Open mike 08/12/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 8th, 2022 - 81 comments
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81 comments on “Open mike 08/12/2022 ”

  1. Peter 1

    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/

    • joe90 1.1

      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.

      https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/2022/2022-NZHC-3283.pdf

    • Anne 1.2

      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

      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.

      • Shanreagh 1.2.1

        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."

        • Anne 1.2.1.1

          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. 😉

  2. ianmac 2

    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/

    • AB 2.1

      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.

      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.

      • SPC 2.2.1

        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?

        • Craig H 2.2.1.1

          The whips usually actually cast the party votes, not the ministers. Hipkins says he was out of Parliament at the time.

      • ianmac 2.2.2

        "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?

        • Anker 2.2.2.1

          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.

          • Anne 2.2.2.1.1

            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.

            • Anker 2.2.2.1.1.1

              Time will tell Anne. And of course likely to be voted out if NACT win next election, or rolled back anyway.

          • Belladonna 2.2.2.1.2

            TPM didn't seem to vote either way. Perhaps the MPs were not in the house when it was being debated.

            • Incognito 2.2.2.1.2.1

              They did vote, just not for that amendment.

            • Anker 2.2.2.1.2.2

              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.

                • Anker

                  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.

        • Incognito 2.2.2.2

          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.

        • Belladonna 2.2.2.3

          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')

          • Sacha 2.2.2.3.1

            her job is to present the Government's position

            Interesting to see the dance inside caucus on this, even only dimly from a distance.

      • Craig H 2.2.3

        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.

        • Shanreagh 2.2.3.1

          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.

          • Tony Veitch 2.2.3.1.1

            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!

  3. Alan 3

    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

    • Ad 3.1

      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.

      • Tinderdry6 3.1.1

        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.

  4. Anne 4

    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.

    • Tony Veitch 4.1

      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!

      • ianmac 4.1.1

        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.

  5. joe90 5

    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

    • DB Brown 5.1

      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.

  6. DB Brown 6

    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.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U26-D-7Ey2w

    • weka 6.1

      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.

      • DB Brown 6.1.1

        Don't drag me into your terf wars (puns intended).

        • weka 6.1.1.1

          ok, so you have no political argument to your assertion that the culture wars don't exist. Good to know.

          • DB Brown 6.1.1.1.1

            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.

            • weka 6.1.1.1.1.1

              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.

        • Visubversa 6.1.1.2

          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/

          • DB Brown 6.1.1.2.1

            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.

            • Visubversa 6.1.1.2.1.1

              You would not chuck the "N" word around for comedic effect.

            • weka 6.1.1.2.1.2

              It's not commentary though. You did two things:

              1. slagged off some commenters on TS, who knows which ones because the hand wave to them was a) vague and b) just ad homs
              2. posted a video with no explanation of what it is.
              • DB Brown

                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.

                • Visubversa

                  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.

                • weka

                  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.

                • Anker

                  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.

        • Molly 6.1.1.3

          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

    • Corey Humm 6.2

      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

      • Anker 6.2.1

        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

  7. Ad 7

    Huge congratulations to Minister Mahuta on the passage of her water reform legislation today.

  8. Ad 8

    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.

    • Craig H 8.1

      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” “

    • weka 8.2

      Loss of entrenchment?

    • SPC 8.3

      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.”

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/three-waters-law-to-reform-storm-waste-and-drinking-water-infrastructure-passes-amid-fiery-parliament-debate/CKPAKUJK3ZC6PHCJU6V3ZVB75U/

      • RedLogix 8.3.1

        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.

        • Incognito 8.3.1.1

          Based on your comment it looks what you’ve been reading is RW BS.

          • RedLogix 8.3.1.1.1

            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:

            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/

            • Incognito 8.3.1.1.1.1

              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?

              • RedLogix

                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.

        • Tinderdry6 8.3.1.2

          On the Greens, correct. On the MP, I’d say it’s a bit more nuanced. smiley

          • pat 8.3.1.2.1

            "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.

            • tinderdry6 8.3.1.2.1.1

              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’.

              • pat

                Think the distinction needs to be made….this is Maori Party policy position..not necessarily the view of Maori en masse.

  9. adam 9

    You need proof that the far right are crazy, here you go

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyVcVlmIP8

  10. logie97 10

    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.

  11. Adrian 11

    I think you have mistaken the 5%, that is their IQ, not their numbers.

  12. ianmac 12

    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.

  13. Blazer 13

    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

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  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    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 ...
    14 mins ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    12 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
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