The outcome of today's midterm elections could very well spell the end of civil rights in the USA.
The Republican Party is more racist, homophobic, transphobic, mysoginost anti union, anti welfare, religious, and in favour of reversing social progress than ever before, and after decades of smearing blacks as criminals, LGBT's as paedophiles, the poor as lazy, union members as overpaid, women wanting access to reproductive healthcare as selfish, the US public is now believing them, and will vote to turn the clock back 60-70 years.
Forget civil rights, The outcome of today's elections in the united states have the potential to be the end of democracy in the united states.
Considering the ammount of election deniers on the ballot saying they'd refuse to certify presidential elections if they they disagree with the results.
Focusing almost soley on civil rights, identity politics and abortion (and not being able to say the word woman while doing it) rather than the god damned economy during a cost of living crisis is political suicide and it's sadly going to lose the democrats this election and labour 2023.
After the 2020 election members on both sides talked about passing legislation that would prevent future election results being uncertified by partisan politicians, that should have been made a top priority. It wasn't. This is on the democrats.
If the global left wants to win elections going forward it needs to ditch identity politics, stop alienating and lecturing voters and get back into the mainstream and advance center left economic reforms first, go back to being defenders of free speech which has been our traditional role at least when I was growing up in the 2000s and protect democracy.
With regards to the economy, Americans have gotten so right wing, they see the way to stop inflation is to screw down wages and conditions, as well as outlaw trade unions, not to mention hack away at what is left of the social safety net (which is bugger all). Rather like here.
Free speech always boils down to wanting the right to go around calling people "ni******s" or "sodomites", which is what the the current debate in the USA boils down too.
The biggest threat in the USA is bible bashing evangalicals and their catholic callabortars (sp) who wish to impose their religion on the wider population, through bans on abortion and whatnot. Also the criminalisation of homosexuality and transgenderism is in the mix.
There seems to be an unhealthy preoccupation with what 'the right' is up to. I have been wondering what it means to be 'left' nowadays.
I have had a few values tested lately.
The current war enthusiasm is an example. Only a couple of days ago, a commenter here expressed the sentiment "As long as lots more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian ones are dying I am pleased to see the US war machine doing some good for a change."
This went unchallenged. Russian soldiers, like Ukranian ones, and Afghan, Syrian… are largely the poorer, less privileged citizens. This used to matter to us, the working class used as cannon fodder to further the powerful's interests.
"The farmer’s taken reasonably good steps, and sometimes these things happen, but we’ll certainly try to learn as much as we can from it."
" reasonably good steps " ? ! Well he had a fucking good clearance by fire..so I suppose that worked out. And for free. And what learning?
Over decades, in Otago (and NZ) more fire…. clearances ?…like this, than could be counted on many hands. And apparently …still nothing to see here. Ah well.
huh? What are you on about? Have I got a Mind Read on him? Its my Opinion. Just like yours. Mine is from years of Observation.Of extremely similar. Take that how you like….
ok, so you made it up. There's no basis to the idea that the fire is useful to this farmer, other than that some other farmers have found rogue fires useful.
Maybe just explain your thinking next time instead of casting random aspersions. eg "there have been examples in the past of farmers doing well from accidental fires because it clears land they wouldn't otherwise be allowed to". But I'd probably still ask for examples or some back up for your thinking (eg an explanation of your experience).
Psyc-I agree it is scandalous that the clearly negligent farmer gets off scot free while the taxpayer picks up a $400k bill. While this attitude prevails other farmers will take risks.
There have been a number of fires in the Wanaka/Hawea rural regions over the last 10-15 years that have destroyed large areas of native bush. These fires were caused by farmers, residents and tourists and to my knowledge nobody has been fined or made to pay any kind of costs.
If you have evidence that the farmer was negligent, can you please link to it? Or recount local knowledge (I couldn't find anything online about the area burned, what was on it, and what part of the farm it is).
The ODT has FENZ saying,
"The farmer’s taken reasonably good steps, and sometimes these things happen, but we’ll certainly try to learn as much as we can from it."
Do you think Mawhinny is being politic?
I take it that you think everyone who accidentally causes a fire should pay for it? Camping fires during a fire ban? Camping fires when there's no fire ban? Permitted backyard fires where precautions where taken? Housefires? Fireworks fires? Fires started by lawnmowers? Powerlines arcing?
Should people who allow dangerous levels of flammable materials build up on their property be fined? People who don’t mow their lawns? DOC letting their land be covered in bracken or pine?
How about people having to pay for car accidents?
These fires were caused by farmers, residents and tourists and to my knowledge nobody has been fined or made to pay any kind of costs.
That's because in civil society we accept that accidents happen and we that we shouldn't bankrupt people when they do.
Another good reason not to do that is people won’t call the fire brigade if they believe they will be found legally and financially liable.
I think there are better ways to approach this. Mass climate crisis education around fire risk, to get all of NZ up to speed so that we take it seriously like Australia does. Tourism needs it own particular approach. Farming. Property maintenance. Look at the main fire causing activities in each reason and go hard on helping people prevent them.
"… the investigation is yet to be finalised, but it’s likely the blaze, which destroyed about 230 hectares, was started by an ember from a "burn pile". The farmer had been burning piles of material at the time, including manuka slab, which had been cut down, Mawhinney says, and it appears a stray ember landed in nearby vegetation, and spread at pace."
The farmer was burning and allowed his fire to escape and burn 230 hectares. That looks like a clear-cut case of negligence.
I live in the Queenstown Lakes District and even when the fire warning level is on green you never start a fire if there is more than a breath of wind, and you also check the wind forecast.
are you suggesting that the farmer knowingly started the burn pile when it was windy? Or with wind forecast? Because I'm not seeing anything about that in your quote
the issue is the contention that the farmer was negligent and lit a fire knowing it could spread. It's a serious allegation, wanting some explanation or evidence is reasonable.
for instance, I can think of someone lighting a fire in reasonable conditions and being caught out by a freak wind. Certainly getting enough freak winds this spring.
There are all sorts of problems with burning slash, I don't think it should be generally allowed, but there's not a lot of good options being made available either.
and yet it's an ongoing conversation. If you want to use TS to throw out random aspersions without explaining your thinking, you can expect people to respond to that as a problem.
If it was pastoral lease land then there is a right to burn subject to conditions.
Some farmers in the high country have traditionally used fire, often with disastrous results, to burn off 'surplus' vegetation and to fire tussocks to reveal fresh young growth. I am being sarcastic but with a background of truth that some high country farmers did not believe their farming year was complete without having had a box of matches in their hand and good old burn-off.
These days more modern farmers/agricultural people believe firing is an inefficient way of farming. Reading the work by Dr Alan Mark on how tussocks work to trap moisture in these high country you would probably come to believe tussock grasslands need to be protected both for their landscape and water protection values. And you'd be right.
Modern thinking sees a way to control grazing is by animal mouths munching but this needs top notch pasture and stock management working some times by the day. This is not the way that some pastoralists work.
While pastoral leases still do have a right to burn there are ways to control this with
constantly looking at land tenure options……when is burning too much and when do we bite the bullet and buy back land?
Looking at who is taking over these high country runs. While we want experienced people we don't need the sons or daughters of the match box carrying farmers of yore, unless they have undergone an epiphany.
we need to look at the terms and conditions imposed for burning
we need to introduce newer way of farming, in the olden days the old Soil and Rivers Control Council, and their regional bodies had the ability to subsidise to get results. This worked. In my neck of the woods the work done as part of soil con has been subsumed by Reg Councils and has disappeared from sight.
I know that since the neo lib experiment subsidies is a dirty word but it works if done tightly and outcomes clearly defined. ( I know there will be those saying that in the push for more stock water and firefighting ponds subsidies brought about the building of large numbers of stock water and firefighting ponds cunningly disguised as swimming pools. They'd be right)
I did touch on fire as a pastoral tool on 4/11 when trying to rebut a presumption that 'Murrays' were the cause of fired land in NZ. These were my links
(NB on some pastoral leases in the South Island firing areas is still common practice/permitted)
I think fire as a tool needs looking at. I tend to support PL in their horror that this is still permitted.
This is an extract from the link from the ODT.
‘Fire and Emergency New Zealand risk reduction adviser Mark Mawhinney says the investigation is yet to be finalised, but it’s likely the blaze, which destroyed about 230 hectares, was started by an ember from a “burn pile”.
The farmer had been burning piles of material at the time, including manuka slab, which had been cut down, Mawhinney says, and it appears a stray ember landed in nearby vegetation, and spread at pace.
“The farmer’s taken reasonably good steps, and sometimes these things happen, but we’ll certainly try to learn as much as we can from it.” ‘
yeah, I wondered how carefully chosen Mawhinney's phrasing was there. Sounds like it wasn't a burnoff but burning slash pile/s. That's just as much bullshit as burning off, but the problem we have is that there are places in NZ now where we have no solutions to flammable material. Mānuka, pine, scrub is going to burn live or dead if a fire gets going. Many farmers believe that it's better to burn it in the spring than let it build up over the spring and dry out over the summer. It's also harder now because there is more rain in some places, leading to more growth.
There is a lot of criticism of land being returned to DOC and then becoming a fire hazard. There is a clear conflict between this and biodiversity, and I don't see any easy answers. Regenerative land management that allows high country tussock to grow, increases fire risk. Or that seeks to let forest regenerate, likewise, because it can take decades to get past the scrub/bracken stage, also very flammable.
One thing that would be helpful would be teaching NZ to be fire safe. Everyone. It's important now, it will be vital in the future.
One thing that would be helpful would be teaching NZ to be fire safe. Everyone. It's important now, it will be vital in the future. (weka)
and
I live in the Queenstown Lakes District and even when the fire warning level is on green you never start a fire if there is more than a breath of wind, and you also check the wind forecast. (Bearded git)
Also look for imminent rain. And look at what kind of winter you have had. And the potential if there is an escape.
For those interested here is info on the tenure review proposals.
Good to see Minister Wood require higher forward contracts for all kinds of fuel, and also give Commerce Commission powers to rule of fairer petrol and diesel prices.
Now it just needs a big diesel fleet user to take up a test case.
Or the government could buy back and recommission Marsden Point. Give it to Transpower perhaps.
I have also read that voting levels are heavier than any seen for midterms for decades.
The impact of an unexpected defeat on the Republicans can well be imagined – it'll be stolen, fraudulent, call to arms, attempts to subvert the count and suppress results, etc etc etc.
We certainly need ways in which the right can disgrace itself without inflicting its customary dose of harm on people. This might be one of them. In NZ, Covid did that very nicely for a while.
Interesting article on the benefits of immediate electrification. Aussie engineer dispels many myths (as he sees them):
• Electrification for NZ is much easier than it's made out to be; we'd only need 250% of elec than we use currently. Completely doable with decent investment in solar and more wind.
• Cheaper: stop saying subsidy and start saying investment. A house could save $40k a decade on energy, by switching to solar, getting rid of gas.
• Electric vehicles are better in every way; even the utes and things being produced now in the States. And a battery for a typical ute can power a home for a week. So plug your house in to your ute at night, if you don't have a home battery.
• The fiscal wastage in continuing to use fuel is more (per year) than the upfront cost to switch over to elec. It is much cheaper over the long run without sacrificing any standard of living, in fact has a net benefit.
• Recyclability of batteries, turbines, panels is much easier than the current myths suggest.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle is NOT meaningless, it actually helps; it is just an old solution for an old problem (fuel energy crises) that would become less of an issue with full electrification.
"we'd only need 250% of elec than we use currently".
Do you mean that or is it a typo? We are currently using, according to Transpower about 5,450 megawatts. Of this 90% is from Hydro and Geothermal with only about 5% from wind.
If your 250% is right you are saying we would need about 13,625 Mw. If it is going to come from wind we would need to increase windpower to about 36 times the current production, Where are we going to put 35 times the current turbines and what do we do when the wind doesn't blow?
If you are going to do it from solar what are we going to do when the sun isn't shining? Please bear in mind, when you work it out, that the wind tends to drop after sunset so both sources will have less capacity available in the evening, which is the main period of high demand.
It really doesn't sound as easy as you imply, at least to me.
I'm not saying it, or thinking it, just summarising the interview. Dr Saul Griffith is an engineer with presumably far more knowledge and experience than me. I'd suggest listening to the interview and responding to those points? There's a RNZ written summary as well. He probably is looking at increasing effficiency:
He believes the typical New Zealand lifestyle could be achieved using half the energy it currently does.
He didn't mention Tiwai's massive drain on power, nor the decreased costs as we move away from energy-intensive agriculture.
And fair point to you, it’s not ‘easy’ (or we would have done it), just ‘easier’ than we collectively imagine.
"I'm not saying it, or thinking it, just summarising the interview"
OK. Yes I was reading it as being you promoting the ideas, rather than just quoting from his story. It was the "only 250%" of current production that set me off. I worry about our going all in on wind power. It is so unpredictable when it is supposed to be the main supplier of electricity.
Well, the Chinese do not have 750 plus publicly admitted off shore Military bases and facilities as per the USA. Iran is surrounded by approx 45 US military and intelligence bases in neighbouring countries.
Adam has mentioned a real possibility for the direction of the United States of America. Fascist is a word that should be used with extreme caution, but some of the current Republican candidates and supporters certainly meet that definition unfortunately.
Adam asked the question about trading with Fascists, and it is China not the United States that defines that.
Unless you have been living under a rock the United States had mid-term elections today. Not even New Zealand does that. We may be one of the least corrupt but we are actually one of the most quiescent, passive-aggressive and servile of peoples.
Democracy in the United States is far more thorough than it is here. People who get anxious about how rough elections are in the United States should just read what the Democrats were like in Texas in the 1960s. Or Louisiana in the 1930s. Or Illinois and New York in the 1940s. Democrats smashed heads without being labelled fascist or authoritarian. What they were doing was fighting actual power.
People in politics here – Ardern's generation in particular – are too weak to even meet protesters in their proper form. They'd rather just demonise them as enemies of the state and absolve themselves of the necessary conflict involved in managing actual power.
No, democracy (in terms of voting) in the US is convoluted, exclusionary, and designed to maintain class power relations i.e. capitalist hegemony. In 2020 80 million eligible voters in the USA did not exercise their vote.
We don’t have long enough parliamentary terms in NZ to bother with “mid terms”. And…pull your head in Ad, I was closely watching the mid term results on various channels last night.
Pundit Michael Moore was right again, as he was in predicting the Trump victory when the NY Times and Washington Post were calling Clinton. There was no blue surge, and more importantly no red surge. But a hell of a lot of effort went into achieving that position given the media/poll blitz.
People that have known no other world than a monetarist dog eat dog Aotearoa do things differently. But protest lives on every day regardless of the NZ Labour Caucus or PM. Unions work away for their members, reforms are advanced, battles are won like Ihumatāo.
It is fair enough to enquire what motivates a right opportunist like yourself to even bother posting on the Standard?
So lets stop trading with China. Been a fan of that for while.
2. I did not call the USA fascist, I said their was a real possibility of out Fascists gaining control of larger sections of the USA state. Which thank goodness, they have not. But, they stay a real danger.
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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 ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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The outcome of today's midterm elections could very well spell the end of civil rights in the USA.
The Republican Party is more racist, homophobic, transphobic, mysoginost anti union, anti welfare, religious, and in favour of reversing social progress than ever before, and after decades of smearing blacks as criminals, LGBT's as paedophiles, the poor as lazy, union members as overpaid, women wanting access to reproductive healthcare as selfish, the US public is now believing them, and will vote to turn the clock back 60-70 years.
Ain't dead yet but as Biden says it's in their hands.
Forget civil rights, The outcome of today's elections in the united states have the potential to be the end of democracy in the united states.
Considering the ammount of election deniers on the ballot saying they'd refuse to certify presidential elections if they they disagree with the results.
Focusing almost soley on civil rights, identity politics and abortion (and not being able to say the word woman while doing it) rather than the god damned economy during a cost of living crisis is political suicide and it's sadly going to lose the democrats this election and labour 2023.
After the 2020 election members on both sides talked about passing legislation that would prevent future election results being uncertified by partisan politicians, that should have been made a top priority. It wasn't. This is on the democrats.
If the global left wants to win elections going forward it needs to ditch identity politics, stop alienating and lecturing voters and get back into the mainstream and advance center left economic reforms first, go back to being defenders of free speech which has been our traditional role at least when I was growing up in the 2000s and protect democracy.
With regards to the economy, Americans have gotten so right wing, they see the way to stop inflation is to screw down wages and conditions, as well as outlaw trade unions, not to mention hack away at what is left of the social safety net (which is bugger all). Rather like here.
Free speech always boils down to wanting the right to go around calling people "ni******s" or "sodomites", which is what the the current debate in the USA boils down too.
The biggest threat in the USA is bible bashing evangalicals and their catholic callabortars (sp) who wish to impose their religion on the wider population, through bans on abortion and whatnot. Also the criminalisation of homosexuality and transgenderism is in the mix.
"collaborators"
Entirely agree – never ever trust a religious fundamentalist – of which Chris Luxon is a prime example in this country.
Hey Corey, you often say what I am thinking.
There seems to be an unhealthy preoccupation with what 'the right' is up to. I have been wondering what it means to be 'left' nowadays.
I have had a few values tested lately.
The current war enthusiasm is an example. Only a couple of days ago, a commenter here expressed the sentiment "As long as lots more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian ones are dying I am pleased to see the US war machine doing some good for a change."
This went unchallenged. Russian soldiers, like Ukranian ones, and Afghan, Syrian… are largely the poorer, less privileged citizens. This used to matter to us, the working class used as cannon fodder to further the powerful's interests.
Indeed. Will no one think of these men as they go about their raping, torturing, looting, and murdering.
/
Thanks for so eloquently demonstrating my point.
How unsurprising.
" reasonably good steps " ? ! Well he had a fucking good clearance by fire..so I suppose that worked out. And for free. And what learning?
Over decades, in Otago (and NZ) more fire…. clearances ?…like this, than could be counted on many hands. And apparently …still nothing to see here. Ah well.
do you know that the burnt area was useful clearance for the farmer, or are you making that up?
huh? What are you on about? Have I got a Mind Read on him? Its my Opinion. Just like yours. Mine is from years of Observation.Of extremely similar. Take that how you like….
ok, so you made it up. There's no basis to the idea that the fire is useful to this farmer, other than that some other farmers have found rogue fires useful.
Maybe just explain your thinking next time instead of casting random aspersions. eg "there have been examples in the past of farmers doing well from accidental fires because it clears land they wouldn't otherwise be allowed to". But I'd probably still ask for examples or some back up for your thinking (eg an explanation of your experience).
This isn't FB.
lol. Yea I will leave you to it.. better things to do with my time.
Psyc-I agree it is scandalous that the clearly negligent farmer gets off scot free while the taxpayer picks up a $400k bill. While this attitude prevails other farmers will take risks.
There have been a number of fires in the Wanaka/Hawea rural regions over the last 10-15 years that have destroyed large areas of native bush. These fires were caused by farmers, residents and tourists and to my knowledge nobody has been fined or made to pay any kind of costs.
If you have evidence that the farmer was negligent, can you please link to it? Or recount local knowledge (I couldn't find anything online about the area burned, what was on it, and what part of the farm it is).
The ODT has FENZ saying,
Do you think Mawhinny is being politic?
I take it that you think everyone who accidentally causes a fire should pay for it? Camping fires during a fire ban? Camping fires when there's no fire ban? Permitted backyard fires where precautions where taken? Housefires? Fireworks fires? Fires started by lawnmowers? Powerlines arcing?
Should people who allow dangerous levels of flammable materials build up on their property be fined? People who don’t mow their lawns? DOC letting their land be covered in bracken or pine?
How about people having to pay for car accidents?
That's because in civil society we accept that accidents happen and we that we shouldn't bankrupt people when they do.
Another good reason not to do that is people won’t call the fire brigade if they believe they will be found legally and financially liable.
I think there are better ways to approach this. Mass climate crisis education around fire risk, to get all of NZ up to speed so that we take it seriously like Australia does. Tourism needs it own particular approach. Farming. Property maintenance. Look at the main fire causing activities in each reason and go hard on helping people prevent them.
Weka. From the article in the ODT.
"… the investigation is yet to be finalised, but it’s likely the blaze, which destroyed about 230 hectares, was started by an ember from a "burn pile". The farmer had been burning piles of material at the time, including manuka slab, which had been cut down, Mawhinney says, and it appears a stray ember landed in nearby vegetation, and spread at pace."
The farmer was burning and allowed his fire to escape and burn 230 hectares. That looks like a clear-cut case of negligence.
I live in the Queenstown Lakes District and even when the fire warning level is on green you never start a fire if there is more than a breath of wind, and you also check the wind forecast.
are you suggesting that the farmer knowingly started the burn pile when it was windy? Or with wind forecast? Because I'm not seeing anything about that in your quote
Embers don't walk around-it must have been blown by the wind.
the issue is the contention that the farmer was negligent and lit a fire knowing it could spread. It's a serious allegation, wanting some explanation or evidence is reasonable.
for instance, I can think of someone lighting a fire in reasonable conditions and being caught out by a freak wind. Certainly getting enough freak winds this spring.
There are all sorts of problems with burning slash, I don't think it should be generally allowed, but there's not a lot of good options being made available either.
and yet it's an ongoing conversation. If you want to use TS to throw out random aspersions without explaining your thinking, you can expect people to respond to that as a problem.
If it was pastoral lease land then there is a right to burn subject to conditions.
Some farmers in the high country have traditionally used fire, often with disastrous results, to burn off 'surplus' vegetation and to fire tussocks to reveal fresh young growth. I am being sarcastic but with a background of truth that some high country farmers did not believe their farming year was complete without having had a box of matches in their hand and good old burn-off.
These days more modern farmers/agricultural people believe firing is an inefficient way of farming. Reading the work by Dr Alan Mark on how tussocks work to trap moisture in these high country you would probably come to believe tussock grasslands need to be protected both for their landscape and water protection values. And you'd be right.
https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/standing-his-ground
https://hail.to/nz-festival-of-nature/article/Tu0Bvw5/accessibility
Modern thinking sees a way to control grazing is by animal mouths munching but this needs top notch pasture and stock management working some times by the day. This is not the way that some pastoralists work.
While pastoral leases still do have a right to burn there are ways to control this with
I know that since the neo lib experiment subsidies is a dirty word but it works if done tightly and outcomes clearly defined. ( I know there will be those saying that in the push for more stock water and firefighting ponds subsidies brought about the building of large numbers of stock water and firefighting ponds cunningly disguised as swimming pools. They'd be right)
I did touch on fire as a pastoral tool on 4/11 when trying to rebut a presumption that 'Murrays' were the cause of fired land in NZ. These were my links
(NB on some pastoral leases in the South Island firing areas is still common practice/permitted)
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1998/0065/latest/DLM427002.html
https://fireandemergency.nz/en_NZ/farms-rural-properties-and-rural-businesses/fire-as-a-land-management-tool/
https://teara.govt.nz/en/fire-and-agriculture
https://digitalnz.org/stories/5b19a05ffb002c36a2c014e6
I think fire as a tool needs looking at. I tend to support PL in their horror that this is still permitted.
This is an extract from the link from the ODT.
‘Fire and Emergency New Zealand risk reduction adviser Mark Mawhinney says the investigation is yet to be finalised, but it’s likely the blaze, which destroyed about 230 hectares, was started by an ember from a “burn pile”.
The farmer had been burning piles of material at the time, including manuka slab, which had been cut down, Mawhinney says, and it appears a stray ember landed in nearby vegetation, and spread at pace.
“The farmer’s taken reasonably good steps, and sometimes these things happen, but we’ll certainly try to learn as much as we can from it.” ‘
‘Reasonably good steps’ I find this concerning.
yeah, I wondered how carefully chosen Mawhinney's phrasing was there. Sounds like it wasn't a burnoff but burning slash pile/s. That's just as much bullshit as burning off, but the problem we have is that there are places in NZ now where we have no solutions to flammable material. Mānuka, pine, scrub is going to burn live or dead if a fire gets going. Many farmers believe that it's better to burn it in the spring than let it build up over the spring and dry out over the summer. It's also harder now because there is more rain in some places, leading to more growth.
There is a lot of criticism of land being returned to DOC and then becoming a fire hazard. There is a clear conflict between this and biodiversity, and I don't see any easy answers. Regenerative land management that allows high country tussock to grow, increases fire risk. Or that seeks to let forest regenerate, likewise, because it can take decades to get past the scrub/bracken stage, also very flammable.
One thing that would be helpful would be teaching NZ to be fire safe. Everyone. It's important now, it will be vital in the future.
and
Also look for imminent rain. And look at what kind of winter you have had. And the potential if there is an escape.
For those interested here is info on the tenure review proposals.
https://www.linz.govt.nz/our-work/crown-property-management/types-crown-property/crown-pastoral-land/status-and-location-crown-pastoral-land/mt-creighton-station
I wonder, in a minor sort of way, if the escape was on to land that was to remain with Mt Creighton or on the land to go to DoC?
Is that farm going through tenure review?
I honestly think we are past the point of judging the burnability by recent and future weather. Everything is so weird now.
Good to see Minister Wood require higher forward contracts for all kinds of fuel, and also give Commerce Commission powers to rule of fairer petrol and diesel prices.
Now it just needs a big diesel fleet user to take up a test case.
Or the government could buy back and recommission Marsden Point. Give it to Transpower perhaps.
Still, baby steps are still steps.
https://twitter.com/NZedAUS/status/1590064219768393728
Lots of young people are getting to be extremely conservative though.
true. will be interesting to see the later analysis.
Any links to share?
https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/midterm-election-results-livestream-voting-11-08-2022/index.html
I have also read that voting levels are heavier than any seen for midterms for decades.
The impact of an unexpected defeat on the Republicans can well be imagined – it'll be stolen, fraudulent, call to arms, attempts to subvert the count and suppress results, etc etc etc.
We certainly need ways in which the right can disgrace itself without inflicting its customary dose of harm on people. This might be one of them. In NZ, Covid did that very nicely for a while.
Republicans suppress their own vote when they instruct them not to trust voting.
Epistemic capture becomes a vortex sucking support right up their own foofoo valve.
Dose of hope:
Interesting article on the benefits of immediate electrification. Aussie engineer dispels many myths (as he sees them):
• Electrification for NZ is much easier than it's made out to be; we'd only need 250% of elec than we use currently. Completely doable with decent investment in solar and more wind.
• Cheaper: stop saying subsidy and start saying investment. A house could save $40k a decade on energy, by switching to solar, getting rid of gas.
• Electric vehicles are better in every way; even the utes and things being produced now in the States. And a battery for a typical ute can power a home for a week. So plug your house in to your ute at night, if you don't have a home battery.
• The fiscal wastage in continuing to use fuel is more (per year) than the upfront cost to switch over to elec. It is much cheaper over the long run without sacrificing any standard of living, in fact has a net benefit.
• Recyclability of batteries, turbines, panels is much easier than the current myths suggest.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle is NOT meaningless, it actually helps; it is just an old solution for an old problem (fuel energy crises) that would become less of an issue with full electrification.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018865830
"we'd only need 250% of elec than we use currently".
Do you mean that or is it a typo? We are currently using, according to Transpower about 5,450 megawatts. Of this 90% is from Hydro and Geothermal with only about 5% from wind.
If your 250% is right you are saying we would need about 13,625 Mw. If it is going to come from wind we would need to increase windpower to about 36 times the current production, Where are we going to put 35 times the current turbines and what do we do when the wind doesn't blow?
If you are going to do it from solar what are we going to do when the sun isn't shining? Please bear in mind, when you work it out, that the wind tends to drop after sunset so both sources will have less capacity available in the evening, which is the main period of high demand.
It really doesn't sound as easy as you imply, at least to me.
I'm not saying it, or thinking it, just summarising the interview. Dr Saul Griffith is an engineer with presumably far more knowledge and experience than me. I'd suggest listening to the interview and responding to those points? There's a RNZ written summary as well. He probably is looking at increasing effficiency:
He didn't mention Tiwai's massive drain on power, nor the decreased costs as we move away from energy-intensive agriculture.
And fair point to you, it’s not ‘easy’ (or we would have done it), just ‘easier’ than we collectively imagine.
"I'm not saying it, or thinking it, just summarising the interview"
OK. Yes I was reading it as being you promoting the ideas, rather than just quoting from his story. It was the "only 250%" of current production that set me off. I worry about our going all in on wind power. It is so unpredictable when it is supposed to be the main supplier of electricity.
Cabinet paper discussing it 2nd week of December.
So they come over, rip us off, shit in our nest, then bugger off again. Why do we allow this again?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/09/serious-concerns-raised-in-nz-about-environmental-impact-of-major-productions-including-amazons-rings-of-power?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
I wondering how many out fascists are going to get elected in the USA today?
Worst I've heard is three governors, and half the GOP. I hope not.
But begs the question, if those people are elected, should we openly trade with fascists? Should we be in treaties of defence with them?
As my grandfather shot fascists in WW2,are me and mine going to have to do it again?
China is our largest trading partner and a proper Leninist authoritarian state.
Well, the Chinese do not have 750 plus publicly admitted off shore Military bases and facilities as per the USA. Iran is surrounded by approx 45 US military and intelligence bases in neighbouring countries.
Adam has mentioned a real possibility for the direction of the United States of America. Fascist is a word that should be used with extreme caution, but some of the current Republican candidates and supporters certainly meet that definition unfortunately.
OK to clarify I mean Christian Fascists, which a very USA way of doing it.
Not unique to the US nor even a precedent. Franco ran an active and state sponsored Christian Fascism from 1936 to 1975.
Not at all what I mean. Franco's Spain was Catholic who embraced Fascism.
In the USA it is evangelical in nature, using the iconography and pageantry of Christianity, couple with a homely credo of wealth theology.
Same sick outcome, but different beast.
Adam asked the question about trading with Fascists, and it is China not the United States that defines that.
Unless you have been living under a rock the United States had mid-term elections today. Not even New Zealand does that. We may be one of the least corrupt but we are actually one of the most quiescent, passive-aggressive and servile of peoples.
Democracy in the United States is far more thorough than it is here. People who get anxious about how rough elections are in the United States should just read what the Democrats were like in Texas in the 1960s. Or Louisiana in the 1930s. Or Illinois and New York in the 1940s. Democrats smashed heads without being labelled fascist or authoritarian. What they were doing was fighting actual power.
People in politics here – Ardern's generation in particular – are too weak to even meet protesters in their proper form. They'd rather just demonise them as enemies of the state and absolve themselves of the necessary conflict involved in managing actual power.
Great comment. Your final paragraph is particularly powerful.
No, democracy (in terms of voting) in the US is convoluted, exclusionary, and designed to maintain class power relations i.e. capitalist hegemony. In 2020 80 million eligible voters in the USA did not exercise their vote.
We don’t have long enough parliamentary terms in NZ to bother with “mid terms”. And…pull your head in Ad, I was closely watching the mid term results on various channels last night.
Pundit Michael Moore was right again, as he was in predicting the Trump victory when the NY Times and Washington Post were calling Clinton. There was no blue surge, and more importantly no red surge. But a hell of a lot of effort went into achieving that position given the media/poll blitz.
People that have known no other world than a monetarist dog eat dog Aotearoa do things differently. But protest lives on every day regardless of the NZ Labour Caucus or PM. Unions work away for their members, reforms are advanced, battles are won like Ihumatāo.
It is fair enough to enquire what motivates a right opportunist like yourself to even bother posting on the Standard?
2. I did not call the USA fascist, I said their was a real possibility of out Fascists gaining control of larger sections of the USA state. Which thank goodness, they have not. But, they stay a real danger.
You could try this
https://theanalysis.news/will-jan-6-committee-investigate-christian-nationalism-gerald-horne/
Love the straw man.
As expected, the weak love weakness.
Stop being weak.
If you'd get off you high horse for two seconds, and stop being a know it all.
My question was specifically directed towards the USA elections, and a possible outcome.
Which by the was not delivered, and hopefully we seeing the signs of it being totally rejected/ejected from the GOP.
So go have a piss mate, get some of those toxins out of your body.
Apologies for the brief comment, but there may be some here interested in the High Court ruling re the removal of bush huts in the Ureweras:
https://twitter.com/NZStuff/status/1590196507655168000?t=WelDwofQtPCTNYuO4yMb9Q&s=19
Thanks Molly. I still can't quite understand why they can't build new huts before they remove the old ones?
Possibly for the same reason that you demolish a house, before you build again.
Insurance payout?
It's not the same thing. At least some of the huts were in use, and not all need replacing immediately. On top of that, "we don’t know how many structures will be built in their place or the expected timeline for the rebuild".
interesting read. Shame it's gotten to legal action, but this seems a good move. What a mess.