"The uncanny confluence of Putin's invasion and the IPCC report is a stark reminder: fossil fuel powers the worst crises facing our planet. If we use this moment to get off oil and gas, we have a fighting chance as a planet."
Poot’s wants to out do his mentor Stalin and to be remembered as one of the nastiest little barstard’s the Soviet Union has produced, the guy has severe mental health issues similar to Kim Jong Il from North Korea. All this shit is totally unnecessary.
And lets not forget one Roger Owen Douglas, who in 1992 gave a series of speeches on economics in Russia as part of a privatisation advisory committee organised by the World Bank.
You think ? Ive NEVER heard of him. You've assumed something….. I hadnt even thought !
My post was likening the RUSSIAN oligarchs to …..as I said. Fay, Richwhite, Myers, and all of their NZ ilk. Remember the Business Roundtable ? As every other person commenting on it noted.
Justice needs to be seen to be done for the people of Syria
The Ukrainian Security Services need to hand over the captured Russian Air Force Major to the ICC to be investigated for involvement in committing war crimes in Syria.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reported that a Russian Air Force pilot who took part in the war in Syria and met with the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, has been captured.
"For him, bombing civilian cities is nothing new. As the criminal himself tells it, he didn't think about concepts like 'residential blocks of flats or neighbourhoods': 'There are just targets with coordinates'".
Valentyna Romanenko — Saturday, 5 March 2022, 17:32
There can be little doubt that Major Krasnoyartsev was involved directly or knew of the multiple war crimes committed in Syria by the Russian air force.
Syrians celebrate Ukraine capturing Russian pilot accused of Aleppo air strikes
People who fled Moscow’s Middle East bombing campaign ‘avenged’ after plane flown by Major Krasnoyartsev was shot down north of Kyiv
388 infections per 100K people reported last 7 days
Updated 11:08 PM NZDT
Average number of new infections reported each day in Ukraine falls by more than 7,300 over the last 3 weeks, 21% of its previous peak
COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Ukraine, with 24,623 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 68% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on February 10.
Sometimes you wonder why US firms continue to enable the United States to be the dominant economic power in the world, and then sometimes you don't need to wonder at all.
This analysis showing how Tesla is simply slaying German car makers both now and into the future is a bracing read for sad bastard still aspiring to a luxury European marque.
This article doesn't tell much truth it looks like an advertorial for Tesla.
Teslas profits are mainly from govt subsidies for electric vehicles.take those away and Tesla is barely profitable.
Then comparing Tesla reliability to VW and Mercedes is a joke you here something about Tesla's breaking down killing occupants brakes coming on of their own accord.
China would have given Tesla massive subsidies to built a factory in China ,Germany has done like wise.
The chip shortage and covid have disrupted supply lines factories are shutting down production until supply lines are back up to speed.
Musk is running a ponzi type business to claim carbon credits and govt subsidies.
One massive problem Tesla owners have is no dealerships handy for the continuous repairs needed.
Daimler/Mercedes have had field tests for commercial trucks for years in Europe. This I know because my partner's employer visited at the start of the trials and has an order already placed. (There's another manufacturer/supplier I can't recall at present.) They were ahead of Tesla in this market, significant for transitioning of the transport industry.
Also, Tesla has a habit of overpromising and under delivering.
You say "Poot's getting what he wants." ahead of a twitter post that there are shortages. Are you really saying that shortages of goods in Russia is actually what Putin was trying to achieve?
Given my contact with someone with knowledge of this project, I agree with the concerns raised in the first letter.
The second reads badly, and conflates 'science' as bad, without the influence of Mātauranga. When we should all know science is a discipline. As a tool it can be used positively or negatively.
Really? So you are saying that our 5.9% is merely typical and all due to the pandemic of Covid 19?
In that case, given that the apologists for our present Government like to claim we are less affected by Covid 19 than almost any other country why is our inflation rate so much higher than other countries?
For 2021 Japan was 0.5%, China 0.9%, Saudi Arabia 1.2%, Switzerland 2.2%, Taiwan 2.8% and Norway 3.2%.
Why are they doing so much better than we are? Those are just samples of course. A full list is at the reference below and we are a long way down the list.
That’s a bit naughty alwyn! Quoting nz’s current inflation rate and comparing it to the historical rates of other countries.
For a real comparison here is a chart (from your source link of NZ’s inflation rate over the past 3 years:
"Quoting nz’s current inflation rate and comparing it to the historical rates of other countries" "is a bit naughty" you say? Try looking at the source of my results.
They are all the latest figures available and in general they are a month or two later than the New Zealand one. New Zealand was the year to Dec 21. Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Norway were the year ending Jan/22 and Switzerland was Feb 22.
Current for New Zealand against historical for the other's? Rubbish. If you really got pedantic you would say it is the other way round, as the New Zealand numbers are a month older.
I merely said, slightly loosely I admit, that they were all for the year 2021.
The inflation is, in every case in my opinion, caused by the enormous deficits countries are running.
If you prefer it just call it printing money. We aren't quite as bad as the USA but we are a great deal worse than countries we consider our peers.
However our inflation is almost totally due to our own actions. It isn't Covid 19 causing it, as Barfly would like us to think. It is our "printing money" as it is termed. It is Robertson throwing money at anything he likes, regardless as to the effect it is having on inflation in New Zealand. Like many amateurs in the subject he likes the power of wasting our resources on rubbish.
"However our inflation is almost totally due to our own actions."
Which inflation? Housing(asset), you may have a case…. but energy, shipping and commodity prices are all outside our control except in that we placed ourselves in the position to be vulnerable to those risks over previous decades,
Government borrowing is very low comparatively and most of that borrowing remains unspent and therefore cannot be inflationary….and wages have been running behind inflation for years so its difficult to attribute inflation to domestic wages.
Which all goes to make a nonsense of Nationals announcement… and it will likely get them the votes they want.
Government net debt went from about 58 billion in 2019 to about $83 billion in 2020 and then to around $102 billion in 2021. That seems to be quite a large increase to me.
This is completely a ridiculous claim of course. Your essentially positing some kind of demand pull inflation, except we recorded the absence of massive incomes and spending needed to pull demand.
Meanwhile we have actually observed disruptions, delays and costs imposed on businesses by Covid-19 public health measures, and the direct impacts of infections (which are on going) and somehow you claim businesses are not responding in a supply side manner to this supply side shock.
Well, billions of that money kept employees being paid during covid, so probably better for the country than unemployment going through the roof. Even kept the taxpayers' "union" going.
Yes. What was done in 2020 during the first lockdown made sense. The trouble is that the Government fell in love with the idea that they can just create money and run deficits without penalty for ever.
Well they can't and it is coming home to bite us. Unfortunately the RBNZ Governor has also caught the bug. Unfortunately Adrian isn't in the intellectual class of some of his predecessors.
"The level of global economic activity is generating rising inflation pressures, exacerbated by ongoing supply disruptions."
and
"The near-term rise in inflation is accentuated by higher oil prices, rising transport costs, and the impact of supply shortfalls."
I am sure this is information you would prefer not to know as it does not follow Mr. Luxon's drivel about the NZ Government policies causing inflation.
The US Government deficit was $3.13 trillion in the 2020 fiscal year and $2.77 trillion in the 2021 year. In 2021 they collected about $4.05 trillion and spent around $6.82 trillion. The only amazing thing about it is that inflation has only reached 7.5%
Thus the US policies were similar to our own, and had the same effect. Why did you expect us to follow the same policies as the US and not get the same results?
The substantive increases in food cost inflation ( fao 20.7% over last 12 months) is also a mixture of speculation and sustainable mandates ( biofuels)
The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 140.7 points in February 2022, up 5.3 points (3.9 percent) from January and as much as 24.1 points (20.7 percent) above its level a year ago. This represents a new all-time high, exceeding the previous top of February 2011 by 3.1 points. The February rise was led by large increases in vegetable oil and dairy price sub-indices. Cereals and meat prices were also up, while the sugar price sub-index fell for the third consecutive month.
"Foetal alcohol injuries in NZ 'could be five times higher' than some official figures suggest"
Highly likely we live in a country with approximately 250,000 poor souls with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome…most of whom will be undiagnosed and unsupported, with a life long disability/"injury?" that they have no ability to deal with.
And…with a Government that is clearly determined not to have the facts laid bare.
A tragedy for not just these people, but for every person who has crossed paths with someone so afflicted, with no understanding of what the problem actually is let alone how they can help…or why the help they offer seems futile..
and of course, and as usual, the irony of our Market worshiping Budget restrained Government actually ignoring the real cost of this feigned "ignorance"…
Shane Reti making a pig's breakfast of using charts.
In an effort to make self-harm admissions look inflated over covid (and how inflated might they be if we'd had hundreds or thousands of covid dead in another question), Reti tweeted a chart that was multiple kinds of misleading. The thread is interesting.
And this dude is a doctor,I assume his twitter is in the hands of junior staffers: a medical doctor should be able to create better propaganda than that.
Yes, self harm is a serious issue that has been affected in a number of ways by lockdowns, mandates, a fucking global pandemic that has killed millions, and all sorts of other issues well beyond the control of the NZ govt. Yes, the govt should resource mental health and the entire health system to a much higher level.
There are ways to address this without resorting to cut-price tactics, if one wants to be an effective politician who improves the lives of citizens. This chicanery is more the purview of someone without any practical ideas.
Oh wow – apparently the tweets were done to promote an opinion piece Reti wrote for the Herald/Northern Advocate, which has been pulled.
Reti reckons it's fine, as "He defended the article, nothing [sic: "noting"?McF] that he had said “further data analysis” was needed in the text of the piece."
Further data analysis, like actually competent and honest analysis.
Seeing increasing advice to take it easy with covid infect re exercise and exertion, including for some weeks after symptoms have gone. Even with mild covid. Prevent lint complications and long covid
We show that, beyond the first 30 d after infection, individuals with COVID-19 are at increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease spanning several categories, including cerebrovascular disorders, dysrhythmias, ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, heart failure and thromboembolic disease. These risks and burdens were evident even among individuals who were not hospitalized during the acute phase of the infection and increased in a graded fashion according to the care setting during the acute phase (non-hospitalized, hospitalized and admitted to intensive care). Our results provide evidence that the risk and 1-year burden of cardiovascular disease in survivors of acute COVID-19 are substantial
Reti was in Nat government when it slashed youth mental help funding and closed drug and alcohol treatment schemes. In Marlborough in the Key years 25 different health initiatives had funding cuts. Maybe Shane was in charge of stats and planning then.
A poster here recently (I'd attribute if I remembered name) said this war might actually help get clean energy over the line. Here's Jen Psaki (White House Press Secretary):
'Psaki outlined a range of efforts from the Biden administration to increase production of natural gas and oil, but conceded that "domestic production has not insulated us from the price volatility of fossil fuels or the whims of those who control them, such as President Putin. Americans know that."
"The only way to protect US over the long term is to become energy independent," she said, reiterating an administration priority. "That is why the President is so focused on deploying clean energy technologies that don't require fossil fuels bought and sold on the global market, which will always be vulnerable to bad actors." '
Impressed by a line by Brian Turner in one of his essays.
Then in his essay he turns and angles his vision on the ‘conspicuously wealthy.’ How many of those, he wonders, “know in their hearts that much of what they have acquired is not earned, has come at others’ expense.”
Sad that Brian is fading away with Alzheimers. Jillian Sullivan is Brian's partner.
If anyone gets to read his poetry/geography/photography/autobiography books you will get no more loving sense of that part of central Otago than anyone has ever done in the form of Brian Turner.
It is not about the substantive point vis a vis western science and Matauranga Maori but over the use of a phrase saying that the original writers had sent lawyers letters to junior colleagues.
Siouxie Wiles was just one scientist of many who signed the followup open letter. She then made the claim about the letters to junior staff in a column about the differences. This claim was robustly and correctly denied, and Dr Wiles and Stuff taken to task.
You seem to have a bit of malice against Siouxie Wiles.
"It is not about the substantive point vis a vis western science and Matauranga Maori but over the use of a phrase saying that the original writers had sent lawyers letters to junior colleagues."
Yes, that's why I referenced 'porkies'. That claim was a lie.
"You seem to have a bit of malice against Siouxie Wiles."
Not at all. I just enjoy it when people telling porkies in public get held to account.
"You seem to have a bit of malice against Siouxie Wiles."
Not at all.
Not even a hint of malice – just a trivial case of ill will. Someone had to be 2021 NZer of the Year – maybe 2022 (or 2023, or ’26) will be Gypsy's year.
Sounds like she has got the Covid similar to me locked up in my bedroom for 10 days now, very similar symptoms. Dry cough, tight chest, headaches etc and I wasn't even in Wellington.
Well if she is one of those who thinks she was infected with magnetic rays or radiation, unvaccinated and not seeking treatment then she may be in for a rough ride. There are still those who were at the protest who think Covid is a hoax, that the vaccines actually are infecting people with Covid and various other conspiracy theories.
There are several US based websites pulling stories together from around the world about these deniers either of the existence of Covid or of the benefits of vaccination and their journeys in the hospitals.
Breathing is often (usually) affected and the need to breathe is such an automatic and primeval human urge that when covid deniers or the unvaccinated face this inability they often do make tracks to get medical help very quickly.
Wondering if she's got something from what was sprayed on the crowd.
Presumably about Ardern:
"Was it ever real? Did she actually get in legitimately into power? We will have to look at that one day, when we, when the people have taken back the country."
“… one of the worst human beings New Zealand has ever given birth to…”
I remember Amy Winehouse. When she died after the dramas of her life so many said things like, "We could see it happening before our eyes. Why didn't we do something about it."
If you are a friend of Liz Gunn your chance is there.
Is Liz saying there was political interference in the last Election, did Poots interfere in the NZ Election as well ? Interesting allegations hopefully someone can enlighten us on the Standard.
If you are a friend of Liz Gunn your chance is there.
I am sure many friends and family not infected by her conspiracy theories and concerned since October last year about her collapsing mental state, will have tried their very best to get her help. This inability to stop a train wreck occurring in front of one is a very sad part of addictive thinking and being trapped in a cult.
Hopefully if she does get much worse a real person concerned about her health will intervene.
Her fiends interviewing her from Counterspin not so much.
Nice work. Anonymous has hacked at least two streaming sites and several government television stations to broadcast the Ukranian war to Russian people. Putin's war of disinformation is being lost.
Gotta say, the NZDF thing seemed to me to be more about poor procedure and legal argument by the government rather than the general principle at stake. Be interesting to see if the government has learnt its lesson and which way the judgement goes if they have.
Please if you get Omicron, no matter how lightly, REST please or you will have real problems. The Covid Ward Dr on the Gold Coast told Grant " 10 min activity 2hrs rest" '
Omicron is deceptively mild.
Pity our government doesn’t see it that way. As someone who is now in their 4th week another member in their 3rd and still also struggling. Went to doctors with infections and major fatigue and struggling for breath was told as I had past my 10th day and been passed as clear, the cost was unable to be subsided by the govt and had to pay $100 for the visit. Fortunately I can cope financially but had to ring 5 surgeries including my own and was told on 4 instances that they would only do on line, no contact. How do you then diagnose infections then. Feel for the health workers but the system is not appropriate for purpose.
Already have 1 and recoding the trends heart and o2.
and to you muttonbird why just isolate the right I have heard our dir of health, ministers and PM make the same comments, so open your eyes and ears you maybe surprised at what you see/hear., or are you so simple that you have been captured by the pr spin ??
Director of Health and PM are jointly responsible for for continued health measures, mandates, and border controls in order to slow the spread of this variant.
All these policies have been criticised by anti-vax protestors and the right wing alike. Some might say these are the same people.
The spin is yours in trying to claim Bloomfield and Ardern aren't taking this seriously.
No I am staying that all those I mentioned also have stated that this version is mild, but when you are fully captured by PR what hope is there for you to see anything different.
the pm is quoted now go away it is a school night and you need your sleep 😴
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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 ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
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 coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
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 ...
Didn’t see the amazing and exquisite southern lights over the weekend? You’re not alone: Shanti Mathias has some tips on how to cope. Not to gloat, but I had a very lovely weekend. I went for a long bike ride in the sunshine. I read a magazine on the back ...
At the time of the offending, Mr Ape ran Hoop Star Basketball Academy and submitted fraudulent grant applications that represented over $75,000 in fictitious costs. ...
Local authority financial statistics provide information on the annual performance of core non-trading activities of all New Zealand's territorial and regional councils. ...
Kāinga Ora’s debt problem is serious – but so is the urgent need for more affordable homes, says poverty campaigner Alan Johnson. As Kāinga Ora cancels projects and sells land previously earmarked for development, it’s clear that two issues are set to dominate the public housing narrative over the next ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist A National Union of Workers (NUW) official is hopeful Fiji Water employees who have been on strike for almost a week will return to work shortly. Last Tuesday, a group of workers for Fiji Water went on strike over pay disputes at the multi-million ...
True to form, Wellington City Council’s consultation has been a flop. If they’ve been recording residents’ answers incorrectly, then the only option is to go back to the drawing board and start public consultations again from scratch. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Clement, Lecturer in Visual Art and McGlade Gallery Director, Australian Catholic University Tracey Clement, Impossible Numbers.Tracey Clement I slip the needle through a small loop of black thread, pull it tight and snip. Done. I have just tied off the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jochen Kaempf, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences (Oceanography), Flinders University Gonzalo Buzonni/Shutterstock From around 1996 to 2010, Australia was gripped by the millennium drought. As water shortages bit hard, most of Australia’s capital cities built large seawater desalination plants – Sydney, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria O’Sullivan, Associate Professor of Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University Students have been protesting on university campuses across Australia for several weeks now, calling on their institutions to cut ties with weapons manufacturers supplying arms to Israel. Some have noted their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hail, Adjunct Associate Professor, Torrens University Australia Wolfilser/ShutterstockThis article is part one of The Conversation’s “Business Basics” series where we ask leading experts to discuss key concepts in business, economics and finance. For the most part, economists continue ...
Big business is pouring eye-watering sums into parties on the political right. Max Rashbrooke wonders what it’s getting in return. A couple of years ago, a National Party contact told me it had “never been easier” to get big donations from businesses. Anger about the Covid-era “fortress New Zealand” policy, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin O’Brien, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University University campuses around the world have become the site of tiny tent cities in recent weeks, with student activists protesting the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Though the protests on ...
In this extract from The Bulletin, Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the proposed law and the ongoing concern about it. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Where we’re at with the fast-track ...
The revamped school lunch programme is budgeting $3 per lunch, rather than the current $8. But is it really so simple to cut costs? Shanti Mathias investigates. Last week, associate education minister and Act Party leader David Seymour announced the government’s revamped school lunch programme, which will provide food to ...
The New Zealand book trade is still reeling after the shock news that Penguin has axed its head of publishing. The redundancy comes just as the biggest week of the year in New Zealand literature is set to take place. The winners of the Ockham national book awards are announced ...
A rest home with a concierge, iced tea fountain, hybrid Jaguars to drive, and caviar on the menu. That’s not imaginary or from some far-flung country – it’s reality here in Aotearoa. Oceania Healthcare just officially opened ‘The Helier’ – a retirement apartment and aged-care complex in the Auckland suburb ...
Exactly 100 years ago, on the eve of another Paris Olympics, young Kiwi Gwitha Shand was the talk of the swimming world. The 19-year-old from Christchurch had broken the world record in the 440-yard freestyle multiple times leading up to the 1924 Olympics, and was described in newspapers as one ...
The USA and China are beefing, Winston Peters is getting sued by some Australian guy, and Helen Clark and Don Brash are friends now? Here’s everything you need to know about Aukus but were too afraid to ask. What is Aukus?Aukus, which stands for Australia, the United Kingdom, and ...
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Opinion: The cold weather and spikes in power demand have been well handled by the electricity system The post No need to shock with a fake crisis appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report About 1000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand gathered for a two-hour rally in central Auckland today and marched down Queen Street and returned to Aotea Square to mark the Nakba three days early — and protest over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. They called for an immediate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As it looks to an election next year when holding up Labor’s female vote will be vital, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared Tuesday will bring “a budget for mums and middle Australia”. “The primary ...
By Repeka Nasiko in Suva “Justice has won,” says Fiji’s acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku following the sentencing of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho. Speaking to The Fiji Times, Rabuku said that while they welcomed the judgment by acting Chief Justice Salesi ...
The foreign affairs minister has landed in Solomon Islands for the first leg of his Pacific tour, and an audience with the newly elected Prime Minister. ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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Weird to see oil at US$120 a barrel. It's so 1979.
Good to see Bill McKibben encouraging us all to see the moment for what it is.
@billmckibben
"The uncanny confluence of Putin's invasion and the IPCC report is a stark reminder: fossil fuel powers the worst crises facing our planet. If we use this moment to get off oil and gas, we have a fighting chance as a planet."
Poot’s wants to out do his mentor Stalin and to be remembered as one of the nastiest little barstard’s the Soviet Union has produced, the guy has severe mental health issues similar to Kim Jong Il from North Korea. All this shit is totally unnecessary.
https://theconversation.com/meet-russias-oligarchs-a-group-of-men-who-wont-be-toppling-putin-anytime-soon-178474
Yep. They are POS alright. But anyone see a …SIMILARITY with NZ ? Fay,Richwhite !,Myers,etc etc…..
There is a direct comparison.
A high % of NZ's rich list are there compliments of cheap state assets.
The list includes ACT funder Alan Gibbs,NZ's richest man-G.Hart,and the perennial bubble boys Fay/Richwhite.
I think you mean Christopher Chandler – our own NZ billionaire who made bank on major Gazprom shares and property investments in Moscow.
Do not ever accuse him of anything you can't prove in court.
Note he was defended by a UK Conservative MP Steve Baker. You can look up his background for yourself.
I'm not even going to mention what Legatum does.
And lets not forget one Roger Owen Douglas, who in 1992 gave a series of speeches on economics in Russia as part of a privatisation advisory committee organised by the World Bank.
Roger Douglas a lecturer in economics.The only business he ran went bankrupt.
Poverty has remained endemic and grown in NZ since rogernomics
Yes, the dog eat dog “winners and losers model” of the monetarists.
Rogers Pig Farm turned to Pig Shit.
Chandler Russian oligarchs stole all his money and told him to fuck off.
You think ? Ive NEVER heard of him. You've assumed something….. I hadnt even thought !
My post was likening the RUSSIAN oligarchs to …..as I said. Fay, Richwhite, Myers, and all of their NZ ilk. Remember the Business Roundtable ? As every other person commenting on it noted.
Yes it was apparent you hadn't thought and didn't know.
So now you do.
Yea…not really sure where youre coming from. Strange……………..
Exactly – Roger Douglas was basically Chernomyrdin with the redeeming personal qualities.
Justice needs to be seen to be done for the people of Syria
The Ukrainian Security Services need to hand over the captured Russian Air Force Major to the ICC to be investigated for involvement in committing war crimes in Syria.
There can be little doubt that Major Krasnoyartsev was involved directly or knew of the multiple war crimes committed in Syria by the Russian air force.
This post certainly makes mickysavage's 'This is awkward' post from yesterday seem somewhat bombastic.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Which post?
Mike Smith's 'interesting' views on the invasion in Ukraine.
Thanks.
An Ode to Andrew Coster by Victor Billot
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/an-ode-to-andrew-coster
A small …mercy..
Covid cases declining rapidly.
Ukraine
68% of peak and falling
388 infections per 100K people reported last 7 days
Updated 11:08 PM NZDT
Average number of new infections reported each day in Ukraine falls by more than 7,300 over the last 3 weeks, 21% of its previous peak
COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Ukraine, with 24,623 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 68% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on February 10.
Those figures would be hard to substantiate as the countries infrastructure is under extreme pressure.
Sometimes you wonder why US firms continue to enable the United States to be the dominant economic power in the world, and then sometimes you don't need to wonder at all.
This analysis showing how Tesla is simply slaying German car makers both now and into the future is a bracing read for sad bastard still aspiring to a luxury European marque.
The Competitive Weakness of German Automakers Revealed – Fully Charged Show
This article doesn't tell much truth it looks like an advertorial for Tesla.
Teslas profits are mainly from govt subsidies for electric vehicles.take those away and Tesla is barely profitable.
Then comparing Tesla reliability to VW and Mercedes is a joke you here something about Tesla's breaking down killing occupants brakes coming on of their own accord.
China would have given Tesla massive subsidies to built a factory in China ,Germany has done like wise.
The chip shortage and covid have disrupted supply lines factories are shutting down production until supply lines are back up to speed.
Musk is running a ponzi type business to claim carbon credits and govt subsidies.
One massive problem Tesla owners have is no dealerships handy for the continuous repairs needed.
This photo shows what Tesla found in Germany,The bureaucratic wall.
https://twitter.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1499769448374362125?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1499769448374362125%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FSawyerMerritt2Fstatus2F1499769448374362125widget%3DTweet
Daimler/Mercedes have had field tests for commercial trucks for years in Europe. This I know because my partner's employer visited at the start of the trials and has an order already placed. (There's another manufacturer/supplier I can't recall at present.) They were ahead of Tesla in this market, significant for transitioning of the transport industry.
Also, Tesla has a habit of overpromising and under delivering.
Poot's getting what he wants.
https://twitter.com/biannagolodryga/status/1500300730544050177
What is it the Putin wants?
It looks just the same as at my local supermarket yesterday where customers were only allowed to buy one pack of flour.
I suppose the difference is: the supermarkets in western countries do it of their own volition. In Russia it is done by government decree.
The difference between democracy and autocracy.
Had Labour issued an edict that you were only allowed to buy one pack of flour you'd have a point. But they haven't.
/
You say "Poot's getting what he wants." ahead of a twitter post that there are shortages. Are you really saying that shortages of goods in Russia is actually what Putin was trying to achieve?
He's certainly gone about the right way of achieving food shortages ?
Poots is acting out from the deficiencies of his childhood (well that is my theory anyway).
https://acestoohigh.com/2022/03/02/how-vladimir-putins-childhood-is-affecting-us-all/
Interesting read explains everything now. actually feel sorry for the guy, he needs physcological help.
Gee somebody might think that the supply chains were disrupted by a pandemic….
/sarc
https://www.stuff.co.nz/about-stuff/complaints-and-corrections/127946397/media-council-upholds-professors-complaint
media council uphold complaint from the Listener 7. Stuff alleged they had sent intimidating lawyers letters to junior staff. It wasn’t true
Articles to read in order:
In Defence of Science Article – copy of Listener article
An open response to 'In defence of science' New Zealand Listener (July 23)
Given my contact with someone with knowledge of this project, I agree with the concerns raised in the first letter.
The second reads badly, and conflates 'science' as bad, without the influence of Mātauranga. When we should all know science is a discipline. As a tool it can be used positively or negatively.
RNZ has a good outline.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/447898/university-academics-claim-matauranga-maori-not-science-sparks-controversy
I blame Twitter, .
I wonder if Jacinda will decide to no longer appear on Ryan bridges show after this interview as she did with Hoskings show?
'I totally reject that': PM denies Govt wasteful spending, pushes back on claim NZ in cost of living crisis (msn.com)
Jester as you very well know pandemic related inflation is a world wide problem please troll better
Really? So you are saying that our 5.9% is merely typical and all due to the pandemic of Covid 19?
In that case, given that the apologists for our present Government like to claim we are less affected by Covid 19 than almost any other country why is our inflation rate so much higher than other countries?
For 2021 Japan was 0.5%, China 0.9%, Saudi Arabia 1.2%, Switzerland 2.2%, Taiwan 2.8% and Norway 3.2%.
Why are they doing so much better than we are? Those are just samples of course. A full list is at the reference below and we are a long way down the list.
https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/inflation-rate?continent=world
That’s a bit naughty alwyn! Quoting nz’s current inflation rate and comparing it to the historical rates of other countries.
For a real comparison here is a chart (from your source link of NZ’s inflation rate over the past 3 years:
"Quoting nz’s current inflation rate and comparing it to the historical rates of other countries" "is a bit naughty" you say? Try looking at the source of my results.
They are all the latest figures available and in general they are a month or two later than the New Zealand one. New Zealand was the year to Dec 21. Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Norway were the year ending Jan/22 and Switzerland was Feb 22.
Current for New Zealand against historical for the other's? Rubbish. If you really got pedantic you would say it is the other way round, as the New Zealand numbers are a month older.
I merely said, slightly loosely I admit, that they were all for the year 2021.
NZ seems to be about middle of that list (91/185), lower than USA on 7.2% and only slightly higher (<1%) than EU and UK.
But hey, keep at it. Sooner or later you might actually find a genuine comparison that makes the govt look bad internationally.
The inflation is, in every case in my opinion, caused by the enormous deficits countries are running.
If you prefer it just call it printing money. We aren't quite as bad as the USA but we are a great deal worse than countries we consider our peers.
However our inflation is almost totally due to our own actions. It isn't Covid 19 causing it, as Barfly would like us to think. It is our "printing money" as it is termed. It is Robertson throwing money at anything he likes, regardless as to the effect it is having on inflation in New Zealand. Like many amateurs in the subject he likes the power of wasting our resources on rubbish.
"However our inflation is almost totally due to our own actions."
Which inflation? Housing(asset), you may have a case…. but energy, shipping and commodity prices are all outside our control except in that we placed ourselves in the position to be vulnerable to those risks over previous decades,
Government borrowing is very low comparatively and most of that borrowing remains unspent and therefore cannot be inflationary….and wages have been running behind inflation for years so its difficult to attribute inflation to domestic wages.
Which all goes to make a nonsense of Nationals announcement… and it will likely get them the votes they want.
Government net debt went from about 58 billion in 2019 to about $83 billion in 2020 and then to around $102 billion in 2021. That seems to be quite a large increase to me.
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/government-debt
If you have access to it have a look at what Grant Spencer has to say about what the RBNZ has been up to.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/former-acting-governor-says-reserve-banks-loose-policy-is-increasing-the-risk-of-recession/ZADRXP4UAR6AXQHAEHLQZ5DI5Q/
36 billion sitting in Crown settlement Account
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/markets-and-payments/our-balance-sheet-at-work
And GDP remains bellow 2019 levels so the borrowing that has been used hasnt even made up for the lost activity….hardly inflationary.
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/gdp
This is completely a ridiculous claim of course. Your essentially positing some kind of demand pull inflation, except we recorded the absence of massive incomes and spending needed to pull demand.
Meanwhile we have actually observed disruptions, delays and costs imposed on businesses by Covid-19 public health measures, and the direct impacts of infections (which are on going) and somehow you claim businesses are not responding in a supply side manner to this supply side shock.
Well, billions of that money kept employees being paid during covid, so probably better for the country than unemployment going through the roof. Even kept the taxpayers' "union" going.
Yes. What was done in 2020 during the first lockdown made sense. The trouble is that the Government fell in love with the idea that they can just create money and run deficits without penalty for ever.
Well they can't and it is coming home to bite us. Unfortunately the RBNZ Governor has also caught the bug. Unfortunately Adrian isn't in the intellectual class of some of his predecessors.
Seems like Orr is just like his predecessors….new boss=same as old..boss.
All very nice rhetoric, but if they were as incompetent as all that then we'd be a bit higher up the inflation rate rankings than the middle.
So we're running a bit hot on one guage, while the other guages are doing better than many nations (most importantly, fatalities).
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/461311/us-inflation-hits-7-point-5-percent-highest-since-1982
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12196322 inflation 7%
In January 2022, Canadian inflation surpassed 5% for the first time since September 1991, rising 5.1% on a year-over-year basis
In its Winter 2022 outlook, the EU projects an average Irish rate of inflation of 4.6% this year
Alwyn somehow I doubt NZ government policies are creating inflation in USA, UK, Canada, Ireland et cetera.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2022/02/more-tightening-needed
Statement from NZ reserve bank includes this
"The level of global economic activity is generating rising inflation pressures, exacerbated by ongoing supply disruptions."
and
"The near-term rise in inflation is accentuated by higher oil prices, rising transport costs, and the impact of supply shortfalls."
I am sure this is information you would prefer not to know as it does not follow Mr. Luxon's drivel about the NZ Government policies causing inflation.
The US Government deficit was $3.13 trillion in the 2020 fiscal year and $2.77 trillion in the 2021 year. In 2021 they collected about $4.05 trillion and spent around $6.82 trillion. The only amazing thing about it is that inflation has only reached 7.5%
Thus the US policies were similar to our own, and had the same effect. Why did you expect us to follow the same policies as the US and not get the same results?
The production of funny money had done more for inflation,and inequality then the pandemic.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1469296635167526913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1469296635167526913%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fnntaleb2Fstatus2F1469296635167526913widget%3DTweet
The substantive increases in food cost inflation ( fao 20.7% over last 12 months) is also a mixture of speculation and sustainable mandates ( biofuels)
https://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/
https://twitter.com/A_Riley17/status/1499390386992652303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1499390386992652303%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FA_Riley172Fstatus2F1499390386992652303widget%3DTweet
"Unless housing prices and stock prices crash inflation is not going away"
….or 'when' housing and stock prices crash inflation will end.
Not long now I suspect.
I suspect your right.
Highly likely we live in a country with approximately 250,000 poor souls with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome…most of whom will be undiagnosed and unsupported, with a life long disability/"injury?" that they have no ability to deal with.
And…with a Government that is clearly determined not to have the facts laid bare.
A tragedy for not just these people, but for every person who has crossed paths with someone so afflicted, with no understanding of what the problem actually is let alone how they can help…or why the help they offer seems futile..
and of course, and as usual, the irony of our Market worshiping Budget restrained Government actually ignoring the real cost of this feigned "ignorance"…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/stuff-circuit/300532318/foetal-alcohol-injuries-in-nz-could-be-five-times-higher-than-some-official-figures-suggest
Been close friends with a family where one member had this diagnosis.
Devastating, and lacking understanding and support in services meant to assist.
Shane Reti making a pig's breakfast of using charts.
In an effort to make self-harm admissions look inflated over covid (and how inflated might they be if we'd had hundreds or thousands of covid dead in another question), Reti tweeted a chart that was multiple kinds of misleading. The thread is interesting.
Firstly, the chart was tweeted, then edited because whoever did the fabrication couldn't even get that right. As for the intended fabrication, it seems that the straight lines in the chart are simply drawn between two largely arbitrary datapoints in a sequence that has wide variability from month to month.
And this dude is a doctor,I assume his twitter is in the hands of junior staffers: a medical doctor should be able to create better propaganda than that.
Yes, self harm is a serious issue that has been affected in a number of ways by lockdowns, mandates, a fucking global pandemic that has killed millions, and all sorts of other issues well beyond the control of the NZ govt. Yes, the govt should resource mental health and the entire health system to a much higher level.
There are ways to address this without resorting to cut-price tactics, if one wants to be an effective politician who improves the lives of citizens. This chicanery is more the purview of someone without any practical ideas.
We were one of the few countries that had a lower than normal mortality rate.
Reti has caught National former health spokesperson disease imaginary people sneeking in an out of hospital.
Look where that got him into the outhouse. Or as simple Simon would he fn useless.
Oh wow – apparently the tweets were done to promote an opinion piece Reti wrote for the Herald/Northern Advocate, which has been pulled.
Reti reckons it's fine, as "He defended the article, nothing [sic: "noting"?McF] that he had said “further data analysis” was needed in the text of the piece."
Further data analysis, like actually competent and honest analysis.
When I was a kid I loved comics. In light of the circumstances a relatively recent comic bears looking at again. Ukraine.
"We hired 2 comic creators from the world of DC and Marvel to tell the full story of why Trump was impeached, and what he got away with."
https://www.insider.com/trump-impeachment-graphic-feature-comic-2020-2
Seeing increasing advice to take it easy with covid infect re exercise and exertion, including for some weeks after symptoms have gone. Even with mild covid. Prevent lint complications and long covid
https://twitter.com/drannanz/status/1500557818621206528?s=21
They do not link or say why,but the big news is overlooked.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1499953051251232769
Paper here.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01689-3
"could lead to worse disease" – well they are the professionals frankly I think over exertion with covid can lead to death quite easily.
A poster here recently (I'd attribute if I remembered name) said this war might actually help get clean energy over the line. Here's Jen Psaki (White House Press Secretary):
'Psaki outlined a range of efforts from the Biden administration to increase production of natural gas and oil, but conceded that "domestic production has not insulated us from the price volatility of fossil fuels or the whims of those who control them, such as President Putin. Americans know that."
"The only way to protect US over the long term is to become energy independent," she said, reiterating an administration priority. "That is why the President is so focused on deploying clean energy technologies that don't require fossil fuels bought and sold on the global market, which will always be vulnerable to bad actors." '
Good call.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/06/politics/us-officials-action-ukraine/index.html
Impressed by a line by Brian Turner in one of his essays.
Sad that Brian is fading away with Alzheimers. Jillian Sullivan is Brian's partner.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/portrait-brian-turner?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=d2bf48f08b-Daily+Briefing+07.03.2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-d2bf48f08b-95522477
+100 outstanding article.
If anyone gets to read his poetry/geography/photography/autobiography books you will get no more loving sense of that part of central Otago than anyone has ever done in the form of Brian Turner.
Totally agree with Ad. +100 outstanding article.
Beautiful writing, style and substance, insight and understanding. Prose and poetry together.
NZMC find against Stuff and Siouxsie Wiles for publishing porkies. Great to see the system works sometimes.
The Herald removes the Reti piece for the misleading graph, lolz!
Yes the decision notes the somewhat sloppy approach Stuff took to correcting the misinformation.
Clear that you have not read the decision.
It is not about the substantive point vis a vis western science and Matauranga Maori but over the use of a phrase saying that the original writers had sent lawyers letters to junior colleagues.
Siouxie Wiles was just one scientist of many who signed the followup open letter. She then made the claim about the letters to junior staff in a column about the differences. This claim was robustly and correctly denied, and Dr Wiles and Stuff taken to task.
You seem to have a bit of malice against Siouxie Wiles.
"It is not about the substantive point vis a vis western science and Matauranga Maori but over the use of a phrase saying that the original writers had sent lawyers letters to junior colleagues."
Yes, that's why I referenced 'porkies'. That claim was a lie.
"You seem to have a bit of malice against Siouxie Wiles."
Not at all. I just enjoy it when people telling porkies in public get held to account.
Not even a hint of malice – just a trivial case of ill will. Someone had to be 2021 NZer of the Year – maybe 2022 (or 2023, or ’26) will be Gypsy's year.
Men, Women, and Ghosts in Science
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040019
The article itself should be apologised for.
Full of sound and fury,… signifying nothing.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/300480580/academics-use-your-mana-to-aid-colleagues-not-fight-them
Well said.
I hope she gets well soon. And doesn't infect too many other people.
Sounds like she has got the Covid similar to me locked up in my bedroom for 10 days now, very similar symptoms. Dry cough, tight chest, headaches etc and I wasn't even in Wellington.
I can't help wondering howLiz Gunn is getting on?
Is she getting better, is she getting worse?
Is she isolating or spreading it around?
Has she sought medical attention?
Has she tried Ivermectin?
Definitely Covid IMO has she had a RAT Test or a proper Nasal Swab ?
Well if she is one of those who thinks she was infected with magnetic rays or radiation, unvaccinated and not seeking treatment then she may be in for a rough ride. There are still those who were at the protest who think Covid is a hoax, that the vaccines actually are infecting people with Covid and various other conspiracy theories.
There are several US based websites pulling stories together from around the world about these deniers either of the existence of Covid or of the benefits of vaccination and their journeys in the hospitals.
Breathing is often (usually) affected and the need to breathe is such an automatic and primeval human urge that when covid deniers or the unvaccinated face this inability they often do make tracks to get medical help very quickly.
Reported comment from an American nurse:
“None of the vaccine sceptics seem to be treatment sceptics.
Every single one of my unvaccinated Covid patients blindly accepts being pumped full of various drugs when their own life is tangibly on the line.”
When was this? Apparently she was lunching out during the weekend.
OMG
Red appears to lack Logic at times.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
The Liz Gunn video.
Wondering if she's got something from what was sprayed on the crowd.
Presumably about Ardern:
"Was it ever real? Did she actually get in legitimately into power? We will have to look at that one day, when we, when the people have taken back the country."
“… one of the worst human beings New Zealand has ever given birth to…”
I remember Amy Winehouse. When she died after the dramas of her life so many said things like, "We could see it happening before our eyes. Why didn't we do something about it."
If you are a friend of Liz Gunn your chance is there.
Is Liz saying there was political interference in the last Election, did Poots interfere in the NZ Election as well ? Interesting allegations hopefully someone can enlighten us on the Standard.
Interesting allegations? No. They're in the strategies in Chapter One of "Starting Conspiracy Theories to Sink Someone."
Part of the chapter is about how to appeal to simpletons to gently get them to spread rumours.
I hope you feel enlightened.
I am sure many friends and family not infected by her conspiracy theories and concerned since October last year about her collapsing mental state, will have tried their very best to get her help. This inability to stop a train wreck occurring in front of one is a very sad part of addictive thinking and being trapped in a cult.
Hopefully if she does get much worse a real person concerned about her health will intervene.
Her fiends interviewing her from Counterspin not so much.
Nice work. Anonymous has hacked at least two streaming sites and several government television stations to broadcast the Ukranian war to Russian people. Putin's war of disinformation is being lost.
Good to see Justice Francis Cooke hearing this case about vaccine mandates affecting teachers and medical specialists.
Zero tolerance for unvaccinated doctors and teachers necessary to prevent transmission, Crown tells judge | Stuff.co.nz
This is the same judge that made the rulings on the NZPolice and NZDF mandates and found them wanting.
I suspect he's going to have to weigh severity and spread of Omicron, as well as access to essential medical services.
Hopefully with the same judge we get more and more precedent that is very consistent in its framing and language.
Also the same judge who upheld requirements for aviation security workers to be covid-vaccinated.
Gotta say, the NZDF thing seemed to me to be more about poor procedure and legal argument by the government rather than the general principle at stake. Be interesting to see if the government has learnt its lesson and which way the judgement goes if they have.
Please if you get Omicron, no matter how lightly, REST please or you will have real problems. The Covid Ward Dr on the Gold Coast told Grant " 10 min activity 2hrs rest" '
Omicron is deceptively mild.
Absolutely – one of the big problems with Covid affecting the lungs is the blood oxygen saturation rate
"A healthy oxygen saturation level ranges between 95% and 100%"
I have read of Covid patients with levels as low as 60%. Oxygen deficit from exertion with Covid is easy to do and likely to kill you.
Pity our government doesn’t see it that way. As someone who is now in their 4th week another member in their 3rd and still also struggling. Went to doctors with infections and major fatigue and struggling for breath was told as I had past my 10th day and been passed as clear, the cost was unable to be subsided by the govt and had to pay $100 for the visit. Fortunately I can cope financially but had to ring 5 surgeries including my own and was told on 4 instances that they would only do on line, no contact. How do you then diagnose infections then. Feel for the health workers but the system is not appropriate for purpose.
If you are struggling for breath I recommend looking at buying an oximeter
https://www.chemistwarehouse.co.nz/search?searchtext=oximeter
They stock 2 brands look around for reviews and other suppliers to choose between
If your oxygen saturation is below 92% you very likely have a problem
Already have 1 and recoding the trends heart and o2.
and to you muttonbird why just isolate the right I have heard our dir of health, ministers and PM make the same comments, so open your eyes and ears you maybe surprised at what you see/hear., or are you so simple that you have been captured by the pr spin ??
Director of Health and PM are jointly responsible for for continued health measures, mandates, and border controls in order to slow the spread of this variant.
All these policies have been criticised by anti-vax protestors and the right wing alike. Some might say these are the same people.
The spin is yours in trying to claim Bloomfield and Ardern aren't taking this seriously.
No I am staying that all those I mentioned also have stated that this version is mild, but when you are fully captured by PR what hope is there for you to see anything different.
the pm is quoted now go away it is a school night and you need your sleep 😴
“Because of vaccinations, it will be a mild to moderate illness which can be managed at home, she said.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/460016/watch-jacinda-ardern-and-ashley-bloomfield-hold-covid-19-briefing-on-omicron
This can't be true because we are told by pandemic sceptics and other forms of right wing people that Omicron is mild.
Luxon tests positive for covid.
Shoulda learned to wear his damned mask properly.
Is he an essential worker?
Yes
Essential to the 1%!
He’s the captain of a tight ship but he can’t smell the RATs below deck due to Covid. Is there a doctor other than Dr Reti in the house?
Ha! Well the was Dr Smith – “Oh, the pain, the pain of it all.”
https://michaelstvtray.com/2018/02/18/oh-the-pain-of-it-all/
Nah, he wasn’t a real doctor like Dr Jonathan Coleman.
Oops, I thought you were referring to Dr Nick Smith because you were still editing your comment …
The 1% you say ?
Not according to the latest Roy Morgan polling.
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8912-nz-national-voting-intention-february-2022-202203070501
One way or another, all voters vote for the 1%.