Agreed not good for any party, but being private school far more likely to end up Nats or Act. Mallard seems to be the exception as his bullying well reported.
Why, ya gotta wonder, did Uffindell choose to do this?
Uffindell "… used his maiden speech to critique a “growing culture of lawlessness, lack of accountability, a sense of impunity, and significant underlying generational social problems”.
Agreed – I want him to stay. He sounds like a natural fit for National. An ambitious, hard-working guy wanting to get ahead, keen to show his personal excellence (physical, intellectual, verbal) and be unshackled from state regulations and the wasteful spending that goes with it. He might have become a tradie instead of an MP – he knew how to unscrew the bed leg. Certainly he knows that humans are innately competitive and some people naturally dominate others in the free markets of the economy and physical violence. Go Sam, you are the future.
"If Helen Clark was his boss he would be gone by lunchtime"
Really?
About the only thing we have to decide this is what she did when Trevor Mallard assaulted Tau Henare in Parliament. Trevor was an adult of course, not a teenager.
What did Helen do? Well nothing really. She was reported as saying that
"Miss Clark said today that her minister had been punished enough for the brawl in Parliament's lobby.
Mr Mallard had already been publicly humiliated over the "silly incident", which had occurred after he had been provoked – both verbally and physically."
She also said "Miss Clark today said calls for Mr Mallard to be sacked were political in nature due to his effectiveness as a minister."
Then she shifted him into a more significant position in Cabinet.
I seem to remember she also said something like "That is just Trevor being Trevor" but I can't find any link and I may be imagining that.
All this storm in a teacup is people on the left trying to distract public attention from last night's poll results. Just the standard dirty politics from the left.
There has been a concerted effort from the NACT troll farm to run a massive campaign of "whataboutism" – "what about Mallard"? As if a couple of middle aged blokes having an attack of testosterone poisoning in an inappropriate place was exactly equivalent to 4 people attacking a sleeping and defenseless 13 yo child as he slept.
The left is very adept at it's own forms of dirty politics. What's different is that it is often directed at itself, a bit like a man with a pistol that fires before lifting the barrel.
Four on one – the man's a coward.
Four on one with weapons – the man's an utter coward.
Four on one with weapons on a person in bed – the mans a snivelling wretch and an utter coward.
FOUR ON ONE – so he could have said something but did not… the man's willing to break laws and bones just to be accepted. A jellyfish. A limp-wristed pathetic preener.
But the National Party deputy-leader says, Sam" is sincere (now) and changed (now). She's sure he will join her in condemning bullying of that sort (now).
How she knows this, we cannot know.
She didn't hear about the bullying incident until yesterday…
Also no harm…actually one could say it is important, to keep reminding ourselves and other of Western MSM media imperialist driven narratives on wars….as this piece from Fair.org points out quite nicely….
"In April 2022, there were a total of 179 stories on the Times‘ front page, and 79 (44%) concerned the Ukraine invasion. All but three were located at the top of the page (i.e., with no articles above them), where editors put the stories they consider to be the most important of the day. Fully 75% of all top-of-the-page stories were about the Ukraine war. Not a single day went by without a Ukraine story being published on the top of the page, and on 14 different days only stories about Ukraine were published on the top of the front page.
In May 2003, when there were 226 stories on the front page, only 41 of them (18%) reported on the Iraq invasion. Thirty-two of those were at the top of the page, with nine below; 25% of all top-of-the-page stories were dedicated to the Iraq War."
Adrian, though you have accused me of it more than once, I am not a partisan supporter of one bloody imperialist bloc over another.
The point Putin was making is that he should have the same right to impunity, to kill and maim invade other countries as the Western Powers have.
My point is that none of them should have any impunity and that includes Israel.
This latest attack by Israel against the Palestinian people, brings into sharp relief the hypocrisy of the Ardern administration.
When Ukraine was attacked by Russia, the Prime Minister never paused for a second in the rush to impose sanctions and even send military aid to Ukraine to defend themselves.
….Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says NZ is sending Hercules aircraft to help Ukraine, $7.5m for weapons. The Government will send a C130 Hercules aircraft to Europe to help move donated military provisions to Ukraine and will provide millions of dollars for weapons to arm Ukrainian soldiers.
Instead of sanctions, New Zealand rewards Israel with visiting privileges.
In April 2011, Israel and New Zealand signed a reciprocal deal that allows tourists to work for three months without an additional visa. The deal was signed by the Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin and his New Zealand counterpart Lockwood Smith, when Rivlin was visiting New Zealand.
Will we hear a peep out of 'Kindness' government over this latest Israeli atrocity?
Will the government rescind Israel's visiting privileges to this country?
Will we put economic sanctions on Israel as the BDS Movement have asked us to?
The West is busy supplying Ukraine with highly accurate HiMARs to defend themselves from Russian attacks.
God forbid, that we could ever even contemplate supplying the Palestinians with any means at all to defend themselves from Israeli attacks, rather than the highly inaccurate backyard hand made rockets they have to make themselves.
"Adrian, though you have accused me of it more than once, I am not a partisan supporter of one bloody imperialist bloc over another"….
Well that's very strange, because that is exactly what nearly everything you write on the matter of geo-politics usually sounds (reads) like….and BTW let’s be honest here..getting the Palestinian/ Israel conflict right is real easy…pretty much all Liberals are on board with that one, as they should be, (well except most of the editorial board at The Guardian)…
..but now we cut to the present, and for some reason the Liberal class have morphed into the most aggressive war hawks on the planet, and are now all gung-ho about nearly every Western backed military intervention that comes knocking (and I include the Ukrainian conflict here), even though this means getting into bed again and again with the likes of John Bolton, George Bush, Boris Johnson, the US miliary industrial complex and every other blood thirsty war hawk you can think of…but again, for reasons known only to yourselves, even that doesn’t seem set off any alarm bells?!??…apparently not.
You do realize, that if the Iraq war were to happen today under Biden or Obama… the probability that you Red Logic and all the other Western war Hawks on this site would support that invasion would be extremely high…infact it is almost a certainty.
BTW…Jacinda Ardern and Labour NZ stepping out of line on Palestine or the genocide in Yemen, come on, seriously….we all know that will never happen….ever, maybe you should ask yourself why that is.
"….let’s be honest here..getting the Palestinian/ Israel conflict right is real easy…pretty much all Liberals are on board with that one, as they should be, (well except most of the editorial board at The Guardian)…" Adrian Thornton
How about a link for that claim. Eh, Adrian.
Apart from your continual diversions, what-aboutisms, and smears.
What I am getting heartily sick of Adrian, is the repeated use of outrageous bald statements, without any attempt to provide evidence, or back up for them, from the supporters of Russia's bloody imperialist interventions and wars, like yourself.
The BoP Times asked the Tauranga candidates about their biggest mistake. Act's candidate Cam Luxton spoke about his drink-driving conviction. Uffindell's response was: "Not coming home to New Zealand sooner. There's nowhere we'd rather raise our kids.""
when you are quoting tweets, please click on the date/time stamp of the tweet, then copy and paste the URL address into the TS comment box. This will embed the tweet so we can see the whole thing, as well as being a live link.
Your comment doesn't have a direct link in it, can you please go find it now and post here, thanks.
A healthcare company has apologised for the "shocking" treatment of a diabetic woman who did not receive her regular insulin medication and died less than 24 hours after being admitted to one of its rest homes.
"Multiple systems issues" were to blame for the woman's death, Hughes said.
"There are individuals involved, there are systems involved, there are processes involved and at the end of the day we expect more. We've done a lot to prevent this happening again."
no-one at Oceania had lost their jobs, Hughes said.
WTF? Are you a Granny Farmer? Manager? Employee? My comments were in regard to Oceania .I'm sure you have some……"thoughts". Best keep them to yourself …..
there's nothing wrong with gsays' comment and they have as much right to say what they think as you.
In this case they're making a political point: in NZ, many people support the system we have for elderly people who can't live at home. Families are generally the ones that put elderly people into those situations.
What’s not ok is telling people to shut up. I’m also not impressed by the reaction to start questioning someone’s personal and work life. Focus on the politics.
Well..thats your take on it. I fail to see how you read that into what I wrote. I have previously linked “rest homes” to very high fees…AND Low Employee pay rates. Hence “Granny Farming” . Oceania would be up there with the worst…gsays comment ignored my link comment. per : That NO ONE from Oceania lost their job.! When some one died a very short time after being admitted. Maybe nuance….
I have no truck with granny farms. Like supermarkets, they will keep up their practices and undesirable exploitative behaviour so long as folk keep signing up their elderly relatives.
I missed the memo where we were told to sub-contract our love.
As predicted, the US led war in Ukraine is not as cut and dried as some would have you believe, and with the avalanche of weapons pouring into the Ukraine seemingly being only marginally monitored, into what was only a short while ago openly known as the most corrupt country in Europe…what could go wrong…well you don’t have to have a degree to work that out for yourself now do you?
The balance of probability that in the wake of this war, extremely well armed and highly motivated, organized and battle hardened Right Wing militia will cause havoc throughout Europe is highly likely, as well as crazy Right Wing lone wolves, returning to their countries (or somewhere) post conflict (as we know only to well in NZ)….not to mention just your run of the mill criminal organizations… Welcome to Ukraine, the most corrupt nation in Europe
. Ukraine: Cashing in on Illegal Arms
" Ukraine has gained a reputation as one of the world's most active suppliers of illegal small arms. It is one of several Eastern European countries that has turned to arms dealing as a source of much-needed hard currency."
"The documentary originally featured an interview with Jonas Ohman, the founder of a Lithuania-based organization that supplies the Ukrainian military. Ohman told CBS that supplying foreign weapons to Ukrainian troops involves navigating a web of “lords of power, oligarchs [and] political actors, and that of all aid arriving at the border in Poland, “kind of like 30% of it reaches its final destination.”
I can't yet figure how all those pre Zelinsky oligarchs and their oligopolies are in operation now and in what form. Maybe it's simply too complex and febrile to analyse until the war is done.
One would reasonably expect this protracted war to make even greater concentration of power in wheat, coal, steel, armaments, electricity, and pretty much anything else people need to survive, than there was when it started.
Well if we thought National's annual conference got spiked with historical revelations about an MP, imagine how the US Republicans feel when their own Convention got spiked with Trump's Mar A Lago raided by the FBI an hour ago.
Another update from Swedish authorities on the use of medication for minors, as NZ perversely makes them accessible from GPs without comprehensive assessment:
(In Swedish, but Google translate link will appear)
Following a request from the National Board of Health and Welfare, SBU has drawn up a literature review in which all relevant studies on the effect and safety of hormone treatments have been reviewed. In the report, which is published today, it appears that it is not yet possible to draw any definite conclusions about the effect and safety of the treatments based on scientific evidence.
– The conclusion is that very little knowledge has been gained about the effects and safety of the treatments since 2015, says Thomas Lindén.
– When the knowledge support for the care of children and young people with gender dysphoria was developed in 2015, the importance of the measures offered within the framework of the clinical work being systematically followed up and evaluated in the best possible way was emphasized. Now we see that this has not yet been realized, which contributes to the fact that there is reason to change the recommendations.
SBU has also compiled studies on changing perceptions of gender identity or interruption of treatment. It is not possible to determine how common it is for people who undergo gender-affirming treatment to later change their mind about their gender identity, cancel the treatment or regret it in some aspect. At the same time, it is documented that detransition occurs, and there may also be a dark speech.
<
p style=”text-align:left”>The whole is worth the read.
There's no doubt that things are different Down South…
In some DHB’s, including Southern, there were requirements for psychologist referrals to access endocrinologists whereas in other areas, such as Canterbury, gender-affirming hormone treatment was led by GPs, with studies showed this reduced stress amongst patients.
…and luckily
The change in requirements for psychological assessment only impacts adults looking to receive gender-affirming hormones, and does not cover gender-affirming surgery or children looking to access hormones.
Fine if adults wish to pharmacologically alter their appearance to better match their gender identity…but its also entirely appropriate for there to be extra layers of scrutiny when it entails surgery and hormones for children experiencing gender discomfort.
I thought this a little strange though…a doctor somehow seeing some similarity between access to gender affirming pharmaceuticals and the contraceptive pill.
He pointed out that psychological assessment before hormone prescription was not common in other areas, such as when the contraceptive pill is prescribed, with the change reducing stigma for the gender diverse community.
Is there still 'stigma' attached to accessing the Pill?
If "gender" is not sex – as they keep on claiming – then why does this "gender affirming" treatment all relate to the primary and secondary sex characteristics? If "gender " is in your head – surely saying "yes, I affirm your gender" should do the trick? If people like Eddie Izzard and Alex Drummond become women simply by saying so – not bodily change required (Alex does not even shave off the beard but identifies as a woman and a lesbian), then why are children pushed into changing their bodies with drugs and surgeries?
Housing prices continue fall with mean price falling 4.9% for quarter.With OCR increases coming and floating rates to be close to 8% by New Year,there will see some significant decreases in asking prices as new builds come on stream.
I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
“But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
Jerry Coyne writes – This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland, the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere.Elizabeth Rata writes – Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
The big dairy co-op Fonterra had some Christmas cheer to offer its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came from Education Minister Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has been under pressure from rising costs. Down on the farm, this has been hitting hard. But there was more positive news this week, first from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where prices rose, and then from a report ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normalcolumn of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
The electorate has high expectations of the new government. The question is: can it deliver? Some might say the signs are not promising. Protestors are already marching in the streets. The new Prime Minister has had little experience of managing very diverse politicians in coalition. The economy he ...
Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to …. Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand! Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations. • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme – that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate changeDaily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
Labour’s immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford is calling on the Government to follow the example of Australia and help New Zealanders’ close family members stuck in Gaza to escape and take shelter here. ...
The Green Party is urging the Government to recognise its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi so our tamariki and mokopuna can grow up in an Aotearoa where their language is celebrated, their health is prioritised, and their whenua is protected. ...
By scrapping Aotearoa’s world-leading smokefree laws, this government is sacrificing Māori lives to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. Not only is this plan revolting, but it doesn’t add up. Treasury has estimated that the reversal of smokefree laws to pay for tax cuts will cost our health system $5.25bn, ...
Figures showing National needs to find another $900 million for landlords highlights the mess this coalition Government is in less than a week into the job. ...
Community organisations, mana whenua and the Greens have written to the incoming Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to call for the progression without delay of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. ...
"On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to congratulate Christopher Luxon on his appointment as Prime Minister,” Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
NZ First has gotten their wish to ‘take our country back’ to the 1800s with a policy program that will white-wash Aotearoa and erase tangata whenua rights. By disestablishing the Māori Health Authority this Government has condemned Māori to die seven years earlier than Pākehā. By removing Treaty obligations from ...
Te Pāti Māori have called for the resignation of the Ministry of Foreign and Trade chief executive Chris Seed following his decision to erase te reo Māori from government communications. While the country still waits for a new government to be formed, Mr Seed took it upon himself to undermine ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says. ...
New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says. “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids. The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber. I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States. This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
Popcorn has one job. So what happens when it fails? Charlotte Muru-Lanning reports from the stovetop.This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. There’s nothing quite like the lively ceremony of making stovetop popcorn. First there’s the clattering of those amber-coloured kernels into the pot. Hopefully within minutes, there’s the first hollow pop. Then, ...
Deborah Robertson on what inspired her to write her new novel, and to set it in 1953 – the year of the Tangiwai disaster. A group of six girls in purple T-shirts are sitting on a log. Well, not really a log. It’s an equestrian hurdle that has been carved ...
A Harihari dairy farmer whose land was flooded when a stopbank failed this year says river protection on the West Coast has become unaffordable and the Government should urgently restore subsidies for the work. Andy Campbell lost the use of 100ha when the Wanganui River breached a stopbank last ...
In rural South Auckland, a team of conservationists head out on a nocturnal mission to track down Aotearoa’s only native land mammal. Asia Martusia King tags along. The bat hunt begins as usual: with Vengaboys. A group of scientists sits somberly around a table in a rural South Auckland paddock, ...
How I faced the limitations of dancing into the ‘sunset years’ of my life.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Illustrations by kūkū.“To choose to be a dancer is a lovely act of defiance” – Daniel Nagrin, How to Dance Forever ...
A landmark Waitangi Tribunal report into injustices suffered by Ngāpuhi will strengthen the iwi's case as it looks to restart its stalled Treaty settlement negotiations, a hapū leader says. ...
In just 18 months, the Auckland-based YouTube channel has gone from working from home and out of cafes to a brand new multi-million dollar studio. Sam Brooks asks the trio how they pulled it off, and what they’re planning to do with it.On December 4, a video called “The ...
The Anika Moa Unleashed host unleashes her thoughts on After the Party, Paul Holmes, The Walking Dead, stalking celebrities and more. Anika Moa has a proud history of angering strangers online, whether it’s due to her tattoos, her love life, or something else entirely. When she sits down with The ...
Searching widely for ways to overcome deep opposition by fossil fuel nations to a phase-out of their products, the President of COP28 enlisted an ally while negotiators sought subtler language yesterday. “We have been asked by the UAE presidency to help find common language that will be acceptable ...
With a topic so universal, it’s almost always about something bigger. Consider the contents of your fridge. What kinds of fruits and vegetables are in your crisper drawer? How much did that block of cheese set you back? Where did you source most of this kai from? Are there ingredients ...
You can read the full story, plus see photographs from Craig McKenzie, in the November-December issue of New Zealand Geographic magazine, or on their website. The bittern’s eerie, booming call sounds like a lament, a tangi ringing across the marshes. Now, the birds themselves are in trouble. ...
Opinion: You may have been there, waiting your turn, wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown, surrounded by a flurry of staff, the smell of disinfectant in the air. If you’ve ever undergone surgery, you probably know the nervous, stress-laden pre-op feeling. What may come as a surprise is that ...
1. In the evening and in the night, I sit on the balcony and think of you. I can’t see the water but I know it’s there, soft and slow. We bathed in it that last day, you and I, when the dusk hung heavy as cloth of gold ...
Alex Casey unearths the origin story of an New Zealand icon – featuring a surprise cameo from an international comedy megastar. At first glance, the Facebook post from a Waipu cafe reads like any other heartfelt change in ownership announcement. “George and Amber have reflected on their involvement in our ...
This week on Their house, my garden, why my spinach plant has grown suspiciously tall, and how to deal with your own over-eager plants. Beginner gardeners would be forgiven for thinking a plant growing tall is reason to celebrate. We are, after all, the kind of species who mark door ...
Luxon drove the crumbling SH2 with a handful of MPs on Friday morning to reach the small town, gauge progress of its recovery, and learn what it needs from the new government. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bianca Baggiarini, Lecturer, Australian National University Last week, reports emerged that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are using an artificial intelligence (AI) system called Habsora (Hebrew for “The Gospel”) to select targets in the war on Hamas in Gaza. The system has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Johan Lidberg, Associate Professor, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University The most significant recommendation in the Senate inquiry report on the functionality of the Commonwealth FOI system is this: move the federal Freedom of Information (FOI) function from the Office ...
Analysis: The government was under attack on multiple fronts during a week of relentless criticism and then faced its first Question Time in Parliament, Peter Wilson writes. ...
Well, it’s 4.30pm on a Friday which feels as appropriate time as ever to say goodbye. The Spinoff’s live updates have come to an end, almost four years after they were first switched on. If you missed my explainer this morning of what’s going on, here it is. In short: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University Shutterstock A home – in the physical and emotional sense – is foundational to living an ordinary life with a feeling of inclusion. National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants with the highest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Roberts, Conjoint Associate Professor in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, St Vincent’s Healthcare Clinical Campus, UNSW Sydney Veronika Kunitsyna/Shutterstock Red imported fire ants are a particularly nasty type of ant because they are aggressive, and inflict painful stings that may ...
Christopher Luxon says the new government is going to continue everything that the previous one put into place to help with the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
Te Whatu Ora is continuing to investigate after a data breach that saw vaccine-related information shared online last week. The agency is liaising with the Privacy Commissioner and said it will make “any appropriate notifications” if individuals were impacted by the breach. “Alongside the work to identify the material allegedly ...
Live - Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been in Wairoa this morning to gauge progress of the town's recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle. Watch a media conference with him here. ...
Sam Brooks reviews a new immersive film experience at Auckland’s planetarium.Journalists get invited to review things all the time. Books, films, shows, exhibitions, all of it. I say yes to a lot of them and “no, sorry” to a bit more. Very rarely do I go, “Absolutely I need ...
Waka Kotahi has begun the process of re-adopting its former name, the New Zealand Transport Agency (or NZTA). It follows a directive from the new government that public agencies should have their primary name in English and not te reo. This came as part of the coalition deal between National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Pavlovich, Senior lecturer in the School of Accounting and Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The new coalition government has announced a suite of tax reforms, including reintroducing the ability for property investors to deduct the interest ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1The Bee Stingby Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton, $37) The runner-up for the 2023 Booker Prize ...
A new poem by Ōtepoti poet Jasmine O M Taylor. a retreat if you find a chance before they’ve all melted into the air find time to get on a glacier and find a cave in the glacier and go inside the cave inside the glacier it will speak to ...
Our award-winning podcast assesses the opening stanza of the Luxon-led government. After the long, serene political gap as coalition talks went on, politics has roared back with plenty of shouting and not so much rizz. Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather assess the early exchanges, including Winston Peters’ ...
“The new government has a clear choice to make before Christmas. Do they live up to their stated intention of governing for all New Zealanders, or do they dash the hopes of tens of thousands of kiwi workers by unilaterally abolishing Fair Pay ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kimberley Reid, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Atmospheric Sciences, Monash University titoOnz, Shutterstock You’ve probably heard El Niño brings hot and dry weather to the eastern states, but what about the rest of Australia? Are we all in for a scorcher ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Currie, Professor of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Heatwaves are a major public health hazard. Socially disadvantaged people are especially exposed to extreme heat and other impacts of climate change. Many people experiencing homelessness – more than 120,000 ...
The Free Speech Union has sent 14 Cabinet Ministers a comprehensive Briefing to the Incoming Government, outlining five key areas of policy that the Government must address in order to protect and expand Kiwis’ speech rights. We look forward to ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she has already met twice with KiwiRail bosses over a "major cost blowout" in the project to replace the Interislander ferries. ...
With the new government gaining international infamy for its climate policy, for rangatahi Māori like Kaeden Watts, attending climate conferences is more important than ever. Every year world leaders meet for the annual Conference of the Parties (Cop), the world’s most powerful climate crisis conference. Despite Cop being criticised for ...
Accidental Partridge is one of my favourite Twitter (I am never going to call it X) accounts, and given today is the last day of live updates I think it’s absolutely fair I include a video from it. If you don’t know why it’s called Accidental Partridge, go watch all ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the National Party to front up to consumers who will face 15% higher prices for some services from the likes of Uber, Airbnb and food delivery apps after their app tax U-turn rather than trying to erase all ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Fujak, Lecturer in Sport Management, Deakin University While 2023 was a watershed year for Australian women’s sport due to the Matildas’ stirring run at the Women’s World Cup, netball is going through its worst period ever. Netball Australia and the ...
The prime minister is spending the day out of Wellington, touring parts of cyclone-damaged Hawke’s Bay and meeting with senior leaders in the community. Christopher Luxon began the day in Wairoa, where he met with mayor Craig Little. Later, he’ll head to Napier for a meeting with regional council members. ...
How will the new government look at our television? Duncan Greive reflects on this year’s awards ceremony. This is an excerpt from The Spinoff’s weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. The NZ TV Awards took place in downtown Auckland on Tuesday, which coincided with Te Pāti Māori’s National Māori ...
Responding to news that Wellington City Councillors have voted down a proposal to reduce business rates in the capital, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said: “When Mayor Tory Whanau comes out with a line like ‘I couldn’t in good ...
The new tertiary education minister says Te Pūkenga will be replaced with eight to 10 individual institutions, and hopes legislation will be in place within eight months. ...
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has today launched a short film calling for the public and government to champion and protect human rights ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Seventy-five years on, ...
The parliamentary motion passed today , a full two months after Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian civilians began, says: "Express grave concern at the ongoing violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories, unequivocally condemn ...
To replace $700 million a year of revenues lost from a foreign buyers tax, the new coalition government is dumping the previous government’s smokefree 2025 goal. This relaxing of policies will keep more people smoking for longer, costing thousands of lives per year and at least $10 billion is extra ...
London has always been a hard place to live, but in 2023, it’s almost impossible. Charlotte Doyle, a New Zealander currently living in London, explores why we keep heading there. “You’re dreaming,” the letting agent tells me impatiently over the phone. “A one-bedroom for £1,500 per month is a needle ...
With The Project wrapping up last week (you can read Duncan Greive’s excellent reflections on that here), Warner Bros Discovery has announced broadcaster Ryan Bridge will host a brand new current affairs show for Three. The currently unnamed show will focus on live news and interviews and is a return ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew H. Holden, Lecturer, School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland Dot-underwing moth (_Eudocima materna_) found in the researchers’ yard.Matthew Holden, CC BY-NC We are biodiversity researchers – an ecologist, a mathematician and a taxonomist – who were locked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Bennett, Disability Program Director, Grattan Institute The long-awaited NDIS review has looked far beyond the National Disability Insurance Scheme, taking a bird’s eye view of disability services in Australia. Critical to the future of the NDIS are services for people with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca J McLeod, Senior Research Fellow in Marine Ecology, University of Otago Climate change might not be high on its immediate agenda, but New Zealand’s new government does have one potentially significant and innovative policy. Recognising the marine environment’s ability to remove ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Happé, Graduate researcher in art history and material culture studies, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock As we get closer to Christmas, your family will probably have some kind of gathering. You will reunite with people who you might not ...
Te Whatu Ora IT worker Barry Young had a “relatively muted” digital presence prior to his arrest last week over a massive Covid data breach, Stuff reports. Young has since become something of a cause celebre among vacccine sceptics, appearing on online shows hosted by local conspiracy theorist Liz Gunn and ...
After an 11 year hiatus, legendary Aotearoa hip-hop group Home Brew are back today with their first new album in over a decade, Run it Back, and will continue that reunion at Laneway Festival in February. Breaking their indefinite hiatus, Run it Back comes off the back off the 2023 ...
There may be less than a fortnight left in the political year, but politicians seem determined to make the final days count, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Question time is ...
Labour's leader says O'Connor is "incredibly passionate" about the issue but party policy is that relevant international bodies will determine whether Israel's actions are lawful. ...
The Spinoff’s live updates editor reflects on three-and-a-half years in the role, and looks forward to what’s next. Today marks the final day of live updates on The Spinoff. It’s a big day for me given I have been editing the live updates since mid-2020, but it’s also a big ...
On a quiet morning before the first parliamentary question time of the new term, Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon took a moment to analyse and reflect on their election campaigns. When Chris Hipkins was sworn in as prime minister on January 21, 2023, he had a feeling of optimism and ...
It could be the most consequential international climate change conference yet, but it’s being held in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s major oil producers and led by one of the country’s top oil bosses. Newsroom journalist Rod Oram is attending COP28 and joins The Detail from ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 8 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Courts are halls of justice, but they are also well-financed institutional purchasers of goods and services, outsourcing much of their work to private consultants and contractors, including lawyers, advocates, psychologists, social workers, and drug counsellors who earn their living from court contracts. Though there is nothing inherently wrong ...
Analysis: The United Nations’ COP28 climate negotiations have begun their final phase with only five days or so left to agree a wide range of measures designed to accelerate nations’ climate responses in coming years. While the draft text prepared by government officials over the past week has some ...
Liv McGoverne has just returned from an enjoyable season playing rugby in England, but playing there in a Black Ferns jersey, on the sport’s biggest stage, remains the ultimate goal. McGoverne, 26, played the 2022-23 campaign for Exeter Chiefs in the Premier 15s competition. Coached by former England half-back ...
"You want the truth. You can't handle the truth." – Sam Uffindell 2022.
Also, Jack Nicholson 1992.
If John Key was his boss he would be gone by lunchtime.
If Helen Clark was his boss he would be gone by lunchtime.
If Jacinda Ardern was his boss he would be promoted up the list and probably made speaker.
As Luxon is his boss……………..could go either way.
Key'd hand him a bed-leg.
And If the kid'd had a ponytail….uurgh. : (
sir Key, absolutely fits the bully cap
The bullie had three other sadists,who are they ?
I guess we don't need to know…unless they stand as National Party candidates.
What if they stood for Labour?
For all and any party.
More likely they'd be drawn to National though 🙂
Not The Greens.
No way at all.
Agreed not good for any party, but being private school far more likely to end up Nats or Act. Mallard seems to be the exception as his bullying well reported.
bullies from a private school? young nats all day long
On what basis would he be gone? He disclosed this information to the party as part of the candidate vetting process but they let him run anyway.
Why, ya gotta wonder, did Uffindell choose to do this?
Uffindell "… used his maiden speech to critique a “growing culture of lawlessness, lack of accountability, a sense of impunity, and significant underlying generational social problems”.
???
Was it that "sense of impunity" wot dunnit?
but surely he wasn't talking about top feeders.
Hey it turns out you have this all wrong. Luxon just explained on his presser that:
@6.40
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129518873/christopher-luxon-says-voters-should-have-been-told-about-sam-uffindells-past
Agreed – I want him to stay. He sounds like a natural fit for National. An ambitious, hard-working guy wanting to get ahead, keen to show his personal excellence (physical, intellectual, verbal) and be unshackled from state regulations and the wasteful spending that goes with it. He might have become a tradie instead of an MP – he knew how to unscrew the bed leg. Certainly he knows that humans are innately competitive and some people naturally dominate others in the free markets of the economy and physical violence. Go Sam, you are the future.
Good point, AB – John Key couldn't use a hammer, but this bloke can repurpose technology (in this instance, a bed-leg, like nobody's business!).
Future Leader of the National Party?
"If Helen Clark was his boss he would be gone by lunchtime"
Really?
About the only thing we have to decide this is what she did when Trevor Mallard assaulted Tau Henare in Parliament. Trevor was an adult of course, not a teenager.
What did Helen do? Well nothing really. She was reported as saying that
"Miss Clark said today that her minister had been punished enough for the brawl in Parliament's lobby.
Mr Mallard had already been publicly humiliated over the "silly incident", which had occurred after he had been provoked – both verbally and physically."
She also said "Miss Clark today said calls for Mr Mallard to be sacked were political in nature due to his effectiveness as a minister."
Then she shifted him into a more significant position in Cabinet.
I seem to remember she also said something like "That is just Trevor being Trevor" but I can't find any link and I may be imagining that.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/35562/Clark-making-excuses-for-Mallard-Henare
All this storm in a teacup is people on the left trying to distract public attention from last night's poll results. Just the standard dirty politics from the left.
WTF? You righties have the lock on that! Proven. And 4 scumbags (one now a nat MP ).. beating on a younger kid…with weapons is a distraction.?
Unbelievable
There has been a concerted effort from the NACT troll farm to run a massive campaign of "whataboutism" – "what about Mallard"? As if a couple of middle aged blokes having an attack of testosterone poisoning in an inappropriate place was exactly equivalent to 4 people attacking a sleeping and defenseless 13 yo child as he slept.
The left is very adept at it's own forms of dirty politics. What's different is that it is often directed at itself, a bit like a man with a pistol that fires before lifting the barrel.
Somewhere, a bridge is missing you……
It could have been a deflection from last nights poll, or it could have been a deflection from the OAG's submission on the 3Waters legislation?
Four on one – the man's a coward.
Four on one with weapons – the man's an utter coward.
Four on one with weapons on a person in bed – the mans a snivelling wretch and an utter coward.
FOUR ON ONE – so he could have said something but did not… the man's willing to break laws and bones just to be accepted. A jellyfish. A limp-wristed pathetic preener.
Four times Uffindell was asked on Morning Report if this assault was a one off and each time he evaded the answer.
He let slip that he was asked to leave (expelled) but the others were suspended.
I wonder why they attacked the victim who was years their junior. Must have been a serious "flaw" of some sort.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018852740
But the National Party deputy-leader says, Sam" is sincere (now) and changed (now). She's sure he will join her in condemning bullying of that sort (now).
How she knows this, we cannot know.
She didn't hear about the bullying incident until yesterday…
Nowness.
Unless she knew all about him months ago.
Several hundred old things on TradeMe confirm us still as "Where old British cars go to die." No, not Dunedin, but Hawkes Bay.
Fancy a classic British motor? Hundreds from one man's passion project on sale | Stuff.co.nz
Putin asks us, when we bomb civilians, why do we get sanctions, but Israel doesn't?
He has a point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8qay1Al7Dc&t=01s
"But what about them" is one of the stupidest defences for war crimes I have ever heard.
Yes..what about them…committing war crimes as we speak…that was the question, how about you just answer that instead of deflecting?
No point trading injustice for injustice, deflection for deflection.
Also no harm…actually one could say it is important, to keep reminding ourselves and other of Western MSM media imperialist driven narratives on wars….as this piece from Fair.org points out quite nicely….
Invasion News Fits on Front Page More When an Enemy Does the Invading
"In April 2022, there were a total of 179 stories on the Times‘ front page, and 79 (44%) concerned the Ukraine invasion. All but three were located at the top of the page (i.e., with no articles above them), where editors put the stories they consider to be the most important of the day. Fully 75% of all top-of-the-page stories were about the Ukraine war. Not a single day went by without a Ukraine story being published on the top of the page, and on 14 different days only stories about Ukraine were published on the top of the front page.
In May 2003, when there were 226 stories on the front page, only 41 of them (18%) reported on the Iraq invasion. Thirty-two of those were at the top of the page, with nine below; 25% of all top-of-the-page stories were dedicated to the Iraq War."
We hear almost nothing out of Africa or the Arabian peninsula and yet they hold most of the deeply corrupt, violent and fragile states in the world.
List of countries by Fragile States Index – Wikipedia
But then, they tend to be the places where reporters aren't merely shot in the ones or twos. So one tends not to get too many stories out of them.
Adrian, though you have accused me of it more than once, I am not a partisan supporter of one bloody imperialist bloc over another.
The point Putin was making is that he should have the same right to impunity, to kill and maim invade other countries as the Western Powers have.
My point is that none of them should have any impunity and that includes Israel.
This latest attack by Israel against the Palestinian people, brings into sharp relief the hypocrisy of the Ardern administration.
When Ukraine was attacked by Russia, the Prime Minister never paused for a second in the rush to impose sanctions and even send military aid to Ukraine to defend themselves.
Instead of sanctions, New Zealand rewards Israel with visiting privileges.
Will we hear a peep out of 'Kindness' government over this latest Israeli atrocity?
Will the government rescind Israel's visiting privileges to this country?
Will we put economic sanctions on Israel as the BDS Movement have asked us to?
The West is busy supplying Ukraine with highly accurate HiMARs to defend themselves from Russian attacks.
God forbid, that we could ever even contemplate supplying the Palestinians with any means at all to defend themselves from Israeli attacks, rather than the highly inaccurate backyard hand made rockets they have to make themselves.
"Adrian, though you have accused me of it more than once, I am not a partisan supporter of one bloody imperialist bloc over another"….
Well that's very strange, because that is exactly what nearly everything you write on the matter of geo-politics usually sounds (reads) like….and BTW let’s be honest here..getting the Palestinian/ Israel conflict right is real easy…pretty much all Liberals are on board with that one, as they should be, (well except most of the editorial board at The Guardian)…
..but now we cut to the present, and for some reason the Liberal class have morphed into the most aggressive war hawks on the planet, and are now all gung-ho about nearly every Western backed military intervention that comes knocking (and I include the Ukrainian conflict here), even though this means getting into bed again and again with the likes of John Bolton, George Bush, Boris Johnson, the US miliary industrial complex and every other blood thirsty war hawk you can think of…but again, for reasons known only to yourselves, even that doesn’t seem set off any alarm bells?!??…apparently not.
You do realize, that if the Iraq war were to happen today under Biden or Obama… the probability that you Red Logic and all the other Western war Hawks on this site would support that invasion would be extremely high…infact it is almost a certainty.
BTW…Jacinda Ardern and Labour NZ stepping out of line on Palestine or the genocide in Yemen, come on, seriously….we all know that will never happen….ever, maybe you should ask yourself why that is.
"….let’s be honest here..getting the Palestinian/ Israel conflict right is real easy…pretty much all Liberals are on board with that one, as they should be, (well except most of the editorial board at The Guardian)…" Adrian Thornton
How about a link for that claim. Eh, Adrian.
Apart from your continual diversions, what-aboutisms, and smears.
What I am getting heartily sick of Adrian, is the repeated use of outrageous bald statements, without any attempt to provide evidence, or back up for them, from the supporters of Russia's bloody imperialist interventions and wars, like yourself.
Lord Rutherford's back!
Good news!
(Great video)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/129510845/statue-of-lord-ernest-rutherford-retrieved-as-accused-thief-runs-into-river
It just gets worse for Uffindell
"Matthew Hooton
@MatthewHootonNZ
The BoP Times asked the Tauranga candidates about their biggest mistake. Act's candidate Cam Luxton spoke about his drink-driving conviction. Uffindell's response was: "Not coming home to New Zealand sooner. There's nowhere we'd rather raise our kids.""
I wonder if we'll learn why Uffindell was expelled, while his fellow child-beaters were merely suspended?
Gosman, I guess you're piling on in there hope that the ACT candidate will be awarded the seat, should Uffindel be ousted?
That and I can't stand privileged born to rule bullies. It is one of the reasons I do not support National.
I must be getting old or you're getting soft. I agree with a few things you've said lately.
when you are quoting tweets, please click on the date/time stamp of the tweet, then copy and paste the URL address into the TS comment box. This will embed the tweet so we can see the whole thing, as well as being a live link.
Your comment doesn't have a direct link in it, can you please go find it now and post here, thanks.
Thanks for the info
https://twitter.com/MatthewHootonNZ/status/1556600288961630209
perfect, thanks Gosman.
"no-one at Oceania had lost their jobs"….Yea, strange that. (not)
There is a not nice term for these "Rest Homes"….Granny Farming.
And the Owners….beneath contempt : (
Any thoughts on those who keep these Granny Farms well stocked and with a waiting list ie the families?
WTF? Are you a Granny Farmer? Manager? Employee? My comments were in regard to Oceania .I'm sure you have some……"thoughts". Best keep them to yourself …..
there's nothing wrong with gsays' comment and they have as much right to say what they think as you.
In this case they're making a political point: in NZ, many people support the system we have for elderly people who can't live at home. Families are generally the ones that put elderly people into those situations.
What’s not ok is telling people to shut up. I’m also not impressed by the reaction to start questioning someone’s personal and work life. Focus on the politics.
Well..thats your take on it. I fail to see how you read that into what I wrote. I have previously linked “rest homes” to very high fees…AND Low Employee pay rates. Hence “Granny Farming” . Oceania would be up there with the worst…gsays comment ignored my link comment. per : That NO ONE from Oceania lost their job.! When some one died a very short time after being admitted. Maybe nuance….
I’ll certainly avoid gsays..and you.
I didn't comment on what *you wrote.
I have no truck with granny farms. Like supermarkets, they will keep up their practices and undesirable exploitative behaviour so long as folk keep signing up their elderly relatives.
I missed the memo where we were told to sub-contract our love.
As predicted, the US led war in Ukraine is not as cut and dried as some would have you believe, and with the avalanche of weapons pouring into the Ukraine seemingly being only marginally monitored, into what was only a short while ago openly known as the most corrupt country in Europe…what could go wrong…well you don’t have to have a degree to work that out for yourself now do you?
The balance of probability that in the wake of this war, extremely well armed and highly motivated, organized and battle hardened Right Wing militia will cause havoc throughout Europe is highly likely, as well as crazy Right Wing lone wolves, returning to their countries (or somewhere) post conflict (as we know only to well in NZ)….not to mention just your run of the mill criminal organizations…
Welcome to Ukraine, the most corrupt nation in Europe
. Ukraine: Cashing in on Illegal Arms
" Ukraine has gained a reputation as one of the world's most active suppliers of illegal small arms. It is one of several Eastern European countries that has turned to arms dealing as a source of much-needed hard currency."
Nato and EU sound alarm over risk of Ukraine weapons smuggling
Even CBS ran a indepth story on this crazy free for all…but got pressured to pull the piece…
CBS bows to Ukrainian pressure over weapons reveals
"The documentary originally featured an interview with Jonas Ohman, the founder of a Lithuania-based organization that supplies the Ukrainian military. Ohman told CBS that supplying foreign weapons to Ukrainian troops involves navigating a web of “lords of power, oligarchs [and] political actors, and that of all aid arriving at the border in Poland, “kind of like 30% of it reaches its final destination.”
I can't yet figure how all those pre Zelinsky oligarchs and their oligopolies are in operation now and in what form. Maybe it's simply too complex and febrile to analyse until the war is done.
One would reasonably expect this protracted war to make even greater concentration of power in wheat, coal, steel, armaments, electricity, and pretty much anything else people need to survive, than there was when it started.
Ain't no Marshall Plan out of this one.
Well if we thought National's annual conference got spiked with historical revelations about an MP, imagine how the US Republicans feel when their own Convention got spiked with Trump's Mar A Lago raided by the FBI an hour ago.
Donald Trump Says FBI Raided Mar-A-Lago As It Executed Search Warrant – Deadline
Hope FBI Director Christopher Wray has the asbestos undies on.
Turn about is fair play – Comey killed Hillary's election.
aye and served cold.
Another update from Swedish authorities on the use of medication for minors, as NZ perversely makes them accessible from GPs without comprehensive assessment:
https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/om-socialstyrelsen/pressrum/press/uppdaterade-rekommendationer-for-hormonbehandling-vid-konsdysfori-hos-unga/
(In Swedish, but Google translate link will appear)
<
p style=”text-align:left”>The whole is worth the read.
Do you have any specific references for that?
Here's one: https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/129403493/guideline-change-removes-demeaning-barrier-to-hormone-therapy
thanks 👍
There's a whole conversation here about how much liberals are into medication as a fix.
(can you please make sure you stick to one user name from now on? cheers).
There's no doubt that things are different Down South…
In some DHB’s, including Southern, there were requirements for psychologist referrals to access endocrinologists whereas in other areas, such as Canterbury, gender-affirming hormone treatment was led by GPs, with studies showed this reduced stress amongst patients.
…and luckily
The change in requirements for psychological assessment only impacts adults looking to receive gender-affirming hormones, and does not cover gender-affirming surgery or children looking to access hormones.
Fine if adults wish to pharmacologically alter their appearance to better match their gender identity…but its also entirely appropriate for there to be extra layers of scrutiny when it entails surgery and hormones for children experiencing gender discomfort.
I thought this a little strange though…a doctor somehow seeing some similarity between access to gender affirming pharmaceuticals and the contraceptive pill.
He pointed out that psychological assessment before hormone prescription was not common in other areas, such as when the contraceptive pill is prescribed, with the change reducing stigma for the gender diverse community.
Is there still 'stigma' attached to accessing the Pill?
If "gender" is not sex – as they keep on claiming – then why does this "gender affirming" treatment all relate to the primary and secondary sex characteristics? If "gender " is in your head – surely saying "yes, I affirm your gender" should do the trick? If people like Eddie Izzard and Alex Drummond become women simply by saying so – not bodily change required (Alex does not even shave off the beard but identifies as a woman and a lesbian), then why are children pushed into changing their bodies with drugs and surgeries?
Housing prices continue fall with mean price falling 4.9% for quarter.With OCR increases coming and floating rates to be close to 8% by New Year,there will see some significant decreases in asking prices as new builds come on stream.
https://www.qv.co.nz/price-index/
Who knew.
https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/08/corn-and-soybean-sweat-helps-make-nebraska-summers-more-humid/
People
Labourin glass houses shouldn't throw stonesSure by itself this is nothing:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/10/new-zealand-labour-faces-sexual-assault-crisis-as-jacinda-ardern-sets-up-inquiry
Be interesting to know who the 20 year old was:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/world/asia/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern-labour-party-sexual-assault-.html
Again probably nothing but maybe it appears theres a cultural problem within Labour:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4809631/MP-Darren-Hughes-resigns-following-scandal
Maybe Labour tidies up its own backyard first but only if they think theres a problem, which there probably isn't
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[You have diverted and distracted enough under Micky’s Post. Consider this a warning – Incognito]
How about people in Green houses?
Can we express our disgust at Uffindell's behaviour?
Mod note
Noted
Ta