Well it’s still relevant if it is going to be cleared.
I’d like to see an international agreement that protects (and offers an allowance) to the world’s natural areas like rainforests and jungles, to keep them natural and untouched, free of people apart from indigenous people and free of habitat destruction. This would contribute to international biodiversity and helping climate change and help the world retain those areas. I’m pretty sure there is only 4% jungles left for example in the world and they house a significant proportion of biodiversity in the world.
I’d also like to see another measure for forests and international agreements for retaining them.
Sad that the antarctic fishing marine reserves have been stopped by some greedy countries.
Not sure if this is true (from 2005) but I was surprised what countries had the most forests. At that time the world had approx 30% still in forests although that was 13 years ago. (Not sure if this is a measure of the quality of the forests though, aka are they monocultures like pines?)
Forest-rich and forest-poor countries. The five most forest-rich countries (the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States and China) account for more than half of total forest area (2 097 million hectares or 53 percent). The Russian Federation alone accounts for 20 percent of the world total. Seven countries have more than 100 million hectares of forest each. The ten most forest-rich countries account for 66 percent of total forest area (Figure 2.3). The remaining 34 percent is spread among 212 countries and areas. Seven countries and areas (the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, the Holy See, Monaco, Nauru, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and Tokelau) reported having no areas that qualify as forests using the FRA 2005 definition.
High and low forest cover countries. Forty-five countries and areas have more than half their total land area covered by forests (Figure 2.4), and 11 of these have more than 75 percent of their total land area covered. Most of these are small island states or territories, but the list also includes three low-lying coastal states in South America and one country in the Congo Basin (Table 2.2).
Sixty-four countries and areas have less than 10 percent of their total land area covered by forests. These include many SIDS and dependent territories, as well as 17 larger countries with relatively substantial forest areas (more than 1 million hectares each). Three of these (Chad, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Mongolia) have more than 10 million hectares of forest, but still qualify as LFCCs.
At the regional level, South America is the region with the highest percentage of forest cover, followed by Europe and North and Central America. Asia is the region with the lowest percentage of forest cover (Table 2.3).”
“The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the “Lungs of our Planet” because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
More than half of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world’s fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.
One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants.
At least 80% of the developed world’s diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.”
The left cuddles up to Fascism? How did you get to that conclusion?
Hi Sanctuary,
Maybe you need to address that question to the biggest, (remaining), Left Assad apologist on this site.
But since you asked:
Cuddling up to fascism
New Zealand’s biggest Centre Left blogsite gives TS author Bill, free reign to censor comment that provides factual evidence of the fascist nature of the Assad regime.
In refusing to address the evidence I presented here and earlier, Bill continually and repeatedly made accusations that I am liar. Bill has never tried to refute what I have written. Neither has Bill ever pointed out where I am have supposed to have lied about him or any other author. NOT ONCE! NOT EVER!
In this way we see the convergence between fascists and some on the Left, not just in ideas but in tactics. Having no moral defence for his position on Syria, Bill and others like him have to resort to these sorts of methods.
Maybe Bill hopes that by continually repeating the accusation without evidence that I am a liar often enough, people will believe him. ie the big lie tactic,
Bill uses this blanket accusation of lying (without giving any evidence of it), along with bans, as a way to avoid addressing the Issues I raise.
Bill is not bothered with lies, but with truth.
Bill is a conscious genocide ignorer. To suit his argument Bill actively ignores the evidence of the huge crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime. Bill has repeatedly refused to address the evidence of this genocide that I have put before him. And rather than defend his position with rational debate, or refute this evidence, Bill chooses to deliberately ignore it. Rather than attempting to refute my position, Bill chooses outright censorship, or comment suppression. (ie shunting my refutation of his claims, to the bottom of open mike where he hopes no one will see them), above discussion.
This behaviour is allowed, or at the least tolerated by the other Standard authors.
Sanctuary, You may not agree with me that this is the Left cuddling up to fascism, but in my opinion it indicates a certain level of comfort with it.
Another symptom of this political malaise was the promotion of Colonial Viper to Author status not that long after CV had openly called for the gunning down of, at that time, peaceful protesters in the most bloodthirstiest of terms.
I remember writing to CV at the time, trying to gently as I could, chide him for his use of extreme calls for bloodshed, saying that I thought it had no place in family friendly website like The Standard.
However my cautions went unheeded.
And the elevation of this openly pro-fascist supporter of mass murder to authorship had its inevitable dismal conclusion.
And this softness towards Syrian fascism continues.
The Standard may not have an actual editorial line on Syria. But as far as I know The Standard has never allowed one single post defending the Syrian revolution.
In the light of this glaring omission…..
“….It came to me as a shock, actually, that most of them have sided with Bashar al-Assad. I don’t expect much out of the international left, but I thought they would understand our situation and see us as a people who were struggling against a very despotic, very corrupt, and very sectarian regime. I thought they would see us and side with us. What I found, unfortunately, is that most people on the left know absolutely nothing about Syria. They know nothing of its history, political economy, or contemporary circumstances, and they don’t see us.
In America, the leftists are against the establishment in their own country. In a way, they thought that the U.S. establishment was siding with the Syrian revolution — something that is completely false and an utter lie — and for this reason they have stood against us. And this applies to leftists almost everywhere in the world. They are obsessed with the White House and the establishment powers of their own countries. The majority are also still obsessed with the old Cold War-era struggles against imperialism and capitalism.
Recently, an event in Rome that displayed images of those tortured and killed by Assad was attacked by fascists. Just days before, it had also been attacked in a local communist newspaper for promoting “imperialism.” There is a growing convergence between the views of fascists and the far-left about Syria and other issues….”
Yassin Al-Haj Saleh* – .The Intercept, October 27,2016
The film Nae Pasaran is a timely antidote to this moral malaise and spiritual sickness afflicting the modern Left that allows us to ignore genocide, and support dictatorship. The film Nae Pasaran is a window looking into a past and showing us the Left’s once disgust at dictatorship. This is the sort of courageous, uncompromising and uplifting message that we sorely need today.
There was a phrase that jumped out at me from the promo of this film;
Recounting the solidarity shown to the Chilean people by the Left in Scotland in the ’70s, Is the phrase attributed to a Chilean activist. “We often thought the world had forgotten us”
So often I have heard almost the exact same quote from those suffering under the Assad fascist style genocide.
Unfortunately for Syria, it is true.
*Yassin Al-Haj Saleh Wikipedia:
Yassin al-Haj Saleh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Yassin al-Haj Saleh
Born 1961 (age 56–57)
Raqqa,Syria
Residence Berlin,Germany
Alma mater University of Aleppo
Occupation writer, political dissident
Spouse(s) Samira Khalil
Website http://www.yassinhs.com
Yassin al-Haj Saleh(born inRaqqain 1961)[1]is aSyrianwriter and political dissident. He writes on political, social and cultural subjects relating to Syria and the Arab world.[1]
From 1980 until 1996 he spent time in prison in Syria for his membership in the left-wing opposition groupSyrian Communist Party (Political Bureau),[2]which he calls a “communist pro-democracy group”.[3][4]However, he has also stated that his time in prison allowed him to break out of the “internal prisons [of] narrow political affiliation [and] rigid ideology”, and has called theSyrian revolutionan “open-ended and multi-leveled struggle”, while remaining supportive of aspects ofMarxism.[2]He was arrested while he was studying medicine inAleppoand spent sixteen years in prison, the last inTadmur Prison. He took his final examination as a general medical practitioner in 2000, but never practiced.[1]
He has been granted aPrince Claus Awardfor 2012 as “actually a tribute to the Syrian people and theSyrian revolution. He was not able to collect the award as he is living hiding in the underground in Syria.[5]He was awarded Swedish Tucholsky Prize in 2017.[6]He was one of the talkers in a two-day anti-capitalist forum, which was held in Ankara, Turkey, on Nov 23rd-24th, 2013. Additionally, he was speaking at the event ‘Reporting Change – Stories from the Arab region’ in Amsterdam on 15 June 2014, an event jointly organized byHuman Rights WatchandWorld Press Photo.[7]
Al-Haj Saleh is married toSamira Khalil, a communist dissident, former political detainee and a revolutionary activist abducted in Douma in December 2013.[8]After 21 months of hiding inDamascusand wholeSyria, for being wanted by both the government and radical Islamist militants, he fled toTurkeyand lived inIstanbuluntil 2017. Al-Haj Saleh is now a fellow atBerlin Institute for Advanced Study(Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).[9]
Works[edit]
One of the most influential Arab writers and dissidents as well as a prominent intellectual voice of theSyrian revolution, Yassin Al-Haj Saleh writes on political, social and cultural subjects relating to Syria and the Arab world for several Arab newspapers and journals outside of Syria, and regularly contributes to the London-basedAl-Hayat newspaper, the Egyptian leftist magazine Al-Bosla, and the Syrian online periodical The Republic.
Among his books (the majority in Arabic):
Syria in the Shadow: Glimpses Inside the Black Box(2009, Dar Jidar);
Walking on One Foot(2011, Dar al-Adab, Beirut), a collection of 52 essays about Syrian affairs, written between 2006 and 2010;
Salvation O Boys: 16 Years in Syrian Prisons(2012, Dar al-Saqi, Beirut);
The Myths of the Latters: A Critique of Contemporary Islam and a Critique of its Critique(2012, Dar al-Saqi, Beirut);
Deliverance or Destruction? Syria at a Crossroads(2014, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies);
The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy(2017, Hurst Publishers, London). [In English]
Jenny, I value what you have to add here and I’m sorry to see you go after stoushes like this one looks likely to turn into.
In the meantime, I’d like to suggest an alternative way of interpreting Bill’s contributions. It seems to me that Bill has a streak of compulsive contrarianism, particularly with respect to msm reporting. This contrarianism leads him to take positions that appear to support some really ugly regimes, but are much more the result of contrarianism rather than holding sympathies towards those regimes. And when defending those contrarian positions in the heat of the moment, things can be said which can easily be misinterpreted to reinforce an impression of regime sympathies.
Kia ora, Jenny. I think you are going way to far in concluding that because some TS authors are less critical of the Assad regime than others, that means that we are cuddling up to fascism. Eddie, Michael Valley, MS and myself posts all wrote posts early in the Syrian civil war that were far from complimentary about the Syrian Government.
Later on, TS clearly was swamped with trolly pro-Putin, pro Assad posts, but that was mainly from an author who you correctly identify as being from the far right and who is here no more.
Additionally, the complexity of this war and the ongoing fight against religious fascism in the regime makes it incredibly hard to work out where support should go at any given time. Kinda like the Falklands/Malvinas blue, where two nasty regimes came to blows, I see Syria as two (or more) strains of fascism fighting amongst themselves. And, as always in war, the real losers are the civilians.
There are a couple of authors at TS who remain deeply cynical about the ‘truth’ in the Syrian conflict, but so what? You, and anybody else, are free to post alternatives. Just don’t personalise your responses and you should be fine.
Kim Hill is casually toying with Seymour on Morning Report. “A listener has suggested that the seat of Epsom might qualify as a taxpayer funded junket.” Great to listen to.
Btw @ ScottGN, how do you think we should measure the success of the jaunt to Japan by the two that Mr Rimmer is trying to ‘hold to account’.
Should it be statisically on the basis of a weight to benefit ratio?
or
Should it be statistically on the basis of a ‘heft’ to benefit ratio? (going forward)
A graphic that is both terrible and awesome. So many died – so many of us.
“More than 18,000 New Zealanders lost their lives in World War One. You can find out more about them in this interactive graphic, which shows every person who died.”
So true. We are still suffering as a society for this.
“A lot of people lost their lives. Those that didn’t gave up a significant period of their lives, and those who weren’t killed came home often with severe injuries, physically and certainly mentally, and many struggled to fit back into society.
“When I have been to Gallipoli and Passchendaele … you look down and pick out a grave and you think, ‘What would have happened? How would history have changed if that person wasn’t killed?’
I am so over this glorification of WW1 which is a distraction from the real feelings of outrage and grief we might feel about the courageous and/or dogged sacrifices of the dead of other wars since. We are up to our eyes in a wash of sentiment being organised around a significant date, out of all the significant war dates that should be memorialised, and have been excluded from mention. I remember General Eisenhower of the USA* and his reference to the USA industrial-military complex is in this link. More info about him and his Presidential term below.
Now we will remember them, tomorrow we will move on and not think about it. Going through the motions about war, and its continuance and in preparation for more affrays all the time. I have taken the opportunity to buy some books on WW1 and some illustrated ones and these have displayed the reality. When I go to Anzac Day ceremonies they are repetitive memorials about the disastrous event where people were forced to try to kill others and often received the same result. While remembering the past event and the fallen, it shows a resigned, almost inevitable attitude and anti-war and anti-belligerence approach is very slightly mentioned.
Instead of having a compulsory study of our human history, including wars and national economic forces we have these parades that don’t convey the spectrum of losses caused by war. They finish, leaving an open wound in political and national co-operation and trust between humans and examples of how relatively easy it is for nations to throw out respect and human rights for individuals and groups. Post-war, we lack ‘debriefing’ with the nation and particularly its young, and this just puts a scab over that wound; there is no lasting restoration to a state of higher morality and human respect, and declining and demeaning behaviours lurk in the human herd and heads, always ready to appear from our dark corners.
This 1982 video is from the USA archives and shows how there is a constant campaign to create unrest so that countries are destabilised from foreign interference.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeFgd6gGTWk
No glorification just remberance. Not many families here unaffected. In today’s world few want to front up to the hard questions and hard conclusions around war. Too many put their head in the sand and then wonder why it all happens again.
Pardon me! It is indeed glorification when John Key and the RSA spend $120 million? on the project to provide a new WW1 memorial because a certain date is reached.
After the actual WW1 people who cared paid for memorials themselves all around the country. There are plenty of memorials already; people since 1915 have not forgotten. The memorials were funded by local communities without government assistance. Those who had raised patriotic funds during the war, especially women, often did the hard work. https://teara.govt.nz/en/memorials-and-monuments/page-4
The construction of the park and Arras tunnel needed for the project started in October 2012 at the cost of $120-million.
Curator of the National War Memorial Paul Riley said it was a much-needed addition.
“A few years ago we had a mobile petrol station, a vehicle testing station, tire shop and hire pool right opposite where we are standing now,” Mr Riley said.
“We have a complete contrast now. This is far more appropriate opposite a national shrine.”
The park has a new Australian memorial, featuring fifteen columns of rugged red sandstone blocks.
It is a reciprocal gesture to the “basket handles” of the New Zealand Memorial in Canberra.
A sculpture of a Hinerangi figure, symbolising the daughter of the heavens, by Maori sculptor Darcy Nicholas was also unveiled.
The park will be officially opened on 18 April, a week before Anzac Day.
We have been remembering WW1 for ever on Anzac Day and in other ways and with more people going to view the early morning gathering of veterans marching to the memorials that are in every city.
It is hard for me to find information about the total cost of the Wellington memorial, it does not come up in a discussion about it at stats or in the factual detail from other sources, but I believe that the actual memorial cost $16 million, plus the acquisition of the land for Pukeahu Park.
It was glorification to put up another memorial. That money should have gone to help veterans with treatment needed, to enable peace meetings, to pay for stories about brave forces people, and brave resistance people, and brave civilians, and brave anti-war people on both sides. We should remember these people for sure, and not just at parades and photo-ops for politicians. because they are us and we should be spending on projects preventing more wars arising from clashes between political cultures; a peace museum? That could be used for holding conferences, talks, displays about war and about development to help the people of the world. The subjects discussed would include ending inhumanity in our own country, assisting that in other countries, what is important. Because we are all one entity, one animal, though in many forms different only in our looks.
Okay you just started me off on a line of thought that has been in mind for a while so it’s good to put that up.
Sorry if it wasn’t just on your thought.
I am right with you, Greywarshark. I fear that remembrance is constantly being turned into glorification. Celebrating the brilliant feats pulled off by our Kiwi guys in France using their No 8 Fencing Wire mentality, blah blah. WW1 was an utter bloody tragedy that should have been curtailed. Our media are not promoting the true lessons of history, and are thereby propelling us towards a foolish repetition.
Why not have a look at every person killed in that war and consider the question raised about what the world would have been if those individuals were not slaughtered.
They died in the mud and shit and stink – for what? So that you can say, “Celebrating the brilliant feats pulled off by our Kiwi guys in France using their No 8 Fencing Wire mentality, blah blah.”
Yes what a waste of good people marty mars. Do you think we don’t care about them. If they had cared so much the government wouldn’t be so quick to send troops off to the badlands of WW1.
That is why it is a travesty to pretend to care by building an extra monument; tidying up the old one and setting up a fund to help our youth so they have trades and jobs and going to war isn’t the only thing for them. The gummint could have set up WW1 Memorial Apprenticeships to aim for. Getting ‘on their feet’ would be something the dead guys and women would have liked for their grandchildren.
No I don’t think you care. But that’s okay. I’m not glorifying war or death – I’m not arguing about the utter waste of people or the callous disregard for them by generals and politicians then or now. I simply acknowledging that they died horribly. That there is a new interactive site where every dead person is named and described. And I put another link up to an article talking about the loss of these people and the loss for us all when the survivors and maimed returned home.
Marty – are you one of those who has to have ‘sarc’ signalled after every example that seemed obvious to the writer? Or do you just rush and not think about what you read?
I take people as they write and respect that they say what they mean and put the tags they want on anything they write. I spose i do sometimes get surprised by some of the comments i read. For instance the jamileeross stuff filled me with great sadness when i read the stupid comments from people i normally admire comment wise. Sometimes also i agree with something someone says and then really disagree with what they write. Such is life. I’m sure others would have harsher thoughts on me but mostly I try not to give a fuck too much on what others think and stick to my kaupapa.
Appears the attack line from the Hosk, HDPA et al is to call for immediate sacking of any minister that appears to have a challenge in the carrying out of their job. According to the Hosk today the immigration minister has made a “catastrophic” error and must lose his job. If Hosk, let alone that HDPA twit, were subject to the same view, by all accounts they would have been gone long ago.
Just don’t “click” on them it has become bizarre and the Herald had a major announcement this morning that Hosking is going to be made to work a whole ½ longer today – all that means to me is another ½ spent avoiding that radio feed.
The trouble is ignoring the Herald won’t make this nonsense disapear. The likes of the Herald hold sway over a fair chunk of the electorate’s opinions and for that reason they must be held to account. My response is to throw the nonsense back at them and make them qualify what they print. This mornings effort is a classic example of pure headline grabbing beat up.
Just a shame they didn’t see fit to hold the previous Minister to the same standard, who when it comes down to it all, is responsible for the mess I L-G is in today.
Oh don’t be so bloody mean @Psyche nurse.
She’s not brown or black or yellow (maybe a bit orange), is reasonably wealthy, married to a bastion of the 4th Estate, has her own ‘show’, has never been surveilled by Thompson and Clark, and would probably figure quite low on a non-racist demographic risk management spreadsheet
… and you forgot to add is as shallow as they come, which is a prerequisite for a successful career as a populist political commentator where taking money for nothing of substance is the primary motivation.
I kinda recall something about the duke getting told to take a break until next year, but now I can’t find where that happened. If solkta copped a whack from the ban hammer, I missed it.
It’s an interesting phenomenon – sometimes folks who care passionately seem to recognise that they’re getting too worked up and picking fights with a moderator (often an author moderating their own post, but also often just a mod who’s doing their community maintenance volunteer work). But maybe they can’t draw themselves away and decide they need to get banned for their own good.
Last sightings of solkta seem to be OM 3 Nov and Labour Conference Notes 3 Nov, but am assuming he/she has other priorities or has decided of their own volition to take a break. Actually comment numbers seem to be down the last few days overall – perhaps the weather, spring, start of build up to the end of year celebrations etc.
Last sightings of duke on 5 Nov, OM and JLR Tapes – some things to be worked out re postings the previous day.
If people can prove to whoever that they are rehabilitated then they should get the chance to live their lives. I wouldn’t extend that to sex offenders on registered sex offender lists.
Being vindictive to those that have made mistakes, learned from it, and want to move on is childish and ineffective.
Totally depends. Anonymity is not useful when repeat offender violent and predatory types exist, and there’s a fair few of them.
‘Victim-less’ crime might be wiped after a pattern of good living for x years. The sociopaths and evil dirt bags should be monitored for life. Gang members zero reprieve till they leave their gang, and then a pattern of good living for x years.
Not everyone is a misunderstood youth in need of a hug, some are complete assholes. That counts especially for white collar crims.
Why let a fraudster back in business. They can be employees but not bosses imo. Likewise embezzlement etc. These crims have myriad victims, a lot worse than a poor kid who pinches stuff. No record wiping for these premeditating deliberately callous self obsessed criminals.
People make mistakes and learn. But some plot for themselves 24/7. Screw those people make the penalties harsher.
You raise a valid point. Why let a fraudster back in business. They can be employees but not bosses imo. Likewise embezzlement etc. These crims have myriad victims, a lot worse than a poor kid who pinches stuff. No record wiping for these premeditating deliberately callous self obsessed criminals.
About criminals. The word sounds really bad but mothers trying to bring up kids, trying to run a household and have a life on an inadequate income get put in jail because they coudn’t manage with what they had. Just give them more money, more training, more child care, less oppressive claw-back as soon as they earn something. The hatred and meanness of the government ‘welfare’ system is a bloody disgrace. And succeeding governments seem powerless to adopt reasonable approaches and ensure that reason and kindness are ingrained into the system, and all that work within it.
Yet private people prey on others and manage to weave their way round the legal system leaving ordinary people who try to be good citizens impoverished in their wake.
Of course NZ is second in the world for being easy to get into business, can’t put limits on the crooks or we might spoil our well-known record, which brings investment money into NZ for some purpose and gives the effect of having a booming economy. Yeah right.
Part of the problem is the way that Ministries contract out their work and take no responsibility for the way it is carried out. ‘Oh’ says the National Minister ‘I can’t do anything about (whatever disgraceful matter). That’s an operational matter’. It was shown up this morning on Radionz when a Transport agency man was being questioned about faulty checks on imported cars. They get away with sloppiness that wouldn’t be acceptable by a part-time low paid casual worker. Yet they can ponce around on high salaries. They aren’t doing their work lawfully, as in being suitable for their purpose, or in not meeting the standards of service that they hold themselves out to deliver.
We are run by she’ll-be-rights who pay themselves too much, deliver too little, fudge too much, pull the wool over our eyes too much, and punish the little people struggling with difficulties overwhelming them too much.
Yep, that whole “I can’t comment because it’s ‘an operational’ matter” croc is used all too often. And the definition of what is ‘operational’ and what is not seems pretty flexible.
I’m not sure why elected representatives can’t comment on ‘operational matters’ – especially when the operatives are not living up to what is expected of them.
I might be wrong, but it seems to have become a convenience since the last round of public service/corporatisation reforms.
Oh, and btw, that NZTA thing was a shocker, even if you’re forgiving yourself for thinking Kim Hill is driving a second hand Japanese import and is worrying about the integrity of its airbags whilst rolling down a Brooklyn hill on her way to an RNZ studio.
(Don’t mention the trucking industry towbars! Shhhhhh! Wet Wellington bus tickets at the ready – and ‘moreover’ this is a ‘technical issue’ that you just wouldn’t understand – because WE are the professionals and we’re ‘officials’ not to be challenged, not never!)
Yes it was good to hear that NZTA boss explain it all to Kim Hill who couldn’t seem to see why she shouldn’t keep asking some direct questions and get a direct answer of explanation. Sweet fudging.
Rising levels of ‘black carbon’ in Queen St heighten health risk for Aucklanders
“Pedestrians and workers in Auckland’s Queen St are being exposed to high levels of “black carbon”, or ultra-fine carbon particles associated with a number of health problems.
Black carbon emissions are more than three times higher than Canadian cities and twice as high for concentrations in major European, UK and American cities, according to an article published by Auckland Council’s research and evaluation unit.”
“The article said high buildings in Queen St reduce airflow and allow air pollutant concentrations to increase close to ground level. High numbers of diesel buses in the central city and emissions from the port and ferry terminal contributed to air pollution levels.”
Time to put the stadium and all the other polluting enterprises like Cruise ships and actually concentrate on safety of all the people and develop the wharf area and the city into open spaces free of pollution that workers and residents living in central Auckland can escape to! Not be polluted further by!
NZ is not going to have people living in Auckland city (and other cities) in those apartments or working there if the air quality they breathe is harming them!
As for the diesel fuelling public transport and trucks, again, NZ councils and government have clearly got their head’s up their arses on this one as they continually introduce more and more polluting elements into our city and our RMA laws and interpretation of them is dysfunctional.
There’s reason to be cautious about some testing regimes, notably TOEFL, in which the relatively high variation serves the business model (by encouraging multiple resits).
IELTS is more robust, and the convention that working at an academic level requires a basic standard less arbitrary.
I’d be interested to know where the story came from: government seeking to lower the bar to ease recruitment, non-state employers looking for cheap labour, or extant teachers trying to prevent creeping erosion of standards.
I think that some of our laws need to be more tightly focussed. I am thinking it is too general to have a law forbidding ‘sexual harassment’ which doesn’t convey well the extent of the fault.
Geoffrey Rush’s defamation case a ‘roll-call’ of actors
From Morning Report, 8:56 am today
Listen duration 4′ :26″ A defamation case brought by the Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush against the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney is nearing a close.
Rush is suing the newspaper over articles it published last year, which claimed he behaved inappropriately with a co-star during a King Lear production in 2015.
Eryn-Jean Norvill, who played Cordelia in the Shakespeare play, has given evidence in the federal court in Sydney that Rush sexually harassed her.
He denies the allegations.
It may come that men will start suing women about the way they dress, showing body parts that have strong sexual connotations and attraction to men such as breasts, and saying that they are deliberately displaying themselves which introduces thoughts of sexuality which otherwise would not have arisen, and that is a form of sexual harassment!
Ocean Cloud Water owns an existing 33-metre deep bore in the northern suburb of Belfast, from which it is extracting and bottling 4.3 million litres of water a day.
It has now applied to the Environment Canterbury for permission to extract water from a 186-metre deep bore at the plant so it can sell it abroad.
Vicki Buck the former mayor of Christchurch and chair of the Council’s Innovation and Sustainability Committee, says this could compromise Christchurch’s water supply.
Kathryn also talks with Steve Lowndes, Chair of Environment Canterbury.
Kathryn Ryan and Vicki Buck Christchurch Councillor, had a very interesting conversation in this interview about water bottling demands being made on Christchurch city pure water aquifer.
“Unemployment has dropped to 3.9 per cent, the lowest level since the global financial crisis, causing the New Zealand dollar to surge.
On Tuesday Statistics New Zealand revealed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 per cent in the three months to September 30, down from 4.4 per cent at the end of June.
It is the lowest unemployment rate since June 2008, when unemployment was 3.8 per cent.”
Well now partner the ways I sees it is I reckon that if’n Nationals going to be blamed for all the negative stuff then it seems only fair to my ways of thinking that they need to be praised for all of the good stuff to
no numbers of new jobs created
how many people of benefit into studies
how many people of unemployment benefit to other benefits
how many unemployed people retiring
how many unemployed people going still unemployed but not listed as unemployed
this article is actually really lazy and leaves more questions then answers. as to business confidence, who was asked? Bankers?
Yes that dropping out of the system could be the answer. Going along to register and getting treated like a dropout, and being forced to apply for useless jobs where the hours are shit and the transport is not available to suit the hours, or the cost uses all your wages up. And you try and have a life but can’t carry out your duties to family and wor at all odd hours when the fingers get snapped. And you have to notify the Dept each week probably about your earnings so you get a cut in your benefit immediately but they probably take a while to bring it up to a normal level when the hours are cut. It could make you feel like suicide.
And don’t forget how they keep changing the way unemployment is measured – to make Govt. look good by not counting people who used to be counted. I don’t trust this rubbish at all. It is not lowest…
I’m going to make enquiries as to how they get the employment figures. Looking up google all the detail is about measuring the unemployed HxLxW. Stats advise who constitutes an unemployed person but I would like it spelled out as to who is employed – it must be paid work for a start, and how many hours, and it will probably say a minimum of one but I want to know for sure. I guess it will be phrased like ‘Did you do any paid work in the last week and how many hours? The last month and how many hours?
Do they count travelling time? If you have to travel an hour there and another back to work two hours, then that should be counted in a separate column which would also be interesting to see.
StatsNZ are pretty good at putting everything online, but the volume of what they publish means that getting the vibe of what search terms to use (or avoid) can take a while.
Well if we’re reading between the lines as (Jacinda) likes to say then I’m guessing ILG is not going to be feeling too comfortable for the next wee while (nor should he)
Well much like National wanted Little to stay I’m guessing Labour want Bridges to stay and since I’m advising Jude I’ll let you in on what I’ve advised her
Let Bridges stay on untill after the next election and then take over in a very seamless, orderly transition a couple of months after
Of course whether she takes my advice is another story…
Saint Jude the Saviour lol certainly a lot needs saved that’s for sure but based on her track record she may as well be called St Jude the Saveloy cos she ain’t got it – never had it and never will imo.
For those of us who watch Question Time in Parliament, we won’t see either the PM or Simon Bridges there today. Seems they are in Ratana to celebrate the centenary “since prophet Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana is said to have received a divine revelation from which the Ratana Church was born.”
Marama Davidson is also there as is Shane Jones, according to the Herald.
Considering the discussions here in the last few days or so re Kiwibuild etc, people may be interested in this little snippet in the last paragraph of the Herald article, which is easy to miss lost due to its stupid placement between “Related Articles” and “Herald Recommends”:
“The Government is expected to make an announcement on housing at Ratana. Previous governments have also used Ratana celebrations to make similar announcements.”
Meanwhile, it looks like Winston Peters and Paula Bennett have been left to mind the shop. Winston is not at Ratana according to the above article, and Bennett has Question 2 this afternoon to the PM -“the usual “Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?”
Presumably Peters and Bennett will still be minding the shop tomorrow, Thursday, as the PM and Leader of the Opposition do not attend Question Time on Thursdays.
So the next time we can hope to see the “Clash of the Titans” between Ardern and Bridges* is not until 27 November for the final three weeks of the House sitting for 2018, as the House is in recess for the next two weeks. The final sitting session will only be three weeks as opposed to the usual four weeks as the House is due to rise for the Summer Recess on Thursday, 13 December.
* Assuming Bridges is still Leader of the National Party …
I don’t disagree that such questions are a problem and have become too much a case of game playing, rather than the Govt being properly being held to account, etc in Question Time.
Their purpose is so that the Govt Minister answering the primary question (or rather, their advisers, Ministry etc) cannot prepare detailed answers as they do for more specific primary questions on specific topics – thus leaving the Minister in the firing line unsure what is going to follow in the supplementary questions.
Thus, behind the scenes it becomes a guessing game as to what is going to follow and advisers etc end up rushing around trying to cover all possibilities in terms of providing briefing notes to the Minister.
From Robin Westenra.
This needs to be a thread.
The second most important story in New Zealand.
This is quite simply the best item mainstream media has come out on this story.
It illustrates why John Campbell had to leave Radio NZ – it is far too politically-correct to have given him to follow this robust line of enquiry.
Campbell makes the essential point that trying to gain influence is natural for any superpower and that, while the US, through the 5 Eyes can simply come through the front door with their spy equipment the Chinese are forced to come through the back door.
While I remain on leave on medical advice, it is important my constituents in the Botany Electorate continue to have a vote cast on their behalf in Parliament. I appreciate NZ First supporting Botany by accepting my request to cast a proxy vote. pic.twitter.com/712dZQjMTY
Kia ora The Am Show The American midterm election has thrown a spanner in trump’s ——– this is a win for the Wahine and minority cultures with the House won by the Democrats that give’s America a humane voice with gerrymandering what has happened there they change the electoral lines that give the go oil party a huge advantage in the House election’s because of gerrymandering so in many of those seats the Democrats won the mojority but republicans still get the seat shonky would have pulled tactics like that if national won .
.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/04/america-minority-rule-voter-suppression-gerrymandering-supreme-court
Fuel tax is all good seenothing at least that revenue serves the Majority unlike big business were there profits only serve your rich m8’s % 00.1 no .
Of coarse one of the % 00.1 the ceo of walmart is going to say that about trump .
Its the middle and poor classes and minority groups that are getting ripped off buy the go oil party .
Its cool that the ban smoking in cars is getting big support as it should.
Kaiapo school being burnt is a stupid act who burns down a school for te mokopuna’s is a fool.
I agree with Amada we need those corporate fight’s need more laws to protect the fighters . Ka kite ano .
To all the good people who got up and voted for the left Ladies and Minority cultures .
Eco Maori THANKS YOU ALL KIA KAHA this is a big win for the LEFT.
This is just a distraction taxing red meat they say the big picture is we need a world carbon TAX lets stay focused on the real threat to OUR future it is not cow farts it is the petrol we put in our car trucks buses boat’s .
Get a good working world tax on carbon and use the money to pay for renewable energy a oil baron’s investment on the propagandize machine link below ka kite ano.
I agree with George on this story I read it on another site we need OUR voices heard on protecting the innocent wild life and our children Ka pai.David Attenborough has betrayed the living world he loves
Ka kite ano link below.
Geothermal renewable base load energy is a technology the oil barons have suppresed
we have a couple running in Aotearoa NZ
A trailblazing energy project has started drilling the UK’s deepest ever borehole in Cornwall in a bid to use heat from hot rocks as a zero-carbon source of electricity.
The team behind the £18m scheme hopes to create the UK’s first deep geothermal power station and ignite a renewed interest in the technology’s wider potential.
The project near Redruth involves two deep holes being drilled over a course of around six months. Drilling began on Tuesday, with one hole expected to be 1.6 miles (2.5km) deep and the other as far as 2.8 miles (4.5km) down, which would be a UK record for a borehole.
Water will then be pumped into the shallower well, where it should be heated by naturally fractured hot rocks deep underground, hitting temperatures of up to 195C.
Ka kite ano link below P.S let hope this project is successful.
The Man accused of blackmailing DOC over 1080 programme named you will see what type of person is making these foolish threats to state employees ka kite ano link below
Kia ora Tekaea I say its cool that NZFirst is doing to helping Ross and his el
30.000 Ratana people in Australia that’s heaps its a shame that they have to go there to get a better life there was no reason but suppression why te tangata whenua moved from te whenua .
The Ngapuhi settlements should settle and use the money to lift te tangata wairua.
The sport training Awhata is a good thing its cool to teach the tamariki about fitness and control.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub I still say Galloway was set up when I take on new management roles I have most time’s clean out the rat’s the one time I did not do this it bit me on the——-.
IPCA washing there image typical tactic the car chase 200 klm 3 dead.
Jeff Sessions is a honorable person Kia Kaha Jeff.
Is that global warming the West coats of Aotearoa getting hammered by tawhirimatea well that will fill some of the hydro power lakes .
Yes I say all the taps and pluming parts that are used in out water supply should be looked at and tested for lead content .
Our power prices are one of the highest in the OECD and what they use hydro to provide most of our power supplies.???? A lot of lies have been told about why our power prices are so high.
The new phones are advancing fast and with them battery technology I say battery power storage is going to revolutionize the renewable energy sector .
Ka kite ano .
Kia ora James & Strrom from The Crowd Goes Wild That’s awesome Trent bolt got a hatrick in the Pakistan first one day over test game and won that;s the way Ross Taylor let em know that you can see what they are up to good game.
That reff let the player know who’s boss by yellow card both front rows in Rugby .
Good on Sulu the netball player for getting a tattoos to show her culture and she is having a good run Mana Wahine .
Ka kite ano P.S good luck to the Black Ferns game in France
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A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
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Bob Jones has dropped his defamation case against Renae Maihi. Good. But at the same time, it perfectly exposes what the case was all about: not protecting Jones' reputation, but punishing someone who had dared to criticise him, and deterring others from doing the same. This rich pompous asshat dragged ...
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What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
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So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
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by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
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Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs The Government has agreed with Air New Zealand to charter an aircraft to assist New Zealanders leaving Wuhan, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. The aircraft will have capacity for around 300 passengers and will fly from Wuhan to ...
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Introduction Mr Speaker We all know why we are here today. It has been a long journey. The journey did not actually begin on 15 March 2019. It began on 30 June 1997. Almost 23 years ago, Justice Sir Thomas Thorp told us what was wrong with our firearms legislation. ...
The Government’s work to put trades and vocational education back on the agenda took another major step forward today with the passing of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is a watershed day for trades and vocational education. These law changes formalise ...
Speeding up the return of Christchurch regeneration activities to local leadership is behind the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today by Minister Megan Woods. “As we approach nine years since the February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, and with the transition to local leadership well underway, the time ...
Hundreds of New Zealanders and international visitors will be able to get back out into nature with the Milford Track partially reopening next week, after extensive assessments and repairs, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The popular Great Walk has been closed since 3 February after an extreme ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
Clear requirements for ensuring customers are treated fairly by banks, insurers and other financial service providers are included in new financial conduct legislation that passed its first reading today. “The recent reviews, by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, into the conduct of banks and ...
Applications are now open for the fifth round of the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson announced today. “I am delighted to open this year’s fund which has some $7 million available to support performing arts venues, galleries, museums and whare ...
The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta today congratulated Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu on her appointment as the next President of the Law Commission. “Amokura Kawharu will be a standout in her new role, leading in an innovative and forward looking approach to the law reform process. She will ...
Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed as the next President of the Law Commission, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. “I would like to congratulate Associate Professor Kawharu on her appointment,” Andrew ...
A programme for employers to help them engage effectively with younger employees was launched today by Minister of Employment, Willie Jackson. The Youth Ready Employer Programme contains a range of on-line templates that employers can easily access to help with employing and retaining young people in their businesses. The programme ...
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday 14 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “This year’s Budget will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also preparing the economy for the future. “Those challenges and opportunities cannot be resolved in one budget, ...
I move, That this House place on record its appreciation and thanks for the devoted and distinguished service to New Zealand by the late Rt Hon Michael Kenneth Moore, member of the Order of New Zealand, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an Honorary Member of the ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Northland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support ...
The Minister of Police says an operation to smash a trans national drug smuggling ring today will make a significant impact on the methamphetamine trade fuelling harm in our communities. Police have announced 10 arrests and the seizure of up to five million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs after an ...
The Government’s books are in a strong position to withstand global headwinds, with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the six months to December. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above ...
Race courses can improve safety with this year’s second round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced the second funding round of 2019/20 is open with $347,875 available for distribution. “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of ...
Hundreds of thousands of young adults will be offered measles vaccinations in a new campaign to strengthen New Zealand’s immunisation system, Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter said at its launch in Auckland today. “About 300,000 young adults aged between 15 and 29 are not fully protected against measles, and ...
The Government is committing $300,000 to fund research to update behavioural information to make sure HIV and STI prevention services are targeted appropriately in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson made the announcement at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland. “There is much talk about ...
The Prime Minister has tried to relieve mounting pressure on China and New Zealand's bilateral relationship at a Chinese New Year Celebration at Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Larissa Christensen, Lecturer in Criminology & Justice | Co-leader of the Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit (SVRPU), University of the Sunshine Coast This week’s ABC’s Four Corners exposed an elite Melbourne school for failing to adequately respond to the grooming of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trish Luker, Senior lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the names and voices of deceased people. When was the last time you signed your name? Perhaps you are more familiar with the ...
“Oranga Tamariki have remained silent on their role in this horrific situation,” a Māori leader tells Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner. A respected Hawke’s Bay kaumatua, who has been supporting the whānau whānui of a four-year-old boy being treated in hospital for brain injuries, says Oranga Tamariki needs to take responsibility ...
*Watch Melanie Reid's full interview in the video player above* Oranga Tamariki stands accused of returning a four-year-old who had been previously badly injured within a Flaxmere household to the same home, where he has since been severely injured again. It allegedly did so without full consultation with the wider whānau, some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roy Green, Emeritus Professor & UTS innovation adviser, University of Technology Sydney The only surprise about the termination of the Holden brand in Australia was that it caused such surprise. This was the final nail in an already empty coffin, given local ...
The owners of the disputed land at Ihumātao say for seven months they've halted development at the request of the Prime Minister, but that can't continue indefinitely. ...
Big Tech companies like Microsoft have raised the spectre of geo-blocking NZ if the Government proceeds with a bill for classifying streamed content. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Williamson, Research Fellow in Environmental Science, University of Tasmania As bushfires in New South Wales are finally contained, attention is turning to nature’s recovery. Green shoots are sprouting and animals are returning. But we must accept that in some cases, the ...
Are you a time-poor urban apartment-dweller who’s put composting in the too-hard basket? Read on…About half of what Aucklanders chuck in their rubbish bins is actually compostable material. That means a whopping 90,000 tonnes of Auckland households’ food waste ends up in landfill each year. Why is that a problem? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Associate Professor, Psychology, Deakin University Snapchat has announced a new feature called “Here For You” that promises to “provide proactive in-app support to Snapchatters who may be experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis”. The popular youth-oriented app is the ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.A very concerning element of the current NZ First donations scandal is the role of lobbying and lobbyists close to the Government. The most recent story from RNZ’s Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton, revealed that lobbyist Doug Woolerton, who is also a trustee of the NZ First ...
“The visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing has reinforced the need to view good, affordable homes as a fundamental human right – and highlighted what needs to happen to ensure all New Zealanders are well-housed,” says Scott ...
The government has announced a ban on electricity retailers using promotions to lure back customers who’ve changed companies. Flick Electric’s Nikki Cockburn explains why this is a victory for consumers and competition. Progress on the Electricity Price Review (EPR) might be slow – especially when it comes to putting recommendations into ...
Acculturation – the cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture or a merging of cultures – is increasingly evident in this country’s public agencies. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has not escaped the process. In July 2018, soon after ...
Pacific Media Watch The Philippines top state lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the country’s key television broadcaster with “guns blazing” but he ought to be devoting more effort on governance, says Rappler co-founder and managing editor Glenda M. Gloria. Gloria, who has been announced as a keynote speaker ...
The Electricity Authority says the ban on power companies offering better deals to customers who want to switch should bring down power prices. From 21 March the authority will ban the so-called win-backs offered to customers within 180 days of leaving their original supplier. Figures show 435,000 consumers switched suppliers ...
This is a press statement from UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing at the end of her 10-day visit to New Zealand. The Government of New Zealand has recognized that the country is facing a housing crisis, said Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur ...
Fletcher Building is hopeful the Ihumātao land dispute can be resolved soon but says it cannot hold off indefinitely. Presenting the construction company's half-year results to the end of December 2019 chief executive Ross Taylor said it has been a complex situation. But the company said in a presentation that ...
The telecommunications company Spark has made a larger profit off a big boost in mobile sales, with the company's bottom line rising 9.2 percent to $167 million in the six months ended December. Revenue rose 4 percent to $1.82 billion with increased margins in the mobile, broadband and cloud divisions. ...
Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt, welcomes the release of the preliminary findings of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, today, and looks forward to giving her recommendations careful consideration. “Ms ...
Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross, has been named today as one of the four people facing Serious Fraud Office charges in relation to two $100,000 donations made to the National Party. ...
Former National MP Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four men charged by the Serious Fraud Office in the National Party donations case - alongside a Chinese community leader who reportedly gave $100,000 to the party, and two others. Name suppression for Ross and his co-accused Zhang Yikun, Zheng Shijia, ...
Almost a third of middle-aged New Zealanders have tried methamphetamine at least once, according to a new University of Otago, Christchurch study looking at the link between using the drug and violence in the general population. The study found those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Theresa Larkin, Lecturer Medical Sciences, University of Wollongong Why don’t burns bleed? – from the year three and four students at Islington Public School in NSW Hello year three and four students – thanks for your excellent question! To ...
The report details an unannounced follow-up inspection, the first in a new phase of inspections of all 18 New Zealand prisons by the Office of the Inspectorate. This follows the first phase of inspections, where all prisons were inspected in a process ...
Netflix’s new release Horse Girl promised a quirky indie dramedy from its trailer. In reality, it’s a nightmarish time-warped look into the mind of a mental illness sufferer, writes Alice Webb-Liddall.There was a horse girl in every primary school classroom. The one with ballet flats and low ponytails and books ...
You may not be punching strangers’ seats, but there’s plenty of other behaviour that is guaranteed to make your fellow passengers seethe with rage. Here’s how to travel by plane without making people hate you.You’ve probably seen the video: a woman leans back in her reclined seat as a man ...
Earmarked for big things since she left high school, the ‘Nothing to Regret’ singer has been dealing with the weight of expectations for a while now. With her debut EP just released, she’s OK with where she’s at.Given the circumstances, Robinson is surprisingly relaxed. It’s early afternoon on a swelteringly ...
By Meriba Tulo in Port Moresby Over the past month, the Autonomous Bougainville Government has made known its intention to put forward several proposed amendments to the Bougainville House of Representatives. These amendments include a provision to allow for a president to serve for more than two terms – ...
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops are concerned that unborn babies will lose their existing tenuous legal rights if Parliament passes the Abortion Legislation Bill in the form proposed by a select committee. And unborn babies with a fetal disability ...
Younger voters are being encouraged to take time now to make sure they are enrolled and ready to vote in this year’s election and referendums. The Electoral Commission’s enrolment teams will be at orientation events at universities, polytechnics and wānanga ...
FIRST Union’s Real Work Real Jobs campaign is expanding its focus to include ‘gig economy’ workers like Uber drivers and dependent contractors, with the public release of the union’s submission on the Government’s Better Protections for Contractors ...
Linda Burgess climbs the eternal staircase at the Opera House in Wellington to watch the virtuoso actor. At the interval her legs are aching. But in the second half, magic happens.There’s one person wearing a face mask, just the one, and it turns his face into a disposable nappy with ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation adds weight to calls for Winston Peters to be stood down. ...
Tutors at Northtec have begun strike action this week, action that will be disruptive for the institution and students. “Tutors never want to affect their students in negative ways, but they want their employer to show respect and put a decent pay ...
Dairy prices have fallen again in the latest global dairy auction, as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on trade. The average price at the overnight auction fell by almost 3 percent to $US3176 a tonne. Following a 4.7 percent fall at the previous auction two weeks ago, it was ...
Motorists are now able to offset their carbon emissions when they fuel up at Z Energy stations. A new feature in the Z app called Carbon Count will show drivers the carbon impact of each fill, then give them the option to offset that. There will be a per-fill option ...
Growth in bank sector profits stalled last year after years of seemingly unstoppable development. Business advisory firm KPMG's annual sector report showed the industry's collective profits fell just under 1 percent to $5.7 billion, with a growth in lending, while margins were squeezed slightly, costs rose markedly, and bad debts ...
After years of swearword-emblazoned book covers, are readers all out of fucks to give about bad language?Since Adam Mansbuch’s 2011 bestseller, Go the Fuck to Sleep, book titles have been swearing profusely to grab audience attention. The author followed up on the winning formula with You Have to Fucking Eat ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will keep his Ministerial portfolios as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates the New Zealand First Foundation. ...
Here's how the Government could force you to sell your house for state housing; and impact of drought, coronavirus could lead to recession - economist. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern right to let Winston Peters’ keep his head over donations ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners is calling on Police Minister Stuart Nash to front up and explain, after releasing new figures showing that since 2011, Police employees have been caught 244 times for unauthorised use of confidential and sensitive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute Young Australians are abandoning private health insurance in droves. And the overall decline in the percentage of the population with private coverage is continuing. New data for the three months to the end of 2019, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne As the brutal reality of climate change dawned this summer, you may have asked yourself a hard question: am I well-prepared to live in a warmer world? There are many ways we can ready ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eva Plaganyi, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Currents are strong around the Torres Strait Islands, lying between Australia’s northern-most tip and Papua New Guinea. When the tidal conditions are right and the waters relatively still, though, up to 230 islanders – a sizeable ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Fahey, PhD Candidate, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University General Motors has announced the Holden brand will be “retired” in 2021. This week’s announcement has been a long time coming. The Holden brand has been in a state of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra An “unholy coalition” is attacking the planned increase in the superannuation guarantee, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says in his latest “vision statement”, pledging to resist any attempt to stop the legislated rise to 12% going ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, let the cat out of the bag this week when he lambasted Canberra over its decision to exclude Huawei from the build-out of Australia’s 5G network. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thami Croeser, Research Officer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The idea that we should decentralise our population has come up many times in Australia. Recently, the National Farmers’ Federation president pushed the notion, calling for a shift to the regions. And ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fresh developments around in the political donations saga, the Chinese ambassador speaks out, and some troubling poll numbers for advocates of cannabis law reform.The Serious Fraud Office is formally investigating the operations of the NZ First Foundation. The confirmation came in ...
ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias interviews Dr Gwendoline Smith about how terrible it is to think too much.Certainly I overthink things, in the sense that I worry and fret and angst, but not in the sense that I actually think very deeply or intelligently. It’s more ...
A major report by the Auditor-General on how New Zealand's drinking, storm and waste waters are managed finds a conflicting, disorganised and stagnant system ill-prepared for climate change. Dileepa Fonseka reports. ...
Overworked and stressed teachers, overcrowded classrooms and substandard nutrition have ECE at crisis point. ECE teacher Susan Bates explains why everyone should care. If you want to know what NZ society might look like in the future, look into the eyes of the young children in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself ...
The pressures on the state budget of a rapidly ageing population must be acknowledged, and treated holistically and with nuance, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale The latest three-yearly 2019 Retirement Incomes Review takes a refreshingly holistic view of retirement policy and is welcomed by the Retirement Policy and ...
Manchester City and the Houston Astros are latest inductees into the sports hall of shame. Dirty, rotten cheats. Calculated, cynical, premeditated, habitual, recidivist, despicable cheats. Committed cheats. Add Manchester City and the Houston Astros to a gallery of shame occupied for all eternity by Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, ...
The 10-year-old girl from Tawa who cherished a cricket bat signed by her 2000 World Cup heroes, now wants to spur a new crop of cricketers through her own swashbuckling deeds. In a recent column looking ahead to the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this week, Sophie Devine wrote that she “hoped to inspire ...
Transforming diseases into foes and therapies into battles isn’t the best way to face contagion. Annemarie Jutel asks: When did panic and catastrophe help anyone organise anything? Public anxiety and nations’ responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) have been shaped by the hyperbolic metaphors surrounding its discussion. Even the usually sedate and measured ...
The dreaded pea weevil is no more in the Wairarapa, after a successful eradication effort. So why does this matter? OK, what on earth is a pea weevil?It’s a type of leaf beetle, so not actually a weevil after all, but the name is the name. Basically it gets into pea ...
Controversial Australian philosopher Peter Singer is coming to New Zealand in June. While he believes in reducing suffering for all humans and animals, his views on disability have sparked widespread alarm and condemnation.Utilitarian and moral philosopher Peter Singer is best known by many for the parable of the drowning child, ...
Sharon Brettkelly gets a rare look at the internal workings of Immigration New Zealand - and we look at what's holding up visa applications. Immigration New Zealand's Henderson office is like any other, with rows of workers at their computers. But in this workplace the lives of tens of thousands ...
Alex Casey delivers her seventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where a group of intruders have herniated the competition’s intestines forever. Click here for previous instalments. Welcome back to The Bachelorette NZ, where everything is made up and every man is suddenly named Mike. Intruders! Five of them! A whole ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Solicitor-General Jose Calida asked the Supreme Court today to issue a gag order against ABS-CBN, claiming the Philippines’ largest television network was engaging in “propaganda” to sway the justices in the quo warranto case seeking to void its franchise. Calida filed the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen R Fisher, Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for young children with disability is not equal across Australia. Where you live can hinder access to information about disability support, assistance to apply for ...
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations applauds the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act released by the government yesterday but does not believe that they go far enough to improving the rights of renters. The power imbalance in the current ...
Open Mike 07/11/2018 
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...4 hours ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...6 hours ago
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...8 hours ago
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If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...18 hours ago
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...1 day ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...3 days ago
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Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...2 weeks ago
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics. Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...2 weeks ago
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit: Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ... 2 weeks ago
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...2 weeks ago
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...2 weeks ago
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...11 hours ago
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...5 days ago
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...1 hour ago
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Ecuador planning to sell large tracts of its rainforest to China.
What could possibly go wrong?
A quick Google search reveals that this was reported about 4-5 years ago.
Well it’s still relevant if it is going to be cleared.
I’d like to see an international agreement that protects (and offers an allowance) to the world’s natural areas like rainforests and jungles, to keep them natural and untouched, free of people apart from indigenous people and free of habitat destruction. This would contribute to international biodiversity and helping climate change and help the world retain those areas. I’m pretty sure there is only 4% jungles left for example in the world and they house a significant proportion of biodiversity in the world.
I’d also like to see another measure for forests and international agreements for retaining them.
Sad that the antarctic fishing marine reserves have been stopped by some greedy countries.
Not sure if this is true (from 2005) but I was surprised what countries had the most forests. At that time the world had approx 30% still in forests although that was 13 years ago. (Not sure if this is a measure of the quality of the forests though, aka are they monocultures like pines?)
Forest-rich and forest-poor countries. The five most forest-rich countries (the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States and China) account for more than half of total forest area (2 097 million hectares or 53 percent). The Russian Federation alone accounts for 20 percent of the world total. Seven countries have more than 100 million hectares of forest each. The ten most forest-rich countries account for 66 percent of total forest area (Figure 2.3). The remaining 34 percent is spread among 212 countries and areas. Seven countries and areas (the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, the Holy See, Monaco, Nauru, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and Tokelau) reported having no areas that qualify as forests using the FRA 2005 definition.
High and low forest cover countries. Forty-five countries and areas have more than half their total land area covered by forests (Figure 2.4), and 11 of these have more than 75 percent of their total land area covered. Most of these are small island states or territories, but the list also includes three low-lying coastal states in South America and one country in the Congo Basin (Table 2.2).
Sixty-four countries and areas have less than 10 percent of their total land area covered by forests. These include many SIDS and dependent territories, as well as 17 larger countries with relatively substantial forest areas (more than 1 million hectares each). Three of these (Chad, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Mongolia) have more than 10 million hectares of forest, but still qualify as LFCCs.
At the regional level, South America is the region with the highest percentage of forest cover, followed by Europe and North and Central America. Asia is the region with the lowest percentage of forest cover (Table 2.3).”
https://www.greenfacts.org/en/forests/l-3/2-extent-deforestation.htm#1p0
Maybe a very good strategic move by China?
“The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the “Lungs of our Planet” because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
More than half of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world’s fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.
One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants.
At least 80% of the developed world’s diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.”
http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
Yeah they could transport the clean air over to China.
Extinction rebellion.
“We refuse to bequeath a dying planet to future generations by failing to act now.”
https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
A movie about a time when the Left condemned fascism, instead of cuddling up to it.
The left cuddles up to Fascism? How did you get to that conclusion?
Idiot post not worth responding to.
Hi Sanctuary,
Maybe you need to address that question to the biggest, (remaining), Left Assad apologist on this site.
But since you asked:
Cuddling up to fascism
New Zealand’s biggest Centre Left blogsite gives TS author Bill, free reign to censor comment that provides factual evidence of the fascist nature of the Assad regime.
[For ignoring moderation and lying about authors…continuing with the same old tiresome pattern of bullshit – 1 year ban] – Bill
In refusing to address the evidence I presented here and earlier, Bill continually and repeatedly made accusations that I am liar. Bill has never tried to refute what I have written. Neither has Bill ever pointed out where I am have supposed to have lied about him or any other author. NOT ONCE! NOT EVER!
In this way we see the convergence between fascists and some on the Left, not just in ideas but in tactics. Having no moral defence for his position on Syria, Bill and others like him have to resort to these sorts of methods.
Maybe Bill hopes that by continually repeating the accusation without evidence that I am a liar often enough, people will believe him. ie the big lie tactic,
Bill uses this blanket accusation of lying (without giving any evidence of it), along with bans, as a way to avoid addressing the Issues I raise.
Bill is not bothered with lies, but with truth.
Bill is a conscious genocide ignorer. To suit his argument Bill actively ignores the evidence of the huge crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime. Bill has repeatedly refused to address the evidence of this genocide that I have put before him. And rather than defend his position with rational debate, or refute this evidence, Bill chooses to deliberately ignore it. Rather than attempting to refute my position, Bill chooses outright censorship, or comment suppression. (ie shunting my refutation of his claims, to the bottom of open mike where he hopes no one will see them), above discussion.
This behaviour is allowed, or at the least tolerated by the other Standard authors.
Sanctuary, You may not agree with me that this is the Left cuddling up to fascism, but in my opinion it indicates a certain level of comfort with it.
Another symptom of this political malaise was the promotion of Colonial Viper to Author status not that long after CV had openly called for the gunning down of, at that time, peaceful protesters in the most bloodthirstiest of terms.
I remember writing to CV at the time, trying to gently as I could, chide him for his use of extreme calls for bloodshed, saying that I thought it had no place in family friendly website like The Standard.
However my cautions went unheeded.
And the elevation of this openly pro-fascist supporter of mass murder to authorship had its inevitable dismal conclusion.
And this softness towards Syrian fascism continues.
The Standard may not have an actual editorial line on Syria. But as far as I know The Standard has never allowed one single post defending the Syrian revolution.
In the light of this glaring omission…..
The film Nae Pasaran is a timely antidote to this moral malaise and spiritual sickness afflicting the modern Left that allows us to ignore genocide, and support dictatorship. The film Nae Pasaran is a window looking into a past and showing us the Left’s once disgust at dictatorship. This is the sort of courageous, uncompromising and uplifting message that we sorely need today.
There was a phrase that jumped out at me from the promo of this film;
Recounting the solidarity shown to the Chilean people by the Left in Scotland in the ’70s, Is the phrase attributed to a Chilean activist. “We often thought the world had forgotten us”
So often I have heard almost the exact same quote from those suffering under the Assad fascist style genocide.
Unfortunately for Syria, it is true.
*Yassin Al-Haj Saleh Wikipedia:
Self-martyrdom coming up in 3 … 2 … 1 …
Jenny, I value what you have to add here and I’m sorry to see you go after stoushes like this one looks likely to turn into.
In the meantime, I’d like to suggest an alternative way of interpreting Bill’s contributions. It seems to me that Bill has a streak of compulsive contrarianism, particularly with respect to msm reporting. This contrarianism leads him to take positions that appear to support some really ugly regimes, but are much more the result of contrarianism rather than holding sympathies towards those regimes. And when defending those contrarian positions in the heat of the moment, things can be said which can easily be misinterpreted to reinforce an impression of regime sympathies.
Kia ora, Jenny. I think you are going way to far in concluding that because some TS authors are less critical of the Assad regime than others, that means that we are cuddling up to fascism. Eddie, Michael Valley, MS and myself posts all wrote posts early in the Syrian civil war that were far from complimentary about the Syrian Government.
Later on, TS clearly was swamped with trolly pro-Putin, pro Assad posts, but that was mainly from an author who you correctly identify as being from the far right and who is here no more.
Additionally, the complexity of this war and the ongoing fight against religious fascism in the regime makes it incredibly hard to work out where support should go at any given time. Kinda like the Falklands/Malvinas blue, where two nasty regimes came to blows, I see Syria as two (or more) strains of fascism fighting amongst themselves. And, as always in war, the real losers are the civilians.
There are a couple of authors at TS who remain deeply cynical about the ‘truth’ in the Syrian conflict, but so what? You, and anybody else, are free to post alternatives. Just don’t personalise your responses and you should be fine.
Looks awesome. Thanks Jenny.
Kim Hill is casually toying with Seymour on Morning Report. “A listener has suggested that the seat of Epsom might qualify as a taxpayer funded junket.” Great to listen to.
Good eh? A delight to listen to. One or two pregnant inhalations as well by Mr Rimmer
Btw @ ScottGN, how do you think we should measure the success of the jaunt to Japan by the two that Mr Rimmer is trying to ‘hold to account’.
Should it be statisically on the basis of a weight to benefit ratio?
or
Should it be statistically on the basis of a ‘heft’ to benefit ratio? (going forward)
And earlier on MR, there was this:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018670092/migrant-workers-union-welcomes-exploitation-inquiry
As a pompous Woodhouse would say: “Standby”
More to come
A graphic that is both terrible and awesome. So many died – so many of us.
“More than 18,000 New Zealanders lost their lives in World War One. You can find out more about them in this interactive graphic, which shows every person who died.”
https://insights.nzherald.co.nz/article/world-war-one-roll-of-honour/
So true. We are still suffering as a society for this.
“A lot of people lost their lives. Those that didn’t gave up a significant period of their lives, and those who weren’t killed came home often with severe injuries, physically and certainly mentally, and many struggled to fit back into society.
“When I have been to Gallipoli and Passchendaele … you look down and pick out a grave and you think, ‘What would have happened? How would history have changed if that person wasn’t killed?’
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/last-post-first-light/108380440/lessons-for-today-100-years-on-from-the-armistice
I am so over this glorification of WW1 which is a distraction from the real feelings of outrage and grief we might feel about the courageous and/or dogged sacrifices of the dead of other wars since. We are up to our eyes in a wash of sentiment being organised around a significant date, out of all the significant war dates that should be memorialised, and have been excluded from mention. I remember General Eisenhower of the USA* and his reference to the USA industrial-military complex is in this link. More info about him and his Presidential term below.
Now we will remember them, tomorrow we will move on and not think about it. Going through the motions about war, and its continuance and in preparation for more affrays all the time. I have taken the opportunity to buy some books on WW1 and some illustrated ones and these have displayed the reality. When I go to Anzac Day ceremonies they are repetitive memorials about the disastrous event where people were forced to try to kill others and often received the same result. While remembering the past event and the fallen, it shows a resigned, almost inevitable attitude and anti-war and anti-belligerence approach is very slightly mentioned.
Instead of having a compulsory study of our human history, including wars and national economic forces we have these parades that don’t convey the spectrum of losses caused by war. They finish, leaving an open wound in political and national co-operation and trust between humans and examples of how relatively easy it is for nations to throw out respect and human rights for individuals and groups. Post-war, we lack ‘debriefing’ with the nation and particularly its young, and this just puts a scab over that wound; there is no lasting restoration to a state of higher morality and human respect, and declining and demeaning behaviours lurk in the human herd and heads, always ready to appear from our dark corners.
This 1982 video is from the USA archives and shows how there is a constant campaign to create unrest so that countries are destabilised from foreign interference.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeFgd6gGTWk
*https://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/impact-and-legacy
No glorification just remberance. Not many families here unaffected. In today’s world few want to front up to the hard questions and hard conclusions around war. Too many put their head in the sand and then wonder why it all happens again.
We will remember them because they are us.
Pardon me! It is indeed glorification when John Key and the RSA spend $120 million? on the project to provide a new WW1 memorial because a certain date is reached.
After the actual WW1 people who cared paid for memorials themselves all around the country. There are plenty of memorials already; people since 1915 have not forgotten.
The memorials were funded by local communities without government assistance. Those who had raised patriotic funds during the war, especially women, often did the hard work.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/memorials-and-monuments/page-4
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/269566/war-memorial-park-blessed
The Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage acquired land on Buckle Street, across from the National War Memorial in 2005, and six years later opened a public space to remember those affected by war.
The construction of the park and Arras tunnel needed for the project started in October 2012 at the cost of $120-million.
Curator of the National War Memorial Paul Riley said it was a much-needed addition.
“A few years ago we had a mobile petrol station, a vehicle testing station, tire shop and hire pool right opposite where we are standing now,” Mr Riley said.
“We have a complete contrast now. This is far more appropriate opposite a national shrine.”
The park has a new Australian memorial, featuring fifteen columns of rugged red sandstone blocks.
It is a reciprocal gesture to the “basket handles” of the New Zealand Memorial in Canberra.
A sculpture of a Hinerangi figure, symbolising the daughter of the heavens, by Maori sculptor Darcy Nicholas was also unveiled.
The park will be officially opened on 18 April, a week before Anzac Day.
We have been remembering WW1 for ever on Anzac Day and in other ways and with more people going to view the early morning gathering of veterans marching to the memorials that are in every city.
More details about the building and landscaping – no mention of the cost because that gets swallowed up by the sentiment for the dead, and their belief that it was to ensure a good world for the living is by-passed.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/last-post-first-light/67854592/Pukeahu-National-War-Memorial-Park-officially-opens
https://mch.govt.nz/what-we-do/our-projects/current/first-world-war-centenary-projects
https://mch.govt.nz/pukeahu/park/redevelopment
It is hard for me to find information about the total cost of the Wellington memorial, it does not come up in a discussion about it at stats or in the factual detail from other sources, but I believe that the actual memorial cost $16 million, plus the acquisition of the land for Pukeahu Park.
It was glorification to put up another memorial. That money should have gone to help veterans with treatment needed, to enable peace meetings, to pay for stories about brave forces people, and brave resistance people, and brave civilians, and brave anti-war people on both sides. We should remember these people for sure, and not just at parades and photo-ops for politicians. because they are us and we should be spending on projects preventing more wars arising from clashes between political cultures; a peace museum? That could be used for holding conferences, talks, displays about war and about development to help the people of the world. The subjects discussed would include ending inhumanity in our own country, assisting that in other countries, what is important. Because we are all one entity, one animal, though in many forms different only in our looks.
I’m talking about what I put up in my two posts. I don’t know or care about what you’re going on about sorry.
Okay you just started me off on a line of thought that has been in mind for a while so it’s good to put that up.
Sorry if it wasn’t just on your thought.
I am right with you, Greywarshark. I fear that remembrance is constantly being turned into glorification. Celebrating the brilliant feats pulled off by our Kiwi guys in France using their No 8 Fencing Wire mentality, blah blah. WW1 was an utter bloody tragedy that should have been curtailed. Our media are not promoting the true lessons of history, and are thereby propelling us towards a foolish repetition.
Why not have a look at every person killed in that war and consider the question raised about what the world would have been if those individuals were not slaughtered.
https://insights.nzherald.co.nz/article/world-war-one-roll-of-honour/
They died in the mud and shit and stink – for what? So that you can say, “Celebrating the brilliant feats pulled off by our Kiwi guys in France using their No 8 Fencing Wire mentality, blah blah.”
Yes what a waste of good people marty mars. Do you think we don’t care about them. If they had cared so much the government wouldn’t be so quick to send troops off to the badlands of WW1.
That is why it is a travesty to pretend to care by building an extra monument; tidying up the old one and setting up a fund to help our youth so they have trades and jobs and going to war isn’t the only thing for them. The gummint could have set up WW1 Memorial Apprenticeships to aim for. Getting ‘on their feet’ would be something the dead guys and women would have liked for their grandchildren.
No I don’t think you care. But that’s okay. I’m not glorifying war or death – I’m not arguing about the utter waste of people or the callous disregard for them by generals and politicians then or now. I simply acknowledging that they died horribly. That there is a new interactive site where every dead person is named and described. And I put another link up to an article talking about the loss of these people and the loss for us all when the survivors and maimed returned home.
Marty – are you one of those who has to have ‘sarc’ signalled after every example that seemed obvious to the writer? Or do you just rush and not think about what you read?
I take people as they write and respect that they say what they mean and put the tags they want on anything they write. I spose i do sometimes get surprised by some of the comments i read. For instance the jamileeross stuff filled me with great sadness when i read the stupid comments from people i normally admire comment wise. Sometimes also i agree with something someone says and then really disagree with what they write. Such is life. I’m sure others would have harsher thoughts on me but mostly I try not to give a fuck too much on what others think and stick to my kaupapa.
Appears the attack line from the Hosk, HDPA et al is to call for immediate sacking of any minister that appears to have a challenge in the carrying out of their job. According to the Hosk today the immigration minister has made a “catastrophic” error and must lose his job. If Hosk, let alone that HDPA twit, were subject to the same view, by all accounts they would have been gone long ago.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12155789
Just don’t “click” on them it has become bizarre and the Herald had a major announcement this morning that Hosking is going to be made to work a whole ½ longer today – all that means to me is another ½ spent avoiding that radio feed.
The trouble is ignoring the Herald won’t make this nonsense disapear. The likes of the Herald hold sway over a fair chunk of the electorate’s opinions and for that reason they must be held to account. My response is to throw the nonsense back at them and make them qualify what they print. This mornings effort is a classic example of pure headline grabbing beat up.
Never read them.
Just a shame they didn’t see fit to hold the previous Minister to the same standard, who when it comes down to it all, is responsible for the mess I L-G is in today.
Typical National Party Dirty Politics MO then. The same was happening during the last Labour led term of government as well.
HDPA should be banned it taints shellfish in the can and cause tremors, palpitations and cricopharyngeal spasms in readers.
Announce a review of her immigration status and see how she squeels.
Oh don’t be so bloody mean @Psyche nurse.
She’s not brown or black or yellow (maybe a bit orange), is reasonably wealthy, married to a bastion of the 4th Estate, has her own ‘show’, has never been surveilled by Thompson and Clark, and would probably figure quite low on a non-racist demographic risk management spreadsheet
(/sarc)
… and you forgot to add is as shallow as they come, which is a prerequisite for a successful career as a populist political commentator where taking money for nothing of substance is the primary motivation.
Did the duke and/or solkta get banned?
I kinda recall something about the duke getting told to take a break until next year, but now I can’t find where that happened. If solkta copped a whack from the ban hammer, I missed it.
Dukeofurl is gone till Feb. Solkta is not on the naughty list that I can see.
Fucken sad that. ffs 🙄
Well, Duke was given a reasonable opportunity to respond positively to moderation and chose the opposite tack. We all know how that ends.
Yep. I could see it happening from a mile away and the instructions were clear – no excuses for him. Quite a skill skating around the bolded text 😉
It’s an interesting phenomenon – sometimes folks who care passionately seem to recognise that they’re getting too worked up and picking fights with a moderator (often an author moderating their own post, but also often just a mod who’s doing their community maintenance volunteer work). But maybe they can’t draw themselves away and decide they need to get banned for their own good.
Last sightings of solkta seem to be OM 3 Nov and Labour Conference Notes 3 Nov, but am assuming he/she has other priorities or has decided of their own volition to take a break. Actually comment numbers seem to be down the last few days overall – perhaps the weather, spring, start of build up to the end of year celebrations etc.
Last sightings of duke on 5 Nov, OM and JLR Tapes – some things to be worked out re postings the previous day.
Should the Clean Slate Act be extended to former prisoners?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018669928/calls-for-clean-slates-for-former-prisoners
Probably. It’s there to give people their second chance.
I agree, unless it’s a pedo wanting to work with children, keep the kids safe.
Agreed
If people can prove to whoever that they are rehabilitated then they should get the chance to live their lives. I wouldn’t extend that to sex offenders on registered sex offender lists.
Being vindictive to those that have made mistakes, learned from it, and want to move on is childish and ineffective.
Totally depends. Anonymity is not useful when repeat offender violent and predatory types exist, and there’s a fair few of them.
‘Victim-less’ crime might be wiped after a pattern of good living for x years. The sociopaths and evil dirt bags should be monitored for life. Gang members zero reprieve till they leave their gang, and then a pattern of good living for x years.
Not everyone is a misunderstood youth in need of a hug, some are complete assholes. That counts especially for white collar crims.
Why let a fraudster back in business. They can be employees but not bosses imo. Likewise embezzlement etc. These crims have myriad victims, a lot worse than a poor kid who pinches stuff. No record wiping for these premeditating deliberately callous self obsessed criminals.
People make mistakes and learn. But some plot for themselves 24/7. Screw those people make the penalties harsher.
You raise a valid point.
Why let a fraudster back in business. They can be employees but not bosses imo. Likewise embezzlement etc. These crims have myriad victims, a lot worse than a poor kid who pinches stuff. No record wiping for these premeditating deliberately callous self obsessed criminals.
About criminals. The word sounds really bad but mothers trying to bring up kids, trying to run a household and have a life on an inadequate income get put in jail because they coudn’t manage with what they had. Just give them more money, more training, more child care, less oppressive claw-back as soon as they earn something. The hatred and meanness of the government ‘welfare’ system is a bloody disgrace. And succeeding governments seem powerless to adopt reasonable approaches and ensure that reason and kindness are ingrained into the system, and all that work within it.
Yet private people prey on others and manage to weave their way round the legal system leaving ordinary people who try to be good citizens impoverished in their wake.
Of course NZ is second in the world for being easy to get into business, can’t put limits on the crooks or we might spoil our well-known record, which brings investment money into NZ for some purpose and gives the effect of having a booming economy. Yeah right.
Part of the problem is the way that Ministries contract out their work and take no responsibility for the way it is carried out. ‘Oh’ says the National Minister ‘I can’t do anything about (whatever disgraceful matter). That’s an operational matter’. It was shown up this morning on Radionz when a Transport agency man was being questioned about faulty checks on imported cars. They get away with sloppiness that wouldn’t be acceptable by a part-time low paid casual worker. Yet they can ponce around on high salaries. They aren’t doing their work lawfully, as in being suitable for their purpose, or in not meeting the standards of service that they hold themselves out to deliver.
We are run by she’ll-be-rights who pay themselves too much, deliver too little, fudge too much, pull the wool over our eyes too much, and punish the little people struggling with difficulties overwhelming them too much.
Yep, that whole “I can’t comment because it’s ‘an operational’ matter” croc is used all too often. And the definition of what is ‘operational’ and what is not seems pretty flexible.
I’m not sure why elected representatives can’t comment on ‘operational matters’ – especially when the operatives are not living up to what is expected of them.
I might be wrong, but it seems to have become a convenience since the last round of public service/corporatisation reforms.
Roll it on Chippie!
This is a good start:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018670092/migrant-workers-union-welcomes-exploitation-inquiry
(it’d never have happened had there not been some serious ‘operational’ fuckups over the past decade)
Oh, and btw, that NZTA thing was a shocker, even if you’re forgiving yourself for thinking Kim Hill is driving a second hand Japanese import and is worrying about the integrity of its airbags whilst rolling down a Brooklyn hill on her way to an RNZ studio.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018670120/vehicle-importer-tester-conflict-a-serious-issue-nzta-boss
(Don’t mention the trucking industry towbars! Shhhhhh! Wet Wellington bus tickets at the ready – and ‘moreover’ this is a ‘technical issue’ that you just wouldn’t understand – because WE are the professionals and we’re ‘officials’ not to be challenged, not never!)
Yes it was good to hear that NZTA boss explain it all to Kim Hill who couldn’t seem to see why she shouldn’t keep asking some direct questions and get a direct answer of explanation. Sweet fudging.
Rising levels of ‘black carbon’ in Queen St heighten health risk for Aucklanders
“Pedestrians and workers in Auckland’s Queen St are being exposed to high levels of “black carbon”, or ultra-fine carbon particles associated with a number of health problems.
Black carbon emissions are more than three times higher than Canadian cities and twice as high for concentrations in major European, UK and American cities, according to an article published by Auckland Council’s research and evaluation unit.”
“The article said high buildings in Queen St reduce airflow and allow air pollutant concentrations to increase close to ground level. High numbers of diesel buses in the central city and emissions from the port and ferry terminal contributed to air pollution levels.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12155503
Time to put the stadium and all the other polluting enterprises like Cruise ships and actually concentrate on safety of all the people and develop the wharf area and the city into open spaces free of pollution that workers and residents living in central Auckland can escape to! Not be polluted further by!
NZ is not going to have people living in Auckland city (and other cities) in those apartments or working there if the air quality they breathe is harming them!
As for the diesel fuelling public transport and trucks, again, NZ councils and government have clearly got their head’s up their arses on this one as they continually introduce more and more polluting elements into our city and our RMA laws and interpretation of them is dysfunctional.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1806/S00111/public-health-fears-over-wellington-bus-plan.htm
‘Each day a cruise ship emits as much particulate matter as a million cars’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pollution-cruise-ships-po-oceana-higher-piccadilly-circus-channel-4-dispatches-a7821911.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/108358338/English-language-tests-for-foreign-teachers-likely-to-be-scrapped
There’s reason to be cautious about some testing regimes, notably TOEFL, in which the relatively high variation serves the business model (by encouraging multiple resits).
IELTS is more robust, and the convention that working at an academic level requires a basic standard less arbitrary.
I’d be interested to know where the story came from: government seeking to lower the bar to ease recruitment, non-state employers looking for cheap labour, or extant teachers trying to prevent creeping erosion of standards.
I think that some of our laws need to be more tightly focussed. I am thinking it is too general to have a law forbidding ‘sexual harassment’ which doesn’t convey well the extent of the fault.
This morning on the latest to come to the news:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018670126/geoffrey-rush-s-defamation-case-a-roll-call-of-actors
Geoffrey Rush’s defamation case a ‘roll-call’ of actors
From Morning Report, 8:56 am today
Listen duration 4′ :26″
A defamation case brought by the Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush against the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney is nearing a close.
Rush is suing the newspaper over articles it published last year, which claimed he behaved inappropriately with a co-star during a King Lear production in 2015.
Eryn-Jean Norvill, who played Cordelia in the Shakespeare play, has given evidence in the federal court in Sydney that Rush sexually harassed her.
He denies the allegations.
It may come that men will start suing women about the way they dress, showing body parts that have strong sexual connotations and attraction to men such as breasts, and saying that they are deliberately displaying themselves which introduces thoughts of sexuality which otherwise would not have arisen, and that is a form of sexual harassment!
So I think more definition is needed about what constitutes sexual harassment. Also I would like murder to be cited in degrees as some of the States in USA do.
https://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/violent_crimes/degrees.murder.htm
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018670114/water-bottling-expansion-could-threaten-chch-drinking-supplies-councillor
A Christchurch City Councillor is strongly opposing the application by a Chinese owned bottling company to take 1.5 billion litres of water from a deep aquifer – saying it could threaten the city’s drinking supply.
Ocean Cloud Water owns an existing 33-metre deep bore in the northern suburb of Belfast, from which it is extracting and bottling 4.3 million litres of water a day.
It has now applied to the Environment Canterbury for permission to extract water from a 186-metre deep bore at the plant so it can sell it abroad.
Vicki Buck the former mayor of Christchurch and chair of the Council’s Innovation and Sustainability Committee, says this could compromise Christchurch’s water supply.
Kathryn also talks with Steve Lowndes, Chair of Environment Canterbury.
Kathryn Ryan and Vicki Buck Christchurch Councillor, had a very interesting conversation in this interview about water bottling demands being made on Christchurch city pure water aquifer.
Hey, hey….
More good news for our Coalition Government 🙂
“Unemployment has dropped to 3.9 per cent, the lowest level since the global financial crisis, causing the New Zealand dollar to surge.
On Tuesday Statistics New Zealand revealed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 per cent in the three months to September 30, down from 4.4 per cent at the end of June.
It is the lowest unemployment rate since June 2008, when unemployment was 3.8 per cent.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/108414604/unemployment-drops-sharply-hitting-lowest-level-since-2008
Yes indeed, well done National for gifting the incoming government such a strong base 🙂
Lmao cheeky as ! Yeah, nah.
We’ve had a new government for a year, and would you look at that, with those figures it’s obvious business confidence is also up.
Well now partner the ways I sees it is I reckon that if’n Nationals going to be blamed for all the negative stuff then it seems only fair to my ways of thinking that they need to be praised for all of the good stuff to
I’ll be moseying off now
The problem in our thinking is that national is all the negative stuff .
Aaargh fucking your thinking that’s meant to be . And the edit function is mia on that post ? But not this one
Pretty sure the best thing about national for Pucky, would be….drum roll please….
judith collins.
You’re not wrong 🙂
Well howdy there partner I do believe you got it right
Puckish Rogue, I don’t think I got an impression of ‘gifting’ amongst the cries of “We wuz robbed”.
not to rain on any parade but
no numbers of new jobs created
how many people of benefit into studies
how many people of unemployment benefit to other benefits
how many unemployed people retiring
how many unemployed people going still unemployed but not listed as unemployed
this article is actually really lazy and leaves more questions then answers. as to business confidence, who was asked? Bankers?
Maybe we will find out more after question time today?
it would be good to know what caused the drop.
If its more jobs, awesome. If its just people dropping out of the system, then no its not good at all.
More info would be very much appreciated, and should have been provided in the article to be honest.
Yes that dropping out of the system could be the answer. Going along to register and getting treated like a dropout, and being forced to apply for useless jobs where the hours are shit and the transport is not available to suit the hours, or the cost uses all your wages up. And you try and have a life but can’t carry out your duties to family and wor at all odd hours when the fingers get snapped. And you have to notify the Dept each week probably about your earnings so you get a cut in your benefit immediately but they probably take a while to bring it up to a normal level when the hours are cut. It could make you feel like suicide.
And don’t forget how they keep changing the way unemployment is measured – to make Govt. look good by not counting people who used to be counted. I don’t trust this rubbish at all. It is not lowest…
I’m going to make enquiries as to how they get the employment figures. Looking up google all the detail is about measuring the unemployed HxLxW. Stats advise who constitutes an unemployed person but I would like it spelled out as to who is employed – it must be paid work for a start, and how many hours, and it will probably say a minimum of one but I want to know for sure. I guess it will be phrased like ‘Did you do any paid work in the last week and how many hours? The last month and how many hours?
Do they count travelling time? If you have to travel an hour there and another back to work two hours, then that should be counted in a separate column which would also be interesting to see.
Is this of any use to you?
StatsNZ are pretty good at putting everything online, but the volume of what they publish means that getting the vibe of what search terms to use (or avoid) can take a while.
Well if we’re reading between the lines as (Jacinda) likes to say then I’m guessing ILG is not going to be feeling too comfortable for the next wee while (nor should he)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/108416607/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-found-out-about-karel-sroubek-decision-through-the-media
“What is unusual is some of the basis of the minister’s decision has been contradicted by other information in the public domain.”
(PR, the PM’s name is Jacinda. There’s more than a hint of misogynist belittling with the alternative you used, which is not OK here. TRP)
Should be good to note the contrast with bridges who has dropped shit grenade after shit grenade into his team’s hooch.
Hes only keeping the seat warm until Saint Jude the Savior chooses to take over
LOL. See my 17 below.
But, but – what gives with the job situation?
Well much like National wanted Little to stay I’m guessing Labour want Bridges to stay and since I’m advising Jude I’ll let you in on what I’ve advised her
Let Bridges stay on untill after the next election and then take over in a very seamless, orderly transition a couple of months after
Of course whether she takes my advice is another story…
LOL – I meant your job situation … Everything sorted?
Coming along nicely but very slowly, who’d thought a government role would take so damn long.
We have a site visit and testing on Friday and then the last thing should be a reference check and, hopefully, a job offer
If it wasn’t for the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 I’d be sooooo bored waiting 🙂
Saint Jude the Saviour lol certainly a lot needs saved that’s for sure but based on her track record she may as well be called St Jude the Saveloy cos she ain’t got it – never had it and never will imo.
I thought St. Jude’s moniker was ‘the obscure’. She certainly squawks like a skua.
Yeah Kate Winslet does look a bit like Jude
hahahahahahahahah
thanks for that, i needed a good belly laugh.
” Hes only keeping the seat warm until Saint Jude the Savior chooses to take over”
I thought her kind sunned themselves on rocks to warm the bloodstream.
No worries
Cheers, PR. George Costanza says it best:
Have a look at BM’s comments yesterday. Disgusting.
Every time you mention thee trolls it gives them a thrill. They thrill and trill when they troll, so roll on past why don’t you. You are feeding them.
For those of us who watch Question Time in Parliament, we won’t see either the PM or Simon Bridges there today. Seems they are in Ratana to celebrate the centenary “since prophet Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana is said to have received a divine revelation from which the Ratana Church was born.”
Marama Davidson is also there as is Shane Jones, according to the Herald.
Considering the discussions here in the last few days or so re Kiwibuild etc, people may be interested in this little snippet in the last paragraph of the Herald article, which is easy to miss lost due to its stupid placement between “Related Articles” and “Herald Recommends”:
“The Government is expected to make an announcement on housing at Ratana. Previous governments have also used Ratana celebrations to make similar announcements.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12154927
Meanwhile, it looks like Winston Peters and Paula Bennett have been left to mind the shop. Winston is not at Ratana according to the above article, and Bennett has Question 2 this afternoon to the PM -“the usual “Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?”
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/list-of-oral-questions/oral-questions-7-november-2018/
Presumably Peters and Bennett will still be minding the shop tomorrow, Thursday, as the PM and Leader of the Opposition do not attend Question Time on Thursdays.
So the next time we can hope to see the “Clash of the Titans” between Ardern and Bridges* is not until 27 November for the final three weeks of the House sitting for 2018, as the House is in recess for the next two weeks. The final sitting session will only be three weeks as opposed to the usual four weeks as the House is due to rise for the Summer Recess on Thursday, 13 December.
* Assuming Bridges is still Leader of the National Party …
“Does she stand by all of her Government’s statements and actions?”
This question and others of its ilk should be banned. It is a complete waste of time. Both sides – Just state your damn case.
I don’t disagree that such questions are a problem and have become too much a case of game playing, rather than the Govt being properly being held to account, etc in Question Time.
Their purpose is so that the Govt Minister answering the primary question (or rather, their advisers, Ministry etc) cannot prepare detailed answers as they do for more specific primary questions on specific topics – thus leaving the Minister in the firing line unsure what is going to follow in the supplementary questions.
Thus, behind the scenes it becomes a guessing game as to what is going to follow and advisers etc end up rushing around trying to cover all possibilities in terms of providing briefing notes to the Minister.
New Zealand now has 3.9% headline unemployment.
Underutilization is at 11.3%.
Best since 2008.
Yes, we’re still one of the most unequal countries in the oecd.
But this is one very good stat.
More from Mother Agnes on Syria. No doubt the lefty fascists will scream, but, but.. Assad!
From Robin Westenra.
This needs to be a thread.
The second most important story in New Zealand.
Winston is going to take jlr’s proxy vote.
Wonder if simon wants to talk about it?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12156119
Winnie will be loving it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know it won’t happen but I would love it if the media DID NOT ASK Bridges about it!
ROFL.
And here is Stuff’s article.
So timewise, National refused to exercise Ross’ proxy votes on Friday, 2 Nov and NZF received a letter from Ross on Sat, 3 Nov …
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/108429642/jamilee-ross-switches-his-proxy-vote-to-new-zealand-first
And Ross has tweeted about it here
And more –
Andrew Geddis’ considered legal opinion – “Oh, this is totally messed up … !
https://twitter.com/acgeddis/status/1060001425541935104
Toby Manhire – “What”
And love this one –
@LewSOS
55m55 minutes ago
More
Winston Peters Troll Level: is there a level higher than Grand Master
Some great reactions in all of the above full threads! ROFL
Wonder what tune Winston will put to this? Suggest “These Boots were made for Walking” Any other suggestions.
Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made for Walkin
I reckon this one: Queen – If You Can’t Beat Them
Kia ora The Am Show The American midterm election has thrown a spanner in trump’s ——– this is a win for the Wahine and minority cultures with the House won by the Democrats that give’s America a humane voice with gerrymandering what has happened there they change the electoral lines that give the go oil party a huge advantage in the House election’s because of gerrymandering so in many of those seats the Democrats won the mojority but republicans still get the seat shonky would have pulled tactics like that if national won .
.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/04/america-minority-rule-voter-suppression-gerrymandering-supreme-court
Fuel tax is all good seenothing at least that revenue serves the Majority unlike big business were there profits only serve your rich m8’s % 00.1 no .
Of coarse one of the % 00.1 the ceo of walmart is going to say that about trump .
Its the middle and poor classes and minority groups that are getting ripped off buy the go oil party .
Its cool that the ban smoking in cars is getting big support as it should.
Kaiapo school being burnt is a stupid act who burns down a school for te mokopuna’s is a fool.
I agree with Amada we need those corporate fight’s need more laws to protect the fighters . Ka kite ano .
To all the good people who got up and voted for the left Ladies and Minority cultures .
Eco Maori THANKS YOU ALL KIA KAHA this is a big win for the LEFT.
This is just a distraction taxing red meat they say the big picture is we need a world carbon TAX lets stay focused on the real threat to OUR future it is not cow farts it is the petrol we put in our car trucks buses boat’s .
Get a good working world tax on carbon and use the money to pay for renewable energy a oil baron’s investment on the propagandize machine link below ka kite ano.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/06/taxing-red-meat-would-save-many-lives-research-shows
https://globalnews.ca/news/4291256/carbon-tax-do-they-work/ I say they work one just has to look at the drop in NZ carbon this year 2018
The Democrats’ advances were essential, and will check Donald Trump’s power as well as boosting their morale. link below ka kite ano.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/07/the-guardian-view-on-the-us-midterms-a-welcome-start one has to keep the momentum going to have Equality for all and a clean environment for our decedents.
I agree with George on this story I read it on another site we need OUR voices heard on protecting the innocent wild life and our children Ka pai.David Attenborough has betrayed the living world he loves
Ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/07/david-attenborough-world-environment-bbc-films
Eco Maori Music wake up.
Geothermal renewable base load energy is a technology the oil barons have suppresed
we have a couple running in Aotearoa NZ
A trailblazing energy project has started drilling the UK’s deepest ever borehole in Cornwall in a bid to use heat from hot rocks as a zero-carbon source of electricity.
The team behind the £18m scheme hopes to create the UK’s first deep geothermal power station and ignite a renewed interest in the technology’s wider potential.
The project near Redruth involves two deep holes being drilled over a course of around six months. Drilling began on Tuesday, with one hole expected to be 1.6 miles (2.5km) deep and the other as far as 2.8 miles (4.5km) down, which would be a UK record for a borehole.
Water will then be pumped into the shallower well, where it should be heated by naturally fractured hot rocks deep underground, hitting temperatures of up to 195C.
Ka kite ano link below P.S let hope this project is successful.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/nov/06/drilling-starts-to-tap-geothermal-power-from-cornwalls-hot-rocks
The Man accused of blackmailing DOC over 1080 programme named you will see what type of person is making these foolish threats to state employees ka kite ano link below
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/375460/man-accused-of-blackmailing-doc-over-1080-programme-named
Kia ora Tekaea I say its cool that NZFirst is doing to helping Ross and his el
30.000 Ratana people in Australia that’s heaps its a shame that they have to go there to get a better life there was no reason but suppression why te tangata whenua moved from te whenua .
The Ngapuhi settlements should settle and use the money to lift te tangata wairua.
The sport training Awhata is a good thing its cool to teach the tamariki about fitness and control.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub I still say Galloway was set up when I take on new management roles I have most time’s clean out the rat’s the one time I did not do this it bit me on the——-.
IPCA washing there image typical tactic the car chase 200 klm 3 dead.
Jeff Sessions is a honorable person Kia Kaha Jeff.
Is that global warming the West coats of Aotearoa getting hammered by tawhirimatea well that will fill some of the hydro power lakes .
Yes I say all the taps and pluming parts that are used in out water supply should be looked at and tested for lead content .
Our power prices are one of the highest in the OECD and what they use hydro to provide most of our power supplies.???? A lot of lies have been told about why our power prices are so high.
The new phones are advancing fast and with them battery technology I say battery power storage is going to revolutionize the renewable energy sector .
Ka kite ano .
Kia ora James & Strrom from The Crowd Goes Wild That’s awesome Trent bolt got a hatrick in the Pakistan first one day over test game and won that;s the way Ross Taylor let em know that you can see what they are up to good game.
That reff let the player know who’s boss by yellow card both front rows in Rugby .
Good on Sulu the netball player for getting a tattoos to show her culture and she is having a good run Mana Wahine .
Ka kite ano P.S good luck to the Black Ferns game in France