Still getting problem where Commenter Name loads with two stray quote marks in front. If not edited out, comment just disappears when submitted, with no message. Any progress on a fix @lprent?
It certainly isn’t a mystery – NZ road design ensures that these sorts of collisions will occur. Insofar as trucking companies fund right wing incompetence, they are responsible for it too.
And yet it is possible to drive a truck safely on NZ roads. I think the time pressure on truck drivers from employers is more of an issue, plus the culture of using stimulants and aggression to keep going. Where the cyclist blogged about the speed and aggression from truck drivers matches my experience.
I agree, there’s no good reason for so much freight to be transported like that. Won’t solve the routes that don’t have rail though.
OAB, I noticed that she said she got a lot of horns being blown at her. That’s either her doing stupid shit (and I’ve seen cyclists do that), or aggression from the drivers.
I think the speed issue is passive aggressive. No-one has the right to put someone else’s life in danger because of job pressures, but here we are.
Or something else happened. I would guess speed was a factor. There is fuck all you can do in a vehicle that big if you come across something on the road and there is no room to manouevre. Or she wasn’t very visible. Or the driver was distracted or tired. Or as you say, he was just too close and angry.
I googled to see if there was a follow up report but couldn’t find anything. I guess the police make a report on the cause of accident and that’s it, but it doesn’t necessarily get reported publically.
There is fuck all you can do in a vehicle that big if you come across something on the road and there is no room to manouevre.
Quoting article:
The cause of the crash, which happened about 11.50am last Tuesday in a passing zone on State Highway 3 in the central North Island, is still under police investigation.
Pusch was about 4km north of Bulls and heading towards Wanganui when she was struck by a truck and trailer heading in the same direction.
So the truck driver could have put an entire lane between him and the cyclist.
One important thing that they can do is slow down. The reason why you have to stand back at train stations is because passing trains can suck you on to the tracks while it’s passing. A truck passing at speed has the same effect which means that cyclists get sucked into the wheels.
Another is to give room and don’t pass if it’s unsafe to do so.
“One important thing that they can do is slow down”
“Another is to give room and don’t pass if it’s unsafe to do so.”
Quite. Hence my point about speed, and then the one about how the industry creates the accidents by putting unrealistic time pressures on drivers. The reason truck drivers are going so fast is that they lose too much time if they drive safely (the loss of momentum and time in slowing down and then getting back up to speed). I have a class 2 licence and it used to freak me out driving a medium sized truck and having those big rigs pass me at speed. If something goes wrong there is not a lot that can be done because they’re just too big and too fast. It’s astounding that they’re allowed to drive like that and it’s no surprise that we have so many truck accidents in NZ.
I was thinking that about the cyclist being sucked under the truck too. Pity I can’t find a later report.
The object of having roads and engine driven vehicles is to be able to cover distances fast. The speed limits are set rather high for NZ roads I think, and in some places too low. They need to be looked at. But to slow down from 80 or 100 to a cyclists speed, for how long, can result in traffic going at a crawl.
Less road traffic and favouring rail, with high road charges for large trucks would be sensible and save lives, money, government costs on roads. But ex-Labour and ACT MP Ken Shirley is an advocate for the roading companies and they lobby hard. (Since July 2010, he has been the chief executive of the Road Transport Forum (RTF), representing road transport interests….He has previously served as ACT’s deputy leader, and in 2004, he was one of four candidates to seek the party’s leadership after the retirement of Richard Prebble.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Shirley
This report about the driver and the lack of response from him and his company indicate a dour unconcern for others and their lack of care when driving. Which I think is a reaction from many males to others needs in the present. (Remember when a woman was shot at an outdoor hut while brushing her teeth. The shooter will just excuse himself and so will all his buddies and that fraternity.)
A 66-year-old Wanganui man was today charged with careless driving causing death and was due to appear in Marton District Court on May 5. (2010)…..
Ms Pusch, who arrived in New Zealand last October, described the perils cyclists in New Zealand faced in the final entry of her online blog on December 30.
She referred to Kiwi truck drivers as “beasts” who “[drive] permanently at a phenomenal speed in a race against time.”
”When one is a cyclist on New Zealand roads, one is not only torn from one’s daydreams by diving-bombing magpies but is more often threatened by a more nasty species that really requires more attention: truck drivers,” Ms Pusch wrote.
($5000 would not even pay for the family’s costs of coming to NZ or getting the body or ashes returned, or whatever they wanted to do to gather their child to them and commemorate her, so not enough there to recompense for harm and suffering!
The driver is still allowed to drive after 12 months? The driver who killed a young woman cyclist in Christchurch about 2013, was in his 70’s. When they are that old and having these sort of accidents they should not be allowed to drive again. Maturity should make for better driving practices and when they cause death, they obviously have gone past their peak and into the decline of old age.) http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3757432/Driver-to-pay-5000-over-tourist-death
I hear this trucks don’t pay their way for roads story a lot on
“the standard ” but at 33c per k j for ruc the amount of tax paid for trucks plying rural nz roads must far outweigh the money spent back onto roads , I would suggest that rural nz is subsidizing all those flash city roads.
Trucks have effectively been subsidized by petrol vehicles who have paid far higher net road tax per tonne for far too long. Any government that seeks to equalize the road taxes is subject to howls of rage from the trucking lobby
Every time I’ve looked into it, the proportion of RUC and petrol excise tax collected in the Auckland region is a lot greater than the proportion of transport funds spent in the Auckland region. On the basis of that data, Auckland is subsiding transport networks in the rest of the country.
Two counterarguments I can dream up, but have never seen any data for: Aucklanders filling up in Auckland before and after trips outside Auckland, companies headquartered in Auckland buying RUCs for operations outside Auckland.
Actual considered engineering opinion based on trials, is that the proportion of wear and tear caused by heavy vehicles is a lot higher than the proportion of transport funds paid by heavy vehicles, ie light vehicles are subsidizing heavy vehicles. Let alone that the cost of engineering a road to be able to carry heavy vehicles is vastly higher than if it just needed to carry light vehicles.
When considering the cost of repairing the damage that heavy vehicles do to roads, is the gst getting paid on the diesel the PAYE getting paid by the driver and the economic “grease” that the industry brings with it considered? (I’m very pro rail BTW)
Never seen any argument or data around GST on fuel and RUC, or PAYE and company tax for transport companies properly going back into transport. The general view seems to be that GST and PAYE and company tax properly go straight to the general government accounts. Hell, it was a big deal when all of the petrol excise tax was put towards transport, instead of diverting some of it to the consolidated fund. Look up “full hypothetication”.
“Although Auckland generates a high proportion of the road user revenue, it may be generating a
higher proportion of the worthwhile projects. At the same time regions that are not experiencing
growth are still paying hypothecated revenue yet may need little in the way of transport expenditure
other than road maintenance.”
The above is from a PDF on nzta site about hypothecated revenue.
That would suggest that you might be wrong about Auckland raising more then is spent on its roads and what not, especially if you chuck things like the kopu bridge and the northern holiday highway in which are for Auckland’s benefit.
Cheers for the link.
Ms Pusch was cycling up hill in the slow vehicle bay and although I can’t find anything online I do recall something about the truck driver being reported about his behavior earlier that day.
Don’t feel like you need to wait for details, charges or the coroner’s report to start laying blame, eh.
Maybe the truckie was in the left lane because of a queue of cars that were passing on the uphill section. Cyclist hits pothole at wrong time, you’re lucky the truckie even noticed someone got squashed. There was one like that in Dunedin a year or two back, the truck ended up being pued over in Oamaru for the guy to be told what had happened: driver in a parked car had opened their door into the cycle lane after the truck cab had passed the cyclist. That was the last one in a series of similar deaths on that stretch of road, and the DCC finally made cycle lanes about half as much wider again and I haven’t read of another accident since.
My point is that the truck driver is only one factor in any crash. Environment, road design, road quality, etc…
Maybe the truckie was in the left lane because of a queue of cars that were passing on the uphill section.
The driver of a vehicle has two reasonable options when approaching a cyclist:
1. Go wide so as to pass safely
2. Slow down and stay behind the cyclist until such time as they can do 1
That’s it. Almost no driver in NZ will do that and some will actively go closer to the cyclist to frighten/abuse them.
And some truck drivers I’ve seen haven’t got a friggen clue as to how trucks actually behave when driven. I saw one take off the front bumper of a parked car while going around a bend. He simply didn’t seem to realise that the back wheels go inside the front wheels during a turn. Had a truck/trailer unit pass me a few weeks ago and although his cab went wide I had to slow down so the back wheels of the trailer didn’t get me.
There was one like that in Dunedin a year or two back, the truck ended up being pued over in Oamaru for the guy to be told what had happened: driver in a parked car had opened their door into the cycle lane after the truck cab had passed the cyclist.
And so the car driver should have been charged. You always need to look before opening the doors but many people don’t.
Cycling in NZ is dangerous because the vehicle drivers are bunch of fucken idiots.
you do realise that charged is not the same as guilty, right? You still know absolutely nothing of note about the case.
And yes, in most of the dunedin cases that spring to mind the door-openers were charged and found guilty of carelessness, etc. But the point is that a small change in the cycle lane width has markedly reduced the problem.
As for your options for motorists passing cyclists on a hill, option one restso on subjective assessments of how wdie is safe (the only objective test being a confirmed negative whenever anyone was hit). Option two simpy shows how selfish cyclists can be.
You can blame drivers all you want, but the fact remains that cycling, particularly on the open road, involves balancing very squishy humans on two wheels and then placng them, even at the best of times, in close proximity to several tonnes of fast-moving steel. But because it’s a “road” and not an enclosed workplace, somehow that’s regarded as fine.
you do realise that charged is not the same as guilty, right? You still know absolutely nothing of note about the case.
Dude, he was found guilty and disqualified for 12 months and ordered to $5000 reparation.
As for your options for motorists passing cyclists on a hill, option one restso on subjective assessments of how wdie is safe (the only objective test being a confirmed negative whenever anyone was hit).
1.5m is the recommended space.
Option two simpy shows how selfish cyclists can be.
And the motorists whinging shows just how selfish they are. Pausing for a short while to save a life isn’t the problem – being impatient and causing death is.
But because it’s a “road” and not an enclosed workplace, somehow that’s regarded as fine.
My preferred option is the removal of open roads. Want to go faster then take a train.
You need to read your link again. Hell, the poor woman has only just did. How quickly do you think the legal system works?
1.5m is the recommended space.
Recommended. Not compulsory, and probably not 100% safe, either.
And the motorists whinging shows just how selfish they are. Pausing for a short while to save a life isn’t the problem – being impatient and causing death is.
My vehicle travels significantly slower than most vehicles on the open road. You know what I do if someone’s behind me? I pull over and let them pass. Because I expect normal human beings to have all the imperfections and frailties of normal human beings.
Even if no cyclist were ever the cause of their own demise, any system that requires people to be more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal people is doomed to failure. And if you want a genuinely safe system, you assumethat all users are performing significantly worse than normal people would. That is why particularly robust and reliable systems are termed “fool proof”.
Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians all blame each other, and you leapt onto that bandwagon with both feet. But as long as people obsess over one part of the problem, the problem will never be solved.
She was killed in 2010. The driver was found guilty in 2010.
Recommended. Not compulsory, and probably not 100% safe, either.
Which is why cycling organisations have been calling for it to be compulsory.
You know what I do if someone’s behind me? I pull over and let them pass.
Difficult to pull over further when you’re already on the shoulder of the road.
Even if no cyclist were ever the cause of their own demise, any system that requires people to be more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal people is doomed to failure.
It doesn’t require them to be “more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal”.
Ms Pusch wrote.
“They swerve past the cyclists who are struggling under their own steam at breakneck speed, mainly within only a half-metre to a metre gap, all the while aggressively honking their horn.”
She was killed in 2010. The driver was found guilty in 2010.
fuck me you’re right. Missed the date line that it was five years ago. Just went with the use of the present tense by the original linker. Apologies.
Recommended. Not compulsory, and probably not 100% safe, either.
Which is why cycling organisations have been calling for it to be compulsory.
Great, so now drivers end up needing a tape measure. All that would do is make it easier to ascribe blame, it would do nothing to address the issue.
You know what I do if someone’s behind me? I pull over and let them pass.
Difficult to pull over further when you’re already on the shoulder of the road.
If you were already on the shoulder, traffic that is on the road wouldn’t hit you. That’s exactly why I pull over.
Even if no cyclist were ever the cause of their own demise, any system that requires people to be more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal people is doomed to failure.
It doesn’t require them to be “more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal”.
Yes, it does, because normal human drivers are hitting cyclists because of inattention, frustration, faulty judgement, or whatever. The system is not fool-proof, it is not even “regular person doing the same job for years” proof.
Ms Pusch wrote.
“They swerve past the cyclists who are struggling under their own steam at breakneck speed, mainly within only a half-metre to a metre gap, all the while aggressively honking their horn.”
It does require them to not be arseholes though.
Sadly, there is no legislation against being an arsehole. And even if there were, it’s normal for some people to be arseholes anyway – much more reliable to change the design so arseholes don’t endanger other people so much.
She’s dead from being hit by a truck on a straight piece of road. That could only happen if he got to close and hence then being found guilty of careless driving causing death.
Since you mention facts, have you got a citation to prove your claim that Andrew Little is in the top 1% of New Zealand’s wealthiest individuals by net worth? Or are you just making stuff up?
That’s pretty consistent with what he was saying last year, but he does sound clearer and is able to express it more clearly now, presumably because they’ve worked through the actual document. And caucus has had time to pull its head in 😈
in related news, I live how that article about the woman who’d had her teeth smacked out for speaking Maori was quickly followed up by one that said she’d been telling porkies. I mean, gee, bar staff, cops, you’re spoiled for choice about sources for corroboration.
I like how your nuttiness has been exposed along with OAB. Implying a conspiracy between a random Howick bar owner,staff, eyewitnesses, and the Police to cover up a video-recorded assault on an individual of no note, has to be a new high for him.
No doubt we are about to hear some ridiculous angle about a Government plot to suppress Te Reo and cow its speakers into submission with random bashings.
No conspiracy alleged you idiot, just pointing out that words were exchanged before blows: the article offers no evidence of what those words were. Something started it.
No, before you trip over another witless notion, I’m not condoning violence, nor apportioning blame.
This interesting article relating to the upcoming peace accord between the government and rebels in Colombia discusses how 50 years of conflict has engendered a strong relationship between violence and masculinity that will be difficult to undo – something that applies to other conflicts as well.
that seems to be the default when there is no effective government.
life is cheap, and we revert to a macho tribal “honor” based society.
people try to find security by association with a “strongman” figure.
Want to know how to turn $10m in to $520m in less than two years? Just ask Anchorage Capital. The private equity group has pulled off one of the great heists of all time, using all the tricks in the book, to turn Dick Smith from a $10m piece of mutton into a $520m lamb.
A headline from the Australian newspaper this morning.
Then I read further and discovered it was about a likely change of leadership in the National Party of Australia (junior partner in the Government) and that they were talking about Barnaby Joyce.
Everyone may now relax.
No Stephen Joyce as Deputy would be as interventionist as Sutch: all kinds of interesting deals would get cut with all kinds of industries.
Happy free loans would fly out the door to any media organization you liked.
Legislation would just be some hand-operated printing machine you could tweak at will.
Mines would be built on whims and new roads built on the smell of whims to service mines, which would of course go bust as fast as something out of The Lorax.
And we could get rid of all our global warming problems by just exporting all our animals for slaughter to Saudi Arabia.
With Joyce we’d be back to making televisions in Waihi. …. back in the day …
Sutch shouldn’t be put in the same basket as Joyce. He was looking at how NZ could develop without getting into the straitjackets of TPPA agreements. But we did have to do something and government would need to be up there just as they are now. But Sutch wasn’t picking winners for his personal gain.
That rawstory page has somthing for every leftie – all the people you love to hate. As for the ‘militiamen’ they seem upset because someone disagreed with having women and children on the protest site when they were planning a gun battle. What a spoilsport. Then he went and spent some of their money on drink. I think he may have a reasonable excuse after reading their opinions. Why don’t they get dragged off, and ordered to go and get a job which is the usual response to anyone who steps out of the square?
In her words:
Below is a selection of quotes from Ida Gaskin, published between 1983 and 2013.
“I knew people who were in concentration camps. I saw my mother unable to go out because the uppers of her shoes had worn through; she didn’t mind that the soles had worn through; no one could see those.”
“I remember reading The Tempest. The teacher used to get us to act and I was the drunken butler. I just loved being the drunken butler.”
“I like young people. My beloved seventh-formers, they are who I miss the most since I gave up teaching.”
“It’s a duty and a privilege to pay income tax. That’s why I am a Socialist.”
“I am interested in politics because I am interested in people.”
On winning Mastermind: “I thought ‘My God, I’ve done it’, and then there was the sense of relief it was over.”
“I would hate to outlive my mind. I don’t mind the ‘sweet, tormenting body’ thing, but I should hate to outlive my mind.”
Labour and National both use dirty politics. Politics is a filthy game played by grubby people. Or do you think Helen and Heather played by the rules all of the time?
[lprent: Ok this thread went well off topic and into follish territory. Probably not a deliberate diversion, so to OpenMike. ]
“They were the only party who were caught out by the AG’s ruling, eh. No, wait, you’re being selective with your account.
I call that lying. What do you call it?”
There’s nothing selective about it. I’m simply demonstrating that Labour are as bad as National, maybe worse, and by invoking the ‘all in it’ argument you seem to be agreeing with me. Did National rort over $400k in spending? I think not.
You are demonstrating nothing of the sort. A long term arrangement that all parties had benefited from was ruled illegal, money was repaid.
If you think that’s the equivalent of the Prime Minister’s ratfucking operation your moral compass is broken, or perhaps you’re too stupid to do anything but plagiarise other people’s attack lines.
Feel free to list instances of Labour systematically and covertly working back channels to subvert media coverage – citations/links to sources other than sewerblogs required. And please name their equivalent of Jason Ede.
acrophobic – under Labour
– how many news programmes were silenced?
– how many journalists were raided?
– how many academics subjected to vicious smears?
– was there any secret funding equivalent to the Cabinet Club?
ZERO
instead we got a herald campaign saying “democracy under attack” for a few weeks in 2008. where was the outcry against National’s “dirty politics” in 2014 ?
“– how many news programmes were silenced?”
National haven’t closed any new programs, nor, do I recall did Labour.
(Forgotten Helen Clark’s rant about John Campbell after ‘Corngate’ have we?)
“– how many journalists were raided?”
National haven’t raided any journalists, nor, do I recall did Labour.
“– how many academics subjected to vicious smears?”
That’s a regular occurrence by both parties.
“– was there any secret funding equivalent to the Cabinet Club?”
The Cabinet Club wasn’t ‘secret’. Besides, Labour raise money in all sorts of similar ways. Ever heard of the $1250 paid by supporters at its party conference for time with MPs?
But here’s the doozy of them all. Labour’s regular and wilful breaking of electoral laws. Remember when Labour stole $840,000, then passed retrospective legislation to prevent a High Court challenge to their thieving?
“The Labour Party has escaped prosecution for breaching electoral law with its pocket-sized pledge cards, despite police finding there was a prima facie case against it.
It is the third time the police have found a prima facie case against the Labour Party or a Labour MP and not pressed charges.”
Labour were given a warning rather than prosecuted because it was clear a number of other parties had also used similar tactics and it would have been unfair to single Labour out.
I note that you have misrepresented the article you cited. Why do you tell so many lies?
Sooooo…
TVNZ7, 3D, Campbell Live just mysteriously stopped?
Mihi Forbes, Nicky Hager, John Campbell, Bradley Ambrose, HDPA are just random victims of circumstance?
You think it’s BAU to smear academics and ignore their studies?
National just happens to be always flush with cash (because of their impeccable virtue) while opposition parties barely scrape by?
🙄
I’ll remember this next time you make a comment: that you are an amoral snake with no regard for journalism, democracy, or honest debate.
National is flush because they are no longer a political party (as evidenced by our jokey non-politics PM), they are a PR organisation sponsored by foreign banks, corporations, and oligarchs.
fishy
does your comment enlighten, or is it typical RWNJ snark?
Perhaps NZ has seen a few demographic changes over the 100 years since Labour was formed. A century of progressive reform is something to be proud of. It has made NZ a better place to live for 4 generations.
Does your side have anything to boast about? A grinning clown for a PM perhaps? Yeah he’s good for a laugh I suppose, but deep down we all cringe whenever the idiot opens his mouth.
The graph shows what looks like a terminal and inevitable decline in Labour polling. If it continues on then Labour could poll say 30% in 2017 and then 22% in 2020. 25% in 2023 and 18% in 2026. 21% in 2029 and 14% in 2032. Labour were relevant in a cloth cap society as they could address the interests of the working populace. Now they are just a collection of fringe interest activists, trade union functionaries and insipid bench warmers. Rehashing policies from the 1970’s will not work. Cheering on the SAS in Syria might be popular for a while. Face the evidence. This century will be centre-right.
existing “centre” right politics lead to financial crises and destruction of the middle class. if the current trajectory continues the top 10-20% will vacuum up too much of the wealth and then things will turn ugly.
the 21st century will experience a slow and painful decay of the entire western empire as debt rises unsustainably and energy crises cause increasing shockwaves to the global economy.
are you happy to follow the neoliberal lies to the very end?
Ever since it became clear in the weeks leading up to Xmas that the current flag was likely to be retained in March, I’ve been wondering what dirty trick Key and co. would get up to in order to get their National Party coloured flag over the line.
Did you actually read the article? No, didn’t think so.
“Students can choose between the preferred alternative flag from the first referendum and the current New Zealand flag, and compare their results with the results of the real referendum.”
OK – I concede I was a bit quick. But I still wonder if the flag project teaching units will press teachers toward showing support for a flag change. Key’s government does tend to put its finger on the scales.
Has the SYRIAN Government – led by President Assad – asked the New Zealand Government to assist in fighting ISIL in Syria?
If not – New Zealand should BUTT OUT, in my considered opinion.
Syria is a sovereign Nation State.
End of story.
For those who are interested in the International ‘Rule of Law’ aspects of this matter – you may find the following VERY interesting?
“If there was any lingering doubt about the illegality of coalition activities in Syria, the Syrian government put these to rest in September, in two letters to the UNSC that denounced foreign airstrikes as unlawful:
“If any State invokes the excuse of counter-terrorism in order to be present on Syrian territory without the consent of the Syrian Government whether on the country’s land or in its airspace or territorial waters, its action shall be considered a violation of Syrian sovereignty.”
Yet still, upon the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2249 last Friday, US Deputy Representative to the United Nations Michele Sison insisted that “in accordance with the UN Charter and its recognition of the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense,” the US would use “necessary and proportionate military action” in Syria.
The website for the European Journal of International Law (EJIL) promptly pointed out the obvious:
“The resolution is worded so as to suggest there is Security Council support for the use of force against IS. However, though the resolution, and the unanimity with which it was adopted, might confer a degree of legitimacy on actions against IS, the resolution does not actually authorize any actions against IS, nor does it provide a legal basis for the use of force against IS either in Syria or in Iraq.”
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 1 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
The movie the big short is well worth a look
https://youtu.be/vgqG3ITMv1Q
Yeah it’s a fantastic movie. See it ASAP!
Review: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-big-short-20151210
looks like the same motivation for Hollywood as the subject matter
Still getting problem where Commenter Name loads with two stray quote marks in front. If not edited out, comment just disappears when submitted, with no message. Any progress on a fix @lprent?
What browser? I tested in several and didn’t see the problem.
FYI the name is loaded from a cookie by the browser side JavaScript. So I need a browser to look at the problem.
Ta. FF 43.0.2 on Mac osx 10.8.5
Germany builds awesome bike roads as a way to lessen car traffic. NZ builds bike tracks for tourists and increases car traffic.
http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/1467/Germany-Opens-62-Mile-Bicycle-Highway-That-s-Completely-Car-Free#pKFLBCBfskmdpOTc.01
…and kills cyclists.
No mystery at all – he cut too close to the cyclist probably while being angry at her.
It certainly isn’t a mystery – NZ road design ensures that these sorts of collisions will occur. Insofar as trucking companies fund right wing incompetence, they are responsible for it too.
And yet it is possible to drive a truck safely on NZ roads. I think the time pressure on truck drivers from employers is more of an issue, plus the culture of using stimulants and aggression to keep going. Where the cyclist blogged about the speed and aggression from truck drivers matches my experience.
Mine too, and I’m conscious that what feels like aggression probably has far more to do with turbulence, momentum, and options.
I think the solution is to have separate traffic flows, as per your link, and as you also said, that’s a political problem.
IMO, in this case the solution is to get the trucks off of the main highways. They really shouldn’t be there.
I agree, there’s no good reason for so much freight to be transported like that. Won’t solve the routes that don’t have rail though.
OAB, I noticed that she said she got a lot of horns being blown at her. That’s either her doing stupid shit (and I’ve seen cyclists do that), or aggression from the drivers.
I think the speed issue is passive aggressive. No-one has the right to put someone else’s life in danger because of job pressures, but here we are.
By law, you blow your horn to alert someone to your presence, so clearly, not all horn blowing is intended to be threatening.
Personally I think the design of NZ roads makes this behaviour inevitable, whether truckies all have National Party values or not.
Or something else happened. I would guess speed was a factor. There is fuck all you can do in a vehicle that big if you come across something on the road and there is no room to manouevre. Or she wasn’t very visible. Or the driver was distracted or tired. Or as you say, he was just too close and angry.
I googled to see if there was a follow up report but couldn’t find anything. I guess the police make a report on the cause of accident and that’s it, but it doesn’t necessarily get reported publically.
Quoting article:
So the truck driver could have put an entire lane between him and the cyclist.
One important thing that they can do is slow down. The reason why you have to stand back at train stations is because passing trains can suck you on to the tracks while it’s passing. A truck passing at speed has the same effect which means that cyclists get sucked into the wheels.
Another is to give room and don’t pass if it’s unsafe to do so.
“One important thing that they can do is slow down”
“Another is to give room and don’t pass if it’s unsafe to do so.”
Quite. Hence my point about speed, and then the one about how the industry creates the accidents by putting unrealistic time pressures on drivers. The reason truck drivers are going so fast is that they lose too much time if they drive safely (the loss of momentum and time in slowing down and then getting back up to speed). I have a class 2 licence and it used to freak me out driving a medium sized truck and having those big rigs pass me at speed. If something goes wrong there is not a lot that can be done because they’re just too big and too fast. It’s astounding that they’re allowed to drive like that and it’s no surprise that we have so many truck accidents in NZ.
I was thinking that about the cyclist being sucked under the truck too. Pity I can’t find a later report.
The object of having roads and engine driven vehicles is to be able to cover distances fast. The speed limits are set rather high for NZ roads I think, and in some places too low. They need to be looked at. But to slow down from 80 or 100 to a cyclists speed, for how long, can result in traffic going at a crawl.
Less road traffic and favouring rail, with high road charges for large trucks would be sensible and save lives, money, government costs on roads. But ex-Labour and ACT MP Ken Shirley is an advocate for the roading companies and they lobby hard. (Since July 2010, he has been the chief executive of the Road Transport Forum (RTF), representing road transport interests….He has previously served as ACT’s deputy leader, and in 2004, he was one of four candidates to seek the party’s leadership after the retirement of Richard Prebble.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Shirley
This report about the driver and the lack of response from him and his company indicate a dour unconcern for others and their lack of care when driving. Which I think is a reaction from many males to others needs in the present. (Remember when a woman was shot at an outdoor hut while brushing her teeth. The shooter will just excuse himself and so will all his buddies and that fraternity.)
A 66-year-old Wanganui man was today charged with careless driving causing death and was due to appear in Marton District Court on May 5. (2010)…..
Ms Pusch, who arrived in New Zealand last October, described the perils cyclists in New Zealand faced in the final entry of her online blog on December 30.
She referred to Kiwi truck drivers as “beasts” who “[drive] permanently at a phenomenal speed in a race against time.”
”When one is a cyclist on New Zealand roads, one is not only torn from one’s daydreams by diving-bombing magpies but is more often threatened by a more nasty species that really requires more attention: truck drivers,” Ms Pusch wrote.
”They swerve past the cyclists who are struggling under their own steam at break-neck speed mainly within only a half-metre to a metre gap, all the while aggressively honking their horn.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3550154/Truck-driver-charged-over-tourists-death
Later – A Whanganui truck driver whose vehicle struck and killed a German tourist near Bulls has been disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay $5000 reparation to the dead woman’s family for emotional harm and suffering.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3757432/Driver-to-pay-5000-over-tourist-death
($5000 would not even pay for the family’s costs of coming to NZ or getting the body or ashes returned, or whatever they wanted to do to gather their child to them and commemorate her, so not enough there to recompense for harm and suffering!
The driver is still allowed to drive after 12 months? The driver who killed a young woman cyclist in Christchurch about 2013, was in his 70’s. When they are that old and having these sort of accidents they should not be allowed to drive again. Maturity should make for better driving practices and when they cause death, they obviously have gone past their peak and into the decline of old age.)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3757432/Driver-to-pay-5000-over-tourist-death
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/licensing-rego/road-user-charges/ruc-rates-and-transaction-fees/#RUC-rates-for-distance-licences-type-h
I hear this trucks don’t pay their way for roads story a lot on
“the standard ” but at 33c per k j for ruc the amount of tax paid for trucks plying rural nz roads must far outweigh the money spent back onto roads , I would suggest that rural nz is subsidizing all those flash city roads.
All those flashy city roads are paid for out of rates. The highways are paid for out of a combination of petrol taxes and RUCs.
Are the new tunnels in Auckland being funded fully from the council?
Trucks have effectively been subsidized by petrol vehicles who have paid far higher net road tax per tonne for far too long. Any government that seeks to equalize the road taxes is subject to howls of rage from the trucking lobby
Every time I’ve looked into it, the proportion of RUC and petrol excise tax collected in the Auckland region is a lot greater than the proportion of transport funds spent in the Auckland region. On the basis of that data, Auckland is subsiding transport networks in the rest of the country.
Two counterarguments I can dream up, but have never seen any data for: Aucklanders filling up in Auckland before and after trips outside Auckland, companies headquartered in Auckland buying RUCs for operations outside Auckland.
Actual considered engineering opinion based on trials, is that the proportion of wear and tear caused by heavy vehicles is a lot higher than the proportion of transport funds paid by heavy vehicles, ie light vehicles are subsidizing heavy vehicles. Let alone that the cost of engineering a road to be able to carry heavy vehicles is vastly higher than if it just needed to carry light vehicles.
When considering the cost of repairing the damage that heavy vehicles do to roads, is the gst getting paid on the diesel the PAYE getting paid by the driver and the economic “grease” that the industry brings with it considered? (I’m very pro rail BTW)
Never seen any argument or data around GST on fuel and RUC, or PAYE and company tax for transport companies properly going back into transport. The general view seems to be that GST and PAYE and company tax properly go straight to the general government accounts. Hell, it was a big deal when all of the petrol excise tax was put towards transport, instead of diverting some of it to the consolidated fund. Look up “full hypothetication”.
“Although Auckland generates a high proportion of the road user revenue, it may be generating a
higher proportion of the worthwhile projects. At the same time regions that are not experiencing
growth are still paying hypothecated revenue yet may need little in the way of transport expenditure
other than road maintenance.”
The above is from a PDF on nzta site about hypothecated revenue.
That would suggest that you might be wrong about Auckland raising more then is spent on its roads and what not, especially if you chuck things like the kopu bridge and the northern holiday highway in which are for Auckland’s benefit.
Cheers for the link.
It’s been a while seen I took a close look at the data, and the Waterview tunnels are very expensive…
Don’t EVER mention the holiday highway again or you’ll never stop me going on and on about what a waste that is.
Ms Pusch was cycling up hill in the slow vehicle bay and although I can’t find anything online I do recall something about the truck driver being reported about his behavior earlier that day.
https://can.org.nz/system/files/images/White%20bike%20mia%20roadside.preview.JPG
https://can.org.nz/article/mia-pusch-rest-in-peace
Don’t feel like you need to wait for details, charges or the coroner’s report to start laying blame, eh.
Maybe the truckie was in the left lane because of a queue of cars that were passing on the uphill section. Cyclist hits pothole at wrong time, you’re lucky the truckie even noticed someone got squashed. There was one like that in Dunedin a year or two back, the truck ended up being pued over in Oamaru for the guy to be told what had happened: driver in a parked car had opened their door into the cycle lane after the truck cab had passed the cyclist. That was the last one in a series of similar deaths on that stretch of road, and the DCC finally made cycle lanes about half as much wider again and I haven’t read of another accident since.
My point is that the truck driver is only one factor in any crash. Environment, road design, road quality, etc…
Driver found guilty of careless driving causing death
The driver of a vehicle has two reasonable options when approaching a cyclist:
1. Go wide so as to pass safely
2. Slow down and stay behind the cyclist until such time as they can do 1
That’s it. Almost no driver in NZ will do that and some will actively go closer to the cyclist to frighten/abuse them.
And some truck drivers I’ve seen haven’t got a friggen clue as to how trucks actually behave when driven. I saw one take off the front bumper of a parked car while going around a bend. He simply didn’t seem to realise that the back wheels go inside the front wheels during a turn. Had a truck/trailer unit pass me a few weeks ago and although his cab went wide I had to slow down so the back wheels of the trailer didn’t get me.
And so the car driver should have been charged. You always need to look before opening the doors but many people don’t.
Cycling in NZ is dangerous because the vehicle drivers are bunch of fucken idiots.
you do realise that charged is not the same as guilty, right? You still know absolutely nothing of note about the case.
And yes, in most of the dunedin cases that spring to mind the door-openers were charged and found guilty of carelessness, etc. But the point is that a small change in the cycle lane width has markedly reduced the problem.
As for your options for motorists passing cyclists on a hill, option one restso on subjective assessments of how wdie is safe (the only objective test being a confirmed negative whenever anyone was hit). Option two simpy shows how selfish cyclists can be.
You can blame drivers all you want, but the fact remains that cycling, particularly on the open road, involves balancing very squishy humans on two wheels and then placng them, even at the best of times, in close proximity to several tonnes of fast-moving steel. But because it’s a “road” and not an enclosed workplace, somehow that’s regarded as fine.
Dude, he was found guilty and disqualified for 12 months and ordered to $5000 reparation.
1.5m is the recommended space.
And the motorists whinging shows just how selfish they are. Pausing for a short while to save a life isn’t the problem – being impatient and causing death is.
My preferred option is the removal of open roads. Want to go faster then take a train.
You need to read your link again. Hell, the poor woman has only just did. How quickly do you think the legal system works?
Recommended. Not compulsory, and probably not 100% safe, either.
My vehicle travels significantly slower than most vehicles on the open road. You know what I do if someone’s behind me? I pull over and let them pass. Because I expect normal human beings to have all the imperfections and frailties of normal human beings.
Even if no cyclist were ever the cause of their own demise, any system that requires people to be more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal people is doomed to failure. And if you want a genuinely safe system, you assumethat all users are performing significantly worse than normal people would. That is why particularly robust and reliable systems are termed “fool proof”.
Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians all blame each other, and you leapt onto that bandwagon with both feet. But as long as people obsess over one part of the problem, the problem will never be solved.
She was killed in 2010. The driver was found guilty in 2010.
Which is why cycling organisations have been calling for it to be compulsory.
Difficult to pull over further when you’re already on the shoulder of the road.
It doesn’t require them to be “more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal”.
It does require them to not be arseholes though.
fuck me you’re right. Missed the date line that it was five years ago. Just went with the use of the present tense by the original linker. Apologies.
Great, so now drivers end up needing a tape measure. All that would do is make it easier to ascribe blame, it would do nothing to address the issue.
If you were already on the shoulder, traffic that is on the road wouldn’t hit you. That’s exactly why I pull over.
It doesn’t require them to be “more accurate, alert, controlled and disciplined than normal”.
Yes, it does, because normal human drivers are hitting cyclists because of inattention, frustration, faulty judgement, or whatever. The system is not fool-proof, it is not even “regular person doing the same job for years” proof.
Sadly, there is no legislation against being an arsehole. And even if there were, it’s normal for some people to be arseholes anyway – much more reliable to change the design so arseholes don’t endanger other people so much.
“road design, road quality, etc…”
I personally would not ride a bike on open roads in nz and I would try to persuade any one dare to me not to either.
Since you list it as a matter of fact – anything to back it up – or are you just making up stuff and presenting it as fact?
She’s dead from being hit by a truck on a straight piece of road. That could only happen if he got to close and hence then being found guilty of careless driving causing death.
Since you mention facts, have you got a citation to prove your claim that Andrew Little is in the top 1% of New Zealand’s wealthiest individuals by net worth? Or are you just making stuff up?
Andrew Little belatedly making noises about TPP……pressure starting to tell?http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/summerreport/audio/201785059/labour-says-it-will-defy-tpp
That’s pretty consistent with what he was saying last year, but he does sound clearer and is able to express it more clearly now, presumably because they’ve worked through the actual document. And caucus has had time to pull its head in 😈
slightly less vague I agree…..theyve had time to study the polls perhaps
in related news, I live how that article about the woman who’d had her teeth smacked out for speaking Maori was quickly followed up by one that said she’d been telling porkies. I mean, gee, bar staff, cops, you’re spoiled for choice about sources for corroboration.
[lprent: Off topic – to OpenMike ]
The article offers no evidence of the initial cause of the subsequent alleged assaults.
I ‘like’ how you live it.
What article and what does that have to do with this post?
Two words:
Video footage.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/crime/news/article.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=11570129
I like how your nuttiness has been exposed along with OAB. Implying a conspiracy between a random Howick bar owner,staff, eyewitnesses, and the Police to cover up a video-recorded assault on an individual of no note, has to be a new high for him.
No doubt we are about to hear some ridiculous angle about a Government plot to suppress Te Reo and cow its speakers into submission with random bashings.
You’re putting words in other people’s mouths.
The original piece with the race angle was debunked, and the verbal evidence is only hearsay.
with this kind of conclusion-jumping, are you a Herald reporter?
No conspiracy alleged you idiot, just pointing out that words were exchanged before blows: the article offers no evidence of what those words were. Something started it.
No, before you trip over another witless notion, I’m not condoning violence, nor apportioning blame.
This interesting article relating to the upcoming peace accord between the government and rebels in Colombia discusses how 50 years of conflict has engendered a strong relationship between violence and masculinity that will be difficult to undo – something that applies to other conflicts as well.
http://newint.org/blog/2016/01/06/colombia-peace-disarming-manhood/
that seems to be the default when there is no effective government.
life is cheap, and we revert to a macho tribal “honor” based society.
people try to find security by association with a “strongman” figure.
An interesting read…..
Want to know how to turn $10m in to $520m in less than two years? Just ask Anchorage Capital. The private equity group has pulled off one of the great heists of all time, using all the tricks in the book, to turn Dick Smith from a $10m piece of mutton into a $520m lamb.
https://foragerfunds.com/bristlemouth/dick-smith-is-the-greatest-private-equity-heist-of-all-time/
vulture capitalism at its finest, and a good reason to avoid the rigged stock markets.
“Joyce in box seat to become deputy PM ”
A headline from the Australian newspaper this morning.
Then I read further and discovered it was about a likely change of leadership in the National Party of Australia (junior partner in the Government) and that they were talking about Barnaby Joyce.
Everyone may now relax.
No Stephen Joyce as Deputy would be as interventionist as Sutch: all kinds of interesting deals would get cut with all kinds of industries.
Happy free loans would fly out the door to any media organization you liked.
Legislation would just be some hand-operated printing machine you could tweak at will.
Mines would be built on whims and new roads built on the smell of whims to service mines, which would of course go bust as fast as something out of The Lorax.
And we could get rid of all our global warming problems by just exporting all our animals for slaughter to Saudi Arabia.
With Joyce we’d be back to making televisions in Waihi. …. back in the day …
Now you really are trying to give me nightmares.
Luckily it is the Australian fellow they were talking about, isn’t it?
Sutch shouldn’t be put in the same basket as Joyce. He was looking at how NZ could develop without getting into the straitjackets of TPPA agreements. But we did have to do something and government would need to be up there just as they are now. But Sutch wasn’t picking winners for his personal gain.
Wheels falling off the not terrorist campaign.
https://www.facebook.com/100008074905114/videos/1659466017665879/
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/tearful-militant-discovers-friend-drank-away-donation-money-its-like-finding-out-there-is-no-such-thing-as-santa/
via – https://twitter.com/jjmacnab
Is that true that they’re allowed to come and go as they please? wtf?
That rawstory page has somthing for every leftie – all the people you love to hate. As for the ‘militiamen’ they seem upset because someone disagreed with having women and children on the protest site when they were planning a gun battle. What a spoilsport. Then he went and spent some of their money on drink. I think he may have a reasonable excuse after reading their opinions. Why don’t they get dragged off, and ordered to go and get a job which is the usual response to anyone who steps out of the square?
Black border around this please…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/75712971/shakespeare-mastermind-ida-gaskin-dies-aged-96
In her words:
Below is a selection of quotes from Ida Gaskin, published between 1983 and 2013.
“I knew people who were in concentration camps. I saw my mother unable to go out because the uppers of her shoes had worn through; she didn’t mind that the soles had worn through; no one could see those.”
“I remember reading The Tempest. The teacher used to get us to act and I was the drunken butler. I just loved being the drunken butler.”
“I like young people. My beloved seventh-formers, they are who I miss the most since I gave up teaching.”
“It’s a duty and a privilege to pay income tax. That’s why I am a Socialist.”
“I am interested in politics because I am interested in people.”
On winning Mastermind: “I thought ‘My God, I’ve done it’, and then there was the sense of relief it was over.”
“I would hate to outlive my mind. I don’t mind the ‘sweet, tormenting body’ thing, but I should hate to outlive my mind.”
RIP Ida.
Labour and National both use dirty politics. Politics is a filthy game played by grubby people. Or do you think Helen and Heather played by the rules all of the time?
[lprent: Ok this thread went well off topic and into follish territory. Probably not a deliberate diversion, so to OpenMike. ]
Clearly you don’t think they did, and yet you again offer nothing but your flaccid borrowed opinion as verification.
Oh I KNOW they did. Politics is dirty. Labour used to be god at it.
Nothing you say has value. If someone credible says it and you agree, their credibility is thereby diminished.
Perhaps you’re doing your best to validate Hodson & Busseri. Give it up: you lack the competence.
OAB, unbelievable naivety is not very becoming in you.
Your word ain’t worth shit. Either provide evidence of your assertions or have them called for what they are.
2005 election funding. The pledge card specifically. Dirty politics. They used ot be good at it.
They were the only party who were caught out by the AG’s ruling, eh. No, wait, you’re being selective with your account.
I call that lying. What do you call it?
“They were the only party who were caught out by the AG’s ruling, eh. No, wait, you’re being selective with your account.
I call that lying. What do you call it?”
There’s nothing selective about it. I’m simply demonstrating that Labour are as bad as National, maybe worse, and by invoking the ‘all in it’ argument you seem to be agreeing with me. Did National rort over $400k in spending? I think not.
You are demonstrating nothing of the sort. A long term arrangement that all parties had benefited from was ruled illegal, money was repaid.
If you think that’s the equivalent of the Prime Minister’s ratfucking operation your moral compass is broken, or perhaps you’re too stupid to do anything but plagiarise other people’s attack lines.
Which is it?
“A long term arrangement that all parties had benefited from was ruled illegal, money was repaid.”
Oh, that’s a beauty. Labour rorted this to the tune of $446,000. They got caught out.
Twist and turn all you like, you alleged willful and deliberate theft, then cited an article that stated the opposite.
Why do you tell so many lies?
@acrophobic
That false meme of “Labour did it too” doesn’t wash. John key’s dirty politics is in a league of it’s own.
Ah, nah.
Feel free to list instances of Labour systematically and covertly working back channels to subvert media coverage – citations/links to sources other than sewerblogs required. And please name their equivalent of Jason Ede.
acrophobic – under Labour
– how many news programmes were silenced?
– how many journalists were raided?
– how many academics subjected to vicious smears?
– was there any secret funding equivalent to the Cabinet Club?
ZERO
instead we got a herald campaign saying “democracy under attack” for a few weeks in 2008. where was the outcry against National’s “dirty politics” in 2014 ?
“– how many news programmes were silenced?”
National haven’t closed any new programs, nor, do I recall did Labour.
(Forgotten Helen Clark’s rant about John Campbell after ‘Corngate’ have we?)
“– how many journalists were raided?”
National haven’t raided any journalists, nor, do I recall did Labour.
“– how many academics subjected to vicious smears?”
That’s a regular occurrence by both parties.
“– was there any secret funding equivalent to the Cabinet Club?”
The Cabinet Club wasn’t ‘secret’. Besides, Labour raise money in all sorts of similar ways. Ever heard of the $1250 paid by supporters at its party conference for time with MPs?
But here’s the doozy of them all. Labour’s regular and wilful breaking of electoral laws. Remember when Labour stole $840,000, then passed retrospective legislation to prevent a High Court challenge to their thieving?
Of all the things the NZLP can be criticised for, it is telling that the best this plagiarist loser can come up with is other people’s zombie lies.
Sensitive OAB?
“The Labour Party has escaped prosecution for breaching electoral law with its pocket-sized pledge cards, despite police finding there was a prima facie case against it.
It is the third time the police have found a prima facie case against the Labour Party or a Labour MP and not pressed charges.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10373214.
Labour were very, very naughty.
Sensitive? I don’t even vote for them, dickhead.
Labour were given a warning rather than prosecuted because it was clear a number of other parties had also used similar tactics and it would have been unfair to single Labour out.
I note that you have misrepresented the article you cited. Why do you tell so many lies?
I have misrepresented nothing. But continue the accusations without evidence, it is making you look petulant and just plain silly.
“wilful breaking of electoral laws.”
No lie there, no sirree. You’re a little bit shit at this.
“wilful breaking of electoral laws.”
That sums up exactly what they did. And the author of this editorial agrees with me:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/5268588/Editorial-Time-Labour-learned-to-play-by-the-rules
…but the Police? Not so much.
Sooooo…
TVNZ7, 3D, Campbell Live just mysteriously stopped?
Mihi Forbes, Nicky Hager, John Campbell, Bradley Ambrose, HDPA are just random victims of circumstance?
You think it’s BAU to smear academics and ignore their studies?
National just happens to be always flush with cash (because of their impeccable virtue) while opposition parties barely scrape by?
🙄
I’ll remember this next time you make a comment: that you are an amoral snake with no regard for journalism, democracy, or honest debate.
re you seriously suggesting that somehow National is able to influence the employment of Mihi Forbes, John Campbell etc etc? You are deluded.
National is flush with cash because they are popular. Labour is broke because it is irrelevant.
National is flush with cash because they are greedy and have no conscience, simple.
That could be true, but they are also immensely popular. Labour are hopeless at fundraising….nah let’s leave it at Labour are hopeless at everything.
Hopeless at everything…except running surpluses. And reducing unemployment. And not paying bribes to Saudi troughers.
Since when is selling ministerial access and acts of parliament “popular”?
Since when is raising funds for the public to meet with cabinet ministers any different to raising funds for the public to meet with Labour MP’s?
i am not sure how a few opposition MP’s can offer legislation for hire, but from the Government benches it’s probably quite easy
National is flush because they are no longer a political party (as evidenced by our jokey non-politics PM), they are a PR organisation sponsored by foreign banks, corporations, and oligarchs.
Yeah, yeah, keep believing that. Meanwhile, the left gets smaller and smaller and smaller…..
Since when are ACT “the Left”?
I don’t need to “believe” anything I can just open my eyes and see.
Golf with Obama, deals with Warners and SkyCity, bizarre Saudi sheep farms, Oravida, Rio Tinto, Donghua Liu… etc etc etc.
Labour cannot keep dropping support surely?
Think again
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2014/09/labour_1938_-_2014.html
Does that graph engender hope or instead point to increasing irrelevancy?
fishy
does your comment enlighten, or is it typical RWNJ snark?
Perhaps NZ has seen a few demographic changes over the 100 years since Labour was formed. A century of progressive reform is something to be proud of. It has made NZ a better place to live for 4 generations.
Does your side have anything to boast about? A grinning clown for a PM perhaps? Yeah he’s good for a laugh I suppose, but deep down we all cringe whenever the idiot opens his mouth.
The graph shows what looks like a terminal and inevitable decline in Labour polling. If it continues on then Labour could poll say 30% in 2017 and then 22% in 2020. 25% in 2023 and 18% in 2026. 21% in 2029 and 14% in 2032. Labour were relevant in a cloth cap society as they could address the interests of the working populace. Now they are just a collection of fringe interest activists, trade union functionaries and insipid bench warmers. Rehashing policies from the 1970’s will not work. Cheering on the SAS in Syria might be popular for a while. Face the evidence. This century will be centre-right.
your “evidence” is a bunch of wild extrapolation.
existing “centre” right politics lead to financial crises and destruction of the middle class. if the current trajectory continues the top 10-20% will vacuum up too much of the wealth and then things will turn ugly.
the 21st century will experience a slow and painful decay of the entire western empire as debt rises unsustainably and energy crises cause increasing shockwaves to the global economy.
are you happy to follow the neoliberal lies to the very end?
This is unbelievable! Apparently schoolkids are to get to vote in the flag referendum. http://www.elections.org.nz/resources-learning/school-resources/kids-voting-second-referendum-new-zealand-flag
Desperate measures – the teachers whose classes make the “wrong” choice will no doubt be duly noted.
Ever since it became clear in the weeks leading up to Xmas that the current flag was likely to be retained in March, I’ve been wondering what dirty trick Key and co. would get up to in order to get their National Party coloured flag over the line.
Did you actually read the article? No, didn’t think so.
“Students can choose between the preferred alternative flag from the first referendum and the current New Zealand flag, and compare their results with the results of the real referendum.”
This is in the very first paragraph!
OK – I concede I was a bit quick. But I still wonder if the flag project teaching units will press teachers toward showing support for a flag change. Key’s government does tend to put its finger on the scales.
Has the SYRIAN Government – led by President Assad – asked the New Zealand Government to assist in fighting ISIL in Syria?
If not – New Zealand should BUTT OUT, in my considered opinion.
Syria is a sovereign Nation State.
End of story.
For those who are interested in the International ‘Rule of Law’ aspects of this matter – you may find the following VERY interesting?
“If there was any lingering doubt about the illegality of coalition activities in Syria, the Syrian government put these to rest in September, in two letters to the UNSC that denounced foreign airstrikes as unlawful:
“If any State invokes the excuse of counter-terrorism in order to be present on Syrian territory without the consent of the Syrian Government whether on the country’s land or in its airspace or territorial waters, its action shall be considered a violation of Syrian sovereignty.”
Yet still, upon the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2249 last Friday, US Deputy Representative to the United Nations Michele Sison insisted that “in accordance with the UN Charter and its recognition of the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense,” the US would use “necessary and proportionate military action” in Syria.
The website for the European Journal of International Law (EJIL) promptly pointed out the obvious:
“The resolution is worded so as to suggest there is Security Council support for the use of force against IS. However, though the resolution, and the unanimity with which it was adopted, might confer a degree of legitimacy on actions against IS, the resolution does not actually authorize any actions against IS, nor does it provide a legal basis for the use of force against IS either in Syria or in Iraq.”
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/323396-unsc-isis-syria-us/
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
New Jersey high schooler accused of violating bullying laws for making anti-Israel tweets
Yeah, I don’t think that there’s anything I can add to that.