“We go for the head wound. Your side, you have pillow fights.’”.
Steve Bannon to Mike Moore, on how the Right pulled off the Trump ascendancy
James Shaw, and Jacinda Ardern announce $100 million Green Initiative package.that includes major protections for fossil fuel electricity generators.
Hidden in the package is a total stricture against investing in any new electricity generation that might hurt the Huntly Coal fired power plant, or other fossil fuel generators.
“The new entity – called Green Investment Finance Limited – is being set up with an aim of lowering New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. It will operate independently from government, and be “market responsive and commercially focused.” Such a fund was posed by the former Green Party co-leader Russel Norman, and taken up by the current co-leader James Shaw who re-announced it as party policy at the Greens’ conference last year.” https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377540/new-100m-green-fund-launched-by-government
“It was then secured as part of the Labour-Green Party confidence and supply agreement during coalition negotiations. The government’s putting a $100 million start-up injection into the fund, which it intends to invest with business in low emissions industries.”
“”New Zealand Green Investment Finance will be a commercially focused investment company which will work to invest with business to reduce emissions while making a profit,” said Mr Shaw in his role as Climate Change Minister. Green Investment Finance would be chaired by Cecilia Tarrant, who has a background in dry stock farming and over 20 years’ experience in international banking and finance, according to Bloomberg.”
This strikes me as intelligent design, catering for blue-green thinking, and I can’t see why it will not become a bipartisan institution and a foundation for our transition to a sustainable future. Yeah, climate change will proceed regardless, but better to have some kind of life-raft than nothing.
A $100 million start-up injection into the fund might help to influence the “blue-green thinking” into stronger hues of green.
It effectively has two different goals, which do not sit comfortably together.
As well as boosting funds flowing into projects which cut the carbon footprint of the New Zealand economy, it also tasked with turning a profit.
This could create a conflict, not because green technology is inherently unprofitable, but because the company is meant to act as a means to boost projects which the market is failing to back.
Yes, you are right that the fund is not about new electrical generation tech. But that limitation won’t be about protecting Huntly. That plant is in the last third of its life. It will be closed by 2030.
I imagine the main reason is that large scale electrical generation is hugely capital intensive. $100 million is much better used for small and medium enterprises.
The limitation on electrical generation does not exclude small scale clean electricity, so may well benefit new tech in home generation for instance.
Perhaps the rationale is to sail a medial course between old-fashioned state subsidies and the market. Assisting start-ups, for instance, and mandating particular types of schemes. Those which provide local and regional employment while serving regional development would be ideal.
Auckland University has been operating a nursery for innovative tech businesses for a while now, that’s another useful model. James Shaw commented when he became leader of the Greens that the economy is a hybrid capitalist/socialist process nowadays. Collaboration and consensus on this basis will be essential from now on.
Wayne, left over from yesterday, I asked you whether you thought mallard was right to throw bridges out of the chamber for saying here comes the protection” or not. You commented in this context that mallard was biased rather than addressing the issue at hand…..
Mallard was justified. But it would have been better if he had asked Simon to withdraw and apologise, and that be enough. I am sure Simon would have realised his own error.
But I recognise the job of speaker is very difficult. It involves a lot of instant decisions, which on reflection may not be the right ones. I think Mallard by personality is a bit impulsive, so sometimes he rushes to judgement, which he seemed to do in ejecting Simon. Leaders of major parties have to be given a bit of slack by Speakers. Things that would cause a lower ranked member to be ejected might be overlooked with leaders, or dealt with differently.
I don’t think Mallard is deliberately biased against National. But he is inconsistent, and in my view too ready to rush to judgement. But having said that I appreciate that the Speakers role is one of the most difficult in parliament, and not every judgement will be the best possible.
My own personal view is that they’re both right. Bridges should have been kicked out for questioning Mallard and Mallard is running protection for the PM.
Can you give me some examples of Jacinda getting flustered in question time? I watch it a lot and really don’t recall any.
Trev stood up recently in response to a question Bridges asked, but the question was problematic, something along the lines is she ducking a diving………………..I will try and look it up. Ms Ardern responded to Simons questions really appropriately in my opinion. He was asking her about operational matters and also something Winston said about the Czek guys former partner being a National Party mate. I am not sure what Ardern was supposed to say about that. That was Winston’s answer and as she said she first heard about the association between the Czek guys former partner’s National Party connections in the news. IMO it was a very dumb line of questioning aimed at keeping the story in the media.
I have been astonished with how articulate and to the point Jacinda is. Until she was elected leader I had no idea she was that competent.
No I can’t because any example I give will be based on my perception and what I see so of course others will disagree with me and then it’ll just be a back and forth
This was what got the speaker to his feet. It is a dumb question.
: Has she entirely washed her hands of anything to do with the Sroubek fiasco, and is she ducking and diving to get out of its way? [Speaker stands] Oh, here comes the protection.
SPEAKER: No—the Leader of the Opposition will leave the House.
PR example of Trev not protecting the PM
Why did he stand to his feet in the first place? Is asking the PM if shes ducking and diving the questions (which she clearly is) something so abhorrent the Speaker just has to end it?
The speaker’s job is to rule according to the rules. If people are being smart arses or whatever and the behaviour is directed to the PM the speaker should intrude.
Him not doing so is a ref allowing a sports team to cheat or commit fouls against the other captain because the captain’s big enough to look after herself.
They can’t handle her being PM, they have deep resentment about being on that side of the House. If in his classrooms Gerry Brownlee had to put up with equivalent bullshit behaviour I wonder what he would have done.
To get the discussion back on track. Strangely there is link to Trevor Mallard, in that Mallard, when he was the Minister For the Environment, was a big supporter of the wind farm that would have shuttered Huntly coal fired power station.
“I consider this proposal to be of national significance. It is relevant to New Zealand’s obligations to the global environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the proposal will have direct physical effects on more than one region – in this case, the Franklin and Waikato Districts and the Waikato region. In terms of security of electricity supply, the proposal will have potential effects beyond these areas,” Trevor Mallard said.
“This wind farm is expected to meet the electricity needs of about 180,000 households per year….
;;;;..Because the minister considers it to be a project of national significance. The minister has made a formal assessment against the following criteria:
a. The proposal is relevant to New Zealand’s international obligations to the global environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol, including the proposal’s contribution towards the achievement of the target of 90per cent of electricity generation to be from renewable energy sources by 2025 as set out in the New Zealand Energy Strategy to 2050. The proposal would likely assist New Zealand in meeting its international obligations to the global environment by helping to avoid an increase in carbon dioxide emissions overall on a national scale.
And it looks like its closing in 2022 so what makes you say that it will close in 2030?
I imagine the main reason is that large scale electrical generation is hugely capital intensive. $100 million is much better used for small and medium enterprises.
True. I, as a member of the Greens, would have preferred the development of our silicon reserves and production of solar panels that Shaw mentioned. That would have been billions of dollars over ten years or more but it would have had the advantage of developing our economy.
The reason why I say Huntly won’t be closed by 2022, is that it provides 1,000 MW, or about 7% of total generating capacity. And it is usable when a lot of other plants are not.
If there was an obvious plan to build in the next 3 years at least 70MW of capacity that would be available in all conditions, then the 2022 closure would be realistic. At the moment there isn’t, so Huntly’s life will be extended.
I would expect that the plan for the next big block of generating capacity would be announced in the next 2 or 3 years, but that means it won’t actually be available until 2025 at the earliest.
I would expect that the plan for the next big block of generating capacity would be announced in the next 2 or 3 years, but that means it won’t actually be available until 2025 at the earliest.
Wayne
Meanwhile Hauauru Ma Raki is in the starting blocks all prepped, and ready to go…..
The Hauauru ma raki venture, planned for the coast between Port Waikato and Raglan, was expected to inject $180 million into the regional economy, including $115m of household income over a five-year construction period. It was also tipped to create an estimated 1033 jobs once operational and generate enough power for around 170,000 homes, with its 168 turbines dwarfing the 28 turbines at the region’s next biggest windfarm at Te Uku.
But Contact Energy, after years of indecision on the project, yesterday announced in its annual result that it would completely pull out of the project, leaving its future uncertain.
Waikato Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandra Perry said the news was just another disappointment for the region, especially for those in the energy sector following last week’s Huntly Coal Mine lay-offs.
After the announcement that 93 jobs were to go at the Huntly Mine, Ms Perry was hopeful that some of the younger employees facing redundancy could retrain and head into new jobs – like the construction and maintenance of the windfarm.
“Here was an opportunity for them to retrain in the skills needed for constructing the windfarm and that’s gone now, so it’s another disappointment for the region,” she said.
Will the government ever allow Hauauru Ma Raki to go ahead?
The last government blew $256 million on bailing out a badly failing Solid Energy, and lost the lot. Not long after receiving this huge cash injection from the taxpayer, Solid Energy went into voluntary receivership.
Despite this terrible waste of taxpayers money by the last government, the current government seems to not be able to screw up the courage to give one cent to renewable energy production.
Instead choosing to have pillow fights around the margins, (Just in case they offend the powerful vested interest tied up with fossil fuels).
Pandering to the big coal and oil investors is why we are condemned to do nothing meaningful about climate change.
Genesis Energy announced its last two coal-burning electricity generators at Huntly Power Station will be permanently withdrawn from the market by December 2018, signalling the end of large scale coal-fired generation in New Zealand.
The decision is being hailed as another step towards having 90 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity supply generated by renewables by 2025.
Chief executive Albert Brantley said the company has been on track to retire the four coal/gas fired Rankine units since 2009.
The closure of Huntly coal fired power station would be a certainty if Hauauru Ma Raki went ahead.
According to the wind industry association, all the plans are there, it is fully consented. All it requires is some government policy changes and some finance.
The NZ Wind Energy Association is keen for Government to put policy behind the 90% target so that the electricity industry can have certainty that will drive investment in renewable generation.
“15% of NZ’s CO2 emissions come from the electricity sector and it wouldn’t be hard to reduce those emissions by more than 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year. To meet the 90% target we need to phase out of our fossil fuel plant and install some of the renewable generation that is already consented,”
said Mr Pyle.
NZ Wind Energy Association understands that there may still be a future for the 500MW Hauāuru mā raki wind farm, which is commonly known as HMR.
“HMR could also work as set of smaller embedded generation developments,” said Mr Pyle. “The
project is fully consented and ready for construction, all it needs is the finance.”
In the last ten years rural access to doctors has dwindled to ridiculous levels . Your fuck wit nat mates didn’t give a fuck . So you prove yourself to be I sad one eyed git as usual .
Yeah right. After spending millions on MB, increasing border protection, drought and flood relief and farmers mental health. Plus Green policy about assisting farming families to a just transition to sustainable farming. “The Government does not care about farmers”. Maybe you are thinking of National, who pushed farm costs and farm borrowing so high, and wages so low, the dream, for farmworkers, of owning their own land is gone. And corporates own formerly “family” farms.
Sadly, Media Lens was forced to close down its extremely lively message board a few years ago. It’s been resurrected as The Lifeboat News. I recommend you sign up, Adrian. They appreciate the New Zealand perspective on things.
Changing a presenter or two isnt gonna change the totally “mainstream”angle of RNZ news imo .RNZ appears to be joined at the hip with american and uk msm media , yesterdays coverage of bush seniors funeral was a good example , i wasnt expecting them to refer to the two bush family members as lying war mongering pricks but to not include even a speck of reality to their respective presidencies mind numbing to say the least !!
We want to know what is going on in the USA from Radionz, but the length and breadth of it is breathtaking. Don’t hold your breath either while you wait for them to behave differently. I call it Radio because that is what we need, solid stuff not doctored to make better visuals.
Fonterra seling off stable long term asset Tip Top ice cream – tao pay off debt? That is the theme of a buyer of a company which has used leveraged finance. But it appears that Fonterra has squandered money in overseas ventures, and is now selling up reliable old businesses that belong to us in NZ, to pay for their crappy business sense. This is the story of NZ folks. As soon as we have something good we sell it off to overseas interests. Then we go dancing naked in the streets singing What do we want – more and we’ve got it! Then we go and waste that gained advantage, one step forward, one and a quarter back.
Tip Top was sold to an Australian company in 1997 and then bought by Fonterra in 2001 so not sure how it belongs to us in NZ.
People are just angry because they love to be mad at Fonterra.
Listen to this when audio is available.
Filthy rich: America’s Billionaire Bonanza
Alice and Jim Walton from Wal-Mart Stores are the richest family in America.
Alice and Jim Walton from Wal-Mart Stores are the richest family in America. Photo: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Photo by Wesley Hitt, Hitt Photography
Analysis of the grand fortunes of America’s richest people has found that wealth is concentrating into fewer and fewer hands. In its report, titled, the Billionaire Bonanza the Institute for Policy Studies think tank has shown America’s 15 wealthiest families are worth a combined $618 billion. So what’s the significance of this at a time when economic inequality has become such a major topic of discussion?
Lynn Freeman talks to report co-author, Chuck Collins, who is the director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good and who gave up his own inherited wealth when he was in his mid-twenties.
“Mahuta said the trust, in consultation with the community and Te Puni Kōkiri and Treasury, had produced a development plan for the $9m, which begins with a focus on healing and reconciliation and the development of urgent infrastructure.”
“The Parihaka Reconciliation Bill was passed in 2017 and the Wellington event came 18 months after the long-awaited Parihaka-Crown reconciliation ceremony, He Puanga Haeata, held at the Parihaka in June last year.” So it’s consolidating the resolution process.
“That event included a Crown apology by the-then Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson for the invasion of Parihaka by government troops on November 5, 1881. In Wellington, Mahuta again acknowledged the atrocities suffered by the people of parihaka and their leaders Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, who established the community in the mid-1860s.”
“In the aftermath of the invasion residents were forcibly evicted, unjustly imprisoned, their leaders arrested and held without trial, homes and sacred buildings desecrated, rapes committed and a regime imposed that deprived owners of control and ownership of their land,” she said. “I acknowledge the principles of peace that the Taranaki settlement of Parihaka was based on and the mamae, the pain, of its history.”
“Mahuta said the purpose of the package was to heal the relationship between Parihaka and the Crown, recognise the historical significance of Parihaka and provide support for the development of the community into the future.” I feel extremely appreciative that our current & previous governments have produced this outcome. It’s an excellent demonstration of consensus politics.
“Some of the money will be earmarked for acquiring more land and upgrading the water supply, housing and other infrastructure at the site. Other possibilities include the construction of a multi-purpose centre and the creation of increased opportunities for cultural development, former trust chair Puna Wano-Bryant said in March last year.”
Gosman, there seems to be some reason as to why you wish to point out the failings of the Chavista regime. What are you trying to say to us in terms of logical argument by this?
He’s trying to pick a fight with someone in that tiny minority of the regulars here (at least a couple of which are currently unable to defend their views) who appear to actually support actions taken by Chavez and Maduro.
I think the failings of the Chavista regime in Venezuela is a textbook example of why hard left Socialism fails to deliver on the promises made (i.e. lifting people from poverty and delivering more equitable and just outcomes for all). Too often left wingers promote policies without regard to the consequences. The right can be guilty of this too but there is also a degree of realism that right wingers tend to have that is missing among many of the left. Hence the acknowledgment that austerity will cause suffering for people (especially those at the lower end of the wealth/income scale) in the short to medium term. That seems to be lacking for many on the left who tend to blame external factors in any negatives that result from left wing policies. Again Venezuela is a good example of this where the collapse of the economy is inevitably blamed on sanctions from the US.
Gosman it is pointless even trying to explain the depth of US interference in the whole of Sth America to the likes of you. Who knows, one day you might begin to understand the underhand machinations of Western Capitalist imperialism, but I doubt that you ever will .
It seems like you can’t work out that it is Venezuela’s own policies that are the cause of its problems.
There are no particular US measures applied against South American nations. That sort of thing ended a good 30 years ago. Since then virtually all South American and Central American nations have become democracies with a wide variety of governments elected during that time. It is just that Venezuela happens to have the worst government in the whole continent. Most of its economic decisions would get an “F”.
Wayne if you want to believe in pax Americana then that’s up to you. The more plausible explanation is that the USA empire is dirty to the core.
Venezuela was never given a fair chance, just like Iran hasn’t been since it ousted the American backed dictatorship.
On September 15, 2005, President Bush designated Venezuela as a country that has “failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.” However, at the same time, the President waived the economic sanctions that would normally accompany such a designation, because they would have curtailed his government’s assistance for democracy programs in Venezuela.
Wonder how much those democracy assistance programs helped fuel the unrest of the rich that we see in Venezuela.
On May 28, 2014, the United States House of Representatives passed the Venezuelan Human Rights and Democracy Protection Act (H.R. 4587; 113th Congress), a bill that would apply economic sanctions against Venezuelan officials who were involved in the mistreatment of protestors during the 2014 Venezuelan protests.[73]
In December 2014, the US Congress passed Senate 2142 (the “Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014”).[74]
On March 9, 2015, the United States President, Barack Obama, signed and issued a presidential order declaring Venezuela a “threat to its national security” and ordered sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials.
So much for not interfering in South American states.
There are no particular US measures applied against South American nations
Ya reckon.
There are direct parallels between present-day Venezuela and Chile in the 1970s under Salvador Allende, where the U.S. strategy, in the words of Richard Nixon, was to “make the economy scream.”37 The United States employed the same methods of destabilization, including a financial blockade, and supported the right-wing counterrevolution, likewise manifested in shortages, lines, and street protests, among other forms of disruption. The depressed prices of Chile’s main source of foreign exchange, copper, parallels declining oil prices Venezuela. While the extent of U.S. involvement in Chile’s counterrevolution would not be fully understood until years later, when key documents were declassified, overt U.S. aggression toward Venezuela is already evident in the intensifying economic sanctions imposed by the Obama and Trump administrations, as well as an all-out economic blockade that has made it extremely difficult for the government to make payments on food imports and manage its debt.38 As one State Department representative put it:
The pressure campaign is working. The financial sanctions we have placed on the Venezuelan Government has forced it to begin becoming in default, both on sovereign and PDVSA, its oil company’s debt. And what we are seeing because of the bad choices of the Maduro regime is a total economic collapse in Venezuela. So our policy is working, our strategy is working and we’re going to keep it on the Venezuelans.39
Yes, that’s my view of it too. Not long since Venezuela was cited as a model of how third world countries were becoming first world countries. Turns out that was a mirage, eh? I don’t blame the yanks for anything other than any skullduggery of the type used historically (Allende, Mossadegh, etc) which I haven’t seen claimed in respect of Venezuela. Poorly-applied socialism seems to be the cause of the problem, combined with poorly-administered capitalism.
According to Wikipedia “today, Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves”. Furthermore, “populist policies later became inadequate, causing the nation’s collapse as their excesses—including a uniquely extreme fossil fuel subsidy—are widely blamed for destabilizing the nation’s economy.”
Basically the country is stuffed because a bunch of socialists incapable of both governance and economic management got elected. Blame democracy.
Comparably Venezuela has done better than other small countries with oil that couldn’t protect themselves from richer countries – Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and many African countries.
Why do you quote Venezuela. Of course decades of right wing corruption has nothing to do with Venezuelan problems, right?
How about we consider Honduras, Mexico and other right wing ” success” stories. Countries that are in a lot worse State than Venezuela. The reason refugees from them are flooding the US border.
Meanwhile the “socialist” Costa Rico is quietly doing fine. As is Cuba.
and if she’d refused to answer their questions you’d be attacking her for being rude. She is not the one “using” baby Neve. That’d be you. I’m sure you would prefer to be back in the heady days when we learnt that Daddy John washes Little Max’s car, that’s when he wasn’t having his nuts snipped.
Serious question, are you truly suggesting this Prime Minister should turn down all interviews, so she can’t be criticized despite all Prime Ministers of all parties being expected to be available to the media in the past? I think that would be even more fodder for you fellas to complain about, don’t you? Perhaps if you see an article you don’t like, it should be you who, as you say below, LET IT GO.
John Key got criticized for puff articles and now its Jacinda Arderns turn, maybe if she answered questions (I wasn’t told, I’m not aware, I don’t know) in the house she wouldn’t be criticized for these soft articles
And when you do come here with your relentlessly negative attacks on the Prime Minister when she is staying true to form of every other PM before her, then you will be shown up for the bitterness you portray. She spent 8 minutes answering the Current Leader of the Opposition before he was kicked out of the house for his immature tanty because he didn’t like the answers she gave him. It’s such a lovely day I think I’ll sit down in the sun and read a lovely positive article about our Prime Minister, being a role model, high on the list of powerful women in the world, or simply how she is enjoying one of the most important jobs in the world, being a mother at the same time.
Dangled over the side of a bridge by his father, he made the courageous choice to tell his mother, a teacher, and a counselor.
Result: Police have done nothing and the son is forced to have ongoing contact with the fruitloop father who knows all about the son’s reporting of the incident.
It sounds to me like it is the father who needs the counselling and attention. To do that to any kid let alone your own is beyond words. It also looks to me like this is one of those situations where the law is a complete ass – or ass***e might be more appropriate.
So to me I’m guessing from the couples history the judge has quite a large file on the couple. The police may also have knowledge of the couple.
They decided for some reason to not censure what he has done.
We don’t know the context of dangling off the bridge.
We don’t know what the witnesses saw, or recorded.
We don’t know anything really.
Judges make mistakes. The police make mistakes.
Both of them?
Unless there’s some other info I’m missing, they should be trusted shouldn’t they.
By the sounds of it, I hope someone can help them resolve the conflicts in there lives. So they can both move on being parents in a positive way.
Or you could send him to a “man being a idiot transition to normalcy class”. Run by Labour male MPs as doing there bit.
Did I ever say lawyers are scamming us?
Here look! the poor serfs are fighting over stupid things.
How much an hour? But I only get……
What! Or I don’t get to see my kids, or give them Christmas presents!
Nope 👎🏼
“We have to put faith in the law as it stands.”
It is interesting to see you have faith in the police and court system, when previous comments indicate that you believe these systems to be “gynocentric”.
I’m guessing it is the faith of the Sunday church attendee who puts all matters and actions of the week away for a couple of hours when it suits.
So, your faith is informed by the fact that the visits are required to continue.
However, in your newly found faith you haven’t considered the well-being of the young man. Reading the article, it seems that his early years were spent in a chaotic household with drugs and alcohol abuse present. Over several years, his father was overseas (from personal choice you would suppose) and the supervised visits he was entitled to were not utilised. In 2016, he returns to NZ, and applies and is granted for fortnightly weekend visits. So essentially, you have a ten year old boy with little memory or familiarity with his father that is required to stay with him every two weeks on the weekend.
“We don’t know the context of dangling off the bridge.”
It is this context, where the “dangling off the bridge” should be considered. Not the witnesses – or god forbid – the “dangler” who recalls it as humorous, but the perspective of the twelve year old who is on the receiving end.
Also, note that the boy brought up the incident with a teacher first. His mother has understandably done all the things that any parent would after receiving that information. And most would understand the distress of child.
It would not be unreasonable to revert back to supervised access until such time as you say the father completes a “man being a idiot transition to normalcy class”.
Add in the mortification of being taken from school in such a manner by the police. I believe the young man at the heart of this issue, is the one who is carrying the burden, and any errors in judgement in this instance.
So you don’t have a clue how parental alienation works then?
When’s Stuff doing an example of a male who thinks he has been hard done by, by the family court?
There isn’t protests outside “specific” judges houses for no reason is there.
Who said there wasn’t bigotry in the beginning to cause the male to bail. The domestic violence act is a first in system. It is more likely that the domestic violence and even drug use were not exclusive to him. It’s also clear from the article that whatever domestic violence was present didn’t warrant prosecution. Female initiated protection orders are not rejected generally in the first instance. This is a cautionary policy as it’s often very difficult to know what the truth is. A person who is endlessly in the courts trying to exclude the other parent don’t get that cautionary response. The bullshit is more obvious.
Men get caught out by the cautionary response. So the false accuser acting to gaurantee custody, or the biased, or exagerated cliam affects men. That’s also part of the game. Once a protection order is granted the male has no choice to defend the accusation or he doesn’t get to see his kids again. It’s about $10,000 to use a lawyer to do that, up to $100,000 if orders are not complied with or the male denies the accusation as in this case.
This was a biased article as we didn’t see the history of the relationship and her actions etc from the males point of view. If he had ever done something nice it certainly would be not mentioned. I would also question the acticles legality as rules apply to family court reporting.
For men supervised visits are not far off automatic with accusations of violence and drug use. They progress over time to the sexually bigoted concept of male parenting. Every second weekend. And two days a year short of Child Support rules.
… and your comment relating to the well-being and perspective of the young man?…. Nothing?
If the issue of parental alienation is relevant – then his perspective is still a factor that needs to be taken into consideration in order to deal with it.
You – once again – take the view that any lack of connection is solely to do with bias against the father – despite, as you say, lack of evidence.
” It is more likely that the domestic violence and even drug use were not exclusive to him. “
I never stated it was or wasn’t.
“For men supervised visits are not far off automatic with accusations of violence and drug use. “
Which were both present, and decisions are based on the interests of the child, which is why they have their own lawyer appointed – separate from the father or mother IIRC. But even those visits were not utilised while the father was overseas.
DJ, think about when you were twelve and how this experience would be for this young man. If the goal is to create a strong relationship between father and son if possible, then the mortification of being removed from school will inhibit this for that young man. The father, meanwhile, has been informed of the police complaint and does not really sound like the type of person … dangling was a joke… that will be able to accommodate this knowledge with a high degree of maturity.
Parental alienation is not eliminated by this action – if anything it will be increased. The system needs to provide resources and processes that improve relationships, not harm them.
Making decisions about ongoing health and safety for children is not a guaranteed predictive outcome model, it is always problematic. The reason a cautionary response is required is that NZ has such high incidents of child abuse, neglect and homicide by family members that decisions are made – however, imperfectly – with reducing that statistic in mind.
The point of parental alienation is that the child is manipulated to hate everything the parent does.
Many men when faced with the situation that occurred at the relationship breakdown walk away. It is simply the case that they can’t handle the psycological trauma that they experience. She may have been the only violent party but he cops the blame, and she gets the child. That’s an injustice that’s hard to comprehend for people.
It’s common to hear “I never knew it could happen to me” from men who first experience the protection order system.
As I said the judge saw the file. The judge sees the history. Mothers who hate the concept of the father having a relationship will look for any reason how minor to destroy the fathers parenting relationship.
I suspect there is this dynamic here. I don’t believe for a second that the mother new nothing prior to the child going to the councillor. The child was likely interrogated when he arrived home. The Judge is actually protecting the child. Or the Judge would not have made a best interests of the child decision to ignore the attempt to ban the father from giving the kid Christmas presents this year, let alone see him.
If the parental alienation continues Judges, although very rare, can reverse custody. Because it’s not in the interests of the child to be a pawn in vindictive parental behavours. My ex was told to not do it again, and the bulshit stopped.
“The point of parental alienation is that the child is manipulated to hate everything the parent does.”
Yes. And my question is – how is this addressed by humiliating a young man in front of his peers, and not even allowing him to speak directly to a police officer regarding the incident before closing the file.
The way the system is addressing this is not going to improve the relationship. There should be better resources and processes available to the family court.
“Many men when faced with the situation that occurred at the relationship breakdown walk away. It is simply the case that they can’t handle the psycological trauma that they experience. She may have been the only violent party but he cops the blame, and she gets the child. That’s an injustice that’s hard to comprehend for people.”
And the situation happens in reverse. That’s a reality you choose to ignore. And children are harmed and killed – by a person who is supposed to care for them.
” Because it’s not in the interests of the child to be a pawn in vindictive parental behavours. My ex was told to not do it again, and the bulshit stopped.”
The interest of the child should be paramount, as they are in a greater position of vulnerability. I see no problem with this.
Your personal experience is only that – not evidence that all concerns raised at family court are malicious or vindictive. Some will be justified concerns that need addressing.
I have criticisms of the Family Court process that don’t depend on the decisions they make. Your previous criticisms have been suspended in this particular case, because the judgement aligns with your bias. You should recognise this in your support for the judge and the police in this matter – given your vocal disapproval of the systems in many previous comments.
As Dr. Julie Ancis, who has conducted extensive research about such cases, has noted:
[Richard] Gardner [who invented PAS] claimed that many reports of [child sexual abuse] in the context of divorce cases were false allegations. In this connection, it is important to note that Bala and Schuman (1999) found that only 1.3% of mothers’ allegations of abuse by their children’s fathers were deemed by civil court judges to be intentionally false, in contrast to 21% of cases in which fathers had made such allegations against mothers. And Meier (2009) reports after reviewing the research that it is a mistaken belief that mothers’ allegations in child custody proceedings that fathers have sexually abused their children are usually false. [2]
Gardner not only thought up this label but also condoned adults’ sexual assaults on children and said that reports of child sexual abuse were elevated because sexually voyeuristic social workers made them. [1,2] Despite the fact that some judges have quite rightly forbidden the use of the term in their courts, it remains widely used in other courts and sounds more impressive coming from the lips of a testifying mental health professional than “She’s just a lying, angry woman.”
Ancis writes further:
Gardner’s (1998) questionable ethics and clinical judgment are reflected in (but are by no means limited to) the following: (1) he recommends joint interviews with an accused father and child in which the father directly confronts the child about the allegation, and (2) he interprets a child’s overt expression of fear of possible retaliation by the father as evidence of the child’s embarrassment about lying rather than as possibly a valid fear of a truthtelling child whose father is abusive.
The construct of PAS is unscientific, composed of a group of general symptoms with no empirical basis….
In regards to this case, what you describe as alienation requires more accurate definition – perhaps fear, discomfort, dislike. All emotions that are reasonably expected and understandable. To blanket any child reluctance under the term alienation – removes the child’s voice from consideration.
In a survey at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in 2010, 98% of the 300 respondents agreed with the question, “Do you think that some children are manipulated by one parent to irrationally and unjustifiably reject the other parent?”.
Thanks for your gif link, which you have taken time to post, and for your report of some people saying something somewhere at sometime. Maybe, the evidential links will be forthcoming?
Putting paid to your assertions of (overseas) Family Court bias towards mothers:
Win rates when abuse was claimed
Overall, fathers who were accused of abuse and who accused the mother of alienation won their cases 72% of the time; slightly more than when they were not accused of abuse (67%). When mothers alleged domestic violence, fathers won 73% of the time; when child abuse was alleged, fathers won 69% of the time. Child sexual abuse allegations increased fathers’ likelihood of winning to 81%. When there were mixed abuse allegations, fathers won 54% of the time.
In the study, introducing the concept of alienation increased the fathers bid for sole custody even when the allegation was found to be untrue
One three-year study is looking at thousands of cases involving abuse, custody and alienation. A preliminary examination of 238 cases indicates that fathers accused of abuse (adult or child), who in turn accused the mother of alienation, won their cases 72 percent of the time. They won 69 percent of the time when child abuse was alleged and 81 percent of the time when child sexual abuse was alleged. In the seven cases where judges credited both abuse and alienation in the ruling, the father won every time. When the court credited abuse but not alienation, fathers only won 16 percent. The researchers defined winning as any time the litigants received some or all of what they requested, ranging from more visits to full custody.
As the author study comments, the protection of the child should be paramount:
““Assess the abuse first. Put alienation completely to one side,” she said. “If it happened or if it may have happened, you have no business going on about alienation…You can talk about it, but don’t talk about it as a way of denying abuse.”
Thanks for making me take the time to look for studies on alienation. I will refrain from using that term from now on, as it is one that has been rejected by the psychology profession. I would not have looked further if not for this discussion.
So 72% of the time when accused of abuse, and the father cliams it’s a alienation behavour, the courts examine both sides of the argument and conclude the evidence supports his cliam.
Wow.
Lying about being on the pill, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Paternity fraud, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Abuse allegations, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Your framing of the issue of court bias as towards women for custody is incorrect.
Parental alienation is not a recognised syndrome by psychologists, although the justice systems uses it in court cases, where it is used to benefit many accused of child abuse.
Did you even look at the link?:
”
(ii) Win Rates by Gender
The gender parity evaporated, however, when analyzing the
impact of alienation claims on outcomes. First, fathers were more than twice as likely as mothers to win the case when claiming alienation. This represents a statistically significant bias in favor of fathers; a father merely alleging parental alienation was 2.3 times as likely as an alleging mother to receive a favorable decision. 59 Bias toward fathers was even more evident when alienation was credited. In these cases, fathers won almost every time (95%), while mothers whose alienation claims were credited won only 80% of the time. This was a statistically significant benefit to fathers — they were 4.3 times
as likely to win as mothers.”
The study investigated cases and produced findings as opposed to your links that are essentially opinion pieces. This study looked at the custody hearings and decisions and found that despite preconceptions – there was not a bias for mothers to get custody of a child. And if a claim of the scientifically rejected premise of alienation was submitted, the bias towards the male’s custody preferences increased.
“Wow.
Lying about being on the pill, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Paternity fraud, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Abuse allegations, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Looks like a trend.”
Refers to a non-scientific concept to justify prejudice.
Provides links to non-verifiable sources and cherry picks data.
Accuses all systems for bias against males until such systems deliver outcomes that provide the male in the incident with support – and then trust is expressed that all is working as it should.
Paternity denial is not considered fraud. Male contraception or responsibility is not accepted.
Consider the use of the aforementioned ‘alienation’ concept to be a success because the male wins in court. No consideration for the child.
There is a trend. And your repeated memes and failure to connect to evidence when you disparage women on this site is it.
Parental alienation is not recognised as a mental disorder. Nearly got added recently.
But it is recognised as a behavour. It has underlining illnesses like sycopaths, narcissists, borderline personality disorder. Like I said it is also recognised as a crime in 2 nations as it should be in NZ.
It’s child abuse.
If what your saying is correct about men winning all the time.
Explain disputed custody in NZ being 94% women 6% men.
They may win…sorry fend off being banned from ever seeing there child. They may get the token men only version of shared custody, every second weekend. But the nightmares the victims suffer is no win.
The only winners are lawyers and those who get away with it, and those that make there former partner suffer through the process of clearing there name and being allowed to be a parent again.
Feminists hate this subject because they desire complete power and control. They wish accusations are automatically believed with no right of challenge. Hence our protection order system designed by feminists. If feminists had there way as Ang Jury wishes, protection orders would be automatically granted to all women in relationships. When the man says no or misbehaves he can be automatically imprisoned.
You are doing the misrepresenting and cherry picking Molly. You picked a Dr, nobody in there right minds listens to and blatantly uses propaganda techniques to misrepresent her “yes she’s a feminist” argument. You have tried to say parental alienation doesn’t exist. That’s simply an absurd cliam.
These cases occur at the ratio of about 10:1 so guess who wants alienation removed as a defence? Guess who’s lives get destroyed by this abusive power and control behavour?
Like describing paternity fraud as not fraud. Lying on a legal document is not fraud if a woman does it. Got to love feminist thinking.
Hey ladies. You can make any cliam you like. You can instantly remove a father from a child’s life with a bulshit protection order. Even if you are exposed as lying you will not be held to account. Having got full custody with the protection order, if your attempt to permanently ban him from parenting fails because he spends tens of thousands lining lawyers pockets don’t worry. Just demand a psychologist report to give a big delay. He is likely to only get supervised visits for quite a while. If he is a good boy he might even get men’s custody which is every second weekend, a big win for men. Don’t worry however as you can always make something up and have another try. By then your brainwashing the child will be perfected and the child will be old enough and able to reject the father using Lawyer for Child.
“You are doing the misrepresenting and cherry picking Molly. You picked a Dr, nobody in there right minds listens to and blatantly uses propaganda techniques to misrepresent her “yes she’s a feminist” argument. You have tried to say parental alienation doesn’t exist. That’s simply an absurd cliam.”
I linked to a published study that looked at the actual statistics in actual custody cases. Any links you have provided are to self-authored, non-reviewed websites or blogs. When I visit them, they also do not link to any peer-reviewed research.
The research disputes your continual claim of bias towards mothers in custody cases.
You don’t actually link to any research or evidence, and repeat statistics as if that should be enough. It isn’t.
You have shown yourself as a person with no regard for truth, balance or integrity.
Link to your stats – or don’t include them.
Explain how a child abused by a parent – male or female – is protected by the legal use of parental alienation. If you read the study, even when abuse is confirmed, the defence of alienation often overrides the child’s natural inclination to avoid further abuse.
Whenever I have time, I will ask you for the answers you don’t seem to have, because the damage done to families by your perspective is immense. I don’t have time for your extreme view of the female sex which relies on wilful blindness to reality.
Finally DJ! A link to an site that links to an official document, which is here by the way. Better than nothing.
I’ve had a look at the OIA response and can’t see what your point is.
The data provided is not detailed enough to make conclusions from.
What is it that you are extrapolating from this response?
Because none of this information requested actually is in regards to children and their wellbeing, which is telling.
Oh. Just looked further and send that Zane Collins just keeps sending OIA requests. Has he a purpose, is the data collated? Looked again at that is all it is – people posting their OIA requests to share.
Link to the information that supports your statements. I’m not going to look for them for you. For a while there, I thought you might have linked to something of substance.
“One of the stupidest things we ever did was get coned by the legal Proffesion into creating Lawyer for child.
Only if you disagree with the preferred outcome being in the best interests of the child.
This particular case has a father that dangled his twelve year old son over the side of a bridge for a “joke.”
You then call the child’s perfectly normal response – alienation. Which is – as mentioned – a commonly used legal term – but one refuted by psychologists.
Firstly, if the person who is at the receiving end does not genuinely believe it is funny – it is not a joke.
Secondly – unlike adults, children are compelled to how they spend their time. It is the adults that should ensure that they are secure and not fearful. This adult – instead, acted for his own reasons – not his son’s.
If that young man feels dislike, fear or any other negative emotion in regard to this incident towards his father – that is a natural response – not alienation.
“Anybody that thinks stealing a great big pile of money from parents is in children’s best interests is an idiot.”
(BTW, a lot of the websites and support groups you have mentioned seem to spend a lot of time talking about money, their anger, disparaging past partners and railing against the system. Have yet to see someone speaking about their children from the child’s perspective. Perhaps, as you indicate, it is not about the best interests of the child for them.)
“Pete Shelley, lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks, has died aged 63, his bandmates have said.
“It’s with great sadness that we confirm the death of Pete Shelley, one of the UK’s most influential and prolific songwriters and co-founder of the seminal original punk band Buzzcocks,” the band said on Thursday evening.”
Can we start a list, was a very popular repeat post here for the last government Maybe Mickey can administer it if he has time to focus on the COL ineptitude rather than fossicking around in National’s dirty laundry Eye patch would need to come of though😊
Just heard on the 5 o’clock news – they’re going to toss the whole inefficient and ideologically driven ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ crap in the waste basket!
It’s only taken nearly thirty years! The whole stupid neoliberal bullshit of treating schools as businesses and forcing competition between them, to the foreseeable detriment of the poor, hopefully will be trashed!
If this coalition government does nothing else, this will be a lasting improvement and benefit to this country!
Thats good, one of the things I recall from that time was the general run down of trades and apprenticeships in favor of the belief that university was the way, the only way to get ahead and NZs been suffering ever since.
Bad from Labour for implementing it and bad from National for continuing it
Mike Rowe talks a bit about it from an american point of view:
run down of trades and apprenticeships in favor of the belief that university was the way
Arse. The decline in apprenticeships is on the rationalisation and shuttering of government departments and local bodies by Prebble, Douglas, Birch and their successors.
Ok the reason is debatable but I’m sure we can both agree the outcome was very bad and if the government can, somehow, bring trades and apprenticeships back to equal footing with tertiary training then that’d be a very good thing and the government would, rightly, receive all the kudos
Apprentices recruited by businesses spend a year at three term, full time, industry specialised schools, returning to businesses as full time employees during term breaks.
Thereafter, for the duration of their indenture, they’re full time, distance learning, employees of the recruiting businesses, attending as required bi-annual/quarterly block courses and skill specific secondments.
( I spent a year at the old NZED school in Ladies Mile as a fitting apprentice, along with electrical apprentices and NZCE cadets.)*
I know that it is a group like these two who are funding the Paris riots thats is plain to see . The fund the ALTIdiot movement in Europe to. People like the Koch brothers are poisoning not only our environment they are poising the worlds weak minded people with proper gander and lies why they have more money than one could count in million lots and the GREEDY are still not satisfied they are drunk on POWER and so little time left for them they don’t care about OUR decedents future enviroment or mother earth all the people who denie climate change now or in the past can be linked to these old muppets ragan bush bush trump . Ana to kai.
Is this the extent of the Koch brothers’ involvement with groups based in the UK? Who knows? I have not yet had a response from the Charles Koch Foundation. But I see these payments as part of a wider pattern of undisclosed funding. Democracy without transparency is not democracy.
• George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
How US billionaires are fuelling the hard-right cause in Britain.
That Spiked magazine’s US funding arm received $300,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation suggests a hidden agenda Until now, there has been no evidence that Charles and David Koch have funded organisations based in the UK. But a few weeks ago, a reader pointed me to one line he found in a form submitted to the US government by the Charles Koch Foundation, which showed money transferred to a company that appears to be the US funding arm of a UK organisation. Once I had grasped its significance, I set up a collaboration with the investigative group DeSmog UK. We could scarcely believe what we were seeing.Dark money is among the greatest current threats to democracy. It means money spent below the public radar, that seeks to change political outcomes. It enables very rich people and corporations to influence politics without showing their hands.
Among the world’s biggest political spenders are Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries, a vast private conglomerate of oil pipelines and refineries, chemicals, timber and paper companies, commodity trading firms and cattle ranches. If their two fortunes were rolled into one, Charles David Koch, with $120bn, would be the richest man on Earth.
we can thank these 2 for trump as well as others brexit is desined to let the altidiots to sweep into power in Europe and its working ka kite ano https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/07/us-billionaires-hard-right-
britain-spiked-magazine-charles-david-koch-foundation
Here is proff that the Justices system of the world are made by the wealthy to serve the wealthy to rob an suppress crap on the 99.9 % manly the minority cultures .This idiot knows that the ultra wealthy can break all the laws of the land and they will be able to buy themselves a get out of jail free card . Why else would the rich trump behave like he is above the law because he has got away with breaking laws his whole life its not ROCKET SCIENCE to work that out tangata
So often, the President would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law.” ana to kai he pours bad stuff on the common poor people and does not give a stuff .
Eco Maori can see the altidiots are using there billions again to distort our reality by suppressing the storys about the school children striking for action against climate change there were heaps of storys on this subject just 2 days ago I will keep everyone motivated to combat the carbon idiots who suppress our reality ka kite ano P.S Eco Maori is proud of the school children striking for climate 2
The school climate strike was a new generation’s activism – and I’m so proud
Naaman Zhou
Naaman Zhou
P.S we know that some rich neo has a grip on someone’s hip pocket his hypercritical views changes like his undies the brown person who wants to be white ana to kai
Kia ora Newshub there you go Melisa the altidiots are using there money to set up proper gander around the world and Paris.
Anglia Merkel served her country well ka pai .
Ka pai Newshub the food companies just cannot help there selves in pursuit of profts
we all not that the more sugar and salt you put into food well up goes sales & there profts.
sugar is a bad prouduct killing millions .
The Grammys is controlled by neo capitalist money its a sham don’t watch the manipulating bull——-I can see that a mile away just by the nominees who have been nominated they manipulate everything .
james fields deserves what he got ka pai running over peasfull minority protesters and killing them .
Well one would not get away with that scam in Aotearoa as there is a assistant in the auto check outs. scientist why not come up with tec to get the worst thieves in our society as well the white collar crimes rip trillions from our society.
Those poor children from Yemen its a tragedy proxy wars.
I seen that video of the Australian boxing match wild life v man lol I know they can be dangerous the man and Kangaroos .
Niki I think the last time the Black Caps Won against Pakistan there were riots in the stadium and streets Ka pai Black caps .
Ka kite ano
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Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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James Shaw, and Jacinda Ardern announce $100 million Green Initiative package.that includes major protections for fossil fuel electricity generators.
Hidden in the package is a total stricture against investing in any new electricity generation that might hurt the Huntly Coal fired power plant, or other fossil fuel generators.
No wonder, no one is talking about it.
My what a very dark shade of green that mob have become, almost black in parts now.
“The new entity – called Green Investment Finance Limited – is being set up with an aim of lowering New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. It will operate independently from government, and be “market responsive and commercially focused.” Such a fund was posed by the former Green Party co-leader Russel Norman, and taken up by the current co-leader James Shaw who re-announced it as party policy at the Greens’ conference last year.” https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377540/new-100m-green-fund-launched-by-government
“It was then secured as part of the Labour-Green Party confidence and supply agreement during coalition negotiations. The government’s putting a $100 million start-up injection into the fund, which it intends to invest with business in low emissions industries.”
“”New Zealand Green Investment Finance will be a commercially focused investment company which will work to invest with business to reduce emissions while making a profit,” said Mr Shaw in his role as Climate Change Minister. Green Investment Finance would be chaired by Cecilia Tarrant, who has a background in dry stock farming and over 20 years’ experience in international banking and finance, according to Bloomberg.”
This strikes me as intelligent design, catering for blue-green thinking, and I can’t see why it will not become a bipartisan institution and a foundation for our transition to a sustainable future. Yeah, climate change will proceed regardless, but better to have some kind of life-raft than nothing.
A $100 million start-up injection into the fund might help to influence the “blue-green thinking” into stronger hues of green.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/109123122/green-investment-fund-fund-faces-challenges-of-size-and-scope
Jenny,
Yes, you are right that the fund is not about new electrical generation tech. But that limitation won’t be about protecting Huntly. That plant is in the last third of its life. It will be closed by 2030.
I imagine the main reason is that large scale electrical generation is hugely capital intensive. $100 million is much better used for small and medium enterprises.
The limitation on electrical generation does not exclude small scale clean electricity, so may well benefit new tech in home generation for instance.
Good comment.
$100M doesn’t get you a heck of a lot of generation. Makara Wind Farm alone would have been multiple times that
A.
Perhaps the rationale is to sail a medial course between old-fashioned state subsidies and the market. Assisting start-ups, for instance, and mandating particular types of schemes. Those which provide local and regional employment while serving regional development would be ideal.
Auckland University has been operating a nursery for innovative tech businesses for a while now, that’s another useful model. James Shaw commented when he became leader of the Greens that the economy is a hybrid capitalist/socialist process nowadays. Collaboration and consensus on this basis will be essential from now on.
Wayne, left over from yesterday, I asked you whether you thought mallard was right to throw bridges out of the chamber for saying here comes the protection” or not. You commented in this context that mallard was biased rather than addressing the issue at hand…..
Mallard was justified. But it would have been better if he had asked Simon to withdraw and apologise, and that be enough. I am sure Simon would have realised his own error.
But I recognise the job of speaker is very difficult. It involves a lot of instant decisions, which on reflection may not be the right ones. I think Mallard by personality is a bit impulsive, so sometimes he rushes to judgement, which he seemed to do in ejecting Simon. Leaders of major parties have to be given a bit of slack by Speakers. Things that would cause a lower ranked member to be ejected might be overlooked with leaders, or dealt with differently.
I don’t think Mallard is deliberately biased against National. But he is inconsistent, and in my view too ready to rush to judgement. But having said that I appreciate that the Speakers role is one of the most difficult in parliament, and not every judgement will be the best possible.
Bring back Dr Smith!
Don’t forget David Carter.
Naah we’ll stick with Lockwood if thats all right
I think he might be biased against wankers wayney. Just a big ol’ onanophobe.
Gabby
Well, a speaker who was biased against the leader of opposition would be very stupid indeed, but I guess that wouldn’t worry you.
I agree that Carsehole is very stupid indeed wayney.
Thanks wayne for giving your opinion re my question.
I would have thought withdraw and apologize is more appropriate if Simon or anyone else had of been critizing another politician, but not the speaker.
My own personal view is that they’re both right. Bridges should have been kicked out for questioning Mallard and Mallard is running protection for the PM.
Cheers PR. Can you explain for me what you mean by running protection for the PM and what he is actually doing/saying that leads you to conclude that?
The impression given is that when the PM gets flustered and pressed Big Trev stands up to protect her
People on here say the PM is capable of looking after herself so it’d be nice if Big Trev could actually let her have a go
Can you give me some examples of Jacinda getting flustered in question time? I watch it a lot and really don’t recall any.
Trev stood up recently in response to a question Bridges asked, but the question was problematic, something along the lines is she ducking a diving………………..I will try and look it up. Ms Ardern responded to Simons questions really appropriately in my opinion. He was asking her about operational matters and also something Winston said about the Czek guys former partner being a National Party mate. I am not sure what Ardern was supposed to say about that. That was Winston’s answer and as she said she first heard about the association between the Czek guys former partner’s National Party connections in the news. IMO it was a very dumb line of questioning aimed at keeping the story in the media.
I have been astonished with how articulate and to the point Jacinda is. Until she was elected leader I had no idea she was that competent.
No I can’t because any example I give will be based on my perception and what I see so of course others will disagree with me and then it’ll just be a back and forth
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20181204_20181204_04
This was what got the speaker to his feet. It is a dumb question.
: Has she entirely washed her hands of anything to do with the Sroubek fiasco, and is she ducking and diving to get out of its way? [Speaker stands] Oh, here comes the protection.
SPEAKER: No—the Leader of the Opposition will leave the House.
PR example of Trev not protecting the PM
Why did he stand to his feet in the first place? Is asking the PM if shes ducking and diving the questions (which she clearly is) something so abhorrent the Speaker just has to end it?
The speaker’s job is to rule according to the rules. If people are being smart arses or whatever and the behaviour is directed to the PM the speaker should intrude.
Him not doing so is a ref allowing a sports team to cheat or commit fouls against the other captain because the captain’s big enough to look after herself.
They can’t handle her being PM, they have deep resentment about being on that side of the House. If in his classrooms Gerry Brownlee had to put up with equivalent bullshit behaviour I wonder what he would have done.
To get the discussion back on track. Strangely there is link to Trevor Mallard, in that Mallard, when he was the Minister For the Environment, was a big supporter of the wind farm that would have shuttered Huntly coal fired power station.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/wind-farm-proposal-near-raglan-be-called
It was supposed to be closed in 2018 because it had come to the end of its life.
And it looks like its closing in 2022 so what makes you say that it will close in 2030?
True. I, as a member of the Greens, would have preferred the development of our silicon reserves and production of solar panels that Shaw mentioned. That would have been billions of dollars over ten years or more but it would have had the advantage of developing our economy.
Draco,
The reason why I say Huntly won’t be closed by 2022, is that it provides 1,000 MW, or about 7% of total generating capacity. And it is usable when a lot of other plants are not.
If there was an obvious plan to build in the next 3 years at least 70MW of capacity that would be available in all conditions, then the 2022 closure would be realistic. At the moment there isn’t, so Huntly’s life will be extended.
I would expect that the plan for the next big block of generating capacity would be announced in the next 2 or 3 years, but that means it won’t actually be available until 2025 at the earliest.
Meanwhile Hauauru Ma Raki is in the starting blocks all prepped, and ready to go…..
It’s now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running
Despite this, we must ensure that, Hauauru Ma Raki never happens.
Wind Farm Stalls
Will the government ever allow Hauauru Ma Raki to go ahead?
The last government blew $256 million on bailing out a badly failing Solid Energy, and lost the lot. Not long after receiving this huge cash injection from the taxpayer, Solid Energy went into voluntary receivership.
Despite this terrible waste of taxpayers money by the last government, the current government seems to not be able to screw up the courage to give one cent to renewable energy production.
Instead choosing to have pillow fights around the margins, (Just in case they offend the powerful vested interest tied up with fossil fuels).
Pandering to the big coal and oil investors is why we are condemned to do nothing meaningful about climate change.
2030!?!
You gotta be joking
Should’ve been shut by now.
6 Aug, 2015
New Zealand Herald
And the leg pull continues
28 April 2016
Radio NZ
It’s like that old joke about Nuclear Fusion. The closure of Huntly coal fired power station is four years in the future, and always will be
Did somebody say “pillow fights”?!?!?!?!?
http://media.beam.usnews.com/1d/47/d7f5a173446899808909a5efb751/170202-donaldtrump-editorial.jpg
THIS is a pillow fight….
That music video is cheap, tasteless and demeaning and I watched twice just to make sure
The closure of Huntly coal fired power station would be a certainty if Hauauru Ma Raki went ahead.
According to the wind industry association, all the plans are there, it is fully consented. All it requires is some government policy changes and some finance.
NZ Wind Energy Association Disappointed
at Exit of Hauāuru mā raki Development
August 20, 2013
And yes I get what you are all going to say about ‘base load’ and ‘inconstancy’
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/rural/2018/12/farmers-fear-for-safety-after-government-drops-plan-for-24-7-rural-police.html
Farmers vote national (as a general rule) so I guess labour just don’t care about them.
As a general rule the last part of that is stupid. And quite specifically it is just pathetic.
In the last ten years rural access to doctors has dwindled to ridiculous levels . Your fuck wit nat mates didn’t give a fuck . So you prove yourself to be I sad one eyed git as usual .
I wonder where the Rural Southland station is jimbo, seems like a big area for just the one station.
Yeah right. After spending millions on MB, increasing border protection, drought and flood relief and farmers mental health. Plus Green policy about assisting farming families to a just transition to sustainable farming. “The Government does not care about farmers”. Maybe you are thinking of National, who pushed farm costs and farm borrowing so high, and wages so low, the dream, for farmworkers, of owning their own land is gone. And corporates own formerly “family” farms.
The decisions are made by the police, not the Government.
‘Censorship is unnecessary in a system in which everyone can speak, but only those guaranteed not to say anything worth listening to can be heard.’
Limits Of Dissent – Glenn Greenwald And The Guardian
Another very good piece that is well worth your time to read from Media Lens..
http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=888:limits-of-dissent-glenn-greenwald-and-the-guardian&catid=56:alerts-2018&Itemid=250
Sadly, Media Lens was forced to close down its extremely lively message board a few years ago. It’s been resurrected as The Lifeboat News. I recommend you sign up, Adrian. They appreciate the New Zealand perspective on things.
http://members5.boardhost.com/xxxxx/msg/1538516566.html
That looks interesting, thanks.
The Guyon Espiner Show
Every week day between 6 and 9am, we have to put up with negative sluggish solo effort of Guyon Espiner.
He is the weakling master of “entrapment” along the lines of “have you stopped bashing your wife now.”
Radio New Zealand should hire someone capable to do Morning Report.
Changing a presenter or two isnt gonna change the totally “mainstream”angle of RNZ news imo .RNZ appears to be joined at the hip with american and uk msm media , yesterdays coverage of bush seniors funeral was a good example , i wasnt expecting them to refer to the two bush family members as lying war mongering pricks but to not include even a speck of reality to their respective presidencies mind numbing to say the least !!
We want to know what is going on in the USA from Radionz, but the length and breadth of it is breathtaking. Don’t hold your breath either while you wait for them to behave differently. I call it Radio because that is what we need, solid stuff not doctored to make better visuals.
Is Selwyn Toogood available?
Fonterra seling off stable long term asset Tip Top ice cream – tao pay off debt? That is the theme of a buyer of a company which has used leveraged finance. But it appears that Fonterra has squandered money in overseas ventures, and is now selling up reliable old businesses that belong to us in NZ, to pay for their crappy business sense. This is the story of NZ folks. As soon as we have something good we sell it off to overseas interests. Then we go dancing naked in the streets singing What do we want – more and we’ve got it! Then we go and waste that gained advantage, one step forward, one and a quarter back.
Tip Top was sold to an Australian company in 1997 and then bought by Fonterra in 2001 so not sure how it belongs to us in NZ.
People are just angry because they love to be mad at Fonterra.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_Top_(ice_cream)
Facts Jimmy.If Fonterra owned Tipp then iit would be a NZ owned company.
And the rest is simplistic babytalk (from someone feeding off the cow’s tit?)
Listen to this when audio is available.
Filthy rich: America’s Billionaire Bonanza
Alice and Jim Walton from Wal-Mart Stores are the richest family in America.
Alice and Jim Walton from Wal-Mart Stores are the richest family in America. Photo: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Photo by Wesley Hitt, Hitt Photography
Analysis of the grand fortunes of America’s richest people has found that wealth is concentrating into fewer and fewer hands. In its report, titled, the Billionaire Bonanza the Institute for Policy Studies think tank has shown America’s 15 wealthiest families are worth a combined $618 billion. So what’s the significance of this at a time when economic inequality has become such a major topic of discussion?
Lynn Freeman talks to report co-author, Chuck Collins, who is the director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good and who gave up his own inherited wealth when he was in his mid-twenties.
Audio for – Filthy Rich:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018674542/filthy-rich-america-s-billionaire-bonanza
“On Thursday Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta met with about 100 members of the coastal Taranaki community and signed an agreement between the Crown and the Parihaka Papakāinga Trust.” https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/109139884/9m-reconciliation-package-for-parihaka-announced
“Mahuta said the trust, in consultation with the community and Te Puni Kōkiri and Treasury, had produced a development plan for the $9m, which begins with a focus on healing and reconciliation and the development of urgent infrastructure.”
“The Parihaka Reconciliation Bill was passed in 2017 and the Wellington event came 18 months after the long-awaited Parihaka-Crown reconciliation ceremony, He Puanga Haeata, held at the Parihaka in June last year.” So it’s consolidating the resolution process.
“That event included a Crown apology by the-then Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson for the invasion of Parihaka by government troops on November 5, 1881. In Wellington, Mahuta again acknowledged the atrocities suffered by the people of parihaka and their leaders Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, who established the community in the mid-1860s.”
“In the aftermath of the invasion residents were forcibly evicted, unjustly imprisoned, their leaders arrested and held without trial, homes and sacred buildings desecrated, rapes committed and a regime imposed that deprived owners of control and ownership of their land,” she said. “I acknowledge the principles of peace that the Taranaki settlement of Parihaka was based on and the mamae, the pain, of its history.”
“Mahuta said the purpose of the package was to heal the relationship between Parihaka and the Crown, recognise the historical significance of Parihaka and provide support for the development of the community into the future.” I feel extremely appreciative that our current & previous governments have produced this outcome. It’s an excellent demonstration of consensus politics.
“Some of the money will be earmarked for acquiring more land and upgrading the water supply, housing and other infrastructure at the site. Other possibilities include the construction of a multi-purpose centre and the creation of increased opportunities for cultural development, former trust chair Puna Wano-Bryant said in March last year.”
An in-depth look at the failed state that Venezuela has become under the Chavista regime.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/06/on-the-road-venezuela-20-years-after-hugo-chavez-rise
Gosman, there seems to be some reason as to why you wish to point out the failings of the Chavista regime. What are you trying to say to us in terms of logical argument by this?
He’s trying to pick a fight with someone in that tiny minority of the regulars here (at least a couple of which are currently unable to defend their views) who appear to actually support actions taken by Chavez and Maduro.
There are still a number here who are incredibly supportive of the Chavista regime in Venezuela.
I think the failings of the Chavista regime in Venezuela is a textbook example of why hard left Socialism fails to deliver on the promises made (i.e. lifting people from poverty and delivering more equitable and just outcomes for all). Too often left wingers promote policies without regard to the consequences. The right can be guilty of this too but there is also a degree of realism that right wingers tend to have that is missing among many of the left. Hence the acknowledgment that austerity will cause suffering for people (especially those at the lower end of the wealth/income scale) in the short to medium term. That seems to be lacking for many on the left who tend to blame external factors in any negatives that result from left wing policies. Again Venezuela is a good example of this where the collapse of the economy is inevitably blamed on sanctions from the US.
I know gozzer, if those silly Venezuelans would just see reason and pay their protection money to the yankers everything would be peachy.
Gosman it is pointless even trying to explain the depth of US interference in the whole of Sth America to the likes of you. Who knows, one day you might begin to understand the underhand machinations of Western Capitalist imperialism, but I doubt that you ever will .
Garibaldi,
It seems like you can’t work out that it is Venezuela’s own policies that are the cause of its problems.
There are no particular US measures applied against South American nations. That sort of thing ended a good 30 years ago. Since then virtually all South American and Central American nations have become democracies with a wide variety of governments elected during that time. It is just that Venezuela happens to have the worst government in the whole continent. Most of its economic decisions would get an “F”.
Wayne if you want to believe in pax Americana then that’s up to you. The more plausible explanation is that the USA empire is dirty to the core.
Venezuela was never given a fair chance, just like Iran hasn’t been since it ousted the American backed dictatorship.
Yeah, right.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93Venezuela_relations
Wonder how much those democracy assistance programs helped fuel the unrest of the rich that we see in Venezuela.
So much for not interfering in South American states.
Ya reckon.
There are direct parallels between present-day Venezuela and Chile in the 1970s under Salvador Allende, where the U.S. strategy, in the words of Richard Nixon, was to “make the economy scream.”37 The United States employed the same methods of destabilization, including a financial blockade, and supported the right-wing counterrevolution, likewise manifested in shortages, lines, and street protests, among other forms of disruption. The depressed prices of Chile’s main source of foreign exchange, copper, parallels declining oil prices Venezuela. While the extent of U.S. involvement in Chile’s counterrevolution would not be fully understood until years later, when key documents were declassified, overt U.S. aggression toward Venezuela is already evident in the intensifying economic sanctions imposed by the Obama and Trump administrations, as well as an all-out economic blockade that has made it extremely difficult for the government to make payments on food imports and manage its debt.38 As one State Department representative put it:
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13855
Yes, that’s my view of it too. Not long since Venezuela was cited as a model of how third world countries were becoming first world countries. Turns out that was a mirage, eh? I don’t blame the yanks for anything other than any skullduggery of the type used historically (Allende, Mossadegh, etc) which I haven’t seen claimed in respect of Venezuela. Poorly-applied socialism seems to be the cause of the problem, combined with poorly-administered capitalism.
According to Wikipedia “today, Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves”. Furthermore, “populist policies later became inadequate, causing the nation’s collapse as their excesses—including a uniquely extreme fossil fuel subsidy—are widely blamed for destabilizing the nation’s economy.”
Basically the country is stuffed because a bunch of socialists incapable of both governance and economic management got elected. Blame democracy.
“The Guardian travels across the nation the late Hugo Chávez dreamed of transforming, to understand its collapse”. Turned out to be a waste of time & money because the writer reported this much understanding: zero. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/06/on-the-road-venezuela-20-years-after-hugo-chavez-rise
Comparably Venezuela has done better than other small countries with oil that couldn’t protect themselves from richer countries – Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and many African countries.
Interesting that this choice piece of black propaganda comes from the British government mouthpiece, the Grauniad.
Not that a choice fool like you would notice, of course.
Why do you quote Venezuela. Of course decades of right wing corruption has nothing to do with Venezuelan problems, right?
How about we consider Honduras, Mexico and other right wing ” success” stories. Countries that are in a lot worse State than Venezuela. The reason refugees from them are flooding the US border.
Meanwhile the “socialist” Costa Rico is quietly doing fine. As is Cuba.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/exclusive-pm-jacinda-ardern-to-review-housing-minister-s-kiwibuild-house-flipping-penalty.html
‘Newshub can reveal he didn’t even run that past the Prime Minister, and understands she only found out about it while watching our TV story.’
“Myself, Grant Robertson and Shane Jones,” was Mr Twyford’s response to who made the call.
Not told about Labour camp sex scandal
Knows nothing about the Sroubek case
What does the PM know (or do?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability
She has far more important things to worry about.
https://spy.nzherald.co.nz/spy-news/pm-reveals-plans-for-baby-neves-first-xmas
You shouldn’t be so mean to her. Sometimes she goes to Parliament and does her best Sergeant Schultz imitations of “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!”
She needs to be careful about this though, she doesn’t want to use Neve so much that the public start to get a bit sick of it all…
and if she’d refused to answer their questions you’d be attacking her for being rude. She is not the one “using” baby Neve. That’d be you. I’m sure you would prefer to be back in the heady days when we learnt that Daddy John washes Little Max’s car, that’s when he wasn’t having his nuts snipped.
Actually if she hadn’t done the interview then nobody would have known about it
Serious question, are you truly suggesting this Prime Minister should turn down all interviews, so she can’t be criticized despite all Prime Ministers of all parties being expected to be available to the media in the past? I think that would be even more fodder for you fellas to complain about, don’t you? Perhaps if you see an article you don’t like, it should be you who, as you say below, LET IT GO.
John Key got criticized for puff articles and now its Jacinda Arderns turn, maybe if she answered questions (I wasn’t told, I’m not aware, I don’t know) in the house she wouldn’t be criticized for these soft articles
And when you do come here with your relentlessly negative attacks on the Prime Minister when she is staying true to form of every other PM before her, then you will be shown up for the bitterness you portray. She spent 8 minutes answering the Current Leader of the Opposition before he was kicked out of the house for his immature tanty because he didn’t like the answers she gave him. It’s such a lovely day I think I’ll sit down in the sun and read a lovely positive article about our Prime Minister, being a role model, high on the list of powerful women in the world, or simply how she is enjoying one of the most important jobs in the world, being a mother at the same time.
She needs to get some hats puckers.
I’m comfortable with that 😉
Better than this cowardly, talentless POS….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1348303/John-Key-s-son-yells-Real-men-ride-women-cyclists.html
Sir John Keys been gone over two years now, maybe its time to…
Key was in Parliament from August 2002 – April 2017. His 14+ years of fuckwitery will never be forgotten.
True dat! He was pretty much the exemplar of how low you can sink on many occasions.
http://www.toothfish.org/Portals/63/Gallery/Album/367/Key%20Terminator%20-Cuba%20St%20-%20may%202015.JPG
I’ll be back!
The talentless one aspires..
It’s like he is trying to be the definition of try-hard.
This child will never trust the system again
Dangled over the side of a bridge by his father, he made the courageous choice to tell his mother, a teacher, and a counselor.
Result: Police have done nothing and the son is forced to have ongoing contact with the fruitloop father who knows all about the son’s reporting of the incident.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109166254/police-surround-school-to-force-boy-to-visit-dad
Hopefully the influence of his mom and grandmother will keep him on the right path but yeah thats shit house
Mom puckers? You gettin yankificated?
This child will never trust the system again.
Nor will he ever trust his Dad again.
It sounds to me like it is the father who needs the counselling and attention. To do that to any kid let alone your own is beyond words. It also looks to me like this is one of those situations where the law is a complete ass – or ass***e might be more appropriate.
I wonder if the father has police connexions.
I wonder if the police spoke to the witnesses.
Heard of Parental Alienation.
Put the hard word on them eh wardy?
We have to put faith in the law as it stands.
So to me I’m guessing from the couples history the judge has quite a large file on the couple. The police may also have knowledge of the couple.
They decided for some reason to not censure what he has done.
We don’t know the context of dangling off the bridge.
We don’t know what the witnesses saw, or recorded.
We don’t know anything really.
Judges make mistakes. The police make mistakes.
Both of them?
Unless there’s some other info I’m missing, they should be trusted shouldn’t they.
By the sounds of it, I hope someone can help them resolve the conflicts in there lives. So they can both move on being parents in a positive way.
Or you could send him to a “man being a idiot transition to normalcy class”. Run by Labour male MPs as doing there bit.
Did I ever say lawyers are scamming us?
Here look! the poor serfs are fighting over stupid things.
How much an hour? But I only get……
What! Or I don’t get to see my kids, or give them Christmas presents!
Nope 👎🏼
Extortion by stealth.
“We have to put faith in the law as it stands.”
It is interesting to see you have faith in the police and court system, when previous comments indicate that you believe these systems to be “gynocentric”.
I’m guessing it is the faith of the Sunday church attendee who puts all matters and actions of the week away for a couple of hours when it suits.
So, your faith is informed by the fact that the visits are required to continue.
However, in your newly found faith you haven’t considered the well-being of the young man. Reading the article, it seems that his early years were spent in a chaotic household with drugs and alcohol abuse present. Over several years, his father was overseas (from personal choice you would suppose) and the supervised visits he was entitled to were not utilised. In 2016, he returns to NZ, and applies and is granted for fortnightly weekend visits. So essentially, you have a ten year old boy with little memory or familiarity with his father that is required to stay with him every two weeks on the weekend.
“We don’t know the context of dangling off the bridge.”
It is this context, where the “dangling off the bridge” should be considered. Not the witnesses – or god forbid – the “dangler” who recalls it as humorous, but the perspective of the twelve year old who is on the receiving end.
Also, note that the boy brought up the incident with a teacher first. His mother has understandably done all the things that any parent would after receiving that information. And most would understand the distress of child.
It would not be unreasonable to revert back to supervised access until such time as you say the father completes a “man being a idiot transition to normalcy class”.
Add in the mortification of being taken from school in such a manner by the police. I believe the young man at the heart of this issue, is the one who is carrying the burden, and any errors in judgement in this instance.
So you don’t have a clue how parental alienation works then?
When’s Stuff doing an example of a male who thinks he has been hard done by, by the family court?
There isn’t protests outside “specific” judges houses for no reason is there.
Who said there wasn’t bigotry in the beginning to cause the male to bail. The domestic violence act is a first in system. It is more likely that the domestic violence and even drug use were not exclusive to him. It’s also clear from the article that whatever domestic violence was present didn’t warrant prosecution. Female initiated protection orders are not rejected generally in the first instance. This is a cautionary policy as it’s often very difficult to know what the truth is. A person who is endlessly in the courts trying to exclude the other parent don’t get that cautionary response. The bullshit is more obvious.
Men get caught out by the cautionary response. So the false accuser acting to gaurantee custody, or the biased, or exagerated cliam affects men. That’s also part of the game. Once a protection order is granted the male has no choice to defend the accusation or he doesn’t get to see his kids again. It’s about $10,000 to use a lawyer to do that, up to $100,000 if orders are not complied with or the male denies the accusation as in this case.
This was a biased article as we didn’t see the history of the relationship and her actions etc from the males point of view. If he had ever done something nice it certainly would be not mentioned. I would also question the acticles legality as rules apply to family court reporting.
For men supervised visits are not far off automatic with accusations of violence and drug use. They progress over time to the sexually bigoted concept of male parenting. Every second weekend. And two days a year short of Child Support rules.
… and your comment relating to the well-being and perspective of the young man?…. Nothing?
If the issue of parental alienation is relevant – then his perspective is still a factor that needs to be taken into consideration in order to deal with it.
You – once again – take the view that any lack of connection is solely to do with bias against the father – despite, as you say, lack of evidence.
” It is more likely that the domestic violence and even drug use were not exclusive to him. “
I never stated it was or wasn’t.
“For men supervised visits are not far off automatic with accusations of violence and drug use. “
Which were both present, and decisions are based on the interests of the child, which is why they have their own lawyer appointed – separate from the father or mother IIRC. But even those visits were not utilised while the father was overseas.
DJ, think about when you were twelve and how this experience would be for this young man. If the goal is to create a strong relationship between father and son if possible, then the mortification of being removed from school will inhibit this for that young man. The father, meanwhile, has been informed of the police complaint and does not really sound like the type of person … dangling was a joke… that will be able to accommodate this knowledge with a high degree of maturity.
Parental alienation is not eliminated by this action – if anything it will be increased. The system needs to provide resources and processes that improve relationships, not harm them.
Making decisions about ongoing health and safety for children is not a guaranteed predictive outcome model, it is always problematic. The reason a cautionary response is required is that NZ has such high incidents of child abuse, neglect and homicide by family members that decisions are made – however, imperfectly – with reducing that statistic in mind.
The point of parental alienation is that the child is manipulated to hate everything the parent does.
Many men when faced with the situation that occurred at the relationship breakdown walk away. It is simply the case that they can’t handle the psycological trauma that they experience. She may have been the only violent party but he cops the blame, and she gets the child. That’s an injustice that’s hard to comprehend for people.
It’s common to hear “I never knew it could happen to me” from men who first experience the protection order system.
As I said the judge saw the file. The judge sees the history. Mothers who hate the concept of the father having a relationship will look for any reason how minor to destroy the fathers parenting relationship.
I suspect there is this dynamic here. I don’t believe for a second that the mother new nothing prior to the child going to the councillor. The child was likely interrogated when he arrived home. The Judge is actually protecting the child. Or the Judge would not have made a best interests of the child decision to ignore the attempt to ban the father from giving the kid Christmas presents this year, let alone see him.
If the parental alienation continues Judges, although very rare, can reverse custody. Because it’s not in the interests of the child to be a pawn in vindictive parental behavours. My ex was told to not do it again, and the bulshit stopped.
“The point of parental alienation is that the child is manipulated to hate everything the parent does.”
Yes. And my question is – how is this addressed by humiliating a young man in front of his peers, and not even allowing him to speak directly to a police officer regarding the incident before closing the file.
The way the system is addressing this is not going to improve the relationship. There should be better resources and processes available to the family court.
“Many men when faced with the situation that occurred at the relationship breakdown walk away. It is simply the case that they can’t handle the psycological trauma that they experience. She may have been the only violent party but he cops the blame, and she gets the child. That’s an injustice that’s hard to comprehend for people.”
And the situation happens in reverse. That’s a reality you choose to ignore. And children are harmed and killed – by a person who is supposed to care for them.
” Because it’s not in the interests of the child to be a pawn in vindictive parental behavours. My ex was told to not do it again, and the bulshit stopped.”
The interest of the child should be paramount, as they are in a greater position of vulnerability. I see no problem with this.
Your personal experience is only that – not evidence that all concerns raised at family court are malicious or vindictive. Some will be justified concerns that need addressing.
I have criticisms of the Family Court process that don’t depend on the decisions they make. Your previous criticisms have been suspended in this particular case, because the judgement aligns with your bias. You should recognise this in your support for the judge and the police in this matter – given your vocal disapproval of the systems in many previous comments.
Taken a bit of time to try and find studies supporting your comments and have discovered that although the use of the term in court has increased in recent years, the concept of Parental Alienation was discredited by the American Psychological Society way back in 1994 and they consider that there is no scientific evidence of such a “syndrome”. In fact, the evidence suggests that the mis-use of this term has resulted in negative outcomes for children, particularly those who have been abused.
In regards to this case, what you describe as alienation requires more accurate definition – perhaps fear, discomfort, dislike. All emotions that are reasonably expected and understandable. To blanket any child reluctance under the term alienation – removes the child’s voice from consideration.
In a survey at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in 2010, 98% of the 300 respondents agreed with the question, “Do you think that some children are manipulated by one parent to irrationally and unjustifiably reject the other parent?”.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/51/1c/92/511c92d09f434196ffdd7c291055484e.jpg
Brasil and Mexixo have made parental alienation a crime. So should we.
Thanks for your gif link, which you have taken time to post, and for your report of some people saying something somewhere at sometime. Maybe, the evidential links will be forthcoming?
Here’s one from 2017 for you: Mapping Gender: Shedding Light on Family Courts Treatment of Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation.
Putting paid to your assertions of (overseas) Family Court bias towards mothers:
This Huffington Post article puts some of the findings in perspective:
As the author study comments, the protection of the child should be paramount:
Thanks for making me take the time to look for studies on alienation. I will refrain from using that term from now on, as it is one that has been rejected by the psychology profession. I would not have looked further if not for this discussion.
So 72% of the time when accused of abuse, and the father cliams it’s a alienation behavour, the courts examine both sides of the argument and conclude the evidence supports his cliam.
Wow.
Lying about being on the pill, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Paternity fraud, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Abuse allegations, dishonesty. Abuses the child.
Looks like a trend.
Your framing of the issue of court bias as towards women for custody is incorrect.
Parental alienation is not a recognised syndrome by psychologists, although the justice systems uses it in court cases, where it is used to benefit many accused of child abuse.
Did you even look at the link?:
Parental alienation is not recognised as a mental disorder. Nearly got added recently.
But it is recognised as a behavour. It has underlining illnesses like sycopaths, narcissists, borderline personality disorder. Like I said it is also recognised as a crime in 2 nations as it should be in NZ.
It’s child abuse.
If what your saying is correct about men winning all the time.
Explain disputed custody in NZ being 94% women 6% men.
They may win…sorry fend off being banned from ever seeing there child. They may get the token men only version of shared custody, every second weekend. But the nightmares the victims suffer is no win.
The only winners are lawyers and those who get away with it, and those that make there former partner suffer through the process of clearing there name and being allowed to be a parent again.
Feminists hate this subject because they desire complete power and control. They wish accusations are automatically believed with no right of challenge. Hence our protection order system designed by feminists. If feminists had there way as Ang Jury wishes, protection orders would be automatically granted to all women in relationships. When the man says no or misbehaves he can be automatically imprisoned.
You are doing the misrepresenting and cherry picking Molly. You picked a Dr, nobody in there right minds listens to and blatantly uses propaganda techniques to misrepresent her “yes she’s a feminist” argument. You have tried to say parental alienation doesn’t exist. That’s simply an absurd cliam.
These cases occur at the ratio of about 10:1 so guess who wants alienation removed as a defence? Guess who’s lives get destroyed by this abusive power and control behavour?
Like describing paternity fraud as not fraud. Lying on a legal document is not fraud if a woman does it. Got to love feminist thinking.
Hey ladies. You can make any cliam you like. You can instantly remove a father from a child’s life with a bulshit protection order. Even if you are exposed as lying you will not be held to account. Having got full custody with the protection order, if your attempt to permanently ban him from parenting fails because he spends tens of thousands lining lawyers pockets don’t worry. Just demand a psychologist report to give a big delay. He is likely to only get supervised visits for quite a while. If he is a good boy he might even get men’s custody which is every second weekend, a big win for men. Don’t worry however as you can always make something up and have another try. By then your brainwashing the child will be perfected and the child will be old enough and able to reject the father using Lawyer for Child.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vFA556no1Ys/WXSipUwTbyI/AAAAAAAABdw/XNvo5S4HBgguWd4CXOdrt_PeX5TZJUHowCEwYBhgL/s1600/enablers.jpg
“You are doing the misrepresenting and cherry picking Molly. You picked a Dr, nobody in there right minds listens to and blatantly uses propaganda techniques to misrepresent her “yes she’s a feminist” argument. You have tried to say parental alienation doesn’t exist. That’s simply an absurd cliam.”
I linked to a published study that looked at the actual statistics in actual custody cases. Any links you have provided are to self-authored, non-reviewed websites or blogs. When I visit them, they also do not link to any peer-reviewed research.
The research disputes your continual claim of bias towards mothers in custody cases.
You don’t actually link to any research or evidence, and repeat statistics as if that should be enough. It isn’t.
You have shown yourself as a person with no regard for truth, balance or integrity.
Link to your stats – or don’t include them.
Explain how a child abused by a parent – male or female – is protected by the legal use of parental alienation. If you read the study, even when abuse is confirmed, the defence of alienation often overrides the child’s natural inclination to avoid further abuse.
Whenever I have time, I will ask you for the answers you don’t seem to have, because the damage done to families by your perspective is immense. I don’t have time for your extreme view of the female sex which relies on wilful blindness to reality.
It has a nickname too.
The secret court.
https://fyi.org.nz/request/5273-child-custody-as-primary-carer-fathers-vs-mothers
Finally DJ! A link to an site that links to an official document, which is here by the way. Better than nothing.
I’ve had a look at the OIA response and can’t see what your point is.
The data provided is not detailed enough to make conclusions from.
What is it that you are extrapolating from this response?
Because none of this information requested actually is in regards to children and their wellbeing, which is telling.
Oh. Just looked further and send that Zane Collins just keeps sending OIA requests. Has he a purpose, is the data collated? Looked again at that is all it is – people posting their OIA requests to share.
Link to the information that supports your statements. I’m not going to look for them for you. For a while there, I thought you might have linked to something of substance.
Sorry, duplicate to wrong thread. Have corrected and deleted.
I simply don’t understand how a system can get so badly off track that the child’s earnestly expressed desires cannot be paramount in this situation!
Where do you draw the line in the sand?
The child’s earnestly expressed desires.
In this situation.
What desires must be complied with?
What situations?
We could very easily end up with a nation of little Hitlers bossing adults around.
But as long as Lawyers make a killing representing children bossing adults around everything will be perfect right?
One of the stupidest things we ever did was get coned by the legal Proffesion into creating Lawyer for child.
Anybody that thinks stealing a great big pile of money from parents is in children’s best interests is an idiot.
“One of the stupidest things we ever did was get coned by the legal Proffesion into creating Lawyer for child.
Only if you disagree with the preferred outcome being in the best interests of the child.
This particular case has a father that dangled his twelve year old son over the side of a bridge for a “joke.”
You then call the child’s perfectly normal response – alienation. Which is – as mentioned – a commonly used legal term – but one refuted by psychologists.
Firstly, if the person who is at the receiving end does not genuinely believe it is funny – it is not a joke.
Secondly – unlike adults, children are compelled to how they spend their time. It is the adults that should ensure that they are secure and not fearful. This adult – instead, acted for his own reasons – not his son’s.
If that young man feels dislike, fear or any other negative emotion in regard to this incident towards his father – that is a natural response – not alienation.
“Anybody that thinks stealing a great big pile of money from parents is in children’s best interests is an idiot.”
(BTW, a lot of the websites and support groups you have mentioned seem to spend a lot of time talking about money, their anger, disparaging past partners and railing against the system. Have yet to see someone speaking about their children from the child’s perspective. Perhaps, as you indicate, it is not about the best interests of the child for them.)
Lets talk about tax baby
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/109057930/labour-may-be-preparing-to-shelve-major-tax-reform-but-is-it-really-last-chance-saloon
RIP Pete
“Pete Shelley, lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks, has died aged 63, his bandmates have said.
“It’s with great sadness that we confirm the death of Pete Shelley, one of the UK’s most influential and prolific songwriters and co-founder of the seminal original punk band Buzzcocks,” the band said on Thursday evening.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/06/pete-shelley-lead-singer-of-buzzcocks-dies-at-63
Yep, getting to the age where your musical heroes start to pass away.
Mark E Smith now Pete Shelley, a couple of great punk/post punk innovators.
When our Min of Education lies and tells us there is no more $$ available to pay teachers what they deserve (and many other deserving workers who are being feed the same lie by the government) Perhaps he should be made aware what the priorities really are.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018670594/chris-hipkins-to-teachers-there-is-no-more-money
Then explain this
“Essentially this is the situation with overseas-based student loan borrowers (OBB) who, at June 30, were $1.2 billion in arrears”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/108970059/inland-revenue-loses-track-of-thousands-of-kiwi-student-loan-debtors-in-oz
Now I accept this govt is better than the last, yet it is fast becoming just another govt that under delivers and breaks their promises (The list of broken promises is starting to lengthen)🤥
Can we start a list, was a very popular repeat post here for the last government Maybe Mickey can administer it if he has time to focus on the COL ineptitude rather than fossicking around in National’s dirty laundry Eye patch would need to come of though😊
I nominate you to do that beewee. Dotty could help.
Thanks for your vote of confidence Gabster 👍
I don’t think Micky would have the time.
It really would be a full time job, probably for a number of people.
There are so many lies.
Lets be honest if that were to happen then this would probably be the reaction:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/109167147/humans-blazing-similar-path-to-cause-of-ancient-mass-extinction
The great dying coming to a planet near you.
Just heard on the 5 o’clock news – they’re going to toss the whole inefficient and ideologically driven ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ crap in the waste basket!
It’s only taken nearly thirty years! The whole stupid neoliberal bullshit of treating schools as businesses and forcing competition between them, to the foreseeable detriment of the poor, hopefully will be trashed!
If this coalition government does nothing else, this will be a lasting improvement and benefit to this country!
Thats good, one of the things I recall from that time was the general run down of trades and apprenticeships in favor of the belief that university was the way, the only way to get ahead and NZs been suffering ever since.
Bad from Labour for implementing it and bad from National for continuing it
Mike Rowe talks a bit about it from an american point of view:
Arse. The decline in apprenticeships is on the rationalisation and shuttering of government departments and local bodies by Prebble, Douglas, Birch and their successors.
https://screenshotscdn.firefoxusercontent.com/images/3dc0b914-df6e-43a1-945b-04cbb1f5d5da.png
https://canterbury.royalcommission.govt.nz/documents-by-key/20120813.4973/$file/ENG.SCA.0002.RED.pdf
Ok the reason is debatable but I’m sure we can both agree the outcome was very bad and if the government can, somehow, bring trades and apprenticeships back to equal footing with tertiary training then that’d be a very good thing and the government would, rightly, receive all the kudos
Bring back state funded national trade schools*.
Apprentices recruited by businesses spend a year at three term, full time, industry specialised schools, returning to businesses as full time employees during term breaks.
Thereafter, for the duration of their indenture, they’re full time, distance learning, employees of the recruiting businesses, attending as required bi-annual/quarterly block courses and skill specific secondments.
( I spent a year at the old NZED school in Ladies Mile as a fitting apprentice, along with electrical apprentices and NZCE cadets.)*
I know that it is a group like these two who are funding the Paris riots thats is plain to see . The fund the ALTIdiot movement in Europe to. People like the Koch brothers are poisoning not only our environment they are poising the worlds weak minded people with proper gander and lies why they have more money than one could count in million lots and the GREEDY are still not satisfied they are drunk on POWER and so little time left for them they don’t care about OUR decedents future enviroment or mother earth all the people who denie climate change now or in the past can be linked to these old muppets ragan bush bush trump . Ana to kai.
Is this the extent of the Koch brothers’ involvement with groups based in the UK? Who knows? I have not yet had a response from the Charles Koch Foundation. But I see these payments as part of a wider pattern of undisclosed funding. Democracy without transparency is not democracy.
• George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
How US billionaires are fuelling the hard-right cause in Britain.
That Spiked magazine’s US funding arm received $300,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation suggests a hidden agenda Until now, there has been no evidence that Charles and David Koch have funded organisations based in the UK. But a few weeks ago, a reader pointed me to one line he found in a form submitted to the US government by the Charles Koch Foundation, which showed money transferred to a company that appears to be the US funding arm of a UK organisation. Once I had grasped its significance, I set up a collaboration with the investigative group DeSmog UK. We could scarcely believe what we were seeing.Dark money is among the greatest current threats to democracy. It means money spent below the public radar, that seeks to change political outcomes. It enables very rich people and corporations to influence politics without showing their hands.
Among the world’s biggest political spenders are Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries, a vast private conglomerate of oil pipelines and refineries, chemicals, timber and paper companies, commodity trading firms and cattle ranches. If their two fortunes were rolled into one, Charles David Koch, with $120bn, would be the richest man on Earth.
we can thank these 2 for trump as well as others brexit is desined to let the altidiots to sweep into power in Europe and its working ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/07/us-billionaires-hard-right-
britain-spiked-magazine-charles-david-koch-foundation
Here is proff that the Justices system of the world are made by the wealthy to serve the wealthy to rob an suppress crap on the 99.9 % manly the minority cultures .This idiot knows that the ultra wealthy can break all the laws of the land and they will be able to buy themselves a get out of jail free card . Why else would the rich trump behave like he is above the law because he has got away with breaking laws his whole life its not ROCKET SCIENCE to work that out tangata
So often, the President would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law.” ana to kai he pours bad stuff on the common poor people and does not give a stuff .
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/07/politics/donald-trump-rex-tillerson/index.html
Eco Maori can see the altidiots are using there billions again to distort our reality by suppressing the storys about the school children striking for action against climate change there were heaps of storys on this subject just 2 days ago I will keep everyone motivated to combat the carbon idiots who suppress our reality ka kite ano P.S Eco Maori is proud of the school children striking for climate 2
The school climate strike was a new generation’s activism – and I’m so proud
Naaman Zhou
Naaman Zhou
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/30/the-school-climate-strike-was-a-new-generations-activism-and-im-so-proud
Climate change strike: thousands of school students protest across Australia
‘Strike 4 Climate Action’ brings thousands of students together in defiance of prime minister’s warning
The best banners from the strike day
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/30/climate-change-strike-thousands-of-students-to-join-national-protest
P.S we know that some rich neo has a grip on someone’s hip pocket his hypercritical views changes like his undies the brown person who wants to be white ana to kai
Kia ora Newshub there you go Melisa the altidiots are using there money to set up proper gander around the world and Paris.
Anglia Merkel served her country well ka pai .
Ka pai Newshub the food companies just cannot help there selves in pursuit of profts
we all not that the more sugar and salt you put into food well up goes sales & there profts.
sugar is a bad prouduct killing millions .
The Grammys is controlled by neo capitalist money its a sham don’t watch the manipulating bull——-I can see that a mile away just by the nominees who have been nominated they manipulate everything .
james fields deserves what he got ka pai running over peasfull minority protesters and killing them .
Well one would not get away with that scam in Aotearoa as there is a assistant in the auto check outs. scientist why not come up with tec to get the worst thieves in our society as well the white collar crimes rip trillions from our society.
Those poor children from Yemen its a tragedy proxy wars.
I seen that video of the Australian boxing match wild life v man lol I know they can be dangerous the man and Kangaroos .
Niki I think the last time the Black Caps Won against Pakistan there were riots in the stadium and streets Ka pai Black caps .
Ka kite ano