Looking past the human carnage of today.. surely another evaluation should be made of labour's failure to morph tvnz/rnz into some sort of public broadcasting beast..?
Could the bones of that be re-engineered into what we need..?
That is just about as likely as having Trevor Mallard's dream of reincarnating the Moa in the hills of Wainuiomata coming true. The business model behind the broadcasting businesses is dead and the corpse is being to stink.
Of course the current top-heavy business model is done and dusted..
But much more focused models can't be off the table..
I mean..lean and mean is almost a cliche..but there are places between these behemoths at one end of the scale..and what I did @ whoar..as a one man band .. where I would post about 30 stories a day..
There are sweet spots between those two parameters…
There is an element of truth in what Seymour has said though (and now I am going to have to take a shower and scrub myself clean with a steelo pad).
The traditional media is behaving like its the end of times for news and current affairs, but really it's been obviously game over for traditional broadcast media for a long time now.
The audience has migrated online and they do things differently there. People like Benjamin Rich (the bald and bankrupt vlogger I mentioned the other day) don't make documentaries in the sense TV makes documentaries, they make vlogs. Vlogs, bloggers, forumes etc are mediums for delivery of content that are quite different from TV and radio. Tone, audience, raison d'etre are different. it's communication MSM, but not as you know it. On the whole collapse of traditional media thing, the media class mourning has studiously ignored the link between the MSM and the widespread perception – on both left and right – that it sees it's role primarily as gatekeepers to the establishment narrative as a key reason in their decline.
To often the MSM acts as if it considers itself more legitimate than the public and believes it, and not the voters, makes or breaks governments and ministers. Actual democracy is seen as a side show to it's role in policing legitimate establishment discourse, and when the establishment media doesn't get it's way it'll have a tantrum and label the public stupid or misinformed or dangerous – just look at how it has covered public dissent over Gaza, surely a hammer blow to it's claims of fearless impartiality.
The establishment links of the MSM are far to deep and wide to be easily dismissed as simply conspiracy nonsense. A 2017 photo is circulating online of Fran O'Sullivan hob-nobbing with Luxon and a squadron of rich white businessmen at a soiree in Switzerland sponsored by the NZ Initiative. Jessica Mutch-Mckay headed off to a plum corporate comms role at the John Key chaired ANZ. There is a well travelled path between broadcasting, government, and lobbying firms – Kris Faafoi? Maggie Barry? Katherine Rich? (In reverse!). It all amounts to the MSM facing a major crisis of authenticity. Does anyone really believe an army of boomer/Gen X "celebrity" journalists live in the same world as Joe and Jayne Sixpack? Does anyone believe the well heeled and/or elderly and/or well connected Audrey or Claire or Tova or Jessica or Barry or Mike Hosking or HDPA have the faintest idea or care about life in Flaxmere or Wainui or Otara? Sure there is John Campbell – but he is the exception that proves the rule. By contrast, the likes of Benjamin Rich have no problems with authenticity. He plays bingo and isn't afraid to get drunk with the locals and appears to actually like people. Vloggers like him have none of the connections with power and the establishment that comrpomise (in the eyes of the public) our media "stars".
Times are changing and with it hoiw news is delivered. Novara Media's YouTube channel in the UK pulls a bigger audience than BBC newsnight now. This is slowly being recognised by more and more mainstream organisations – https://www.wired.com/story/biden-white-house-state-of-the-union-address-influencers/
The future for news might not be how it is was 20 years ago, but it doesn't mean it is going away.
That depends on what you mean by 'dependent'. According to this article from 2019 (Full article: Public Service Media in Europe: Exploring the Relationship between Funding and Audience Performance (tandfonline.com)) public broadcasting in Ireland and Austria is 41.8% funded by commercial advertising. In Poland it's 64.2%. The article states "With regard to the sources of funding, many countries in the sample draw from a mix of public and commercial revenues." and "Altogether and on average, these forms of public funding account for 77.7 per cent of the overall revenue. Less than a quarter (23 per cent) of the overall revenue is brought in by commercial sources (advertising, trading of rights), and the proportion of public and commercial revenues differs across countries."
Yes, Labour looked at merging RNZ and TVNZ – when it should have been looking at similar taxpayer funding of a public service channel (broadcast and visual digital/online, with RNZ, broadcast and sound digital/online).
But I think we need to beware. They’ve attacked our eyes and ears. What’s coming? Something they don’t want us to see or hear until TINA is applied. Or perhaps they don’t want us ever to quite see it. The plan is more than tax cuts.
Can you watch this? It maybe even deserves a post. Jon Oliver’s most recent.
It is because he does not support public broadcasting – and in New Zealand, TVNZ is dependent on advertising revenues.
Luxon talks about a new business model for media – ignoring the fact that only in New Zealand is public broadcasting dependent on advertising revenue.
And even the chief executive of TVNZ conflates the revenue problem with transition from (free to air) broadcast to digital.
"We remain committed to delivering the most trusted and watched News and Current Affairs for New Zealand audiences, and what that looks like will change as we shift to a digital-first model.
This is only true if one can charge a subscription for the on-line digital service – but then news and current affairs is limited to the middle class audience.
That comes with an end to the free to air service. Warner-Discovery is ending free to air in 2025 (going digital only). TVNZ was planning this c2028.
At the moment those not online – over age 65* and those without broadband in their area* are dependent on free to air.
The government can make an arrangement with Sky to provide TVNZ/Maori TV via satellite – and install dishes – free basic subscription for * *.
Just like the entire mass media, many governments, even the independent media and critics of the war would have us accept that between 98% and 99% of Gaza’s entire population has survived—albeit the sick, injured, and more Palestinians about to die. This is lethally improbable!
He puts the figure at 200,000
The extreme right-wing Netanyahu regime has enforced its declared siege of, in its genocidal words, “no food, no water, no electricity, no fuel, no medicine.”
and
2.3 million utterly defenseless Palestinians in the tiny crowded Gaza enclave have been on the receiving end of over 65,000 bombs and missiles plus non-stop tank shelling and snipers.
Why does Hamas collude with lowballing casualties?
Hamas keeps the figures low to reduce being accused by its own people of not protecting them, and not building shelters. Hamas grossly underestimated the savage war crimes by the vengeful, occupying Israeli military superpower fully and unconditionally backed by the U.S. military superpower.
the reality is:
Children are starving at the fastest rate the world has ever known. Aid groups have been pointing to Israel restricting the flow of assistance into the territory as a major driver of the crisis
Why is the true number so important?
It matters greatly whether the aggregate toll so far, and counting, is three, four, five, six times more than the Health Ministry’s undercount. It matters for elevating the urgency for a permanent cease-fire, and direct and massive humanitarian aid by the U.S. and other countries, bypassing the sadistic cruelty against innocent families of the Israeli siege…
As a percentage of the total population being killed, Gaza can expose the Israeli ruling racist extremists to a stronger rebuttal for ending U.S. co-belligerent complicity in this never-to-be-forgotten slaughter of mostly children and women. (The terrifying PTSD on civilians, especially children, will continue for years.)
"The Government’s new fast-track planning legislation unveiled yesterday is even more draconian than Sir Robert Muldoon’s 1979 legislation, which attempted to do the same thing."
"Notably, the coalition has eliminated the Minister for the Environment (Penny Simmonds) from the process. The Ministers in charge of the RMA, Transport, Resources, and Regional Development will alone make the final decision on whether a consent should be issued."
This indicates how awful this coalition government is for our reputation for good governance.
When Labour bungled the light rail process major private sector players became very reluctant to spend the huge sums required to make a credible bid for any light rail project, since the whole thing had descended into a farce. In the end, the whole thing got canned, and a fair bit of reputational damage was done for the government. National appears to looked at that and drawn all the wrong conclusions (hardly a surprise with Tories, it has to be observed).
That was small beer though compared to this. Creating an authoritarian, rule by decree system where projects are approved without consensus or proper consultation in a process that is wide open for abuse and corruption is effectively trashing our reputation for good governance. It practically guarantees the projects will either be cancelled by an incoming government, or opposed so viscerally the cost of protests pushes the price through the roof and accelerates corruption as the government engages in draconian attempts to repress dissent funded by dark corporate money. – literally the formula that created the "banana republics."
Well, if business is unwilling or unable to insist on environmentally sustainable construction then the next Green Nz Govt will just have to insist that that capability is built back into a govt department where it can be nurtured and grown into an entity that works for a sustainable future. We have had these entities in the past and there is nothing to prevent there reintroduction. Business needs to wake up to the way of the future or expect to be sidelined.
upon a change of government, environmentally damaging contracts may be cancelled – without compensation!
Excellent – if that's the standard which is going to be applied, then the appointment of expensive CEOs to organizations which were clearly signalled as going to be dis-established – can also be reversed without redundancy compensation.
the proviso in Shaw's statement was around the degree of haste, amount of power being taken by Ministers, and lack of public scrutiny. He's not talking about any old legislation that is rolled back by a new incoming government.
"environmentally damaging" isn't a contestable proviso. The Greens campaign on this stuff using evidence, it's not going to be a surprise or vague.
All very well …. unless those contracts are set up in such a way as to incur ISDS proceedings against NZ should they be terminated. A recent example involving the USA's next door neighbour:
I believe that we still have Treaty exemptions, which Treaty explicitly includes the environment. It is a big reason why we are so lucky to have this Treaty and a big reason why Semour et al are so keen to neuter it.
This is terrible. When you look at the quality of the ministers who will have the most damaging power the heart just sinks. All of them together couldn’t scrape up an IQ of 20. Picked especially for their dimness and eagerness to be a big player and person of prominence they will pass any application for anything that is asked for by the zBig Business fraternity. Nothing but henchmen. Shame on them.Soon we will not have a Government. We will have an authoritarian dictatorship. Can’t we have a vote of No Confidence or something. In essence these people are being paid by us, the taxpayer, to decimate our beautiful country as we know it. God help us.
The cheek to say the coalition is scrapping (the rest of the) successful climate change programs (that we didn’t scrap when I became leader). And a bit with a dog!
Not enough to get my vote back tbh.
But enough to make this a one term government?
Who’s the pitch to? What does a Labour stronghold look like now Auckland is hollowed out?
First and foremost the members. After that anyone prepared to watch and listen. As a member, I had issues with the last government. The main one… they didn't move fast enough in the delivery of some of their promises. But they were held up by 2 to 3 years of Covid which has to be taken into account when judging them.
Time elapsed between Sunday reporting critically on one of the new government's cornerstone policies and the announcement that the show is to be cancelled: 12 days
It took 5 years for Jacinda Ardern to move into negative approval/disapproval. That is a comparison from the same TU/Curia poll.
Luxon rated negative from the start and has only got worse. I remain convinced that he will be replaced by National before the election, not because he's too right-wing but because he's simply hopeless at politics. Their MPs aren't going to go down with him.
Expensive So PM's approval rate is down the gurgler. Well deserved. An expensive Christmas party and housing claim. It showed his sneaky behaviour. imo.
More people disapprove of the Government than approve of it.
And so it begins.
The last National government 2008-2017 was mindful of how unpopular its predecessor in the 1990's was and how its survival in 1993 and 1996 was tenuous.
This lot is displaying the potential to be of the first one term National led government.
No, the poll is reasonably reliable (it's Curia). Not surprising that Seymour gains because he knows his RW audience, and he panders to that minority shamelessly but effectively. Whereas Luxon panders shamelessly and ineffectively.
you are welcome to join in that conversation Robert, but you need to explain your thinking. For instance, what is the great deal of passion, and what are the basic principles being obscured?
I accept you don’t intend it, but your lack of explanation has been causing problems in these threads. Likewise the rhetorical question comments.
Well, weka, it seems to me that I am not welcome to join in that conversation, given that you have shunted me into a different thread despite my having merely expressed support for the views of one of TS long-standing and highly respected authors!
How puzzling is that?
Now, you are asking me to explain what I mean by "a great deal of passion"!
My immediate response to your imperative is, wtf???
Then you direct me to explain what mean by, "basic principles being obscured?"
Have you become hyper-sensitised to simple communications?
I think so.
You are corralling me for saying some very simple, ordinary things. IMO.
Any acknowledge from you Mickey that the violence at Albert Park towards the Let Women Speak crowd who were their to attend a peaceful rally should be utterly condemned?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
It's frankly ridiculous to start asking why people haven't commented on one topic, as opposed to the infinite number of other topics. We might just as well ask why you haven't condemned every bad thing the coalition has done. The one you voted in.
"Because the list is far too long" would be one answer.
Holding neurodivergent people to exactly the same standard as the justified and monied elite of Karori and Remuera does not do neurodivergent people any favours.
Get back to us here in good faith once you have wiped off the RW talking points.
Thanks in advance.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
That RW talking points stuff, I now consider it from you to be flaming. I’ve pointed out the problems with it to you in the past. If I see you doing it again as a slur, I will start banning you. You can instead try and explain (with evidence) why anyone’s argument is akin to right wing arguments, and then they can respond.
There's a certain grinding down of particular comments and commenters here on The Standard. It is relentless. Some of us are hovered over. That's fine because I should and do have better things to do that advocate for the socially responsible left on my own time. My first responsibility should be to my work and family and I let them down badly by wasting time trying to make a difference here.
one of the things that has happened in recent years is what I call the FB-isation of TS. It's the long, slow slide into comments being declarations and reckons rather than political arguments.
You probably have some interesting things to say about neurodivergence in this context. I just wish you would say them rather than treating TS like twitter.
If you really believe someone is running RW talking points, then explain that. But what you did before was just slur posting and it doesn't create good debate atmosphere. Not that everyone has to make every comment a novel of explanation, at all, and a certain amount of rudeness goes with the territory. But there is a pattern here and that's when the mods step in.
I can certainly appreciate your point about time spent. As you can probably tell the mods are fucked off with how much time we spend on moderation. For me it's especially with regulars who should know better and appear to freely ignore moderation. I'm going to be going back to how we moderated in the past. Less explanation, more short then escalating bans. I've got better things to do with my time too.
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Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
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Seymour gloating over what is happening to so many in the media..
..is more than a little trumpian..
Looking past the human carnage of today.. surely another evaluation should be made of labour's failure to morph tvnz/rnz into some sort of public broadcasting beast..?
Could the bones of that be re-engineered into what we need..?
"Could the bones of that be re-engineered".
That is just about as likely as having Trevor Mallard's dream of reincarnating the Moa in the hills of Wainuiomata coming true. The business model behind the broadcasting businesses is dead and the corpse is being to stink.
It isn't going to happen Phillip.
Of course the current top-heavy business model is done and dusted..
But much more focused models can't be off the table..
I mean..lean and mean is almost a cliche..but there are places between these behemoths at one end of the scale..and what I did @ whoar..as a one man band .. where I would post about 30 stories a day..
There are sweet spots between those two parameters…
There is an element of truth in what Seymour has said though (and now I am going to have to take a shower and scrub myself clean with a steelo pad).
The traditional media is behaving like its the end of times for news and current affairs, but really it's been obviously game over for traditional broadcast media for a long time now.
The audience has migrated online and they do things differently there. People like Benjamin Rich (the bald and bankrupt vlogger I mentioned the other day) don't make documentaries in the sense TV makes documentaries, they make vlogs. Vlogs, bloggers, forumes etc are mediums for delivery of content that are quite different from TV and radio. Tone, audience, raison d'etre are different. it's communication MSM, but not as you know it. On the whole collapse of traditional media thing, the media class mourning has studiously ignored the link between the MSM and the widespread perception – on both left and right – that it sees it's role primarily as gatekeepers to the establishment narrative as a key reason in their decline.
To often the MSM acts as if it considers itself more legitimate than the public and believes it, and not the voters, makes or breaks governments and ministers. Actual democracy is seen as a side show to it's role in policing legitimate establishment discourse, and when the establishment media doesn't get it's way it'll have a tantrum and label the public stupid or misinformed or dangerous – just look at how it has covered public dissent over Gaza, surely a hammer blow to it's claims of fearless impartiality.
The establishment links of the MSM are far to deep and wide to be easily dismissed as simply conspiracy nonsense. A 2017 photo is circulating online of Fran O'Sullivan hob-nobbing with Luxon and a squadron of rich white businessmen at a soiree in Switzerland sponsored by the NZ Initiative. Jessica Mutch-Mckay headed off to a plum corporate comms role at the John Key chaired ANZ. There is a well travelled path between broadcasting, government, and lobbying firms – Kris Faafoi? Maggie Barry? Katherine Rich? (In reverse!). It all amounts to the MSM facing a major crisis of authenticity. Does anyone really believe an army of boomer/Gen X "celebrity" journalists live in the same world as Joe and Jayne Sixpack? Does anyone believe the well heeled and/or elderly and/or well connected Audrey or Claire or Tova or Jessica or Barry or Mike Hosking or HDPA have the faintest idea or care about life in Flaxmere or Wainui or Otara? Sure there is John Campbell – but he is the exception that proves the rule. By contrast, the likes of Benjamin Rich have no problems with authenticity. He plays bingo and isn't afraid to get drunk with the locals and appears to actually like people. Vloggers like him have none of the connections with power and the establishment that comrpomise (in the eyes of the public) our media "stars".
Times are changing and with it hoiw news is delivered. Novara Media's YouTube channel in the UK pulls a bigger audience than BBC newsnight now. This is slowly being recognised by more and more mainstream organisations – https://www.wired.com/story/biden-white-house-state-of-the-union-address-influencers/
The future for news might not be how it is was 20 years ago, but it doesn't mean it is going away.
Only in New Zealand is free to air broadcast dependent on advertising revenue synonymous with public service broadcasting.
The ABC in Oz and BBC and PBS in the USA will continue on just fine.
That depends on what you mean by 'dependent'. According to this article from 2019 (Full article: Public Service Media in Europe: Exploring the Relationship between Funding and Audience Performance (tandfonline.com)) public broadcasting in Ireland and Austria is 41.8% funded by commercial advertising. In Poland it's 64.2%. The article states "With regard to the sources of funding, many countries in the sample draw from a mix of public and commercial revenues." and "Altogether and on average, these forms of public funding account for 77.7 per cent of the overall revenue. Less than a quarter (23 per cent) of the overall revenue is brought in by commercial sources (advertising, trading of rights), and the proportion of public and commercial revenues differs across countries."
Yes, Labour looked at merging RNZ and TVNZ – when it should have been looking at similar taxpayer funding of a public service channel (broadcast and visual digital/online, with RNZ, broadcast and sound digital/online).
Not very human was it?
But I think we need to beware. They’ve attacked our eyes and ears. What’s coming? Something they don’t want us to see or hear until TINA is applied. Or perhaps they don’t want us ever to quite see it. The plan is more than tax cuts.
Can you watch this? It maybe even deserves a post. Jon Oliver’s most recent.
Last Week Tonight as the cost cutters make planes that kill people’.
It is because he does not support public broadcasting – and in New Zealand, TVNZ is dependent on advertising revenues.
Luxon talks about a new business model for media – ignoring the fact that only in New Zealand is public broadcasting dependent on advertising revenue.
And even the chief executive of TVNZ conflates the revenue problem with transition from (free to air) broadcast to digital.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tvnz-job-cuts-hundreds-of-staff-expect-to-get-certainty-today/LNJP32K2GBGL5IPD53HPDRL4NQ/
This is only true if one can charge a subscription for the on-line digital service – but then news and current affairs is limited to the middle class audience.
That comes with an end to the free to air service. Warner-Discovery is ending free to air in 2025 (going digital only). TVNZ was planning this c2028.
At the moment those not online – over age 65* and those without broadband in their area* are dependent on free to air.
The government can make an arrangement with Sky to provide TVNZ/Maori TV via satellite – and install dishes – free basic subscription for * *.
The change saves TVNZ its payment to Kordia.
Ralph Nader writes:
He puts the figure at 200,000
and
Why does Hamas collude with lowballing casualties?
the reality is:
Why is the true number so important?
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/calculate-real-gaza-death-toll
"The Government’s new fast-track planning legislation unveiled yesterday is even more draconian than Sir Robert Muldoon’s 1979 legislation, which attempted to do the same thing."
"Notably, the coalition has eliminated the Minister for the Environment (Penny Simmonds) from the process. The Ministers in charge of the RMA, Transport, Resources, and Regional Development will alone make the final decision on whether a consent should be issued."
Continue reading at https://www.politik.co.nz/the-big-beehive-power-grab/ | Politik
James Shaw said it for all of us – upon a change of government, environmentally damaging contracts may be cancelled – without compensation!
At about 4.50 mark.
Bishop and Peters did not like the suggestion at all – but I cheered when I heard it!
That should make the exploiters and quick buck merchants pause for a moment!
https://ondemand.parliament.nz/parliament-tv-on-demand/?itemId=238915
That is a totally awesome response. The gloves are coming off on the green side too! What a huge relief
100%
This indicates how awful this coalition government is for our reputation for good governance.
When Labour bungled the light rail process major private sector players became very reluctant to spend the huge sums required to make a credible bid for any light rail project, since the whole thing had descended into a farce. In the end, the whole thing got canned, and a fair bit of reputational damage was done for the government. National appears to looked at that and drawn all the wrong conclusions (hardly a surprise with Tories, it has to be observed).
That was small beer though compared to this. Creating an authoritarian, rule by decree system where projects are approved without consensus or proper consultation in a process that is wide open for abuse and corruption is effectively trashing our reputation for good governance. It practically guarantees the projects will either be cancelled by an incoming government, or opposed so viscerally the cost of protests pushes the price through the roof and accelerates corruption as the government engages in draconian attempts to repress dissent funded by dark corporate money. – literally the formula that created the "banana republics."
Wot sanctuary said..
Well, if business is unwilling or unable to insist on environmentally sustainable construction then the next Green Nz Govt will just have to insist that that capability is built back into a govt department where it can be nurtured and grown into an entity that works for a sustainable future. We have had these entities in the past and there is nothing to prevent there reintroduction. Business needs to wake up to the way of the future or expect to be sidelined.
Excellent – if that's the standard which is going to be applied, then the appointment of expensive CEOs to organizations which were clearly signalled as going to be dis-established – can also be reversed without redundancy compensation.
Belladonna Agreed.
I did not realise Three Waters was environmentally damaging.
That's why any such policy should not include a contestable proviso such as: "environmentally damaging".
As Belladonna points out above, that standard should be consistently applied.
the proviso in Shaw's statement was around the degree of haste, amount of power being taken by Ministers, and lack of public scrutiny. He's not talking about any old legislation that is rolled back by a new incoming government.
"environmentally damaging" isn't a contestable proviso. The Greens campaign on this stuff using evidence, it's not going to be a surprise or vague.
Thanks for that heads-up/link ..
There is humour to be had from it…
Shaw poured a cold bucket of reality over the (until then) smirking tory mps… especially the police minister..
Smirks were wiped from faces…to be replaced by furrowed brows…(a doh!-moment for them..heh..!)
The police minister slumped back into his usual haunted resting face..
Kudos to shaw…his words will resonate…
It would be a very brave venture capitalist who sunk money into projects with potentially such a short shelf-life..
This three-headed hydra gummint seems to have bitten off more than it can chew..
(Reaches for popcorn..)
All very well …. unless those contracts are set up in such a way as to incur ISDS proceedings against NZ should they be terminated. A recent example involving the USA's next door neighbour:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/31/how-a-us-mining-firm-sued-mexico-for-billions-for-trying-to-protect-its-own-seabed
I believe that we still have Treaty exemptions, which Treaty explicitly includes the environment. It is a big reason why we are so lucky to have this Treaty and a big reason why Semour et al are so keen to neuter it.
No Right Turn agrees with Shaw's statement:
https://norightturn.blogspot.com/search/label/Environment
Absolutely to the point. James will be missed when he goes
Every New Zealander should be greatly concerned about the proposed Bill, which leaves enormous power in the hands of ministers to authorise projects.
But will those projects be in the national interest, or merely in the interests of National?
The environment is not something to be mined for short term political and financial gain; it is held in trust for future generations.
This is terrible. When you look at the quality of the ministers who will have the most damaging power the heart just sinks. All of them together couldn’t scrape up an IQ of 20. Picked especially for their dimness and eagerness to be a big player and person of prominence they will pass any application for anything that is asked for by the zBig Business fraternity. Nothing but henchmen. Shame on them.Soon we will not have a Government. We will have an authoritarian dictatorship. Can’t we have a vote of No Confidence or something. In essence these people are being paid by us, the taxpayer, to decimate our beautiful country as we know it. God help us.
100 days 100 days 100 days 100 days before the nationals finish off their prey
Not earth shattering stuff but good for a start:
https://www.labour.org.nz/watch-national-govt-first-100-days?utm_campaign=230308_100dayssuperhot&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nzlabour
The cheek to say the coalition is scrapping (the rest of the) successful climate change programs (that we didn’t scrap when I became leader). And a bit with a dog!
Not enough to get my vote back tbh.
But enough to make this a one term government?
Who’s the pitch to? What does a Labour stronghold look like now Auckland is hollowed out?
Who’s the pitch to?
First and foremost the members. After that anyone prepared to watch and listen. As a member, I had issues with the last government. The main one… they didn't move fast enough in the delivery of some of their promises. But they were held up by 2 to 3 years of Covid which has to be taken into account when judging them.
Nah they failed on WEAG before COVID had even escaped from a lab……
Surprise surprise…
/
@LewSOS
Time elapsed between Sunday reporting critically on one of the new government's cornerstone policies and the announcement that the show is to be cancelled: 12 days
https://twitter.com/LewSOS/status/1765862206179086408
No surprise here:
Latest poll: Christopher Luxon’s popularity crashes after allowance blunder, now trails Chris Hipkins – NZ Herald
It took 5 years for Jacinda Ardern to move into negative approval/disapproval. That is a comparison from the same TU/Curia poll.
Luxon rated negative from the start and has only got worse. I remain convinced that he will be replaced by National before the election, not because he's too right-wing but because he's simply hopeless at politics. Their MPs aren't going to go down with him.
Luxon has said he's done it.
Like an inveterate essay writer, Luxon said he was going to do it, then did it, then today said he had done it.
"Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been dealt a blow as the Government wraps up its 100 day plan, with his favourability crashing 16 points in the latest monthly Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll." cf observer's NZH citation at #8
He certainly has done it……
But he didn't do it. It was his ministers what did it. He just made a lot of noise about doing it. I don’t think he could do it if he tried.
Expensive![laugh laugh](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png?x42494)
So PM's approval rate is down the gurgler. Well deserved. An expensive Christmas party and housing claim. It showed his sneaky behaviour. imo.
And so it begins.
The last National government 2008-2017 was mindful of how unpopular its predecessor in the 1990's was and how its survival in 1993 and 1996 was tenuous.
This lot is displaying the potential to be of the first one term National led government.
All day I've been waiting to see what would happen if Country Calendar was headed for the knackers' yard. Now that would have been entertainment.
How come everybody but Seymour took a dive. Seymour up by as much as they could get away with. Good old Taxpayers Union
But ACT has fallen to below Greens in their poll – so that looks more like others.
No, the poll is reasonably reliable (it's Curia). Not surprising that Seymour gains because he knows his RW audience, and he panders to that minority shamelessly but effectively. Whereas Luxon panders shamelessly and ineffectively.
I support what you are saying, mickysavage. There's a great deal of passion obscuring some basic principles here, imo.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
you are welcome to join in that conversation Robert, but you need to explain your thinking. For instance, what is the great deal of passion, and what are the basic principles being obscured?
I accept you don’t intend it, but your lack of explanation has been causing problems in these threads. Likewise the rhetorical question comments.
Well, weka, it seems to me that I am not welcome to join in that conversation, given that you have shunted me into a different thread despite my having merely expressed support for the views of one of TS long-standing and highly respected authors!
How puzzling is that?
Now, you are asking me to explain what I mean by "a great deal of passion"!
My immediate response to your imperative is, wtf???
Then you direct me to explain what mean by, "basic principles being obscured?"
Have you become hyper-sensitised to simple communications?
I think so.
You are corralling me for saying some very simple, ordinary things. IMO.
Any acknowledge from you Mickey that the violence at Albert Park towards the Let Women Speak crowd who were their to attend a peaceful rally should be utterly condemned?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
please don’t start taking pot shots at TS authors.
It's frankly ridiculous to start asking why people haven't commented on one topic, as opposed to the infinite number of other topics. We might just as well ask why you haven't condemned every bad thing the coalition has done. The one you voted in.
"Because the list is far too long" would be one answer.
With you on that, observer!
Holding neurodivergent people to exactly the same standard as the justified and monied elite of Karori and Remuera does not do neurodivergent people any favours.
Get back to us here in good faith once you have wiped off the RW talking points.
Thanks in advance.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
That RW talking points stuff, I now consider it from you to be flaming. I’ve pointed out the problems with it to you in the past. If I see you doing it again as a slur, I will start banning you. You can instead try and explain (with evidence) why anyone’s argument is akin to right wing arguments, and then they can respond.
There's a certain grinding down of particular comments and commenters here on The Standard. It is relentless. Some of us are hovered over. That's fine because I should and do have better things to do that advocate for the socially responsible left on my own time. My first responsibility should be to my work and family and I let them down badly by wasting time trying to make a difference here.
one of the things that has happened in recent years is what I call the FB-isation of TS. It's the long, slow slide into comments being declarations and reckons rather than political arguments.
You probably have some interesting things to say about neurodivergence in this context. I just wish you would say them rather than treating TS like twitter.
If you really believe someone is running RW talking points, then explain that. But what you did before was just slur posting and it doesn't create good debate atmosphere. Not that everyone has to make every comment a novel of explanation, at all, and a certain amount of rudeness goes with the territory. But there is a pattern here and that's when the mods step in.
I can certainly appreciate your point about time spent. As you can probably tell the mods are fucked off with how much time we spend on moderation. For me it's especially with regulars who should know better and appear to freely ignore moderation. I'm going to be going back to how we moderated in the past. Less explanation, more short then escalating bans. I've got better things to do with my time too.
w
Weka – I believe you let some commenters here express some really crazy sh*t, and at the same time "tightly manage" others.
The burn is being felt.
weka – none, not one of my comments posted on the Judge Glubb thread have been allowed through, despite their vanilla quality – wtf?
Am I a dangerous agent?
Please explain.
I don't think you are a dangerous agent Robert.
I gave an explanation here,
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-03-2024/#comment-1992243
which you rejected so I'm not sure there is much more to say in terms of explanation.
" Some of us are hovered over."
QFT and well described, Muttonbird.