It’s the Herald. Hide is just one of many commentators the Herald will parade telling Northlanders not to vote for Peters.
The media will be one to watch here. They’ve been taken by surprise a bit by the polls and they don’t have much time to influence the by-election. They’ll be spitting tacks if their nemesis wins
I think we can expect to see an upsurge in negative comments about Winston Peters from the media over the rest of the month. The next weekend Herald will be one to watch, Roughan and O’Sullivan were busy defending their Godboy this week but I suspect they’ll have a different target next time.
Midweek I’m guessing we’ll have the likes of Armstrong and Trevett putting the boot in to Peters, with advice for Northlanders from the likes of Hoskings and the odd cameo appearances.
I’d like to believe that but experience shows the media have more power and influence over voters than we can be comfortable with. The corporate media will certainly have been quietly congratulating themselves over the hatchet job they did on David Cunliffe… it worked.
totally agree but the TV1 poll just published says Winston 36 Nats 36 Lab 20. Some tactical voting and a few subtle hints by Little (and others) should see Winston sail home. Lets see what Little says on TV1 in 2 minutes…..and he is subtly saying vote Winston.
Interestingly, Bearded Git, Andrew Little was saying exactly what Willow-Jean has on her leaflet for distribution around Northland households ie “Its time to send a message to the government that Northland deserves better”. This leaflet was printed out well before Winston appeared on the scene with a similar message on his bus !
Oh come on Jenny-he didn’t say vote Labour. He said vote for the person who is likely to beat National, which is the only way a message can be sent. And that person is Winnie.
It was a clever piece of repositioning. Little sounded like a PM in waiting to me.
Andrew Little is a good man. Fair and thoughtful. What more does anyone want? He will be a very good Prime Minister, liked by people of all persuasion. Trust me on that. You heard it here first!
Hide has as an obsessive hatred of Peters which goes back to the Winebox saga. He was a full time economic adviser to Alan Gibbs prior to him entering parliament, and was an integral part of that whole tax evasion/avoidance scene in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was placed in the ACT headquarters by Gibbs for the express purpose of becoming… Gibbs’ man in parliament. It worked for a while then it all (thankfully) turned to dust. I wouldn’t be surprised if they blame Winston Peters for that too.
Anne
Thanks for that historical snippet.
Most people don’t know or have forgotten Gibb’s puppetry with Rodney Hide.
We need reminding every now and then.
We need reminding of Key’s support for the invasion of Iraq, his taking out a new mortgage for an apartment he already owned because of a parliamentary perk, English’s Wellington home etc….etc..
Andrew Little needs to enforce standards in the Labour Party on matters surrounding donations. A scandal in this area could undo his good works.
Letting Mallard, Cosgrove and Nash get away with dodgy donations is not a good precedent.
Sadly Robertson counts on them as supporters. If Robertson gets a top 4 role in the November reshuffle, following King’s planned step-down, Robertson will rehabilitate Cosgrove. Cosgrove has tooooo much on Robertson.
Just seen Corrin Dan on Q&A announce that Andrew Little would be the next speaker
I do like the unbiased introduction by Dan, Andrew Little, former Union Boss. Perhaps next time Key comes on he will introduce Key as the former, and still is money trading spiv
I like that, but he Still is, and if Dan Dan the lavatory man has to introduce that prat from Epsom (Rimmer) they play the signature music of Red Dwarf
The Ruskies think that Nemtsov was followed the whole day by several cars who interchanged positions as they tracked him. So there is much more yet to come.
That is NOT what Andrew Little said, fisiani. He said instead that NZ had previously had a fairness in legislation that allowed for a trial period at a workplace, and that is what he wants to see reinstated.
When Labour Party supporters ‘do an Epsom’ and vote strategically in Northland, Winston Peters will romp in.
When Winston Peters takes Northland off National, they will be left with 59 out of 121 MPs and will be politically ‘wing-clipped’ in terms of passing their pro-corporate / anti-worker legislation.
Why on earth would Labour not be pulling out all the stops in order to help this happen – by promoting ‘STRATEGIC’ voting in Northland?
I for one am not saying Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime should ‘stand aside’ or not continue to advocate and publicise Labour’s policies.
But this Northland by-election is FAR bigger than Northland.
Labour – do NOT stuff it up for the majority of New Zealanders!
Why Obama wants to broker peace with Iran. Why Israel is opposed . Who is supporting ISIL?….a very good discussion with Peter Lavelle moderating:
“So close, yet so far. Iran and the West are close to accomplishing what so many in Washington and Tel Aviv are terrified of – a negotiated end to the Western standoff with Iran. Israel’s Netanyahu has made it clear: war is better than peace. Can Washington finally say ‘yes’ to peace?”
CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gareth Porter, and Chuck Freilich.
Saudi Arabia would also hate US corporates having full access to Iran to sack Iran’s resources and send profits from its vast oil and gas fields back to Wall St.
My very amateur over view on Israel’s position around its neighbours is to keep them unstable , divided and weak.
I bet Iran and Iraq working together on the IS problem is worrying Israel big time
My last blog post on medicinal Cannabis for a while, this time not based around pain, but the Anti Nausea and appetite stimulating effects and their positive impact on a patient suffering from HIV
Sorry, but have stopped reading until the entanglement with Pete George is gone. By all means post on his site too, but when you link like you do, here of all places, it’s a distraction and plain rude (I suspect you don’t fully understand the extent of the trouble PG has caused here).
I think it’s been pointed out to you a number of times. My comment isn’t about you posting at yawnz, it’s about how you link here. Your choice of course.
I would have thought it important for the people of Northland to understand the implosion around the National Party people in Northland, and in particular Mike Sabin. The reasons he left. And what and when the National Party people knew about it.
Otherwise it is nothing but a bullshit-extension of the same….
Oh, no nothing like that, just important facts concerning the organisation so many people in Northland seem hell bent on electing back in. i.e. the National Party
It is the GIANT elephant in the room making so much difference — seemingly not to be mentioned or even alluded to by msm. I’m thinking Winston is somehow going to challenge the silence — it is after all, the sole raison d’etre for this by-election. He tried several times in the House but Carter cut him off at the pass … maybe this week or next in the House ? Winston is surely more canny than the rest of them combined.
(Have been wondering if a an airplane towing a message drogue would constitute breaching name suppression — is it publishing in the air ?? And yes, I am half-serious.)
I am sure it could be done in a way that didn’t breach any suppression orders. You’d probably need your own plane, because I suspect anyone renting them out in Northland would be an ardent Tory. If I was still there, I’d be putting up signs at night. Or maybe even during the day. The legal situation is very unclear.
A brilliant article by guest author Sam Goldham at the Daily Blog shows clearly why Tony Abbott and John Key are criminals and even worse, war criminals.
I would like to add multiple cases (past, present and future) of the criminal act of financial terrorism to John Key’s name!
This, in large part, is the triumph of capitalism over democracy, as Lebowitz calls it. Through the corporate mass media – particularly television news (and particularly cable TV news) – the “masters of the universe” capitalists embed a world view in enough voters to create the semblance of a democracy. In reality the real decisions are being made upstairs, where the money is counted and continues to pile up to the rafters.
But I believe that people mistake when capitalism triumphed over democracy:
In order to do this, the Patriot leaders of the Revolution used ‘a language inspiring to all classes, specific enough in its listing of grievances to charge people with anger against the British, vague enough to avoid class conflict among the rebels, and stirring enough to build a patriotic feeling for the resistance movement’ (1999: 68). But this was a difiicult game for the Patriot leaders to play because it required a balancing act, maintaining broadly popular support for the War of Independence and Revolution by appealing to universal notions of liberty and democracy, on one hand, while simultaneously defending the sanctity of property and the rule of a rich capitalist minority, on the other.
History of Democracy by B. Roper
It can. IMO, be said that we’ve never had democracy because the rich didn’t want us to have it and they still fight against it whenever it pops up. A good example of this fight against democracy by the rich is the firing of ECan by this government.
ffs, when you delete comments that are already replied to you screw up the bottom of the thread and all subsequent comments. Instead, edit the content (replace everything with a full stop if you have to).
I happened to be in Palmerston North yesterday and attended the TPP march which was pretty well attended I think. At least not less than 500 in my guess.
There were lots of people with videos and cameras and two people who took my picture with my nice placard told me they would be putting the photos on line and one said it would be on face book. I wonder if any one of you knows where I can find the photos from Palmerston North to see if I am there !
Thanks in advance for your help.
P.S :
There was a lovely band which played there with great music. The female singer was very talented and very pleasant to listen to. Well done, singer, who ever you are. Great job!
The male singer was good too with quite clever political songs. well done!
It also shows the effects a universal basic income has had on many Native American communities. Many Native American reservations operate casinos and pay every resident a dividend, which has reached $10k a year in some communities. The benefits have been amazing.
Turkish government gives senior ISIS commander hospital care
Says that it is what any Turkish citizen deserves. (The ISIS commander is one of approx. 1000 Turkish citizens currently fighting with ISIS).
Meanwhile a Turkish medical student who went to give medical assistance to the Kurds in Kobani is being arrested by the Turkish Government for terrorism.
Turkey would rather support AL-Nusrah & probably even Da’ish than the Kurds and various autonomous cantons. They want Assad gone, the Kurds suppressed, a Sunni state in Syria, and the Syrian refugees sent home. They’re hovering dangerously around wanting to have their cake and eat it as well. Erdogan is showing every sign of being a Turkish Mubarak or even a Turkish Putin.
That said it seems unclear what the fate of the Da’ish commander ultimately will be. Receiving medical treatment is of course the humanitarian thing to do – if he is then released to re-cross the border that would be another thing entirely.
Our Labour Party branch down here in Dunedin South watched part of that interview. Just outstanding. Binney is incredibly talented and moral. People like him give me huge respect for some of the citizens of the USA.
Alone, Alone, All, All, Alone: To argue that the Prime Minister is the victim of her advisers’ failure to keep her informed may offer Jacinda some measure of exoneration – but only at the cost of casting her as a hopeless political ingénue. A star-dusted muppet, whose only purpose is to ...
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...
I don't want to give pblicity to certain parts of the internet that are better left to fester in their own irrelevance (I know, a bit like this place) but the listing of Chris Trotter as a 'author' on Cameron Slater's spinoff website, the BFD requires some explanation.Now, I don't ...
The text below is a Twitter thread by Heather Heying that explains the essence of sexual reproduction and it long evolutionary history. She is an evolutionary biologist and a “professor-in-exile” after she and her husband, Bret Weinstein, stood up to supporters of an enforced “Day of Absence” for white staff and teachers ...
With crunch time for new Zealand climate policy approaching, most of the New Zealand media have got on board with a global reporting effort to cover the issue. There's one strand of stories today about polling and what it shows about changing public attitudes to the crisis, but the strand ...
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...
Current and former NZDF top brass are being publicly grilled this week by the hit and run inquiry over their public responses to allegations of civilian casualties. Previously, they've claimed there were no casualties, a position which led them to lie to Ministers and to the public. Now, they're saying ...
by Rafael D. Quiles (gender-critical gay man from Puerto Rico) The writing on the wall is right in people’s faces and people just don’t see it or don’t want to. What could actually possess a heterosexual male to want to feminize himself and claim that he is a lesbian? Because ...
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...
by the Redline blog collective At Redline we are very saddened to hear of the death of Magdalen Burns who passed away on the morning of Friday, September 13 (British time). Magdalen was a great fighter for the rights of women in general and lesbian women in particular, a defender ...
The Brexit issue has certainly brought with it a series of apparently difficult constitutional issues, many of them concerning the respective roles of the executive and parliament. Most of them arise because of the unwillingness of MPs, despite their professions to the contrary, to be bound by a constitutional rarity ...
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...
The government has released its Arms Legislation Bill, containing the second tranche of changes to gun laws following the March 15 massacre. And it all looks quite sensible: a national gun register, higher penalties for illegal possession and dealing, tighter restrictions on arms dealers and shooting clubs, and a shorter ...
Private prisons are a stain on humanity. Prison operators explicitly profit from human misery, then lobby for longer prisons terms so they can keep on profiting. And in the US, prison companies run not only local and state prisons, but also Donald Trump's immigration concentration camps. Faced with this moral ...
When National was in power, they were very keen on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) - basicly, using private companies to finance public infrastructure as a way of hiding debt from the public. They were keen on using them for everything - roads, schools, hospitals. But as the UK shows, that "service" ...
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...
by Philip Ferguson Much of the left, even people who formally identify as marxists, have collapsed politically in the face of postmodern gender theory of the sort pioneered by American philosopher Judith Butler. For Butler even biological sex is socially constructed. “If the immutable character of sex is contested, perhaps ...
The media is reporting that the (alleged) Labour party sexual assaulter has resigned from their job at Parliament, which means hopefully he won't be turning up there making people feel unsafe in future. Good. But as with everything about this scandal, it just raises other questions. Most significantly: why the ...
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...
Property developers think there is an "oversupply" of houses in Auckland:High turnover rates and falling prices may be a sign that there are too many new houses going in to some parts of Auckland, commentators say. [...] Property developer David Whitburn said there was a "bit of an oversupply" in ...
Labour Party president Nigel Haworth resigned yesterday over the party's sexual assault scandal. But while that's good news, its unlikely to take away the stench of a coverup. Because according to Paula Bennett in Parliament yesterday, pretty much everyone in the Prime Minister's office was involved as well:I have been ...
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...
There has been a lot of talk about Boris Johnson wanting an election, and he has blustered with great gusto about 'chicken' Jeremy Corbyn refusing one, but I think there are many reasons why he is secretly glad he has been refused the opportunity:The Tories are an utter rabble,tearing themselves ...
Scottish appeal court judges have declared that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the run-up to the October Brexit deadline is unlawful. The three judges, chaired by Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, overturned an earlier ruling that the courts did not have the powers to interfere in the prime ...
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...
I understand there's some stuff going round about how the SIS "was removed from the list of public offices covered by the Public Records Act in 2017". The context of course being their records derived from US torture, which will be disposed of or sealed. The good news is that ...
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ...
Australia is burning down again, and meanwhile its natural disaster minister is denying climate change:Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”. Clarifying earlier comments that the question is “irrelevant” when considering the Coalition government’s response to ...
Auckland Philippines Solidarity is excited to host Professor Judy Taguiwalo for a speaking tour of NZ in September. She is a well-known activist in the Philippines and was a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship. Professor Taguiwalo briefly served as a Cabinet member under President Duterte but was forced from ...
This open letter to the Green Party was penned after an opinion piece by Jill Abigail, a feminist and founding member of the party, was censored by the Greens’ leadership. (Redline has reprinted her article here).The intolerance of the Green Party leaders and their acceptance of the misogyny of gender ...
Today is a Member's day, and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill continues its slow crawl through its committee stage. They're spending the whole day on it today, though the first hour is likely to be spent on voting left over from last time. After that they'll move on ...
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. So how's that going? I was curious, so I asked for all advice about the proposal. ...
As the Brexit saga staggers on, the focus is naturally enough on the Prime Minister and his attempts to achieve Brexit “do or die”. But the role played by the Leader of the Opposition is of almost equal interest and complexity. The first problem for Jeremy Corbyn is that he ...
Last week, English Prime Minister Boris Johnson boldly declared that he would rather die be dead in a ditch than delay Brexit. Unfortunately for him, the UK parliament accepted the challenge, and promptly dug one for him. The "rebellion bill" requires him to ask for and secure yet another temporary ...
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...
by Daphna Whitmore Every Sunday for the past two months unionists from First Union, with supporters from other unions, have set out to the Ihumatao land protest, put up gazebos and gas barbeques, and cooked food for a few hundred locals and supporters who have come from across the country. ...
Newsroom today has an excellent, in-depth article on pine trees as carbon sinks. The TL;DR is that pine is really good at soaking up carbon, but people prefer far-less efficient native forests instead. Which is understandable, but there's two problems: firstly, we've pissed about so long on this problem that ...
Canan Kaftancioglu is a Turkish politician and member of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Like most modern politicians, she tweets, and uses the platform to criticise the Turkish government. She has criticised them over the death of a 14-year-old boy who was hit by a tear gas grenade during ...
Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has published their report on whether the SIS and GCSB had any complicity in American torture. And its damning. The pull quote is this:The Inquiry found both agencies, but to a much greater degree, the NZSIS, received many intelligence reports obtained from detainees who, ...
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...
For most of the time I was a British MP, my party was out of government – these were the Thatcher years, when it was hard for anyone else to get a look-in. As a front-bencher and shadow minister, I became familiar with the strategies required in a parliamentary democracy ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On August 29th a video in which veteran FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) commander Iván Márquez announced that they had taken up arms again was released. There was no delay in the reaction to it, from longtime Liberal Party figure and former president Uribe, for ...
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...
No-one on the anti-capitalist left in this country today puts forward a case that Labour is on the side of the working class. There are certainly people who call themselves ‘socialist’ who do, but they are essentially liberals with vested interests in Labourism – often for career reasons. Nevertheless, there ...
When National was in government and fucking over the poor for the benefit of the rich, foodbanks were a growth industry. And now Labour is in charge, nothing has changed: A huge demand for emergency food parcels means the Auckland City Mission is struggling to prepare for the impending arrival ...
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...
Today the government released its Action Plan for Healthy Waterways, aimed at cleaning up our lakes and rivers. Its actually quite good. There will be protection for wetlands, better standards for swimming spots, a requirement for continuous improvement, and better standards for wastewater and stormwater. But most importantly, there's a ...
Today I appeared before the Environment Committee to give an oral submission on the Zero Carbon Bill. Over 1,500 people have asked to appear in person, so they've divided into subcommittees and are off touring the country, giving people a five minute slot each. The other submitters were a mixed ...
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ...
So, those who “know best” have again done their worst. While constantly claiming to be the guardians of democracy and the constitution, and respecters of the 2016 referendum result, diehard Remainers (who have never brought themselves to believe that their advice could have been rejected) have striven might and main ...
Following publication of this article, the Ministry has requested it to be noted that this supplied image is not necessarily representative of what the final house will look like, and it “probably won’t be that nice.” As part of today’s long-anticipated reset of the Government’s flagship KiwiBuild policy, Housing Minister ...
Over the next week or two we will be running three synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Marx began Capital not with a sweeping historical ...
The State Services Commission and Ombudsman have released another batch of OIA statistics, covering the last six months. Request volumes are up, and the core public service is generally handling them within the legal timeframe, though this may be because they've learned to extend rather than just ignore things. And ...
In 1994, I was editing an ambitious street mag called Planet, from a fabled office at at 309 Karangahape Road. The thirteenth issue of the magazine was published in the winter of that year and its cover embodied a particularly ambitious goal: the end of cannabis prohibition.I wanted to do ...
KiwiBuild was one of the Ardern government's core policies. The government would end the housing crisis and make housing affordable again by building 100,000 new homes. Of course, it didn't work out like that: targets weren't met, the houses they did build were in the wrong place, and the whole ...
As the climate crisis escalates, it is now obvious that we need to radically decarbonise our economy. The good news is that its looking easy and profitable for the energy sector. Wind is already cheaper than fossil fuels, and now solar is too:The levellised cost of solar PV has fallen ...
This week, the New Zealand Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will jointly host a seminar on tackling the global spread of illicit weapons. ...
In a landmark judgment issued this morning, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Southern Response Concealment Class Action will proceed issued on an "opt out” basis. ...
Mainstream media, as the purveyors of truth and source of balanced information, took another backward step today with the announcement by Stuff that most New Zealand organisations had joined 170 media outlets from around the world in the “Covering ...
The goal of one million Kiwis having basic conversations in te reo by 2040 is unrealistic if more is not done to get serious about reo acquisition says the Māori Party. “While small steps have been taken to bolster efforts to increase the numbers of speakers, ...
Changes announced today by the Immigration Minister to employer-assisted visas will help businesses, but more work is needed to boost economic growth says Business Central. ...
DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is welcoming today’s announcement that the Government will be streamlining the employer assisted work visa process to help businesses and farms fill skills shortages. ...
Lawrence Yule MP wrote to our Office with concerns about the Department of Corrections' approach to procuring design and build services for rapid deployment of prison accommodation. We have published our response to Mr Yule on our website . ...
That from the chair of the Wellington Region of the College of Midwives, Siobhan Connor, following the news that Hutt Valley District Health Board is targeting midwives from overseas to help fill gaps in maternity units. ...
70% of New Zealand’s surface water take is allocated to Meridian’s Manapouri Power Scheme. But when Environment Minister David Parker asked to exempt the Scheme from his Freshwater Action Plan, he didn’t tell Cabinet that. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers responded in a timely and appropriate manner as soon as they were aware that a fleeing driver had hit a pedestrian. ...
prevention and intervention. Following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s post-Cabinet press conference we are encouraged to see the acknowledgement of the mistakes made and the need to address this. The five points outlined in the action plan, which ...
A surge in teen vaping rates and a series of deaths being linked to vaping has resulted in a number of bans on the sales of flavoured Vape juice products in the United States. Though it is widely acknowledged that vaping is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, ...
The governments’ new environmental proposals will further accentuate the move of good, productive farmland into forestry according to environmental lobby group 50 Shades of Green. ...
17 September 2019: New Zealanders are acutely aware of the impact food production processes have on our planet according to new research released today by the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust. ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL is awarding three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
On 14 September 2017, the pipeline that brings diesel, petrol, and jet fuel from Marsden Point Oil Refinery into Auckland ruptured. It leaked jet fuel into rural properties and stopped the transmission of fuels into Auckland for 10 days. The rupture ...
Victims Advocate Louise Nicholas - Labour should have brought in “specialist support” “When there is a complaint especially a serious complaint of sexual assault, the first thing that should have happened was specialist support brought in to ensure ...
Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says New Zealand is ‘not close’ to bringing in oil reserves after the attack on Saudi fields. “We would have to see prices rise by about $20 per barrel in order for some of those strategic reserves ...
New Zealand's new fresh water regulation rules will have no major impacts on the national economy, according to an independent report just out. The report by independent economic consultancy New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows that dairying ...
Fish & Game New Zealand has welcomed the findings of a New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report, which rejects claims the Government’s freshwater proposals will have a significant economic impact. ...
The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the Government should take its proposed firearms legislation to the people with a touring Select Committee, as it just has with the Zero Carbon bill. ...
Water reforms and the long term sustainability of water will be a key focus at the Water New Zealand conference and expo this week (18-20 September) in Hamilton. ...
“Kiwi ex-smokers are mobilising against the Government’s plans to drastically limit vaping flavours. Flavours have been key to them quitting tobacco and they now just want other smokers to have the same chance,” says Jonathan Devery, co-owner ...
Oil company Tamarind Resources has reportedly halted drilling at its Tui oil field off the Taranaki coast after the first of the three planned wells came up dry and bad weather caused delays. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the left-wing campaign group “ActionStation” to front up and be transparent about how much taxpayer funding it takes from the Government to underwrite its activism activities. Earlier in the month, the Taxpayers’ ...
The ‘ Unplanned ’ movie is here and Family First has secured one of the first screenings in New Zealand tonight. ‘Unplanned’ brings an eye-opening look inside the abortion industry from a woman who was once its most passionate advocate. All ...
James Renwick claim that NZ is failing on climate change is valid, and since James has been receiving widespread media coverage that we outline most of it again here now as we gear up for the ‘Global climate change conference’ beginning next week. ...
Protestors will be outside the venue of the fourth hearing for Operation Burnham Inquiry on Monday morning from 8.30am to give a message to former and current military officers as they arrive to speak about the ongoing coverup of the 2010 attack on ...
The long-running campaign against purported Chinese “interference” in New Zealand’s political system intensified in the past week following a five-day visit to Beijing by opposition National Party leader Simon Bridges. ...
National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett spent the week claiming a serious cover-up in the Prime Minister's office. She used parliamentary privilege to name three of the Prime Minister's closest advisors who, she says, knew about the sexual assault ...
Six months on from the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand history, Simon Shepherd asked Al Noor Mosque spokesperson Anthony Green how the Christchurch Muslim is community faring. ...
“The Game Animal Council is concerned that the Government’s second tranche of firearms legislation released today may contain unreasonable provisions that will unfairly impact hunters,” says Game Animal Council Chair Don Hammond. ...
Government policy work on the Carbon Zero bill highlights connections between climate change, carbon sequestration and agriculture. Water quality and allocation are also topical with the release of the Draft Policy Statement for Freshwater Management ...
DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is welcoming this afternoon’s announcement that consultation on Essential Freshwater has been extended by two weeks - but is calling on the Minister to go further. ...
DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle is calling on the Government to move swiftly to extend the six-week timeframe of the Essential Freshwater consultation. ...
Immigration New Zealand could really benefit from an large investment of money, comments Ms June Ranson, chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) , a leading voice in the immigration sector. “Instead of spending $25m ...
In recent times there has been no shortage of commentary regarding whistleblowers, with the proposed amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act 2000. These are aimed at strengthening the protection available to whistleblowers in New Zealand. That ...
Gun Control NZ strongly welcomes the comprehensive gun law reform bill and calls on all political parties to support it. Gun Control NZ encourages New Zealanders to let their MPs know they support this Bill, submit to the Select Committee, and ...
Federated Farmers agrees with most of the steps by government to protect people from illegal or irresponsible firearms use. But concerns about pest control and the effectiveness of a register remain. ...
Today at Parliament the NZ Drug Foundation released Taking control of cannabis: A model for responsible regulation, a new report that shows how we can take back control of cannabis from organised crime. ...
In the face of overwhelming public opinion that farmers need to clean up after themselves, Federated Farmers has mounted an offensive to try and stop some of its members having to do just that. ...
Responding to reports that Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa plans to restrict flavoured e-cigarette liquid, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Conway, Senior Lecturer – Games and Interactivity, Swinburne University of Technology Two of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple and Google, are launching cloud-based gaming services this year. Apple Arcade, due for release in two days, will ultimately go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Marks, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Strategy and Policy, Western Sydney University “How good is Gladys Berejiklian?” Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked a jubilant crowd of Liberal supporters on the evening of her March 23 2019 state election win. Only as good as her ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Charlson, Conjoint NHMRC Early Career Fellow, The University of Queensland This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) recently declared ...
Life insurance companies have been taken to task for being too slow to improve their culture and conduct by regulators, which appears set to lead to tougher regulation. ...
In this extract from a chapter called ‘Deep Time’ in Rebecca Priestley’s new memoir, Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica, Rebecca remembers her peculiar, legume-heavy, art-saturated childhood in Wellington. (And a note from the author: if anyone has a painting from Ruth Priestley’s Antarctic Dream series, Rebecca would love to hear from ...
The government is introducing a new employer-led work visa that it says will help plug shortages, reduce exploitation, and improve conditions for New Zealand workers. ...
The Spinoff’s cartoonist Toby Morris chats and draws with New Zealand’s doodlers in the webseries Two Sketches. In the fifth episode, Toby sits down with comic artist Ben Stenbeck. Two Sketches returns with another leisurely draw and a chat hosted by award-winning illustrator Toby Morris. In this episode, Toby chats with ...
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...
New Netflix movie The Tall Girl was roundly mocked before it even came out. Josie Adams, a tall girl herself, reviews it.“You know that really, really, really tall girl you go to school with? The one that people call LeBron, Skyscraper, Patty long legs?”That’s Jodi, the 6-foot-1 protagonist of The ...
A spate of court cases around the world has highlighted a new kind of risk for carbon emitters, and the big investors that support them - expensive litigation. ...
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...
Children, pregnant women and the elderly are the most at risk from extreme weather and heat – but the impact is already felt across every specialty of medicine. ...
Most KiwiSaver funds are managed by one of the big Australian banks, which create returns through investments in fossil fuels, human rights violations, tobacco and weaponry. With attitudes shifting towards sustainability, what can ordinary investors do?This month 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg completed a journey across the Atlantic in a ...
A swathe of gloomy global headlines appear to have further dampened consumers' outlook about the economy but they are feeling more upbeat about their own personal finances. ...
Covering Climate Now: From CFCs to nuclear weapons, history has shown that the first step to eliminating a threat is to ban it, argues Thomas Nash.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to the contributions of Spinoff Members. Join The Spinoff Members to help us do ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Labour Party sexual assault allegations Richard Harman (Politik): Goodbye Labour – Hello Brand Jacinda Barry ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has "called time" on opposing claims over sexual assault allegations against a Labour Party staffer being contested in public. ...
ByRNZ Pacific Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has said she “regrets and strongly condemns” the Solomon Islands’ decision to establish diplomatic relations with China. The Solomons cabinet made the decision yesterday after which Taiwan terminated its 36-year relationship with the Pacific country. Tsai said China’s promises of financial assistance ...
In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Josie Adams assesses the bastion of progressive virtue that is Dunedin/Ōtepoti.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The SpinoffMembers. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.Where?Dunedin, or Ōtepoti, is also known as “the ...
The Commerce Commission has been accused of miscalculating how much money the country's biggest fuel retailer Z Energy is making, in its initial report on competition in the sector. ...
A Canterbury startup is exposing medical equipment manufacturers’ deliberate one-use design tricks and proving that hospitals can reuse and recycle. There has been a lot of hype about the phasing out of plastic bags at supermarkets. But what about far more expensive items which only ever get used once and are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Wilkes, Senior Research Geophysicist, CSIRO At some point in recent weeks, a once-in-a-lifetime event happened for people at Greenwich in the United Kingdom. Magnetic compasses at the historic London area, known as the home of the Prime Meridian, were said to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison McEwen, Head of Discipline of Genetic Counselling, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.Why are some twins identical and some not? – Chloe, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc Hudson, Researcher, University of Manchester Paddy Manning’s excellent account of the Australian Greens will not be the last word on Australia’s most successful third party, but will doubtless remain important and influential for many years to come. Manning’s exhaustive (but never ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abby Mellick Lopes, Senior Lecturer in Design, Western Sydney University This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. A recent report by the Greater Sydney Commission ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eve Vincent, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University “This is a bit controversial, we know that,” deputy prime minister Michael McCormick told the National Party’s federal council, which on the weekend voted for a national roll-out of cashless debit cards for anyone younger than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pat Ranald, Research fellow, University of Sydney The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership has been touted as the best hope for keeping world trade flowing after the attacks on the World Trade Organisation. The WTO isn’t dead yet, but in a two-pronged attack, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University In 1955, an enormous photographic exhibition, The Family of Man, challenged the world as to what it meant to be human. The curator, Edward Steichen, assembled 503 photographs by 273 photographers from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Belgrave, Professor History, Massey University From 2022, New Zealand history will be taught at all schools as part of the compulsory national curriculum. The announcement is an astonishing turnaround, given that the ministry of education and parliament’s education and workforce select ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZDF under inquiry scrutiny, competing statements on Labour investigation released through lawyers, and a thorough look at Air NZ’s carbon offsets. Ever since the book Hit and Run was published, the Defence Force have been under various degrees of pressure over whether ...
Yesterday Newshub revealed something shocking and disheartening about the spending practices of our local councils. Hayden Donnell registers his disappointment.The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.Councils often get a raw deal in ...
Droughts and dying trees are hardening forest floors and starving Northland's kiwi. Climate change threatens to double the region's time spent in drought. ...
Kiwibank says the four big Australian owned banks are sending five billion dollars in profits a year back to Australia and it's time New Zealand hung on to some of it. ...
Professor Elizabeth Rata argues the introduction of a standard course of NZ history in schools should be a start, not an end, and should lead to agreed nationwide curricula in other subjects. ...
If NZ wants to address its housing crisis, there are vital planning measures we must take first. The University of Auckland's Lee Beattie explains. ...
Irene van Dyk reckons she “hit the jackpot” when she was asked to mentor Paris Lokotui, who at 17 has already played for NZ in three different sports. ...
Open mike 08/03/2015 
Open mike is your post.
A short and incredibly powerful speech from a young lesbian woman. No one is born in the wrong body. ...1 hour ago
Back in June, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that that country's continued arms sales to Saudi Arabia were unlawful. So you'd expect that the UK government stopped approving them, right?Of course not:The government has apologised for breaching a court ruling against the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia that ...3 hours ago
9 hours ago
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...9 hours ago
20 hours ago
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...1 day ago
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...1 day ago
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...1 day ago
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...2 days ago
The Brexit issue has certainly brought with it a series of apparently difficult constitutional issues, many of them concerning the respective roles of the executive and parliament. Most of them arise because of the unwillingness of MPs, despite their professions to the contrary, to be bound by a constitutional rarity ...3 days ago
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...3 days ago
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...4 days ago
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...4 days ago
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...5 days ago
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...5 days ago
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...6 days ago
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ... 6 days ago
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...7 days ago
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...7 days ago
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...7 days ago
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...1 week ago
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...1 week ago
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...1 week ago
Hi there, just call me Tim.We face tough problems, and I’d like to help, because there are solutions.An Auckand District Health Board member has nominated me for as a candidate for the ADHB, because her MS-related pain and fatigue is reduced with hemp products from Rotorua. Nothing else helped her. If I ...1 week ago
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...1 week ago
Air New Zealand couldn’t believe its luck that this seemingly ideal piece of real estate had so far gone entirely unnoticed. Air New Zealand’s search for a site to build a second Auckland Airport may have made a breakthrough this afternoon, after employees scanning Google satellite imagery spotted a huge, ...2 weeks ago
Gayford, pictured here on The Project, before things got wildly out of control. A bold public relations move by the Government to encourage parents to vaccinate their children has gone horribly wrong. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on tonight’s episode of Three’s The Project, where the plan was for her ...2 weeks ago
Mr. Whippy’s business model has driven it down a dark road of intimidation. Residents in major centres around the country are becoming disgruntled by the increasingly aggressive actions of purported ice cream company Mr. Whippy, who have taken to parking on people’s front lawns and doorsteps in a desperate attempt ...2 weeks ago
Anti-fluoride activists have some wealthy backers – they are erecting billboards misrepresenting the Canadian study on many New Zealand cities – and local authorities are ordering their removal because of their scaremongering. Many New Zealanders ... 2 weeks ago
Following publication of this article, the Ministry has requested it to be noted that this supplied image is not necessarily representative of what the final house will look like, and it “probably won’t be that nice.” As part of today’s long-anticipated reset of the Government’s flagship KiwiBuild policy, Housing Minister ...2 weeks ago
This week, the New Zealand Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will jointly host a seminar on tackling the global spread of illicit weapons. ...10 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Conway, Senior Lecturer – Games and Interactivity, Swinburne University of Technology Two of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple and Google, are launching cloud-based gaming services this year. Apple Arcade, due for release in two days, will ultimately go ...49 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Marks, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Strategy and Policy, Western Sydney University “How good is Gladys Berejiklian?” Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked a jubilant crowd of Liberal supporters on the evening of her March 23 2019 state election win. Only as good as her ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Charlson, Conjoint NHMRC Early Career Fellow, The University of Queensland This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) recently declared ...2 hours ago
The National Party says unless the review into Labour's handling of sexual assault allegations includes the Beehive it will be a whitewash. ...2 hours ago
Life insurance companies have been taken to task for being too slow to improve their culture and conduct by regulators, which appears set to lead to tougher regulation. ...3 hours ago
The New Zealand dollar remains the 10th most traded currency globally, according to a new survey. ...3 hours ago
In this extract from a chapter called ‘Deep Time’ in Rebecca Priestley’s new memoir, Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica, Rebecca remembers her peculiar, legume-heavy, art-saturated childhood in Wellington. (And a note from the author: if anyone has a painting from Ruth Priestley’s Antarctic Dream series, Rebecca would love to hear from ...3 hours ago
After nine months and much consultation, the Government has unveiled its overhauled migrant worker scheme, to much industry acclaim. ...3 hours ago
The Spinoff’s cartoonist Toby Morris chats and draws with New Zealand’s doodlers in the webseries Two Sketches. In the fifth episode, Toby sits down with comic artist Ben Stenbeck. Two Sketches returns with another leisurely draw and a chat hosted by award-winning illustrator Toby Morris. In this episode, Toby chats with ...4 hours ago
Surprise, surprise. The waving of a wet bus ticket did little to encourage New Zealand's life insurers to behave better. ...4 hours ago
The government's proposed clean up of waterways will not harm New Zealand's overall economy, a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has suggested. ...4 hours ago
New Netflix movie The Tall Girl was roundly mocked before it even came out. Josie Adams, a tall girl herself, reviews it.“You know that really, really, really tall girl you go to school with? The one that people call LeBron, Skyscraper, Patty long legs?”That’s Jodi, the 6-foot-1 protagonist of The ...4 hours ago
A spate of court cases around the world has highlighted a new kind of risk for carbon emitters, and the big investors that support them - expensive litigation. ...4 hours ago
Performance poet Ben Fagan continues his investigation into just what exactly the term Pākehā means in contemporary New Zealand life. ...5 hours ago
Children, pregnant women and the elderly are the most at risk from extreme weather and heat – but the impact is already felt across every specialty of medicine. ...5 hours ago
Most KiwiSaver funds are managed by one of the big Australian banks, which create returns through investments in fossil fuels, human rights violations, tobacco and weaponry. With attitudes shifting towards sustainability, what can ordinary investors do?This month 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg completed a journey across the Atlantic in a ...5 hours ago
A swathe of gloomy global headlines appear to have further dampened consumers' outlook about the economy but they are feeling more upbeat about their own personal finances. ...6 hours ago
The head of the Marsden Point oil refinery operator has resigned to lead the country's biggest energy company. ...6 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: From CFCs to nuclear weapons, history has shown that the first step to eliminating a threat is to ban it, argues Thomas Nash.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to the contributions of Spinoff Members. Join The Spinoff Members to help us do ...6 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has said she “regrets and strongly condemns” the Solomon Islands’ decision to establish diplomatic relations with China. The Solomons cabinet made the decision yesterday after which Taiwan terminated its 36-year relationship with the Pacific country. Tsai said China’s promises of financial assistance ...7 hours ago
The value of New Zealand's primary industry exports is expected to dip fractionally next year. ...8 hours ago
The Commerce Commission has been accused of miscalculating how much money the country's biggest fuel retailer Z Energy is making, in its initial report on competition in the sector. ...8 hours ago
A Canterbury startup is exposing medical equipment manufacturers’ deliberate one-use design tricks and proving that hospitals can reuse and recycle. There has been a lot of hype about the phasing out of plastic bags at supermarkets. But what about far more expensive items which only ever get used once and are ...8 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Wilkes, Senior Research Geophysicist, CSIRO At some point in recent weeks, a once-in-a-lifetime event happened for people at Greenwich in the United Kingdom. Magnetic compasses at the historic London area, known as the home of the Prime Meridian, were said to ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University Australia’s attempts to secure the release of an Australian national and two with joint UK-Australian citizenship from an Iranian prison have become vastly more complicated following the brazen attacks on Saudi oil ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison McEwen, Head of Discipline of Genetic Counselling, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au. Why are some twins identical and some not? – Chloe, ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Professorial fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne In this age of rapidly melting glaciers, terrifying megafires and ever more puissant hurricanes, of acidifying and rising oceans, it is hard to believe that any further prod to climate action ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc Hudson, Researcher, University of Manchester Paddy Manning’s excellent account of the Australian Greens will not be the last word on Australia’s most successful third party, but will doubtless remain important and influential for many years to come. Manning’s exhaustive (but never ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abby Mellick Lopes, Senior Lecturer in Design, Western Sydney University This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. A recent report by the Greater Sydney Commission ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eve Vincent, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University “This is a bit controversial, we know that,” deputy prime minister Michael McCormick told the National Party’s federal council, which on the weekend voted for a national roll-out of cashless debit cards for anyone younger than ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University In 1955, an enormous photographic exhibition, The Family of Man, challenged the world as to what it meant to be human. The curator, Edward Steichen, assembled 503 photographs by 273 photographers from ...9 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZDF under inquiry scrutiny, competing statements on Labour investigation released through lawyers, and a thorough look at Air NZ’s carbon offsets. Ever since the book Hit and Run was published, the Defence Force have been under various degrees of pressure over whether ...10 hours ago
Droughts and dying trees are hardening forest floors and starving Northland's kiwi. Climate change threatens to double the region's time spent in drought. ...12 hours ago
Jim Kayes recounts his jousts with the All Blacks coach as the clock winds down on Steve Hansen's reign. ...12 hours ago
Kiwibank says the four big Australian owned banks are sending five billion dollars in profits a year back to Australia and it's time New Zealand hung on to some of it. ...12 hours ago
Professor Elizabeth Rata argues the introduction of a standard course of NZ history in schools should be a start, not an end, and should lead to agreed nationwide curricula in other subjects. ...12 hours ago
If NZ wants to address its housing crisis, there are vital planning measures we must take first. The University of Auckland's Lee Beattie explains. ...12 hours ago
Irene van Dyk reckons she “hit the jackpot” when she was asked to mentor Paris Lokotui, who at 17 has already played for NZ in three different sports. ...12 hours ago
Rodney Hide concludes Peters wants to come second in Northland. They pay this guy for this drivel?
see: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11413598
It’s the Herald. Hide is just one of many commentators the Herald will parade telling Northlanders not to vote for Peters.
The media will be one to watch here. They’ve been taken by surprise a bit by the polls and they don’t have much time to influence the by-election. They’ll be spitting tacks if their nemesis wins
I think we can expect to see an upsurge in negative comments about Winston Peters from the media over the rest of the month. The next weekend Herald will be one to watch, Roughan and O’Sullivan were busy defending their Godboy this week but I suspect they’ll have a different target next time.
Midweek I’m guessing we’ll have the likes of Armstrong and Trevett putting the boot in to Peters, with advice for Northlanders from the likes of Hoskings and the odd cameo appearances.
@ DH
agreed-and which will simply boost Peter’s profile.
I’d like to believe that but experience shows the media have more power and influence over voters than we can be comfortable with. The corporate media will certainly have been quietly congratulating themselves over the hatchet job they did on David Cunliffe… it worked.
@dh
totally agree but the TV1 poll just published says Winston 36 Nats 36 Lab 20. Some tactical voting and a few subtle hints by Little (and others) should see Winston sail home. Lets see what Little says on TV1 in 2 minutes…..and he is subtly saying vote Winston.
Neck and neck. it seems! I was keen to watch but having ‘signal’ problems! Hazy. Thanks for the info. Would like more info if possible.
Interestingly, Bearded Git, Andrew Little was saying exactly what Willow-Jean has on her leaflet for distribution around Northland households ie “Its time to send a message to the government that Northland deserves better”. This leaflet was printed out well before Winston appeared on the scene with a similar message on his bus !
Oh come on Jenny-he didn’t say vote Labour. He said vote for the person who is likely to beat National, which is the only way a message can be sent. And that person is Winnie.
It was a clever piece of repositioning. Little sounded like a PM in waiting to me.
Yep – Bearded Git – he sounded like a PM in waiting to me, too !
Andrew Little is a good man. Fair and thoughtful. What more does anyone want? He will be a very good Prime Minister, liked by people of all persuasion. Trust me on that. You heard it here first!
I hoped it first in my heart Clemeogin when I voted for him at the leadership ballot after the election.
@ScottGN
Good on you. Shows that great minds think alike. [although fools seldom differ too!]
Bearded Git @ 1
Hide has as an obsessive hatred of Peters which goes back to the Winebox saga. He was a full time economic adviser to Alan Gibbs prior to him entering parliament, and was an integral part of that whole tax evasion/avoidance scene in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was placed in the ACT headquarters by Gibbs for the express purpose of becoming… Gibbs’ man in parliament. It worked for a while then it all (thankfully) turned to dust. I wouldn’t be surprised if they blame Winston Peters for that too.
+100…thanks Anne …very interesting!
Anne
Thanks for that historical snippet.
Most people don’t know or have forgotten Gibb’s puppetry with Rodney Hide.
We need reminding every now and then.
We need reminding of Key’s support for the invasion of Iraq, his taking out a new mortgage for an apartment he already owned because of a parliamentary perk, English’s Wellington home etc….etc..
Andrew Little needs to enforce standards in the Labour Party on matters surrounding donations. A scandal in this area could undo his good works.
Letting Mallard, Cosgrove and Nash get away with dodgy donations is not a good precedent.
Mallard Cosgrove and Nash are like manyoo centre halves, wear the red shirt but regularly gift the opposition goals.
They should be nowhere near a labour ministerial team sheet when the time comes.
Sadly Robertson counts on them as supporters. If Robertson gets a top 4 role in the November reshuffle, following King’s planned step-down, Robertson will rehabilitate Cosgrove. Cosgrove has tooooo much on Robertson.
Just seen Corrin Dan on Q&A announce that Andrew Little would be the next speaker
I do like the unbiased introduction by Dan, Andrew Little, former Union Boss. Perhaps next time Key comes on he will introduce Key as the former, and still is money trading spiv
“Union boss” is such a telling phrase, isn’t it?
That instruction went out the day little won, TVNZ use it across the board at times heard the blonde evening news muppet use it recently.
Imagine if it was done consistently….former curreny trader, former disgraced policeman, former treasury analyst/Nat party leader, former hologram etc
former disgraced policeman? I prefer disgraced former policeman.
Wait till the process runs its course…..it’s just a question of where the disgraced goes….before policeman, minister etc.
former office ?? ( sorry, can’t resist!)
“former hologram”
I like that, but he Still is, and if Dan Dan the lavatory man has to introduce that prat from Epsom (Rimmer) they play the signature music of Red Dwarf
As predicted, the Chechens did it!!!!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102485952
Thank god for scapegoats
The Ruskies think that Nemtsov was followed the whole day by several cars who interchanged positions as they tracked him. So there is much more yet to come.
…interesting….like spy who dunnit…my bet it wasnt Putin
Russian speakers on another forum posted about the killers Chechen/Putin connection.
google translate;
Here, Rashid Nurgaliev and Kadyrov was awarded the military government awards of the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic.
http://www.chechnya.gov.ru/page.php?r=126&id=8314
google translate:
Kadyrov collects Basmachi the stadium , then one of the leaders of his combat unit kills the leader of the opposition
Георгий АлбуровVerified account @alburov
Кадыров собирает басмачей на стадионе, затем один из руководителей его боевого подразделения убивает лидера оппозиции
So Andrew Little wants to keep the 90 day right to prove yourself law. Whodathunkit?
Wake up, fisi, you’re dreaming. Little has just confirmed on Q+A that the Fire at Will provision is going.
you have to admire the brevity of fisi’s troling though.
That is NOT what Andrew Little said, fisiani. He said instead that NZ had previously had a fairness in legislation that allowed for a trial period at a workplace, and that is what he wants to see reinstated.
So the nasty tories want to treat people as if they are a tradeable commodity like plastic buckets.
No wonder their lives are so shallow – they have no humanity (or rather they are incapable of recognising it)
This is what you and your people have done and continue to do fisiani.
In NZ Ernie Abbot 1982
In NZ Fred Evans 1912
Your lot are scum. Rot in hell.
When Labour Party supporters ‘do an Epsom’ and vote strategically in Northland, Winston Peters will romp in.
When Winston Peters takes Northland off National, they will be left with 59 out of 121 MPs and will be politically ‘wing-clipped’ in terms of passing their pro-corporate / anti-worker legislation.
Why on earth would Labour not be pulling out all the stops in order to help this happen – by promoting ‘STRATEGIC’ voting in Northland?
I for one am not saying Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime should ‘stand aside’ or not continue to advocate and publicise Labour’s policies.
But this Northland by-election is FAR bigger than Northland.
Labour – do NOT stuff it up for the majority of New Zealanders!
The nation is watching ….
Penny Bright
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/andrew-little-gives-big-hint-left-voters-peters-support-6249844
I see a post has just gone up on this, but thought I would post this link anyway.
This stance is perfection from Andrew Little.
Be afraid National be very afraid. That add’s up to another 16% to Winston’s lead.
AND this is before a suppression order is lifted in the week before the election!!!
it will be extended……
It’s already been lifted, but publication has to wait for the prominent NZer’s appeal against the lifting to be unsuccessful. Here’s hoping.
+100 Penny
Does the Labour Party put the needs of the vast majority of New Zealanders above the Labour Party’s needs?
Redline collection of articles on women’s liberation, socialism. . .
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/marxism-and-womens-liberation/
Why Obama wants to broker peace with Iran. Why Israel is opposed . Who is supporting ISIL?….a very good discussion with Peter Lavelle moderating:
“So close, yet so far. Iran and the West are close to accomplishing what so many in Washington and Tel Aviv are terrified of – a negotiated end to the Western standoff with Iran. Israel’s Netanyahu has made it clear: war is better than peace. Can Washington finally say ‘yes’ to peace?”
CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gareth Porter, and Chuck Freilich.
http://rt.com/shows/crosstalk/238281-bibi-iran-war-peace/
Saudi Arabia would also hate US corporates having full access to Iran to help Iran fully develop its vast oil and gas fields to compete with it.
Another example of how Israel and Saudi Arabia’s interests line up very neatly.
….and support of ISIL ?…but they better be careful because ISIS could be a snake by the tail…and mutate into something which has a nasty back bite
Saudi Arabia would also hate US corporates having full access to Iran to sack Iran’s resources and send profits from its vast oil and gas fields back to Wall St.
FIFY
My very amateur over view on Israel’s position around its neighbours is to keep them unstable , divided and weak.
I bet Iran and Iraq working together on the IS problem is worrying Israel big time
My last blog post on medicinal Cannabis for a while, this time not based around pain, but the Anti Nausea and appetite stimulating effects and their positive impact on a patient suffering from HIV
http://yournz.org/2015/03/08/medical-marijuana-munchies-vs-hiv-munchies-wins/
Alternate address for those not fond of beige.
https://mmj4chronicpain.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/medicinal-marijuana-and-the-munchies-vs-hiv-munchies-wins/
Sorry, but have stopped reading until the entanglement with Pete George is gone. By all means post on his site too, but when you link like you do, here of all places, it’s a distraction and plain rude (I suspect you don’t fully understand the extent of the trouble PG has caused here).
To this day I am still blissfully unaware sorry. I only sign in to write my piece, then i’m out again until next week….
I think it’s been pointed out to you a number of times. My comment isn’t about you posting at yawnz, it’s about how you link here. Your choice of course.
He chooses to not heed good advice so rather apt he continues to points to the beige site as a sure sign of fingers in the ears going la la la la….
+ 1 yep no point trying to help someone who doesn’t want help imo
I would have thought it important for the people of Northland to understand the implosion around the National Party people in Northland, and in particular Mike Sabin. The reasons he left. And what and when the National Party people knew about it.
Otherwise it is nothing but a bullshit-extension of the same….
yes but what is your comment in reference to vto?
northland election
I know that, it just seemed like it was in reference to something someone had said, or a news report, or something.
Oh, no nothing like that, just important facts concerning the organisation so many people in Northland seem hell bent on electing back in. i.e. the National Party
It is the GIANT elephant in the room making so much difference — seemingly not to be mentioned or even alluded to by msm. I’m thinking Winston is somehow going to challenge the silence — it is after all, the sole raison d’etre for this by-election. He tried several times in the House but Carter cut him off at the pass … maybe this week or next in the House ? Winston is surely more canny than the rest of them combined.
(Have been wondering if a an airplane towing a message drogue would constitute breaching name suppression — is it publishing in the air ?? And yes, I am half-serious.)
I am sure it could be done in a way that didn’t breach any suppression orders. You’d probably need your own plane, because I suspect anyone renting them out in Northland would be an ardent Tory. If I was still there, I’d be putting up signs at night. Or maybe even during the day. The legal situation is very unclear.
v interesting ..
I’ve been slipping a few Sabin comments into the stuff comments it’s surprised the hell out of me that some of them are getting past the moderaters .
well done ..
A brilliant article by guest author Sam Goldham at the Daily Blog shows clearly why Tony Abbott and John Key are criminals and even worse, war criminals.
I would like to add multiple cases (past, present and future) of the criminal act of financial terrorism to John Key’s name!
On Andrew Krieger, Currency Wars And Financial Terrorism Or Why John Key Is A Criminal In More Than One Way.
+100 travellerev….good articles …pretty sobering
Fran Lebowitz: Capitalism Triumphed Over Both Communism and Democracy
But I believe that people mistake when capitalism triumphed over democracy:
It can. IMO, be said that we’ve never had democracy because the rich didn’t want us to have it and they still fight against it whenever it pops up. A good example of this fight against democracy by the rich is the firing of ECan by this government.
See that Key was in the parliamentary library this am and his pant caught on fire.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/67098957/fire-in-parliament-library
Hmmmm perhaps we could give this wee little topic a breather for a few days?
Fair enough CR I will delete it
🙂 chur!
ffs, when you delete comments that are already replied to you screw up the bottom of the thread and all subsequent comments. Instead, edit the content (replace everything with a full stop if you have to).
It wouldn’t lose much content 😛
I happened to be in Palmerston North yesterday and attended the TPP march which was pretty well attended I think. At least not less than 500 in my guess.
There were lots of people with videos and cameras and two people who took my picture with my nice placard told me they would be putting the photos on line and one said it would be on face book. I wonder if any one of you knows where I can find the photos from Palmerston North to see if I am there !
Thanks in advance for your help.
P.S :
There was a lovely band which played there with great music. The female singer was very talented and very pleasant to listen to. Well done, singer, who ever you are. Great job!
The male singer was good too with quite clever political songs. well done!
I know people who went to the Palmerston North protest 🙂
BTW did you see any National Party signs around???
No, I didn’t. (or as Banks and Key would say, “I don’t recall”. “Don’t remember”. “I am too clever”. ‘I wasn’t born in a cabbage boat”. ” Amnesia”!)
Curious as to why you asked that?
Can you ask your Palmy friends if they have URL links for those photos?
Great article from CNN advocating for a universal basic income: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/01/opinion/sutter-basic-income/index.html
It also shows the effects a universal basic income has had on many Native American communities. Many Native American reservations operate casinos and pay every resident a dividend, which has reached $10k a year in some communities. The benefits have been amazing.
Turkish government gives senior ISIS commander hospital care
Says that it is what any Turkish citizen deserves. (The ISIS commander is one of approx. 1000 Turkish citizens currently fighting with ISIS).
Meanwhile a Turkish medical student who went to give medical assistance to the Kurds in Kobani is being arrested by the Turkish Government for terrorism.
And this is what NZ is stepping into.
http://rt.com/news/238713-isis-commander-turkey-hospital/
Turkey would rather support AL-Nusrah & probably even Da’ish than the Kurds and various autonomous cantons. They want Assad gone, the Kurds suppressed, a Sunni state in Syria, and the Syrian refugees sent home. They’re hovering dangerously around wanting to have their cake and eat it as well. Erdogan is showing every sign of being a Turkish Mubarak or even a Turkish Putin.
That said it seems unclear what the fate of the Da’ish commander ultimately will be. Receiving medical treatment is of course the humanitarian thing to do – if he is then released to re-cross the border that would be another thing entirely.
It’s a f*@king shambles though.
Help save this 500 yr old kauri tree.
Local Auckland @LocalAuckland
Auckland City, New Zealand
@AklCouncil Hey guys please comment on the Kauri issue, is there anything that you can do? https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=445615775587060&id=379993285482643&substory_index=0 … How was consent given?
SJT
@simonjtapp
URGENT: Protest to SAVE this 500 yo kauri. 40 Paturoa Rd, Titirangi. 7am TOMORROW Monday 9th March. Pls RT & attend!
An interview with NSA whitleblower William Binney.
Our Labour Party branch down here in Dunedin South watched part of that interview. Just outstanding. Binney is incredibly talented and moral. People like him give me huge respect for some of the citizens of the USA.