MarinaTex is a home compostable material designed as an alternative to single-use plastic films. The material is comprised of waste material from the fishing industry and sustainable algae.
Another said she went to court to try to finalise the details of her separation and relied on legal aid to do so.
That meant a caveat was put on the property so that when it sold the cost of her assistance would be repaid.
"The first lawyer didn't get anywhere, except after three years the judge put the house on the market so that closed the case, apparently.
"There's no follow up, there's no enforcement and there's no checking so the applicant has to go back to court and apply again and say 'look the orders have not been carried out. Here's the proof please do something else'. Then they start charging you on that amount which is another $4000…I've been three times, it's up to $18,000 and I still haven't got the property on the market."
That woman said her former partner was still living in the house and was deflecting interest from agents and potential buyers.
"There is a gathering consensus on what this requires. It must start by putting the economy on an ecological footing. A comprehensive set of environmental targets and policies are required to drive down carbon emissions, pollution and biodiversity loss: a new Sustainable Economy Act combined with a Green New Deal."
…"putting the economy on an ecological footing, green infrastructure such as renewable energy, financial reform,fairer distribution of wealth, including housing etc .."It is no longer enough to let the private sector determine the path of the economy and then add a bit of ameliorative social and environmental policy on afterwards.", Yet it was the this exact same so called liberal press lead with gusto by The Guardian that has worked actively and tirelessly to undermine and destroy the one politician in the UK that given the chance would install these measures, the same goes for Sanders who was (and still is) dealt with in the same way by the Guardian and most other so called liberal press.
As I have said many times here, the Guardian is more of a threat to the progressive Left than any right wing outlet, they and their neo liberal cohorts are the Trojan Horse amongst us, they are the ruthless defenders of the status quo and have shown time and again that they will defend their liberal project over real progressive change every time…
If you're interested in reading more about the media treatment of Jeremy Corbyn especially from the Guardian look no further..
True that, though now I think about it he is a good fit… I like it how when you google him Iprent's bit 'Bryce Edwards: Just another political simpleton' comes up in the first page…
Of course the real danger is that The Guardian has some really good people writing bit's on it occasionally, so lot's of people don't get what their overall ideological direction is pushing.
I tend to think the Guardian is a bit like Forrest Gump's chocolates – you never quite know what you're going to get. The same used to be true of RT off subjects of direct regime interest – there was a time when they offered occasional smart alternative perspectives, much as Al Jazeera does from time to time.
The quality of writing used to reveal an underlying quality of thinking that is rare in political commentary, especially in NZ. Bryce would benefit from a spell in the UK – he has at present little or nothing to offer in terms of political commentary.
I still think RT has a few worthwhile shows, especially the Chris Hedges "On Contact'' show, they also regularly interview many former serious jurno's of the Left who (post Russia Gate/Trump)..Pilger, Taibbi etc, have been completely and utterly ostracized from MSM liberal media…not even allowed on to debate, which just shows how weak the liberal media feel their positions are.
Plus they often have comment from Slavoj Zizek whom I don't always agree with but always enjoy.
You're probably right – but I gave up on them about five years ago, when they moved away from the gravitas they'd been building until then. They floated at that time a lot of tragic nonsense about MH17.
Jeremy Corbyn and the 'treatment of' not a huge concern as I feel a lot of his problem is of his own making…as to the 'slant' of the Guardian, its considered as I read its content….and would note that even with such much of its contribution is superior to many other MSM outlets…especially re CC
Removed 10 days of 'domestic leave' to care for sick family etc.
Added extra duties by allowing small(est) business customers to go to ordinary branches for more things.
Removed annual sales bonuses for staff, after Aussie regulatory crackdown on those. Also removed bonuses from back-office staff with no customer contact at same time. Kept them for business-banking staff and of course senior managers.
Cut annual share package from Australian parent bank.
Announced billion dollar quarterly profit the next day.
"We have concluded the NAB share scheme for BNZ employees. This was a discretionary programme so there was no guarantee of what people might get each year. The renewed package we have announced to our people gives them certainty over a wide range of benefits including increased annual leave, superannuation and parental and family leave."
A spokesman said on Thursday that the leave change was a benefit to staff.
"The new annual leave offering gives all our permanent employees flexibility to use 30 days' annual leave how and where they see fit."
I read that yesterday and roared with laughter. It's like being stabbed in the kidneys and then told, "No, look, we haven't stabbed you at all. We've simply provided you with increased ventilation in order to keep you cool during summer. Because we care."
BNZ – we'll shit in your ice cream and tell you it's chocolate sauce.
A bit of both really I think. A hell of a lot didn't get reported (internal scraps with admin etc.) but at least we have a bit better of a mix. A bit greener and a bit less partisan and a bit less geriatric.
The government wanted "political consensus" and policy durability. They have failed, and they were always going to. National simply has too strong a denier streak for them to ever accept effective policy on this issue. The only way that is ever going to happen is if the government simply enacts strong policy, makes it reality, and dares them to repeal it – just as they did with the anti-nuclear law.
It will take a bolder governing coalition than this one.
I agree there's a problem with not enjoying the moment, not least because people in Shaw's position (eg his staff who worked hard on this) are human and need encouragement not just shit thrown at them.
We also need the I/Ss to be pushing for more change. Shaw understands this. It's not I/S job to work with the framework, that's for other people.
I think his tone is off, but I can't see the problem with his analysis. I don't know if I agree with it, but it makes sense. Calling it delusional spin is just as hom stuff.
Yeah, National attitude to constraints on reducing greenhouse gas aren’t known for anything except for trying to nobble them. Short-term thinkers who can’t see past the next election – and who simply shouldn’t be in government because of it.
However they will do that to any constraint. It doesn’t matter how tough or otherwise you make it.
On the whole I think that trying to get farmers involved to making the kind of effort that industry and construction has made in the last decade is a worthwhile attempt. Sure they have short-term mortgage issues. But there is a decent probability that the longer-term way of thinking of the better farmers can nobble the brainless dumbasses in their community.
And that is one of the noisiest community amongst the idiot deniers, and the one that National’s urban denier idiots tend to raise as a shield over their stupidity.
To get support for doing something effective, you have to work in the incentives to bring whole emitter communities onboard. To a large extent that happened through much of the non-rural industries in manufacturing and construction as well as a goodly chunk of the public. It is why there is widespread support for crucial measures like alternatives for petroleum fueled vehicles.
If the agricultural sector can’t get their idiots under control and come up with something effective – then they have only themselves to blame if the government regulates their laggard arses.
Not just Ad, although he certainly sprang to mind….there is nothing to be gained from pretending the passing of the Act has removed the ability for its goals to be undermined as amply demonstrated by Nationals position….indeed selling it as more than it is is counterproductive as too many will consider the issue resolved (politically) ….The I/S piece is simply one of many already making that point and if that upsets Shaw or those working on this field then Id suggest theyre in the wrong job
Ad certainly seems to believe that government processes are sufficient, and doesn’t have much of an appreciation for how radicals lead on change. Maybe he thinks the situation isn’t that urgent?
I haven’t seen Shaw complaining about criticism. In fact he regularly says that we need to do more, and refers to non-parliamentary activism as a positive force.
I think there are two issues here. One is how effective the Act *can be given what it is, and what National may do to it. The other is the human aspect, that all the people who worked on this, and those who are relieved something has happened, want to celebrate.
The point about whether the general public will get complacent and not understand the limits of the Act, or the context, is a good one worth looking at.
re getting upset, this area of politics and activism is hard on people. Telling those doing the mahi to get another job if they can’t hack it is not wise when we need all hands to the pump. There’s not a lot to lose from being supportive to those people.
I've heard both James Shaw, and Jacinda Adern telling people like 350 org, and the climate demonstrators, that they need to keep the pressure on Government do more.
Obviously to make action on AGW, politically possible.
Yep. Best, next move is for people to mobilise around high visibility climate action, and voting next year. Either or both. So much is going to change re CC over the next 12 months.
the extreme left, as you call us, is the group forcing change – without that pressure, from the many very worried about the disaster unfolding, nothing would happen. Something is happening and it is not enough and too late but yay for doing something
…moaning about lack of perfection in the new law, and start preparing to work with the framework.
More importantly trying to figure out to make sure that National can’t screw this one up like they did with the ETS.
I never liked the ETS. Even in its original form it had far too obvious loopholes. A straight forward simple tax on generating greenhouse gases would have provided a much simpler harder to evade incentive. More pain short-term, but a faster transition to the kind of productive economy that we need in the future.
But in the usual display of National’s malevolent incompetence, they came into power, and trapped by their political idiotic promises and posturing, they screwed up any coherence to the ETS. To the point where was largely providing disincentives to reducing greenhouse gases.
This isn’t hard to see. Our overall per capita emissions have been effectively increasing rather than decreasing. They don’t tend to measure it over time per capita… For instance at stats – look at the land-use contribution as the forestry died out and farting and peeing cows increased. https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-emissions
However the net effect of the changes that National brought in were to diminish reduction effect of land use and increasing the number of vehicles.
That meant that the higher efficiencies that came through from industry and construction, technical innovation like the car fuel usage, and the changes that people made in their own lifestyles were negated by cows, trucks and cars.
A straight forward simple tax on generating greenhouse gases would have provided a much simpler harder to evade incentive. More pain short-term, but a faster transition to the kind of productive economy that we need in the future.
Yes. And if the Nats had not sabotaged exactly that in the early 2000s (including one of their MPs driving his tractor up parliament's steps) we would be well on our way now to reaping the worldwide upside of being an early changer.
Worth recalling these earlier opportunities every time farmers and their enablers whine about needing more time to play their part.
A bolder left-leaning govt freed from kowtowing to deadweight Winston and chums can push our carbon action the other way by accelerating delivery. Snowflakes gonna melt in any case.
National's proposed amendments look like strengthening the political independence of the Commission, rather than the half-assed model we have being set up.
Also, under the new law the Climate Commission can review the target under certain conditions. Have a look.
“These significant changes in circumstances include:
o global action
o scientific understanding of climate change
o New Zealand’s economic or fiscal circumstances
o New Zealand’s obligations under relevant international agreements o technological developments
o distributional impacts
o equity implications (including generational equity).”
yep ot is still pretending that based on incomplete and outdated information they were justified in trying to take this baby – this shows how sick the culture from the top is – meanwhile they blame everyone else and pretend to take responsibility – not really a great surprise for anyone who knows how these things work
Interesting interview with Egon Krenz over at Jacobin if you have a chance to go over there. I would link, but I'm too lazy. He is a bit obtuse at times but worth a read.
Lula is free. He walked out of Sergio Moro's prison today, where he spent almost 2 years as a result of corrupted process conducted by a corrupt judge (now Bolsonaro's Minister of Justice and Public Security) and corrupt prosecutors.
Did the corrupt judge and corrupt prosecutors also receive a beach side apartment from an engineering company implicated in the Car Wash investigation, or accept bribes in the form of renovation work at a country house from construction companies?
Yeh I don't know about that, but it does help to expose the far right (as it is needed) as being unhinged and often violent when they are losing or under pressure, something to keep in mind and remember if Corbyn or Sanders do any good in their respective elections.
I hate religious intolerance from any religion or belief system. If your deity wants you to kill people then YOU are the problem.
India’s supreme court is expected to make a historic ruling on Saturday over the highly disputed religious site of Ayodhya, which is claimed by Hindus and Muslims.
The site has been one of the country’s most controversial religious grounds since the Babri mosque, which had been standing since the 16th century, was reduced to rubble by Hindu fundamentalists during a 1992 riot in which more than 2,000 people died.
…Saturday’s ruling by the supreme court, who are seen as favourable to the Modi government agenda, is expected to rule on the side of the Hindu case.
tRump campaign is using donation money to buy Jr's book in bulk to drive up sales, adding Jr's signature and flogging them to MAGA for a minimum $50 donation.
Meanwhile while the Dems waste time and energy on impeachment, and to make it even worse they have Billionaires like Michael Bloomberg who are freaking out that Sanders and Warren are looking like the final runners in the Dem primaries..with their wealth taxes and all…and think they can beat the former with just their endless $$$, well I guess the upside is we get to see another entitled rich prick publicly embarrass themselves like Tom Steyer is doing.
In which they can read the junior barbecued bloviator's thoughts on how his family's "sacrifices" are just like the sacrifices made by those who lost their lives fighting for their country.
A really good article imo. The more I read, the more I thought and the more I thought about this, the more I went, yeah wtf?
As for the rest of us, we shouldn’t reserve our outrage for the most extreme versions of virginity-obsessed misogyny. We should recognize that the very concept of virginity is sexist. We should reject it, and put in its place an embrace of sex as natural, human, pleasurable, and valuable – a relationship to be entered into consensually, sure, but also joyfully and desirously. Yes, let’s do away with abusive, invasive, misogynistic virginity tests. But if we want to fight misogyny, we need to reject virginity itself, too.
Baby boomers had stand-up. Gen X got the Netflix specials. Millennials made memes, and the Zoomers are reinventing humour altogether with the likes of TikTok.
Each generation has inspected the world around us, declared what wasn’t good enough, employed cultural change through media, education, collective action and a few hard-hitting jokes in order to move the goalposts on what is politically possible.
…
My “OK boomer” comment in parliament was off-the-cuff, albeit symbolic of the collective exhaustion of multiple generations set to inherit ever-amplifying problems in an ever-diminishing window of time.
Impeachment timing – Mitch McTurtle might want to drag out the impeachment trial in the Senate for as long as possible to fuck with the Dem primary. Because all the current senators would need to be stuck in Washington sitting through the trial, rather than being out campaigning.
Awsome that Chailey has had help from Kiwis to find his Mamas grave
Tangata Whenua are at the bottom of the list of Luntheg cancer treatment ladder.
Ka pai to the up grade to Manahurehure Marae.
That lady is just grand standing she is pro national this is the first time Oranga Tamariki CYPS has admitted under Our Labour lead CoalitionGGovernment fault all the other just denied it.
Congratulations to The Gay Tangata Whenua Wahine who won the Opotiki Mayor this gives me a sore face.
Slashing the legal aid budget and making it near impossible to get legal aid took the legal right away from the common person to be treated fairly from the system or other people or organisations.
The british tabloids are a Wolf Pack control by you know who.
‘Pernicious’ campaign is unfair on well-meaning people who want to help – expert
The battle between climate change deniers and the environment movement has entered a new, pernicious phase. That is the stark warning of one of the world’s leading climate experts, Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University.
Mann told the Observer that although flat rejection of global warming was becoming increasingly hard to maintain in the face of mounting evidence, this did not mean climate change deniers were giving up the fight.
“First of all, there is an attempt being made by them to deflect attention away from finding policy solutions to global warming towards promoting individual behaviour changes that affect people’s diets, travel choices and other personal behaviour,” said Mann. “This is a deflection campaign and a lot of well-meaning people have been taken in by it.”
Mann stressed that individual actions – (eating less meat or avoiding air travel) – were important in the battle against global warming. However, they should be seen as additional ways to combat global warming rather than as a substitute for policy reform.
I thank the New leaders of Aotearoa biggest Company Fonterra for lowering or dropping sugar our of their Papatuanuku class products.
People don't miss the sugar Fonterra's stopped adding to drinks and yoghurts
Consumers haven't noticed some of the added sugar has been removed from Fonterra's Primo, CalciYum and Fresh & Fruity yoghurts.
In fact, testing at Colmar Brunton's "sensory facility" indicated people found them equally tasty, or tastier, than higher sugar yoghurts.
The removal of some of the added sugar from the recipes for Fonterra's big-name consumer products is part of a strategy to reposition Fonterra as a sustainable enterprise
The move, which will mean around 600 tonnes of added sugar is removed from the collective Kiwi diet a year, is also a recognition that sugar was becoming a major concern for families.
You see oil drilling makes a bigger mess than just Cow farts.
Indigenous Mapuche pay high price for Argentina's fracking dream
Community tell of devastating environmental impact on land where their animals grazed
Albino Campo Maripe in front of a burning well in Neuquén province, Argentina. Photograph: Uki Goni/The Guardian
The roar of the burning gas well could be heard almost a mile and a half away, from atop the high plateau where Albino Campo Maripe stood, looking down at the orange flames lapping the earth in the distance.
When he was a child, the 60-year-old Mapuche chief used to ride there bareback. Those days are gone for ever. The once-pristine landscape is now dotted with fracking wells and the white patches of land cleared for even more
Fracking accidents happen regularly in Vaca Muerta (Dead Cow in Spanish), one of the world’s largest shale oil and gas reservoirs. In 2018 alone, there were an estimated 934 incidents at 95 wells
A spokesman said: “Their houses and cultural or productive activities are several kilometres away from YPF and Chevron’s operations. Nevertheless, the community still claims they should have rights on the lands where YPF and Chevron operate.”
But Campo Maripe claims the problem is not seepage from below, but from above. “They drilled about 400 wells contaminating everything. They dug pits next to the wells where they dumped the waste without any treatment and threw limestone on it to cover it up. We lost our best land.
“One of our sisters and her husband died of cancer in 2017,” says Mabel. “The fracking has affected our bones, which become decalcified. I had to have a titanium spine implant; another sister also needs one. Albino had an operation on his arm because of bone loss.”
Both siblings claim doctors have privately told them the cause is contamination from the wells. “They are scared to talk,” says Mabel. She says one worried doctor asked her: “Are you recording me?”
“Last year, the grandson of another sister was born with his intestines outside his body. They had to operate [on] him to put them in,” says Mabel.
“As Mapuches, we’re not fighting for just ourselves or our community,” says Albino Campo Maripe. “We want our children and grandchildren to know that we fought for something that belongs to everyone. Water is life. Every plant is life. The greed of governments is killing the world. The world is not going to end. We are going to end, because we’re killing ourselves.”
Rubbish. There are basically only five ways to accumulate a billion dollars, and none of them has to do with being successful in a genuinely free market.
This makes me happy that not so many of our Whanau are going to be wasting away in Te Hinaki.
The police have set an ambitious new goal to reduce the rate of re-offending among Māori by 25 percent in the next five years.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush admitted bias existed in the police force.
"Our data tells us that there is a bias in policing, and we've got to remove that bias, so where we police and how we police," he said.
"We've got to accept that there is a bias in policing and only by acknowledging and removing that bias will we make a difference at that's a key difference for all of us
"We are five percent into that target, we're really determined to get to that 25 but it takes a lot of moving parts to come to together
Iwi leader Rahui Papa of Waikato-Tainui was at the launch and said he was optimistic a day would come soon when Māori were no longer pulled over in a car simply because police were suspicious they had done something wrong
This is the second strategy police have launched to improve their relationship with Māori.
Wally Haumaha said the last one – set up in 2012 – achieved a 35 percent drop in the number of prosecutions in the youth court.
Of course it was politically motivation to release Winston name. About the same time another person name was being released to O what A coincidence that it just happens to be the same time as the New Zealand Elections YEA RIGHT.
I thought that the way to establish native trees is to plant them amongst a canopy of old trees.
I don't think that the trees need to be cut down to establish native trees just plant them amongst the established tree from my research the young natives trees are prone to frost
Cool that the research on Maui Dolphins is showing how far there rangs is.
We lost A lot of great leaders in those wars enough said
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
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Well done!
MarinaTex is one of the winners of the James Dyson Award
The family court is another basket case institution that needs immediate reform.
**Must read **
"There is a gathering consensus on what this requires. It must start by putting the economy on an ecological footing. A comprehensive set of environmental targets and policies are required to drive down carbon emissions, pollution and biodiversity loss: a new Sustainable Economy Act combined with a Green New Deal."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/08/economy-crisis-capitalists-1945-1979
Not sure Id call it a gathering consensus but it is an increasingly held view…whether anything is done about it is another story
…"putting the economy on an ecological footing, green infrastructure such as renewable energy, financial reform,fairer distribution of wealth, including housing etc .."It is no longer enough to let the private sector determine the path of the economy and then add a bit of ameliorative social and environmental policy on afterwards.", Yet it was the this exact same so called liberal press lead with gusto by The Guardian that has worked actively and tirelessly to undermine and destroy the one politician in the UK that given the chance would install these measures, the same goes for Sanders who was (and still is) dealt with in the same way by the Guardian and most other so called liberal press.
As I have said many times here, the Guardian is more of a threat to the progressive Left than any right wing outlet, they and their neo liberal cohorts are the Trojan Horse amongst us, they are the ruthless defenders of the status quo and have shown time and again that they will defend their liberal project over real progressive change every time…
If you're interested in reading more about the media treatment of Jeremy Corbyn especially from the Guardian look no further..
https://theguardian.fivefilters.org/better-media.html
Yes, Jeremy Corbyn has suffered a bad press, but where's the harm?
https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/jul/19/yes-jeremy-corbyn-has-suffered-a-bad-press-but-wheres-the-harm
Jeremy Corbyn is the most smeared politician in history
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/opinion/jeremy-corbyn-is-the-most-smeared-politician-in-history/18/07/
Bryce Edwards' selection as NZ reporter will certainly do little to lift the Guardian's reputation.
True that, though now I think about it he is a good fit… I like it how when you google him Iprent's bit 'Bryce Edwards: Just another political simpleton' comes up in the first page…
https://thestandard.org.nz/bryce-edwards-just-another-political-simpleton/
Of course the real danger is that The Guardian has some really good people writing bit's on it occasionally, so lot's of people don't get what their overall ideological direction is pushing.
I tend to think the Guardian is a bit like Forrest Gump's chocolates – you never quite know what you're going to get. The same used to be true of RT off subjects of direct regime interest – there was a time when they offered occasional smart alternative perspectives, much as Al Jazeera does from time to time.
The quality of writing used to reveal an underlying quality of thinking that is rare in political commentary, especially in NZ. Bryce would benefit from a spell in the UK – he has at present little or nothing to offer in terms of political commentary.
I still think RT has a few worthwhile shows, especially the Chris Hedges "On Contact'' show, they also regularly interview many former serious jurno's of the Left who (post Russia Gate/Trump)..Pilger, Taibbi etc, have been completely and utterly ostracized from MSM liberal media…not even allowed on to debate, which just shows how weak the liberal media feel their positions are.
Plus they often have comment from Slavoj Zizek whom I don't always agree with but always enjoy.
https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/
You're probably right – but I gave up on them about five years ago, when they moved away from the gravitas they'd been building until then. They floated at that time a lot of tragic nonsense about MH17.
Jeremy Corbyn and the 'treatment of' not a huge concern as I feel a lot of his problem is of his own making…as to the 'slant' of the Guardian, its considered as I read its content….and would note that even with such much of its contribution is superior to many other MSM outlets…especially re CC
BNZ spinning cuts in employee entitlements. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117272768/six-weeks-of-annual-leave-hides-loss-of-other-benefits-bnz-staff-say
I read that yesterday and roared with laughter. It's like being stabbed in the kidneys and then told, "No, look, we haven't stabbed you at all. We've simply provided you with increased ventilation in order to keep you cool during summer. Because we care."
BNZ – we'll shit in your ice cream and tell you it's chocolate sauce.
At least they will have certainty about the sauce, eh.
A salutary and succinct history of how Labour rising star and Wellington ex-mayor Justin Lester went downhill very fast.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/116683919/the-fading-of-a-rising-star–how-justin-lester-lost-the-wellington-mayoralty
Agreed. And why I just couldn't bring myself to vote for him.
Not being a Dom reader, did they tend to support or oppose him while in office?
A bit of both really I think. A hell of a lot didn't get reported (internal scraps with admin etc.) but at least we have a bit better of a mix. A bit greener and a bit less partisan and a bit less geriatric.
I/S on the Nats' explicit intent to gut the Zero(ish) Carbon Act: http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/11/climate-change-as-predicted.html
It will take a bolder governing coalition than this one.
NoRightTurn clearly has no capacity to enjoy the moment.
Simpson's SOP simply better reflects the Paris Agreement language.
This is the boldest Green-influenced government in the entire world outside of Iceland. Suck it up cupcake.
The extreme left need to stop bitching and moaning about lack of perfection in the new law, and start preparing to work with the framework.
I agree there's a problem with not enjoying the moment, not least because people in Shaw's position (eg his staff who worked hard on this) are human and need encouragement not just shit thrown at them.
We also need the I/Ss to be pushing for more change. Shaw understands this. It's not I/S job to work with the framework, that's for other people.
None of that a reason for delusional spin however
I think his tone is off, but I can't see the problem with his analysis. I don't know if I agree with it, but it makes sense. Calling it delusional spin is just as hom stuff.
Assume youre meaning the No Right Turn piece?
More the quote in Sacha's comment from I/S but yes.
I/S was explicit at the beginning of that brief post about the context for him:
Not known for mincing his words.
Yeah, National attitude to constraints on reducing greenhouse gas aren’t known for anything except for trying to nobble them. Short-term thinkers who can’t see past the next election – and who simply shouldn’t be in government because of it.
However they will do that to any constraint. It doesn’t matter how tough or otherwise you make it.
On the whole I think that trying to get farmers involved to making the kind of effort that industry and construction has made in the last decade is a worthwhile attempt. Sure they have short-term mortgage issues. But there is a decent probability that the longer-term way of thinking of the better farmers can nobble the brainless dumbasses in their community.
And that is one of the noisiest community amongst the idiot deniers, and the one that National’s urban denier idiots tend to raise as a shield over their stupidity.
To get support for doing something effective, you have to work in the incentives to bring whole emitter communities onboard. To a large extent that happened through much of the non-rural industries in manufacturing and construction as well as a goodly chunk of the public. It is why there is widespread support for crucial measures like alternatives for petroleum fueled vehicles.
If the agricultural sector can’t get their idiots under control and come up with something effective – then they have only themselves to blame if the government regulates their laggard arses.
K…the delusional spin to which I referred was not the piece but the berating of its observations
Do you mean Ad's comment? It would help if you said what you meant.
Not just Ad, although he certainly sprang to mind….there is nothing to be gained from pretending the passing of the Act has removed the ability for its goals to be undermined as amply demonstrated by Nationals position….indeed selling it as more than it is is counterproductive as too many will consider the issue resolved (politically) ….The I/S piece is simply one of many already making that point and if that upsets Shaw or those working on this field then Id suggest theyre in the wrong job
Ad certainly seems to believe that government processes are sufficient, and doesn’t have much of an appreciation for how radicals lead on change. Maybe he thinks the situation isn’t that urgent?
I haven’t seen Shaw complaining about criticism. In fact he regularly says that we need to do more, and refers to non-parliamentary activism as a positive force.
I think there are two issues here. One is how effective the Act *can be given what it is, and what National may do to it. The other is the human aspect, that all the people who worked on this, and those who are relieved something has happened, want to celebrate.
The point about whether the general public will get complacent and not understand the limits of the Act, or the context, is a good one worth looking at.
re getting upset, this area of politics and activism is hard on people. Telling those doing the mahi to get another job if they can’t hack it is not wise when we need all hands to the pump. There’s not a lot to lose from being supportive to those people.
Hence 9 November 2019 at 10:32 am
I've heard both James Shaw, and Jacinda Adern telling people like 350 org, and the climate demonstrators, that they need to keep the pressure on Government do more.
Obviously to make action on AGW, politically possible.
Yep. Best, next move is for people to mobilise around high visibility climate action, and voting next year. Either or both. So much is going to change re CC over the next 12 months.
Agreed.
the extreme left, as you call us, is the group forcing change – without that pressure, from the many very worried about the disaster unfolding, nothing would happen. Something is happening and it is not enough and too late but yay for doing something
+1, look no further than the Sanders effect on the US primaries, hell he has even brought that word we shalt not speaketh back..the working class.
Funny how "extreme left" is now used for people who are about as "left" as Holyoak.
More importantly trying to figure out to make sure that National can’t screw this one up like they did with the ETS.
I never liked the ETS. Even in its original form it had far too obvious loopholes. A straight forward simple tax on generating greenhouse gases would have provided a much simpler harder to evade incentive. More pain short-term, but a faster transition to the kind of productive economy that we need in the future.
But in the usual display of National’s malevolent incompetence, they came into power, and trapped by their political idiotic promises and posturing, they screwed up any coherence to the ETS. To the point where was largely providing disincentives to reducing greenhouse gases.
This isn’t hard to see. Our overall per capita emissions have been effectively increasing rather than decreasing. They don’t tend to measure it over time per capita… For instance at stats – look at the land-use contribution as the forestry died out and farting and peeing cows increased.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-emissions
However the net effect of the changes that National brought in were to diminish reduction effect of land use and increasing the number of vehicles.
That meant that the higher efficiencies that came through from industry and construction, technical innovation like the car fuel usage, and the changes that people made in their own lifestyles were negated by cows, trucks and cars.
National’s natural constituency…
Yes. And if the Nats had not sabotaged exactly that in the early 2000s (including one of their MPs driving his tractor up parliament's steps) we would be well on our way now to reaping the worldwide upside of being an early changer.
Worth recalling these earlier opportunities every time farmers and their enablers whine about needing more time to play their part.
"Suck it up cupcake"
It's almost as if he's a Wild Katipo style "soft cock"
The hope is that both I/S and Wild Katipo will both be around for a bit longer offering up their contributions
The NZ Super Fund shows us exactly what to expect from governments intent on thwarting climate action under the ZCA.
The Nats simply stopped all annual deposits within the Cullen framework, costing future generations tens of billions towards pre-funding retirement income costs. https://nzsuperfund.nz/nz-super-fund-explained-purpose-and-mandate/contributions-suspension
A bolder left-leaning govt freed from kowtowing to deadweight Winston and chums can push our carbon action the other way by accelerating delivery. Snowflakes gonna melt in any case.
National's proposed amendments look like strengthening the political independence of the Commission, rather than the half-assed model we have being set up.
Also, under the new law the Climate Commission can review the target under certain conditions. Have a look.
“These significant changes in circumstances include:
o global action
o scientific understanding of climate change
o New Zealand’s economic or fiscal circumstances
o New Zealand’s obligations under relevant international agreements o technological developments
o distributional impacts
o equity implications (including generational equity).”
https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Climate%20Change/climate-change-response-zero-carbon-amendment-bill-summary.pdf
And if you are looking for breaking social contracts, it wasn't the Nats who proposed raising the age of superannuation. It was Labour.
Policy immutability is possible, but it's rare.
Thoughtful activist John Darroch reflects on the Oranga Tamariki review report (click on tweet to see rest of thread):
https://twitter.com/politicalpraxis/status/1192710197539590144
yep ot is still pretending that based on incomplete and outdated information they were justified in trying to take this baby – this shows how sick the culture from the top is – meanwhile they blame everyone else and pretend to take responsibility – not really a great surprise for anyone who knows how these things work
I had forgotten how much effort they put into trying to shut down the story, including lawyers.
Interesting interview with Egon Krenz over at Jacobin if you have a chance to go over there. I would link, but I'm too lazy. He is a bit obtuse at times but worth a read.
[lprent: Let me assist your laziness: https://jacobinmag.com/2019/11/east-germany-egon-krenz-berlin-wall ]
Breaking News
Lula is free. He walked out of Sergio Moro's prison today, where he spent almost 2 years as a result of corrupted process conducted by a corrupt judge (now Bolsonaro's Minister of Justice and Public Security) and corrupt prosecutors.
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1192925532897398786?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Good News – Very good news indeed.
I wonder if the bashing of Glen Greenwald live on air by a far right loony helped this happen quicker?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/07/glenn-greenwald-brazil-augusto-nunes-radio-show
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/08/glenn-greenwald-assaulted-during-live-broadcast-by-right-wing-brazilian-journalist/
Did the corrupt judge and corrupt prosecutors also receive a beach side apartment from an engineering company implicated in the Car Wash investigation, or accept bribes in the form of renovation work at a country house from construction companies?
That probably goes without saying…
Yeh I don't know about that, but it does help to expose the far right (as it is needed) as being unhinged and often violent when they are losing or under pressure, something to keep in mind and remember if Corbyn or Sanders do any good in their respective elections.
Not going to end well imo
I hate religious intolerance from any religion or belief system. If your deity wants you to kill people then YOU are the problem.
tRump campaign is using donation money to buy Jr's book in bulk to drive up sales, adding Jr's signature and flogging them to MAGA for a minimum $50 donation.
https://www.inquisitr.com/5729711/republican-sales-donald-trump-jr-new-book/
Don't think Trump needs too much help in that department…
Trump Campaign and R.N.C. Raise $125 Million in Third Fund-Raising Quarter
The huge infusion of money confirms that President Trump is building an enormous war chest heading into the 2020 election.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign-rnc-fundraising.html
https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/candidate?id=N00023864
Meanwhile while the Dems waste time and energy on impeachment, and to make it even worse they have Billionaires like Michael Bloomberg who are freaking out that Sanders and Warren are looking like the final runners in the Dem primaries..with their wealth taxes and all…and think they can beat the former with just their endless $$$, well I guess the upside is we get to see another entitled rich prick publicly embarrass themselves like Tom Steyer is doing.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/11/bloomberg-enters-presidential-primary/
In which they can read the junior barbecued bloviator's thoughts on how his family's "sacrifices" are just like the sacrifices made by those who lost their lives fighting for their country.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-jr-sacrifices-arlington-book_n_5dc568d8e4b0fcfb7f64dc66
It's not wasting time and energy, it's called doing your job, and when it appears as cut and dried as this, failing to do so would be complicit.
A really good article imo. The more I read, the more I thought and the more I thought about this, the more I went, yeah wtf?
Chloe Swarbrick contextualises her latest moment in the spotlight. https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2019/nov/09/my-ok-boomer-comment-in-parliament-symbolised-exhaustion-of-multiple-generations
Impeachment timing – Mitch McTurtle might want to drag out the impeachment trial in the Senate for as long as possible to fuck with the Dem primary. Because all the current senators would need to be stuck in Washington sitting through the trial, rather than being out campaigning.
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/06/776182132/a-disaster-impeachment-could-sideline-senators-in-2020-presidential-campaign
I've been thinking along the same lines and will post on it tomorrow.
Listen to this hostage video put out by Jeff Sessions and see if you can work out what future action he's announcing.
https://youtu.be/_678DkgBKYg?t=3
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-hostage-video_n_5dc50530e4b02bf5793d76a5
It's not the May Day, parade you dopey prick.
It's the Victory Day parade, aka show off the tanks and shit day, commemorating the Red Army taking Berlin on 9/5/45.
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1192824086713503745
He just wants a few more moments in his happy place – a shitload of pompous spectacle in the midst of a crowd of his supporters.
Why no mention of Sir Peter Jacksons role in Justin Lesters downfall?
It was close. Foster owes Jackson. What is the squeeze?
Opportunity knocks for the Gnats to win the next election – bit of tomato sauce & they'll be fine.
Kia Ora 1 News
The thing is no one sends Hereford calfs on the Bobby calf calf truck anyway.
That's is cool getting some comunity workers to he with the clean up of Te Tapu Teranga Marae clean up after the ahi they had.
Angela made a good speech for this year's celebration of the Berlin Wall coming down.
Awsome that Charlie is getting help to find his Mama s grave on Manawai Island from Kiwis. All our birds of Aotearoa are amazing and beautiful.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Awsome that Chailey has had help from Kiwis to find his Mamas grave
Tangata Whenua are at the bottom of the list of Luntheg cancer treatment ladder.
Ka pai to the up grade to Manahurehure Marae.
That lady is just grand standing she is pro national this is the first time Oranga Tamariki CYPS has admitted under Our Labour lead CoalitionGGovernment fault all the other just denied it.
Congratulations to The Gay Tangata Whenua Wahine who won the Opotiki Mayor this gives me a sore face.
Ka kite Ano.
Sorry about the editing someone is stuffing with my devices
Kia Ora 1 News.
Yes Sports is good for the people.
It looks like boris has been under arm bowling.
Slashing the legal aid budget and making it near impossible to get legal aid took the legal right away from the common person to be treated fairly from the system or other people or organisations.
The british tabloids are a Wolf Pack control by you know who.
Ka kite Ano
The reality is oil and coal carbon is what we have to scrap and focus on lowering our use of the crap take the focus off our farmers come on
Climate change
Climate change deniers’ new battle front attacked
‘Pernicious’ campaign is unfair on well-meaning people who want to help – expert
The battle between climate change deniers and the environment movement has entered a new, pernicious phase. That is the stark warning of one of the world’s leading climate experts, Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University.
Mann told the Observer that although flat rejection of global warming was becoming increasingly hard to maintain in the face of mounting evidence, this did not mean climate change deniers were giving up the fight.
“First of all, there is an attempt being made by them to deflect attention away from finding policy solutions to global warming towards promoting individual behaviour changes that affect people’s diets, travel choices and other personal behaviour,” said Mann. “This is a deflection campaign and a lot of well-meaning people have been taken in by it.”
Mann stressed that individual actions – (eating less meat or avoiding air travel) – were important in the battle against global warming. However, they should be seen as additional ways to combat global warming rather than as a substitute for policy reform.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/09/doomism-new-tactic-fossil-fuel-lobby
I thank the New leaders of Aotearoa biggest Company Fonterra for lowering or dropping sugar our of their Papatuanuku class products.
People don't miss the sugar Fonterra's stopped adding to drinks and yoghurts
Consumers haven't noticed some of the added sugar has been removed from Fonterra's Primo, CalciYum and Fresh & Fruity yoghurts.
In fact, testing at Colmar Brunton's "sensory facility" indicated people found them equally tasty, or tastier, than higher sugar yoghurts.
The removal of some of the added sugar from the recipes for Fonterra's big-name consumer products is part of a strategy to reposition Fonterra as a sustainable enterprise
The move, which will mean around 600 tonnes of added sugar is removed from the collective Kiwi diet a year, is also a recognition that sugar was becoming a major concern for families.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/117148489/people-dont-miss-the-sugar-fonterras-stopped-adding-to-drinks-and-yoghurts#comments
You see oil drilling makes a bigger mess than just Cow farts.
Indigenous Mapuche pay high price for Argentina's fracking dream
Community tell of devastating environmental impact on land where their animals grazed
Albino Campo Maripe in front of a burning well in Neuquén province, Argentina. Photograph: Uki Goni/The Guardian
The roar of the burning gas well could be heard almost a mile and a half away, from atop the high plateau where Albino Campo Maripe stood, looking down at the orange flames lapping the earth in the distance.
When he was a child, the 60-year-old Mapuche chief used to ride there bareback. Those days are gone for ever. The once-pristine landscape is now dotted with fracking wells and the white patches of land cleared for even more
Fracking accidents happen regularly in Vaca Muerta (Dead Cow in Spanish), one of the world’s largest shale oil and gas reservoirs. In 2018 alone, there were an estimated 934 incidents at 95 wells
A spokesman said: “Their houses and cultural or productive activities are several kilometres away from YPF and Chevron’s operations. Nevertheless, the community still claims they should have rights on the lands where YPF and Chevron operate.”
But Campo Maripe claims the problem is not seepage from below, but from above. “They drilled about 400 wells contaminating everything. They dug pits next to the wells where they dumped the waste without any treatment and threw limestone on it to cover it up. We lost our best land.
“One of our sisters and her husband died of cancer in 2017,” says Mabel. “The fracking has affected our bones, which become decalcified. I had to have a titanium spine implant; another sister also needs one. Albino had an operation on his arm because of bone loss.”
Both siblings claim doctors have privately told them the cause is contamination from the wells. “They are scared to talk,” says Mabel. She says one worried doctor asked her: “Are you recording me?”
“Last year, the grandson of another sister was born with his intestines outside his body. They had to operate [on] him to put them in,” says Mabel.
“As Mapuches, we’re not fighting for just ourselves or our community,” says Albino Campo Maripe. “We want our children and grandchildren to know that we fought for something that belongs to everyone. Water is life. Every plant is life. The greed of governments is killing the world. The world is not going to end. We are going to end, because we’re killing ourselves.”
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/indigenous-mapuche-argentina-fracking-communities
Here how Capitalism really works read and learn.
Billionaires are wailing that wealth tax proposals by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are attacks on free-market capitalism.
Michael Bloomberg: billionaire eyes centre lane in Democratic presidential race
Read more
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Ha I can't even edit my post with the way this is setup
Link to above post here
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/10/billionaires-warren-sanders-wealth-tax-bezos-dimon-cohen
All combustion engines need to be replaced with Electric motors when they need renewing.
Electric ferry under construction for Wellington will be first in Southern Hemisphere
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/403004/electric-ferry-under-construction-for-wellington-will-be-first-in-southern-hemisphere
This makes me happy that not so many of our Whanau are going to be wasting away in Te Hinaki.
The police have set an ambitious new goal to reduce the rate of re-offending among Māori by 25 percent in the next five years.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush admitted bias existed in the police force.
"Our data tells us that there is a bias in policing, and we've got to remove that bias, so where we police and how we police," he said.
"We've got to accept that there is a bias in policing and only by acknowledging and removing that bias will we make a difference at that's a key difference for all of us
"We are five percent into that target, we're really determined to get to that 25 but it takes a lot of moving parts to come to together
Iwi leader Rahui Papa of Waikato-Tainui was at the launch and said he was optimistic a day would come soon when Māori were no longer pulled over in a car simply because police were suspicious they had done something wrong
This is the second strategy police have launched to improve their relationship with Māori.
Wally Haumaha said the last one – set up in 2012 – achieved a 35 percent drop in the number of prosecutions in the youth court.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/402709/police-launch-strategy-to-reduce-maori-re-offending-by-25-percent
Kia Ora 1 News.
Of course it was politically motivation to release Winston name. About the same time another person name was being released to O what A coincidence that it just happens to be the same time as the New Zealand Elections YEA RIGHT.
I thought that the way to establish native trees is to plant them amongst a canopy of old trees.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I don't think that the trees need to be cut down to establish native trees just plant them amongst the established tree from my research the young natives trees are prone to frost
Cool that the research on Maui Dolphins is showing how far there rangs is.
We lost A lot of great leaders in those wars enough said
Ka kite Ano