Apartheid Israel, an occupying force for 70 years, gruesomely penning Palestinians into tiny Gaza would be gone by lunchtime if the USA stopped supplying cash and weapons.
US Imperialism, in blunt terms–both substantial cause of and potential solution to–the Palestinian situation.
Arm chair generals and Governments everywhere are tut tutting about terrorism by Hamas–yet when Israeli snipers blow out teens knee caps for approaching a fence, poison water supply, detain and torture, the Euros and all the rest look away. The Israeli military state regularly stops humanitarian aid to Gaza by flotilla as local Kia Ora Gaza supporters like Marama Davidson and Mike Treen (Unite Union) found out.
I don’t support the religious aspect to Hamas, or armed violence, but what do people expect will be the outcome with hundreds of UN Resolutions ignored, and Gaza bombed the shit out of every few months?
There is a very nasty possible conclusion to this latest uprising aka asymmetric engagement, and I don’t want to use the term here–those capable in the international community need to step up immediately.
Nobody seems to complain about the illegal occupation of Palestinian land by the Israelis and the illegal settlements being built there, or about the giant concentration camp that is Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has it right when he says (from The Guardian's live feed today):
"Abbas also pointed to the “denial of the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, their land, and their sacred sites, and the continued terrorism of Israeli settlers,”
“President Abbas stated that ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land with East Jerusalem as its capital, recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to independence and sovereignty, and granting full UN membership would ensure security, stability, and peace in the region,
Pisses me off to see Biden saying "The United States stands with Israel" when he has done bugger all to rectify the above situation.
The scenes of celebratory barbarism as a catharsis against civilians coming from Hamas's successful raid into Southern Israel are sickening.
But you know, if you torment human beings by locking them in a cage like they are wild animals, and then beat them savagely with bombs and missiles, and strip them of all hope and dignity, and you do it for decades, then if they ever get out of the cage you have to expect the dehumanized and savage wild animals you've created will show their tormentor no mercy.
The state of Israel was created as a consequence of the holocaust. Unfortunately for the Zionists, there were people living there already on whom they visited a massive injustice by expelling them from their homes. The Arabs were also lied to by the British who then bailed out as fast as they could.
The abject failure over eight decades to come to terms with the injustices perpetrated by the circumstances leading to creation of Israel are the cause of the huge turmoil in the middle east today.
“I am a child of Lake Alice. I have been through all the institutions. We as kids were abused everywhere we went so we couldn’t respect authority, we couldn't trust authority, so that is more or less why we formed – to protect ourselves because we had no one else to help us.”
This is just off memory – The chap in Dunedin who did long term studies on people finding that the biggest driver of criminality, dysfunction and poor adult outcomes was severe poverty in childhood – this seems to be ringing the same bell to me.
They wouldn't care. I have worked for an organisation that supported survivors through the Royal Commission of Inquiry process. People's experiences were absolutely harrowing and the effects of the abuse had huge impacts on their lives, as you would expect.
Here is an excerpt from the Royal Commission of Inquiry's report "Stolen Lives, Marked Souls – The inquiry into the Order of the Brothers of St John of God at Marylands School and Hebron Trust" – among other things, this report details how the abuse affected survivors' lives. https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/our-progress/reports/stolen-lives-marked-souls/
"187. The Royal Commission finds in relation to the impacts of abuse and neglect:
a. All survivors of abuse and neglect from Marylands, the Hebron Trust and St Joseph’s Orphanage who the Inquiry has heard from, have experienced significant and life-long impacts to many facets of who they are, their relationships, their potential and the life they lead. These impacts include:
› physical injury, health and illness
› devastating mental health impacts, including self-harm and suicidality
› criminal offending and addiction including substance abuse
› struggles with sexual and gender identity
› loss of faith and spirituality
› financial hardship and homelessness
› lack of education, leading to further financial hardship and employment insecurity
› inability to trust and difficulties in relationships with children, partners and whānau."
Middle Eastern politics makes you want to scrub yourself clean in the shower with a stello pad after just thinking about it.
The Israelis, with the connivance of everyone, thought they could normalise relations with Saudi by simply locking the Palestinians in a permanent cage and then throwing away the key. The plan was to assassinate and destabilize any viable civil society in Gaza, paint the place as hopelessly in the thrall of barbaric terrorists and leave the Palestinians to rot forgotten in their ghetto while everyone else got on with plotting with their new buddies against Iran.
Iran wants to scupper Saudi Arabia at every turn because of some religious difference that is even dumber than Europe fighting the thirty years war over transubstantiation, and Iran hates the west because of punitive sanctions and the way they've been shit on at every turn by the USA since the coup that put the Shah into power. None the less, Israel left Hamas and Hizbollah alone because it struck a deal with Putin to not interfere in Syria as long as Russia used its influence to stop Iran using Hamas to wreck its deal with Saudi.
Except mad dog Putin invaded the Ukraine, and now he needs Iran and it's ammunition and drone factories more than Iran thinks it need fear him and the equally mad Mullahs have realized they can't rely on busted-flush Russia for any damn thing by way of security guarantees so Iran has decided to use Hamas to launch an attack on Israel to end any hope of a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Now for the Palestinians the status quo was anyways tantamount to their genocide. Any option was better than the one looming. And the Palestinians have just shown they won't be forgotten and walling them up in Gaza and letting them rot isn't a viable plan, because if they can break into Israel once to wreak indiscriminate slaughter then they can do it again.
So the Palestinians have inflicted a mini 9/11 on Israel. They've demonstrated they're not going to give up and quietly die. Israel now has to change course. It can try to occupy the Gaza strip but last time it tried that the IDF discovered Gaza is an urban fortress capable of inflicting heavy losses on them. It can use its virtual immunity from consequences to inflict an aerial and artillery genocide on Gaza every bit the equivalent of the savagery inflicted on the Poles in the Warsaw uprising, or it will have to come up with a workable peace plan.
Unfortunately, lack of consequence means genocide will be the likely path Israel will go down.
They'll end up doing a Bele and Lokai and nuking each other before the century is out.
The best future for Gaza is UN occupation and development to nation state hood (the Hamas PA relationship is broken and the WB is not a goer with the current regime in Israel).
If Saudi Arabia gave that its backing, a deal whereby 1948 refugees could (if they want) take up citizenship (acquire passports) and be granted residency in Arab league nations or migrate to other places (and be given compensation for 1948 property loss).
Others could choose to remain refugees (these restored to some fit state (eg Lebanon/Syria) and await a West Bank resolution.
Agree +100% bringing in Honest John at the last minute may have done National more harm than good IMHO.
Also I can not see Luxon forming a Government with a NACT First combination, if Winston and NZF can get enough votes say 8-9% we may see a National/NZF Coalition however National and Luxon would have to swallow a number of dead rats.
National are beginning to show nervous jitters. Their advertising is tending towards warning voters that you have to party vote National to avoid eight weeks of confusion whilst a coalition government is formed.
They are perhaps being honest for the first time in (kind of) admitting that it will be difficult to form a government with their pals ACT and NZ First not even wanting to be in the same room together, let alone actually co-operating.
Labour needs to seize on this to show that there will be no such problems if you vote centre-left, WE get along well enough to lead the country, the rabble on the right don't so why would you vote for them?
The National party ad was on Facebook and I am unable to provide a link at this time, sorry.
Labour/Green/TPM looking solid coming up to next Saturday, fear mongering by National is not going down well with voters, evidently the Economy is going well according to all the statistics.
The economy is going well !! Will perhaps like Hipkins you need to get out and leave your protected bubble !! Wages below inflation for many interest rates killing us and the Labour Party gives each family $5/week to butter things over. Tax creep as we progress thru the tax bracket creep takes more from an individuals income, govt gives a token BUT takes more🤫
Our growth is primarily due to immigration and cleanups from the weather. Great base to build an economy on 🤬
Agree Herodotus most of what you are saying is correct, wages are poor here in NZ vs the Cost of Living and Housing, however the Supermarket Owners and the Corporates are doing extremely well, likewise the AU Banks are making record profits however interest rates are not dropping, so I agree we are being screwed. Yes Tax Brackets need to be changed with the first $20k being Tax Free. Immigration needs to be knocked on the head until we look after our own people first, so voting NZF and Uncle Winnie is probably your best bet, however they seem to forget all these things once in Government. Labour is pro Chinese Immigration and wouldn't budge on that in the 2017 Coalition Government. National are also very pro Chinese Investment in NZ Housing & Infrastructure.
Anyone concerned about wage levels and who votes NACT is intellectually challenged.
MW. ACT wants no MW increaaes for 3 years, National wants minimal ones. Labour wants it lifted to the Living Wage level – $1 an hour or more each year ($40 a week extra).
Fair Pay Agreement Industry Awards – as per Oz. NACT would get rid of it. Labour's development will result in wage improvements between the MW-LW and the median wage and maybe above. It will be the only way to guarantee wages go up as fast as rents/inflation.
Public Sector, Labour's record in raising the pay of teachers, nurses and doctors is far superior to that of National.
So where is the proof that voting Labour is any different ?? Many of us have experience nil to inferior pay increases well below inflation.
Don't forget that the pay increases/min wage etc are on the back of, for most unknown inflation rates, tax creep and costs that are lost in CIP calculations as they are excluded. So if the govt had handled and reacted to minimise the rising inflation, perhaps the level of pay increase recently fought over would not have to be as high to lessen the impact on Inflation ? So your justification to support labours rising pay levels is questionable at the least, but don't let that get in the way
Teachers fought hard for what they have achieved. Pity that the agreement was not backdated as in real terms their wage has gone backwards. Previous agreement covered July 2019- June 2022. Current agreement covers July 23- July 25.
The fact that you made a reply without reference to the known facts about MW and LW relativity, or the FPA Industry Awards, or any comparison of increases under Labour compared to National (as per nurses and teachers 2008-2017) says it all.
And you blame the government for inflation (and divert into bracket creep with taxation) – its worldwide mate with the add on here of the flood events on food prices, and the company that filed to get its gib production sorted (housing costs 2022).
PS Inflation will be 4% by the end of the year and its forecast to be 3% at the end of next year.
If I were really informed I would know that those are not the RBNZ projections from the RBNZ household expectations survey….assuming they meant anything anyway.
This is not Politics…(well maybe somewhat)..more a why are "we" stillracing to Planet burn……and why cant we go another way?
Ok….most of us (Deniers excepted) know our Planet is heating …ever more dangerously. This combined with El Nino type events. of course has cumulative effect. So Niwa recently gives warning…In ODT Rural Life..which I do read .
As the El Nino weather phenomenon takes hold across New Zealand, Otago farmers are being urged to prepare for potential pasture and water supply problems caused by dry spells.
A recent long-term Niwa forecast stated there was a 100% chance of El Nino continuing during October through to December, and the chance of it persisting through summer was forecast to be more than 95%.
My why cant we ?……was also in the ODT..randomly, in Life and Style. Connection ? I seen the Regenerative photo. And such a great article by Sean Connelly .
It is past time farming stepped into its future
The report also highlighted how our agricultural sector is also dependent on our natural capital — the rivers, lakes, soils, biodiversity, atmosphere and climate. It emphasised that continuing down the path of intensive agriculture would increasingly put both our economic and environmental wellbeing under threat.
agriculture has intensified, fertiliser use has intensified, irrigation has intensified, and on the whole, environmental indicators have worsened. Synthetic nitrogen use has risen from just over 50,000 tonnes in 1990 to more than 450,000 tonnes by 2020, largely driven by the dairy boom. The ability of our land and water to cope with that injection of nutrients has been stretched beyond limits. Direct greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic nitrogen fertilisers have increased more than 600% since 1990.
Pukekohe Vegetable Growers gearing up for a big drought has to happen soon especially with all the rain we have had over the past 2 years, it is the law of averages.
From the side-bar, Paul Buchanan's latest offering is a must read. "Bully Pulpits and thePolitics of Nastiness", is a summary of the Trump style and how the parties of the Right in NZ are consciously emulating him. The following excerpt imo is worthy of repeat in toto:
… after four years of his presidency and the sequels to it, I realise that his long moment in public life has served as an invitation to and license for others around the world to follow his approach to political and social discourse. The core of this approach is to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the basest of terms, seeking to appeal to the darkest of instincts and deepest ignorance extant in a given political community. This is the politics of nastiness, and the nasty has reached NZ.
It is well known that National has been for some time looking to US rightwing spin doctors for campaign guidance and narratives (crime! waste! taxes!), but now Winston First and ACT’s David Seymour have decided to go full US conspiracy theory (Winston: globalists! mandates!) and pseudo-libertarian racist (David: free speech! bureaucrats! Treaty separatists!). The tone of politics in NZ has gotten cruder (see: Chris Bishop, Judith Collins) and more personal (e.g. treatment of Kiri Allen). The corporate media has clearly decided to go full Murdoch in approach (with a few exceptions duly noted) by stirring partisan and racial division and polemics, focusing on personal foibles and conflicts rather than platforms/proposals and going for “gotcha” moments rather than offering dispassion analyses of the policy platforms of the respective parties.
Why does the Standard continue to give a platform for right-wing propaganda? The Point of Order website (on the sidebar, every day) is a constant barrage of right-wing talking points, and not even interesting ones.
Yes, I know, it's not my blog, you can publish whatever you want, and nobody's stopping you but the question remains … why?
I wonder how many NZ First voters are aware of what they might be getting into? The party appears to have undergone a significant shape-shift lately, and it doesn't seem to be all Winston's doing:
Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
We have been on the road in England, squeezing down narrow lanes, flying up the M6, loving hedgerows and villages and cathedrals, liking the 21st century less.There have been moments when it’s felt like a movie trope. The pub in Exford, lovely seventeenth century bar, almost more dogs than people, ...
There’s a solar-storm on at the moment, and since the South Island is having a day and night with clear skies, that means Aurorae. I have just got back from a midnight visit to Tunnel Beach – southwards-looking over the Sea, and without the light pollution. Quite a few others ...
Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
PNG Post-Courier New Zealand High Commissioner Peter Zwart and PNG Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph welcomed a C-130 Hercules to Port Moresby this week to support Papua New Guinea’s response to the March 24 earthquake and recent severe flooding. “Papua New Guinea has requested New Zealand’s assistance to transport emergency ...
Grub Street King Luxon rode through the streets Of King’s Landing, and was troubled By the sight of hungry urchins in the mud. “Who would be the best of my Lords To deal with this negative optic?” He pondered. The answer came to him instantly. “Seymour!” he said to himself. ...
“The Bill does not provide environmental protection, good quality decision making, certainty, public participation or speed. It should be withdrawn.” ...
RNZ News Television New Zealand has breached its collective agreement with the E tū union when deciding on discontinuing programmes, the Employment Relations Authority has ruled. It was announced in March that 68 staff members who work for news programmes Midday and Tonight, consumer justice programme Fair Go, current affairs ...
Asia Pacific Report Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member. This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/7/palestinian-group-hamas-launches-surprise-attack-on-israel-what-to-know
Apartheid Israel, an occupying force for 70 years, gruesomely penning Palestinians into tiny Gaza would be gone by lunchtime if the USA stopped supplying cash and weapons.
US Imperialism, in blunt terms–both substantial cause of and potential solution to–the Palestinian situation.
Arm chair generals and Governments everywhere are tut tutting about terrorism by Hamas–yet when Israeli snipers blow out teens knee caps for approaching a fence, poison water supply, detain and torture, the Euros and all the rest look away. The Israeli military state regularly stops humanitarian aid to Gaza by flotilla as local Kia Ora Gaza supporters like Marama Davidson and Mike Treen (Unite Union) found out.
I don’t support the religious aspect to Hamas, or armed violence, but what do people expect will be the outcome with hundreds of UN Resolutions ignored, and Gaza bombed the shit out of every few months?
There is a very nasty possible conclusion to this latest uprising aka asymmetric engagement, and I don’t want to use the term here–those capable in the international community need to step up immediately.
Agree Tiger.
Nobody seems to complain about the illegal occupation of Palestinian land by the Israelis and the illegal settlements being built there, or about the giant concentration camp that is Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has it right when he says (from The Guardian's live feed today):
"Abbas also pointed to the “denial of the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, their land, and their sacred sites, and the continued terrorism of Israeli settlers,”
“President Abbas stated that ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land with East Jerusalem as its capital, recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to independence and sovereignty, and granting full UN membership would ensure security, stability, and peace in the region,
Pisses me off to see Biden saying "The United States stands with Israel" when he has done bugger all to rectify the above situation.
The scenes of celebratory barbarism as a catharsis against civilians coming from Hamas's successful raid into Southern Israel are sickening.
But you know, if you torment human beings by locking them in a cage like they are wild animals, and then beat them savagely with bombs and missiles, and strip them of all hope and dignity, and you do it for decades, then if they ever get out of the cage you have to expect the dehumanized and savage wild animals you've created will show their tormentor no mercy.
Might we not use the same argument to explain why Israel is tormenting the people of Gaza – the result of their treatment in world War 2?
The state of Israel was created as a consequence of the holocaust. Unfortunately for the Zionists, there were people living there already on whom they visited a massive injustice by expelling them from their homes. The Arabs were also lied to by the British who then bailed out as fast as they could.
The abject failure over eight decades to come to terms with the injustices perpetrated by the circumstances leading to creation of Israel are the cause of the huge turmoil in the middle east today.
The most extreme case of the central problem of all settler colonial societies.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/133064688/election-2023-what-young-mum-gang-member-and-cyclone-victim-think-of-this-election
Maybe someone should show national that sentence on a driver of gang growth, I bet it’s still happening today
This is just off memory – The chap in Dunedin who did long term studies on people finding that the biggest driver of criminality, dysfunction and poor adult outcomes was severe poverty in childhood – this seems to be ringing the same bell to me.
They wouldn't care. I have worked for an organisation that supported survivors through the Royal Commission of Inquiry process. People's experiences were absolutely harrowing and the effects of the abuse had huge impacts on their lives, as you would expect.
Here is an excerpt from the Royal Commission of Inquiry's report "Stolen Lives, Marked Souls – The inquiry into the Order of the Brothers of St John of God at Marylands School and Hebron Trust" – among other things, this report details how the abuse affected survivors' lives. https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/our-progress/reports/stolen-lives-marked-souls/
"187. The Royal Commission finds in relation to the impacts of abuse and neglect:
a. All survivors of abuse and neglect from Marylands, the Hebron Trust and St Joseph’s Orphanage who the Inquiry has heard from, have experienced significant and life-long impacts to many facets of who they are, their relationships, their potential and the life they lead. These impacts include:
› physical injury, health and illness
› devastating mental health impacts, including self-harm and suicidality
› criminal offending and addiction including substance abuse
› struggles with sexual and gender identity
› loss of faith and spirituality
› financial hardship and homelessness
› lack of education, leading to further financial hardship and employment insecurity
› inability to trust and difficulties in relationships with children, partners and whānau."
This Hamas 3000+ rocket attack and multi-town invasion looks like Iran trying to shank the upcoming Israel-Saudi Arabia peace deal.
It will do the reverse.
Middle Eastern politics makes you want to scrub yourself clean in the shower with a stello pad after just thinking about it.
The Israelis, with the connivance of everyone, thought they could normalise relations with Saudi by simply locking the Palestinians in a permanent cage and then throwing away the key. The plan was to assassinate and destabilize any viable civil society in Gaza, paint the place as hopelessly in the thrall of barbaric terrorists and leave the Palestinians to rot forgotten in their ghetto while everyone else got on with plotting with their new buddies against Iran.
Iran wants to scupper Saudi Arabia at every turn because of some religious difference that is even dumber than Europe fighting the thirty years war over transubstantiation, and Iran hates the west because of punitive sanctions and the way they've been shit on at every turn by the USA since the coup that put the Shah into power. None the less, Israel left Hamas and Hizbollah alone because it struck a deal with Putin to not interfere in Syria as long as Russia used its influence to stop Iran using Hamas to wreck its deal with Saudi.
Except mad dog Putin invaded the Ukraine, and now he needs Iran and it's ammunition and drone factories more than Iran thinks it need fear him and the equally mad Mullahs have realized they can't rely on busted-flush Russia for any damn thing by way of security guarantees so Iran has decided to use Hamas to launch an attack on Israel to end any hope of a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Now for the Palestinians the status quo was anyways tantamount to their genocide. Any option was better than the one looming. And the Palestinians have just shown they won't be forgotten and walling them up in Gaza and letting them rot isn't a viable plan, because if they can break into Israel once to wreak indiscriminate slaughter then they can do it again.
So the Palestinians have inflicted a mini 9/11 on Israel. They've demonstrated they're not going to give up and quietly die. Israel now has to change course. It can try to occupy the Gaza strip but last time it tried that the IDF discovered Gaza is an urban fortress capable of inflicting heavy losses on them. It can use its virtual immunity from consequences to inflict an aerial and artillery genocide on Gaza every bit the equivalent of the savagery inflicted on the Poles in the Warsaw uprising, or it will have to come up with a workable peace plan.
Unfortunately, lack of consequence means genocide will be the likely path Israel will go down.
They'll end up doing a Bele and Lokai and nuking each other before the century is out.
The best future for Gaza is UN occupation and development to nation state hood (the Hamas PA relationship is broken and the WB is not a goer with the current regime in Israel).
If Saudi Arabia gave that its backing, a deal whereby 1948 refugees could (if they want) take up citizenship (acquire passports) and be granted residency in Arab league nations or migrate to other places (and be given compensation for 1948 property loss).
Others could choose to remain refugees (these restored to some fit state (eg Lebanon/Syria) and await a West Bank resolution.
Others could choose to remain refugees (their camps restored to some fit state (eg Lebanon/Syria) and await a West Bank resolution.
Sort of, Hamas is seeking alliances against the deal and Iran is one party.
It will complicate the deal being finalised.
The possibility of a second election is canvassed here if the Nats and ACT can't form a government.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-national-warns-very-real-possibility-of-no-deal-with-nz-first-sending-voters-back-to-the-polls/SEDJLYGOEVHV5DABMIJQZV3JQ4/
Luxon getting nervous pulling out all the tricks from the old Crosby Textor Handbook.
"Even" with the Nats calling up their ring-in, slimy sir Key..they are looking less and less so sure of themselves.
Also their coalition of chaos infighting also proceeds ..apace.
We on the Left must have Solidarity. And..I think we will prevail !
Agree +100% bringing in Honest John at the last minute may have done National more harm than good IMHO.
Also I can not see Luxon forming a Government with a NACT First combination, if Winston and NZF can get enough votes say 8-9% we may see a National/NZF Coalition however National and Luxon would have to swallow a number of dead rats.
Anecdotal – yes, and hardly scientific – but the people I meet driving an uber two nights a week are
– solidly Green or TPM voters, lesser number favouring Labour
– quite disparaging of Luxon and think Act is a bit of a joke
– hardly ever mention Winston, and usually not in a complimentary way.
I think we're (the left) going to be in for a very pleasant surprise on Election night!
Totally agreed PLA – National is sounding increasingly uncertain, chaotic, and desperate
Looks like bringing out the old politicians is par for the course in this election campaign. Labour have rolled out Helen.
Election 2023: Helen Clark releases video calling for people to vote Labour | Newshub
Hi J – great vid, but why no mention of "limbo land" or "lots of moving parts"?
Quite telling that "Minister of Flap" Chris Bishflap Bishop is winding up the scare siren. Oooer… second election !
Of course its only scary for the Nats. Gotta love it : )
National are beginning to show nervous jitters. Their advertising is tending towards warning voters that you have to party vote National to avoid eight weeks of confusion whilst a coalition government is formed.
They are perhaps being honest for the first time in (kind of) admitting that it will be difficult to form a government with their pals ACT and NZ First not even wanting to be in the same room together, let alone actually co-operating.
Labour needs to seize on this to show that there will be no such problems if you vote centre-left, WE get along well enough to lead the country, the rabble on the right don't so why would you vote for them?
The National party ad was on Facebook and I am unable to provide a link at this time, sorry.
If someone else could, thanks.
Labour/Green/TPM looking solid coming up to next Saturday, fear mongering by National is not going down well with voters, evidently the Economy is going well according to all the statistics.
The economy is going well !! Will perhaps like Hipkins you need to get out and leave your protected bubble !! Wages below inflation for many interest rates killing us and the Labour Party gives each family $5/week to butter things over. Tax creep as we progress thru the tax bracket creep takes more from an individuals income, govt gives a token BUT takes more🤫
Our growth is primarily due to immigration and cleanups from the weather. Great base to build an economy on 🤬
Agree Herodotus most of what you are saying is correct, wages are poor here in NZ vs the Cost of Living and Housing, however the Supermarket Owners and the Corporates are doing extremely well, likewise the AU Banks are making record profits however interest rates are not dropping, so I agree we are being screwed. Yes Tax Brackets need to be changed with the first $20k being Tax Free. Immigration needs to be knocked on the head until we look after our own people first, so voting NZF and Uncle Winnie is probably your best bet, however they seem to forget all these things once in Government. Labour is pro Chinese Immigration and wouldn't budge on that in the 2017 Coalition Government. National are also very pro Chinese Investment in NZ Housing & Infrastructure.
If NAct + NZF do get over the line, then at least Willis will have a chaotic 'out' for her hollow promise to resign as finance minister.
The Hollow, the Shallow and the Crusty. F**k me, what a shambolic prospect
Anyone concerned about wage levels and who votes NACT is intellectually challenged.
MW. ACT wants no MW increaaes for 3 years, National wants minimal ones. Labour wants it lifted to the Living Wage level – $1 an hour or more each year ($40 a week extra).
Fair Pay Agreement Industry Awards – as per Oz. NACT would get rid of it. Labour's development will result in wage improvements between the MW-LW and the median wage and maybe above. It will be the only way to guarantee wages go up as fast as rents/inflation.
Public Sector, Labour's record in raising the pay of teachers, nurses and doctors is far superior to that of National.
So where is the proof that voting Labour is any different ?? Many of us have experience nil to inferior pay increases well below inflation.
Don't forget that the pay increases/min wage etc are on the back of, for most unknown inflation rates, tax creep and costs that are lost in CIP calculations as they are excluded. So if the govt had handled and reacted to minimise the rising inflation, perhaps the level of pay increase recently fought over would not have to be as high to lessen the impact on Inflation ? So your justification to support labours rising pay levels is questionable at the least, but don't let that get in the way
Teachers fought hard for what they have achieved. Pity that the agreement was not backdated as in real terms their wage has gone backwards. Previous agreement covered July 2019- June 2022. Current agreement covers July 23- July 25.
https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Collective-Employment-Agreements/Primary-Teachers-Collective-Agreement/Primary-Teachers-Collective-Agreement-2019-2022.pdf
https://www.education.govt.nz/school/people-and-employment/employment-agreements/collective-agreements/changes-to-primary-teachers-collective-agreement-2023/
The fact that you made a reply without reference to the known facts about MW and LW relativity, or the FPA Industry Awards, or any comparison of increases under Labour compared to National (as per nurses and teachers 2008-2017) says it all.
And you blame the government for inflation (and divert into bracket creep with taxation) – its worldwide mate with the add on here of the flood events on food prices, and the company that filed to get its gib production sorted (housing costs 2022).
PS Inflation will be 4% by the end of the year and its forecast to be 3% at the end of next year.
"PS Inflation will be 4% by the end of the year and its forecast to be 3% at the end of next year."
Thats a confident and specific statement….you must have made a fortune with such forecasting ability
If you were informed you would know its the forecast of the RB.
The former is more likely to be accurate than the latter (more uncertain as per election etc)
If I were really informed I would know that those are not the RBNZ projections from the RBNZ household expectations survey….assuming they meant anything anyway.
'I'll call Winston. I won't call Winston.' Make up your mind.
This is what happens when you invite John Key to stick his oar in. Key does what's good for Key, no one else.
Absolute chaos.
National are looking lost, no clear policy apart from selling $2.0 million homes to the Saudi's.
This is not Politics…(well maybe somewhat)..more a why are "we" still racing to Planet burn……and why cant we go another way?
Ok….most of us (Deniers excepted) know our Planet is heating …ever more dangerously. This combined with El Nino type events. of course has cumulative effect. So Niwa recently gives warning…In ODT Rural Life..which I do read .
My why cant we ?……was also in the ODT..randomly, in Life and Style. Connection ? I seen the Regenerative photo. And such a great article by Sean Connelly .
IMO he sums the case for change so well. I struggle to understand anyone that wouldnt?
Pukekohe Vegetable Growers gearing up for a big drought has to happen soon especially with all the rain we have had over the past 2 years, it is the law of averages.
From the side-bar, Paul Buchanan's latest offering is a must read. "Bully Pulpits and the Politics of Nastiness", is a summary of the Trump style and how the parties of the Right in NZ are consciously emulating him. The following excerpt imo is worthy of repeat in toto:
Like +100% good analysis
Thanks Anne 100%
Politics still goes on in Britain. While we look forward to crazy possibilities post-election their bizarre environment simply continues.
Proves Buchanan's point. 🙂
Why does the Standard continue to give a platform for right-wing propaganda? The Point of Order website (on the sidebar, every day) is a constant barrage of right-wing talking points, and not even interesting ones.
Yes, I know, it's not my blog, you can publish whatever you want, and nobody's stopping you but the question remains … why?
I'd love to know.
'If you want to defeat your enemy, whistle their tune'.
I posted something similar last week Obs.
What is worse Points of Order pretends to be balanced….but ends up always supporting the Right/slagging off the Left.
I wonder how many NZ First voters are aware of what they might be getting into? The party appears to have undergone a significant shape-shift lately, and it doesn't seem to be all Winston's doing:
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/politics/350084986/awakening-how-freedom-movement-found-its-man-winston-peters
And here’s what the Graun has to say about next Saturday:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/08/tired-broke-and-eager-for-change-new-zealand-expected-to-shift-right-at-coming-election