They say that the best test of a person’s leadership capabilities is to put them in a crisis and see how they respond and yesterday in Parliament provided a good opportunity to see Goff’s and Key’s responses to a crisis.
Goff was superb. His speech given immediately after the incident was one of the best I have seen. He showed passion, grit and determination and the ability to react and think on his feet even after being confronted by a potential tragedy.
Key’s response showed the real Key. He lashed out at Labour, accusing them of something they clearly were not responsible for, made a gesture some have been arrested for and then slunk in his seat when he realised what he had done.
Over the past two years Goff has been hammered by the forces of the right, by the media and a meme has been constructed that he is not leadership material. This attack has worked well, the population at large are indifferent to him and even amongst the ranks of the left he is treated with caution.
But I believe yesterday should be a reason for all of us to reflect on this. Goff is the real deal, compassionate, determined and capable. Key is anything but.
This country needs a left coalition to kick this rabble out. Whatever your political flavor be it Green, Mana or Labour get out there and campaign for votes and get people enrolled. Because this country needs Goff and not Key.
Treasury is defending its use of 200 consultants at a cost of more than $13 million while advising the Government to trim the ranks of the public service.
The five-page list of consultants is a who’s who of Wellington’s legal, accounting, academic, public relations and consulting elite – and also includes former public service chief executives and Treasury staffers contracting back to the organisation.
[…]
The Green Party, which obtained the figures, said Treasury had spent an average $6.6m a year on external consultants in the first two years of the National Government – more than double the average annual spend under the previous Labour Government.
Treasury Taking us to the cleaners.Thats probably what Key is going to do with the cleaners sack them then bring them back on contract so he can say they don’t need a pay rise.
Betcha the charge-out rates of those consultants are completely obscene too. Bloody all cosy in the Wellington zone. Are any of them charging as little as $100/hour? Betcha not. $200? $400? $800?
How much are these cok-suckers paid? Wankers. Being paid for out of the taxes paid by those on rates like $15 to $45 per hour… No wonder people are jumping into the public gallery at Parliament.
Wellington of course is the highest paid town in the country and it is completely undeserved. The only reason is because that is where the rules are made. Obscene.
If the consultants are salaried and a lot of them probably are, then they wouldn’t even be getting that money themselves.
Admittedly the companies they work for will probably have expensive overheads too, like swanky offices in the central city. But really the owners of the business will be the ones that are creaming it.
The ‘rebel’s who have overthrown Gaddafi in Libya would have to be the cleanest and tidiest soldiers I have ever seen. Every single time they have been in photos or on the tele they have had clean shirts and pants, nice caps, good boots, sometimes stuff has even been ironed. No dust or dirt anywhere, no ripped clothing, no broken things.
Yes, it happens but one example in how many? And, no matter how much you try, this can’t be linked to climate change as the evidence still supports the theory that we’re causing it.
wow draco, proving how stupid you are while trying to be smart. Trust an idiot such as yourself to miss the subtle intellectual point of my comment. between the voice of reason, felix and yourself , intelligence is a scarce resource
TR our govt has just spent $36 million on research to find out the results back 98% of all other science based research.Its not like Chicago school economics or corrupt Catholic based propaganda .No wonder your so gullible no doubt your heroes are Palin and McCarthy 50s version of palin Roger Kerr our version .You would be better of in Galileo time Newton ex cetera where science was denied and the majority of people believed in fairy stories like the ones you believe in.Yeah apples don’t fall from treas the world is still flat and you are just plain stupid.
(9.30 am our time)Starting at 4:30 p.m., Occupy Wall Street protesters will be joined by tens of thousands of students, transit and city workers, teachers, and other union officials for a march from City Hall to the Financial District. Unlike last Saturday’s tense confrontations between protesters and police on the Brooklyn Bridge, organizers have gotten an event permit for today’s activities from the NYPD, according to the Journal, so it is expected to go a lot smoother than last weekend. But with more than 3,000 people expected to show up, it’s anyone’s guess how things will actually go. You can watch the live stream below, and we’ll update this post as the day progresses.
Moore: “They’re kleptomaniacs, is what they are. They’re out of control. I think there is some sort of sociopathic illness and they know what us to life in a kleptocracy. Where the kleptomaniacs run the show.
Today – Thursday 6 October 2011 – I’m launching my campaign as an Independent ‘Public Watchdog’ Candidate for Epsom – to help shine a HUGE public spotlight on ‘WHITE COLLAR CRIME’, CORRUPTION (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and CORPORATE WELFARE!
Have done the research and have FACTS and EVIDENCE which proves that NZ has endemic ‘grand corruption’ in the form of ‘State Capture’ – where vested corporate interests get their way at the ‘policy’ level before legislation (which serves their interests) is passed.
Have politically explosive findings and solutions for a genuinely ‘open’ ‘transparent’ and accountable NZ – where the public – not corporates – can and should benefit from our public monies, assets and resources.
These, in my view, are the issues which should politically help to set this election alight! (As it were 🙂 In my considered opinion, John Key and National /ACT are VERY politically vulnerable on the issues privatisation, corruption and ‘white collar’ crime…..
WHEN?
KICK OFF! TODAY Thursday 6 October.
TIME?: 2 – 4pm
WHERE? Auckland Horticulture Centre 990 Great North Rd Western Springs!
If you can make it – I think you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
(It will be filmed and You Tube clips will be made covering the ‘KEY’ points.)
Penny Bright
Media Spokesperson
Auckland Water Pressure Group
Judicially-recognised Public Watchdog on Metrowater, water and Auckland regional governance matters.
‘Anti-corruption’ campaigner.
Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009.
Attendee: Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010
It seems all New Zealand Politicial parties are still some what bigoted against Gay people, when the parties were asked about their polices on gay Adoption and Gay Marriage, instead of doing the right thing and saying, “Yes we believe that gay people should have the legal right to adopt and get married, the parties mostly came up with these bs answers.
I guess all parties are trying not to lose the votes of their bigoted supporters.
Here are the parties statements, this has been posted on another blog.
ACT – ACT supports ending the discrimination same sex couples face when trying to adopt a child. The Adoption Act 1955 is out-dated and the criteria for adoption should focus on how fit a person or people are to be parents, not their sexual orientation.
Labour – Labour believes that the current adoption laws are antiquated and discriminatory, which need to be modernised and updated. The current Act fails to take into account the number of legislative changes introduced over the past decade areas such as assisted reproduction technology, surrogacy and the legal status of de facto relationships and civil unions. A Labour-led government will enact legislation that will require the Law Commission to review and update adoption law to better reflect modern New Zealand. Labour has already drafted and tabled a Bill to give effect to this.
Maori Party – If there is a need for children to be cared for we believe strongly that whānau, regardless of sexual orientation, must be encouraged to care for these children within the family.
Greens – The Green Party’s policy on this is that parenting skills are distinct from sexual orientation or gender identity. We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting. Spokesperson Kevin Hague has formed and convenes a cross party group to reform adoption law.
National
We are aware of issue with the Adoption Act. It’s an old piece of legislation and has been identified as an area for potential review. We are currently running a very full justice agenda focused on making New Zealand safer, putting more police on our streets, and reducing crime. In the context of the current economic environment reform of adoption laws is not a priority for the Government.
Gay Marriage
Labour – Our initial focus has been to ensure that existing rights under marriage should also extend to civil unions, and we will complete that work. But Labour believes in formal equality before the law for people in any relationship status, including marriage.
Greens – The Green Party strongly supports full equality and believes that this will eventually be achieved either through the amendment of the Marriage Act to include us, or through the repeal of the Marriage Act (which would leave civil unions as the method by which the state formally recognises relationships, and marriage as a purely religious institution).
ACT – To be clear now, I should have voted in favour of the Bill in all its stages. I admit I don’t understand why, having legalised civil unions between two people, irrespective of their gender, there is still pressure to provide for same sex ‘marriage’. In the English language I have always understood ‘marriage’ to be between a man and a woman.
National – In the context of the current economic environment and our strong focus on providing stability, reducing debt, and returning to surplus by 2014 the government currently has no plans to amend the Marriage Act.
“We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting.”
Personally I find the term ‘rainbow’, especially in quotes like that, as somewhat offensive.
Of all of the answers, I find only National’s to be particularly contemptible in that they deliberately avoid actually stating their stance on either issue, once again using the global financial situation as a shield to hide behind. I don’t agree with ACT’s second position, but at least they had the balls to say it.
Dont know why we need a ‘Marriage Act’. Civil unions can take care of the legal/tax/benefit side while Marriage can be something that 2 people can pursue on their own terms.
Yes, I am talking about the deregulation of marriage.
I think that the reporter is using median there when they should be using average. There’s no way that the median wage equals the average wage and yet that is what is being reported.
That sentiment does show up in the opinion polls with roughly one in four voters blaming Key and National for society’s problems. Unhappy people are more likely to comment on a stuff story than a higly paid Tories.
We just need to increase that ratio to get rid of them.
Steve Jobs who has died aged 56 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, made an unprecedented impact on the world’s consumer electronics markets with a string of hit products, including the iPod media player, iPhone smartphone and iPad tablet computer. In little over a decade, he took Apple – the company he co-founded in 1976 – from near-bankruptcy to being the world’s second most valuable company by market capitalisation, after the oil giant Exxon, with more than $50bn in the bank.
Who would you like to replace Mark Weldon as head of the NZX?
* Dan Carter
* John Key
* Theresa Gattung
* Bernie Madoff
* Gareth Morgan
* Paul Reynolds
I love quips. What a good way to break a smile and a chuckle when there are so many sombre things around us. Quentin Crisp seemed a very quirky chap 1908-1999. I like this one of his I’ve come across.
Never try to keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper that way.
A desperate man will grasp at any straw. Nice to see him at his ‘best’ in the chamber after being called out by Goff. Yep Scumbag my vote too. Key’s Expression said it all.
Nice one bored. the whole world has turned into jerkeys photo op. Why dont they fly him out to the wrecked container ship inTauranga harbour and keep him there till it sinks.
Seems the Tauranga oil spill is worse than originally envisaged.
Get a taste, everybody, of the risks of NACT’s deepwater oil exploration bonanza. Plus fracking – hey, let’s inject some poisonous chemicals into the land!
One part of the fuel ship is buried in the reef and the other in deep water. It sounds as if the ship ran aground on the reef. Late at night. Was anyone awake monitoring the controls or was the ship on fly-by-wire? Comments are that no-one understands how it happened. Too late, the damage is done whether understood or not.
What we need to understand is that high-tech solutions for demanding projects in difficult sites can not be guaranteed 100% to prevent disasters that may change the local environment for ever, and kill off food sources the world is dependent on. Even making nutritious-like food substitutes from oil aren’t going to fill our bellies. Resigned withdrawing from such projects is the new way forward for thinking power brokers.
That’s funny. Went to listen on Radio replay, to Bomber Bradbury on the Panel after mike e said about the free expression of Bomber, but there is no Part 2. Does that mean that it has been censored off air? Surely not? Jim? Will write to them and ask why not.
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Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
New Zealand First MP Fletcher Tabuteau is pleased to be confirmed today as the party’s candidate for the Rotorua electorate. Speaking at the Rotorua AGM for New Zealand First, Mr Tabuteau said this is an election that is incredibly important for the people of Rotorua. “The founding principles of New ...
The Human Rights Commission’s PRISM report on the issues impacting people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) provides an excellent programme of work for future governments to follow, say the Greens. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the trans-Tasman bubble had not been jeopardised after aborder botch-upresulted in New Zealand having two active cases of COVID-19. On Friday, Mr Peters told RNZ's Morning Report he had heard from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders for trans-Tasman travel would open by ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said today he was pleased the army was now running the quarantine and isolation process - up until now it has been the Ministry of Health. Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the army knew how to introduce and follow protocols and instil discipline. ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $2.5 million into three Te Ara Mahi programmes to support Manawatū-Whanganui jobseekers and employees to quickly train and upskill, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Up to 154 local people will be supported into employment within the first year by these ...
This morning I have formally tendered my resignation as Minister of Health, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Serving as Minister of Health has been an absolute privilege – particularly through these extraordinary last few months. It’s no secret that Health is a challenging portfolio. I have given ...
Scholarships for 57 early-career agricultural emissions scientists from 20 developing countries is another example of New Zealand’s international leadership in primary sector sustainability, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor, announcing the scholarships today, says hundreds of applications were received for this fourth round of the CLIFF-GRADS programme (Climate, Food ...
A project to help rejuvenate the Horowhenua town of Foxton will receive a Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.86 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This funding for the Foxton Regeneration project will be used to make the well-known holiday town even more attractive for visitors and ...
Moa bones and other sub-fossil remains of extinct species are set to have improved protection with proposals to prevent the trade in extinct species announced the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “We have lost too many of our native species, but these lost species, such as moa, remain an ...
The Government’s free and healthy school lunches programme moves south for the first time creating jobs for around 30 people in Otago and Southland. “Eighteen schools with 3000 students are joining the programme – 11 have already begun serving lunches, and seven are preparing to start during Term 3. This is ...
Thousands of Kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand productions will be protected through a screen sector support package announced today by Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford and Minister for Broadcasting Kris Faafoi. The package also includes investment in broadcasting ...
The Government has established a new $10 million fund for the domestic events sector to help save jobs and protect incomes as it recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. This funding from Budget 2020 follows talks with the event sector designed to ...
The Government has taken another step in its commitment to making sure New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump with the introduction of legislation to improve competition in the retail fuel market, says Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. “The fuel market study that this Government ordered ...
New Zealand has joined a global initiative that aims to enable all countries to access a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. The COVAX Facility was recently launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The Alliance includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank ...
From today new legislation takes effect to both restore the right to legal representation at the start of a Care of Children (CoCA) dispute in the Family Court, and allow parties to those proceedings to access legal aid where eligible. During a visit to the Family Court in Auckland today, ...
Home-based early childhood education (ECE) subsidised by the government will transition to a fully qualified workforce by 2025 to ensure better and more consistent quality, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Quality early learning helps provide children with a strong foundation for their future,” Chris Hipkins said. From 1 January ...
The new Criminal Cases Review Commission | Te Kāhui Tātari Ture (CCRC) has started work and can now independently investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “Even though we have appeal rights and safeguards against unsafe convictions, from time to time our justice system does get things wrong. The design of the ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou Ki a koutou Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, ngā mana whenua o te rohe nei, tēnā koutou Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa ki ngā take o te Ao (NZIIA), Ko te Rōpū Tohu Tono ...
The Government’s increase to paid parental leave kicks in today with another 4 weeks taking New Zealand up to a full 6 months (26 weeks, up from 22 weeks) leave for new parents, and the maximum weekly payment will increase by $20pw, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. ...
A new package of infrastructure investments will help kick-start the post-COVID rebuild by creating more than 20,000 jobs and unlocking more than $5 billion of projects up and down New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones today outlined how the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today expressed the New Zealand Government’s deep disappointment at the passage by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee of a national security law for Hong Kong. “New Zealand has consistently emphasised its serious concern about the imposition of this legislation on Hong Kong without inclusive ...
More jobs and more family time with newborns are the centrepiece of a suite of Government initiatives coming into effect today. July 1 is a milestone day for the Government as a host of key policies take effect, demonstrating the critical areas where progress has been made. “The Coalition Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW After early success in suppressing COVID-19, we are facing a resurgence in Victoria, which is threatening disease control for the whole country. Outbreaks in northwestern ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 6 July 2020 Three Citizenships The concept of ‘citizenship’ has both general and specific meanings. Keith Rankin. The most specific and familiar I call passport citizenship. A passport citizen of a country is a person holding a passport for that country, or with unambiguous entitlement to ...
Minister of Health and State Services Chris Hipkins says he is disappointed the leak of Covid-19 patient details involved politicians, but he does not want to prejudice the investigation. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is rejecting accusations he influenced the outcome of a report saying Ports of Auckland should shift to Northland. ...
Wellington’s newspaper, The Dominion-Post, gave it to its readers straight: “I’m no saviour”—Ardern rejects saintly status”. But would the crowd of 500 attending Labour’s Congress have believed it? They had stamped and cheered when, in opening the event, Peter Samuel Jackson (no, not the film director) had said: “We have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Victorian government will lock down all metropolitan Melbourne for six weeks from Wednesday night, as a new wave of the coronavirus takes hold in the city. The lockdown will also cover the Mitchell Shire, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, La Trobe University As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, one question that keeps coming up is whether COVID-19 can be transmitted through the air. In fact, 239 scientists in 32 countries have written an ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Victorian government will lock down all metropolitan Melbourne for six weeks from Wednesday night, as a new wave of the coronavirus takes hold in the city. The lockdown will also cover the Mitchell Shire, ...
Transport Minister and senior Labour MP Phil Twyford has joined forces with his former colleague and now Auckland Mayor Phil Goff against New Zealand First and the party's push to move the port north. ...
The admissions by Walker and veteran spin doctor Michelle Boag follow the government’s announcement yesterday of a sweeping inquiry to find the source of the leak.National MP Hamish Walker has disclosed that he engineered a privacy breach over the weekend when he purposefully released the personal details of Covid-19 patients ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Russo, Associate Professor, Director Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash University Metropolitan Melbourne and the shire of Mitchell will returned to Stage 3 stay-at-home restrictions as of midnight Wednesday, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced, after 191 new cases were ...
A National MP has outed himself as the source of media reports about a confidential Covid-19 patient data breach National's Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker has confessed to sharing the private information of Covid-19 patients with media, after the Government launched a high-powered inquiry to determine the source of the data breach. ...
"I have spoken to National Party Leader Todd Muller and informed him that I passed to members of the media, by email, information containing Covid-19 patient details that was given to me by a source." ...
I have spoken to National Party Leader Todd Muller and informed him that I passed to members of the media, by email, information containing Covid-19 patient details that was given to me by a source. I did this to expose the Government’s shortcomings ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne When a recession hits, no group of workers is immune. But some are harder hit than others. The latest labour market figures are giving us a good idea of who is being hardest hit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Wilcox, Lecturer in Music and Sound Design, University of Technology Sydney Prolific composer Ennio Morricone has died in Rome at the age of 91. From his origins in Italian radio, Morricone became renowned internationally as a groundbreaking film composer. Composing over ...
One of the "bad boys of Brexit" who believes in political campaigns that are blunt and edgy has been hired to help with NZ First's election campaign, a UK newspaper is reporting. ...
Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson Jo Holmes says: “Auckland Council has released a statement to media boasting that, based on submissions to the Emergency Budget, a majority of Aucklanders support its rates increase. What the Council fails ...
The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand said it repeatedly warned the government an attack like that on March 15 last year was possible. Today, it released the evidence.Within days of the March 15 mosque attacks, while the names of the dead were still being recorded, Anjum Rahman of the ...
In the 90s, the so-called information superhighway was more of a dirt road. Now it’s a multi-lane motorway. Vodafone NZ’s Sharina Nisha explains the technology that makes it all possible.They used to call it the information superhighway. Back in the heady days of the 1990s, the term was used to ...
Air New Zealand are temporarily suspending new international bookings to New Zealand to ensure that all arrivals can be accommodated in a managed isolation or quarantine facility. But as more countries open their borders to foreigners, including Kiwis, ...
Greenpeace says the newly released Government plan for the Primary Sector is a missed opportunity to build back better. The plan Fit for a Better World - Accelerating our Economic Potential , was released by Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday. It aims to map ...
Organisations representing a cross section of New Zealand industries are alarmed that no decision has been made on the fate of thousands of temporary workers with visas about to expire. ...
After three decades in existence, Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust has launched its own gallery on Auckland’s Karangahape Road.The first thing that hits you entering Tautai Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Moana Legacy, is the range of works on show. On one huge wall is a mural of black humanoid crocodiles on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sue McIntyre, Honorary Professor, Australian National University Last week we learned woody vegetation in New South Wales is being cleared at more than double the rate of the previous decade – and agriculture was responsible for more than half the destruction. Farming ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chongyi Feng, Associate Professor in China Studies, University of Technology Sydney Chinese law professor Xu Zhangrun, who completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne, has become the latest high-profile critic of President Xi Jinping to be silenced for his views. It’s ...
If you’ve ever wondered what influencers have to offer to the world, look no further than Simone Anderson’s new recipe book So Delish!, which will revolutionise the way you put things on plates and in freezers.You know what I’m tired of? Professional cooks publishing cookbooks. Boring. If I ever fancy ...
The Electoral Commission has confirmed that the 'Aroha' posters of Jacinda Ardern, promoted by artists Weston Frizzell and advertiser Phantom Billstickers, does indeed constitute a party advertisement for the Labour Party. This judgment comes after ...
The Primary Land Users Group (PLUG) representing a cross-section of forestry, dairy, horticulture and dry-stock land-users has called out the Green Party, asking how they can reconcile their desire for legal cannabis with the negative environmental ...
Latest from the Beehive Readers are increasingly being introduced to Te Reo by a government which eschews prosaic names that simply and functionally reflect an agency’ purpose – such as Ministry of Forestry. Consistent with the discarding of plain English, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has opened a Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm ...
Mau Whenua statement on Nicky Hager Investigative Report - The long, sorry saga of Shelly Bay – Published Saturday 4th of July 2020 Hirini Jenkins-Mepham Chair of the Mau Whenua group opposing Port Nicholson Block Trustees land sales said “Nicky ...
Forest & Bird welcomes a new sustainable vision for the primary sector, but says it needs to be backed up with strong rules, meaningful support, and a change of attitude from industry laggards. The Government has released a report outlining ...
Rather than MPs rushing to regulate vaping in the last few days of this Parliamentary term, the bill’s many complexities should be debated after the General Election, says Nancy Loucas, co-director of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA). Parliament ...
The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand will share parts 1 and 2 of the submission we presented to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch Mosque Attacks. The aim is to ensure New Zealand is fully informed about the efforts IWCNZ took prior ...
Irrigation New Zealand is greatly encouraged by the fact that the Government has today recognised the “transformational opportunity” water storage provides for New Zealand as part of our post-Covid economic recovery. Water storage was acknowledged ...
The Taxpayers’ Union cannot believe that New Zealand First is importing foreign political consultants, presumably because no New Zealanders are suitable, or perhaps willing, for NZ First campaign roles. Union spokesperson Jordan Williams says: “Winston ...
Retailers upset by the Government’s blinkered restrictions on vaping products say they feel shut out and ignored given the outcome of the select committee process. New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores (NZACS) Executive Director, Dave Hooker, ...
The MakeItLegal campaign has today welcomed the website on cannabis legalisation from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. “It is essential that people have reliable and factual information to help them decide how to vote in the cannabis ...
Responding to National MP Nicola Willis’s statement that National was wrong to sell so much state housing, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “What a weak capitulation to left-wing ideology.” “Selling a state house ...
The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand are sharing parts 1 and 2 of the submission we presented to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch Mosque Attacks. The aim is to ensure New Zealand is fully informed about the efforts IWCNZ took prior ...
An interesting tale of international diplomacy has emerged over NZ’s decision to turn next year’s round of APEC meetings – including the leaders’ summit – into a virtual event. NZ had to fight off a determined bid by the 2020 host, Malaysia, which hoped it could have its hosting rights ...
Members of New Zealand’s Indian community rallied in Auckland on Sunday to raise awareness about threats to their homeland’s democracy from the rise of right-wing Hindu nationalism. As the world’s second-most populous nation grapples with a burgeoning pandemic and deepening political and social division, about 25 protesters gathered in Auckland’s Aotea ...
CEAC applauds professor Mike Joy as NZ’s leading environmental ecologists tireless efforts to enlighten ‘successive Governments’ over the pollution of our waterways and promoting best practice paths of cleaning up of our waterways over successive ...
Almost 170 years ago, Māori political processes were interrupted and displaced by a new, enforced electoral system. Researcher Jo Waitoa dispels the myth that voter turnout and political participation are the same thing. Read more of the The Spinoff’s Election 2020 coverage here.Māori political participation has a long and enduring tradition ...
After previously stonewalling inquiries on the matter, Leave.EU ‘bad boy’ Arron Banks has told a UK newspaper he is sending a team to New Zealand to work on Winston Peters’ NZ First campaign. Justin Giovannetti reports. New Zealand First has hired a crew of political operators from one of the most ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Campbell, Senior research fellow and ARC Future Fellow, Monash University Lithium is used in everything from medication to mobile phone batteries, but where does it come from? We know it is mined here on Earth, but where it is created in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janak Rogers, Associate Lecturer, Broadcast Journalism, RMIT University The case for a more diverse and representative media should be clear by now – it’s been made time and time again. But it’s instructive to take stock every now and then. Over the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne) and Director at 360Edge, Curtin University The “hard lockdown” of nine public housing towers in Melbourne has no doubt brought an array of challenges for the thousands of residents. For people who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ryan R. Witt, Conjoint Lecturer | School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle This article is a preview from Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Turney, Professor of Earth Science and Climate Change, Director of the Changing Earth Research Centre and the Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility at UNSW, and Node Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UNSW Evidence of minute amounts ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has spent billions trying to save us from recession. The winding down of JobKeeper scheduled for September means he’ll have to spend billions more. Many of the stimulus measures talked about are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hassan, Professor, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne Spoiler alert: this story details how The War of the Worlds ends. The latest screen adaption of H. G. Wells’ 1898 modern masterwork The War of the Worlds will hit our ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Problems looming for temporary visa holders, state house waiting list balloons again, and US ban could hit NZ seafood exports.There are some real problems looming for temporary visa holders and their employers, with thousands set to expire all once, reports Nona ...
Publisher Stuff is turning its back on Facebook. Anna Rawhiti-Connell explains why, and how that might affect readers In a bold move, one of our biggest media companies announced on Monday it will cease all activity on Facebook and Instagram for an unspecified time. Stuff’s action follows in the wake ...
A call by Peter Gluckman, Helen Clark and Rob Fyfe for a 'conversation' on opening our border lacks serious economic analysis and ignores real risks to New Zealanders, writes Geoff Bertram From the start of the coronavirus pandemic there has been a steady drumbeat of demands from tourism and other ...
A new port report before Cabinet is a U-turn on the last one, which recommended Auckland's port be moved to Northland Moves to shift Auckland's port from the CBD to Northland have ground to a halt on the back of a new report before Cabinet that suggests Manukau Harbour is a better option. ...
Sarah Cowley Ross sits down with Mary Thompson, one of New Zealand's great sports volunteers, who's given much of her life to netball. Mary Thompson clearly remembers the conversation with Dame Lois Muir. It was during Thompson’s stint as president of Bay of Plenty Netball, and two candidates had applied to ...
Matt Bartlett explains why Facebook should come to see political advertising and its challenges in the same way as Twitter Even before Covid-19 prevented most of us from leaving our homes, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter had become society’s main public square. We gather online in Facebook and ...
Cat MacLennan argues there's scanty evidence for a decision to rule footage of a sharemilker beating cows with a metal pole inadmissible on the grounds it would encourage more undercover filming The judge in the cow cruelty case of Ministry for Primary Industries v Luke ruled that hidden camera film footage ...
I’m one of many applauding the Government’s decision to prescribe the teaching of New Zealand history in our schools. But wait – prescription – isn’t that anathema to the Ministry of Education? We now have a localised curriculum, with the national document giving guidelines only. It’s up to schools to ...
An author finds historical parallels with the dog-whistling comments made by Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker. The recent race-based comments by the Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker have been described as “disgraceful, scaremongering and racist”. But I found them fascinatingly familiar. My wife Jenny and I, both Otago-born teachers, lived in Central ...
In quitting the social media giant, Stuff has taken a risk. But the gamble is not as big as it may seem, writes Hal Crawford.Ceasing all activity on Facebook is a bold move for a news publisher, and I’m not surprised that it has come from the company now owned ...
Open mike 06/10/2011 
In 1987, as a British Labour MP, I was elected to the Shadow Cabinet by my colleagues and was asked by the party leader to direct Labour’s campaign in the general election of that year. The election was to take place at the height of Mrs Thatcher’s dominance and we ...7 hours ago
7 hours ago
If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...7 hours ago
Almost two years ago, the government announced that it might take a look at OIA reform. After an attempt to do it in secret, they finally asked for public submissions, then summarised them for the Minister, who... sat on them for nine months. But today, after an almost two year ...10 hours ago
Associate Professor Sara Walton At the heart of the discussion on opening up our borders is the dichotomy of health and the economy – both of which are actually intertwined, like many things with our economy, as this epidemic has shown. If we think about our country as a system, ...12 hours ago
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss This year will see the largest ever drop globally in both investment and consumer spending on energy as the coronavirus pandemic hits every major sector, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The crisis is accelerating the shutdown of older fossil-fuelled ...19 hours ago
...1 day ago
Today’s content Labour Party Thomas Manch (Stuff): It might be ‘team’ Labour, but there’s little doubt about who’s the skipper, and ‘saviour’ Audrey Young (Herald): No ordinary Labour speech by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (paywalled) Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern asks NZ to move her towards a second term Richard Harman (Politik): Labour’s red glow Justin ...1 day ago
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...4 days ago
4 days ago
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...5 days ago
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...1 week ago
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...1 week ago
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...1 week ago
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...1 week ago
. . Plague town? There are two things right now in Aotearoa New Zealand that are guaranteed to piss people off. Firstly, it’s National playing silly-bugger politics with the covid-19 pandemic. This cost Simon Bridges his job as National’s Leader. Lately, Michael Woodhouse has been playing fast and loose with ...1 week ago
Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...1 week ago
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone! This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...2 weeks ago
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...6 hours ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...2 days ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...5 days ago
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW After early success in suppressing COVID-19, we are facing a resurgence in Victoria, which is threatening disease control for the whole country. Outbreaks in northwestern ...53 mins ago
Minister of Health and State Services Chris Hipkins says he is disappointed the leak of Covid-19 patient details involved politicians, but he does not want to prejudice the investigation. ...2 hours ago
Wellington’s newspaper, The Dominion-Post, gave it to its readers straight: “I’m no saviour”—Ardern rejects saintly status”. But would the crowd of 500 attending Labour’s Congress have believed it? They had stamped and cheered when, in opening the event, Peter Samuel Jackson (no, not the film director) had said: “We have ...3 hours ago
...3 hours ago
The admissions by Walker and veteran spin doctor Michelle Boag follow the government’s announcement yesterday of a sweeping inquiry to find the source of the leak.National MP Hamish Walker has disclosed that he engineered a privacy breach over the weekend when he purposefully released the personal details of Covid-19 patients ...3 hours ago
A National MP has outed himself as the source of media reports about a confidential Covid-19 patient data breach National's Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker has confessed to sharing the private information of Covid-19 patients with media, after the Government launched a high-powered inquiry to determine the source of the data breach. ...4 hours ago
Far from becoming a more centrist, mainstream force, the Greens have instead come up with a "bonkers" tax policy, says Oliver Hartwich ...6 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive Readers are increasingly being introduced to Te Reo by a government which eschews prosaic names that simply and functionally reflect an agency’ purpose – such as Ministry of Forestry. Consistent with the discarding of plain English, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has opened a Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm ...8 hours ago
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Calls for a system overhaul grow, as ECE teachers reveal a system in crisis and a workforce at breaking point. ...16 hours ago
A call by Peter Gluckman, Helen Clark and Rob Fyfe for a 'conversation' on opening our border lacks serious economic analysis and ignores real risks to New Zealanders, writes Geoff Bertram From the start of the coronavirus pandemic there has been a steady drumbeat of demands from tourism and other ...16 hours ago
A new port report before Cabinet is a U-turn on the last one, which recommended Auckland's port be moved to Northland Moves to shift Auckland's port from the CBD to Northland have ground to a halt on the back of a new report before Cabinet that suggests Manukau Harbour is a better option. ...16 hours ago
Sarah Cowley Ross sits down with Mary Thompson, one of New Zealand's great sports volunteers, who's given much of her life to netball. Mary Thompson clearly remembers the conversation with Dame Lois Muir. It was during Thompson’s stint as president of Bay of Plenty Netball, and two candidates had applied to ...16 hours ago
Matt Bartlett explains why Facebook should come to see political advertising and its challenges in the same way as Twitter Even before Covid-19 prevented most of us from leaving our homes, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter had become society’s main public square. We gather online in Facebook and ...16 hours ago
Cat MacLennan argues there's scanty evidence for a decision to rule footage of a sharemilker beating cows with a metal pole inadmissible on the grounds it would encourage more undercover filming The judge in the cow cruelty case of Ministry for Primary Industries v Luke ruled that hidden camera film footage ...16 hours ago
I’m one of many applauding the Government’s decision to prescribe the teaching of New Zealand history in our schools. But wait – prescription – isn’t that anathema to the Ministry of Education? We now have a localised curriculum, with the national document giving guidelines only. It’s up to schools to ...16 hours ago
An author finds historical parallels with the dog-whistling comments made by Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker. The recent race-based comments by the Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker have been described as “disgraceful, scaremongering and racist”. But I found them fascinatingly familiar. My wife Jenny and I, both Otago-born teachers, lived in Central ...16 hours ago
They say that the best test of a person’s leadership capabilities is to put them in a crisis and see how they respond and yesterday in Parliament provided a good opportunity to see Goff’s and Key’s responses to a crisis.
Goff was superb. His speech given immediately after the incident was one of the best I have seen. He showed passion, grit and determination and the ability to react and think on his feet even after being confronted by a potential tragedy.
Key’s response showed the real Key. He lashed out at Labour, accusing them of something they clearly were not responsible for, made a gesture some have been arrested for and then slunk in his seat when he realised what he had done.
Over the past two years Goff has been hammered by the forces of the right, by the media and a meme has been constructed that he is not leadership material. This attack has worked well, the population at large are indifferent to him and even amongst the ranks of the left he is treated with caution.
But I believe yesterday should be a reason for all of us to reflect on this. Goff is the real deal, compassionate, determined and capable. Key is anything but.
This country needs a left coalition to kick this rabble out. Whatever your political flavor be it Green, Mana or Labour get out there and campaign for votes and get people enrolled. Because this country needs Goff and not Key.
Well said micky.
jacking it to the labour party election material again micky? you’re worse than a 13 year old boy with the farmers lingerie catalogue
Cripes, tightyrighty, better loosen the tie there. Are you saying that farmers wear lingerie?
No, I think they buy it for their sheep.
(sorry just had to type that..)
If they are women farmers they would, and men farmers may buy lingerie for the woman farmer they are married to. If they are lucky women.
Labour Entirely To Blame For Everything Bad John Key Says And Does
That’s a laugh!
Good start to the day. My immediate reaction – how long before Key folds? He isn’t a PM, more like a pushover.
😀
The government has been focused on cutting public service spending, yet has had a budget blow-out on spending on Treasury consultants:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5739634/Treasury-defends-13m-consultants-bill
Cuts for you, but not for them.
Treasury Taking us to the cleaners.Thats probably what Key is going to do with the cleaners sack them then bring them back on contract so he can say they don’t need a pay rise.
Betcha the charge-out rates of those consultants are completely obscene too. Bloody all cosy in the Wellington zone. Are any of them charging as little as $100/hour? Betcha not. $200? $400? $800?
How much are these cok-suckers paid? Wankers. Being paid for out of the taxes paid by those on rates like $15 to $45 per hour… No wonder people are jumping into the public gallery at Parliament.
Wellington of course is the highest paid town in the country and it is completely undeserved. The only reason is because that is where the rules are made. Obscene.
Oh hell yeah, it’ll be far above what it would cost to just have them permanently hired on a salary.
If the consultants are salaried and a lot of them probably are, then they wouldn’t even be getting that money themselves.
Admittedly the companies they work for will probably have expensive overheads too, like swanky offices in the central city. But really the owners of the business will be the ones that are creaming it.
The ‘rebel’s who have overthrown Gaddafi in Libya would have to be the cleanest and tidiest soldiers I have ever seen. Every single time they have been in photos or on the tele they have had clean shirts and pants, nice caps, good boots, sometimes stuff has even been ironed. No dust or dirt anywhere, no ripped clothing, no broken things.
It has been very strange.
Who’d believe it? people believing the science is settled calling people believing in opposing theories names and questioning their credibility.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/5741262/Vindicated-Ridiculed-Israeli-scientist-wins-Nobel
Yes, it happens but one example in how many? And, no matter how much you try, this can’t be linked to climate change as the evidence still supports the theory that we’re causing it.
wow draco, proving how stupid you are while trying to be smart. Trust an idiot such as yourself to miss the subtle intellectual point of my comment. between the voice of reason, felix and yourself , intelligence is a scarce resource
wow, tr manages to respond by saying…
nothing at all.
I feel so … validated.
TR our govt has just spent $36 million on research to find out the results back 98% of all other science based research.Its not like Chicago school economics or corrupt Catholic based propaganda .No wonder your so gullible no doubt your heroes are Palin and McCarthy 50s version of palin Roger Kerr our version .You would be better of in Galileo time Newton ex cetera where science was denied and the majority of people believed in fairy stories like the ones you believe in.Yeah apples don’t fall from treas the world is still flat and you are just plain stupid.
Visualised, The Denier Industrial Complex
Streaming live.
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/05/live_video_stream_occupy_wall_stree.php
(9.30 am our time) Starting at 4:30 p.m., Occupy Wall Street protesters will be joined by tens of thousands of students, transit and city workers, teachers, and other union officials for a march from City Hall to the Financial District. Unlike last Saturday’s tense confrontations between protesters and police on the Brooklyn Bridge, organizers have gotten an event permit for today’s activities from the NYPD, according to the Journal, so it is expected to go a lot smoother than last weekend. But with more than 3,000 people expected to show up, it’s anyone’s guess how things will actually go. You can watch the live stream below, and we’ll update this post as the day progresses.
another wall St feed for y’all
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
Moore:
“They’re kleptomaniacs, is what they are. They’re out of control. I think there is some sort of sociopathic illness and they know what us to life in a kleptocracy. Where the kleptomaniacs run the show.
Would you like to know what OccupyWallSt wants to say to you but the MSM are too far gone to bother, get the reports from the source
Today – Thursday 6 October 2011 – I’m launching my campaign as an Independent ‘Public Watchdog’ Candidate for Epsom – to help shine a HUGE public spotlight on ‘WHITE COLLAR CRIME’, CORRUPTION (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and CORPORATE WELFARE!
Have done the research and have FACTS and EVIDENCE which proves that NZ has endemic ‘grand corruption’ in the form of ‘State Capture’ – where vested corporate interests get their way at the ‘policy’ level before legislation (which serves their interests) is passed.
Have politically explosive findings and solutions for a genuinely ‘open’ ‘transparent’ and accountable NZ – where the public – not corporates – can and should benefit from our public monies, assets and resources.
These, in my view, are the issues which should politically help to set this election alight! (As it were 🙂 In my considered opinion, John Key and National /ACT are VERY politically vulnerable on the issues privatisation, corruption and ‘white collar’ crime…..
WHEN?
KICK OFF! TODAY Thursday 6 October.
TIME?: 2 – 4pm
WHERE? Auckland Horticulture Centre 990 Great North Rd Western Springs!
If you can make it – I think you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
(It will be filmed and You Tube clips will be made covering the ‘KEY’ points.)
Penny Bright
Media Spokesperson
Auckland Water Pressure Group
Judicially-recognised Public Watchdog on Metrowater, water and Auckland regional governance matters.
‘Anti-corruption’ campaigner.
Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009.
Attendee: Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010
Independent ‘Public Watchdog’
Candidate for Epsom
It seems all New Zealand Politicial parties are still some what bigoted against Gay people, when the parties were asked about their polices on gay Adoption and Gay Marriage, instead of doing the right thing and saying, “Yes we believe that gay people should have the legal right to adopt and get married, the parties mostly came up with these bs answers.
I guess all parties are trying not to lose the votes of their bigoted supporters.
So I see you didn’t read the ACT, maori, or Green answers to the first question.
Or the Green answer to the second.
How to you remember to breathe?
Oh i read it felix, it just seemed to be political talk, why didnt ALL PARTIES just say “Gay people have the right to marry and adopt.”
So you read it but you didn’t understand it.
You must experience human communication in much the same way the Simpsons’ dog does.
Felix
Classy felix.
I understand politicians on all side of the fence, wont do anything to offended the bigots.
Ok Brett, let’s go through them one at a time and we’ll figure out which words you had trouble with. Here’s what you quoted:
Please explain what you think that sentence means, in your own words.
Here are the parties statements, this has been posted on another blog.
ACT – ACT supports ending the discrimination same sex couples face when trying to adopt a child. The Adoption Act 1955 is out-dated and the criteria for adoption should focus on how fit a person or people are to be parents, not their sexual orientation.
Labour – Labour believes that the current adoption laws are antiquated and discriminatory, which need to be modernised and updated. The current Act fails to take into account the number of legislative changes introduced over the past decade areas such as assisted reproduction technology, surrogacy and the legal status of de facto relationships and civil unions. A Labour-led government will enact legislation that will require the Law Commission to review and update adoption law to better reflect modern New Zealand. Labour has already drafted and tabled a Bill to give effect to this.
Maori Party – If there is a need for children to be cared for we believe strongly that whānau, regardless of sexual orientation, must be encouraged to care for these children within the family.
Greens – The Green Party’s policy on this is that parenting skills are distinct from sexual orientation or gender identity. We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting. Spokesperson Kevin Hague has formed and convenes a cross party group to reform adoption law.
National
We are aware of issue with the Adoption Act. It’s an old piece of legislation and has been identified as an area for potential review. We are currently running a very full justice agenda focused on making New Zealand safer, putting more police on our streets, and reducing crime. In the context of the current economic environment reform of adoption laws is not a priority for the Government.
Gay Marriage
Labour – Our initial focus has been to ensure that existing rights under marriage should also extend to civil unions, and we will complete that work. But Labour believes in formal equality before the law for people in any relationship status, including marriage.
Greens – The Green Party strongly supports full equality and believes that this will eventually be achieved either through the amendment of the Marriage Act to include us, or through the repeal of the Marriage Act (which would leave civil unions as the method by which the state formally recognises relationships, and marriage as a purely religious institution).
ACT – To be clear now, I should have voted in favour of the Bill in all its stages. I admit I don’t understand why, having legalised civil unions between two people, irrespective of their gender, there is still pressure to provide for same sex ‘marriage’. In the English language I have always understood ‘marriage’ to be between a man and a woman.
National – In the context of the current economic environment and our strong focus on providing stability, reducing debt, and returning to surplus by 2014 the government currently has no plans to amend the Marriage Act.
“We support equal criteria for both ‘rainbow’ and heterosexual couples in their assessment for suitability and eligibility for parenting.”
Personally I find the term ‘rainbow’, especially in quotes like that, as somewhat offensive.
Of all of the answers, I find only National’s to be particularly contemptible in that they deliberately avoid actually stating their stance on either issue, once again using the global financial situation as a shield to hide behind. I don’t agree with ACT’s second position, but at least they had the balls to say it.
Dont know why we need a ‘Marriage Act’. Civil unions can take care of the legal/tax/benefit side while Marriage can be something that 2 people can pursue on their own terms.
Yes, I am talking about the deregulation of marriage.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/5742308/Tiny-gains-in-wage-packets
Of the first 7 comments, 4 are blaming National and Key and another could be making a veiled jab (catching up with Oz).
Why does this sentiment not seem to show up in any of the opinion polls?
I think that the reporter is using median there when they should be using average. There’s no way that the median wage equals the average wage and yet that is what is being reported.
That sentiment does show up in the opinion polls with roughly one in four voters blaming Key and National for society’s problems. Unhappy people are more likely to comment on a stuff story than a higly paid Tories.
We just need to increase that ratio to get rid of them.
Forbes finds NZ second best place in the world to do business.
Translation: second easiest place in the world to fleece the locals.
RIP Steve Jobs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/06/steve-jobs-obituary
I just logged on to my internet and I was greeted with the news that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has passed away.
Whatever your views are concerning Apple, I think their can be no denying Jobs’ impact on technology and how people relate to technology.
Vale.
Probably the stupidest poll stuff has ever run:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5741410/NZX-CEO-Mark-Weldon-steps-down
Who would you like to replace Mark Weldon as head of the NZX?
* Dan Carter
* John Key
* Theresa Gattung
* Bernie Madoff
* Gareth Morgan
* Paul Reynolds
I voted Key, of course.
I voted Bernard Madoff. At least then we’d be in no doubt that it was a criminal enterprise.
we should put fay richwhite in
I love quips. What a good way to break a smile and a chuckle when there are so many sombre things around us. Quentin Crisp seemed a very quirky chap 1908-1999. I like this one of his I’ve come across.
Never try to keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper that way.
See that evil fucker Keys latest photo op? He will talk at the slain SAS mans funeral.
Scumbag.
A desperate man will grasp at any straw. Nice to see him at his ‘best’ in the chamber after being called out by Goff. Yep Scumbag my vote too. Key’s Expression said it all.
Nice one bored. the whole world has turned into jerkeys photo op. Why dont they fly him out to the wrecked container ship inTauranga harbour and keep him there till it sinks.
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
Seems the Tauranga oil spill is worse than originally envisaged.
Get a taste, everybody, of the risks of NACT’s deepwater oil exploration bonanza. Plus fracking – hey, let’s inject some poisonous chemicals into the land!
One part of the fuel ship is buried in the reef and the other in deep water. It sounds as if the ship ran aground on the reef. Late at night. Was anyone awake monitoring the controls or was the ship on fly-by-wire? Comments are that no-one understands how it happened. Too late, the damage is done whether understood or not.
What we need to understand is that high-tech solutions for demanding projects in difficult sites can not be guaranteed 100% to prevent disasters that may change the local environment for ever, and kill off food sources the world is dependent on. Even making nutritious-like food substitutes from oil aren’t going to fill our bellies. Resigned withdrawing from such projects is the new way forward for thinking power brokers.
Guess that just leaves the unthinking power brokers being given a free pass by an unthinking NZ government.
That’s funny. Went to listen on Radio replay, to Bomber Bradbury on the Panel after mike e said about the free expression of Bomber, but there is no Part 2. Does that mean that it has been censored off air? Surely not? Jim? Will write to them and ask why not.
Hmm I wondered what happened there too.
Watch Jay Carney squirm…
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/obama-justice-sieg-heil/