I’ve a $20 bet since March that Trump will be out of the Whitehouse by Christmas.
I read that Muller is now briefing senior officials (unimplicated ones).
Is this a sign that my $20 is safe?
I think your bet is lost. Trump is currently the favourite candidate to win the presidency in 2020. (that said he is the incumbent and we do not know who will be running against him from the Democratic side. He is though a long shot to be out of office by the end of the year. http://www.betfair.com
It was more than nine months from the Saturday Night Massacre to Nixon’s resignation – and we haven’t yet had an equivalent to it in terms of open blatant misconduct for the express purpose of saving his own skin. Firing Comey didn’t come close. These things move slowly. Even if Mueller already has the evidence to put the Chump away for the rest of his life, Christmas is way too soon for anything to have happened.
1 Rt Hon Winston Peters
2 Ron Mark
3 Tracey Martin
4 Fletcher Tabuteau
5 Darroch Ball
6 Clayton Mitchell
7 Mark Patterson
8 Shane Jones
9 Jenny Marcroft
Half the GP caucus are based in Auckland. The NZF caucus tends to have more links with regions outside Auckland.
NZF could negotiate a coalition with either Nats or Labour, but they could also opt to sit on the cross benches, abstain from confidence and supply votes, and allow the Nats to run a minority government.
Hold it Sister: the GP did not win any electoral seats. The way you displayed the two lists is misleading. You seem to suggest that all the NZ F are list and the GP are electoral.
Please correct it.
Say what? the only differences is that the GP list numbers did not copy. They are at the link. But I would need to add each number individually. Is that really necessary?
The NZF numbers copied with the names from a straight copy and paste. Not my fault, and otherwise there is no indication I’m saying the GP MPs are electorate MPs.
My pick is that English would prefer another election to leading a minority government that could be out-voted on anything other than confidence and supply.
The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs.
National continue to show a disdain for democracy, they’ve not diversified the economy, they’ve gutted crucial areas like health, education and housing whilst selling out nz.
So personally I’d like to see them wear this one with Peters sniping away making them own the damage they’ve caused.
Bill can manage that rockstar economy they’ve been blathering on about so there’s a challenge for the DP acolytes.
It’s not in their hands, though. If Mr. English can’t accept a deal with NZ First (assuming he is even in a position to make one), then NZ First has other options before a new election is called, and English’s most likely immediate destination is opposition.
As we know National is under corporate control (English accompanied Key to the 2011/12 Bilderberg Group annual meeting) and since then has to deliver what they need to complete their mission out, in total control as you say correctly.
“The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs”
Interesting. But expecting Lab/NZF govt with Gs giving cross-bench support. Re-election would potentially strengthen nzf n G hands, as social electioneering would stand solid. Gnats must fold. Transition is safe and on-track.
No doubt co-incidental that one of the Nats backers is having a big-wig conference now as well.
:A white-shirted church member at the gate, Eddy Suckling, said it was “just a church conference”.
“There are a few from around the regions that have come in, just locals,” he said.
Suckling was unable to say how many people were inside, but cars were forced to park on the grass surrounding the 200-plus car park alongside the hall.
At least 15 white buses were lined up, as well as more than 20 white vans. Shiny white SUVs and utes filled the adjacent streets.”
Anyone want to make the argument that Bitcoin is actually a good and useful thing?
To me, it looks like the ultimate example of a thing that only has value because a bunch of people delude themselves it has value.
Bitcoin is not like fiat money, which in many ways is backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion.
Even gold and diamonds, while they are way overvalued because people are attracted by shiny things, actually have particular properties that make them useful.
But it looks to me like a bitcoin is nothing more than a certificate of gratuitously wasted computing time and electricity. See this article to illustrate how much goes into this waste.
Bitcoin is not like fiat money, which in many ways is backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion.
And the issuing state’s economy.
BitCoin is a perfect example of why bank money was actually made illegal. What happens, and we know this from history, is that multiple companies start making their own currency that a) isn’t universally accepted and b) creates far too much money for the economy.
Of course, that latter part is happening now as the private banks create huge amounts of money pushing up house prices.
Slow clap for du Plessis-Allan and her unilluminating ‘me me me’ Winston Peters nonsense in the Herald this morning. Served up in vintage, passive-aggressive du Plessis-Allan, sly-smile style.
From the top – “At Auckland airport this week, on my way down to Wellington, ‘ I ‘ bumped into a man from the capital.” Oh really ? Who cares how you get to work dear ?
Story is…….Winston will sit on the cross benches. Without even confidence and supply seemingly. Reasoning being that since first Maori PM’s not on……..then ‘Pfft’ to the flash job, the baubles, the government limos. Like no one else ever used one. I daresay du Plessis-Allan herself has greased her way into a few of those in her time.
You see Winston’s into “legacy”. But because National actually won this MMP election “fair and square” (at least in her FPP figurings), Winston should send English to the Governor-General vaunting a minority government, Wow ! Such “legacy”.
This would be Winston being “uncharacteristically responsible”. He’s going to (and should) cement in the “vacuum” of the last 14 days which [gulp] she and her cohort have snortingly bitched about for all of those 14 days. And the uncertainty will run for three lame duck years or until the sooner (inevitable) snap election.
The truth is that she and hubby Soper (“the man from the capital”?) seek to endorse the National Party’s perennial ‘entitlement’ burden. The National Party has served their vainglory for years now. Here’s hoping Mickey Savage doesn’t risk blowing his Shyte-Meter by passing through it this ‘Bazza ‘n’ Me Hate Winston’ nonsense.
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
Government is not fast food. It should be a well thought through thing. It has ONLY been 2 weeks.
This older generation better never speak again of the young folks need for instant gratification or bemoan their short concentration spans ( both of which are myths).
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
My daughter works at Domino’s, and apparently yes they do. For some people, the fact there are currently over a hundred pizza orders shouldn’t make theirs take any longer to arrive, and the fact that the votes haven’t been counted yet shouldn’t make forming a government take any longer. Like the poor, the stupid will always be with us.
Learning about our new MP’s on Q+A, feeling very proud to have these two women in Parliament.
I didn’t know that Angie, Labours new MP used to run the Womens Refugee in Tauranga, awesome, maybe some of her ideas gained from knowledge in that sector can help NZ with the insipid domestic violence that touches most of our lives.
Both well past their use by dates! Many years ago had the ‘pleasure’ of having a lot to do with Prebble as Minister of Transport. Was not a highlight of my career in the public service.
The report aligns with the American Cancer Society that the IARC report identifies hazards, whereas the regulatory authorities identify risks, and then the regulations required to keep people safe.
The IARC just assesses whether a particular thing might cause cancer in some people if they get a high enough dose of it. They don’t do any work on how high a dose might be needed. The EPA’s reviewed the evidence out there and not found any to suggest glyphosate might be a cancer risk at any dose it’s feasible for a human to encounter in everyday circumstances. Maybe if you were to sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of glyphosate on your Weetbix every morning for 50 years there’s a chance it might give you cancer, but who knows? The IARC certainly doesn’t. Maybe you’d need to eat a kilo a day to have a risk of getting cancer – that’s still “probably carcinogenic” from the IARC’s perspective.
Thing is, all these groups involve humans and agribusiness isn’t the only interest group lobbying them. The organic food industry, Green politicians and anti-glyphosate nutcases aren’t honest brokers in this any more than Monsanto is.
You could defend Round-Up on having a good GHG balance, but “safe-to-health” claims are shit-nuggets through a knowledge-filter. Tests on glyphosphate, may differ from tests on Round-up mix… and endless other hat-tricks to produce poison.
Nothing’s safe for your health if consumed in large enough quantities, up to and including pure water. The relevant question is: at what quantity does it become unsafe? Anti-glyphosate nutters might be convinced there’s no dose small enough to be allowed to enter the sacred temple of their bodies, but the EPA has to take a more objective view.
One Two is an unfortunate pseudo I think for this person. Indicates a low standard of numeracy. And spacing things out like mod poetry and enigmatically saying why to everything – what a waste of space. Tell me something about some subject with a source that might shed some light on our concerns please.
Despite the misgivings raised by responding to the kind of person who puts quotation marks around the word science….
looking at your history commenting when this subject comes up, you’re consistent in defending glyphosate
“Defending” glyphosate? What next? Nigger-lover? There’s nothing to “defend.”
An idiot might ‘think’ that’s the relevant question.
Well this particular “idiot” certainly thinks the EPA’s job in this case is to consider the potential harm of using glyphosate as a pesticide relative to the benefits of using it. If you hold a different view of its job, you’re going to need to elaborate because I seriously have no fucking idea what you’re on about.
The Rod Oram article seems to cover the issue very well – it shows that there is spin and selective interpretation both for aand against. The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better. Poisons can have long term effects – some of the orchard poisons that caused long term problems in a Hamilton subdivision also caused reductions in fertility – but they did increase production so that’s all right – ? We should at least know details of both sides of the equation . . . and that may require another government.
The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better.
In what way? Using axes and chainsaws involves health risks orders of magnitude higher than the possibility that someone might conceivably suffer cancer at some point in the future if they disregard the safety instructions for using glyphosate over a long period, and yet the forestry industry exists. X-rays are definitely carcinogenic, not probably, and at relatively low doses, and yet we still X-ray people because “net benefit.” It’s an entirely reasonable approach.
* Parscale and his team submitted the email addresses of all known Trump supporters in Facebook’s advertising system. They then got their Facebook profiles, which were sorted by, among other things, ethnicity, gender, and home district.
* Through the Facebook Lookalike Audiences tool, they identified “lookalikes”, i.e. other Facebook users with similar interests and profiles. In addition, they built an external database of, among others, GOP’s registry of approximately 100M Americans.
** By adding large amounts of information for each person in the database, for example, interest according to the person’s site statistics, personality type after prior behaviors such as online purchases, credit card purchases, insurance history, etc. they could segment the people into different categories of voters.
** After that, they created large amounts of overly relevant non-truthful news for each segment of people that were then targeted towards the right people on the right occasions.
** Ex: when Hillary was already embarrassed by the emails, they heaped on even more negative news towards the voters who were doubtful of Hillary. View at Medium.com
* Parscale’s team then bombarded the various profiles with targeted ads or articles through Facebook
* Nothing was left to chance: the team sent out tens of thousands of variations of the ads, which prompted quick acquiescence of what worked (so-called A/B-testing). On the day of the third presidential election debate between Trump and Clinton for example, 175 000 different ads where used.
Despite the ethically dubious goal, Project Alamo was not a secret intelligence operation: Brad Parscale and his co-workers have on multiple occasions openly talked about how they manipulated the American election process and actively undermined democracy.
This is what happens when private companies have free access to your data and you have no control over it.
If it’s on Facebook you have plenty of control over your information.
I’m not on Facebook, Baidu, Twitter, anything like that, and I have no loyalty cards.
But with my regular Google use they still know me pretty well.
If it’s on Facebook you have plenty of control over your information.
[Citation Needed]
And they’re not actually looking at the information. They’re using algorithms to see if one person ‘looks’ like another and then targeting those people with fake news.
I almost start to understand why the US public does not want to relinquish their right to bear arms. With the enemy within, it is difficult to argue against.
Maybe we are all looking at the wrong horizon for direction how to achieve peace and a reasonable trade world. Perhaps the US, being only 241 years old and despite technological advance just behaves like a child throwing a tantrum which we mistook for strength? There are no Homers or Socrates in sight, neither short nor long term.
INTERVIEWER: I mean, what were Facebook, Google and YouTube people actually doing here? Why were they here?
THERESA HONG: They were helping us, you know I mean they were basically our hands-on partners as far as being able to you know, utilize the platform as effectively as possible.
When you’re pumping in millions and millions of dollars to these social platforms, you’re gonna get white club treatment, so they would send people, you know, representatives, to the Project Alamo to ensure that all of our needs were being met
I don't know how many people are on Mueller's list to interview but I'm guessing she made like #17 pic.twitter.com/pN9qjXXId7
Facebook’s response? Hire a right-wing outlet to fact check news stories.
According to a new report from Quartz, Facebook plans to sign conservative magazine Weekly Standard as a fact checking partner. Several outlets currently work as fact checkers for the platform, though all the outlets Facebook has signed thus far have been approved by the Poynter Institute.
Scarey when you think of what they are doing and why. Privacy has become a thing of the past. Those fake ads are designed to get you thinking the way they want. Bastards.
Just watched M.Moore in the 9TH Floor on ex P.M’s.Interesting opinion he has of himself .Seems he still regards himself as a real Labour man’,despite embracing Rogernomics and globalisation.Mentioned that Douglas still regards Labour as ‘our party’ too.Had some interesting quotes from Lange,Churchill and Lloyd George,but the underlying timbre of the discourse appeared to me that he regards himself as a man of destiny that was…unlucky.
Duncan Garner has written an article backing Winston on immigration after his experience shopping in Kmart.
It has provoked a lot of criticism and support on Stuff and twitter.
Bradbury also writes this article
‘Why we urgently need to investigate Chinese influence over National’
‘The shocking reality that the National Party is little more than a front for Chinese business interests demands far more attention than it gained…
New research paper lays bare China’s influence campaign in New Zealand
Concerns raised over political donations and directorships offered to former ministers and relatives
Chinese-owned New Zealand dairy farms said to possibly being used to test advanced missile technology’
Keeps the white honkey’s and the Bro’s wages to a manageable level , eh what old boy?…. keeps them in their place, – all those commie unionists and what not…
Lets the other crowd in to invest and plunder the proceeds back to their home country , eh old sausage?… bit like the bally old English did , … my these foreigners learn fast , don’t they , say what ?
‘Rather than complaining about the racial make up of the people standing in line, the real story is why Kmart has been able to hollow out their staff for self-check outs. The economic system that exploits everyone shopping there is the issue, not the ethnicity of those forced to wait in line.
So what is this column really about?
A multinational retailer gutting worker rights to the same level of the sweat shop made products they import is crowded by poor people and migrants trying to stretch their dollar while a middle class white bloke happy to exploit the low prices brought about by globalisation hisses about immigrants because he has to wait in line with them.
To be honest, that kinda does sum up NZ almost perfectly doesn’t it?’
I think you’ll find that lot ( and others – witness the amount of Indian /Chinese exploiting recent immigrants from their home country and flouting our laws ) are only one section.
What we have here , – is enabled neo liberalism that sets worker against worker and unscrupulous employers reigning supreme.
I get a little sick and tired of wankers using the overdone cliched ‘oppressive white man’ card when every other bastard from every other race takes less than 1.5 seconds to realize an opportunity in order to exploit some other poor bastard regardless of their race .
I usually find the same sort of wankers actively encourage this sort of sanctimonious inverse racism because it suits their surreptitious pecuniary advantage to do so.
And if it was up to me ?
I would cut immigration massively and encourage taking on a much larger quota of refugees instead.
And not necessarily RICH ONES either.
That’d soon sort out all these parsimonious fuckers who like to play the race issue to further their own ends,… AND , – as well as THAT , – legislate an AWARD RATE for wages.
I can hear the wankers , the racists , the opportunist’s and the disgusting treasonous globalist shitters squealing from here as they kick their troughs over in panic….
The fuck with the whole howling , squawking sanctimonious hypocritical lot of them.
AND THAT’S ,… the power of balanced nationalism and taking a fucking pride in ones own country – and not being a doormat for FUCKING WANKERS.
I agree with him about Garner’s racism.
But I doubt we agree on much else.
Steve Cowan, a true leftie, writes.
‘A dedicated cheerleader for the market economy , Garner won’t place the responsibility for New Zealand’s economic and social problems at the door of those who are really responsible- successive governments, both Labour and National, who have pursued economic and social policies that have led inevitably to more poverty and inequality and more division.
We live in a society where market forces and values have been prioritised over basic human needs and aspirations. But Garner would rather scapegoat immigrants instead – even claiming they are responsible for stealing ‘our dreams’.’
Yep , – its the same old blaming the ‘ little people’ instead of looking at the shit – for – brains neo liberal treasonist’s who created the situation we are in.
Meanwhile ,… as the veneer is removed , we see both the privatized media and the globalist National party for the supercilious fuckers they really are.
Relax.
The Jeremy Corbyn effect / awakening is well on its way.
I get that warm fuzzy feeling every time I perceive neo liberal / treasonist scumbags suffering ,… sort of like ,… when you crack your ankle joints in the morning after a refreshing nights sleep,… you know,… that sense of ”oooo ”… mild slight dull ‘cracking ‘ pain but instant mobility and warmth in the joints…
Well ,… expelling neo liberals is much the same … mild pain at first but then a great sense of mobility , warmth and perception of circulation ,… a great feeling of ‘can do ‘ …
And that’s whats in store for us,… transcending the diseased state into the full picture of health once the virus is expelled… a little bit more , a little bit more application ,… and we will be all sitting around wondering what all the fuss was all about and why it took us all so long …
And that’s all neo liberalism ever was : a virus. An extremist far right wing virus concocted by neo NAZI’s and their sympathizers.
‘Foreign direct investment (ownership of companies) in New Zealand increased from $15.7 billion in March 1989 to $110.8 billion at March 2016 – over seven times. As a proportion of the total output of the economy, Gross Domestic Product, it has risen from 22% to 44%. Ownership of overseas companies by New Zealand residents has not grown as fast over that period (five and a half times) so net foreign direct investment has grown over eight times from a net liability of $8.8 billion to $72.8 billion, and as a percentage of GDP multiplied over two times from 13% of GDP to 29%.
Foreign owners controlled 36% of the share market in 2016. In 1989, the figure was 19% and it was estimated to be below 5% in 1986.
At March 2015, they owned an estimated 22% of the value of all equity (shareholdings) and 26% of privately owned equity of enterprises in New Zealand, including shares not listed on the stock exchange.
Foreign investors owned 24% (or $368 billion) of net wealth in New Zealand whose commercial net value totalled $1.5 trillion at March 2015. They owned 27% of private net wealth. This comprised housing, land, other property, plant, equipment and financial assets owned directly or indirectly by households, government, non-profit organisations and foreign investors. New Zealand residents owned a further $215 billion of investments abroad. (These totals exclude shared natural wealth such as rivers, and human and social capital.)’
And I hope the Moanday morning scumbag privatized newsmedia take notice ( as I KNOW they do because the lazy bastards look at these types of blogs to gauge some sort of ‘ public sentiment’ – I worked security at a major NZ TV network and was a fly on the wall, – to their detriment – like a ‘plant’ as it were …)
And I would just like to shove THIS in their faces for all the junior politico wanks who weren’t even born in 1984…
Here’s your fucking neo liberalism for ya,… and your fucking Ruth Richardson and her bullshit NZ Initiative mentality …
…………………………………………………………
Ken Douglas, then president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, recalled in the 1996 documentary Revolution:
The Employment Contracts Act was deliberately intended to individualize the employment relationship. It was a natural outcome of the ideological propaganda of rugged individualism, of self-interest and greed and the appeal to individuals that you could find better for you by climbing over the tops of your colleagues, your mates, and so on. Ruth Richardson was very clear, very blunt, very honest about its purpose. It was to achieve a dramatic lowering of wages, very, very quickly.
……………………………………………………………
There you go ,.. and Bolger the wanker crying his crocodile tears about ‘ neo liberalism was a mistake’… what a wanker.
As if he didn’t see the massive demonstrations at the time.
As if he didn’t realize what this would do to NZ society.
As if he didnt know what this would do to the NZ worker.
As if he didn’t know all the insider trading and the massive profits shifted offshore and the massive profits gained by his colleagues in the NZ Business Roundtable ( now renamed the NZ Initiative ).
What a total hypocritical cunt.
Him playing along with Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson , – BOTH Board of Directors of the Mont Pelerin Society of England.
What a piece of shit.
What a dirty filthy reptilian piece of snake scum.
Crack those ankles and feel good , people,… the awakening is happening.
And your about to be vindicated for every hateful thought you ever had against these wanking scum.
Apparently Canadians and the English own more property. Racism is stupid. Being worried about losing what we have is valid. I wish the 2 were kept separate.
Was interesting listening to the professor on Kim Hill Saturday who’s field is ‘electoral physiology’ talking about studies that show when people vote by postal ballot or internet they vote along more egocentric lines as opposed to actually going to the polling both. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201861544
Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet
WWF report finds 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets which put huge strain on Earth’s resources
‘The ongoing global appetite for meat is having a devastating impact on the environment driven by the production of crop-based feed for animals, a new report has warned.
The vast scale of growing crops such as soy to rear chickens, pigs and other animals puts an enormous strain on natural resources leading to the wide-scale loss of land and species, according to the study from the conservation charity WWF.’
…60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets…
That’s your spin on it. The non-spin version is that 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to growing crops to feed stock animals, which certainly is a stupid thing to do but isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet. So, not actually the same thing, but nice propaganda you’ve got there.
He did lead with: “Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet”
Is New Zealand’s pasture-based system included in the figure? If so, it would be even higher. Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is! Are you meaning some meat-based diets are serviced by hunting wild game? Wouldn’t be a very big %
Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is!
So, pasture and crops both reduce biodiversity. Which means the issue isn’t that a meat-based diet reduces biodiversity, it’s that having 7 billion-plus people on the planet reduces biodiversity.
Meat-eating necessitates a loss of diversity. Plant eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly, at least over that which exists presently. A mixed, managed woodland that’s filled with edible perennials and a sprinkling of annual vegetables would do it 🙂 As to population management, that’s a whole other story.
I expect meat-eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly as well. The problems are that we aren’t doing that either for plants or livestock, and we have way too many people to do it for everyone anyway. Whether people eat meat or not is of little relevance.
Pedantry!!!
🙂
Most lightly populated.
Least populated.
Most unpopulated.
Emptiest of people.
Quietest.
Most thinly populated.
Least peopled.
In any case, “least sparsely populated” means the opposite of what might have been intended (by my reckoning 🙂
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by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
The Ombudsman has been surveying people about their knowledge of the OIA and the right to information. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that widespread:The Chief Ombudsman says too many New Zealanders were in the dark over their right to access official information. Peter Boshier said an independent survey released yesterday on ...
In the wake of last Friday's climate strike, Peter McKenzie had an article in The Spinoff about protest strategies. The school strike movement is "polite" and cooperates with those in power because that's its kaupapa - its led by schoolkids who understandably don't want to risk arrest. But there's more ...
So, the latest ruminations on the gnews from Westminster (Again, sorry; I'll stop making that pun right now). This follows on from, and likely repeats bits of, my last post, on the suggestion that a Government of National Unity (GNU) should be set up and then oversee a referendum before ...
New Zealand likes to think of itself as not a racist country (despite being founded on the racist dispossession and subjugation of Maori). But for years, we've had a racist refugee policy, which basicly excludes refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have relatives here. Now, the ...
Several people have asked me whether a particular repeat litigant could be declared a vexatious litigant, in light of their recent decision to appeal an adverse High Court ruling. My nascent tweet thread was getting ridiculously long, so it became this blog post instead.The short answer is: no. The particular ...
Appealing To The Past: Action Zealandia, like so many of the organisations springing up on the far-Right, across what they call the “Anglosphere”, is born out of the profound confusion over what a man is supposed to be in the twenty-first century and, more importantly, what he is supposed to do.THE STATUE OF ...
The attempts of anti-democratic transactivists to (often violently) disrupt women’s rights organising is largely ignored by those sections of the left most prone to misogyny and authoritarianism in New Zealand. In Britain, however, scores of trade union and left activists added their names to a letter in July, defending ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill. The Bill would establish an independent, quasi-judicial body to investigate and review potential miscarriages of justice, and refer them back to the Court of appeal if required. It would be a vital backstop to our judiciary, help ...
by The Spark On September 14, a total of 22 drones and cruise missiles struck two oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais oil field. Abqaiq is the largest oil production facility in the world. For a few days afterwards, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi national ...
How much will NeoLiberal irregulation of the building sector and subsequent leaky homes crisis cost us? $47 billion, according to a new book:The total cost to fix all of New Zealand's leaky homes would be $47 billion, probably. The estimate comes from a new book, Rottenomics written by journalist Peter ...
Below is the start of another excellent article on the Freer Lives blog. Click onto the link at the end of this extract to read the full article. The punch-a-terf, kill-a-terf message pervades social media, always righteously delivered, chin held high. By contrast, the dehumanised “terfs” themselves, that is gender-critical ...
The Reserve Bank is currently planning tighter banking regulation, requiring banks to hold enough local capital to survive a 1-in-200 year financial crisis in order to protect consumers. The big Aussies banks, those foreign leeches who suck $5 billion in profit out of our economy every year, don't like that, ...
Its the usual story: a police officer beats a handcuffed suspect so hard they break one of their own fingers. The IPCA investigates and concludes that the use of force was unlawful. And the police refuse to do anything about it:A man punched repeatedly in the face by a police ...
From time to time we add links to our blogroll. The latest blog we have added is Freer Lives. This is a Marxist gender-critical blog, based in Melbourne, Australia. On it you will find a bunch of excellent articles which use the tools of Marxist analysis to critique the rise ...
Last Friday say the largest protest in a generation, as 170,000 people joined the school strike and marched to demand real action on climate change. The demands of the school strike were simple and clear: declare a climate emergency, set a climate target of net-zero by 2040, impose a total ...
Labour is a rather middle of the road capitalist party and earlier this year we discussed how far from being ‘transformative’, Ardern’s government is. An article published this week in the Guardian, by Bryce Edwards (political scientist and commentator at Victoria University), looks at Ardern’s business as usual performance. Where ...
In the hours since my last interminable wittering about the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain, there has been a slight maybe development:A Corbyn-led caretaker government could then sit for several months while it enacted and delivered a referendum with the support of smaller parties and ...
Jeremy Clarkson says much like Greta Thunberg, Anne Frank “didn’t like what was going on”, but “she didn’t have a tantrum about it.” Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has offered praise to historical figure Anne Frank, comparing her favourably to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who he attacked in ...
Press release by Speak Up For Women Lesbians from women’s rights group Speak Up For Women are furious at reports that Rainbow Tick are threatening Massey University with the removal of their ‘tick’ if they let the group’s event go ahead. The group has been under attack from trans ...
By Duncan Garner Before you jump down my throat, nobody cares about the environment more than me. I have a garden, and since my wife and I broke up, I’ve let it grow wildly out of control, so please don’t tell me I’m not doing enough for plants. They’re ten ...
Local government elections are upon us again. It is a fair bet that, when they are over, we will have all the usual complaints that, despite their undoubted importance, the turnout was depressingly low. So, why do local elections attract so little attention and involvement from the general public? I ...
Yesterday the High Court released its decision in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Limited, on the (alleged) decision by the Auckland Council and Mayor Phil Goff to deny use of a public venue to a pair of visiting nazi grifters. Based on the information available back then, I said that ...
Image credit:45 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Blog I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. ...
So, more on the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain.Two things, first. The numbers in parliament make things very difficult. And anyone who is saying X will happen or Y is impossible is spinning. We can not tell and will not know until votes are actually ...
The government is promising tough action against climate change via the Zero Carbon Bill and a strengthened ETS. Meanwhile, the Overseas investment Office is granting foreign coal companies permission to expand coal mining:Coal Action Network Aotearoa has slammed a decision by the Overseas Investment Office to allow Bathurst Coal to ...
Don't You Dare Let Them Down, Jacinda! Many New Zealanders, especially young New Zealanders, continue to believe that change – real change – is possible. Do we have criticisms about the way in which Jacinda’s government has gone about “transforming” New Zealand? Of course we do. But the very fact ...
. . With some historical and present context, it should become readily apparent to Pakeha that the occupation at Ihumātao is not a free-for-all conflict for any and everyone to become involved in. First, some important dates: . 1840 . The year in which the Treaty of Waitingi was signed. ...
If this is how you propose to defend free speech, then freedom of speech is in grave danger An open letter from James Robb to Jan Thomas, Vice-chancellor of Massey University Massey University in Wellington is the venue for an event on 13 November called Feminism 2020, organised by Speak Up For ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says Air New Zealand has "an obligation to look after Kiwis", and urged the national carrier not to hike up their prices after Jetstar airline announced their withdrawal from regional flights this week. The Provincial Champion also expressed his disappointment at Jetstar’s decision on ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help fund a new dredge for the Port of Greymouth to ensure the regional fishing fleet have a reliable and productive harbour, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “Last year the movements of ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said he was "immensely disappointed" at the withdrawal of the Jetstar airline from regional routes. He has also warned national carrier Air New Zealand not to capitalise on the Australian budget airline’s decision by “gouging” regional air travellers. "Air New Zealand has historically challenged ...
International credit ratings agency Moody's gave a glowing assessment of New Zealand’s economy in its latest report, which ranks the country’s economic strength as "very high" while saying growth remains "robust". The report says it's expected New Zealand's economy will grow between 2.5 and 3 percent in the next few ...
The Coalition Government is allocating nearly $6 million to a campaign to stop Australian beekeepers marketing their products as "mānuka" honey. This move comes after Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones accused Australian honey producers of trying to steal what was indigenous to New Zealand. "The Aussies are trying to ...
The Provincial Growth Fund has provided $400,000 to Great South to help the agency drive Southland's regional economic development aspirations. The funding will allow Great South, which is Southland's economic development agency, to appoint a portfolio manager and a project support adviser, who will provide project management expertise and support ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The One Billion Trees Fund has just hit two significant milestones that will create more than 7,500 hectares of new forest cover, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Speaking at a celebratory dinner at Parliament to mark 100 years of the New Zealand Forestry Service, Minister ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the New Zealand Transport Authority board, telling one of its new members to “get on with your job” or else they would get replaced. His comments come in response to a now deleted tweet from board member Patrick Reynolds, which ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
An additional $2.7 million has been announced for the Government Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation on the first anniversary of the strategy’s launch. Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson gave the opening address to the first Sport NZ Women + Girls Summit in Wellington today, ...
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. The move will: support skilled migrants who help fill New Zealand’s skills gaps by providing a pathway for ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has today announced Major General Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force has been selected as the commander of a significant, longstanding peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. In December, Major General Williams takes over as Force Commander for the Multinational Force and Observers ...
A record number of nurses are now working to deliver health services to New Zealanders as the Government’s increased funding and new initiatives rebuild key workforces start to show results, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. • 1458 more DHB nurses since the Government took office • 106 more midwives ...
Farmer and former Nuffield scholar Mel Poulton has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, announced today. The position supports key Government objectives, including raising the value of New Zealand agricultural goods and services. Mel is ...
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne. “Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 ...
“Fijian Language Week starts on Sunday and the theme reminds us how important it is that we each have something to anchor ourselves to, something that can help us pause and feel in control in a rapidly changing world,” says Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. “Family, culture, faith, ...
The Government is establishing an Airspace Integration Trials Programme to support the safe testing and development of advanced unmanned aircraft and accelerate their integration into the aviation system, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced today. The Government will work with leading, innovative aviation industry partners to test and ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today welcomed the NZ Transport Agency’s decision to fund urgent safety improvements and confirm the designation of the Ōtaki to North of Levin highway. Safety upgrades will be made along 23.4km of the existing state highway, running along SH1 from the end of the Peka Peka ...
New Zealand playing its part in Asia-Pacific and globally are behind changes announced today to the Coalition Government’s three year refugee quota policy, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “We are proud to be a welcoming and inclusive nation committed to supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people to rebuild ...
Creating thriving regions and inclusive local communities is the aim of the Welcoming Communities programme being rolled out across the country, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway today. A successful pilot of the scheme ran over the last 2 years led by Immigration New Zealand and involved ten councils across five regions ...
Takahē may be flightless but their population is flying high with the official count reaching 418 after a record breeding season that produced an estimated 65 juveniles, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. “The population reaching a high of 418 is great news for takahē which were considered ...
New Zealand is today taking action to reduce the potent global warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases, Climate Minister James Shaw and Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. “The global agreement to reduce these potent greenhouse gases is another step in New Zealand’s commitment to reduce global warming. It is estimated ...
The Inquiry has today published Minute No 21. This Minute sets out how the Inquiry intends to proceed given that the Attorney-General the Hon David Parker has agreed to extend the Inquiry’s reporting date by three months to 31 March 2020. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Skrzypiec, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University Many Australian students don’t know the difference between banter and bullying, with some saying they joke about wishing their friend would “drown” or “die in a car crash”. More than 800 Australian students aged 11-16 took ...
But he did play a crucial role in helping journeyman Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern.Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and ...
In the fifth episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect Artificial Intelligence has on our lives, Russell Brown speaks to Ben Reid, executive director of the AI Forum, about the role of government in embracing and regulating AI.Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below.To ...
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.Local government Henry Cooke (Stuff): How to lose an election: Over-promise or under-deliver Simon Collins ...
By RNZ Pacific A Solomon Islands province has agreed to lease a large island to a Chinese developer to develop into a special economic zone, weeks after the country opened diplomatic ties with China. But already cracks abound; there has been no official announcement and the provincial premier says the ...
The New Zealand First MP and Minister Shane Jones is still backing the firearms ban, despite being pictured with what appears to be an AR-15 semi-automatic while holidaying in Asia. ...
Everyone needs to be concerned about the draft National Policy Statement on Urban Development that the Ministry for the Environment has released. It is incompatible with the spirit of transparency and inclusiveness. ...
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Voters in the 2019 local elections have elected the largest number of new mayors in 30 years, with 26 candidates set to don mayoral chains for the first time later this month. ...
A team of investigators dedicated to stamping out violent extremism online is being set up with the government announcing $17 million in funding over four years. ...
In a major boost to efforts to counter violent extremism on the internet, the Government has promised $17m over four years to the Censorship Compliance Unit. ...
The final dinner party on Married at First Sight NZ brought an ugly misogyny to light. But it was far from the first time sexism reared its head this season, writes Alex Casey.It began with a man being edited out of the show after his domestic violence charges came to ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is recommending members hold on to potentially illegal shotgun shells containing steel shot until the law banning certain types of ammunition is clarified. ...
New collaborative gifting platform Joyable is looking to shake up how we group-purchase gifts. Co-founders (and sisters) Rochelle Sheldon and Kimberley Crossman explain how their latest venture works. Joyable (not to be confused with the social anxiety-reducing app of the same name) is a somewhat left-field move for co-founder Rochelle ...
The extraordinary battle for the Tron has ended in a way no one quite saw coming, with the city relinquishing its stranglehold on the title of New Zealand’s most embarrassing council. Angela Cuming reports.The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a ...
On the eve of the announcement of the winner of the 2019 Booker prize, Spinoff books editor Catherine Woulfe outs herself as a giant know-nothing. Booker time. Tomorrow morning I will sit there refreshing Twitter like the drinking bird on The Simpsons. A winner will be announced. And I’ll be gripped ...
National's claim that things only went south when Phil Twyford took charge of transport is not supported by us at CEAC and we see that this begun in 2008 as we witnessed the change then while working as a partnership group with NZTA then. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Melbourne There’s an old maxim: not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. But there are some things we should count, and gender and sexual diversity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Pollock, Climatologist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Northern Australia is likely to see fewer cyclones than usual this season, but hot, dry weather will increase the risk of fire and heatwaves across eastern and southern Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology today released ...
We are in The Good Time for avocados. Alex Casey talked to an expert on how to make the most of it. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time when a new avocado headline is published somewhere in New Zealandeverysingleday. A time when it is ...
Sexual harassment and assault are an issue in all walks of life, but addressing the problem is particularly difficult when the perpetrator holds public office. Today campaigner Carrie Buckmaster launches a parliamentary petition calling for more transparency on the issue.The ongoing Labour Party scandal around handling of sexual harassment allegations ...
Dunedin’s new mayor Aaron Hawkins is the first official Green Party mayor in NZ and, arguably, the first to represent the city’s student population as much as its older residents. Josie Adams, who guessed he would win, asked him ten questions about his win.The Spinoff local election ...
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (F&P) has upgraded its full year guidance again after gaining the right to sell its new full face mask in the United States. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Shadow foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia needs to “define the boundaries” of its engagement with China now the relationship between the two countries is in a new phase. Focusing on China policy in a ...
Canon Rugby in Focus: Ireland awaits an All Blacks team that will be well-rested. Perhaps too well-rested. Rested and ready, or a game short and not match fit. Those are the two scenarios that will have All Blacks fans fretting this week ahead of ...
With the government recently announcing a desire to help our cities grow up and out, leading New Zealand IoT expert Kriv Naicker today questioned whether New Zealand is falling behind in the use of smart city technology to help achieve this goal. ...
You famously said climate change was this generation’s nuclear-free moment. But when Extinction Rebellion uses the tactics of the Nuclear Free movement, you say you aren’t impressed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Regina Jefferies, Affiliate, Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW In the past five years, more than 95,000 people who arrived by plane have lodged a claim for asylum in Australia, new statistics show. Labor’s Immigration Spokesperson, Senator Kristina ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Waller, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Organs from potential donors once rejected as being unsafe to transplant may not be as risky as once thought, new Australian research shows. Our study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, suggests organs from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Merrilyn Delporte, PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology Australia’s refugee policy has led to a two-track education system. Those processed offshore, and deemed refugees by the time they have arrived in Australia, are entitled to fee support for university. But the almost ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marion Terrill, Transport and Cities Program Director, Grattan Institute Congestion charging should be introduced in Australia’s largest cities, as Grattan Institute’s latest report shows. Our analysis also finds that the people who commute to the Melbourne and Sydney CBDs by driving are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David C. Ribar, Professorial Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Australia, like the United States, makes it hard for people who get benefits to stay on them. It’s not simply a matter of withdrawing benefits as people get jobs and work more hours ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana Silkatcheva, Doctoral Candidate (Oriental Studies – Islamic Art and Archaeology), University of Oxford; Curatorial Researcher, Nicholson Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney In 2005, the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) opened Australia’s first permanent galleries of Islamic art. ...
Council's can expected more pressure from their own ranks to tackle climate change with a new crop of young councillors determined to fight it head on. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Analysis that hits the mark after a big weekend of local elections, new party poll released, and Dunedinites turn out to clean up in honour of killed student.By now, you probably know whether or not you have a new local ...
Would any of the politicians who opposed the marriage equality bill have voted differently if it had passed today? Greta Yeoman asked them.Just over five years ago, New Zealand politicians voted 77-44 to legalise gay marriage, making this country the 13th in the world to do so. Of the 44 ...
We have been on a collision course with freshwater in this country for over a century, writes Dr Jonathan West. Time to make some uncomfortable choices. ...
Teenager Ella Benn has lost part of her left leg, and part of her right lung, to cancer. But with the guidance of a Paralympic legend, she's determined to be a swimming star in her own right. ...
Spark Sport’s six year deal with New Zealand cricket has dealt another blow to Sky TV. The company’s share price has sunk to an all-time low and as Mark Jennings writes, its future existence depends on winning rugby rights. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The ALP has announced an inquiry into the head office of the NSW ALP, after weeks of shocking revelations at the Independent Commission against Corruption about scandals in the handling of donations. The review, announced ...
The new Canterbury Regional Council is set to have a 50-50 gender balance, a younger average age, and people from backgrounds including law, science, farming, insurance and landscape architecture. ...
Aucklanders did not turn out in their droves to vote for incumbent Phil Goff but nor did they embrace the erratic campaigning of challenger John Tamihere. ...
Four of NZ's six largest cities changed mayors on Saturday, three through incumbents being ousted at the local polls. The new crew now need to be the change they promised. ...
Hayden Donnell identifies who did well, and who got massively owned, in the 2019 local elections.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.Most of these winners and losers lists fail to capture the nuances ...
Sophie Handford, one of the country's youngest new councillors, hadn't expected to get elected and was at a barn dance when she found out the results. ...
Arms Bill a Legislative Colander: Must Be Rewritten SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER 2019 The Arms Bill has been written so poorly than it must be abandoned and rewritten, according to the Council of Licenced Firearm Owners, COLFO. ...
In one of the biggest surprises of the local elections, Andy Foster has seized the Wellington mayoralty from Justin Lester. In this cheat sheet, we answer some of the big questions about Andy Foster, such as ‘who is Andy Foster?’ The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff ...
Wellington mayoral frontrunner Andy Foster says if he gets into office his backer Sir Peter Jackson won't be influencing what happens within the new council. ...
Fritters are a New Zealand classic and these ones, packed with fresh spring produce, make a perfect light lunch or dinner.Spring is well and truly upon us – my garden has exploded and I take such pleasure in being able to harvest its bounty on a daily basis. We are ...
Anna Knox, who spent four years living in Saudi Arabia, has been waiting for a book like Celestial Bodies – a story that shakes up entrenched ideas of women in the Middle East. Early on in Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies, Abdullah, son of Sulayman the Merchant, describes his family home in the ...
Madeleine Chapman celebrates the girl truths of Netflix’s hit show about puberty, Big Mouth.Girls are horny too. Girls are angry too. How to have an orgasm. The episode titles of Big Mouth are literal and accurate. Girls are horny too! Girls are angry too! How to have an orgasm!Big Mouth follows ...
The Māori Party has selected Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to win back the Te Tai Hauāuru seat in next year’s general election, it announced at its AGM in Whangaehu today. ...
Open Mike 08/10/2017 
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I’ve a $20 bet since March that Trump will be out of the Whitehouse by Christmas.
I read that Muller is now briefing senior officials (unimplicated ones).
Is this a sign that my $20 is safe?
Is there Book on it?
I think your bet is lost. Trump is currently the favourite candidate to win the presidency in 2020. (that said he is the incumbent and we do not know who will be running against him from the Democratic side. He is though a long shot to be out of office by the end of the year. http://www.betfair.com
It was more than nine months from the Saturday Night Massacre to Nixon’s resignation – and we haven’t yet had an equivalent to it in terms of open blatant misconduct for the express purpose of saving his own skin. Firing Comey didn’t come close. These things move slowly. Even if Mueller already has the evidence to put the Chump away for the rest of his life, Christmas is way too soon for anything to have happened.
The NZ First and Green Party caucuses are divided markedly by gender. NZF’s 9 MPs includes 2 women and the GP 8 MPs include 2 men;
NZF MPs:
1 Rt Hon Winston Peters
2 Ron Mark
3 Tracey Martin
4 Fletcher Tabuteau
5 Darroch Ball
6 Clayton Mitchell
7 Mark Patterson
8 Shane Jones
9 Jenny Marcroft
GP MPs:
James Shaw (Wellington Central)
Marama Davidson (Tamaki Makaurau)
Julie Anne Genter (Mt Albert)
Eugenie Sage (Port Hills)
Gareth Hughes (East Coast)
Jan Logie (Mana)
Chlöe Swarbrick (Maungakiekie)
Golriz Ghahraman (Te Atatu)
Half the GP caucus are based in Auckland. The NZF caucus tends to have more links with regions outside Auckland.
NZF could negotiate a coalition with either Nats or Labour, but they could also opt to sit on the cross benches, abstain from confidence and supply votes, and allow the Nats to run a minority government.
Interesting, there is balance to be found there 😀
Hold it Sister: the GP did not win any electoral seats. The way you displayed the two lists is misleading. You seem to suggest that all the NZ F are list and the GP are electoral.
Please correct it.
Say what? the only differences is that the GP list numbers did not copy. They are at the link. But I would need to add each number individually. Is that really necessary?
The NZF numbers copied with the names from a straight copy and paste. Not my fault, and otherwise there is no indication I’m saying the GP MPs are electorate MPs.
I would have thought the point of showing the GP locations/electorates was because of the comment about the number of Ak MPs.
Would the governor General accept a government that could not show that it had 51% support in the house?
My pick is that English would prefer another election to leading a minority government that could be out-voted on anything other than confidence and supply.
The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs.
National continue to show a disdain for democracy, they’ve not diversified the economy, they’ve gutted crucial areas like health, education and housing whilst selling out nz.
So personally I’d like to see them wear this one with Peters sniping away making them own the damage they’ve caused.
Bill can manage that rockstar economy they’ve been blathering on about so there’s a challenge for the DP acolytes.
Oh yeah, the Rock Star Economy:
“Sell your soul to the company. They’re all waiting there to sell plastic wares…”
It’s not in their hands, though. If Mr. English can’t accept a deal with NZ First (assuming he is even in a position to make one), then NZ First has other options before a new election is called, and English’s most likely immediate destination is opposition.
Ab 100%
I see it this way to.
As we know National is under corporate control (English accompanied Key to the 2011/12 Bilderberg Group annual meeting) and since then has to deliver what they need to complete their mission out, in total control as you say correctly.
“The Nats’ born to rule sense of entitlement is too strong to tolerate it. National’s coffers are full and they could fight another, probably even nastier, election with MMP itself in the crosshairs”
Interesting. But expecting Lab/NZF govt with Gs giving cross-bench support. Re-election would potentially strengthen nzf n G hands, as social electioneering would stand solid. Gnats must fold. Transition is safe and on-track.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/97629437/exclusive-brethren-supreme-leader-bruce-hales-in-nz-to-curb-wicked-behaviour
No doubt co-incidental that one of the Nats backers is having a big-wig conference now as well.
:A white-shirted church member at the gate, Eddy Suckling, said it was “just a church conference”.
“There are a few from around the regions that have come in, just locals,” he said.
Suckling was unable to say how many people were inside, but cars were forced to park on the grass surrounding the 200-plus car park alongside the hall.
At least 15 white buses were lined up, as well as more than 20 white vans. Shiny white SUVs and utes filled the adjacent streets.”
I wonder what Don Brash is up to this weekend
Brash was on Radio live an hour ago with some other right wing nutters.
surely not… lmao 😀
I’m learning all the time, and found this article about difference between a Coalition government and Confidence & Supply one, very informative. However, are there rules within a NZ context which defines what legislation other than budget expenditure that gets passed with C&S?
Anyone want to make the argument that Bitcoin is actually a good and useful thing?
To me, it looks like the ultimate example of a thing that only has value because a bunch of people delude themselves it has value.
Bitcoin is not like fiat money, which in many ways is backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion.
Even gold and diamonds, while they are way overvalued because people are attracted by shiny things, actually have particular properties that make them useful.
But it looks to me like a bitcoin is nothing more than a certificate of gratuitously wasted computing time and electricity. See this article to illustrate how much goes into this waste.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/why-the-biggest-bitcoin-mines-are-in-china
Works if you are a criminal seeking to evade tax, or evade all state scrutiny.
The Chinese government is on to them.
“To me, it looks like the ultimate example of a thing that only has value because a bunch of people delude themselves it has value”
Sounds like it has that in common with the share market to me.
And the issuing state’s economy.
BitCoin is a perfect example of why bank money was actually made illegal. What happens, and we know this from history, is that multiple companies start making their own currency that a) isn’t universally accepted and b) creates far too much money for the economy.
Of course, that latter part is happening now as the private banks create huge amounts of money pushing up house prices.
Worth a read
https://e-tangata.co.nz/news/veronica-tawhai-building-hope-that-there-can-be-change
Awesome wahine toa
I once knew her parents; awesome people and I’m chuffed to read of their daughter. Thanks marty.
Thank’s Marty. That’s a web site I’ll now visit regularly.
Thanks so much for that link. Excellent read and site, now bookmarked etc for the future.
Slow clap for du Plessis-Allan and her unilluminating ‘me me me’ Winston Peters nonsense in the Herald this morning. Served up in vintage, passive-aggressive du Plessis-Allan, sly-smile style.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11930019
From the top – “At Auckland airport this week, on my way down to Wellington, ‘ I ‘ bumped into a man from the capital.” Oh really ? Who cares how you get to work dear ?
Story is…….Winston will sit on the cross benches. Without even confidence and supply seemingly. Reasoning being that since first Maori PM’s not on……..then ‘Pfft’ to the flash job, the baubles, the government limos. Like no one else ever used one. I daresay du Plessis-Allan herself has greased her way into a few of those in her time.
You see Winston’s into “legacy”. But because National actually won this MMP election “fair and square” (at least in her FPP figurings), Winston should send English to the Governor-General vaunting a minority government, Wow ! Such “legacy”.
This would be Winston being “uncharacteristically responsible”. He’s going to (and should) cement in the “vacuum” of the last 14 days which [gulp] she and her cohort have snortingly bitched about for all of those 14 days. And the uncertainty will run for three lame duck years or until the sooner (inevitable) snap election.
The truth is that she and hubby Soper (“the man from the capital”?) seek to endorse the National Party’s perennial ‘entitlement’ burden. The National Party has served their vainglory for years now. Here’s hoping Mickey Savage doesn’t risk blowing his Shyte-Meter by passing through it this ‘Bazza ‘n’ Me Hate Winston’ nonsense.
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
Government is not fast food. It should be a well thought through thing. It has ONLY been 2 weeks.
This older generation better never speak again of the young folks need for instant gratification or bemoan their short concentration spans ( both of which are myths).
Pfffffff
Do these people get angry when a Fast Food giant tells them they have to wait 2 minutes for their order?
My daughter works at Domino’s, and apparently yes they do. For some people, the fact there are currently over a hundred pizza orders shouldn’t make theirs take any longer to arrive, and the fact that the votes haven’t been counted yet shouldn’t make forming a government take any longer. Like the poor, the stupid will always be with us.
Learning about our new MP’s on Q+A, feeling very proud to have these two women in Parliament.
I didn’t know that Angie, Labours new MP used to run the Womens Refugee in Tauranga, awesome, maybe some of her ideas gained from knowledge in that sector can help NZ with the insipid domestic violence that touches most of our lives.
Well done NZ for voting in these two MP’s.
Prebbles last column bemoaning the power of one man. Irony alert anyone?
Prebbles? Or do you mean Rodney Hide’s last column in the Herald today? Hurrah!
Oops. I meant Hide. Of course they are interchangeable.
Both well past their use by dates! Many years ago had the ‘pleasure’ of having a lot to do with Prebble as Minister of Transport. Was not a highlight of my career in the public service.
Good piece by Rod Oram at Newsroom exposing the reprehensible Jacqueline Rowarth and her pro-agribusiness lies and disinformation about Monsanto’s Roundup poison. Thirty pieces of silver, Jacquie? https:// http://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/10/07/52025/concerns-at-okay-for-roundup-poison.
Rowarth is correct, as per her response in the comments thread of this Sciblogs post linked from Oram’s article:
The report aligns with the American Cancer Society that the IARC report identifies hazards, whereas the regulatory authorities identify risks, and then the regulations required to keep people safe.
The IARC just assesses whether a particular thing might cause cancer in some people if they get a high enough dose of it. They don’t do any work on how high a dose might be needed. The EPA’s reviewed the evidence out there and not found any to suggest glyphosate might be a cancer risk at any dose it’s feasible for a human to encounter in everyday circumstances. Maybe if you were to sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of glyphosate on your Weetbix every morning for 50 years there’s a chance it might give you cancer, but who knows? The IARC certainly doesn’t. Maybe you’d need to eat a kilo a day to have a risk of getting cancer – that’s still “probably carcinogenic” from the IARC’s perspective.
Thing is, all these groups involve humans and agribusiness isn’t the only interest group lobbying them. The organic food industry, Green politicians and anti-glyphosate nutcases aren’t honest brokers in this any more than Monsanto is.
I suspect if you sprinkled a couple of spoonfuls of roundup on your weetbix every morning you would risk ending up in organ failure.
Don’t try this at home, kids!
You could defend Round-Up on having a good GHG balance, but “safe-to-health” claims are shit-nuggets through a knowledge-filter. Tests on glyphosphate, may differ from tests on Round-up mix… and endless other hat-tricks to produce poison.
“You could defend Round-Up on having a good GHG balance”
How so?
Nothing’s safe for your health if consumed in large enough quantities, up to and including pure water. The relevant question is: at what quantity does it become unsafe? Anti-glyphosate nutters might be convinced there’s no dose small enough to be allowed to enter the sacred temple of their bodies, but the EPA has to take a more objective view.
An idiot might ‘think’ that’s the relevant question..
But it isn’t!
Can you figure out what is?
PS, looking at your history commenting when this subject comes up, you’re consistent in defending glyphosate
I would suggest you spend some more time looking into the revolving door, before citing the EPA
Widen the focus and stop pretending you understand the relevant ‘science’…you do not
Citing?
😆
You don’t need to cite the EPA to understand the relationship between dosage and toxicity.
Please don’t bother answering this, you wretched fool.
No amygdala reference…
Dosage and toxity is not the question either
It’s incorrect framing of a relevant question
You’re a fan of censorship…well done..
I’m not!
Five sentences. Nothing substantive imparted.
One Two is an unfortunate pseudo I think for this person. Indicates a low standard of numeracy. And spacing things out like mod poetry and enigmatically saying why to everything – what a waste of space. Tell me something about some subject with a source that might shed some light on our concerns please.
Despite the misgivings raised by responding to the kind of person who puts quotation marks around the word science….
looking at your history commenting when this subject comes up, you’re consistent in defending glyphosate
“Defending” glyphosate? What next? Nigger-lover? There’s nothing to “defend.”
An idiot might ‘think’ that’s the relevant question.
Well this particular “idiot” certainly thinks the EPA’s job in this case is to consider the potential harm of using glyphosate as a pesticide relative to the benefits of using it. If you hold a different view of its job, you’re going to need to elaborate because I seriously have no fucking idea what you’re on about.
The Rod Oram article seems to cover the issue very well – it shows that there is spin and selective interpretation both for aand against. The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better. Poisons can have long term effects – some of the orchard poisons that caused long term problems in a Hamilton subdivision also caused reductions in fertility – but they did increase production so that’s all right – ? We should at least know details of both sides of the equation . . . and that may require another government.
Rod Oram writing a lot of good stuff at Newroom.
The concept of “net benefit” on an undefined basis that offsets health risks against production increases is scary in hiding components – we should be able to do better.
In what way? Using axes and chainsaws involves health risks orders of magnitude higher than the possibility that someone might conceivably suffer cancer at some point in the future if they disregard the safety instructions for using glyphosate over a long period, and yet the forestry industry exists. X-rays are definitely carcinogenic, not probably, and at relatively low doses, and yet we still X-ray people because “net benefit.” It’s an entirely reasonable approach.
Trump’s fake news factory
This is what happens when private companies have free access to your data and you have no control over it.
If it’s on Facebook you have plenty of control over your information.
I’m not on Facebook, Baidu, Twitter, anything like that, and I have no loyalty cards.
But with my regular Google use they still know me pretty well.
[Citation Needed]
And they’re not actually looking at the information. They’re using algorithms to see if one person ‘looks’ like another and then targeting those people with fake news.
Dont forget push polling of which Joyce was quite the fan…
Push polling type question… would you still support Bill English if he was homosexual… type of thing
I almost start to understand why the US public does not want to relinquish their right to bear arms. With the enemy within, it is difficult to argue against.
Yeah, the next govt wants budget to counter lobby, eg. Front- n cross-benches with body-doubles n social PR unit.
Maybe we are all looking at the wrong horizon for direction how to achieve peace and a reasonable trade world. Perhaps the US, being only 241 years old and despite technological advance just behaves like a child throwing a tantrum which we mistook for strength? There are no Homers or Socrates in sight, neither short nor long term.
Draco didn’t National worms follow the same plan over this election? I don’t follow Facebook but I hear that it was happening.
Probably but I haven’t seen anything on it.
Trumps digital leader –
(around 2:35 into the video clip)
INTERVIEWER: I mean, what were Facebook, Google and YouTube people actually doing here? Why were they here?
THERESA HONG: They were helping us, you know I mean they were basically our hands-on partners as far as being able to you know, utilize the platform as effectively as possible.
When you’re pumping in millions and millions of dollars to these social platforms, you’re gonna get white club treatment, so they would send people, you know, representatives, to the Project Alamo to ensure that all of our needs were being met
Another reason to ditch Facebook.
Facebook helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency with fake Russian accounts and ads from the country that were pro-Trump, undermined the Clinton campaign, stoked arguments about social issues, and shared fake news stories.
The platform also embedded Republican employees with the Trump campaign to assist with ad technology, according to a new 60 Minutes interview with the campaign’s digital media director.
Facebook’s response? Hire a right-wing outlet to fact check news stories.
According to a new report from Quartz, Facebook plans to sign conservative magazine Weekly Standard as a fact checking partner. Several outlets currently work as fact checkers for the platform, though all the outlets Facebook has signed thus far have been approved by the Poynter Institute.
https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-weekly-standard-fact-check-8dfc1cba987c/
Scarey when you think of what they are doing and why. Privacy has become a thing of the past. Those fake ads are designed to get you thinking the way they want. Bastards.
Just watched M.Moore in the 9TH Floor on ex P.M’s.Interesting opinion he has of himself .Seems he still regards himself as a real Labour man’,despite embracing Rogernomics and globalisation.Mentioned that Douglas still regards Labour as ‘our party’ too.Had some interesting quotes from Lange,Churchill and Lloyd George,but the underlying timbre of the discourse appeared to me that he regards himself as a man of destiny that was…unlucky.
Douglas Moore Goff Prebble Lange…
Where are they now… and after finishing politics
Who are serving society and who went on to serve themselves…
Apparently Pebble was on the telly this morning being asked for his reckons 🙄
Good god. Why dont they just quit pretending and call Alan Gibbs
lol. I’d have less of a problem if they were balancing it with left wing voices.
Josie Pagani almost sounded left wing on telly the other day
NOoooooo. Was that by comparison to who else was on?
Probably… was she on with Mr Mapp? I cannot recall cos I didnt watch for long.
Maybe Nandor needs to some writing/appearances?
He would be a very interesting political commentator!
I believe Lange is deceased as for the others …
Just dead inside?
Moore et al = delusional.
Probably because they can feel the chill winds of time blowing and can see the Grim Reaper at Monty Python’s dinner party : “It was neoliberalism!”
Is Kelvin Davis still getting political advice from Josi Pagani? I hope not.
Duncan Garner has written an article backing Winston on immigration after his experience shopping in Kmart.
It has provoked a lot of criticism and support on Stuff and twitter.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/97625919/duncan-garner-dear-nz-how-do-we-want-to-look-in-20-years
https://twitter.com/DuncanGarnerNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Bomber Bradbury’s analysis is excellent.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/10/08/why-duncan-garners-k-mart-checkout-metaphor-is-actually-delightfully-perfect/
Bradbury also writes this article
‘Why we urgently need to investigate Chinese influence over National’
‘The shocking reality that the National Party is little more than a front for Chinese business interests demands far more attention than it gained…
New research paper lays bare China’s influence campaign in New Zealand
Concerns raised over political donations and directorships offered to former ministers and relatives
Chinese-owned New Zealand dairy farms said to possibly being used to test advanced missile technology’
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/10/06/why-we-urgently-need-to-investigate-chinese-influence-over-national/
Garners a racist fuck wit.
Does Garner ever look around and think look at all those fucking Germans/Swedes/Russians?Polish etc.
No, he doesn’t because they’re White, Garners sees Black and Brown faces and automatically thinks Foreigner, not New Zealanders
He’s a thick as pig shit rat-eyed racist arsehole.
I agree with you.
And I think New Zealand needs a mature discussion about immigration, identity and infrastructure.
Gotta love those cheap waged imports , eh ?
Keeps the white honkey’s and the Bro’s wages to a manageable level , eh what old boy?…. keeps them in their place, – all those commie unionists and what not…
Lets the other crowd in to invest and plunder the proceeds back to their home country , eh old sausage?… bit like the bally old English did , … my these foreigners learn fast , don’t they , say what ?
Martin Bradbury’s analysis of Garner’s piece.
‘Rather than complaining about the racial make up of the people standing in line, the real story is why Kmart has been able to hollow out their staff for self-check outs. The economic system that exploits everyone shopping there is the issue, not the ethnicity of those forced to wait in line.
So what is this column really about?
A multinational retailer gutting worker rights to the same level of the sweat shop made products they import is crowded by poor people and migrants trying to stretch their dollar while a middle class white bloke happy to exploit the low prices brought about by globalisation hisses about immigrants because he has to wait in line with them.
To be honest, that kinda does sum up NZ almost perfectly doesn’t it?’
… ” middle class white bloke ” …
I think you’ll find that lot ( and others – witness the amount of Indian /Chinese exploiting recent immigrants from their home country and flouting our laws ) are only one section.
What we have here , – is enabled neo liberalism that sets worker against worker and unscrupulous employers reigning supreme.
I get a little sick and tired of wankers using the overdone cliched ‘oppressive white man’ card when every other bastard from every other race takes less than 1.5 seconds to realize an opportunity in order to exploit some other poor bastard regardless of their race .
I usually find the same sort of wankers actively encourage this sort of sanctimonious inverse racism because it suits their surreptitious pecuniary advantage to do so.
And if it was up to me ?
I would cut immigration massively and encourage taking on a much larger quota of refugees instead.
And not necessarily RICH ONES either.
That’d soon sort out all these parsimonious fuckers who like to play the race issue to further their own ends,… AND , – as well as THAT , – legislate an AWARD RATE for wages.
I can hear the wankers , the racists , the opportunist’s and the disgusting treasonous globalist shitters squealing from here as they kick their troughs over in panic….
The fuck with the whole howling , squawking sanctimonious hypocritical lot of them.
AND THAT’S ,… the power of balanced nationalism and taking a fucking pride in ones own country – and not being a doormat for FUCKING WANKERS.
Totally agree.
I would be very wary about agreeing with BM if I were you….
I agree with him about Garner’s racism.
But I doubt we agree on much else.
Steve Cowan, a true leftie, writes.
‘A dedicated cheerleader for the market economy , Garner won’t place the responsibility for New Zealand’s economic and social problems at the door of those who are really responsible- successive governments, both Labour and National, who have pursued economic and social policies that have led inevitably to more poverty and inequality and more division.
We live in a society where market forces and values have been prioritised over basic human needs and aspirations. But Garner would rather scapegoat immigrants instead – even claiming they are responsible for stealing ‘our dreams’.’
Yep , – its the same old blaming the ‘ little people’ instead of looking at the shit – for – brains neo liberal treasonist’s who created the situation we are in.
Meanwhile ,… as the veneer is removed , we see both the privatized media and the globalist National party for the supercilious fuckers they really are.
Relax.
The Jeremy Corbyn effect / awakening is well on its way.
That what I hope…
🙂
Me too…. but as I’ve said time and again….
Time is on our/ your / my side.
And that’s just what the far right neo liberal hates to hear.
They know its true.
I like your positive thoughts.
😊
I get that warm fuzzy feeling every time I perceive neo liberal / treasonist scumbags suffering ,… sort of like ,… when you crack your ankle joints in the morning after a refreshing nights sleep,… you know,… that sense of ”oooo ”… mild slight dull ‘cracking ‘ pain but instant mobility and warmth in the joints…
Well ,… expelling neo liberals is much the same … mild pain at first but then a great sense of mobility , warmth and perception of circulation ,… a great feeling of ‘can do ‘ …
And that’s whats in store for us,… transcending the diseased state into the full picture of health once the virus is expelled… a little bit more , a little bit more application ,… and we will be all sitting around wondering what all the fuss was all about and why it took us all so long …
And that’s all neo liberalism ever was : a virus. An extremist far right wing virus concocted by neo NAZI’s and their sympathizers.
New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html
From CAFCA’s website.
‘Foreign direct investment (ownership of companies) in New Zealand increased from $15.7 billion in March 1989 to $110.8 billion at March 2016 – over seven times. As a proportion of the total output of the economy, Gross Domestic Product, it has risen from 22% to 44%. Ownership of overseas companies by New Zealand residents has not grown as fast over that period (five and a half times) so net foreign direct investment has grown over eight times from a net liability of $8.8 billion to $72.8 billion, and as a percentage of GDP multiplied over two times from 13% of GDP to 29%.
Foreign owners controlled 36% of the share market in 2016. In 1989, the figure was 19% and it was estimated to be below 5% in 1986.
At March 2015, they owned an estimated 22% of the value of all equity (shareholdings) and 26% of privately owned equity of enterprises in New Zealand, including shares not listed on the stock exchange.
Foreign investors owned 24% (or $368 billion) of net wealth in New Zealand whose commercial net value totalled $1.5 trillion at March 2015. They owned 27% of private net wealth. This comprised housing, land, other property, plant, equipment and financial assets owned directly or indirectly by households, government, non-profit organisations and foreign investors. New Zealand residents owned a further $215 billion of investments abroad. (These totals exclude shared natural wealth such as rivers, and human and social capital.)’
Brilliant !
And I hope the Moanday morning scumbag privatized newsmedia take notice ( as I KNOW they do because the lazy bastards look at these types of blogs to gauge some sort of ‘ public sentiment’ – I worked security at a major NZ TV network and was a fly on the wall, – to their detriment – like a ‘plant’ as it were …)
And I would just like to shove THIS in their faces for all the junior politico wanks who weren’t even born in 1984…
Here’s your fucking neo liberalism for ya,… and your fucking Ruth Richardson and her bullshit NZ Initiative mentality …
…………………………………………………………
Ken Douglas, then president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, recalled in the 1996 documentary Revolution:
The Employment Contracts Act was deliberately intended to individualize the employment relationship. It was a natural outcome of the ideological propaganda of rugged individualism, of self-interest and greed and the appeal to individuals that you could find better for you by climbing over the tops of your colleagues, your mates, and so on. Ruth Richardson was very clear, very blunt, very honest about its purpose. It was to achieve a dramatic lowering of wages, very, very quickly.
……………………………………………………………
There you go ,.. and Bolger the wanker crying his crocodile tears about ‘ neo liberalism was a mistake’… what a wanker.
As if he didn’t see the massive demonstrations at the time.
As if he didn’t realize what this would do to NZ society.
As if he didnt know what this would do to the NZ worker.
As if he didn’t know all the insider trading and the massive profits shifted offshore and the massive profits gained by his colleagues in the NZ Business Roundtable ( now renamed the NZ Initiative ).
What a total hypocritical cunt.
Him playing along with Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson , – BOTH Board of Directors of the Mont Pelerin Society of England.
What a piece of shit.
What a dirty filthy reptilian piece of snake scum.
Crack those ankles and feel good , people,… the awakening is happening.
And your about to be vindicated for every hateful thought you ever had against these wanking scum.
Apparently Canadians and the English own more property. Racism is stupid. Being worried about losing what we have is valid. I wish the 2 were kept separate.
I agree.
We urgently need a mature discussion about immigration, identity and infrastructure.
However, it just may be too late.
Hi weka,
I’ve sent you a message.
School holidays.
I’m bored ! ,… is the cry … send em along for a little bit of this…. or then again, perhaps not.
Alice Cooper – School’s Out (from Alice Cooper: Trashes The World …
TransCanada Corp’s Energy East tarsands pipeline has been canned and both the Keystone XL and Trans Mountain projects are on shakey ground.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/10/05/news/disappointment-and-delight-mark-death-energy-east-pipeline
http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/energy-east-death-pins-oil-sands-hopes-on-two-troubled-pipelines
http://www1.aer.ca/ST98/figures/transporation_facilities/figure_9_2.jpg
Was interesting listening to the professor on Kim Hill Saturday who’s field is ‘electoral physiology’ talking about studies that show when people vote by postal ballot or internet they vote along more egocentric lines as opposed to actually going to the polling both.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201861544
Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet
WWF report finds 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets which put huge strain on Earth’s resources
‘The ongoing global appetite for meat is having a devastating impact on the environment driven by the production of crop-based feed for animals, a new report has warned.
The vast scale of growing crops such as soy to rear chickens, pigs and other animals puts an enormous strain on natural resources leading to the wide-scale loss of land and species, according to the study from the conservation charity WWF.’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet
…60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets…
That’s your spin on it. The non-spin version is that 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to growing crops to feed stock animals, which certainly is a stupid thing to do but isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet. So, not actually the same thing, but nice propaganda you’ve got there.
He did lead with: “Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet”
Is New Zealand’s pasture-based system included in the figure? If so, it would be even higher. Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is! Are you meaning some meat-based diets are serviced by hunting wild game? Wouldn’t be a very big %
Loss of biodiversity through conversion to pasture is enormous, imo. I don’t get your point, “…isn’t inherent to a meat-based diet” – seems to me, it is!
So, pasture and crops both reduce biodiversity. Which means the issue isn’t that a meat-based diet reduces biodiversity, it’s that having 7 billion-plus people on the planet reduces biodiversity.
Meat-eating necessitates a loss of diversity. Plant eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly, at least over that which exists presently. A mixed, managed woodland that’s filled with edible perennials and a sprinkling of annual vegetables would do it 🙂 As to population management, that’s a whole other story.
I expect meat-eating could be managed to increase diversity significantly as well. The problems are that we aren’t doing that either for plants or livestock, and we have way too many people to do it for everyone anyway. Whether people eat meat or not is of little relevance.
Did you read the intro – the report said it and ed repeated it – that is the opposite of spin unlike your spin which actually is spin
the report said it and ed repeated it
Well, yes. That’s “your” spin as in “you vegetarian/vegan activists,” of which the Guardian is one as well as Ed.
Ok got it ,didn’t realise it was inclusive. The author of the article may be in, not sure about the media outlet as a whole though.
Edit yesterday’s news sorry now back to today…
24/7, it’s like Huxley, Time Must Have a Stop.
Map pron.
http://brilliantmaps.com/population-circle/
Interesting.
Inside the circle you will also find:
“The least sparsely populated country on earth (Mongolia)”
?
Why the “?” ? A quick google of “country population density ranking” comes up with this.
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=21000
That the worst effects of climate change are expected in a broad belt right across the most densely populated part of that circle is fukn scary.
Perhaps I’m denser than usual this morning, but shouldn’t it be “The most sparsely populated…?
I wouldn’t say denser. Suffering from an excess of pedantry, perhaps.
Pedantry!!!
🙂
Most lightly populated.
Least populated.
Most unpopulated.
Emptiest of people.
Quietest.
Most thinly populated.
Least peopled.
In any case, “least sparsely populated” means the opposite of what might have been intended (by my reckoning 🙂
I love pedantry and Robert’s quite correct. Most sparsely.
Asian are good in the lower back – but every thing sounds like fear-porn to me 9-)