Open mike 09/06/2021
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6:00 am, June 9th, 2021 - 129 comments
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- Congratulations to the real Team of New Zealand and farewell to the fakers
The management gurus say ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. And what we saw over early breakfasts this morning was New Zealand’s Black Caps showing the world the best of team culture, admirable character and a group that not just carries the silver fern as representatives of this country, but does ...8 hours ago - Legal Beagle: First draft of a submission on the counter-terrorism legislation bill
Work has been busy, so my attempt to prepare a submission on the Counter-Terrorism Lgislation Bill has been delayed, and not allowed me the time working on it I would like. Hopefully others (perhaps the Free Speech Union?) will have had the time to address the general principles around control ...12 hours ago - Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – Winston’s anti-woke path back to power
Could a backlash to “woke politics” be the basis for the revival and return of New Zealand First? The Winston Peters-led party held its first post-defeat conference in the weekend, in which the main theme was NZ First’s very clear focus on culture wars issues as a way to rebuild ...13 hours ago - Urgently upgrading NZ’s Covid-19 response
Amanda Kvalsvig, Nick Wilson, and Michael Baker Aotearoa NZ’s effective Covid-19 elimination strategy is now threatened by the global emergence of new variants with increasingly high transmissibility. We outline the upgrades that are now urgently needed to keep New Zealanders safe, particularly in the light of the current outbreak risk ...15 hours ago - Climate Change: Killing coal locally
If we are to avoid dangerous levels of climate change and making huge chunks of the Earth uninhabitable, we need to end fossil fuel use as quickly as possible. The International Energy Agency has recommended an immediate end to fossil fuel development. An obvious way to do this is by ...16 hours ago - Todd Muller gets crushed
What a complete catastrophe for the National Party. Not only did the public learn on Wednesday about Harete Hipango’s alleged dishonesty, the source of that information is none other than National MP and once Party leader, Todd Muller.Talk about a bad case of friendly fire gone wrong.Their current leader Judith ...18 hours ago - We need to fix the ETS againThe Emissions Trading Scheme is one of the government's key tools for driving reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. By putting a price on carbon, businesses face an incentive to reduce emissions, either by cleaning up or shutting down. Or at least, that's the theory. In practice, exemptions, subsidies, persistent low ...18 hours ago
- Hard News: Testing the fairiesA new paper by ESR scientists, published in the Australian Journal of Chemistry, has confirmed what close observers of the local cannabis community already knew, or at least suspected: the cannabinoid contents of local "green fairy" products vary widely, ratios in many products are not as claimed – and most ...18 hours ago
- Skating On Thin Ice: Labour’s Support Is Not As Solid As It Looks.
Deceptively Solid Support: What Labour would like us to believe is that they are skating on a solid sheet of ideological ice, more that capable of carrying the weight of their cultural revolution. In reality, the ice now bearing their electoral weight is wafer thin. Sadly, Labour’s leaders remain utterly ...23 hours ago - So it begins: The Climate Change Commission’s advice to government and what happened nextWhat’s that? You wanted action, not just words, on climate change? And you wanted it now, not next year or the year after? How about something big, really big, maybe also diving right into the heart of an emotional, touchstone issue – say, the private car? Welcome to the ...1 day ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #25, 2021
127 Articles Observations of climate change, effects Anthropogenic and climatic contributions to observed carbon system trends in the Northeast Pacific Franco et al Global Biogeochemical Cycles DOI: 10.1029/2020gb006829 Emergence of seasonal delay of tropical rainfall during 1979–2019 Song et al Nature Climate Change DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01066-x Dwindling ...1 day ago - End parliamentary secrecyThe Herald last night revealed that a National MP appears to be a thief: A National Party MP faced allegations of inappropriate spending of taxpayer money – allegations the MP is refusing to front on and which Parliamentary Service refuses to discuss under the cone of silence that protects ...2 days ago
- Harete Hipango should resignWell that was short lived. Less than two week’s into the job and National's new MP, Harete Hipango, has been accused of misusing taxpayer money.According to a National Party staff member the anti-abortionist used her Parliamentary expense account to purchase numerous furnishings for her own house, which is a gross ...2 days ago
- PardonedFour years ago, the Spanish government jailed nine Catalan leaders for the "crime" of advocating peacefully for independence. Now, it has pardoned them: Spain’s prime minister has called for a new “era of dialogue and understanding” as his Socialist-led government pardoned nine Catalan independence leaders for their roles in ...2 days ago
- Time to outlaw ecocideWe live in a time of historic ecological crisis, with the Earth on the verge of dangerous levels of anthropogenic climate change, threatening the ecology, food supplies, world peace, and the habitability of some of the most densely-populated parts of the planet. And while this is going on, some people ...2 days ago
- Carmel Sepuloni must fix ACCYou may have noticed that the Accident Compensation Corporation, or ACC for short, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. Not only has newish research shown that the claims process discriminates against woman, Māori and Pasifika people, ACC apparently also penalises Kiwis depending on how and ...2 days ago
- A slight relaxation of secrecyThe government has introduced a new Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. The bill is one of the products of the 2019-20 consultation on the Crown Minerals Act, and mostly addresses the problem of forcing oil companies to clean up their own mess, but it makes a number ...2 days ago
- COVID-19: The rise and rise of DeltaFrom media headlines it feels like hearing the boy cry “fire” in the theatre. There’s a new variant about. Or perhaps he is really a crier, calling out a new season of the show, a new plot twist with a craftier villain? The main feature in town is now the ...3 days ago
- Laurel Hubbard is a trailblazer
Laurel Hubbard has qualified to represent New Zealand at the next Olympics (whenever or wherever those happen) in women’s weightlifting. Virtually no one would have paid any attention to this – weightlifting not being one of the three sports (cricket, netball, league) New Zealanders actually care about – if it ...3 days ago - An attack on parliamentary privilegeToday the Speaker referred the High Court judgement in Staples v Freeman to the Privileges Committee. Its not surprising. The court in its decision finds that a speech by Winston Peters in Parliament was defamatory. That seems to violate s11 of the Parliamentary Privilege Act 2014, which prohibits the courts ...3 days ago
- The problem of police dishonestyRNZ has a major story this morning about the police killing of Shargin Stephens in Rotorua in 2016. The "Independent" Police Conduct Authority of course cleared police of any wrong-doing, and found police actions "reasonable" and the killing justified. The police are now using that finding to prevent a coronial ...3 days ago
- Penk wants to be Prime Minister3 days ago
- Against the militarization of spaceRocketLab is a cool company. Its right there in the title: "rocket". As someone who loves space exploration and the knowledge it brings, I love the fact that they're launching from New Zealand, and I love the fact that they're planning to send probes to the Moon and Venus (and ...3 days ago
- NZ’s clean car discount is a turn in the right direction, but how much will it drive consumer dem...Basil Sharp, University of Auckland New Zealand faces two enormous challenges if it is to meet its international climate change commitments under the Paris Agreement: biogenic methane emissions from agriculture, and carbon emissions from industry and transport. For now, there seems little prospect of significantly reducing agricultural emissions, short ...3 days ago
- More needs to be done about the slumlordsIt always amazes me to see the illogical arguments made by real estate industry insiders when they’re complaining about any type of housing sector regulation. They simply don't seem to care if their arguments make any sense or whether their unbound greed is worsening an already terrible housing crisis that ...3 days ago
- Who Else Is There? Why the Right Needs Winston Peters.3 days ago
- No Questions Please – We’re Revolutionaries!The Kids Were All Right: By stripping away all moral and practical grounds for unified struggle, Critical Race Theory can only strengthen the elites’ grip on contemporary society. The abdication of School Strike For Climate Auckland offers a textbook example of this phenomenon. The moral force of the nation’s secondary students ...3 days ago
- Making climate impact science more accessible to the public: ISIpedia launchThis is a re-post from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research based on their press release about the new Inter-Sectoral Impacts Encyclopedia - ISIpedia for short. Decision-makers on all levels are provided with a new tool to tackle the climate challenge. Data and explanations on global warming impacts – ...3 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – The case for and against the “They Are Us” filmThe last week has been full of debate over plans to make a film about the 2019 terrorist attacks on two Christchurch mosques. The vast majority of media coverage has focused on opposition to the film. These criticisms need to be taken seriously. But a strong case can be made ...3 days ago
- Perilous Treasures: Published
It’s the Winter Solstice here, which means (Northern Hemisphere) e-zine Eternal Haunted Summer has released its Summer Solstice edition for 2021:https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/summer-solstice-2021/ My story, Perilous Treasures, is out, as part of it:https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/summer-solstice-2021/perilous-treasures/ As previously mentioned, this was a fictional attempt to portray the very vexed medieval issue of writing ...4 days ago - Incompatible regimesThe Official Information Act is our core transparency legislation. But its only covers central government. Local authorities are covered by the parallel Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, which duplicates most of the OIA's provisions, and adds in some stuff about local authority meetings as well. Since the ...4 days ago
- Boris BerlusconiRemember Silvio Berlusconi? Whenever the Italian courts seemed to be catching up to his corrupt behaviour as Prime Minister, he would just change the law to get himself off the hook. Well, now there's a new contender for the "self-serving abuse of power" title: Boris Johnson: Boris Johnson is ...4 days ago
- Climate explained: could biofuels replace all fossil fuels in New Zealand?Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Could biofuels replace all fossil fuels in ...4 days ago
- Josh Van Veen: NZ First UnbowedThe improbability of NZ First returning to power cannot be overstated. Between 2017 and 2020, support for the party collapsed from 7.2% to 2.6%. With barely a third of its 2020 vote, and no electorate seat, NZ First appears to be a spent force. But the party faithful were ...4 days ago
- Health co-benefits need to be adequately considered in the Climate Change Commission’s final advic...Tim Chambers, Simon Hales, Jude Ball, Michael Baker, Cristina Cleghorn, Nick Wilson (*Author details) The Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the Government has been tabled in Parliament. This final report further acknowledged the potential health co-benefits of climate action presented in the Commission’s draft advice. However, the Commission has ...4 days ago
- Winston's last throw of the diceYou’ve got to wonder if Winston Peters will ever retire. I mean what keeps the old rogue going? Perhaps Peters has been reinvigorated by the Government’s decision to follow through on various policy NZ First had previously put the kibosh on...or maybe he thinks there's still a chance of becoming ...4 days ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #25Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 14, 2021 through Sat, June 19, 2021 The following articles sparked above average interest during the week: Earth is now trapping an ‘unprecedented’ amount of heat, NASA says, Fake news: a simple nudge isn’t ...4 days ago
- Goldilocks and the three futuresGoldilocks, the house breaker, always had a choice of three, one of which always appeared to be just right. Temporally, there’s three types of futures too. Short-term, medium-term, and long-term. Those are all relative, depending on what you are looking at. Some technologies, for example, change very quickly, so “long-term” ...5 days ago
- Baby talk 3: the eggs, the lube, the triggeringSo we took a bit of an unscheduled posting hiatus there; but more on that later. Today we’re talking eggs, lube, and triggers. Just as the self-injection routine started to get good and routine, and I wasn’t having a total emotional break on a daily basis, came the sharp reminder ...5 days ago
- ‘There is no debate’ is simply a denial of reality
Hat tip to Mike Treen from Unite Union for this article by Lindsey Graham published in Counterfire. It raises important debates that are happening in many parts of the world, including New ZealandGood morning. I want to raise some issues here about the whole debate on trans rights in Britain. ...5 days ago - Leaked cabinet papers won’t help ACTIt was somewhat amusing to see the Act Party completely misread the room this week when they leaked a Labour Party document concerning our oceans and fisheries. It outlined the Government's intention to discuss several marine policies at cabinet, the most controversial being the installation of 300 cameras on commercial ...6 days ago
- Writing the Rights: No Right Turn is Wrong
New Zealand’s extreme form of parliamentary sovereignty is something of an international oddity these days. Under the New Zealand system, an Act passed by Parliament (and hence signed by the Governor-General) is automatically law. And in the absence of a written constitution, Parliament can Do Anything. Literally. Our checks ...6 days ago - Unemployment Insurance
Providing for the redundantly unemployed is admirable but difficult and expensive to implement.The 2021 Budget announced that the government was, at the urging of Business NZ and the Council of Trade Unions, committed to the development of a Social Unemployment Insurance scheme. It is likely to have two main components. ...6 days ago - Losing The “Struggle-Session” Over Climate Change.Blaming And Shaming: A "property owner" is humiliated before the masses during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Critical Race Theory may substitute "White Privilege" for "Class Privilege", but the inescapability of the offending group's responsibility for "oppression" is exactly the same. The self-abasement of School Strike For Climate Auckland for its ...7 days ago
- Cleaning up the fishing industryThe government is finally cleaning up the fishing industry, with cameras on boats and an end to high-grading, with an easier penalties regime to enforce it. Good. Because as we've seen over the years, the fishing industry is pervasively criminal, routinely violating the law on discarding fish and reporting bycatch. ...7 days ago
- PM’s critics should stick to the factsThere’s been a lot of grumbling lately amongst the right wing and certain mainstream media pundits who are looking to either score cheap political points or attract readers by attacking the Prime Minister.Of course some of the criticism is justified. After all no Government is perfect and there are always ...7 days ago
- Climate Change: Auckland fails IILast year, the Auckland Council passed a climate change plan, setting goals of halving emissions by 2030, and net-zero by 2050. So you'd expect their new transport plan to be consistent with that goal, right? Wrong: The 10-year transport plan for Auckland has emerged from consultation with small changes, ...7 days ago
- Anti-fluoridation group tells porkies about NZ fluoridation review
FFNZ spreads misinformation about the NZ fluoridation review – yet again New Zealand opponents of community water fluoridation (CWF) are at it again. Their only response to the recently upgraded fluoridation review is to call it “propaganda” and to completely misrepresent it. But it’s interesting to look at their misrepresentation ...7 days ago - Landmark decision in the sex and gender debateOn June 10, after two years of legal battles, Maya Forstater won a landmark legal ruling that looks set to change the direction of the sex and gender debates in the Britain, and provide legal protection for gender-critical people against discrimination and harassment. This ruling will be important in New Zealand. ...7 days ago
- CSLDF and the Government Accountability Project Launch New Scientific Integrity Reporting ProjectThis is a guest post by the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. Today, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund and Government Accountability Project launched the Scientific Integrity Reporting Project: a confidential, anonymous way for scientists and others in science-adjacent roles to detail their experiences involving past and ongoing threats to scientific norms and scientific integrity. We ...1 week ago
- Australia needs a Bill of Rights ActAustralia is one of the few western democracies not to have legal protection for fundamental human rights. The closest they come is recognising an implied right to freedom of political communication (but not other forms of freedom of expression) from the "representative government" clauses of their constitution. But some of ...1 week ago
- FalloutLast week I revealed how the Police had lied to the public over their "emissions-free fleet" strategy. Stuff's Henry Cooke has done the obvious followup of asking the Minister what she thinks about it, and it seems she is not happy: Police Minister Poto Williams says she is disappointed ...1 week ago
- Can we be born into the wrong body?by Don Franks Are some of us born into the wrong body? The possibility is sometimes offered as a clinching argument that some people need to, and are able to, change their sex. With one proviso, the answer has to be, yes, such a thing is possible. The only requirement ...1 week ago
- Moa’s Ark or flypaper of the Pacific – New Zealand’s place in the biology of the PacificIt was the year 2002 and I was sitting in the shiny new office of our Biogeography Professor for my oral Diploma exam. It was going well, when I was asked to name an example of a Gondwanan distribution pattern, or in other words a species or group of species ...1 week ago
- Auckland is the world’s ‘most liveable city’? Many Māori might disagreeElla Henry, Auckland University of Technology While I am always happy to celebrate any accolades my country and city might garner on the international stage, seeing Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau awarded the top ranking in a recent “most liveable cities” survey left me somewhat flummoxed. In particular, I would argue that ...1 week ago
- Patrick Gower – Hero of the week1 week ago
- Juliet Moses – Arsehole of the Week1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #24, 2021A hot budget problem This week's standout article for highlighting is Satellite and Ocean Data Reveal Marked Increase in Earth's Heating Rate (open access). From the two very different perspectives of above the atmosphere and below it, a team of authors led by Norman Loeb (head of NASA's CERES program) and including Gregory Johnson (head ...1 week ago
- Let it dieThe fishing industry is complaining in the Herald about their "labour shortage" and lamenting the fact that Young People These Days for some reason don't want to work for six weeks at a time doing hard, dangerous work on a boat in the middle of nowhere, and never seeing their ...1 week ago
- More bigotry in HungaryLast year Hungary ended legal recognition of trans people and banned gay people from adopting children. Now, they've followed that up with a Russian-style "propaganda law", banning "promotion" of homosexuality in schools or on TV: Hungary’s parliament has passed a law banning gay people from featuring in school educational ...1 week ago
- Institutionally corruptOver thirty years ago private investigator Daniel Morgan was murdered in London. The UK police repeatedly fucked up the investigation so obviously and blatantly that the government was forced to call a public inquiry. Now, after years of obstruction, it has finally reported back, finding the police to be "institutionally ...1 week ago
- With seas rising, stalled research budgets must also riseThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe and Eric Rignot From 1900 to 2000, the ocean along the U.S. East Coast rose at twice the annual rate of the pace in the previous 19 centuries, according to a recent study from Rutgers University. From Miami to New York to ...1 week ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Worst could be yet to come for New Zealanders’ perceptions of ChinaNew Zealanders’ hostility towards China is growing rapidly – but the worst may be still ahead. International analyst Geoffrey Miller examines the latest survey results on how this country feels about China. The latest “Perceptions of Asia” survey from the Asia New Zealand Foundation, released today, shows a sharp rise ...1 week ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – Cash for access to politicians continuesShould anyone have trust in politicians, given the manner in which they solicit money from the wealthy? Probably not, since virtually every party in Parliament in recent times has been found to be involved in flaunting the law or accepting dodgy donations from the rich. News reports of questionable donations ...1 week ago
- Proceed to your nearest (virtual) exit: gaming technology is teaching us how people respond to emer...Ruggiero Lovreglio, Massey University Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) aren’t just for gaming anymore, they’re also proving to be useful tools for disaster safety research. In fact, they could save lives. Around the world, natural and human-made disasters such as earthquakes, bushfires and terrorist attacks threaten substantial ...1 week ago
- Inaction speaks louder than wordsOne of the good things the government has done is implement a proactive release policy, requiring most cabinet papers to be published within 30 working days of a decision being made. Its not a perfect policy (note "most", but also they get to redact them however they want, without oversight), ...1 week ago
- Graham Adams: The dangers of putting media on the government’s payrollAccusations by a journalist that the Prime Minister leads an unusually secretive government don’t tell the whole story about its desire to control information. Graham Adams takes a closer look at the guidelines for the new $55 million journalism fund. Despite widespread cynicism about the Government’s ability to fulfil its ...1 week ago
- David Seymour caught telling liesAct Party Leader David SeymourIt really bothers me when the NZ Herald reports the claims of certain right wing politicians as the truth without any fact checking. Not only do they encourage dishonest politicians to continue to lie, they also degrade the standard of reporting we get in New Zealand.Of ...1 week ago
- To Speak, Or Not To Speak? That Is The Question.Speaking Rights: The spectacle of the nation’s prime minister being denied the right to speak to her fellow citizens, personally, on New Zealand’s national day would generate massive antagonism among Pakeha of both sexes. A refusal to be guided by the customs of Ngāpuhi, on the other hand, would be ...1 week ago
- We discovered what’s killing the world’s rarest penguin – and it could help us make a vaccineVartul Sangal, Northumbria University, Newcastle Yellow-eyed penguins are the most endangered penguin species in the world, with just 4,000 left in the wild. Found only in New Zealand and its outlying islands, these birds can grow up to 79cm tall and weigh 8.5kg, which is similar to a one-year-old ...1 week ago
- The COVID-19 lab leak theory highlights a glaring lack of global biosecurity regulationAlexander Gillespie, University of Waikato The revived debate over whether COVID-19 could be the result of an accidental release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology may never be adequately resolved. Either way, we risk not seeing the wood for the trees. While the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in ...1 week ago
- Opponents of fluoridation all at sea with new legislationImage credit: Why Ideology and Science Don’t Mix Opponents of community water fluoridation (CWF) should be supporting the proposed fluoridation legislation instead of organising opposition to it. Think about it. If Fluoride Free NZ (FFNZ) was honest in its claim that they are ...1 week ago
- Silent calamity: The health impacts of wildfire smoke
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson Articles on U.S. wildfires don’t often show a photo of someone gasping in a hospital bed or felled by a heart attack. Yet an increasing body of evidence suggests that the biggest societal impacts of increasing wildland fire are happening ...1 week ago- Smokefree 2025
The Government’s proposed approach for achieving SmokeFree 2025 is a bit over-the-top. The proposals would restrict tobacco sales to a smaller number of to-be-licenced R18 outlets, which could then be subject to a sinking lid; impose an annual one-year increase in the purchase age for tobacco until full prohibition were ...1 week ago- Update on Long-COVID
Prof John D. Potter* This blog post updates an earlier post on Long-COVID and reports that estimates of prevalence are still wide at about 15 to 65% of those initially infected with the pandemic virus, SARS-CoV-2. As things stand now across the world, we do not yet have systems in ...1 week ago - Silent calamity: The health impacts of wildfire smoke
- Greens urge Wellington Council to support a Spatial Plan that best addresses the climate and housing...
The Green Party is urging Wellington City Council to pass an ambitious Spatial Plan that sets Wellington up for action on the housing crisis, allowing for more new homes close to the city centre. ...3 days ago - Housing solutions, accelerated
New Zealand’s housing crisis has been decades in the making. And we know that one of the key barriers to the construction of more homes is a lack of basic infrastructure. Our $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund – designed to speed up the pace and scale of house building – ...3 days ago - Small steps for Hauraki Gulf protection, much more action neededThe Green Party welcomes the Government’s proposals for increased marine protection in the Hauraki Gulf, released today, but says much more needs to be done. ...3 days ago
- Greens announce Members Bill to stop military launches at Rocket Lab protestThe Green Party’s Security and Intelligence spokesperson, and Te Mātāwaka member Teanau Tuiono MP launched his Member’s Bill at the ‘STOP militarisation’ protest today outside RocketLabs Headquarters in Tāmaki Makaurau. This Bill will amend the Outer Space and High altitude Activities Act and prohibit the launching of military hardware into ...4 days ago
- Green Party supports call to end youth detention in police cellsThe Green Party strongly supports the call by the Children’s Commissioner to repeal the law allowing youth to be held in police cells. ...4 days ago
- Working in partnership with our primary sectorA few great days at Fieldays are done and dusted! We had a huge team of Labour MPs at Mystery Creek this year – and we were there because partnering with farmers, growers, and our rural communities matters to us. ...6 days ago
- Chlöe Swarbrick puts Bill aimed at minimising alcohol harm in Members’ ballotGreen Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick has put the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill into the Members’ ballot. ...7 days ago
- Investing in our rural communitiesFarmers and growers have been the economic backbone for New Zealand throughout COVID-19, and our primary sector will be at the heart of our recovery. This week, as Fieldays gets underway, we’ve outlined the next steps in our work with farmers to secure our recovery. ...7 days ago
- Green MPs back calls for work to stop immediately in Pūtiki Bay following unnecessary police presen...Green MPs Dr Elizabeth Kerekere and Chlöe Swarbrick strongly support the calls by Ngāti Paoa for Auckland Council to immediately step in to stop works happening in Pūtiki Bay/Kennedy Point today. ...1 week ago
- Acting boldly to address the housing crisis so we all thriveTēnā koe Minister Woods, ...1 week ago
- Addressing period poverty in schoolsToday, we’re taking the next step in our work to support children and young people in poverty, starting to roll out free period products in more than 1,600 schools and kura across New Zealand. ...1 week ago
- Dawn Raids apology welcomed, needs to be backed up with amnestyThe Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka Māori and Pasifika Caucus welcomes an announcement today by the Prime Minister to apologise for the Dawn Raids. ...2 weeks ago
- Making cleaner cars accessible to more KiwisToday, we’re taking action in line with the advice of the Climate Change Commission to reduce our carbon footprint, so future generations have a fair go. Our Clean Car package, announced this morning, delivers on our promise to cut transport emissions. It will make it easier to make the switch ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party set to deliver open letter to Immigration Minister with 17k signaturesThe Green Party will deliver its open letter asking the Minister for Immigration to fix the broken immigration system next week. ...2 weeks ago
- Dr Elizabeth Kerekere receives her COVID-19 vaccinationToday, Green Party MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere received her COVID-19 vaccination from Tamaiti Whāngai COVID-19 vaccination centre, which had its official opening yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Our action on climate changeIn 2019, we established the Climate Change Commission to provide independent advice on climate change action and to hold this Government and future Governments to account. Today, the Commission's final advice was released. It sets out the total amount of global warming pollution Aotearoa must cut by 2035 to be ...2 weeks ago
- Our action on climate changeIn 2019, we established the Climate Change Commission to provide independent advice on climate change action and to hold this Government and future Governments to account. Today, the Commission's final advice was released. It sets out the total amount of global warming pollution Aotearoa must cut by 2035 to be ...2 weeks ago
- It’s time to get behind our nursesThe Green Party supports the 30,000 nurses striking today for better pay and safer working conditions. ...2 weeks ago
- Celebrating our oceansAotearoa New Zealand is surrounded by Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean. The ocean is central to our identities and to our ecosystems. The Big Blue both isolates us from other countries and connects us to our Pacific neighbours. We have the seventh largest maritime area in the world, ranging from ...2 weeks ago
- Caring for the land, caring for peopleHere in New Zealand, we have a remarkable natural environment, with unique ecosystems and native species. It’s taken millions of years for Aotearoa to develop this precious environment – and it’s up to us to protect it! In collaboration with communities across the country, we’re doing just that. ...3 weeks ago
- Caring for the land, caring for peopleHere in New Zealand, we have a remarkable natural environment, with unique ecosystems and native species. It’s taken millions of years for Aotearoa to develop this precious environment – and it’s up to us to protect it! In collaboration with communities across the country, we’re doing just that. ...3 weeks ago
- Pause on Quarantine Free Travel from New South Wales extended
The pause on Quarantine Free Travel from New South Wales to New Zealand will continue for a further 12 days, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. There are now 36 recent community cases of COVID-19 in New South Wales – including four not yet linked to the existing outbreak that ...10 hours ago - Address to the INZBC 7th International Summit 2021Day 2, India New Zealand Business Council 7th International Summit, Auckland (speech delivered virtually) Tēnā koutou katoa, Namaste, Sat sri akal, Assalamualaikum Good morning and good evening to you all, Thank you for this opportunity to be with you virtually today. The India New Zealand Business Council has put together ...12 hours ago
- Government commits $4 million additional support for flood-affected Canterbury farmersPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern today announced the Government is injecting a further $4 million into relief funding to support flood-affected Canterbury farmers who are recovering from the damage of a historic one in 200 year flood. An additional $100,000 will also be provided to the Mayoral Relief Fund to support ...16 hours ago
- Appointment of Queen’s CounselAttorney-General David Parker today announced the appointments of 10 Queen’s Counsel. The newly appointed Silks are: Auckland – Lynda Kearns, Stephen McCarthy, Ronald Mansfield, Alan (Fletcher) Pilditch, Davey Salmon, Laura O’Gorman Wellington – Greg Arthur, Michael Colson, Victoria Heine Christchurch – Kerryn Beaton “The criteria for appointment recognise that ...17 hours ago
- Prime Minister congratulates victorious Black CapsPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated Kane Williamson and the Black Caps for their victory over India in the final of the inaugural Cricket World Test Championship. “The Black Caps have made New Zealand proud. This was a masterful performance from a team at the top of their game and ...20 hours ago
- Further action to tackle cervical cancerParliament has taken another step to help reduce the number of women who develop cervical cancer, with the Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill passing its third reading. “I am very pleased by the robust consideration this Bill has received. It will ensure technology allows healthcare providers to directly ...20 hours ago
- $500 million seized from gangs and criminalsA significant Government milestone has been reached with $500 million in cash and assets seized from gangs and criminals by Police over the past four years, Police Minister Poto Williams announced today. “During our last term in office, this target was set for 2021 with Police as part of our ...22 hours ago
- Congratulations to the Black Caps – World ChampionsMinister of Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson has congratulated the Black Caps as the deserved winners of the inaugural World Test Cricket Championship. “The Black Caps have pulled off a remarkable and deserved win in the World Test Championship final against India. The final is the culmination of two years ...23 hours ago
- Alert Level 2 in Wellington, Wairarapa and Kāpiti CoastAlert Level 2 measures are now in place for Wellington, Wairarapa and Kāpiti Coast to the north of Ōtaki, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. These measures are precautionary, following the potential exposure of New Zealanders to a COVID-19 case from Sydney. The person visited a range of locations in ...1 day ago
- Speech to the India New Zealand Business Council Summit5pm, Wednesday 23 June 2021 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Tuia te Rangi e tū nei Tuia te Papa e takoto nei Tuia te here tangata Ka rongo te pō, ka rongo te Ao Tihei Mauri Ora Introduction Namaskar, tēnā koe and good evening. Thank you for your kind invitation to ...2 days ago
- Financial support for caregivers widenedChildren’s Minister Kelvin Davis has welcomed changes that will make it easier for caregivers looking after children outside of the state care system to access much-needed financial assistance. The Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill will also allow these caregivers to access further benefits previously unavailable to them. ...2 days ago
- Agencies to have powers to secure maritime domainA Bill introduced to Parliament today aims to prevent serious criminal offending at sea, including transnational offending and organised crime, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced. “Aotearoa New Zealand will be better placed to keep our maritime environment secure against threats like drugs trafficking, wildlife trafficking and human trafficking with the ...2 days ago
- Critical support for New Zealand’s budding researchersFellowships to attract and retain talented researchers in the early stages of their career, have been awarded to 30 New Zealanders, Associate Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “I am pleased to congratulate these researchers, who will be receiving funding through the MBIE Science Whitinga Fellowship. ...2 days ago
- Bill to stop taxpayers having to fund oil field decommissionsThe Government is preventing taxpayers picking up the bill for the decommissioning of oil fields, says Energy and Resource Minister Dr Megan Woods. “After the Crown had to take responsibility for decommissioning the Tui oil field, it became clear to me that the current requirements around decommissioning are inadequate and ...2 days ago
- Quarantine Free Travel from New South Wales to New Zealand to pauseNew Zealand’s Quarantine Free Travel from New South Wales to New Zealand will be paused while the source of infection of new cases announced in Sydney is investigated, says COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. There are 10 new community cases of COVID-19 today in New South Wales, taking the Australian ...2 days ago
- Milestone reached for Iwi Affiliation Population CountsIwi affiliation data released today provides updated population counts for all iwi and addresses gaps in Māori data originating from the 2018 Census, says Associate Minister of Statistics Meka Whaitiri. “The release of the 2018 Iwi Affiliation Estimated Counts is a really important step, and I acknowledge the hard work ...3 days ago
- Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill passes first readingTreaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little welcomed Ngāti Rangitihi to Parliament today to witness the first reading of The Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill. “I know it took a lot of hard work, time and patience by all parties involved to reach this significant milestone. I am honoured to ...3 days ago
- Speech to the Sustainable Healthcare and Climate Health Conference AotearoaMihi Tēnā tātou katoa Kei ngā pou o te whare hauora ki Aotearoa, kei te mihi. Tēnā koutou i tā koutou pōwhiri mai i ahau. E mihi ana ki ngā taura tangata e hono ana i a tātou katoa, ko te kaupapa o te rā tērā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ...3 days ago
- Infrastructure Acceleration Fund opening for businessCriteria to access at least $1 billion of the $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund (HAF), announced in March, is now available, and an invitation for expressions of interest will be released on 30 June, Housing Minister Megan Woods has announced. “This is a key milestone in our plan to accelerate ...3 days ago
- Bringing back the health of Hauraki GulfNew marine protection areas and restrictions on fishing are among a raft of changes being put in place to protect the Hauraki Gulf for future generations. The new strategy, Revitalising the Gulf – Government action on the Sea Change Plan, released today, draws on input from mana whenua, local communities, ...3 days ago
- Speech to AI Forum – Autonomous Weapons SystemsAI Forum New Zealand, Auckland Good evening and thank you so much for joining me this evening. I’d like to start with a thank you to the AI Forum Executive for getting this event off the ground and for all their work and support to date. The prospect of autonomous ...3 days ago
- New Zealand boosts support to Fiji for COVID-19 impactAotearoa New Zealand is providing additional support to Fiji to mitigate the effects of the current COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable households, Foreign Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Recognising the increasingly challenging situation in Fiji, Aotearoa will provide an additional package of assistance to support the Government of Fiji and ...4 days ago
- Round 2 of successful energy education fund now open$1.65 million available in Support for Energy Education in Communities funding round two Insights from SEEC to inform future energy hardship programmes Community organisations that can deliver energy education to households in need are being invited to apply for the second funding round of the Support for Energy Education in ...4 days ago
- New Ngarimu scholarships to target vocational trainingAssociate Education Minister Kelvin Davis today announced three new scholarships for students in vocational education and training (VET) are to be added to the suite of prestigious Ngarimu scholarships. “VET learners have less access to study support than university students and this is a way to tautoko their learning dreams ...4 days ago
- Recognising the volunteers who support our health systemNominations have opened today for the 2021 Minister of Health Volunteer Awards, as part of National Volunteer Week. “We know that New Zealanders donate at least 159 million hours of volunteer labour every year,” Minister of Health Andrew Little said in launching this year’s awards in Wellington. “These people play ...4 days ago
- Drug Free Sport supported to deal with new doping challengesDrug Free Sport New Zealand will receive a funding boost to respond to some of the emerging doping challenges across international sport. The additional $4.3 million over three years comes from the Sport Recovery Fund announced last year. It will help DFSNZ improve athletes’ understanding of the risks of doping, ...4 days ago
- Government support for South Auckland community hit by tornadoThe Government is contributing $100,000 to a Mayoral Relief Fund to support Auckland communities impacted by the Papatoetoe tornado, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi says. “My heart goes out to the family and friends who have lost a loved one, and to those who have been injured. I ...5 days ago
- Celebrating World Refugee DayWorld Refugee Day today is an opportunity to celebrate the proud record New Zealanders have supporting and protecting refugees and acknowledge the contribution these new New Zealanders make to our country, the Minister of Immigration Kris Faafoi said. “World Refugee Day is also a chance to think about the journey ...5 days ago
- Face to face meeting delivers significant progress on NZ-UK FTANew Zealand and the UK have committed to accelerating their free trade agreement negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement in principle this August, Trade Minister Damien O’Connor announced. “We’ve held constructive and productive discussions towards the conclusion of a high-quality and comprehensive FTA that will support sustainable and inclusive trade, and ...6 days ago
- Government taking action to protect albatrossNew population figures for the critically endangered Antipodean albatross showing a 5 percent decline per year highlights the importance of reducing all threats to these very special birds, Acting Minister of Conservation Dr Ayesha Verrall says. The latest population modelling, carried out by Dragonfly Data Science, shows the Antipodean albatross ...7 days ago
- Adoption laws under reviewNew Zealand’s 66-year-old adoption laws are being reviewed, with public engagement beginning today. Justice Minister Kris Faafoi said the Government is seeking views on options for change to our adoption laws and system. “The Adoption Act has remained largely the same since 1955. We need our adoption laws to reflect ...7 days ago
- Wider roll-out of cameras on boats to support sustainability and protect marine lifeUp to 300 inshore commercial fishing vessels will be fitted with on-board cameras by 2024 as part of the Government’s commitment to protect the natural marine environment for future generations. Minister for Oceans and Fisheries David Parker today announced the funding is now in place for the wider roll out ...1 week ago
- Plan for vaccine rollout for general population announcedNew Zealanders over 60 will be offered a vaccination from July 28 and those over 55 from August 11, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. The rollout of the vaccine to the general population will be done in age groups as is the approach commonly used overseas, with those over ...1 week ago
- New Zealand introduces Belarus travel bansNew Zealand has imposed travel bans on selected individuals associated with the Lukashenko regime, following ongoing concerns about election fraud and human rights abuses after the 2020 Belarus elections, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. The ban covers more than fifty individuals, including the President and key members of ...1 week ago
- NZ economy grows driven by households, construction and business investmentThe Government’s efforts to secure the recovery have been reflected in the robust rebound of GDP figures released today which show the economy remains resilient despite the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant Robertson said. GDP increased 1.6 percent in the first three months of 2021. The Treasury had ...1 week ago
- Milestone 250th tower continues to improve rural connectivityThe Government has welcomed the completion of the 250th 4G mobile tower, as part of its push for better rural connectivity. Waikato’s Wiltsdown, which is roughly 80 kilometres south of Hamilton, is home to the new tower, deployed by the Rural Connectivity Group to enable improved service to 70 homes ...1 week ago
- Quarantine Free Travel pause with Victoria to lift on TuesdayFollowing a further public health assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak in greater Melbourne, New Zealand’s Quarantine Free Travel pause with Victoria has been extended to 11.59pm on Tuesday 22 June, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. It has been determined that the risk to public health in New Zealand continues ...1 week ago
- Prime Minister mourns passing of Dr Sir Ian HassallPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern is mourning the passing of Dr Sir Ian Hassall, New Zealand’s first Children’s Commissioner and lifelong champion for children and children’s health. As a paediatrician Sir Ian contributed to a major world-first cot death study that has been directly credited with reducing cot deaths in New ...1 week ago
- APEC structural reform meeting a successAPEC ministers have agreed working together will be crucial to ensure economies recover from the impact of COVID-19. Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs David Clark, chaired the virtual APEC Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting today which revolved around the overarching theme of promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth ...1 week ago
- Digital hub to boost investment in forestryA new website has been launched at Fieldays to support the forestry sector find the information it needs to plant, grow and manage trees, and to encourage investment across the wider industry. Forestry Minister Stuart Nash says the new Canopy website is tailored for farmers, iwi and other forestry interests, ...1 week ago
- Every pudding in the Edmonds cookbook, cooked and ranked
Catherine Woulfe stocks up on white sugar and Granny Smiths and kills pudding for her family forever.“The Edmonds Cookery Book needs no introduction,” says the 1998 edition of the Edmonds Cookery Book, in the introduction.What it does need is a ranking. So turn straight to the Puddings section, where you’ll ...23 mins ago - Bernard Hickey: How hope for a generation was lostKids born after 2008 into rentals were already hamstrung. Now their hopes for secure, healthy homes for their own whānau and futures are gone. Bernard Hickey explains how the housing market bolted and destroyed the dreams for our youngest people. And why there’s no real prospect our leaders can (or ...25 mins ago
- Climate plan just shifts industry overseas while Government grandstands
Minister for Climate Change James Shaw says the Climate Change Commission’s “blueprint” for a net-zero carbon economy pathway is the only game in town. But a net-zero target that ignores imported carbon is conceptually dishonest. And unless ...27 mins ago - Travel bubble worth the disruptions – tourism firms
Tourism companies say bubble has been the "light at the end of the tunnel" ...27 mins ago - Teen swimmer's feel for the water takes her to Tokyo
There's something special about New Zealand's youngest Olympian in Tokyo, teenager Erika Fairweather - both in the water and out. Erika Fairweather has an astute feel for the water; a gift not all swimmers have. “You can’t coach ‘feel’,” says Gary Francis, Swimming New Zealand’s Olympic team manager. He describes the 17-year-old ...27 mins ago - Lead, arsenic in soil at up to 400 Defence houses
An urgent briefing to the defence minister revealed that up to 20 percent of the military's housing estate could have soil contaminated with lead and other harmful materials. ...27 mins ago - Grattan on Friday: Blowin’ in the wind with Barnaby
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison is fond of telling his troops they’re in a boat. On Thursday he said Barnaby Joyce was “a wind in the sails”. Perhaps better described as a gale hitting the craft, ...4 hours ago - Fiji may be facing heavy covid disaster within month, warns health officialBy Michael Field of The Pacific Newsroom Fiji could face around 600 covid-19 deaths within about eight weeks, and 50,000 active cases, unless decisive government-led action is taken quickly on controlling the epidemic. Diplomatic sources have told Pacific Newsroom that increasing alarm in Australia and New Zealand has prompted their ...7 hours ago
- AJF, RSF and other media freedom watchdogs condemn China’s ‘suffocation’ of free pressPacific Media Watch newsdesk Apple Daily has announced its imminent closure in a dark day for Hong Kong’s press freedom and democracy, sparking condemnation by global media freedom watchdogs. The Australian-based Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, Reporters Without Borders in Paris and the Committee to Protect Journalists were among the watchdogs ...7 hours ago
- Cardiac arrests in young people — what causes them and can they be prevented or treated? A heart e...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Orchard, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centenary Institute; and Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney Wolfgang Rattay/AP/AAP On June 12, 16,000 spectators at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium and millions of viewers around the world watched in shock as Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen’s heart ...9 hours ago
- Politicians criticising women for ‘outsourcing’ parenting need a reality check. Here it isSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Associate Professor in Sociology and Co-Director of The Policy Lab, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock During a heated exchange in a Coalition party room meeting about childcare subsidies, a male MP stated working women are “outsourcing parenting”. The ...9 hours ago
- 'A mark of shame for the profession': Former Russell McVeagh partner guilty of misconduct
A former Russell McVeagh partner has been found guilty of misconduct over accusations of groping summer clerks, in a ruling the legal profession’s disciplinary tribunal says sends a clear message there is “no place for objectification of women or indeed any person” within the law. James Gardner-Hopkins, who can for ...11 hours ago - Cramming cities full of electric vehicles means we’re still depending on cars — and that’s a h...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kurt Iveson, Associate Professor of Urban Geography and Research Lead, Sydney Policy Lab, University of Sydney Shutterstock This week, the NSW government announced almost A$500 million towards boosting the uptake of electric vehicles. In its new electric vehicle strategy, the ...11 hours ago
- If I could go anywhere: the ‘cathedral’ at Blythburgh that rises from the marshesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miles Pattenden, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry/Gender and Women’s History Research Centre, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock In this series we pay tribute to the art we wish could visit — and hope to see once travel ...12 hours ago
- UNESCO has always been mired in politics and squabbling, but this shouldn’t detract from its workSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Hill, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong Australia’s Great Barrier Reef made the international headlines this week. It was not good news for the reef, described by David Attenborough as “one of the greatest and ...13 hours ago
- Business is Boring: How to sell a fast-growing companyScroll Media founder Jane Ormsby joins Simon Pound to talk innovation in the online ad industry and share some tips for selling a business.Follow Business is Boring on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.The internet turned media publishing and advertising upside down, and continues to shake it around. ...13 hours ago
- It takes a village: why sending your kid to childcare isn’t ‘outsourcing parenting’Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurien Beane, Course Coordinator, Queensland Undergraduate Early Childhood, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock A Coalition party room meeting this week debated the A$1.7 billion childcare package announced in the budget, which would increase subsidies for families with more than one child ...14 hours ago
- Locked Gates Over Unformed Legal Roads
"The law is clear that landowners cannot put lock gates over unformed legal roads", says Walking Access Commission chief executive Ric Cullinane. Landowners cannot put gates, locked or unlocked, on unformed legal roads without the permission ...14 hours ago - Robertson relishes responding to patsy questions and enthusing about the economic outlook – but is...
Grant Robertson, perennially exuberant as finance minister when it comes to telling the country how well the government is handling the economy, has been in top form on the subject in Parliament in recent days. Whether the same buoyancy is being felt in every sector of the economy could be ...14 hours ago - Survey Of Those Arriving In New Zealand Since The Onset Of COVID-19 Helps Assess Economic ImpactA survey of people arriving in New Zealand since the initial COVID-19 border restrictions has been carried out to find out more about their intentions and needs. This release presents the first findings from the Survey of New Zealand Arrivals, which surveyed ...14 hours ago
- How online bank transfers are being hijacked for harassment and abuseAn unexpected loophole is being used to target and intimidate victims of domestic violence – one that has the banking industry scrambling to fight back. Writing a silly joke or lewd message in the odd online payment is nothing new, and – other than potentially jeopardising your chances of being approved ...14 hours ago
- Will the government’s new plan save Tīkapa Moana/Hauraki Gulf?The culturally and ecologically significant marine area on Auckland’s doorstep has been in decline for years, but the government has a new strategy to restore it to health.It’s finally happened. After four years of waiting, the much-anticipated plan for the future of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui-ā-Toi (the ...15 hours ago
- Mahuta cracks down on crime at sea while Williams counts the cash and assets ($500m) seized from cr...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta is another member of the Ardern government who believes in the power of the law to eliminate criminal or undesirable behaviour. But she seems to be aware that laws have their limitations: a Bill she introduced to Parliament yesterday “aims” to prevent serious criminal offending ...15 hours ago - Further Charges Filed Following INZ Construction Sector Compliance WorkImmigration New Zealand (INZ) has filed further charges over the use of unlawful migrant labour in the building and construction sector. Four charges have been laid against an Auckland-based employer under section 350(1)(b) of the Immigration Act ...15 hours ago
- PM Jacinda Ardern announces more support for Ashburton after flooding
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the government is injecting a further $4 million to support flood-affected Canterbury farmers. ...16 hours ago - Registrations Grow For Asia Harm Reduction Forum 2021Interest is building ahead of the 4th Asia Harm Reduction Forum (AHRF). This year, as a virtual event, it promises to be dynamic gathering of global Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) advocates with significant developments to discuss. Registration and participation ...16 hours ago
- Good bye and good riddance to Auckland’s worst live music venueWhen a concert venue shuts down, it’s usually a bleak day for New Zealand’s entertainment industry. But in the case of the Logan Campbell Centre, Chris Schulz couldn’t be happier.First published on Chris Schulz’s newsletter Boiler Room.At the beginning of 2018, in the middle of an absolutely legendary run of summer ...16 hours ago
- Prison For Directors Who Fail To Report On Climate Risks Unduly Harsh, Says The Institute Of Directo...Directors should not face jail time for failing to comply with proposed new climate-reporting standards, stressed the Institute of Directors (IoD). The IoD appeared before the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee today to present its ...17 hours ago
- Chief Human Rights Commissioner Should Stay In His LaneThe Free Speech Union says that Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt wasn’t hired to tell artists what work they can and can’t produce. He should start defending human rights, not stand against freedom of expression. A spokesperson for the Union, ...17 hours ago
- Eat it, haters. NZ are the champions, the greatest test side in the worldHistorically, Black Caps tragics have not had an easy time of it but today’s result confirmed how dramatically that had changed. Now, finally, is the time for unbridled joy, writes Samuel Flynn-Scott. Drifting in and out of a fitful sleep, I stopped resisting and picked up my phone one last time. ...18 hours ago
- Safer Drinking Water Key Issue For New ZealandersWater New Zealand says events such as the Havelock North contamination crisis and the frequent number of boil water notices in some parts of the country have led to drinking water becoming identified as our number one infrastructure issue. Chief ...18 hours ago
- Taxpayers’ Union Calls Out “coding Error” ExcuseThe Taxpayers’ Union is calling BS on claims that inappropriate spending of parliamentary funds by MP Harete Hipango was the result of a “coding error”. Union spokesperson Jordan Williams says, “A number of our staff used to work at Parliament and would ...19 hours ago
- Employment Indicators: Weekly As At 21 June 2021The experimental weekly series provides an early indicator of employment and labour market changes in a more timely manner than the monthly employment indicators series. Key facts The 6-day series includes jobs with a pay period equal to or less than ...19 hours ago
- We just watched the Blackcaps make cricket historyThe Offspin’s Alex Braae celebrates the Blackcaps’ monumental overnight World Test Championship victory, and the culmination of six days of intense early-morning podcasting.Follow The Offspin on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.Six nights of tension. Two years of dominating the international circuit. Eight years of cultural reform and ...19 hours ago
- New Report Reveals New Zealanders' Views On Infrastructure IssuesOver 23,000 New Zealanders have called for action to address the country’s infrastructure issues in a new report published today by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga. ...20 hours ago
- NZ Needs To Sign Up To International Law Making Workplaces Free From Violence And HarassmentA new international law to keep workplaces free from violence and harassment comes into effect on Friday 25 June. "The International Labour Organisation (an agency of the United Nations) adopted the Violence and Harassment Convention , 2019 (190) ...20 hours ago
- NZ’s housing market is broken and we’ve got the maps to prove itInspired by a map of the US housing market, analyst Emma Vitz created a graph showing how much people needed to earn to afford a property in their region. It quickly went viral.From the comfort of my 23 square metre apartment that I most definitely do not own, I mapped ...20 hours ago
- Dirty secrets: sediment DNA reveals a 300,000-year timeline of ancient and modern humans living in S...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elena Zavala, PhD Student, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Collection of sediment DNA samples in the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave. Bert Roberts, Author provided In the foothills of the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia lies Denisova Cave. It is the ...21 hours ago
- With Aung San Suu Kyi facing prison, Myanmar’s opposition is leaderless, desperate and ready to fi...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia As Aung San Suu Kyi finally faced court last week to defend herself against a litany of politically motivated charges, Myanmar is continuing its downward spiral into state failure. Suu Kyi was arrested following ...21 hours ago
- Stopping, blocking and dampening – how Aussie drugs in the pipeline could treat COVID-19Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vasso Apostolopoulos, Professor of Immunology and Associate Provost, Research Partnerships, Victoria University Shutterstock While widespread vaccination is key in our fight against COVID-19, people who are infected still need better treatment to improve their chance of survival and making a ...21 hours ago
- The government’s idea of ‘national environment standards’ would entrench Australia’s global ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martine Maron, ARC Future Fellow and Professor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland A growing global push to halt biodiversity decline, most recently agreed at the G7 on Sunday, leaves Australia out in the cold as the federal government walks away ...21 hours ago
- ‘You’re the best!’ Your belief in your kids’ academic ability can actually improve their gra...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip D. Parker, Professor and Deputy Director, Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock We have all met the parent who thinks their kid is the next Picasso or Einstein regardless of the evidence. But it’s hard ...21 hours ago
- Meat pies, desert, bloody dingoes: new Australian film Buckley’s Chance brims with dated cultural ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Transmission Films Review: Buckley’s Chance, directed by Tim Brown. It’s a classic trope of Australian cinema: a foreigner comes here and discovers a wild, rugged place, replete with ...21 hours ago
- The adaptation era arrivesFor decades, climate change discussions have been dominated by what we can do to stop it, but there is a growing focus on how we live with its consequences.In recent years the conversation about climate change has been growing larger and louder, with everyone from activist investors to right-leaning politicians ...21 hours ago
- Live updates, June 24: Testing in the spotlight as Wellington wakes to alert level twoWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for June 24, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nzWe’re doing our utmost to keep you updated on all the Covid-19 coverage. We can’t do it without the generous support of our members. If you want ...21 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Wellington waits nervously amid move to level twoGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wellington waits nervously amid move to level two, Todd Muller leaving politics at next election, and banks making major profits amid big lending demand.For the first time ever, Wellington’s Covid restrictions are more stringent than that of the rest of ...22 hours ago
- Soaring power prices drive firms to invest in solar energy
The rising cost of wholesale power is forcing some businesses to consider investing in solar energy, writes Nicholas Pointon. Many firms are facing significant hikes to renew their fixed power contracts, as dry weather, low hydro lake levels and a shortage of natural gas puts upward pressure on prices. Christchurch-based manufacturing firm, ...22 hours ago - Amount earned from managed isolation and quarantine fees far less than expectedOfficials have told the government they are sometimes struggling to identify who needs to pay for their managed isolation stay. ...23 hours ago
- The future of NZ First and its leaderThe Detail - From positions of power to periods in the political wilderness, the party's chances of a return to its glory days seem to rest with long-time leader Winston Peters. ...24 hours ago
- Newsroom daily crossword, Thursday 24 June
...24 hours ago - Memory Games: The boxer floored by the haka
Alexis Pritchard - the first New Zealand female boxer to win an Olympic bout, in London 2012 - recalls watching a swimming legend with her grandpa, being overwhelmed by the haka, and her message for boxer David Nyika, in the Memory Games Q&A with LockerRoom writers who've been to the Olympics. ...24 hours ago - Saving the mighty albatross
It's not too late to turn around the decline of our albatross populations, despite the multiple threats they face today. Ariel Micaiah-Heswall looks at how. Albatrosses are an amazing group of animals. They spend an incredible 84 percent of their lives soaring across the ocean, foraging and migrating thousands of ...24 hours ago - Covid outbreak either easy to contain or out of control
On the one hand, the ramifications of the Sydney Covid-19 case who visited Wellington should be easy to handle. On the other, the Delta variant could throw health officials for a loop, Marc Daalder writes. Analysis: New Zealand has dealt with Covid-19 outbreaks before and always succeeded in eliminating the virus. But the ...24 hours ago - Bringing back Winston
From positions of pivotal power in governments to periods in the political wilderness, NZ First is the enigma of New Zealand politics. The party's chances of a return to its glory days seem to rest, as they always do, with its long-time leader Winston Peters. They're out, but they're not ...24 hours ago - Newsroom daily crossword, Friday 25 June
...24 hours ago - Newsroom's daily sudoku, Thursday 24 June
...24 hours ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 24 June
Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...24 hours ago - How Laurel Hubbard’s road to Tokyo is forcing a rethink on what inclusivity really meansThe trans weightlifter’s inclusion in New Zealand’s Olympic team has generated debate about transgender athletes and sport. But it has led also to a global conversation about how we design our systems to be safe and inclusive, for everyone, writes Laura Walters.Kiwi weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is making global headlines after ...1 day ago
- We, the children of Centrepoint, are breaking through the silenceAs Centrepoint once again becomes a focus of media attention, Dr Caroline Ansley, a survivor of the North Shore commune, asks why the work of grappling with its legacy continues to fall on those who suffered. The most recent cover article of North & South left a greasy, nauseated feeling in ...1 day ago
- Wake up ministers – Covid doesn't sleep
‘Go hard and go early’ has been a winning formula against Covid-19. But as the virus rears its head again, some mistakes are being made too many times, writes political editor Jo Moir. Journalists are familiar with the expression ‘news knows no time’. The biggest stories and tips often come ...1 day ago - Wake up ministers – Covid doesn't sleepAs Covid-19 rears its head again, some mistakes are being made too many times, ...1 day ago
- Job market swings in favour of workers, with record listings
Job seekers are gaining power as closed borders shut migrants out of the employment market ...1 day ago - Is the America's Cup price really too high?
There's a reason why governments for the past 30 years have funded and basked in national sports successes, writes Peter Dunne, and that's why the America's Cup won't necessarily end up offshore. ...1 day ago - $5K Surrey-Newsroom writers residency open
Announcing the 2021 Surrey Hotel-Newsroom writers residency Calling all writers wanting the rare chance to sit down in privacy and comfort to work on their latest masterpiece. Applications open today, as of now, this very second, for the prestigious 2021 Surrey Hotel-Newsroom writers residency - with an added bonus of ...1 day ago - China, Australia and NZ: 'Anxiety and a sense of danger'
Who is to blame for tensions between the Asian superpower and our neighbours, and what does it mean for us? ...1 day ago - Covid infections in Fiji soar with record 279 cases – four deathsBy Timoci Vula in Suva Fiji has reported its highest daily total of positive covid-19 infections with 279 cases reported as of 8am today as the outbreak continues to soar. The ministry has also reported four deaths attributed to the virus. Health Secretary Dr James Fong announced these figures in ...1 day ago
- NZ’s capital moves to covid alert level 2 after Sydney tourist scareRNZ News The Wellington region moved to alert level 2 at 6pm today after an Australian tourist who visited the New Zealand capital on the weekend tested positive for covid-19 on his return to Sydney. Wellington, Wairarapa and Kāpiti Coast are now at alert level 2 until 11.59pm on Sunday ...1 day ago
- Fiji records two covid deaths amid record 180 new casesBy Lice Movono, RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva Fiji’s covid19 case count broke records again yesterday as medical authorities recorded another two deaths at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWM) in the capital Suva. Two men, a 68-year-old and a 42-year-old are the latest certified covid deaths. The CWM Hospital ...1 day ago
- Bridging visas for three months granted to Tamil familySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Three members of the Biloela Tamil family have been given bridging visas for three months, which will allow the parents work and study rights. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has granted the visas to Nades and ...1 day ago
- Politics with Michelle Grattan: Sussan Ley and Terri Butler on the Great Barrier Reef being ‘in da...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government’s response to the UNESCO recommendation that the Great Barrier Reef be listed as “in danger” was one of surprise and shock. The recommendation will be considered at UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting next ...1 day ago
- Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Excess Deaths by Age Cohort: New Zealand and comparator countriesAnalysis by Keith Rankin. New Zealand, concerns for all age groups. Chart by Keith Rankin. The international source for these data calculates the percentage increase (decrease if negative) of deaths compared to ‘expected deaths’. There is a weakness in the data, in that ‘expected deaths’ is simply the average for ...1 day ago
- Vessels in international waters: Agencies to gain powers to stop, search, detainParliament has introduced a bill that gives agencies powers to stop any suspected serious criminal offending on ships in international waters. ...1 day ago
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- Eight incredible moments from the new series of MatangireiaHeartbreak, scandal and intrigue are never far away in the new conversations with former Māori MPs. Leonie Hayden points to the highlights. Maybe it’s only ever possible to see the true humanity of politicians once they’ve left politics. Take away the campaigning, the party lines, the spin and the relentlessness of ...2 days ago
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And finally, a way to get those 'vaccine hesitant' types racing in to get jabbed: free dope.
Washington State's Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) on Monday announced licensed marijuana dealers are now allowed to give one free pre-rolled joint to customers 21 years or older who receive their first or second dose of COVID19 vaccine at an on-site vaccination clinic.
Great new initiative for my hydrochoroquine believer relatives in the Far North.
The new age hippy fascists will be queueing around the block.
https://gen.medium.com/nazi-hippies-when-the-new-age-and-far-right-overlap-d1a6ddcd7be4
that link is an interesting read..
kinda unsure tho' of the validity/connection of yr 'queueing around the block' sneer…
and thereby surely setting a new benchmark in lateral thinking..?
Lateral comment directed @ ad..
Don't know how effective that would be in Northland ATM. The harvest is in, the curing has happened and should be plentiful.
Lol ova here it,d have to be at least an oz
The Prime MInister claims that the government is able to fund the nurses claims.
$785 million for a cycleway says otherwise
As part of their protest Nurses will march up Queen Street.
Nurses know a lot about blocked arteries, if they are serious they should continue their march down Fanshaw Street and block the motorway entrance, until Michael Wood or Grant Robertson agree to negotiate.
Oops typo.
Should read:
The Prime MInister claims that the government is not able to fund the nurses claims.
$785 million for a cycleway says otherwise
A textbook example of a Freudian slip
mummy?
The smell of custard pudding.
I see, you’re still tilting at the cycling & walking bridge, which doesn’t surprise me.
And you’re still barking up the wrong tree, it seems.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444225/nurse-fears-for-exhausted-profession-as-colleagues-gear-up-for-strike [from yesterday, i.e. before the strike]
Pray tell, what do Michael Wood or Grant Robertson have to do with the negotiations?
One trick pony.
Let us refresh the memory of those that have forgotten what the two dudes named above do in government
Woods:
Transport – Minister
Workplace Relations and Safety
Deputy Leader of the House
Robertson
Minister of Finance
Minister for Infrastructure
Minister for Racing
Minister of Sport and Recreation
edit: but then we can see why cycling bridges are the winner when one is also transport minister and the other is minister of racing and sport and recreation. Priorities this government has them, and they are outdoing John Key on his cycleway of historic importance.
As for the nurse vs the bridge, lol. Yeah, that is making the rounds in all places that are not labour loyalists by hook n crook.
But then some rather have solidarity with cycling bridges for the 10% then the wellbeing for nurses and other medical frontline staff. So very 'labour' of them. So very 'kind' so very 'gentle'.
Who persuaded you it's one or the other?
dear leader yesterday saying
"There is NO money"
nurses striking today
nurses being offered ' 4000 NZD backpay!!!! – as part of their wage agreement
nurses being offered 1.38% (under inflation)
Nurses Striking today.
and just for clarity : “At the moment, their [NZNO’s] ask is 17 per cent [annualised increases]; we're just not in the position to be able to fund that at this point in time,”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
As i suggested yesterday, all he white nurses (only the white ones please it would be to dangerous for people of color) should loan some 2 – 4 grand bikes and run over a police barricade, illegally enter a motorway, cause traffic issues and then …..then the PM would say, lols, sure here have your 870 million.
In whose interests is it for you to believe that?
I don't believe anything,
I take them at their word.
And she said what she said, and she can't unsay it, and today the nurses are striking.
So in whose interest is it for her to say that kind of stuff?
Not that you're aware of, perhaps then. Must make life tricky.
It's a wonder we have any nurses left in this country.
Could say the same about teachers, cleaners, and any support staff in general.
verily
The problem is that 3 letter word is political poison
Used to be. Now would be a great time to push it, when other countries are.
tax the rich?
well there is the much vaunted new tax rate from the Finance Minsiter
that will raise about 500 million per year, so would pay in its first year for one half of a bridge for cyclists. And then would need probaly another three years of that to account for the 'overspending' on the bridge for the very well looked after very rich Aucklanders.
Lol. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2020-labour-ups-top-tax-rate-for-high-earners-grant-robertson/2Y4FYWV5GKIAEPPCI4J7PTREPY/
Maybe someone should tell the Prime Minister that she could use these 500 millions raised by the 'rich tax' on the Nurses, and the very white lawbreaking cyclists of rich Auckland can hold a bake sale for the bridge? I mean that is what we do for Ambulances, Firestations and schools in this country.
nah, that image is wrong,
the foreigner don't get cookies from the get go – its called Kiwi experience and thus they can work real cheap,
the worker only gets cookie when he does as he is told,
and the suits- Jacinda, Grant, Andrew etc and the white well to do people from Herne Bay and Ponsnobby – who can break laws without consequeses- are in the meantime eating all the cookies,
And then they turn around and tell the nurses there ain't any money left in the kitty, and that if they expect a decent pay for a decent day of work, and if the Nurses expect toilet breaks and lunch breaks and enough collegues to cover these breaks they need to move to OZ, the US, or England or elsewhere, cause here in NZ they are not valued neither by the government nor the public.
One step forward @ 8:22 am, two steps backward @ 8:41 am. It’s windy outside.
‘
“Pray tell, what do Michael Wood or Grant Robertson have to do with the negotiations?”
Incognito
I thought it would be a bit presumptious to ask the Prime Minister to take part in the negotiations. Though if you think that is better. Sure, why not.
After all it is the Prime Minister who has said that the government hasn't got the money. Maybe the Prime Minister coulc convince the nurses of that.
Why I chose Grant Robertson; Grant Robertson is the Deputy PM and also the Minister of Finance, an obvious choice. He holds the purse strings.
Why I chose Michael Wood, for several reasons; Michael Wood is an Auckland based MP, it wouldn;t be too far out of his comfort zone.
I have met with Michael several times and am convinced of his basic decency and humanitarianism.
Because of this, I toyed with the idea of just asking Michael to come and negotiate with the nurses on behalf of the government.
The other and more obvious reason is Michael could agree to forgo the $785 million he got for the cycleway and ask the Minister of Finance to give it to the nurses instead.
I would expect the negotiations to last 30 minutes. Auckland motorists could then get back on their way.
You seem to spend a lot of effort not understanding how government works, nor even how it could in an ideal world. Stuck in the middle somehow.
“You seem to spend a lot of effort not understanding how government works, nor even how it could in an ideal world.” Sacha
Hi Sacha,
We live in a far from ideal world. Sometimes you just have to cut through the Gordian Knot.
And;
The lesson is obvious.
It is a lesson not missed by the Right.
You seem to spend a lot of effort not understanding how government works, nor even how it could in an ideal world. Stuck in the middle somehow.
Or perhaps, bogged down. That quicksand is diabolically slow sometimes.
The other reason I chose Michael Wood, he is probably in town already and could get there without much delay.
If Grant can't make it at short notice. Michael could take a smart phone and Bring in Grant Robertson by skype, or facebook messenger, or zoom or whatever platform suits best.
The PM could even cut in for 5 minutes if she wanted to. To berate the nurses for being wrong headed, ‘There is no money, you should call off your strike’.
And all of that hinges on two things,
Good faith, and actually wanting to resolve the dispute. I can't see non of that happening at the moment;.
I mean offering an advance to owed backpay as part of a wage negotiation is not good faith, nor does it show a will to resolve a pay dispute, but it is very much an insult to injury.
"I mean offering an advance to owed backpay as part of a wage negotiation is not good faith, nor does it show a will to resolve a pay dispute, but it is very much an insult to injury."
Too true. A bit like criticism of Vance's article, the $4000 is there for lazy minds to cling to.
The chosen ones will be delighted and over
Marsthe Moon with their elevation, which comes as a revelation. Will you make them knights or just anoint them?You toying with ideas is like Donald Trump playing with the two red buttons on his desk, one was for the Diet Coke Button the other one was for frying the world.
Acutally we could choose the worlds governments, inclusive ours and ship them all to Mars to colonize the rock.
No one would be missed here on earth, and chances are life would go on as if these useless eaters had never existed.
Robertson popped his beak in a couple of days ago.
As Finance Minister, he controls the purse strings and gas been able to find monies for various reasons/projects
Like all things the amount is largely irrelevant, it is a will that is lacking.
Freudian slip there? (gas/has)
Nurses are sure going to have to campaign smarter than a boring old strike (which the system is coping with easily) if they are going to be out-competed by a few old lycra-waddling duffers.
You can pop over to the Nurses Union and tell them how their industrial relations efforts are so weak and then show them HowToGetThere.
nope they don't actually, they could just choose to move overseas to a government that pays them better.
It's a free country. Go for it. We'll just keep importing replacements.
ah, but then you are ok with foreign workers, and then it should be ok for the horticulturist, the Orchadists, the farmers, the booze shops, the universities and all the others that don't want to pay a decent wage in NZ, lead by the government. i
As always with government in NZ, Labour as well as National it is a case of do as we say not as we do. Non of them want 'living wages' or 'decent wages'.
hahahahaha, i am so gonna enjoy the next National / Act government and their 'surplus' tax cuts, for the rich, of whom Robertson, Ardern, and the rest of the dull knights and dames are members of. hahahahahahahah
Nope we should only import who we need. Each has their own category. As you are aware.
will this mean you will stop your endless incessant whingeing?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300327417/judith-collins-refuses-to-discuss-conversation-with-nick-smith-ahead-of-his-resignation
The inference we're getting here is that Judith lied to Nick Smith about the breaking scandal to get him to resign. Knowing full well there was no breaking story. So she could get Harete Hipango into the House.
Or am I reading this all wrong?
Kinda stoopid of those cops telling the world how they got their busts..
instead of hauling their informant out into the sunlight and pointing at them ..
you'd think it would have made more sense to just keep that gold mine of information ticking over ..
and occaisonally/selectively harvesting..?
and of course it will not make the slightest difference in the supply of meth etc..
to claim otherwise is a folly..
and of course it is a given…that the war on drugs is an ineffectual keystone cops farce…
and that all drugs should be decriminalised..and treatment etc. moved under the aegis of the health department..
that is the only solution that will work..
Careful where you get your phone.
The legal basis they used worldwide expired.
??..
See Eric Garland's thread of tweets below.
Well no…as soon as the first cases appeared in court the light bulb would have gone on and phones would be heading for the skip smartly.
"ANoM could only be found on phones bought through the black market, which had been stripped of the capability to make calls or send emails, according to the AFP. The phones could only send messages to another device that had the app and criminals needed to know another criminal to get a device.
"The devices organically circulated and grew in popularity among criminals, who were confident of the legitimacy of the app because high-profile organized crime figures vouched for its integrity," the AFP statement said."
well no…if you read the story you will see they have been doing that…using info gained to bust imports…back to 2019..
so I still don't understand why they blew the gaff..
and didn't just continue to milk it..
maybe it was already blewn and thus they explained what they did.
or they wanted the kudos/positive p.r..
I still can't see any 'policing' reason to pull the plug…
If this was a one of, and it was known (or suspicion arose among those targeted) …..then yes pull the plug and only to see if the news would make some more crawl out from under the rocks in order to hide under another.
Let me put it another way. All the arrests around the world were coordinated,
and the point you are trying to make..is..?
The gig was up.
But the cover appeared to be blown in March 2021 when a blogger detailed ANOM security flaws and claimed it was a scam linked to Australia, the United States and other members of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network. The post was later deleted.
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/anom-operation-trojan-shield-over-800-arrested-worldwide-in-staggering-global-crime-sting-2459534
Certainly showed the problem of networked crime,and its expansive reach.
As a psyop,the enhancement of paranoia,within acute paranoid gangsters will bring fear,and error.
Make what you will of the author but he certainly tells a ripping yarn.
Two for one.
"The erosion of trust in these networks was a primary goal, along with gathering invaluable investigative information."
I'm surprised the internet policing app was used for as long as it got used and no one discovered they were being monitored. Possibly the cops cover would have been blowen as the app would be used as evidence.
for anyone at all interested in hip-hop..the guardian website has a very tidy piece on the history/arc of hip-hop lyrics..
with the appropriate vid-links…
All I need is here:
https://www.thetempleofhiphop.org/
this one is my current favorite.
very clever people.
Good on them. Hope they strike until the DHB (and Government) pull their heads in.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125372284/nurses-speak-out-before-nationwide-strike
seriously for this alone they should stay on strike for the rest of the week.
that 4 grand has nothing to do with the current wage dispute. Here really the government and DHB are saying that we owe you back pay, but we could advance that for you now, so please dear Nurses *(male/female/others as some seem to think that nursing is a 'female' profession ) stay on strike until the Managarial Goons learn some shame, humility and grow a brain.
For what its worth all of us have needed nurses and medical staff in our lifes, non of us has needed any of the overpaid goons that pretend that 1.38% (below inflation) is a 'pay increase'.
Strike!
Strike!
Strike!
(should have been headline ..)
'bennett blacklisted by tories..!'..)
[time to flex my (blue-pencil) muscles 😀
Please add a link to your comments so that others may get a clue what you’re on about, thanks – Incognito]
Why? She still in politics? or is there just something in the waters of some left leaning people that they rather discuss the National wanabes of yesteryears rather tehn just the regular businesses of strikes, homelessness, violence and crime?
She was always only an attack dog, she knew her role and she fulfilled it to the finest. And now she sells real estate for big bucks, laughing all the way to the bank.
lol
You seem to have missed the post by Mike Smith: https://thestandard.org.nz/nz-nuclear-free-day/.
i did not answer to someone writing a post, i answered to someone who should have posted a link. So nah, i missed nothing. And i don't waste my time with has beens such as the like of Paula Benefit.
heh..!….luv yr long reason why you wouldn't link to the link you demanded from me…
tho' there is anti-tory schadenfreude to burn there..
I'm sure you would find something to please you there ..
(hint:. just Google bennett..and it will all be @ yr fingertips..wallow away..!..)
i just think it is polite to link. Nothing more nothing less. And no i see no reason to google anything National, I have no care for them.
Links are even more important than ever.
So called Journalists should provide them for one.
Helps stop the all to common practice of interviewing their own empty heads.
As shown by Vance’s recent, unsupported by evidence fluff piece.
See my Moderation note @ 8:35 am.
(a short history/arc of the link..)
in the early days of the internet..when everybody had shit/expensive internet-coverage..providing links was crucial…
it was one of the reasons I started/did my proto-aggregation website whoar.co.nz..to provide that service…and I always included the link to every story I posted..
that was then…this is now…when everyone has fast/efficient internet..and in the above case of my made-up tabloid headline..typing bennett into google will bring up all coverage of 'what I am talking about'..namely bennetts' vomiting all over her tory party..and how they dun her wrong…
and I would contend that just providing one link (as you continue to demand) is/can be a negative..is an involuntary controlling of the message..by only giving the reader one perspective..whereby they have to Google to find out more ..(!)
It is for these reasons I feel the arc of importance of 'the link'..has reached it's natural conclusion..
and is increasingly irrelevant/a block on the full picture..
largely..the link is yesterday's imperative..
and should be left just to wither..
and certainly not be demanded of anyone posting anything..
[I did not demand, I asked, nicely and politely. You must have attended the same school as Jenny for not understanding the difference between these two verbs.
Indeed, this is here and now, you’re commenting on TS, not on your proto-site. You take heed of Moderation notes, here and now.
It is good manners to post a link. Don’t expect others to do the digging and Googling; they’re not mind readers.
When I Google “bennett”, I get all sorts of results, including Naftali Bennett, the next PM of Israel.
Please don’t act like an obstinate pillock and include links in your comments, especially when asked by a Moderator, thanks. This is your final warning – Incognito]
You must have an awful lot of time on your hands if that seems like a viable tactic. If you google the word 'tactic' you will find what I'm talking about..
See my Moderation note @ 9:54 am.
So you totally dismiss the case I made re arc of link…?
and choose to again threaten to ban ..?
After the several days of my being back here you following me around sneering insults/trolling at virtually everything I say..?
go read them..!
your abuses of power/harassment of me is over the top..
other people..including yrslf..regularly say things without linking..I read whole threads like that..while I was'nt commenting here..and not a word from you..or any other moderator..
I repeat…why do you single me out for such special treatment..
So you don't like my arguments…esp re animal flesh..eh..?..
So you cancel me…?
'final warning'..?
not very over the top…eh..?
injustice does my fucken head in..
how about telling me what I got wrong in my depiction of the arc/increasing irrelevance/need of the link…
I thought I made quite a relevant case..
would be interested to hear your dismissal…
all I have heard so far is 'polite'..and 'because I said so'
lol
my screen/font settings gave a convenient word wrap:
For me, that's filed under "don't ask questions you don't wanna know the answer to".
Reform for retirees has been a long time coming. It would be a popular move if the government follows the advice and takes the rights of older folk as seriously as younger tenants.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125371030/retirement-village-residents-have-less-protection-than-tenants–retirement-commissioner-calls-for-urgent-law-reform
From the link above
also from the link as to why nothing will change until this government is shamed into action – from Poto Williams herself
"Asked what plans, if any, she has to move on the commission and Consumer reports to strengthen the Retirement Villages Act, Williams said: "At this stage there are no immediate plans to review the Act, although I acknowledge that the Act is due for review and will work towards this when we can."
Lol. This fucking government.
Seriously the government should be ashamed of itself. All of the goons.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/06/kiwi-nurse-exposes-hospital-conditions-that-prompted-her-move-to-australia.html
as the nurse who know lives and work in OZ says: "We want to be recognised for all we do, and unfortunately a pen on international nurses’ day doesn’t cut it."
Back in the day, last century, long service was acknowledged at 25 years and the good old gold watch was the gift.
Nowadays it occurs at 10 years.
Also since the rise of DHB CEOs, carparks were privatized. A fairly significant change in working conditions for many hospital staff.
Not a skerrick of renumeration and often decreased safety as the person in the booth wasn't paid to provide security or folk would park off hospital grounds.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444325/inquiries-into-unsafe-building-designs-not-published-as-complaints-rise
Two crucial initiatives to clamp down on unsafe building designs are yet to see the light of day, five years after the Kaikōura earthquake.
At the same time, the number of complex complaints about commercial building structural design is rising, according to the Structural Engineering Society.
It says the problem with substandard designs is "unacceptable".
"We've been campaigning for change to prevent quality issues," Structural Engineering Society president, Michelle Grant said.
"We've … strongly voiced our recommendations for greater scrutiny and tighter assessment of structural engineers."
Such is the increase in complex investigations landing at Engineering New Zealand (ENZ) that it has had to hire more engineers and lawyers to tackle the backlog. The body receives between 45-50 complaints each year.
Give over the bridge discussion. Get behind this one now, about buildings which affects us all every day of the week.
but are there votes in that?
Here is something to bite into.
In Australia the rule about agreement to sex or whether it was rape would be laughable if it was in a satirical performance. If it said that previous agreed sex within the period the participants were together should be considered in exoneration, (which I believe was the case for Julian Assange) that would fit the Oz idea of rationality, but not just the sheer force of the man's lust or want.)
However, the court also cited the “high hurdle” it faced on the issue of consent. Under the archaic legal definition of “consent” in place in Australia at the time the incidents had occurred, any belief by the perpetrator that the complainant was consenting – not matter how irrational that belief was – had to be counted as grounds for acquittal. The court cited McLachlan’s “egocentric” personality as an exonerating factor, in that he simply may not have been able to comprehend that his advances would not be reciprocated
Gordon Campbell in Scoop – https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2106/S00022/on-the-mclachlan-interview-and-the-g-7-global-corporate-tax.htm
Not a surprise, but leaked info from the US IRS confirms billionaires pay very low tax rates compared to ordinary people
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax
Meanwhile in NZ, we seem terrified of taxing wealth but are happy to go hammer and tongs with nurses to suppress their pay. To me, these two things are linked.
Why would the wealthy people in government raise taxes on the wealthy or the wealthy companies? heck, we give millions of dollars to come here and make some dumb arse movies.
Please try and limit the number of short sharp irrationalities that you put up Sabine.
Dumb arse movies are common, and watched by many similar people. If made here they provide jobs and a change of business, a bit of diversity from dairy and housing and building war tech for the USA. It will be a good change from selling our stock of houses from under the feet of the NZs who we hope will make some wages from the movie-making.
so the Amazon dude did not get some hundered million and a bit for a movie? 🙂 lol.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300278243/amazon-may-be-on-the-way-to-new-zealand-as-government-signs-subsidy-deal
but but but
Says here MSD has "blacklisted" the person from receiving help with emergency accommodation.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/125336479/eco-lodge-owner-taken-to-tenancy-tribunal-over-bond-money
MSD cannot do this. Help with emergency accommodation is governed by legislation which means if a person is entitled to the help they must receive it. Nobody can stop anyone applying for help under the Act, but when it comes to emergency accommodation MSD do it all the time.
When challenged MSD will of course agree they cannot blacklist anyone, but the fact is that very few people do challenge their decisions so what has become a widespread problem is left to continue because it suits MSD for it to continue even though they know it's wrong.
The money you are trying to raise to pay for the nurses would have to come from …the nurses. They are well paid ,but not as well paid as the Aussies. I’m not being a smart are’s, my wife is a nurse and she is currently on the street protesting, and I agree with her but there aren’t enough rich to tax to get enough money to pay the nurses without taxing the nurses. The point being missed by most is not the 17% increase to the nurses, almost certainly affordable, but the ongoing parity that would then be required for all other govt employees, a huge sum no doubt, well beyond my capacity to calculate and the governments to afford in the short term.. That huge sum can only come from bankrupting the so-called rich which would include ..the nurses.
Adrian, I am minded of the parable that Christ taught about the farmer who got a problem with weeds in his crops. Of course, his listeners were the poor farmers high up the hills whose land was too poor to grow the particular weeds and who never knew the threat to their huge crops complained of by the wealthy farmers on the valley floor.
A bit like a poorly paid worker being told that they would have to pay more tax if they got paid a decent wage commensurate with their hours, skills and social worth.
If only……….
What is the average pay for a nurse? The start at about 55 before tax and after a few years should be at about mid 70? that is not rich, not before tax not after tax. And certainly not when one factors in GST. And certainly not when we consider that these women and men are the ones that will intubate us should we need it, and in case of Covid might be the last people to actually care about the patient more then them just being a dying bag of bones and flesh.
They could however establish a Capital Gains Tax to finance these fancy people called Nurses. Maybe a Land tax? Maybe a luxury tax on certain cars for the very rich? Maybe an 'empty room' tax for those that own houses but keep them empty? I am sure if these people were to put that thinking hat on they would come up with something.
Anyway, i hope she and her collegues will achieve and receive not only bread but also Roses, and maybe some respect. So she has my support.
" The money you are trying to raise to pay for the nurses would have to come from …the nurses. "
Yeah right.
There are about 60,000 nurses working in NZ. Average pay is very roughly $70k. a 10% pay rise (compared to the 1.38% on offer) would cost roughly $420m p.a.
The wealth of NZ's richest person, Graeme Hart, increased (!) by $3.4b since the covid pandemic started. So a 10% pay rise for every nurse in NZ is only 12% of this wealth increase (ignoring his existing enormous wealth). So this single person could easily pay for a 10% increase for every nurse in NZ, for the next 8 years, without losing a cent of his underlying wealth, just his recent increase.
There’s no bottom to the depths these fuckers will sink to.
Three groups opposed to Covid restrictions, masks, and vaccines are hosting conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf for a fundraiser entitled "Liberate Our Five Freedoms."
The event is going to be held on Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the end of chattel slavery in the US. Event organizer Kathryn Levin told me that in her view, it's appropriate.
"The 19th is a day of emancipation, and it's a day when we claim our freedom," said Levin. "It's when we see that we are not slaves to mandate. It's when we take our power back."
I asked Levin how she analogized American chattel slavery—where slaves were whipped, beaten, raped, and murdered by their white masters for centuries—to the temporary restrictions over the last 15 months due to the pandemic.
"We have been enslaved by our government," she replied.
https://eoinhiggins.substack.com/p/fresh-off-twitter-ban-naomi-wolf
They think 'It's all about me, precious me, my inviolable rights. Others serve my purpose, and might get some advantage eventually.'
Ironically, these people are perfectly fine with a police state as long as it is them not being policed. They all would have thought George Floyd deserved to die.
Like these 3 people who I used to work with, all through COVID was a plot to impose a police state, but supported Trump.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/444341/climate-change-commission-releases-final-report-says-nearly-all-cars-imported-by-2035-must-be-electric
2035 – 14 years away. So what are we doing in the meantime?
The Climate Change Commission has released its final report laying out the roadmap for the country to slash emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050…
(Plus a lot more. Doesn't say anything about hybrid vehicles in the meantime, which would be helpful while we up the electricity supply.)
Climate Change Minister James Shaw said this government had done more to fight the climate crisis in the last three-and-a-half years than the combined efforts of governments over the last three-and-a-half decades.
"However, we are yet to see a sustained decline in the pollution we put into the atmosphere," Shaw said.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444345/auckland-named-most-liveable-city-in-the-world
Well. It's time for The Hollies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmzi0Rc3P8Q
'What more could I ask, There's nothing left to desire!'
Auckland the most liveable city in the world?
You know what, that was said consistently under John Key too, and i bet you a dollar that no one asked those that can't afford rent, are on a benefit in a town that costs per week (without utilities, food, and all other jazz of nice things)
https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/rent-bond-and-bills/market-rent/
Market rent in Avondale (Auckland) 01 Nov 2020 – 30 Apr 2021
If however you are one of the really lucky ones that live in a nice part of town, with a nice wage, and an affordable mortgage, or inherited housing then truly Auckland is a very livable city.
But then…….who was asked and who did the asking?
The wet markets of Wuhan,suspects exonerated Bats and Pangolin's have an alibi.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/wet-market-sources-covid-19-bats-and-pangolins-have-alibi.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91470-2
That's a damned useful bit of research.
That's an extremely limited alibi and exoneration.
Those articles only provide evidence for an argument against the idea that a jump to humans from bats or pangolins occurred at that specific market. It in no way excludes the possibility that patient zero got it from bats or pangolins (or any other species for that matter) somewhere else, then spread it to other humans at the market. Nor does it even exclude the possibility that the jump to humans happened from some other species at the market.
Never mind the myriad other possibilities for zoonotic transfer some other place and time, and that Wuhan maybe just happened to be where the first superspreading event occurred.
Bats and pangolins just happened to have drawn suspicion because they are known to host viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, to the extent that they commonly have antibodies already circulating that neutralise SARS-CoV-2.. That doesn't mean there aren't other species also hosting similar coronaviruses that we aren't aware of. The original SARS intermediary was likely palm civets, for example, or camels for MERS.
The natural evolution theory gets stronger by the day!
One of the stranger things about moderating TS is seeing how many people make comments and then don't check to see who has replied to them next time the come back. Mods see this when someone's comments are held in the back end until someone responds to a moderation request.
I'd like to know how many people either don't use the Replies list function, or can't see it on their device. What are you all doing?
Tricledrown, if you are reading this, you need to go back to my last reply to you. All your other comments are landing in Trash until this gets sorted out.
I've been doing (tedious) "Find in This Page" searches of the (default) "Comments" tab, so thanks weka for highlighting the "Replies" tab – brilliant!
👍😎what device are you using?
I'm a slow adopter, tethered to my desktop and Firefox – no tablet or smartphone.
Hardly ever look at replies , maybe later in day or next day.
never heard of Replies list function, just found it now
It’s very handy
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444364/coroner-calls-for-ocean-swimming-advice-after-swimmer-hit-by-boat
Gelberger's body was found the next day, missing his lower left leg, and entire right leg.
Ports of Auckland was fined more than $420,000 in the Auckland District Court following Gelberger's death.
It admitted it had put people's lives at risk because its pilot boats consistently breached speed limits because, it said, they believed they were exempt.
The limits dictate vessels should not exceed five knots when closer than 200m to shore, and must keep to a 12-knot limit between the Harbour Bridge and North Head.
There is an exemption for Ports of Auckland vessels to breach limits if they are unable to carry out duties, but this applies only in limited circumstances.
In court, the company was found to have breached the rules on about 99 percent of its trips.
This seems the way things are in NZ. Power tends to corrupt etc. Why does someone have to be killed before the value of the precautionary policy is recognised? It was too fast, and not allowed at that time anyway.
As reported the proposed pay rates by DHBs for the nursing sector
Healthcare Assistants $40,382 a year, through to $48,003. This will range of $45,310 to $53,359. That is a total pay increase of between 4.6 per cent for those on step two of the pay scale, and 11.7 per cent for those at the top.
Enrolled nurses are currently paid between $48,632 and $57,047. The new agreement would take that to $53,998 to $59,447, or a total increase of 11 per cent for the step one nurses through to 4.2 per cent for step four
Senior midwives would see their pay increase from $79,760 for grade two through to $130,653 for grade eight, to $83,157 to $133,486.
Registered Nurses total pay increase between 3.1 per cent and 4.4 per cent, to reach a band of $56,434 to $79,786.
Most NZNO members are in the RN category and on the top scale ( after 7 years) of $80 k per year
My neighbour was on top scale and I would see her each morning waiting for Uber instead of the bus just around the corner
she.took.an.uber!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g
Can someone explain to me why 30 people would be in handcuffs for 'questioning' after a hit and run in Auckland?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/south-auckland-fatal-hit-and-run-crash-up-to-30-people-handcuffed-in-mangere-heavy-police-presence/JDAHZGDRQRBKCVSCSIVTEXX3KY/
Or is that selective over policing in certain areas of town? Have a good look at this picture and ask yourself if that is a normal action to a 'hit and run'. Also who suggested firearms had been involved and when that weapon failed to materialized why was the present police force not told to put their weapons away?
It wasnt a hit and run ! First reports arent always accurate
Why does this concern you now , Im sure you can wait till tomorrow when more will be released. A person is dead after an some sort of violence in a house , a car was attacked in the street and some masked people drove off … and thats what neighbors have said at around 5 PM reports
Is that your alter ego , a TV reporter for those real life crime shows ?
I just asked because i read the article and i could not quite get it sorted. It seems there were at least two if not three incidents. And having the cops stand there with what look like assault weapons in suburbia should concern all of us, unless of course we think that cops with assault weapons in the street is Kiwi as.
Never mind, you were not answering. 🙂
If you want to take on a gang-related fatal street fight with a cheery smile and a whistle, be our guest.