If anyone ran into the database outage earlier this morning ~0600-0630, that was me.
Was using the illuminated keyboard in the dark upgrading the database to a later version and changing some parameters on it.It MAY get rid of the double posts on the comments.
On pages 428-429 of Jared Diamond’s book ‘The World Until Yesterday‘ he notes the following:
“Around the year 1700 sugar intake was only about 4 pounds per year per person in England and the U.S. (then still a colony), but it is over 150 pounds per year per person today. One-quarter of the modern U.S. population eats over 200 pounds of sugar per year. A study of U.S. eighth-graders showed that 40% of their diet consisted of sugar and sugar-yielding carbohydrates.”
Also, in relation to your 100% sugar breakfast cereal comment he describes the temptations for his children in a trip to his supermarket:
“Among breakfast foods, my kids were tempted by the choice between Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Fruit Loops, respectively 85% and 89% carbohydrate according to their manufacturers, with about half of that carbohydrate in the form of sugar. … Snack choices included Fruit Bears (92% carbohydrate, no protein) …“
It is unclear whether the strikes were related to the added security alert in the country after U.S. officials intercepted a message from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to operatives in Yemen telling them to “do something.
Hold on a minute… – This link has many links to re-used so called AQ leaders
It strikes (no pun intended!) me as curious that, faced with international condemnation, the American NSA spooks conveniently raise a “major” scare about Al Queda. Embassies are closed, a worldwide warning goes out.
Meanwhile, in NZ our PM raises the issue of home grown malcontents being trained by Al Queda just at the time that his GCSB legislation comes under increasing criticism.
After making massive complaints that Snowden had given “the terrorists” important clues about the capabilities and activities of the spy listening agencies, the US has just spent the last 3 days trumpeting as loudly as possible through the media that they’ve overheard something, that chatter is up, that al-zawahiri has been heard giving orders for attacks etc.
Random thought for the morning … maybe NSA et al have something on Key causing him to bluster with all the urgency and bullying and complete disregard for our rights ? Is it really just for his ego and his next job ?
“”The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.”
But then again that only happened three times in the entire history of highrise buildings. All on one day, in the same city, in the same neighborhood. Funny that!
1800+ all vetted and registered Architects and Engineers. Also 17,535 citizen signers. Here is another site compiling High profile American Patriots who want a new and independent investigation into what happened on 9/11.
Tepco admit they cannot stop radioactive contaminated water flowing into the pacific. Surely time for the Japanese government to step in and the rest of the World as well to help them?
There’s nothing to be done. No amount of money can resolve this situation in an acceptable time frame. A hard lesson to learn about how nature and physics always trumps financials on the last roll of the dice.
Take your pick plus the good old ‘reliable source’ which could be one of the voices in his head.
Oz just had over 50 parties registered for the 7/9 poll date, twice last elections so folk are over the ‘centre’ as it’s just not working for the non 1%’ers.
Just last week Banks was declaring that we hated China
because china were amongst the world of foreign non-residents
that were going to be stopped from buying investment properties.
This week China may have real concern that we might actually
hate them, sending them allegedly tainted baby formula, pretty
stiff. Banks using the race card.
The bitter fruits of inequality are being sampled by that home of the 1% the neoliberal paradise of the U$. Our own Yankey wants to continue down the same road destroying the commongood which glue keeps societies together. 🙁
“11 Examples Of The Escalating Crime And Violence That Are Plaguing Communities Across America”
“Even though communities all over America now feel under siege by the growing wave of crime and violence that we have been witnessing, the truth is that this is only just the beginning. When the next major economic downturn strikes things are going to get much worse.
The seeds that we have been planting for decades are now springing to life, and America is about to reap a very bitter harvest.”
I figure that if we hadn’t sold Telecom the Commerce Commission’s suggested wholesale price that Chorus gets to charge ISPs is what we’d actually be paying for a private phone line. The only thing removed is the middleman’s (the ISPs) ability to make a profit for providing nothing.
From today’s Herald-online, rents in some areas of Auckland have spiked over winter by as much as $60 a week,
Most of that spike admittedly is in the higher end of the market, 5-$600 a week rentals, but while the spike has yet to translate into the lower end of the rental market 3-$400 a week rentals you can bet that this is only a matter of time,
How the hell do the low waged working families survive paying such rents, i suppose that if mum and dad are working then 2 wages will keep them out of the food bank, just,
According to the Herald there is a growing trend of families doubling up in rental properties so as to afford the rent, this they are apparently doing on ‘the sly’ to avoid the attention of Landlords who object to 2 families paying the one rent,
Hello Labour Party, the flagship housing policy is looking more and more like a sinking ship, what is needed in Auckland and Christchurch is 10,000 new State houses in each city directly targeted at low waged working families,
At the point of writing this there might be support up into the 70%s for barring non-residents from speculating in the New Zealand housing market and there might be some smudge of support for Labour’s grand plan of shoe-horning the children of the middle class into home ownership,
But none of it, such support if it exists has so far turned up in the political polls for Labour, and i doubt whether it will,
Meanwhile, back in the jungle while Labour fiddle the low waged working families, the traditional base of previous Labour Governments are left with nothing, tortured on the device of the free market rack-rented by the Landlords while Labour Housing spokespeople have only ”we will have to look at the numbers” and ”we will release our state House policy close to the election” as cold comfort in an ever uglier rental market…
From RadioNZ National a piece of news better labelled new-speak, how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when announcing employment figures,
The claim is that there are now an extra 46,000 people in the workforce than six months ago, led of course by more workers required in the Christchurch rebuild,
Unemployment tho has risen in the past 3 months from 6.2% to 6.4% and there are now 153,000 registered unemployed,
i personally fail to see how this is good news for anyone let alone the Government as described on RadioNZ National such figures simply show that this Government’s only good news is that it has profited politically form the disaster of the Christchurch earthquakes and despite it’s attacks on beneficiaries nothing has been gained…
For???, i am citing RadioNZ and the info comes from their website, of course if we use the figures of those told to look for work by WINZ, Bennett and this ugly little Government adding another 100,000 to the figure just about gets you there…
This could be something to do with the fact that i am a computer illiterate and unless there’s a obvious www link i wouldn’t have a clue about how it’s all done,
Then again it might be because i am a lazy little sod,or a combination of both…
I saw this on 3 news on monday and could not believe my eyes, at the end of this video – what’s the dog doing at the plant running around machines? So much for safe food practices.
I feel concern about the effect that overload has on the public.
I believe this is one of the tactics of the ‘disaster capitalist’ approach.
If you pile a whole lot of dodgy leglislation/problems at the public all at once; people get overloaded and a lot of dodgy laws and approaches will get passed due to this overwhelm.
The concept is the same as the game ‘bullrush’. A large amount of people running toward a line; one person trying to catch them. Some will always get through
I would like to see the many problemS New Zealand has faced since this government has been in power to be explained to the NZ public in a simple and clear way; the reason mostly all of the problems are occurring is aligned with concerns expressed very early on after Mr Key took the reins (if you can call it that) regarding the lacksidaisical and hands off style of ‘managing’ that Mr Key and his lapdogs are pursuing.
This would be more digestible, accurate and provide a practical positive way forward for people rather than this barrage of disasters we are being fed nearly every week for years now that simply leads to overwhelm.
It is not all gloom. Some good indicators in the consumer trends survey. Nearly half of the population planning an overseas holiday this year. That suggests that there is a lot of spare money about for many people – not just the top 1%.
Rationing only occurs amongst those in unfortunate positions in NZ and the Western world. Rationing for those in comfort is considered sacrilege. Its all about equality, you see.
And what a good example our Minister of Tourism sets. Where was his last holiday? Singapore. (Although scouting out old haunts looking to line up a directorship sinecure or two for next year as a reward from one’s capitalist masters might not count as most people’s idea of a holiday.)
To enrich the 1% the Government must have enough support from the voting public to enable it to stay in office long enough to pass the legislation and regulation which provides that 1%’s continual enrichment,
The present Slippery lead National Government has accomplished this by use of the ‘tax switch’ where the top 50% of earners in the economy gained the greatest benefit from the tax switch and the bottom 50% of earners in the economy gained the least on a sliding scale from the middle to the bottom,
So for the top 50% of earners it’s all good news and for those from the mid point of the earnings ladder it’s all bad news which gets worse the further away from that mid point in earnings any particular person finds themselves,
Unemployment in the last quarter moved up from 6.2% to 6.4%, which is simply bad news and highlights the failure of this Government to ensure a balanced economy…
“where the top 50% of earners in the economy gained the greatest benefit from the tax switch and the bottom 50% of earners in the economy gained the least on a sliding scale from the middle to the bottom”
The bottom 50% of houselholds don’t pay any net tax.
You are missing the important point that the tax system is highly progressive, especialy after taking account of transfers. But it is even highly progressive before transfers.
BEFORE TRANSFERS
In 2013 taxpayers earning less than $30,000 paid 12 % of all tax
Taxpayers earning > $30,000 pay 88% of all tax
The top 2% pay 21% of all tax, up from 19% the previous year.
If you look at households and the effect of net transfers the picture is very stark.
The lowest-income 43 percent of households currently receive more in income support than they pay in income tax.
The 1.3 million households with incomes under $110,000 a year collectively pay no net tax—that is, their total income support payments match their combined income tax.
The top 10 percent of households contribute over 70 percent of income tax, net of transfers.
David FarrarThe National Ltd™ PR department has compiled this table that show the interaction betwen transfers and the tax system by household income
Better than spending their time deleting John Key’s emails concering his misuse of the powers of office for personal reasons by instigating a grievous breach of privacy to help soothe the severe butthurt he experienced after having a cuppa with noted criminal John Banks.
Arguing about percentage tax paid by a strata of earners is a deeply dishonest way of presenting a case as you are using two different denominators.
For “percentage tax paid” you are talking about a percentage of an amount of money (tax). For “top x% of taxpayers” you are talking about a percentage of people. One cannot fairly compare the two percentages as they are based on different things (an amount of money vs a number people).
The fair way of doing this comparison is of course to look at the “percentage tax paid” versus “percentage income earned”. If one does this comparison, it is immediately obvious that higher earners receive a large proportion of total income and therefore it is unsurprising that they also pay a large proportion of total tax*. Of course, the proportions are not exactly equal, because we have a progressive tax system and therefore the higher earners do pay a slightly larger proportion of tax than their proportion of income.
However, such data are not used by individuals such as yourself, because if you do it becomes immediately obvious to most people that the higher earners are getting more than their ‘fair share’ of the cake, and therefore the response of most people would probably be “tax them more!”
Even further compounding the dishonesty is that right wingers prefer to only quote income tax proportions.
Like Srylands, above.
GST and other taxes are strongly regressive as people on lower incomes tend to spend all they earn. Not to mention the more than half of New Zealand’s 300 or so wealthiest individuals who have a declared taxable income of less than 70k. (The source for that is the IRD).
The result is that wealthier people actually pay a considerably lower proportion of the total tax than their proportion of the national income. And even less, compared to their proportion of the national wealth.
Shcrilands the top income earners would not exist if not for the rest who spend all their money in their business’s !
Crosby Textered wool pulling Romney anyone!
Further, the survey you cite is a doubly self-selected survey. It only covers the 60k-odd people who decided to join “Nine Rewards” and even then only 500-odd people of this community who decided to complete the survey.
In other words, your statement that “nearly half of the population planning an overseas holiday this year” really means “nearly half of the population of people who joined Nine Rewards who could be bothered responding to the survey said that they were planning an overseas holiday”.
Hope they follow it up to see how many of those overseas holidays actually happen. I doubt half the population will have said holiday, maybe a lotto win dream influenced their answer, after all I’m planning to date a supermodel this year.
550 people in a minor rewards programme is not a sound basis for extrapolating a national economic position on anything. Srylands, do you honestly, in your heart of hearts believe that half of our country are planning an overseas trip in the next year? You probably think carnival games are legit.
🙄
Oooooh . . . Winston Peters has just said that John Key, via Wayne Eagelson, was “kept in the loop” about the police accessing Winston’s phone records as part of the investigation into Bradley Ambrose. This follows on from a question Winston put to Key asking if Key had ever used “any agency of the state” to monitor the phone records of a citizen in circumstances which did not involve national security. John Key decline the answer the question without first “taking advice”.
I wondered what Peters was getting at with his question (twice) to Key – and Key was extremely uncomfortable and playing avoidance tactics in his reponses.
Peters claim in the first speech of the General Debate left me gobsmacked – cannot believe he would make the claim without good evidence. Did you note Peters checking his watch? Was it “will this make the 3pm news?”
As Peters said, at the time of the Ambrose teaparty, Peters was a “private citizen” – not a politician.
There might be a time-limit on statements made in the General debate, Lolz did you notice the Speaker try and get Slippery off the hook, and then think better of barring Winston from asking the question the second time…
I am wondering if Winston has already done an the official information inquiry to the Police and has he got a whole pile of paper back with the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff Wayne Eaggleson’s fingerprints all over it…
Thanks for the links, V. Good to see the Press Gallery are paying attention.
And now for a quick reminder of John Key’s views on Winston and NZ First:
Banks: Do you think Winston will be back this time?
Key: [dismissive laugh] No, not at all no chance.
Banks: [mumble]
Key: [amused] Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s , but no, no, not a show. He, look, he’s at 2.5 I think on the TV3 poll, we have him about 2.5, 3. Look, he polled 4 last time, he’ll poll 3 this time, a lot of his constituents have all died. He won’t poll, I don’t think he’ll poll much above 3 this time.
The police accessed the phone records of the leader of a political party/MP as part of an investigation into the (bullshit) teapot tapes saga? Frak me. Totally unjustifiable.
Oooops, Slippery the Prime Minister having to a certain extent slipped out of the net closing around Him over the Dunne/Vance email/phone scandal by blaming the civil servant Andrew Kibblewhite for supposedly keeping Him in the dark over such dirty dealings is hauled back into the mud by Winston Peters,
Winston, who just yesterday i said seemed to be past His best just resurrected the scandal around the ‘Chimps tea party’ the meeting in the cafe between Slippery the Prime Minister and the then ACT candidate for Epsom John Banks,
Winston in the House today got to ask Slippery the Prime Minister IF he had any knowledge of any arm of the State, excluding the SIS, GCSB, had attempted to gain access to anyone’s phone information,
The answer of course was He didn’t know, it now appears that the Police with the full knowledge of Eaggleson, the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff while investigating the taping of the ‘chimps tea party’ had tried to get Winston Peters cell phone records,
There will be more to come on this, the Prime Minister still has to give Peters the answer to the question asked today and i assume will be called upon to provide any correspondence between the Police and Slippery’s Chief of Staff Eaggleson,
Now that will make interesting reading…(shall i leave this comment here,Blip while i was typing has already noted Winston’s lifting of Slippery’s toupee)…
Don’t know if anyone else has shared this: the Guardian has created a political slogan generator especially for the Australian election. Some of them aren’t bad…
If it was another country (other than NZ) he would have reached his demise.
Come on GCSB, spy on me. But not on Tuesday. I go to knot lying classes. Never know when you need the appropriate knot.
The legislation which will ban gang patches from government buildings is being debated in the House,
My view is it has an entirely erroneous focus and a more positive piece of legislation would be the requirement that all Gang members wear suits in public, they would then be indistinguishable in word, actions and intent from the members of the present National Government…
Poor old Srylands……….too stupid to see that his ridiculous throwaway “PORIRUA 4 EVER” is the very response the author of this virtually unenforceable anti-gang legislation seeks to draw out. Work the hatred baby, work the hatred…….
Srylands being played for a dummy by his idols. Hahaha !
Come to think of it, and apropos Bad12’s mention of suits, I would have thought that the author of the bill Todd McClay might have every personal reason to include in the “danger profile” underlying the bill, those men in suits who are close to home and whom he and we all know, steal.
The Minister being able to dictate that specific colours alone can be deemed representative of gang affiliation is a little worrying when you consider the rampaging anti-democratic hubris of the current administration. The potential for abuse of this aspect of the new law should be of serious concern.
To legally restrict someone’s access to Government land for simply wearing a particular colour with no proof of gang affiliation or criminal wrongdoing sounds like a very simple way to stifle protest activities in New Zealand during an election year.
This might have been covered above – no time to check – Richard Prosser NZF of Muslims fame in the House about 5.30 today I think – mock Churchillian voice booming – detached fixed demeanour of the tinpot dictator – eyes never off his notes – a ritual of bile and hatred re gangs.
“We’ll wipe them out !”
Wouldn’t it be good if we lived in a society where we own our social questions rather than simply ranting for $145,000 a year plus allowances – and feeling very elevated and righteous for it.
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A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
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 ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
Welcome to the whirring wonders of one brain trying to align its actions with its beliefs within a system it thinks is evil. My brain has been spiralling in a woke conundrum ever since I found out a bookshop I’ve never been to was shutting down. Good Books, a bookshop ...
We repeat our call for criminal justice policy to be based on evidence, something the three strikes regime neglects to recognise – with no evidence that it either reduces crime or assists with rehabilitation. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara With only four more seats in the 50-member Parliament yet to be officially declared, there is no outright winner in the Solomon Islands elections. As of Monday, the two largest blocs in the winner’s circle, independents and the incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh ...
Two/fiftyseven is a multi-purpose space hidden in the heart of Wellington that is paving a way for sustainable building and responsible landlording in Aotearoa and beyond.By 2060 the world is predicted to double its entire building stock, which equates to building an entire New York City every 34 days, ...
Popstars wasn’t just a reality television revolution, it was also a huge moment for Y2K fashion.It’s 25 years since girl group TrueBliss was formed on New Zealand national television, breaking new ground for both the reality television industry and the shiny clothing industry. With the first episode on NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Pepping, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, Griffith University Marvin / Shutterstock Are all single people insecure? When we think about people who have been single for a long time, we may assume it’s because single people have insecurities that make ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Geary, Lecturer in Quantitative Ecology & Biodiversity Conservation, The University of Melbourne Trismegist san, Shutterstock Landscapes that have escaped fire for decades or centuries tend to harbour vital structures for wildlife, such as tree hollows and large logs. But these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher, Lecturer in Marine Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Shutterstock/S Curtis Why are we crossing ecological boundaries that affect Earth’s fundamental life-supporting capacity? Is it because we don’t have enough information about how ecosystems respond to change? Or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Crocker, PhD Student in Economics, Deakin University Here’s something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a charity director outlines how she’s saving for retirement and buying secondhand. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 45 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Charity director, mum of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie Yates, Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late last year. Now a ...
It’s been called a failed experiment and a judicial straightjacket but the government says the revised three strikes law will be a more workable regime, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Three ...
New Zealand’s Palestinian community and Palestinian Youth Aotearoa are voicing alarm and disappointment with the lack of factual rigour present during the Israeli Ambassador’s appearance as a guest on TVNZ’s Q+A With Jack Tame Sunday (21/04). ...
Both ACT leader David Seymour, who played a key role in drawing up the assisted dying law, and hospice leaders say it's time the legislation was changed. ...
Public submissions on proposed gang control laws are being heard today. Rising gang membership has been cited as rationale for a crackdown – but what do we actually know about how many people belong to gangs in New Zealand?What’s all this then?A rise in the number of gang ...
Climate activists are setting their sights on an unpopular target, and hoping to bring lots of the public with them. It’s hard to miss the Majestic Princess: the enormous cruise ship, docked at Auckland’s Prince’s Wharf, looms over the nearby buildings. The ship, which can fit nearly 6,000 people, ...
Opinion: Making sure developers, local and central government, and landowners are all on the same page makes sense The post A new kind of city deal appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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The following korero between Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, author of the newly published memoir Hine Toa, one of the year’s most important books, and Dale Husband from e-tangata, was first published in October. It traverses her involvement with the activist group Ngā Tamatoa at Auckland University in the early 1970s, her ...
In the 16 years since it was bought by the government for $690 million, KiwiRail has had several overhauls and turnaround plans worth billions of dollars. Its ambitions as a successful, profitable operator of tourism, freight and ferries have often been derailed by disasters from earthquakes to cyclones, mine explosions ...
Black Ferns trailblazer Kendra Cocksedge was on the verge of tears when her young protégé, Hannah King, unassumingly broke the news. Three-time Rugby World Cup winner Cocksedge and Lincoln agriculture student King meet every few weeks over a hot chocolate, in an enduring mentorship that’s spanned years. “Before we even ...
Opinion: We’ve kicked the tyres on the perception NZ’s economy is in a parlous state compared to Australia. We take a quick tour of relative trends in GDP, housing markets, labour markets, trade, the fiscal situation, and the outlooks for inflation and interest rates. We find the cyclical positions of ...
By Russell Palmer, RNZ News digital political journalist New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters is putting off recognition of Palestine as a state, despite opposition Labour’s formal request that he make the move. Peters said diplomatic recognition of Palestine was a matter of “when not if”, but doing so now ...
The opposition has laid into the government's plan to reintroduce a "three strikes" regime, saying it's inequitable and there's very little evidence it works. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior research associate, University of Sydney Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has ordered social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to remove graphic videos of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney last week from the site. The incident ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney John Turnbull, CC BY-NC-ND In past bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, the southern region has sometimes been spared worst of the bleaching. Not this time. This year’s intense underwater heat has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne Darren Gill/Mackey, Darling & Collaborators The relationship between witchcraft and teenage girls has been the subject of many books, films and television shows. Over time, the traditional image of witch as crone ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Becky Freeman, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney Andres Siimon/Unsplash There are no silver bullets, magic tricks or secret hacks to solving complex public health problems. Taking on the global tobacco industry and reducing the devastating consequences of ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor emerita, University of Sydney Image from Bradlow + Bock campaign Can the job of being a federal member of parliament be shared by two or more persons? Two prospective candidates for the inner-Melbourne federal seat of Higgins, Lucy ...
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9009941/Dunne-lashes-back-at-noisy-protesters
Methinks it ain’t the protesters who are the irresponsible scum here, Dunny. Or is it Dunce?
“They are the lowest form of life imaginable.” – Peter Dunne re protesters.
Huh ! Projection projection projection !
Who does not reflexively distrust and mock that man ?
lol – shows that dunne has no imagination
GCSB the only government department that really listens to people.
Dunne would win re-election if he could bounce Key out of office with “I’m not with stupid anymore”.
“They are the lowest form of life imaginable.”
I thought he was talking about Nat politicians.
Smug and deluded man, that Dunne: not worthy to hold office in a democracy.
Not willing to listen to the voice of the people.
How to Lose an Election, Part 94: Let your larger donors buy their kid’s selection as a candidate:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-could-yet-rue-not-finding-a-greenway-solution-20130806-2rdhy.html
Yup the pre selections have been nasty affairs in a few seats yielding candidates like muppet boy Diaz.
Could you see our MSM doing such a number on Jamie lee Ross or banksy as an example.
do jamie lee ross…!..please..!..please..!..please..!
phillip ure..
The Queensland State government is full of idiots who make Diaz look presidential. The talent pool in both ALP and Liberal is very shallow.
Heard Collins called Canadians feral inbreds. For shame.
Blame Canada!
Let’s see how many trading partners we can alienate in a week.
when & where? thats absolutley disgusting! i presume its regarding that judge?
If anyone ran into the database outage earlier this morning ~0600-0630, that was me.
Was using the illuminated keyboard in the dark upgrading the database to a later version and changing some parameters on it.It MAY get rid of the double posts on the comments.
Poverty
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10909153
and wealth
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10909180
how about the news today that kelloggs’ frosties are 41.3% sugar..?
..whoar..!
phillip ure..
you’re surprised?
i am surprised at that level..i knew a lot of them are around 30% sugar..
..people fret about the obesity-epidemic..?..and wonder why..?..really..?
..maybe the people at kellogs are working towards a ‘healthy’ breakfast cereal..that will be 100% sugar..?
..a big sugar crystal..?..coated in caramel..?..just for that extra sugar-kick..?
..phillip ure..
do you understand that Ribena is more than 80% sugar ? and it’s fed to babies in their bottles as a healthy drink …
On pages 428-429 of Jared Diamond’s book ‘The World Until Yesterday‘ he notes the following:
“Around the year 1700 sugar intake was only about 4 pounds per year per person in England and the U.S. (then still a colony), but it is over 150 pounds per year per person today. One-quarter of the modern U.S. population eats over 200 pounds of sugar per year. A study of U.S. eighth-graders showed that 40% of their diet consisted of sugar and sugar-yielding carbohydrates.”
Also, in relation to your 100% sugar breakfast cereal comment he describes the temptations for his children in a trip to his supermarket:
“Among breakfast foods, my kids were tempted by the choice between Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Fruit Loops, respectively 85% and 89% carbohydrate according to their manufacturers, with about half of that carbohydrate in the form of sugar. … Snack choices included Fruit Bears (92% carbohydrate, no protein) …“
Picking up from a comment by Travellerev a couple of days ago, le’s take another look at how the BS flows, blatantly as news!
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/05/world/yemen-us-drone-strike
Hold on a minute… – This link has many links to re-used so called AQ leaders
http://www.legitgov.org/CLG-Al-Zawahri-back-dead-issuing-new-al-Qaeda-terror-threats
It strikes (no pun intended!) me as curious that, faced with international condemnation, the American NSA spooks conveniently raise a “major” scare about Al Queda. Embassies are closed, a worldwide warning goes out.
Meanwhile, in NZ our PM raises the issue of home grown malcontents being trained by Al Queda just at the time that his GCSB legislation comes under increasing criticism.
Coincidence anyone? Or an I irredeemably cynical?
Here is what is odd.
After making massive complaints that Snowden had given “the terrorists” important clues about the capabilities and activities of the spy listening agencies, the US has just spent the last 3 days trumpeting as loudly as possible through the media that they’ve overheard something, that chatter is up, that al-zawahiri has been heard giving orders for attacks etc.
Yeah right, American intelligence ”we can even pick up on what the dead are talking about”…
“American intelligence” is an oxymoron……
Random thought for the morning … maybe NSA et al have something on Key causing him to bluster with all the urgency and bullying and complete disregard for our rights ? Is it really just for his ego and his next job ?
In a total surveillance state you can never have actual democracy, only the appearance of it.
Frank Zappa ….
“”The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.”
I reckon this building is gonna come down into its own footprint in freefall speed soon!
But then again that only happened three times in the entire history of highrise buildings. All on one day, in the same city, in the same neighborhood. Funny that!
And no mainstream questioning of this, even by independent journalists.
And to a different type of high-rise building which used different construction techniques.
How tall is that building? A dozen floors?
Love it when nutbars pretend to be structural engineers.
About a thousand of them (engineers and architects, not nutbars) are members of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
Out of how many architects and engineers in the US?
Edit: 105,000 architects in the US. The nuttiest <1% agree with you.
1800+ all vetted and registered Architects and Engineers. Also 17,535 citizen signers. Here is another site compiling High profile American Patriots who want a new and independent investigation into what happened on 9/11.
What are your credentials?
Unlike us, McFlock is a Not-Nut-Bar.
🙂
I understand what the words “free-fall speed” actually mean.
You’re overqualified in that case.
Red Flag _ Say no more.
Fukushima crisis continues
Tepco admit they cannot stop radioactive contaminated water flowing into the pacific. Surely time for the Japanese government to step in and the rest of the World as well to help them?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23584008
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/08/radioactive-water-from-fukushima-is.html
There’s nothing to be done. No amount of money can resolve this situation in an acceptable time frame. A hard lesson to learn about how nature and physics always trumps financials on the last roll of the dice.
Who the heck keeps leaking to Whaleoil? Is it Labour MPs or their staff?
Take your pick plus the good old ‘reliable source’ which could be one of the voices in his head.
Oz just had over 50 parties registered for the 7/9 poll date, twice last elections so folk are over the ‘centre’ as it’s just not working for the non 1%’ers.
To save us a dive into the sewer, can you link us what he’s saying.
Just last week Banks was declaring that we hated China
because china were amongst the world of foreign non-residents
that were going to be stopped from buying investment properties.
This week China may have real concern that we might actually
hate them, sending them allegedly tainted baby formula, pretty
stiff. Banks using the race card.
The bitter fruits of inequality are being sampled by that home of the 1% the neoliberal paradise of the U$. Our own Yankey wants to continue down the same road destroying the commongood which glue keeps societies together. 🙁
“11 Examples Of The Escalating Crime And Violence That Are Plaguing Communities Across America”
“Even though communities all over America now feel under siege by the growing wave of crime and violence that we have been witnessing, the truth is that this is only just the beginning. When the next major economic downturn strikes things are going to get much worse.
The seeds that we have been planting for decades are now springing to life, and America is about to reap a very bitter harvest.”
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/11-examples-of-the-escalating-crime-and-violence-that-are-plaguing-communities-across-america
So..
Government control of the wholesale price of power (for the benefit of consumers) = bad, communist, bad, end of the world, bad etc
Government control of the wholesale price of broadband over copper lines (for the benefit of Chorus shareholders) = good?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1308/S00095/governments-telco-intervention-unprecedented-says-tuanz.htm
Huh?
Yeah, that’d be right.
I figure that if we hadn’t sold Telecom the Commerce Commission’s suggested wholesale price that Chorus gets to charge ISPs is what we’d actually be paying for a private phone line. The only thing removed is the middleman’s (the ISPs) ability to make a profit for providing nothing.
From today’s Herald-online, rents in some areas of Auckland have spiked over winter by as much as $60 a week,
Most of that spike admittedly is in the higher end of the market, 5-$600 a week rentals, but while the spike has yet to translate into the lower end of the rental market 3-$400 a week rentals you can bet that this is only a matter of time,
How the hell do the low waged working families survive paying such rents, i suppose that if mum and dad are working then 2 wages will keep them out of the food bank, just,
According to the Herald there is a growing trend of families doubling up in rental properties so as to afford the rent, this they are apparently doing on ‘the sly’ to avoid the attention of Landlords who object to 2 families paying the one rent,
Hello Labour Party, the flagship housing policy is looking more and more like a sinking ship, what is needed in Auckland and Christchurch is 10,000 new State houses in each city directly targeted at low waged working families,
At the point of writing this there might be support up into the 70%s for barring non-residents from speculating in the New Zealand housing market and there might be some smudge of support for Labour’s grand plan of shoe-horning the children of the middle class into home ownership,
But none of it, such support if it exists has so far turned up in the political polls for Labour, and i doubt whether it will,
Meanwhile, back in the jungle while Labour fiddle the low waged working families, the traditional base of previous Labour Governments are left with nothing, tortured on the device of the free market rack-rented by the Landlords while Labour Housing spokespeople have only ”we will have to look at the numbers” and ”we will release our state House policy close to the election” as cold comfort in an ever uglier rental market…
I suspect a 70%+ support for banning foreign ownership outright.
From RadioNZ National a piece of news better labelled new-speak, how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when announcing employment figures,
The claim is that there are now an extra 46,000 people in the workforce than six months ago, led of course by more workers required in the Christchurch rebuild,
Unemployment tho has risen in the past 3 months from 6.2% to 6.4% and there are now 153,000 registered unemployed,
i personally fail to see how this is good news for anyone let alone the Government as described on RadioNZ National such figures simply show that this Government’s only good news is that it has profited politically form the disaster of the Christchurch earthquakes and despite it’s attacks on beneficiaries nothing has been gained…
[citation needed]
For???, i am citing RadioNZ and the info comes from their website, of course if we use the figures of those told to look for work by WINZ, Bennett and this ugly little Government adding another 100,000 to the figure just about gets you there…
So, why didn’t you link to their website?
This could be something to do with the fact that i am a computer illiterate and unless there’s a obvious www link i wouldn’t have a clue about how it’s all done,
Then again it might be because i am a lazy little sod,or a combination of both…
Found it
I saw this on 3 news on monday and could not believe my eyes, at the end of this video – what’s the dog doing at the plant running around machines? So much for safe food practices.
http://www.3news.co.nz/What-is-Botulism/tabid/1160/articleID/307650/Default.aspx
The dog is in a cow shed not the factory..tricky juxtaposition…TV3 are tricky mongrols.
Mongrels or Mongols 😈
I feel concern about the effect that overload has on the public.
I believe this is one of the tactics of the ‘disaster capitalist’ approach.
If you pile a whole lot of dodgy leglislation/problems at the public all at once; people get overloaded and a lot of dodgy laws and approaches will get passed due to this overwhelm.
The concept is the same as the game ‘bullrush’. A large amount of people running toward a line; one person trying to catch them. Some will always get through
I would like to see the many problemS New Zealand has faced since this government has been in power to be explained to the NZ public in a simple and clear way; the reason mostly all of the problems are occurring is aligned with concerns expressed very early on after Mr Key took the reins (if you can call it that) regarding the lacksidaisical and hands off style of ‘managing’ that Mr Key and his lapdogs are pursuing.
This would be more digestible, accurate and provide a practical positive way forward for people rather than this barrage of disasters we are being fed nearly every week for years now that simply leads to overwhelm.
It is not all gloom. Some good indicators in the consumer trends survey. Nearly half of the population planning an overseas holiday this year. That suggests that there is a lot of spare money about for many people – not just the top 1%.
http://tonyalexander.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BNZ-Nine-Rewards-August-2013.pdf
@ Srylands,
Excellent.
All that money earned in NZ will be going out of the country to be spent elsewhere.
Brilliant news, thanks
Yeah well we can hardly ration overseas holidays.
Correct.
Rationing only occurs amongst those in unfortunate positions in NZ and the Western world. Rationing for those in comfort is considered sacrilege. Its all about equality, you see.
‘
And what a good example our Minister of Tourism sets. Where was his last holiday? Singapore. (Although scouting out old haunts looking to line up a directorship sinecure or two for next year as a reward from one’s capitalist masters might not count as most people’s idea of a holiday.)
Easily done, if required.
Our Dear Leader – Minister of Tourism – spends all has overseas.
So do you retract your statements from a few days ago about unemployment being down?
that was yesterday’s spin, and judging it against reality is unfair.
Now half of us are going on holiday (and 9% are thinking about emigrating, apparently)
I see you’re busy again today …..trolling on this site.
To enrich the 1% the Government must have enough support from the voting public to enable it to stay in office long enough to pass the legislation and regulation which provides that 1%’s continual enrichment,
The present Slippery lead National Government has accomplished this by use of the ‘tax switch’ where the top 50% of earners in the economy gained the greatest benefit from the tax switch and the bottom 50% of earners in the economy gained the least on a sliding scale from the middle to the bottom,
So for the top 50% of earners it’s all good news and for those from the mid point of the earnings ladder it’s all bad news which gets worse the further away from that mid point in earnings any particular person finds themselves,
Unemployment in the last quarter moved up from 6.2% to 6.4%, which is simply bad news and highlights the failure of this Government to ensure a balanced economy…
“where the top 50% of earners in the economy gained the greatest benefit from the tax switch and the bottom 50% of earners in the economy gained the least on a sliding scale from the middle to the bottom”
The bottom 50% of houselholds don’t pay any net tax.
You are missing the important point that the tax system is highly progressive, especialy after taking account of transfers. But it is even highly progressive before transfers.
BEFORE TRANSFERS
In 2013 taxpayers earning less than $30,000 paid 12 % of all tax
Taxpayers earning > $30,000 pay 88% of all tax
The top 2% pay 21% of all tax, up from 19% the previous year.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2013/taxpayers/02.htm
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2012/taxpayers/02.htm
AFTER TRANSFERS
If you look at households and the effect of net transfers the picture is very stark.
The lowest-income 43 percent of households currently receive more in income support than they pay in income tax.
The 1.3 million households with incomes under $110,000 a year collectively pay no net tax—that is, their total income support payments match their combined income tax.
The top 10 percent of households contribute over 70 percent of income tax, net of transfers.
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/49HansQ_20110713_00000002/2-tax-system%e2%80%94fairness
David Farrar has compiled this table that show the interaction betwen transfers and the tax system by household income
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/nettaxpaid.png
Better than spending their time deleting John Key’s emails concering his misuse of the powers of office for personal reasons by instigating a grievous breach of privacy to help soothe the severe butthurt he experienced after having a cuppa with noted criminal John Banks.
David Farrar is not a reliable or impartial source.
Arguing about percentage tax paid by a strata of earners is a deeply dishonest way of presenting a case as you are using two different denominators.
For “percentage tax paid” you are talking about a percentage of an amount of money (tax). For “top x% of taxpayers” you are talking about a percentage of people. One cannot fairly compare the two percentages as they are based on different things (an amount of money vs a number people).
The fair way of doing this comparison is of course to look at the “percentage tax paid” versus “percentage income earned”. If one does this comparison, it is immediately obvious that higher earners receive a large proportion of total income and therefore it is unsurprising that they also pay a large proportion of total tax*. Of course, the proportions are not exactly equal, because we have a progressive tax system and therefore the higher earners do pay a slightly larger proportion of tax than their proportion of income.
However, such data are not used by individuals such as yourself, because if you do it becomes immediately obvious to most people that the higher earners are getting more than their ‘fair share’ of the cake, and therefore the response of most people would probably be “tax them more!”
* an example of this is that done by Keith Ng a few years ago: http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/table-62-rich-pricks-others/
edit: Also, as it seems you are still visiting this thread, please respond to my comment at 19.2.
Even further compounding the dishonesty is that right wingers prefer to only quote income tax proportions.
Like Srylands, above.
GST and other taxes are strongly regressive as people on lower incomes tend to spend all they earn. Not to mention the more than half of New Zealand’s 300 or so wealthiest individuals who have a declared taxable income of less than 70k. (The source for that is the IRD).
The result is that wealthier people actually pay a considerably lower proportion of the total tax than their proportion of the national income. And even less, compared to their proportion of the national wealth.
Shcrilands the top income earners would not exist if not for the rest who spend all their money in their business’s !
Crosby Textered wool pulling Romney anyone!
Further, the survey you cite is a doubly self-selected survey. It only covers the 60k-odd people who decided to join “Nine Rewards” and even then only 500-odd people of this community who decided to complete the survey.
In other words, your statement that “nearly half of the population planning an overseas holiday this year” really means “nearly half of the population of people who joined Nine Rewards who could be bothered responding to the survey said that they were planning an overseas holiday”.
@wtl
Thanks for correcting Srylands inaccuracies.
The thing that really ‘gets’ me about the ideology that Srylands promotes is that it is a good reflection of the b/s that people actually vote for.
I note how Srylands never responds to any comment that requires more than a neo-liberal slogan.
This shows the level of reasoning available to neo-liberal ideology – there is none.
Sryland only has slogans because there is no rational argument for someone not in the elite to support neoliberal policies.
@ Paul
Agree, however I will add:
There are no rational arguments for neo-liberal policies full stop.
There is also plenty of evidence to support the view that such policies are destructive to society.
Agreed.
Hope they follow it up to see how many of those overseas holidays actually happen. I doubt half the population will have said holiday, maybe a lotto win dream influenced their answer, after all I’m planning to date a supermodel this year.
FTFY
And more than half looking at lowering debt which means lowering the amount of money in circulation and thus heading us towards recession.
It’s a problem with the debt based monetary system that we have.
550 people in a minor rewards programme is not a sound basis for extrapolating a national economic position on anything. Srylands, do you honestly, in your heart of hearts believe that half of our country are planning an overseas trip in the next year? You probably think carnival games are legit.
🙄
‘
Oooooh . . . Winston Peters has just said that John Key, via Wayne Eagelson, was “kept in the loop” about the police accessing Winston’s phone records as part of the investigation into Bradley Ambrose. This follows on from a question Winston put to Key asking if Key had ever used “any agency of the state” to monitor the phone records of a citizen in circumstances which did not involve national security. John Key decline the answer the question without first “taking advice”.
. . . and the beat goes on.
I wondered what Peters was getting at with his question (twice) to Key – and Key was extremely uncomfortable and playing avoidance tactics in his reponses.
Peters claim in the first speech of the General Debate left me gobsmacked – cannot believe he would make the claim without good evidence. Did you note Peters checking his watch? Was it “will this make the 3pm news?”
As Peters said, at the time of the Ambrose teaparty, Peters was a “private citizen” – not a politician.
There might be a time-limit on statements made in the General debate, Lolz did you notice the Speaker try and get Slippery off the hook, and then think better of barring Winston from asking the question the second time…
Carter was being very careful today – with the Speaker of the UK House of Commons sitting in the House!
Re the General Debate, this is limited to 12 five minute speeches.
Here is the Herald’s article on Peters’ claim, by Audrey Young.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10909502
And here is the Stuff one – http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9013698/Peters-claims-link-to-tea-tapes-probe
RNZ National 4pm news also covered it, but nothing up yet on their website. But the 4pm news bulletin in now up.
://www.radionz.co.nz/radionz/programmes/news-bulletin/audio/2564823/radio-new-zealand-news
I expect it will be covered in Checkpoint and the 6pm TV news, as Peters has obviously given press interviews after leaving the House.
Thx for links … this is veteran Peters and he has some ammunition it seems. He does do revenge so sweetly, have to admire his courage.
This is so exactly like Nixon and Watergate .. drip, drip, drip, splosh, splosh, splosh — then belly dive !!!
But still desperately seeking our own Martha Mitchell to spill the beans …
More links in my comment here http://thestandard.org.nz/hypocrisy-in-the-house-gcsb-bill/#comment-676275
These are Peters’ speech in the General Debate, and his earlier questions in Question Time trying to pin Key down without giving away the reason.
I am wondering if Winston has already done an the official information inquiry to the Police and has he got a whole pile of paper back with the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff Wayne Eaggleson’s fingerprints all over it…
‘
Thanks for the links, V. Good to see the Press Gallery are paying attention.
And now for a quick reminder of John Key’s views on Winston and NZ First:
The police accessed the phone records of the leader of a political party/MP as part of an investigation into the (bullshit) teapot tapes saga? Frak me. Totally unjustifiable.
Oooops, Slippery the Prime Minister having to a certain extent slipped out of the net closing around Him over the Dunne/Vance email/phone scandal by blaming the civil servant Andrew Kibblewhite for supposedly keeping Him in the dark over such dirty dealings is hauled back into the mud by Winston Peters,
Winston, who just yesterday i said seemed to be past His best just resurrected the scandal around the ‘Chimps tea party’ the meeting in the cafe between Slippery the Prime Minister and the then ACT candidate for Epsom John Banks,
Winston in the House today got to ask Slippery the Prime Minister IF he had any knowledge of any arm of the State, excluding the SIS, GCSB, had attempted to gain access to anyone’s phone information,
The answer of course was He didn’t know, it now appears that the Police with the full knowledge of Eaggleson, the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff while investigating the taping of the ‘chimps tea party’ had tried to get Winston Peters cell phone records,
There will be more to come on this, the Prime Minister still has to give Peters the answer to the question asked today and i assume will be called upon to provide any correspondence between the Police and Slippery’s Chief of Staff Eaggleson,
Now that will make interesting reading…(shall i leave this comment here,Blip while i was typing has already noted Winston’s lifting of Slippery’s toupee)…
Don’t know if anyone else has shared this: the Guardian has created a political slogan generator especially for the Australian election. Some of them aren’t bad…
Time’s up, John!
Spy, lie, Bye!
+ 1 Tautoko Viper
Excellent!
If it was another country (other than NZ) he would have reached his demise.
Come on GCSB, spy on me. But not on Tuesday. I go to knot lying classes. Never know when you need the appropriate knot.
The legislation which will ban gang patches from government buildings is being debated in the House,
My view is it has an entirely erroneous focus and a more positive piece of legislation would be the requirement that all Gang members wear suits in public, they would then be indistinguishable in word, actions and intent from the members of the present National Government…
Wish I could have thought up that little picture before I penned the comment below !
I think the “PORIRUA 4 EVER” tats would be a give away.
i grew up in Porirua and never once saw a Tatt with the words ‘Porirua 4 ever’,
You appear a little retarded today, lift your game…
Poor old Srylands……….too stupid to see that his ridiculous throwaway “PORIRUA 4 EVER” is the very response the author of this virtually unenforceable anti-gang legislation seeks to draw out. Work the hatred baby, work the hatred…….
Srylands being played for a dummy by his idols. Hahaha !
Come to think of it, and apropos Bad12’s mention of suits, I would have thought that the author of the bill Todd McClay might have every personal reason to include in the “danger profile” underlying the bill, those men in suits who are close to home and whom he and we all know, steal.
More like “I LUVS RED SQUAD” or “BASH MINTO TODAY”. Those ones show who are members of dangerous organisations devoted to violence.
The Minister being able to dictate that specific colours alone can be deemed representative of gang affiliation is a little worrying when you consider the rampaging anti-democratic hubris of the current administration. The potential for abuse of this aspect of the new law should be of serious concern.
To legally restrict someone’s access to Government land for simply wearing a particular colour with no proof of gang affiliation or criminal wrongdoing sounds like a very simple way to stifle protest activities in New Zealand during an election year.
This might have been covered above – no time to check – Richard Prosser NZF of Muslims fame in the House about 5.30 today I think – mock Churchillian voice booming – detached fixed demeanour of the tinpot dictator – eyes never off his notes – a ritual of bile and hatred re gangs.
“We’ll wipe them out !”
Wouldn’t it be good if we lived in a society where we own our social questions rather than simply ranting for $145,000 a year plus allowances – and feeling very elevated and righteous for it.
Sack this bludging prick who only talks shit !
You are so right North. That Prosser is evil!!!