is why chatbots will soon write most of the stuff and the public won’t even care because it sounds so ‘plausible’ (and because it can’t tell the difference).
If MSM want to stay relevant then they should stop acting like SM and start doing a proper job.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131690407/social-media-may-be-a-political-battlefield-but-does-it-change-voters-minds
What a farce. I've lost faith in the Green Party this year, but Chloe is a politician for whom I still have considerable respect. Her Alcohol Harm bill was an attempt to do something practically useful for the community rather than just navel gazing.
Could Chloe join TOP?
That would make me very happy. I think it would be a much better fit for her but she is so in deep with the Greens at this point it would be a big ask to make a clean break without damaging her reputation. If she took over as TOP leader it might just be the name recognition needed to get them over the 5% hump. She does seem to be consistently getting around 5% as preferred PM, indicating support for her personally as opposed to the Greens.
Her reputation is being damaged already by association with her Green Party colleagues' activities in the past few weeks….and her tweet after Albert Park.
Did you not see her performance on morning tele with Brooke Van Helden?
It was self sabotaging of her reputation from my view.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/27/mps-weigh-in-on-free-speech-debate-following-posie-parker-protests/
Agree Ed. I thought her blindly loyal defence of that Albert Park shambles was the first major misstep I have seen from her. There will undoubtedly be another if she continues to hitch her raft to the current Green crew. If she's ever going to cut herself loose now seems like as good a time as any.
Only if she goes blue in the face.
Did you vote Green at the last election Leighton?
Fucking ridiculous, the greens get agitated by on mp saying something vaguely petty about their golden girl, but are allgood with their number one place holder being a racist,
Fuck the greens they've had my vote 3 times they won't get it again till they sort their shit.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/04/06/wrong-chat-green-mp-kerekere-calls-chloe-swarbrick-a-crybaby/
surely the Greens have lost all credibility now?
By no means all – there are many good environmentalists and soft technology engineers among them still. But they have cuckoos among the leadership, grown fat, and trying to force their more honorable siblings out.
Anyone want to bet Parkers RMA replacement is dead with the Chief Justice and Commissioner for the Environment going to the select committee and lobbying very hard against it?
Quite a move by Chief Justice Winkelmann
Isn't this a really unusual step for the Chief Justice?
My (non-legal) understanding is that she's basically saying it's so unclear and badly drafted, that there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300842078/three-strikes-against-david-parkers-rma-reforms
Yes it's a knifing eyes front.
"there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent".
That is exactly what happened with the RMA, and that was introduced by a National government in 1990.
My understanding is (and I have considerable experience in working with the parts of the RMA that relate to rural subdivision and development) that the existing RMA related case law will still be relevant and have weight.
The Parker proposals are partially derived from the RMA. If something similar to the existing RMA Sections 5, 6 and 7 are carried forward much case law will remain relevant.
This is completely different to 1990 when the RMA represented a radical change in planning direction.
I find it hard to believe that Parker, who has a law degree and is a policy wonk, would have stuffed up this process. The Chief Justice's intervention may be, in part, a political reaction.