Open mike 07/03/2024
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- Merry Christmas To All Bowalley Road Readers.
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...9 hours ago - Merry Christmas: 2024
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...1 day ago - Meri Kirihimete 2024
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...1 day ago - Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix for Tues, Dec 24
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...1 day ago - A Birthday Wish!
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...1 day ago - Love, happiness, blur
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...2 days ago - All I Want For Christmas
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...2 days ago - The 1 Good Thing Left In Journalism
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...2 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Monday, December 23
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...2 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...3 days ago - Dance Magic
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...3 days ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...3 days ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...4 days ago
- As Our Power Lessens: Published
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...4 days ago - By Any Other Name.
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...4 days ago
- Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...4 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...4 days ago - 2024 OIA stats
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...5 days ago - Climate Change: A perverse incentive
The government published its first Biennial Transparency Report under the Paris Agreement yesterday, and the media has correctly noted that it is missing any plan to actually meet our target. While it hypes domestic emissions reductions so far - which have been good, but will likely get worse thanks to ...5 days ago
- Economic Bulletin December 2024
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...5 days ago - NZCTU make submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...5 days ago
- ZB’s Power Couple
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...5 days ago - Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...5 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 20-December-2024
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...5 days ago - The Hoon around the year to December 20, 2024
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...5 days ago
- The baby-boomers’ last gasp
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...5 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...6 days ago
- Join us at 5pm for 2024’s last Hoon
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...6 days ago - Christmas Gifts: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...6 days ago
- GDP Figures No Christmas Present for New Zealand
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...6 days ago
- Cheeseburgers and Stunt Monkeys
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...6 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...6 days ago
- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...6 days ago - Back on Track
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...6 days ago - Book Review: How Big Things Get Done
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner Want to know how to do something big? Ask someone who has done it before! Professor Bent Flyvbjerg has spent his career studying megaprojects. In 2023, ...6 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...7 days ago - Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...7 days ago - Handling Democracy.
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...7 days ago
- Open letter to the Minister of Dwindling Finances
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...7 days ago - Open Government: The joke ends
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...7 days ago
- An unusual sort of press conference
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...7 days ago - This substack has talked about this government’s seeming corruption & pro-corporate issues...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...7 days ago - NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...7 days ago
- Wednesday 18 December
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...1 week ago
- Can the government change its mind on the ferries?
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...1 week ago
- Notes from Afar: Will Luxon Attend Waitangi Day? And Opposition Calls Out Nicola Willis for “C...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...1 week ago - Member’s morning
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...1 week ago
- Going Backwards
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...1 week ago - Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more Austerity
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...1 week ago
- December-24 AT Board Meeting
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...1 week ago
- The Making of a Mental Health Rockstar
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...1 week ago - It could have been worse
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...1 week ago
- The Deep Divisions of Local Government
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...1 week ago - Willis’ austerity strategy just isn’t working
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...1 week ago
- Sabin 33 #7 – Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities?
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...1 week ago
- Join us for a pop-up Hoon at 5pm on HYEFU
1 week ago - ‘Ideas Worth Saving’: A Call for Papers
Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...1 week ago
- Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...1 week ago
- HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...1 week ago
- “Better economic management”
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...1 week ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...1 week ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...1 week ago
- Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...1 week ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...1 week ago
- 8% ACT Party Creates One Ring To Rule Them All
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...1 week ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...1 week ago
- Govt to double number of toll roads
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...1 week ago
- Luxon’s pre-emptive strike
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...1 week ago
- More public service contempt of parliament
Back in 2023 the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties raised concerns about the inherent conflict of interest involved in public service agencies supporting parliamentary select committees. Our parliament is run on a shoestring, so depends on the public service for advice. But public service agencies work for Ministers, not ...1 week ago
- If There Is A God
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...1 week ago
- National’s Greatest Misses 2023-4
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...5 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...5 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...5 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...5 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...6 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...6 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...6 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...7 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...1 week ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...1 week ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...1 week ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...1 week ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...1 week ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...1 week ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...1 week ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...1 week ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...1 week ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...2 weeks ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
- Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...2 weeks ago
- Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...2 weeks ago
- Winston Peters – Kinleith Mill Speech
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...2 weeks ago - Swarbrick calls on Auckland Mayor to end delay of revival of St James Theatre
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...2 weeks ago
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My understanding from the emergency housing announcement yesterday is that it’s a labelling change dressed up being as something meaningful.
It’s as much garbage as the famous National “Comprehensive Housing Plan.”
How did that work out? And how did the motel angle work out then?
Does the matter raised by joe909 yesterday have any bearing upon this?
joe909
6 March 2024 at 10:29 pm
[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.]
By which I meant, would Judith's on-line messaging be taken into account by the judge if the open letter was to be taken seriously.
What open letter? (ETA presumably the thread on the letter to Judge Glubb)
This was from an X account AFTER the sentencing.
Are you speaking of the victim impact statement that she was not allowed to read in court and which was later released in a redacted form by the Police?
I think that had this case been carefully and correctly handled then the victim would not have felt that she had to say taihoa on all the SM statements that have been swirling around since the sentencing. Some of these are very anti the defendant, mostly around the implication that having Autism/ADHD has some bearing on whether these conditions prevent the ability to know right from wrong.
She is asking that things be dialled down and for that I can only commend her. Her quest was for justice not a witch hunt.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-letter-to-judge-glubb/
Old habits die hard.
/
Shaun Walker
@shaunwalker7
Population transfers, kidnappings, broken families, deportations and spending on new propaganda outlets. Lots of interviews, as well as info from some leaked Kremlin internal documents, in my story about life in occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/06/deportation-re-population-russia-occupied-ukraine-zaporizhzhia
https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/status/1765344370230767786
"The Prime Minister spent two nights at Premier House over Christmas last year and hosted his extended family for festive celebrations despite saying the residence is unlivable."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350203582/premier-house-suitable-big-luxon-family-xmas-bash
His poor, poor family! What a miserable Christmas it must have been, with all that squalor 'n'all.
‘Top’ 10 percenters cop comparatively little public flak for the way they raise their children. They must simply be 'better' parents – but why?
UncookedSelachimorpha's comment on free (school) lunches bears repeating here:
Wonder how many of these wealthy parents have been prosecuted?
Any decision to use taxable income for targeted assistance rather than the Social Security Act means the well-off can rort it.
The income definitions are quite different.
Yes, Robert, that was my take. Like the limo ride, the subsidy, the house, and now the plane… How hard it is to be NZ's PM.
Must have been quite the party if the residence is now unlivable.
Baldrick is having the country on, PM Jacinda Ardern and family members apparently lived there during peak COVID without major issues.
Anything the current PM says needs to be fact checked if possible given his track record, from the hired Merc to drive 200m to being in Hawaii and Aotearoa NZ at the same time!
"lived there during peak COVID"
That was of course about 4 years ago. Old houses where the maintenance is not carried out deteriorate awfully fast.
Yeah- imagine rolling out some crap that was old in the 90s and expecting the country to live with it!
This is the original story from NZ Womans Weekly complete with christmas pyjamas. Classy.
https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/celebrity/celeb-news/christmas-with-christopher-luxon-and-family-48048/
Jeez, have seen some puff pieces over the years but this one is the puffiest…the PM’s partner looks as mad as a snake.
All reputable psychologists/psychiatrists base their diagnosis on something other than appearances. Though the display here is basic suburban "country lifestyle" for those with wealth.
An early assessment would be class normative, albeit co-dependent (traditional).
It was almost a 2020's version of a Mad Men set
Luxon = Don Draper
Sure, it is co-dependent normative (1950's-60's).
Betty Draper is blonde, Veronica lookx brunette.
Do you somehow think that partners of MPs are now fair game?
A new low, in TS commentary.
A mere observation. Do you recall the critical mass on Kiwiblog and Slateroil that built up against Clarke Gayford on falsely alleged matters?…to the extent where the NZ Police took the rare step of issuing a pre-emptive statement that Mr Gayford “was of no interest to them on any matter”…
A mere observation. Do you understand the frankly misogynist language being used here? Nothing about her political behaviour or convictions (which I doubt the OP either knows or has made any attempt to find out) – simply her appearance. Sheer nastiness.
One can make an argument that politicians place themselves (including their appearance) in the public sphere, and are, to a certain extent, fair game. I don't happen to agree with that attitude – though it appears to be prevalent on TS. However, even that doesn't apply to their family members.
I don't recall Gayford's physical appearance being the subject of comment. Though, there was apparently unfounded gossip about possible criminal activity (I gather. I didn't actually hear or read any of it – but you seem to be better informed).
Do I condemn that unfounded gossip? Of course I do.
Do you equally condemn the misogynist language from the OP commenting on the appearance of the wife of the PM? Well, do you?
I suppose that when you own a stack of houses and are the representative of an affluent blue ribbon seat like Botany then anything less than a mansion is unliveable.
But I bet it is still infinitely better than the places that many people have to live in, and pay huge rent for doing so.
A PM who claimed there was a housing crisis when in opposition and now a few months later avoids mentioning it.
Every day there is more nastiness and arrogance coming from the mouth of one or other of this government's members. Peters, Seymour, Jones. Unbelievable. They are creating a very divided and unsettled nation.
Premier House was not too shabby for Luxon's family Christmas. Perhaps they put decorations over the leaky windows and walls. So the plumbing must have worked. The kitchen was usable and quite adequate for catering for a large group. Spacious dining room with quality tableware. The bedrooms had nice bed linen. Plenty of parking. And housekeeping staff to clear up after. Not exactly "uninhabitable".
I guess it's sitting there. I guess there are people in emergency housing in Wellington who would love to live in it. From today.
I'll help them move in.
There is obviously a major housing supply shortage, yet thousands of properties in are empty.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/497269/as-nz-struggles-to-resolve-its-long-running-housing-crisis-investors-should-be-taxed-for-keeping-homes-empty
Time to enter some of them and occupy on a political well organised basis. Enough squats set up could not be handled by the plods.
Commercial properties, old car dealers etc. in provincial centres that could be used for small business and traders, homeless etc. but landlords prefer to keep empty.
I guess you will have started by now. How many have you moved in since you said you were going to help them with the move?
Or are you, as that great US description has it "All hat and no cattle"?
Great idea though alwyn, don't you think – putting unproductive houses to good use? Like Peter, I'd prioritise the families in emergency accommodation.
Improving the finances of hard-done-by landLords is a key (emergency?) priority for our self-serving coalition govt – whether they're "all hat and no cattle" when it comes placing less-well-off families in homes, time will tell – Lordy Lordy Hallelujah!
The old “Catch 22” meme may make a come back…you must leave stable, if not that great, motel accomodation for a private overpriced dump, from which you can be evicted for no reason…if you refuse you will be homeless…
Landlords will revel in the tenant churn of no cause 90 day evictions.
Reality ….you forgot Willis, Reti, Brown, Goldsmith, Bishop, Stanford, Upston, Collins, Mitchell….etc etc. Not to forget Baldrick the Terrible of course.
Baby tRump has a whinge.
Act Party leader David Seymour has attacked the media industry – and singled out TVNZ political reporter Benedict Collins – implying it is hypocritical to ask for government money while criticising politicians.
Seymour spoke with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking following criticism of his proposed public sector cuts.
But the conversation shifted when Hosking asked Seymour whether the downfall of some media organisations recently was their own fault.
“That’s not quite true, the media landscape is changing,” Seymour said, detailing how advertisers aren’t spending as much money through media.
But Seymour implied it was hypocritical for the media to ask the Government for money while at the same time criticising them and celebrating slip-ups.
“But it’s also true, I saw a report on 1News, Benedict Collins grinning down the camera about Chris Luxon’s apartment costs.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/david-seymour-blasts-tv-reporter-attacks-media-industry/PGVY4WQLYVFN5LDVMZR3QTG5YE/
Seymour seems to want only privately-owned media to exist. Because given who has the money (and who hasn't) to fund such enterprises, that means wall to wall media that is favourable to the Nat-ACT agenda. It would throw any media that attempts to be merely balanced (let-alone left-aligned) back onto financially fragile foundations such as crowd-sourcing. This is typical of the self-proclaimed champions of free speech that we have had to endure in recent years. For speech to be free it must be relatively equally distributed and heard – being simply not prohibited is insufficient to qualify as ‘free’.
Because he's a vindictive, authoritarian prick, I reckon.
Sam Sachdeva
@SamSachdevaNZ
Perhaps worth noting that the TVNZ journo targeted by David Seymour broke the story of an ACT Party candidate comparing vaccine mandates to Nazi concentration camps during the election campaign – maybe not a coincidence Seymour is singling him out by name?
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/08/23/act-candidate-who-compared-vaccine-mandates-to-concentration-camps-quits/
https://twitter.com/SamSachdevaNZ/status/1765487070305534022
When I read Seymour's comments my first thought was:
Revenge of the Nerds.
Peters' and Seymour's payback to the media who have said and done rotten things to them over their long parliamentary careers.
Now you lot will get your comeuppance.
"Revenge of the Nerds"
QFT
I doubt if Seymour was a "nerd".
Nerds have brains.
Not unthinking repeaters of others memes.
About that Christmas party at Premier House. Luxative must be taking lessons from our friend Trump. " The more outrageous the hypocrisy the more likely he thinks he will get away with it"
First they came for the scientists and public servants, and now the press.
To Patricia Bremner at 8 : the proposed demise of 'Fair Go' suggests an accommodating motive to those who would cheat customers!
We should complain loudly. Ministerial Q
Old Luxon is something else, isn't he? He has managed to combine complete political obscurity, ineffective messaging and an utter inability to control his coalition partners to the point you'd be forgiven for thinking David Seymour was the PM with an unerring instinct for much reported politically damaging attempts at nickel and diming the taxpayer.
One would imagine that once the poll slide starts (you know, because 94% of the population didn't want David Seymour as PM) the National party grandees will start the process of finding a replacement sooner rather than later.
My money's on Melissa Lee. 😉
Shows empathy, excellent debater in the house, intuitively understands the political landscape (knows who the real leader of the coalition is and goes into bat to defend him).
Also, not willing to make use of urgency with legislation, which makes her stand out amongst her peers.(Shame that, for once, it might have done some good)
hahahahahahahahahahaha. wise up.
Actua-Lee?? Gotta be joking. She is improving, though. Checkpoint finally got her to front up for an on-air interview the other day, and we were treated to only 36 occurrences of her most characteristic verbal tic in that 9-10 minutes.
25 years ago there was rugby league on four nights a week and usually a good clint eastwood or arnold schwarzenegger movie on once a week. now the whole broadcast media has become fractured with pay per view and the free to air channels overloaded with banal trite programming that nobody really wants to watch!
Sounds like my definition of 'banal trite programming that nobody really wants to watch!'
Part of the issue with their business model is that TV comes a very long way down the list of preferred news or entertainment sources for anyone under 80 (Yes, yes, exaggerating for effect. But broadly true) Can't remember the last time my teen voluntarily watched TV (apart from streaming a movie through the big screen).
Broadcast TV is a dying medium.
Not for those over 65, or those with big screen TV's. Home theatre, films and sports.
Well, you say over 65 – I say over 80. But the point is the same.
Broadcast TV is virtually irrelevant to anyone under that age.
Yes, the younger group may still have large TVs – but they are, as you say, streaming films (whether Netflix, or the ‘free’ versions from the library), watching sports (pay channels) and (for a certain demographic) gaming. They are not watching broadcast TV.
I do have friends in roughly the same age demographic as me who are wedded to watching 'Shortie' – but they are becoming fewer and fewer over the years (not, I hasten to say, dying off – but losing their loyalty to the 5.30 pm (or whenever it is!) timeslot).
True they might be trite and banal but jolly good rollicking entertainment for the masses who soaked it up. have you looked at the teevee pages in the press lately and considered how much of it you would really want to watch? Oh and I forgot to mention the endless re-runs of very poor movies and other mindless drivel foisted upon the public not to mention the lawless progs about moonshiners and the boofheads doing illegal street racing.
I watch none of it. Broadcast media is entirely irrelevant to me.
Your definition of ‘good rollicking entertainment’ is my definition of mind-numbing boredom – and, as you said, ‘mindless drivel’
Yes, but your handle suggests you live in a foreign language festival offering. Perhaps looking for the title I once bestowed upon a magnificent acquaintance as Minister for Unpopular Culture’.
BTW can NZ watch Last Week Tonight on YouTube? Because the story on Boeing and its parallels with the current administration are spooky. Or mundane and very very depressing.
Whereas your handle suggests you're a sad news junkie – also unreflective of the mass culture of NZ.
All ad hominems aside. The statistics show, unequivocally, that the vast majority of young (and middle-aged, for that matter) Kiwis do not watch broadcast media. And there is nothing that you can offer them (in the way of content) which will change this.
If you want to know about YouTube content – I suggest you research it yourself.
I'm waiting for the dedicated TS post on the issue of the assault on Marama… "Open Letter to Judge Whomever"… crickets …
[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.]
Well, that's weird!
Darien Fenton wrote:
"I am still waiting for the prosecution of the Destiny mob motorcyclist who hit Marama Davidson.
7 March 2024 at 11:28 am
My response seems to be closely aligned and appropriate to her comment, yet got shunted – why, I'm wondering?
That's been well covered here!
[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.]
"Cross posted from Te Whare Whero"
Te Whare Whero has received no comments in response to this post.
The Standard has received but 12.
[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.]
Again, weird! The post is crossposted, yet referring to the original results in ejection to another thread! Can't understand why.