It is likely the health and well-being of the baby will be improved the further he is removed from Sue Grey and Liz Gunn.
Indeed.
On 25 November 2022, having not heard back from Baby W’s parents
formally, another meeting was organised. Dr Finucane said this meeting was hijacked
by the parents’ support person who proceeded to pressurise the specialists with her
theory about conspiracies in New Zealand and even said that deaths in infants getting
transfusions were occurring in Starship Hospital. Dr Finucane said that after some
minutes, the specialists asked to leave and ended up walking out of the meeting with
the support person continuing to try to talk to them. As a result, they were unable to
explain their position to the parents.
Someone, somewhere criticised the medical team for failing to explain the tranfusion procedure to the parents. Can't locate where I saw it.
The medical team tried and were undermined by an anti-vaxxer at a meeting arranged to do just that. They had to walk out in the end with the anti-vaxxer haranguing them as they left.
The judgment issued by Justice Gault last night outlined how doctors tried to work with the parents but the relationship eventually broke down.
He referenced a meeting on 25 November between Starship Hospital's paediatric cardiac surgeon in chief and other specialists.
"Dr [Kirsten] Finucane said this meeting was hijacked by the parents' support person who proceeded to pressurise the specialists with her theory about conspiracies in New Zealand and even said that deaths in infants getting transfusions were occurring in Starship Hospital," Justice Gault said in the judgement.
Reading between the lines, it looks like the probable anti-vaxxer was the mad conspiracist, Liz Gunn.
They have tried to prevent the Drs from doing prep work for the baby's op tomorrow.
Justice Gault has had to make new rulings
"I extend the appointment of [the doctors] as agents of the Court for the purpose of enabling [the baby's] surgery to proceed, including enabling the necessary pre-operative procedures. The respondents are not to obstruct health staff in this regard."
Yes, I saw that. It seems the parents threatened the doctors that if they so much as touched the baby they would lay criminal charges against them. Unbelievable!
I find it impossible to hold this couple in anything but contempt. They are the ones playing Russian roulette with their baby's life.
1) No amount of excuses along the lines they are loving parents who believe they are right cuts it for me. They are out of their tiny minds and everybody bar a group of mad conspiracists knows it.
2) To treat two of NZ's top paediatricians like that is unforgivable. Who do they think they are?
As for the few dozen protesters outside. They are easily dealt with. Call in a fire truck to give em a good soaking. Give everyone a good laugh and we need as many laughs as we can get these days. 😉
Thomas Coughlan is a weasel. His column today is a copy of Luxon's lame attempt in QT yesterday, to crash the credibility of Ardern and Nahuta over the entrenchment clause. He avoids dealing with the facts of course.
Entrenchment was discussed in Labour Caucus and it was decided to not use it.
The Greens however inserted the 60% entrenchment into the Bill as an SOP. They all voted on it then discovered its existence after experts queried is suitability.
The Government decided to abandon/withdraw the entrenchment. What Coughlan and Luxon fail to say is that the entrenchment was not a Labour SOP. It was a Green SOP.
So how can Mahuta and or Ardern be held accountable for a Green SOP?
Coughlan is a small, obedient cog in a machine (business, private media, right-wing think-tanks, Nact) that has been determined, since their humiliation in 2020, to take down the government and rewrite the history of the pandemic. It has been an unprecedented effort and I would expect no less from them.. The goverment has given them far too much to work with.
The Greens however inserted the 60% entrenchment into the Bill as an SOP. They all voted on it then discovered its existence after experts queried is suitability.
It's been linked before from Hansard – the SOP voting was specifically identified as an entrenchment at 60%.
CHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): Members, we're about to vote on an amendment which is a proposal for entrenchment requiring a 60 percent majority for repeal or amendment of the entrenched provision. Under Standing Order 270, this proposal must be carried by that majority. Therefore, this amendment must be agreed by a 60 percent majority, which would be 72 members. The question is that the Hon Eugenie Sage's amendment to insert new Subpart 4A into Part 6, set out on Supplementary Order Paper 285, be agreed to.
A party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.
The most charitable explanation is that the Government was just operating on autopilot in the House. But, you can't argue that they only discovered its existence later.
No one is blaming Mahuta, Ardern or Hipkins for the Greens putting up a SOP (good on the GP for having a go – and highlighting the issue).
The blame is being attributed because Labour then party-voted for the SOP entrenchment provision.
Really Hipkins (as leader of the House) and Mahuta (as the Minister responsible) carry the responsibility, here. It's Mahuta's job to liaise with Hipkins over any SOPs presented by other parties, and determine whether the Government should or should not support them.
In my view, the real culprit over this is dealing with a highly complex issue under Urgency – which limits the committee stages, and results in rushed legislation.
Does anyone know if Chris Hipkins was in the House at the time, I am just wondering as to who cast the Labour votes. O'Connor was Chair of the Committee, but it goes from there to the House when votes are cast. Is it, Mahuta as Minister?
I read that Te Maori Party also didn't vote for it.
It will be interesting to see the next poll results now that this bill has passed.
I am predicting that Three Waters is the hill Labour are willing to die on for, which is puzzling. Whatever one’s opinions are about Three Waters and whatever its merits or otherwise, there is very little support for it (no links Iam sorry, just my impression) and a significant number of voters are unhappy with it. Unhappy enough to desert Labour. Just my opinion.
It's much ado about nothing imo… a molehill turned into a mountain by NACT and their media acolytes in an effort to fool the voters into believing it is going to be detrimental to them. Its going to be nothing of the sort.
When you ask the nay sayers, they mumble something about… taking away the rights of the local people to determine what should be done, or that the government wants to control everything, or some other obtuse claim that makes little sense.
Look what happens when you rely on local councils. They sit on their chuffs and do nothing. Its the reason why the country's overall water problems has become urgent.
POLITICS12:56 pm today
Greens pull Three Waters support, citing lack of protection against privatisation
12:56 pm today
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Nanaia MahutaNanaia Mahuta, the minister driving the reforms. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Green Party has withdrawn its support for the Three Waters legislation at the third and final reading, saying there’s not enough protection against the water assets being sold.
“The bill has been passed by Parliament, but Labour was the only party to vote in support, using its majority to get it over the line.”
Sorry about the additional material POLITICS12.56etc. Can’t seem to remove it from the copy and paste
I might have read this wrong, but I interpreted it as being that it was only Labour who voted for the bill.
Belladonna, yes thats right. Green and Lab voted for the 60% entrenchment and how I read it the greens didn't support the overall bill because it didn't contain the entrenchment clause.
No. It was passed – being party-voted for by Greens and Labour. National and ACT opposed it.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "What does that prove?"
It seems to me that it proves that Labour were either not paying attention to the business of the House; or that they actually were in favour of entrenchment, and back-pedalled when it became politically unpopular.
I don't think that I've seen any accusation that Mahuta broke Cabinet rules. In fact, she's specifically come out and said that she raised the entrenchment issue with Caucus – as she's required to do – and that it was discussed.
I do think that she had an obligation to raise the SOP (once it was presented by the Greens with the 60% entrenchment figure) with Hipkins – to ensure that Labour were voting according to agreed policy. I'm more on-the-fence about whether she should have spoken in favour of entrenchment – as her job is to present the Government's position (which was, according to Ardern, that entrenchment was a 'mistake')
Parliament can also wear some blame for not amending Standing Order 270 at some point to be clear about when entrenchment should be used. This is all it currently says:
270 Entrenched provisions
(1) A proposal for entrenchment must itself be carried in a committee of the whole House by the majority that it would require for the amendment or repeal of the provision to be entrenched.
(2) A proposal for entrenchment is any provision in a bill or amendment to a bill that would require that that provision or amendment or any other provision can be amended or repealed only by a majority of more than 50 percent plus one of all the members of the House.
Yes Shanreagh, ensuring water remains in public hands is a no-brainer, IMO.
But this is something the left can hammer the Natz and Act on come election time. The public is firmly opposed to selling the family silver, and even more so something as essential to life as water.
Act won't budge – they're all for privatisation.
The Natz probably will, because all they care about is being in power. But their equivocal position will (I hope) be pounced on by Labour and the Greens.
If in 2023 Labour get back into power, Mahuta will be recognised as delivering the most substantive and nation-shaping reform of the last two terms.
If in 2023 Labour don't get in, Mahuta will be recognised as being white-anted by Labour's leadership on truly country-altering reform, and when it came to third reading decided to knife her.
Or, if Labour don’t get back in in 2023, and 3 waters is dumped, NZ will have dodged the biggest bullet in the history of big bullets, apart from the costs to date of implementing and trying to sell this dog of an idea.
Bryce bloody Edwards is the one who needs to go. Look who he quotes from:
Couglan, HdPA plus a couple of pot shots from the vengeful Peter Dunne whom nobody has missed.
The Herald describes Edwards as a "political analyst". He's a right wing shill who relies on third rate journalistic philistines for their contorted 'thinks'. He rarely produces an original thought himself.
And he thinks her can read the minds of the PM, her ministers and caucus members. Pfft… he's a sham.
Those are staggering numbers, enough to severely disable their economy, go figure.
Let's not forget the mealy mouthed losers in National and Act doing everything they could to stop our world class response. The pressure on Ardern and the Government was ENORMOUS and they did not cave. How shrill were the calls to abolish MIQ. FFS!
Yet media dropkicks still try to portray the PM as 'weak' for listening to others genuine complaints on other issues.
She faced facts, dealt in facts, got attacked endlessly.
Shameful how we tolerate such dishonesty and viciousness in public discourse.
I've seen a fair bit of nonsense tabled here for discussion. Some posters seem to be having culture wars all by themselves. It's idiocy is what it is, the reason many don't and won't play is you are just making twits of yourselves.
I don't know how you are using the term 'culture wars' (because you didn't say). But the obvious issue this week is gender identity vs sex in sport. Do you believe that male bodied people should be allowed to compete in women's sport against females where those sports involve physicality that usually separates male and female classes?
If you want to run the argument that there is no culture war, you'll be hard pressed to explain what is going on with the sex/gender wars.
I will totally make assumptions based on what I see here. Make your political argument, and don't complain if people point out the problems of you refusing to make your argument.
Not watching a random video if you can't be bothered explaining your thinking. We're not mind readers.
You both willingly or not emphasise the point exactly. I post a comedians take on culture wars being generated out of thin air and it's turned into a culture war out of thin air.
The word terf was a play on turf, the presence of puns was even emphasised.
Pathetic. Barking at passing cars, calling it commentary.
Wow. Post about people making much ado about nothing and you sure did make much ado. Now this Visubvera character's concerned if I might use the N word and you about the slide in women's rights.
What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?
Yes I slagged off some posters, the extremes of left and right bringing their imaginary wars that we see popping up here. As described in the video as described. You asshole. You are the one put your hand up to start shit over nothing – as described.
Find some more things to accuse me of, you fucking idiot.
It is not imaginary to those of us who have to deal with a homophobic and misogynistic ideology that is bent on capturing the levers of the state for it's promotion.
Mate, you're the one that started talking about culture wars on a political blog whose kaupapa is robust debate. This isn't your FB page, if you don't want an argument, don't make in your face comments.
DB Brown. "Wow. Post about people making much ado about nothing"
Except it wasn't that. It was pretty provocative and rude on your behalf "I've seen a fair bit of nonense tabled here".
"Its idiocy that's what it is"
"The anti woke aka the gullible tossers". So your statements don't indicate that you think it is much ado about nothing.
When people challenge you, you then respond "don't drag me into your terf wars".
and "You arsehole. you are the one put your hand up to start shit over nothing"
Um no. You put up a video clip, which actually to me seems to be more about the media using arguements as click bait and the cyclic nature of that, which is kept going by rage. Then a denial of what the actual issues are. I don't mind the guy doing this, cause he is a comedian. I wouldn't regard it as good social analysis.
But you posted it with some pretty provocative put downs of what you refer to as anti woke. Your entitled to have anti, anti woke sentiment, but I am won’t give it much time unless there are some reasonable arguements that go with it.
Wouldn't the people trying to force change upon the culture (often by authoritarian means like the brutal force of the state) be the ones guilty of starting culture wars not the ones pushing back against the forced change?
If the first group wasn't trying to force a culture war there'd be nothing for the second group to push back against.
Upper middle class identitarians who benefit from neoliberalism need to stop high jacking left wing movements and calling our voting bases and our activists names for wanting to debate issues before we use the brutal force of the state, upper middle class identitarians will support the most insanely radical vote losing social policy but then put the breaks on the most moderate socdem economic reform for being crazy because the bourgeois mofos don't care about the poor.
The left is about us.we.ours and we love debate
The right is about me.i. my and hates debate.
People focused on their singular identity (me, I, my) and social justice over class and economic justice and are economically upper middle class and don't want any wealth distribution policies only social policies aren't left wing.
It's time we called woke what it really is: militant authoritarian individualist neoliberalism masquerading as progressivism
Nailed it again Corey. Spot on. I would add that even without brutal force of the state, in the case of gender ideology, shutting down gender critical feminists public talks (leading to these women having to go to the high court to hold their meetings), accusing people of transphobia and writing them off as bigots has had a chilling effect. The gender ideology people won't engage in the arguements, i.e no debate.
I suspect the comedian that DH Brown posted is either randomly scrambling for any sort of angle on anything, or he is in denial, or trying to encourage others to be in denial
“The bill was opposed by National and ACT, both of which have promised to repeal the reforms. It was also opposed for the first time by the Green Party, as the public ownership of water assets would not be entrenched in law as the party hoped, and by the Māori Party as it fell short of proper “co-governance” “
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said her party also opposed the bill, but primarily because it did not implement co-governance and ignored Māori self-determination, tino rangatiratanga.
“Public water infrastructure absolutely should not be sold off, but it also doesn’t need to be entrenched.
“It needs to be returned to its rightful kaitiaki—its owners; tangata whenua—who, as many hapū and iwi remind today, would have ensured that we could still drink, collect kai, and swim in the wai.”
Ngarewa-Packer said the “conservative race-baiting campaign run by right-wing extremists and misinformation” had whipped up opposition to the point people did not understand what the reforms proposed.
“They do not even guarantee Māori representation, let alone iwi representation, on the actual governance entities.
“While iwi and councils will both appoint a body that then appoints the entities, these degrees of separation are designed to limit Māori power through not creating precedents or co-governance.”
Ngarewa-Packer said they wanted negotiations to see between Government and hapū and iwi on Māori rights and interests in water.
“What we see now is reform that is weak. Our wai is in crisis, and we need transformation, not tinkering.”
So from what I am reading – the Greens didn't support because there is no protection from water being being privatised – and the MP didn't support because they say the water is all theirs.
I thought I was reading what Debbie Ngawara-Packer was saying:
“It needs to be returned to its rightful kaitiaki—its owners; tangata whenua
Of course this hinges on the meaning to the word kaitiaki; which translates to mean 'guardianship, trustee, caretaker'.
Given that the 3W legislation gives local Maori exclusive rights to issue Te Mana o Te Wai statements that confer exactly this guardianship role – then it seems Ngawara-Packer must have a quite different meaning of the word kaitiaki in mind. Something a lot closer to full control or ownership it would seem.
Oddly enough though, maybe she has a point. Checking out the Three Waters website I found this page that was quite explicit about the role of iwi in Three Waters management – has now been deleted:
I think the obvious point that has been made here, is along with pat's reference to MP policy below at 8.3.1.2.1, that at least some Maori activists regard all water as belonging to them – in an undiluted proprietorial private ownership sense.
"The Māori Party position is to honour the rangatira and kaitiaki rights and interests of mana whenua over freshwater. In a Western rights framework, this can be expressed as proprietary rights, customary rights, and decision-making rights, or put more simply, ownership. The whakapapa connection between tangata whenua and wai Māori is intrinsic and inextricable."
Thanks Pat. I'm never entirely comfortable when Māori feel the need to explain these concepts in 'western' terms, particularly as my understanding is Māori did not have any concept of 'ownership' in a western sense in pre-European times. That’s what I meant by ‘nuanced’.
I made the mistake of visiting TheDailytelegraph.co.nz this morning.
It would appear to be the voice of the conspiracy theorists/voices for freedom. The link was via something outrageous that Liz Gunn said last year. It should not come as a surprise though that Winston Peters has gone in to bat for the parents of the child who are demanding unvaccinated blood.
Now Peters needs 5% to get back into parliament. Given that the anti vaccination group numbers at least 5% then, added to his usual hangers on, Peters romps in.
Newshub is like the source of conspiracy theories.
Bridges and Green spent their time ridiculing the facts presented by Kiri who yesterday, by the use of a graph, showed the facts of falling crime rates from the time of National to the present time. (Saw the replay of Bridge/Green's ridiculous theories reactions onTwitter.)
Their consensus was that the facts don't matter. If people feel scared on the streets and in their homes, the fact that the trend of crime is downward is trumped by perception.
Wonder if the endless media fear-mongering by the over reporting of crime/violence, has an effect on the people? I despise Bridges and Newshub.
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Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
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The parents of the baby in the blood donor case have said they won't appeal the court decision from yesterday. (Through their lawyer.)
It is likely the health and well-being of the baby will be improved the further he is removed from Sue Grey and Liz Gunn.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/donor-blood-battle-lawyer-for-the-parents-of-baby-w-announces-no-appeal-in-guardianship-case/NH5DHZRRUFB65I7RWLMSXPTEAA/
Indeed.
On 25 November 2022, having not heard back from Baby W’s parents
formally, another meeting was organised. Dr Finucane said this meeting was hijacked
by the parents’ support person who proceeded to pressurise the specialists with her
theory about conspiracies in New Zealand and even said that deaths in infants getting
transfusions were occurring in Starship Hospital. Dr Finucane said that after some
minutes, the specialists asked to leave and ended up walking out of the meeting with
the support person continuing to try to talk to them. As a result, they were unable to
explain their position to the parents.
https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/2022/2022-NZHC-3283.pdf
Someone, somewhere criticised the medical team for failing to explain the tranfusion procedure to the parents. Can't locate where I saw it.
The medical team tried and were undermined by an anti-vaxxer at a meeting arranged to do just that. They had to walk out in the end with the anti-vaxxer haranguing them as they left.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/480317/vaccinated-donor-blood-parents-meeting-with-doctors-hijacked-by-anti-vax-support-person
Reading between the lines, it looks like the probable anti-vaxxer was the mad conspiracist, Liz Gunn.
There have been new developments
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/12/08/baby-blood-case-parents-no-longer-agree-to-surgery/
They have tried to prevent the Drs from doing prep work for the baby's op tomorrow.
Justice Gault has had to make new rulings
"I extend the appointment of [the doctors] as agents of the Court for the purpose of enabling [the baby's] surgery to proceed, including enabling the necessary pre-operative procedures. The respondents are not to obstruct health staff in this regard."
Yes, I saw that. It seems the parents threatened the doctors that if they so much as touched the baby they would lay criminal charges against them. Unbelievable!
I find it impossible to hold this couple in anything but contempt. They are the ones playing Russian roulette with their baby's life.
1) No amount of excuses along the lines they are loving parents who believe they are right cuts it for me. They are out of their tiny minds and everybody bar a group of mad conspiracists knows it.
2) To treat two of NZ's top paediatricians like that is unforgivable. Who do they think they are?
As for the few dozen protesters outside. They are easily dealt with. Call in a fire truck to give em a good soaking. Give everyone a good laugh and we need as many laughs as we can get these days. 😉
Thomas Coughlan is a weasel. His column today is a copy of Luxon's lame attempt in QT yesterday, to crash the credibility of Ardern and Nahuta over the entrenchment clause. He avoids dealing with the facts of course.
Entrenchment was discussed in Labour Caucus and it was decided to not use it.
The Greens however inserted the 60% entrenchment into the Bill as an SOP. They all voted on it then discovered its existence after experts queried is suitability.
The Government decided to abandon/withdraw the entrenchment. What Coughlan and Luxon fail to say is that the entrenchment was not a Labour SOP. It was a Green SOP.
So how can Mahuta and or Ardern be held accountable for a Green SOP?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/thomas-coughlan-how-nanaia-mahuta-lost-control-of-three-waters-and-jacinda-ardern-lost-control-of-nanaia-mahuta/OU4BSRCFJJBZLGUW73RXLFH3LI/
Coughlan is a small, obedient cog in a machine (business, private media, right-wing think-tanks, Nact) that has been determined, since their humiliation in 2020, to take down the government and rewrite the history of the pandemic. It has been an unprecedented effort and I would expect no less from them.. The goverment has given them far too much to work with.
Coughlan is just another national party poodle, the herald is awash with his kind.
It's been linked before from Hansard – the SOP voting was specifically identified as an entrenchment at 60%.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansD_20221122_20221123
The most charitable explanation is that the Government was just operating on autopilot in the House. But, you can't argue that they only discovered its existence later.
No one is blaming Mahuta, Ardern or Hipkins for the Greens putting up a SOP (good on the GP for having a go – and highlighting the issue).
The blame is being attributed because Labour then party-voted for the SOP entrenchment provision.
Really Hipkins (as leader of the House) and Mahuta (as the Minister responsible) carry the responsibility, here. It's Mahuta's job to liaise with Hipkins over any SOPs presented by other parties, and determine whether the Government should or should not support them.
In my view, the real culprit over this is dealing with a highly complex issue under Urgency – which limits the committee stages, and results in rushed legislation.
Does anyone know if Chris Hipkins was in the House at the time, I am just wondering as to who cast the Labour votes. O'Connor was Chair of the Committee, but it goes from there to the House when votes are cast. Is it, Mahuta as Minister?
The whips usually actually cast the party votes, not the ministers. Hipkins says he was out of Parliament at the time.
"A party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to."
OK. So it was passed by all including Nat/Act. What does that prove?
The accusation is that Mahuta broke Cabinet rules and should be sacked. Really?
I read that Te Maori Party also didn't vote for it.
It will be interesting to see the next poll results now that this bill has passed.
I am predicting that Three Waters is the hill Labour are willing to die on for, which is puzzling. Whatever one’s opinions are about Three Waters and whatever its merits or otherwise, there is very little support for it (no links Iam sorry, just my impression) and a significant number of voters are unhappy with it. Unhappy enough to desert Labour. Just my opinion.
It's much ado about nothing imo… a molehill turned into a mountain by NACT and their media acolytes in an effort to fool the voters into believing it is going to be detrimental to them. Its going to be nothing of the sort.
When you ask the nay sayers, they mumble something about… taking away the rights of the local people to determine what should be done, or that the government wants to control everything, or some other obtuse claim that makes little sense.
Look what happens when you rely on local councils. They sit on their chuffs and do nothing. Its the reason why the country's overall water problems has become urgent.
Time will tell Anne. And of course likely to be voted out if NACT win next election, or rolled back anyway.
TPM didn't seem to vote either way. Perhaps the MPs were not in the house when it was being debated.
They did vote, just not for that amendment.
Thanks Incognito – I clearly didn't look far enough in Hansard.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/480346/greens-pull-three-waters-support-citing-lack-of-protection-against-privatisation
POLITICS12:56 pm today
Greens pull Three Waters support, citing lack of protection against privatisation
12:56 pm today
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Nanaia MahutaNanaia Mahuta, the minister driving the reforms. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Green Party has withdrawn its support for the Three Waters legislation at the third and final reading, saying there’s not enough protection against the water assets being sold.
“The bill has been passed by Parliament, but Labour was the only party to vote in support, using its majority to get it over the line.”
Sorry about the additional material POLITICS12.56etc. Can’t seem to remove it from the copy and paste
I might have read this wrong, but I interpreted it as being that it was only Labour who voted for the bill.
Yes. That's the overall bill, which was voted on today. Only Labour voted in support (using their outright majority to pass the legislation).
However, in the SOP voting over the 60% entrenchment last week, the Green party (who put up the SOP) voted in favour, as did Labour.
Belladonna, yes thats right. Green and Lab voted for the 60% entrenchment and how I read it the greens didn't support the overall bill because it didn't contain the entrenchment clause.
Ayes 74
New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.
Noes 43
New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.
Amendment agreed to.
No. It was passed – being party-voted for by Greens and Labour. National and ACT opposed it.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "What does that prove?"
It seems to me that it proves that Labour were either not paying attention to the business of the House; or that they actually were in favour of entrenchment, and back-pedalled when it became politically unpopular.
I don't think that I've seen any accusation that Mahuta broke Cabinet rules. In fact, she's specifically come out and said that she raised the entrenchment issue with Caucus – as she's required to do – and that it was discussed.
I do think that she had an obligation to raise the SOP (once it was presented by the Greens with the 60% entrenchment figure) with Hipkins – to ensure that Labour were voting according to agreed policy. I'm more on-the-fence about whether she should have spoken in favour of entrenchment – as her job is to present the Government's position (which was, according to Ardern, that entrenchment was a 'mistake')
Interesting to see the dance inside caucus on this, even only dimly from a distance.
Parliament can also wear some blame for not amending Standing Order 270 at some point to be clear about when entrenchment should be used. This is all it currently says:
Yes the 'constitutional' lawyers have applied a gloss that isn't in the Standing Orders.
I fail to see what the damage would be though to have an entrenchment provision in hugely important to life aspects such as water.
Yes Shanreagh, ensuring water remains in public hands is a no-brainer, IMO.
But this is something the left can hammer the Natz and Act on come election time. The public is firmly opposed to selling the family silver, and even more so something as essential to life as water.
Act won't budge – they're all for privatisation.
The Natz probably will, because all they care about is being in power. But their equivocal position will (I hope) be pounced on by Labour and the Greens.
This could cost Natz the election!
https://democracyproject.nz/2022/12/08/bryce-edwards-labour-needs-mahutu-to-go-but-shes-too-powerful/
This sums it up nicely, what a shambles, Labour need Helen Clark back in charge
If in 2023 Labour get back into power, Mahuta will be recognised as delivering the most substantive and nation-shaping reform of the last two terms.
If in 2023 Labour don't get in, Mahuta will be recognised as being white-anted by Labour's leadership on truly country-altering reform, and when it came to third reading decided to knife her.
Or, if Labour don’t get back in in 2023, and 3 waters is dumped, NZ will have dodged the biggest bullet in the history of big bullets, apart from the costs to date of implementing and trying to sell this dog of an idea.
Bryce bloody Edwards is the one who needs to go. Look who he quotes from:
Couglan, HdPA plus a couple of pot shots from the vengeful Peter Dunne whom nobody has missed.
The Herald describes Edwards as a "political analyst". He's a right wing shill who relies on third rate journalistic philistines for their contorted 'thinks'. He rarely produces an original thought himself.
And he thinks her can read the minds of the PM, her ministers and caucus members. Pfft… he's a sham.
Absolutely right Anne.
When a RWNJ has to bend so low as to quote Edwards to make a point, we know they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
All power to Mahutu and her Three Waters reforms!
I heard on the radio just now, that the Bill has passed but that the Greens withdrew its support because of the lack of protection from privatisation.
How it's going; 1 in 10 Swedes have been ill for over 12 months and 1 in 100 Swedes have severely limited lives.
https://twitter.com/Lee_CrollPhD/status/1599805722425929730
https://novus.se/egnaundersokningar-arkiv/coronastatus-langtidscovid/
google translate
Those are staggering numbers, enough to severely disable their economy, go figure.
Let's not forget the mealy mouthed losers in National and Act doing everything they could to stop our world class response. The pressure on Ardern and the Government was ENORMOUS and they did not cave. How shrill were the calls to abolish MIQ. FFS!
Yet media dropkicks still try to portray the PM as 'weak' for listening to others genuine complaints on other issues.
She faced facts, dealt in facts, got attacked endlessly.
Shameful how we tolerate such dishonesty and viciousness in public discourse.
If we don't wake TF up we'll have a severely disabled economy of our own.
https://twitter.com/GJSmith2810/status/1600038505400655872
(Graeme is a pharmacist in Picton)
I've seen a fair bit of nonsense tabled here for discussion. Some posters seem to be having culture wars all by themselves. It's idiocy is what it is, the reason many don't and won't play is you are just making twits of yourselves.
The anti-woke, aka gullible tossers.
I don't know how you are using the term 'culture wars' (because you didn't say). But the obvious issue this week is gender identity vs sex in sport. Do you believe that male bodied people should be allowed to compete in women's sport against females where those sports involve physicality that usually separates male and female classes?
If you want to run the argument that there is no culture war, you'll be hard pressed to explain what is going on with the sex/gender wars.
Don't drag me into your terf wars (puns intended).
ok, so you have no political argument to your assertion that the culture wars don't exist. Good to know.
Don't make assumptions about me. Watch the video to see what it's specifics are if you're THAT interested.
The post was not about you, you made it about you.
I will totally make assumptions based on what I see here. Make your political argument, and don't complain if people point out the problems of you refusing to make your argument.
Not watching a random video if you can't be bothered explaining your thinking. We're not mind readers.
Terf is a slur and is usually accompanied by threats of sexual violence. You don't want to be associated with these people. https://terfisaslur.com/
You both willingly or not emphasise the point exactly. I post a comedians take on culture wars being generated out of thin air and it's turned into a culture war out of thin air.
The word terf was a play on turf, the presence of puns was even emphasised.
Pathetic. Barking at passing cars, calling it commentary.
You would not chuck the "N" word around for comedic effect.
exactly. But as we know, women's rights are on a downward slide in some quarters.
It's not commentary though. You did two things:
Wow. Post about people making much ado about nothing and you sure did make much ado. Now this Visubvera character's concerned if I might use the N word and you about the slide in women's rights.
What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?
Yes I slagged off some posters, the extremes of left and right bringing their imaginary wars that we see popping up here. As described in the video as described. You asshole. You are the one put your hand up to start shit over nothing – as described.
Find some more things to accuse me of, you fucking idiot.
It is not imaginary to those of us who have to deal with a homophobic and misogynistic ideology that is bent on capturing the levers of the state for it's promotion.
Mate, you're the one that started talking about culture wars on a political blog whose kaupapa is robust debate. This isn't your FB page, if you don't want an argument, don't make in your face comments.
DB Brown. "Wow. Post about people making much ado about nothing"
Except it wasn't that. It was pretty provocative and rude on your behalf "I've seen a fair bit of nonense tabled here".
"Its idiocy that's what it is"
"The anti woke aka the gullible tossers". So your statements don't indicate that you think it is much ado about nothing.
When people challenge you, you then respond "don't drag me into your terf wars".
and "You arsehole. you are the one put your hand up to start shit over nothing"
Um no. You put up a video clip, which actually to me seems to be more about the media using arguements as click bait and the cyclic nature of that, which is kept going by rage. Then a denial of what the actual issues are. I don't mind the guy doing this, cause he is a comedian. I wouldn't regard it as good social analysis.
But you posted it with some pretty provocative put downs of what you refer to as anti woke. Your entitled to have anti, anti woke sentiment, but I am won’t give it much time unless there are some reasonable arguements that go with it.
It'd be worthwhile if you offered some commentary and salient points along with your video link.
Else, you are expecting people to spend seven minutes watching a comedian they just might not find punny…![wink wink](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png?x42494)
Wouldn't the people trying to force change upon the culture (often by authoritarian means like the brutal force of the state) be the ones guilty of starting culture wars not the ones pushing back against the forced change?
If the first group wasn't trying to force a culture war there'd be nothing for the second group to push back against.
Upper middle class identitarians who benefit from neoliberalism need to stop high jacking left wing movements and calling our voting bases and our activists names for wanting to debate issues before we use the brutal force of the state, upper middle class identitarians will support the most insanely radical vote losing social policy but then put the breaks on the most moderate socdem economic reform for being crazy because the bourgeois mofos don't care about the poor.
The left is about us.we.ours and we love debate
The right is about me.i. my and hates debate.
People focused on their singular identity (me, I, my) and social justice over class and economic justice and are economically upper middle class and don't want any wealth distribution policies only social policies aren't left wing.
It's time we called woke what it really is: militant authoritarian individualist neoliberalism masquerading as progressivism
Nailed it again Corey. Spot on. I would add that even without brutal force of the state, in the case of gender ideology, shutting down gender critical feminists public talks (leading to these women having to go to the high court to hold their meetings), accusing people of transphobia and writing them off as bigots has had a chilling effect. The gender ideology people won't engage in the arguements, i.e no debate.
I suspect the comedian that DH Brown posted is either randomly scrambling for any sort of angle on anything, or he is in denial, or trying to encourage others to be in denial
Huge congratulations to Minister Mahuta on the passage of her water reform legislation today.
For the next year or so anyway…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/464935/national-pledges-to-repeal-three-waters-legislation-if-elected
Have national said what they would replace it with, back to leaks in every street and no action possible??
Does anyone know why the Greens and Maori Party both voted against the Water Reform 3rd Reading today?
They have been in full support right to the second reading and beyond into the SOPs.
According to Stuff (https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130704446/labour-alone-in-support-of-three-waters-bill-as-it-passes-into-law):
“The bill was opposed by National and ACT, both of which have promised to repeal the reforms. It was also opposed for the first time by the Green Party, as the public ownership of water assets would not be entrenched in law as the party hoped, and by the Māori Party as it fell short of proper “co-governance” “
Loss of entrenchment?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/three-waters-law-to-reform-storm-waste-and-drinking-water-infrastructure-passes-amid-fiery-parliament-debate/CKPAKUJK3ZC6PHCJU6V3ZVB75U/
So from what I am reading – the Greens didn't support because there is no protection from water being being privatised – and the MP didn't support because they say the water is all theirs.
Oh well, hard to please everyone I guess.
Based on your comment it looks what you’ve been reading is RW BS.
I thought I was reading what Debbie Ngawara-Packer was saying:
Of course this hinges on the meaning to the word kaitiaki; which translates to mean 'guardianship, trustee, caretaker'.
Given that the 3W legislation gives local Maori exclusive rights to issue Te Mana o Te Wai statements that confer exactly this guardianship role – then it seems Ngawara-Packer must have a quite different meaning of the word kaitiaki in mind. Something a lot closer to full control or ownership it would seem.
Oddly enough though, maybe she has a point. Checking out the Three Waters website I found this page that was quite explicit about the role of iwi in Three Waters management – has now been deleted:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220812034810/https://www.threewaters.govt.nz/how-will-three-waters-affect-me/iwi/three-waters-for-iwi/
and and now links to something a lot less prescriptive:
https://www.taumataarowai.govt.nz/te-mana-o-te-wai/
I see.
I thought that tangata whenua meant people of the land and not land (and presumably water) of the people.
Secondly, is tangata whenua identical to tāngata māori, i.e., does it exclude all non-[M]āori?
Deleted and updated/replaced webpages are useful how?
I think the obvious point that has been made here, is along with pat's reference to MP policy below at 8.3.1.2.1, that at least some Maori activists regard all water as belonging to them – in an undiluted proprietorial private ownership sense.
I’m sure that that is true because there are always some. I just don’t buy into the narrative, unlike some.
Well it does seem to be less ‘RW BS’ and more ‘MP belief and policy’.
Those are not mutually exclusive.
QED
On the Greens, correct. On the MP, I’d say it’s a bit more nuanced.![smiley smiley](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.png?x42494)
"The Māori Party position is to honour the rangatira and kaitiaki rights and interests of mana whenua over freshwater. In a Western rights framework, this can be expressed as proprietary rights, customary rights, and decision-making rights, or put more simply, ownership. The whakapapa connection between tangata whenua and wai Māori is intrinsic and inextricable."
https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/fresh_water
I'd say Redlogix's assessment is accurate.
Thanks Pat. I'm never entirely comfortable when Māori feel the need to explain these concepts in 'western' terms, particularly as my understanding is Māori did not have any concept of 'ownership' in a western sense in pre-European times. That’s what I meant by ‘nuanced’.
Think the distinction needs to be made….this is Maori Party policy position..not necessarily the view of Maori en masse.
You need proof that the far right are crazy, here you go
I made the mistake of visiting TheDailytelegraph.co.nz this morning.
It would appear to be the voice of the conspiracy theorists/voices for freedom. The link was via something outrageous that Liz Gunn said last year. It should not come as a surprise though that Winston Peters has gone in to bat for the parents of the child who are demanding unvaccinated blood.
Now Peters needs 5% to get back into parliament. Given that the anti vaccination group numbers at least 5% then, added to his usual hangers on, Peters romps in.
I think you have mistaken the 5%, that is their IQ, not their numbers.
Newshub is like the source of conspiracy theories.
Bridges and Green spent their time ridiculing the facts presented by Kiri who yesterday, by the use of a graph, showed the facts of falling crime rates from the time of National to the present time. (Saw the replay of Bridge/Green's ridiculous theories reactions onTwitter.)
Their consensus was that the facts don't matter. If people feel scared on the streets and in their homes, the fact that the trend of crime is downward is trumped by perception.
Wonder if the endless media fear-mongering by the over reporting of crime/violence, has an effect on the people? I despise Bridges and Newshub.
The predictable outcome of selling Z to Ampol and dismantling the Marsden Renfinery,.
Who would have thought it would take months not years to reveal such a momentous clusterfuck.
Bad aviation fuel batch: Where does it leave NZ? | RNZ