I’ve now got four fluffy black baby pooklets with their cute big feet, only a few days old, just over the fence & 2m down the bank.
Pooky built a sleeping nest there & spent the night hunkered down with the four of them.
The 2 adults (both would be a year old or less, judging by their size & unscarred red head shields) don’t seem to mind me looking at their babies as long as I do it quietly & not too often, speak to them gently, & give them the occasional bread chunk to add to the seeds & plant roots they’re feeding the pooklets with.
I can remember an old theory that you could predict how big your dog was going to end up when an adult based on the size of the puppy's paws.
If that works for birds as well I don't think you have pukeko chicks there Gezza. From the size of those feet I reckon that they are Dinornis Robustus and are going to end up about 3.5 metres high.
National knows how to put aspiration, ambition, confidence, and mojo back into this country. We're not going to go play a small, fearful, inward-looking game. We will be out there in the world happening to our future, rather than letting the future happen to us.
Is this corporate drivel what we can expect from the Natz?
Somebody else is going to have to script Luxon’s words if he wants to avoid being larfed at for every Twitter utterance.
He doesn't seem to have seen any political comedy on screen, from "Yes Minister" to "The Thick of It" to "Veep" to dozens of other shows and movies.
Which is fine, he's been busy working, but he sure needs to hire somebody who has. They can say "Er, Chris, that's a quote from The Office. So maybe we don't use it?".
Already in the week since he was elected he has significantly dialled down the ‘corporatese’ that he can be inclined to slip into when he speaks for too long.
To me, he feels more like he doesn’t understand NZ politics in any detail. No sense of a depth of NZ political history.
I’d say that he either spent a lot of time in Australia or the UK growing up or as a journo. Or possibly a large academic background like Bryce Edwards (less likely).
Either way, I get a sense of a lack of reality looking at NZ politics. What he describes often doesn’t marry up with my political instincts about what is possible or feasible. But does marry up with someone awkwardly looking at NZ politics through a book-learnt or remote framework.
Mind you, having a external viewpoint is sometimes kind of useful. If only as satire.
My guess is that he is either aussie or one of the kiwi kids who grew up there and worked over there. Tastes like an aussie,
Malpass has ties to the NZ Initiative, a right wing "think tank" that does not disclose its funders. That's why he is soft on National and Act.
If you ever wonder why Stuff journo Luke Malpass always praises Luxon & Seymour, you need to know he came from the NZ Initiative, a dark money right wing lobby group which hides behind the "think tank" label & won't declare their clients & are huge NACT supporters.
If you want to cheer yourself up go back and read Ardern's attempts at asking questions during her first couple of years. She tried to table a copy of the previous days edition of the Herald once and then what appeared to be an attempt to table the whole of the latest Budget Papers.
It even reached the stage where she read out the primary question but then someone else from the Labour Party had to ask all the supplementary questions.
She then dropped out of the roster of people asking questions for a very long time. Luxon is certainly very, very good by comparison.
Luxon has built himself up,now he needs to…deliver.
We know he lied about turning Air NZ around…he will be found out as just another very mediocre ,happy clapper with no 'joie de vivre',no charisma at all.
Well we certainly know that you are a stranger to the truth after that remark. Luxon joined Air New Zealand in May 2011 and became CEO in June 2012. He resigned in June 2019.
In the FYs before he was CEO the profit before tax (in millions) starting from 2008 and going to 2012 was 304, 7, 123, 73, and 94. Then the numbers were as follows, running from 2013 until 2019, 256, 358, 474, 663, 527, 540 and 382.
I would say that any claim made that he had turned the company around would be justified. What makes you someone who can naysay that? When did you ever run a very large business?
The figures are all from the AIR Annual Reports. They are readily available on line.
Alwyn,I say Alwyn…comprehension…do you understand what 'turn around' means pertaining to a business?
Christopher Luxon had big shoes to fill when he became chief executive at Air New Zealand in 2013.
Out the door went "rock star CEO" Rob Fyfe, credited with turning Air New Zealand around after a taxpayer bail-out in 2001, and snaffling numerous awards for best airline in the world. It was praised for improving its financial performance while all about it other airlines were losing theirs.
In came Luxon, who'd spent 18 years at Unilever — a consumer giant with a presence in houses across the globe with its brands like Dove, Rexona, Lipton and Sunsilk'-Stuff.
You really don't think that those profit figures for the years 2009 to 2012 were acceptable do you? The total profit in those 4 years was less than any of the years in Luxon's time except his first and less than half the best one.
And for your information the vast majority of the Airline awards were after Luxon took over. That included all the significant Airline of the year wins. Why don't you look them up? They are listed on the AIR site.
You really are as ignorant as you appear from your comments, aren't you?
I don't plan to answer any more of your comments in future. They are based on total ignorance and a completely closed mind on your part.
You don't think the high interest rates here 2008, global GFC and earthquakes may have played a part in the low profit figures in those pre Luxon years. Anyone coming in afterward was going to realise higher profits. Anyone.
If you think that these things have had a major effect then you will have to demonstrate them.
If these did cause the great boom in profits you should find the same thing happened to other airlines in the region. For example Qantas had the following profit numbers from 2008 to 2019. They were, in Australian millions, 970, 123, 116, 249, (244), 6, (2,843), 560, 1029, 853, 980, 891.
Thus, while AIR were booming from 2013 to 2015 in the Luxon years, Qantas were struggling and had an enormous loss in 2014.
Qantas finally got back to 2008 profitability in 2016 while AIR had doubled their 2008 result by then.
Why should AIR have boomed while Qantas struggled if anyone could have done well?
As for Earthquakes. Why on earth should the quakes in the South Island really affect Air NZ? If Mangere had been put out of action for years it would but not anywhere else.
I don't understand the bit about interest rates in 2008. Why would that go right through the next 4 years? If you mean interest rates during the whole period you will have to demonstrate that they really were higher, in the markets where AIR would have borrowed. I have seen no evidence of any major effect between rates in 2009 – 2012 and rates in 2013 -2018. The huge drop in rates didn't really start happening until 2018.
So no, I don't accept your throwaway lines unless you can really demonstrate they happened and also explain why they didn't show up in the same way at a comparable airline like Qantas.
Note first that they did not decline in 2008 as ours did – we had high interest in 2007-8 causing a recession (we had finance company failures before the GFC).
Economics impact on New Zealanders travel overseas and tourists here as well.
As our economy and the world economy improved out of the GFC and the earthquakes …
I don't understand your claim. You say "Note first that they did not decline in 2008 as ours did". However Air NZ profit before tax rose in 2008 from $269 m in 2007 to $304 m in 2008.
It fell in 2009, just as did Qantas.
However although both Air New Zealand both had dreadful years from 2009 until 2012 AIR recovered in 2013 and passed their 2008 number in 2014. Qantas did not reach their 2008 result until 2016.
I would say that the comparison demonstrates that under Luxon AIR did pull out of a hole that Qantas did not manage for another couple of years.
They had $970M profit in 2008, just as good as the good years a few years ago…
Our high interest rates in 2007-8 led to a recession here, we were then hit by the GFC 2008-9, then by the earthquakes – it is to Fyfe's credit that Air NZ survived those years and bounced back – Luxon had the easy part of the job.
That would be a good reason not to make her leader then. So they didn't.
I love how you guys jump shamelessly from "Luxon's the thrusting CEO, the leader we've been waiting for, the right man at the right time" to "oh give him a cuddle he's just a new kid at school, don't be so mean!"
Thursdays the Party Leaders are usually absent from the House. So the Deputy-Leaders lead with the Questions & Answers during Question Time.
Might have a watch of the Parliamentary tv channel to see Willis does up against Robertson. Shouldn’t think he’ll have much of a problem with her. He’ll have a few quips about her abd/or National already up his sleeve, I expect.
Why do you think having quips up his sleeve is a good thing? Doesn't the juvenile nature of question time and general debate just depress you? It sure does me.
They are there to do a job and should vigorously debate each other on policy. But the majority of the time they are doing nothing more intellectually challenging than name calling.
It is complete and utter rubbish from both sides of the house, which if it happened in any kind of work environment, you'd sack the lot of them
Why do you think having quips up his sleeve is a good thing? Doesn’t the juvenile nature of question time and general debate just depress you? It sure does me.
Robertson’s a bit of a smart arse, he’s always quick with quips, but they’re often quite sophisticated & funny (even his targets probly smile) rather than nasty or straight out insulting put downs.
Yes the juvenile nature of Question Time & General Debates are irritating; as taxpayers we should all probly be annoyed. They’re a waste of their time & our money.
They are there to do a job and should vigorously debate each other on policy. But the majority of the time they are doing nothing more intellectually challenging than name calling.
Tru dat.
It is complete and utter rubbish from both sides of the house, which if it happened in any [other] kind of work environment, you’d sack the lot of them
I’d give them a warning first, & make sure I had other workers ready to join up before I gave them those that didn’t comply the boot. That’s where the big problem getting this clown behaviour addressed lies. I don’t know if the other Parliamentary democracies we typically compare ourselves to are this childishly raucus.
I gave up regularly watching Question Time & General Debates last year. Just too silly & generallybunedifying. But with new chums in the National leader & deputy leader slots it’s been worth a look.
A health visitor turned up for a home interview just before Question Time so I missed most of Willis’s performance. I could see that she went after Poto Williams with her questions, not Robertson.
@ Tony Veitch (2) Re Christopher Luxon .. hey man, Chris wants to get our mojo back. Fab baby, fab.
Can we expect him to morph into Austin Powers sometime soon?
It is what drivellers say when they don’t have any hard plans or policies. Hardly surprising as the National caucus has been lurching around like and old zombie trying to grab fireflies for some time. There is little coherence in their existing policies. Basically they wasted the entire time since Bill English departed.
It will take some time for National MPs and the party to coalesce around some centrist things that they agree on enough as a group to be convincing putting in front of the public – because that is the group that they must have to gain the treasury benches.
The problem is that they have focused far too much on the vocal nutter fringes and brought them in as their noisiest active members as they try to stem the flow to Act. It is going to be hard for National to focus back on to the people who can vote in a government.
Watched ''The Project' last night to see if things have improved. They haven't. They interviewed Reuben Taipari of the Northland Border Control – you know, the people who secretly have been given legislative power while the rest of us smucks were told the government was still working on the border issue. The Project gave Taipari free reign. My, did the bro lap that up. However, he ran into strong headwinds in another interview with HDA. Heather had to point out the obvious to him. Something he didn't like:
One thing that's becoming obvious to me is these roadblocks are going to be a flash point for violence. Anti vaxxers and red necks wanting a go. Jaded holiday makers just wanting get on with their long overdue holidays. Patience will be thin on the ground.
Should things turn to custard, who is going to blink first -iwi, police or the government? In fact in such a senario you could call the election… Labour are OUT!
The world news has nothing to do with NZ check points. The English parliament hasn't legislated race based powers on the sly to control their population.
''In NZ: People leaving Auckland may have a slight delay at a checkpoint.''
You obviously didn't listen to the interview. A POSSIBLE 15-20 minute delay with cars piled up behind you is not a slight delay.
Another thing you don't seem to Comprend is the seriousness of this situation. It could be a spark to ignite things far worse. Then what? The Maori caucus has Labour by the balls. Iwi may tell the police to get stuffed. The police may retaliate.
''We'll be having a very different conversation next week. See you then.''
If by that you mean I will be proven to have fussed over nothing, I hope you are right. I will be passing the Northland checkpoint and one in Tairawhiti. The last thing I want to see is beer gutted men and screaming women fighting on the side of the road.
In my personal opinion no Aucklander should consider going north (or anywhere else for that matter) for a holiday. Northland has so many variables from poverty, low health status, low access to advanced medical care that it is just a time bomb waiting to go off.
I can understand why people from that area want to protect themselves, their families and everyone else in that area. As long as the police have oversight then I have no problem with it or who does it.
But really, on one hand a 15 minute wait, on the other a disease that can kill people or leaves them with long term illnesses – it's hard to believe it's the 15 minute wait that is the problem here.
hard to believe it's the 15 minute wait that is the problem here
Akers have been fully trained in how to survive commuter delays. The norm in recent years has been 1-2 hours each way, right? So 15 mins will be a breeze. Barely time to scan their favourite vacuous social media site…
But the wait will not be 15 minutes. Hone Harawira said this morning that they will process 10 cars at a time. If it takes 1 minute per car and cars arrive at 600/hour – no backlog. However the claim this morning was that, at peak, the road north handles 10,000 cars an hour. If this is true it will mean that after 4 hours the backlog will be some 37,600 cars, will stretch from Waipu back to Auckland and the delay will be more than 6 hours. Even if the volume is only 1000 cars per hour we have about 7km of backlog after 4 hours and a person entering the queue will crawl for a little over 2.5 hours. This exercise is unworkable and will come to grief.
Yep, I have listened to that. Iwi say all cars, police say not all cars, no one is saying what will actually happen and who has the final say. The item mirrors an interview with Reuben I heard on the radio recently. I guess we will find out in a few days. Andrew Koster seemed to be saying in an interview I heard earlier in the week that if the police did not get involved then Iwi would have taken the matter into their own hands – I assume this would mean all cars. Will be interesting to see if the rule of law can actually be applied. I hope everybody stays calm, but fear it will go very badly.
Agree with this mpledger. Of course this sensible approach seems to be lost on many commentators. But then many are saying it is their 'right' to do this travel and 'b****r' the rest of you.
As long as the police have oversight then I have no problem with it or who does it.
But then that is the point isn't it? Those wanting to travel do have a problem "with these 'Maaris' " It is the very obvious elephant in the room. Would there be the same uproar if a whole lot of Pakeha bach owners closed off access to others once they had all arrived? Perhaps I am being too cynical.
''As long as the police have oversight then I have no problem with it or who does it.''
Well, what if iwi disagree with police ovesight in a given situation? Iwi can legally stop a vehicle. Does a dispute then become a matter of judicial review and judgement? As if iwi will wait around for that.
Don't forget people going up North in planes and boats. I wonder if iwi will have people waiting for them? And what will those peoples legal status be regarding the right to stop travellers?
''But then many are saying it is their 'right' to do this travel and 'b****r' the rest of you.''
But of course. That's what the traffic light system is about. And don't forget this government taking $150 million off taxpayers to help Maori vaccinate themselves. Next the government will allocate another $150 million hiring teams to act as 'Grooms of the Stool ' to help Northland Maori out.
Peeni Henare in a rare moment of truth for this government, said: ''I don't know what else we can do to get Maori vaccinated. We have tried everything.'' Obviously that didn't go down well with his boss and the Maori caucus. And, Hey Presto!, soon Peeni was back on track blaming DHB for poor Maori vaccination rates. F..king disgusting.
I heard on One News at midday 1000 health care vacancies in Auckland. To me that is motivating to stay home. No one wants a Covid Christmas or a Covid New Year.
I am pleased that school will be over approx 15 December.
Aucklanders have not been allowed to leave Auckland sine 18th of August so they may argue the wait has been longer than 15 minutes. Why should I not travel to Northland as I am double vaxed and had a negative test.
If Northlanders are concerned about the 'dirty' Aucklanders coming up….here's an idea….why don't they go and get the free vaccine? I realise they have only had around four months to do so, but if they cant get it done, please don't hold back the 90% of the country that has done the right thing.
Stay home then. But you and Labour deserve to lose the next election if you think Aucklanders will tolerate any more pernicious impositions of arbitrary rules, after they have already done everything right.
It's not a sensible public health mandate any more, it's control freakery and political theatre and I am fscken sick of these games.
If Labour continue this bullshit I will be forced to vote for change.
Double vaxxed Aucklanders with vax passports aren't the ones spreading it. Segregation and checkpoints put the lie to the "team of 5 million". This is a horrible way to treat people after 4 months of locking down.
Lol..I like people who think outside the box. We could have bros on Harly's cruising the queues. They spot check motorists and ask for a supplementary koha. If a motorist gives koha they receive a large green sticker on the roof of their car. Hone will see the green sticker at the check point and say:'' Kapai, boy..you have paid your dues.The iwi thanks you. Don’t worry about that Covid nonsense.''
Minister Jackson should check out an actual Nazi likely to gain the Presidency of a country we know well, and whose father was an actual card-carrying Nazi Party member; Chile.
The same could be said about those fws on the right who talk about a communist tyranny in NZ. Remember the sign: 'She's a pretty communist,'? Zero understanding of what a communist is all about. Or even idiots who should know better comparing NZ with North Korea. 'Hermit kingdom . . .'
Idiotic statements like that were a trademark of his on the Willy & John (Tamahere) show on the radio.
He hasn’t really successfully transitioned to MP & Minister.Seemingly thinks he’s still the radio & can blather out anything to fill in space. In the House, speaking off script as Minister, he’s generally so woeful it’s genuinely funny.
Speaker Trev still sighs, rolls his eyes, & has to guide him, like for all of last term, I expect.
I was talking to Ad, not the kids here, Robert.
And it was tongue-in-cheek. As a read would quickly show.
The old time unparliamentary language was pretty tame.
There is no hive mind called The West. There are a few fools who believe that moral action by any nation against oppression is not possible … but moral laziness does that.
What there is, is the following:
Germany: AfD or Alternative fur Deuschland. Dominant in some eastern states.
Spain: VOX
Austria: Freedom Party. Previously coalition partner in government.
France: National Front. High chance of gaining the Presidency this time.
Sweden: Sweden Democrats
Estonia: Conservative People's Party of Estonia
Poland: Confederation Party. Authoritarian leadership now ruling.
Hungary: Jobbik. Authoritarian leadership now ruling.
United States: Donald Trump dominant faction of the Republican Party instigating overthrow of elections this year.
There are many other smaller ones of little moment of course. But none of them are concentrating on Chile.
Interesting theory. True that diversity is the norm, but don't discount the extent of subscription into the western myth of progress. It was teetering on Luxon's tongue, he barely managed to restrain spitting it out.
Is globalisation progress? Few would argue that it's regress! Humanity seems to have something of a convergence trajectory, derived from the relation of social darwinism to regional context. That has now entered the globalising phase. Thus all those who hate control freaks are gearing up with competing conspiracy theories, all produced by in-crowd hive minds with the potential to ramp up into regional/national contexts…
If you're fishing for a summary, it'd be that hive mind in the west has the western myth of progress as a basis. Obviously one can identify various other strands in the basis (such as the Golden Rule).
Compared to China we lack a hive mind, as Ad implied, but my point is that it operates in tacit psychology & doesn't get enforced by rules nowadays.
Probably the obvious exception would be private property rights, which retain hegemony in western countries due to law enforcement.
Oh, my digression into the conspiracist dimension is due to mass psychology morphing into a nexus in which in-crowd group belief systems combined with identity politics drive behaviour (evident since the '90s).
It’s not so much that I was looking for a summary, Dennis. It’s just that after I had carefully read it all the way thru, as per my praxis, when I got to the end … it felt like I hadn’t. 😐
Azov Batallion in Ukraine. Possibly of more import than most at present. Especially since they have a significant slice of govt support. Dont forget the photos of John McCain with actual seig heilering nut jobs
Don’t get ahead of yourself…NZ ACT is in the tradition of the Chicago Boys that fuelled Chilean neo liberal extremism under a dictatorship if you check out their policies. ACT is pro capitalist elite with an ongoing “war on the poor” as part of their programme including Electronic Income Management. https://www.act.org.nz/policies
Jackson used the term fascist which includes corporatism, which the authors of the Auckland Supercity, including Mr Hyde clearly were aiming for. Undemocratic CCOs which the elected Councillors actually have very little sway over.
Dictator Augusto Pinochet divided the country into 15 economic zones, his first Minister of Labour was José Piñera Echenique a Chilean economist. NZ National’s Employment Contracts Act was clearly based on Chilean union busting labour law.
ACT has fascism in its DNA via links to ideologues involved in the CIA assisted Pinochet dictatorship. Regional genocide of indigenous people, remote concentration camps, and general terror reigned thanks to the neo liberals of the Chicago School. Willie is right to call them out.
there is a large anti-authoritarian left (easily the majority of the left in my experience)
the political compass is a crude tool. It needs to be folded horizontally into a cylinder, so extreme libertarianism touches extreme authoritarianism. Because if you give people licence to do whatever they want, they'll dominate, control and command others. The compass was clearly designed by a right-winger because the whole notion of private power escapes them, they can see only state power
I'd argue that you can put a moderate socialist, capitalist and conservative into a room and the three of them, if they have any competency at all, will negotiate an outcome they can all live with.
What extremists all have in common, the communists, libertarians and fascists, is an obsession with power in one form or another, and are completely unable to work with each other.
ACT want to Abolish Māori seats, which should really only happen when Māori voters say so. It is a form of voter suppression advocacy and classic tyranny of the majority tactic.
Voter suppression experts however reside in the USA. Trumpists in the wake of an attempted coup! on Jan 6 are conducting a massive gerrymandering and voter rights roll back in multiple state legislatures. Americans are a whisker away from authoritarianism if they do not save voter rights under the Biden administration.
I know my political terminology well enough thank you, too many seem in denial of what libertarianism/Freidman/Hayek is all about, let alone apply it to NZ ACT.
Interesting you mention the decline of democracy in the US TM. There seem to be parallels with the "freedom fighters" in NZ. No one can deny the necessity of protest in the face of tyranny but to call the vaccine passes apartheid and the fight against them freedom is really to make most go where the eff were you when these things were real. Similarly with the capitol rioters. No one can deny the necessity to take over the Capitol if an election really were stolen but this? Trump? An extremel interesting article on the death of US democracy due to the maximising of self interest here With comment on the farcical nature of the capitol riots here. Delusional mobs storming the Capitol are just a by product of the American way
although it can seem rather pathetic targeting CML’s prominent shiny bonce… Mr Luxon’s cranium is a rather defining feature which will likely continue to be lampooned by all and sundry unfair as that may be.
Perhaps on the Standard we should lead the way and never again mention his noggin–I am willing to do that–when others stop trying to demean the PM because of her being a youthful woman, or her NZ designer wardrobe, deal?
Moral guidance on the left? Innovative. Political correctness doctrine suggests it only ever emanates accidentally from the current conformist fashion trend.
I advocated Humpty, citing an empirical observation that it had already got traction on a rightist blog. Note that it meets your criterion of not actually mentioning his cranium. Instead, it works via tacit psychology. Very pc, in other words…
It can be pretty vile alright, even “Mr Collins” got into it in 2020 with some “porn hub” logo’ed pictures of the PM which he was barely admonished for.
It can horribly go wrong for a person with a genuine grievance when they keep being fobbed off due to being blocked by the system. Lies told about you, incorrect facts.
Lake Alice is a good example.
There also needs to be a severe penalty for those in the system getting it so wrong.
Re Lake Alice police investigated in 1977 and from 2002 – 2010. Finally on 8 December 2021 charges against 3 people (including the sadistic Dr Leaks) and 2 of the 3 are unfit to stand trial.
'The way sex offenders are labeled is changing in Colorado. The board that sets state standards voted today to change the term “sex offenders” to reflect so-called “person-first” language.'
I think it'd be interesting to have snoop around the professors computer and see what 'research' they've (of course the pronouns are they/them) been conducting
Jeez. God luvva duck! Wokeism has now gone so far overboard it’s become a parody of itself.
Why are these people being taken seriously? Seems to me they need to be mollified for only so long as it takes to get them to a shrink. After which they should probably be be kept in hospital until their heads are on straight again.
Sorry about that I wasn't as clear as I could have been and its certainly not my intention to try link MAPs with the gay community.
What I meant was that there'll be some MAP activist that will try to get MAPs (the M part) included as part of the acronym so as to try to get societal acceptance of pedos
Puck, your first link connecting to a sex offender that wants to be called a 'client' because he is no longer engaged in sex offending, doesn't need any further comment, but does show how far removed we are becoming from being able to state facts.
The second link is a convoluted tale, that might shed some light on how we got to this stage.
Prof Allyn Walker has written a book: A Long, Dark Shadow – Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity and has been interviewed here on Protasia.org (a site I'm unfamiliar with, but has a strange vibe on their About Page.)
There is the familiar conflation of conversion therapy of same-sex attraction, to the tool of therapy for "Minor Attracted People" – or MAP's as Prof Walker names them.
There is a distinction between those who have acted on their attraction and those who have not, and a worthwhile premise that there should be support for those that recognise their attraction but also who recognise the harm. But I don't feel that getting support groups of similar people together will work in terms of reducing that compulsion. I could see how this would increase preoccupation with sexual attraction to children, and do more harm than good. Individual therapy would seem more precautionary and effective.
On the other hand, we also know that such methods as conversion therapy are not at all effective. And yet, that tends to be what people think of when they believe that MAPs should be trying to get rid of their attractions, and that they should go to some kind of therapeutic intervention where they can be converted. But that’s not really an option.
What is an option is getting those MAPs who want it into some kind of affirming therapy where their provider understands that their attractions don’t make them a threat, and who can help them navigate strategies for non-offending, if it turns out that they need those.
I would think that effective therapy to reduce any compulsion that might cause harm to someone else, and limits your ability to function well in the world would be beneficial. Just therapy. Equating this to conversion therapy is a sleight of hand.
If you had a sexual attraction to open fires, the sexual attraction is not healthy for you. Therapy would be aiming to give you healthy sexual compulsions, not navigate strategies around avoiding November 5th.
I haven't read the book, but the 2017 thesis that led to it, seems to consider sexual attractions to minors as a sexual preference, and not a cause of concern. The book might delve into this more, but I had read somewhere where the book advocates for use of child pornography as a resilience strategy to avoid committing offences, ignoring the fact that the production of child pornography records an offence being committed.
For the brave of heart, and those willing to see if there is any wheat amongst the chaff, their thesis is here if anyone wants to delve into it.
Too me its just a very short, slippery slope from someone that has attraction to kids but doesn't act on it to looking at legal images of kids to looking at illegal images and then committing physical acts and by making it a preference just seems like they're trying to minimise the act itself
Sometimes I just want to get rid of the internet, move to a small town and try ignore as much of the outside world as I can
I think that approaching the topic as a sexual preference is the problem here. There is a power-dynamic that is ignored, and the objectification as children as sexual stimulants is as harmful as any sexual objectification that dehumanises and depersonalises.
Healthy sexual engagement is between consenting adults with each other's boundaries respected and adhered to.
From my perspective, any sexual objectification is one that should be treated as a compulsion you would want to change. Most particularly when the object of that compulsion is children.
I think the people that the Professor is talking about who are attracted to minors but don't act on it. If they are using child pornography to help them "not act on it" that kind of refutes Walkers case. That is acting on their sexual attraction to children and it is real childrent who are filmed etc to make that pornography.
It is well known that people who use porn continue to need their fix and often look for more extreme or novel porn to be able to get aroused. I can't see how it would be different for these child porn users. Again I am thinking of the Dunedin research that found good self control a good predicter of outcome in the 1000 or so participants in Dunedin.
But research on these people is very important and of course there is a vast group of potential subjects in the prison population.
By the way least we forget it was Green party member Golriz who wanted to get rid of the paedophile register. Watch this space for the potential for the Greens to support new language around paedophiles
Any effective strategy that reduces harm is worth looking at.
From a very quick look, this doesn't appear to be a strategy that would reduce harm, although some of the information may be of use for a strategy that does aim to remove the compulsion.
I have no objection to people researching this area (or most areas for that matter). Anything that can help reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse is extremely worthy. Strategies that work with addiction include avoiding places where you might access the drug e.g. alcoholic avoid pubs, and practicing good self control when faced the the situation. Practicing distraction and emotion regulation also would come into it.
And I don't particularly like the group cancellation of Dr Walker. I am more interested to know who gave the ethical approval for him to work with paedolphiles using child porn? That is really a question for the university.
But the name change makes me very, very wary of Walkers motives. If we soften the language we use for this crime, then we soften how people see the crime…and then people might start to think "oh yeah they are just minor attracted"……..
As mentioned above, I think there are serious problems with the approach Walker has taken.
I agree with you on requirement for vigilance to recognise and push back against efforts to normalise such behaviour in order to lead to societal acceptance, including creating new terms.
'By the way least we forget it was Green party member Golriz who wanted to get rid of the paedophile register. Watch this space for the potential for the Greens to support new language around paedophiles'
The fact that there is no evidence to support the list, doesn't mean that it is not useful, just that there is no evidence. No evidence also can mean that none was sought or collected.
I'm thinking it's more than likely members of the public have used the register when they have had concerns.
“That’s a helluva hill to choose to die on”….indeed. It shows what happens when ideology gets in the way of critical thinking, imo
Golriz claim that children are rarely abused by strangers was not that smart.
I made the point when commenting on this on another blog, that children are more likely to be murdered by step parents. I think the same applies to being sexually abused. So the solo mum meets a new partner. The whanua are a bit uncomfortable with him. They may want to check out the sex offenders register. It is in that child's best interest that they do.
(Most) children are abused by adults who for some reason or other are given opportunity by their safeguarding adults. People with previous convictions on the register may have less opportunity, as safeguarding practices for letting unknown adults into your child's life includes some form of vetting.
The register is a tool for those vetting practices.
Not really. Many forms of abuse – including sexual child abuse – seem to be normalised in some severely dysfunctional families.
This tweet from a thread on safeguarding which has resulted in the author being visited by the Northern Irish police, quite eloquently explains the inexplicable:
My father used to make it feel like the sun was coming out. He sat me on his knee and sat me on his workbench and threw me in the air. I loved him. If he was a bad man, then one of the only bright spots in my childhood wasn’t real, and I had lived without love.
Yeah claiming that children are rarely abused by strangers maybe something that was true years ago (maybe because I don't really know or maybe because its easier for the police to track down a family member rather than a stranger)) but I do know that nowadays plenty of pedos use social media and the internet to groom and meet kids
the solo mum meets a new partner…. and despite a high level of obvious creepiness he is allowed to move in.
Luckily a neighbour down the other end of the street sees him walking past and wonders why on earth he was not still locked up after his last media publicized conviction was for sodomising a 3 year boy.
The neighbour down the street knew this predator from a previous job when he was being 'supported' after a conviction for raping 9 year old girl who was, according to him, 'asking for it.'
His MO was to befriend sad, lonely solo mums and do odd jobs and fix things. His level of obvious creepiness was very, very high…without going into graphic detail. Any one who failed to instantly see his very obvious predilections and transport their children immediately to a place of safety must have been in need of supports themselves.
Neighbour down the street called the local cop shop and they dropped this guy's name into the register…or whatever it was called back then…and a appropriately liveried vehicle just happened to be passing the house later that day and saw this predator in the front garden.
Coincidentally, the driver just happened to recognise this twice convicted child rapist and felt professionally obliged to stop and inquire as to his business at a property where children lived. Outrage from both predator and solo mum…calls of unfair harassment etc…and the cop could only inform and warn.
Luckily, the neighbour down the street had a friend who had a friend who knew the solo mum who was able to reinforce the constable's warning in a less upsetting way.
Hopefully we all saved another child from rape that day…but this 'save' hinged entirely on me recognising the predator and there having been a register of such offenders readily available to the police call taker. This was the very early nineties. My next encounter was about five years later when I saw him repeatedly hanging around the second hand shop at the local dump. There were kids. Of course. I did not hesitate for one single second to again intervene. Never saw him again. Read he died. Did a little dance.
Hardline law-and-order advocates the Sensible Sentencing Trust have been labelled "negligent and cavalier" after wrongly posting an innocent man's photo next to the details of a convicted paedophile on its website.
The trust's online offender database listed the man's picture with the description of a convicted paedophile with a similar name for almost two years, leading to social media abuse and fears that the man's tarnished reputation would damage his business.
That's not the government run register, which is only accessible to police and authorities to use when vetting during police checks for people wanting to work or volunteer with children.
A curtain twitcher submitted a man's photo and likely ruined his life because they thought he was an offender. Innocents have been murdered because someone thought they were offenders.
I see where Hope and the remnants of the Round Table, are refusing to work with the Government on the Fair Work Regulations. So who has stuck a spoke in that wheel?
Well hes innocent until proven guilty though I'm not quite sure I believe him when he says the phone call for arranging the 'attack' was code to buy drugs but you never know
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner, Alan Ritchie, who conducted a confidential preliminary examination into a complaint about the judge’s conduct, recommended the panel’s appointment. Attorney-General David Parker appointed the panel in late August.
The commissioner didn't say the judge was naughty. Weasel words are essential in the establishment. One must call a spade an excavation implement:
“On my assessment, the conduct, if established, would fall well short of accepted judicial standards,” he said.
The unnamed judge facing a rarely used judicial conduct panel is challenging whether the panel can conduct the inquiry. Not even the gender of the judge has been released and the panel has made interim non-publication orders for the judge’s identity and the background circumstances, the panel has said in a written statement.
The three-person panel of Chief High Court Judge Susan Thomas, District Court judge Lawrence Hinton, and former diplomat Jacqueline Caine (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha), said the judge had filed several applications.
The judge challenged the panel’s jurisdiction to conduct the inquiry in the particular circumstances of the case, the panel said. That would be the first question it had to decide.
So the offender reckons the govt + judiciary is incompetent to decide the issue. Can a member of the establishment defeat the establishment? Unlikely, I would have thought, but god likes a trier. And note the judiciary's usual contempt for the principle of transparent governance.
Maybe the so-called crime surge in Auckland doesn't exist, just a media beat up, according to an article in Newsroom. More to the point is why crime could be considered the only reason for voting for a right leaning alternative. How about climate change, housing, inequalties, etc.. Labour may be underperforming, but can't see why the right in NZ has any answers. NZ needs a more progressive alternative, not a step backward.
I do admire your persistence Pucky. Apologies are certainly not something that one can hope for from the left-wing zealots on this site. The may be wrong but they never ever admit it.
By the way, do you mind the abbreviation to Pucky? Using Puckish Rogue whenever I refer to you seems so clumsy somehow.
Koff, I guess people have all sorts of reason for voting for who they do. Crime has always an issue that will determine some voters. I am not saying I agree with it,. But I certainly will read the article from Newsroom you posted.
An Archbishop in France is no more because of a relationship with a woman, despite his claim no sex took place (only that they did touch).
The Pope accepted his resignation, and talks about lesser sins of the flesh and draws the dots towards loss of celibacy and the adultery commandment.
This reminds me a little of the death of John Paul 1 – it took years for it to be revealed that a woman had access to his room and was the one who found him dead.
Without sex, there is no loss of celibacy, and loss of celibacy is only adultery if the woman is married.
The Americans witnessing SCOTUS drawing dots to enable states to overturn Roe Wade will later note that this path has no end – fertility treatment itself would be proscribed (because of the lack of use of all fertilised eggs) and any woman planning to leave a red state for a purpose unlawful in that state would be incarcerated to term and beyond.
The way Justice Ginsburg saw it, Roe v. Wade was focused on the wrong argument — that restricting access to abortion violated a woman’s privacy. What she hoped for instead was a protection of the right to abortion on the basis that restricting it impeded gender equality, said Mary Hartnett, a law professor at Georgetown University who will be a co-writer on the only authorized biography of Justice Ginsburg.
Justice Ginsburg “believed it would have been better to approach it under the equal protection clause” because that would have made Roe v. Wade less vulnerable to attacks in the years after it was decided, Professor Hartnett said.
And the same red states seeking to further limit voting rights (this is a nation that requires people to vote on a working day), have their MW at the federal minimum of 7.25 an hour, block public funding to groups such as Family Planning are the ones that would do this better?
It's the definition pf patriarchy. The priestly celibacy mandate is unbiblical and unethical, leading to all kinds of distorted views of women and human sexuality.
Not that modern libertine celebrations and public parades of all sorts of kinky fringe stuff are much better.
I watched Luxon's media scrum this arvo. I am actually worried about the next election. The guy oozes charisma and confidence. And he is is as smooth as Key. Talking to a working class friend yesterday, he is impressed and wavering towards National because he is sick of Jacinda's "obnoxious lockdown rules" making life difficult.
And I agree with Luxon's critiques of the current Covid response. It stopped making sense when we got to 90% vaccinated.
But I am shit scared if the old guard gets back in power that there will be absolutely no hope for 30% of NZ stuck in permanent renting penury. And they will continue Labour's callous indifference to child poverty and unliveable benefits. It will be the revenge of the property investors and slave wage employers.
Why not take his stance at face value? Intent to reinvent National is a good thing. If he was serious about retaining the old guard Judith would have clocked in at #4 & McLay would still be in the top ten. Give the guy a chance to show some cred!
It would be good to close the Dirty Politics chapter for good. But blue-blooded privilege and hatred of the poor is in National's DNA.
National will shift the Overton window to valorise business "leaders" and try to sell us a vision of NZ that does not exist for 80% of us. Their focus groups are based on the Koru lounge, not nurses and teachers who can't get by
Those are good points but he has the capacity to combine conservatism & liberalism with kindliness (which after all is an attitude from Jesus).
I suspect he's sophisticated enough to know his task isn't just team-building – it's brand revitalising too. How he goes about that will be a stylistic thing. Too early to assume style over substance though. I'll reserve judgment.
Yeah but what really dismays me is that Labour is just as bad, if not worse because they betray their left wing roots while mouthing the same platitudes. Sitting on their fat arses using Covid as a distraction from the child poverty tragedy, climate inaction, and skyrocketing house prices.
We are led by children playing political popularity games and not caring about the lives they wreck.
From recent analyses posted here of the poll stats, Luxon has to wean lotsa female voters away from Ardern. I don’t see him being able to do that. He’s coming across to me as pretty plastic & doesn’t have the same ability to project himself as an “ordinary bloke” that Sir John did.
Many middle class women will imo have an instinctive preference to stick with Ardern becos she’s female, says warm & cuddly things, seems to relate well to children, & is basically “nice”. But she needs to get her Ministers cranking up to do something to fix child povidy, low wages, unaffordable rents & house purchases, violent crime & gang recruitment, horrid tenants in state houses & emergency accommodation making everybody’snlives miserable, policing (we don’t have enuf police out in the community), health service deficiencies & the mental health service gross inadequacy.
If Labour doesn’t address these soon & produce meaningful stats showing improved outcomes, Luxon has the opportunity to exploit some at least of these quite serious Labour weaknesses. Just chucking money at them & crowing about it is giving ammo to the opposition if they can’t show the money’s been efficiently & effectivelt used to produce ACTUAL improvements in outcomes.
Agree Gezza… Labour is actually making glacial improvements but not the desperately needed basic reforms as recommended by the Tax Working Group and WEAG
But blue-blooded privilege and hatred of the poor is in National’s DNA.
By the same token … Financial & Power Privilege (camouflaged by ostentatious moral posturing) … together with hatred + systematic scapegoating of the non-Māori Poor (for Colonisation) … lies deep in the heart of Wokedom's DNA.
Nacissistic, Self-Entitled Users & Abusers playing the role of the unusually morally good.
Sensible it may be, but politically and socially tenable is it not. The traffic light system and endless onerous mandates are a big vote loser for Labour.
If only Labour showed the same commitment to authoritarian power moves by fixing some longer term issues with their huge majority. Instead of pissing on everyone with QE for the bankers and speculators.
Restricting the rate of spread of illness, while the public health system is underfunded is neither useless, nor arbitrary. Sure, it is your friend who is thinking of voting National?
One of the great paradoxes is that debate entrenches positions and they can finally become so entrenched a person changes their party allegiance over one issue. They are called wedge issues (often ones of identity).
PS QE decisions are made by the RBG, and his were informed by inaccurate advice from Treasury.
It is indeed paradoxical that parts of Australia have lower infection rates than Auckland but we still force double vaccinated and tested travellers to spend 10 days in isolation
Have they allowed for a person to change their sex and then change it again? And again? Because, like, it'd be discrimination and not inclusive if a person was expected to commit to being one sex or the other permanently, like.
Bugger me, we knew it was going to go through but it is still a big disappointment.
When it cools, I am going out into the garden to dig a grave and bury science.
Thanks for the smile, Rosemary. Gardening is my solace too, might join you.
AFAIK, they were aware of the possibility for multiple changes, but they intended to keep an eye out for it to see if it was a problem. (Like you can’t anticipate that being a problem with self-id that requires no transition of any kind).
Birth certificates are oppressive! Doctors are liars! I should be able to change my date of birth and place of birth as well as sex "assigned" at birth.
Not enough non male prisoners have been raped and inseminated for that at the moment. like really, just a few pregnancies, who cares. It is important though that Lady Dicks get to shower, piss and live in an environment of their choosing, lest they feel like they are actually in prison.
So lets keep in mind that Lady Dicks are good dicks. Lady Dicks will harm no one, ever, and any Lady Dick that does harm a non male is surely a mistaken Lady Dick and most likely the non male is some sort of bigot/terf/unproductive uterus bearing 'human' or similar and taunted the Lady Dick into being a proper Lady Dick.
This bill recognises that those who need to amend their birth certificate can do so, that the courts do not have the right to make that choice for them, that parents do not have that right, that cis-gender people who don't even know them or care about them do not have that right.
The seems to derive out of the born that way argument to legitimise same sex activity – equal human right of citizenship, regardless of difference (race, sex, sexuality, religion …). But which evolved into personal choice over sexuality (and now sex as identifying) validated as a birthright to citizens.
Conservatives once argued that marriage bed was a basis of family nurture of the next generation and thus should be for male and female partners only – and thus, at most, other couples should only have civil unions.
Now objective realists, and women concerned about safe spaces for those born female sex hold the conservative ground on who can identity as female sex/women and how/when (here the alternative is not civil unions, but identity certificates).
The consequences of the path chosen will be assumptions about people based on how they appear (were they really born …), fair competition in sport and another reason for concern about the safety of women.
PS – the idea that parents do not have the right to smack, or to decide … is yet to be determined.
This is political. Self-id legislation has an impact on other groups, most particularly women's sex based rights.
The persistent refusal to have a public discussion on this, has resulted in this outcome that still has not addressed the concerns raised with any solutions.
You may rejoice, but don't think the topic will be dropped.
Interesting how you follow the tactic of immature people by throwing around statements like bigotry in a back and forth conversation, and then pretend it was a generality.
So, one more time. Link to bigoted statements I have made on this platform, or apologise.
alternatively
Link to bigoted statements I have made on this platform, or I will recognise your bad faith discussions are only just that and nothing more.
For the last time, I have not accused you personally of bigotry. I said bigotry stops people coming here. There are more than a few examples of that here this year. Learn to read.
"Spontaneous human combustion" refers to the death from a fire originating without an apparent external source of ignition; a belief that the fire starts within the body of the victim.
This idea and the term "spontaneous human combustion" were both first proposed in 1746 by Paul Rolli, a Fellow of the Royal Society, in an article published in the Philosophical Transactions concerning the mysterious death of Countess Cornelia Zangheri Bandi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion
The MPs demonstrated very early on they 'were not for turning'. Behaviour during select committee, and disregards for the concerns raised in 73% of the submissions solidified that.
They could have drafted legislation that provided official documentation to transgender people while addressing concerns about the impact self-id might have on a number of places. They chose not to.
Open discussion has still not taken place. It is likely we will see the consequences similar to other countries that have passed similar laws under similar approaches.
Yeah, nah. This is just one piece of the ID-politics ideological project to self-destruct the left (also known as, handing over moderate voters to David Seymour).
The next thing will be "hate speech" legislation so that the woke can make false accusations more easily.
Then there's the "conversion therapy" bill so that the woke can politicise medical treatment with "affirmation only" mandates rather than exploratory therapy.
Transparent authoritarian bullshit that will backfire in more ways than one.
Well, that's always the point of difference in this argument (it no longer really deserves the title "debate").
I'm not sure it has been a debate at all on TS. My memory of first talking with you about gender critical views was that you assumed my views were founded in transphobia rather than being left wing feminist perspectives. Similar to how some left wing men have viewed feminist objections to pornography as being about prudery rather than based in an analysis of power within the patriarchal system.
In my naivety it took me a while to realise that you actually believed that somehow despite all my other progressive views, on this one I was suddenly regressive and conservative. I'm not sure there is anywhere to go when one is talking with someone who has such a fundamental and willful misinterpretation of the other's position.
women aren't a hive mind and have a wide range of views.We know from international experience that many women are afraid of speaking out gender identity ideology, I can't see any reason why NZ would be different.
If there's so much widespread support, why was there so much objection to having a wide debate that let women across NZ know what the issues were and have a say?
it's definitely one of the problems. The Green Party blocked debate within the party. Stop and think about that and what it means.
The only reason the Bill got delayed was because Tracey Martin had the political power to put it on hold for while. This was after the introduction of self-ID to the Bill without due process. They tried to sneak it in the back door.
Again, if it's such a popular change to society, why is there such resistance to it being discussed widely?
In the UK women have lost their jobs and careers over this, for speaking out. There are whole websites devoted to publishing women's views anonymously because they're afraid to say anything.
I don't know where you've been in the past five years, but none of that is secret. Irrespective of who is right and wrong on the issues, there is no doubt that No Debate has been a thing, and that it's anti-democratic.
We want universities, policymakers and the wider public to understand the effect the current 'no debate' culture is having on those of us who work and study in Higher Education. We recognise the isolation that people face and want this to be a space where we can collate stories about our experiences and concerns, and for others to realise that we do not stand alone. Help us break the silence.
On reading about the unanimous passage of this Bill today I've been feeling peculiarly flat. The oppressive Brisbane humidity probably hasn't helped, but frankly the fact of our Parliament having no-one with the guts to even speak against it leaves me more depressed more than I would have expected.
As Orwell famously wrote, “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” This is why people voted for Trump – middle finger to the fucking lot of them.
Well just goes to show that between L, G, N, A and there is very little difference. 🙂
Maybe it is going to be the tamaki/conservative/others votes. Who knows, 2023 is a long way to go. Keep the popcorn ready, cause we shall be entertained.
And in the end, they will be responsible for everything now that happens in regards to this law, the good, the bad and the very ugly all at their footstep. Time will tell who was on the right side of history.
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Smiling And Waiving A Golden Opportunity: Chris Hipkins knew that the day at Ratana would be Jacinda’s day – her final opportunity to bask in the unalloyed love and support of her followers. He simply could not afford to be seen to overshadow this last chance for his former boss ...
Extremism Consumes Itself: The plot of “Act of Oblivion” concerns the relentless pursuit of the “regicides” Edward Whalley and William Goffe – two of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I’s death warrant. As with his many other works of historical fiction, Robert Harris’s novel brings to life a period ...
To challenge the Government’s promotion of co-governance, to share power between Maori and public authorities and agencies, is to invite accusations of racism. An example: this article by Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog headed Luxon’s race baiting hypocrisy at Ratana. The article was triggered by National leader Christopher Luxon, ...
A very informative video discussion: Are we getting the whole story about Ukraine? | Robert Wright & Ivan Katchanovski Getting objective information on the situation in Ukraine and the cause of this current war is not easy. There is the current censorship and blatant mainstream media bias – which ...
Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, it’s getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon Rātana for the ...
It’s a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, “Chippy” era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes … In the wake of Ardern’s abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because he‘s the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has welcomed the decision to lift the Ministry of Education’s directive on Auckland schools and other learning facilities, which means schools can open from tomorrow at their discretion. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
The head of the South Island’s Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency says the new Cabinet announced by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday is good news for Māori, with Peeni Henare retaining his spot as Minister of Whānau Ora, and Kiri Allan and Willie ...
The latest report from Aroturuki Tamariki, the Independent Children’s Monitor, on Experiences of Care in Aotearoa shows that there is not yet a significant improvement in outcomes for children in care, or their whānau and caregivers. Experiences of ...
The Children’s Commissioner, Judge Frances Eivers, said today that the latest Independent Child Monitor report into the performance of Oranga Tamariki, provides valuable insights, but its findings are of huge concern. Judge Eivers said, “In ...
Auckland’s deputy mayor has commented (via tweet) after this morning appearing to label her boss “part of the problem” in an interview about the flooding. On TVNZ’s Breakfast this morning, Desley Simpson was asked when the media will be able to speak with Wayne Brown, who has been particularly reluctant ...
Found a lost pet? Wondering how the animal shelters are going? The SPCA and the Auckland Council animal management team share some advice. Floods don’t just affect humans, they affect the furry members of the family too. It’s important to look out for animals following the Auckland floods, although it’s ...
An assessment of the impacts on an “inundated” City Rail Link project is under way following flooding in Auckland. Crews have pumped water from tunnels and stations sites and equipment was being salvaged and inspected, said the project chief executive Sean Sweeney. “At this stage there is no known structural ...
The government has announced another extension of its cost of living package – the fourth time it has pushed out the end date. The 25 cent cut to petrol excise duty, along with half price public transport fares, will be kept in place until June 30. These were initially set ...
It’s one of the most explosive moments in New Zealand’s political history. Now, director Tony Sutorius (Campaign) lifts the lid on the Jami-Lee Ross saga in Elements of Truth. After a fallout with National that threatens to bring the entire party down with it, Jami-Lee Ross seeks a return to ...
It was one of the most explosive moments in New Zealand’s political history. Now, a new documentary from director Tony Sutorius (Campaign) is lifting the lid on the Jami-Lee Ross saga.After a fallout with National that threatened to bring the entire party down with it, Jami-Lee Ross sought a ...
Transporting New Zealand has applauded the decision of the Government to reinstate the Transport Support Package, which includes the discount to road user charges (RUC). "On behalf of the transport industry and those who run diesel fuelled vehicles, ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who is in Auckland today has confirmed the cut to the fuel excise tax and half-price public transport will be extended until June. ...
The Tree Council is experiencing first hand, along with everyone else, the worst ravages of the flooding, landslips, chaos and carnage currently engulfing Auckland. The record-breaking rainfall and its unprecedented intensity is a clear signal of ...
Low unemployment and strong wage growth in the December quarter 2022 Household Labour Force Survey are further evidence of New Zealand’s robust recovery from the pandemic, says the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff said ...
The Taxpayers’ Union – which has been campaigning for an extension to the diesel road-user charges and petrol excise reductions – has welcomed the Government’s announcement today that the fuel tax cuts will continue until 30 June. They have, ...
Unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%, just a 0.1 point bump from the December quarter. “The unemployment rate… has remained at or near historic lows since the September 2021 quarter,” said Stats NZ’s work and wellbeing statistics senior manager Becky Collett. The underutilisation rate, which measures spare labour capacity, such ...
Maybe twice a year is too many times to visit the villa, writes Alex Casey. This is an excerpt from The Spinoff’s weekly pop culture and entertainment newsletter Rec Room – sign up here.Lana is a simple girl with simple needs. “I like the simple things in life,” she tells ...
The length of time someone has spent in Australia will soon be a “primary consideration” when determining whether a visa should be cancelled. It’s a major softening of the controversial 501 deportation scheme that has caused tensions between Australia and New Zealand. Jacinda Ardern fought for changes to the rules ...
If you’re an investor, or looking to become one in 2023, Dean Anderson from Kernel Wealth sheds some light on what that might look like after the highs and lows of last year.Following the dizzying highs of 2021 when stocks skyrocketed to record-setting gains, 2022 proved to be a ...
We are now accepting applications for The Next Page, a programme focusing on the development of early-career magazine editors, with participants receiving mentorship and taking part in three wānanga across the year. Nau mai, haere mai!Te kaupapaEditors play a vital role in our media landscape, yet very few ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who is in Auckland today has confirmed the cut to the fuel excise tax and half-price public transport will be extended until June. ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in the December 2022 quarter, compared with 3.3 percent last quarter, Stats NZ said today. “The unemployment rate, as measured by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), has remained at or ...
Engaging seniors and young people through workshops, creating a series of kaupapa Māori events for kaumātua and kuia, and delivering retirement workshops are among the latest projects funded by the Age friendly fund. Office for Seniors Director, ...
A Newshub item discussing the alleged misuse of public funds for safety improvements at a greyhound racetrack was unbalanced and inaccurate, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. The Authority has upheld a complaint by Greyhound Racing New ...
It’s Wednesday, February 1 and welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates – continuing our ongoing coverage of the flooding in Auckland and its aftermath. I’m Stewart Sowman-Lund, you can reach me on [email protected] What you need to know Auckland remains in a local state of emergency after ...
Under-fire Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has doubled (tripled?) down on his criticism of the media, accusing reporters of ignoring the work he has done in the wake of last week’s floods. In a conversation with Herald reporter David Fisher, who was first leaked the now infamous “drongo” text, Brown said ...
Residents in the flood-hit suburb of Browns Bay were outraged to find Auckland Transport traffic wardens had been out ticketing parked vehicles. According to Stuff, about 22 infringement notices were issued to cars in the North Shore suburb – seemingly going against the Civil Defence advice to stay home and ...
No one warned me how badly grief can make you yearn for physical intimacy – or how much backlash I would get for wanting to talk about it.On January 19, 2003, I moved to Aotearoa as the wife of a very handsome, very charming, very kind man. Jason Hotere ...
Stuff’s Luke Malpass is reporting that prime minister Chris Hipkins will announce an extension to the 25-cent petrol tax cut and half-price public transport. Those were set to end by March 31, as announced by finance minister Grant Robertson in December. The announcement is likely to be made today when Hipkins ...
The top of the country has endured another wild night of heavy rain and wind, with flash flooding hitting areas still recovering from Friday’s deluge. Parts of Auckland were cut off earlier this morning as the northern motorway closed in both directions. Waka Kotahi said all lanes had now opened, ...
Former physician Ayesha Verrall and former principal Jan Tinetti pick up big portfolios while Auckland gets an advocate in an otherwise well-anticipated cabinet reshuffle, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ...
The Free Fares coalition welcomes news that the Government will extend half-price public transport. “Affordable public transport is helping to ease cost of living pressures,” said Free Fares spokesperson Kate Day. “Right now, half-price fares ...
While Auckland was being devastated by flooding last weekend, a potentially more serious threat to life was playing out off Wellington’s south coast. The interisland ferry Kaitaki had lost power and was drifting in heavy swells towards the coastline. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Sawyer, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Child abuse and neglect is, unfortunately, a far more common occurrence in Australia than many people realise. In Australia in 2020–21 (the most recent figures available), there were more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Frost, Associate Professor, University of Auckland Paramount Pictures In his latest film, Babylon, director Damien Chazelle presents a very different vision of the home of America’s motion picture industry than he did in his Oscar-winning 2016 film, La La ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Roberts, Professor in Robotics, Queensland University of Technology frank60/Shutterstock With generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT and StableDiffusion being the talk of the town right now, it might feel like we’ve taken a giant leap closer to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanessa Cobham, Professor of Clinical Psychology, The University of Queensland Shutterstock Many children come down with a case of the back-to-school blues as summer slips away. Having spent the holidays staying up late and having fun with friends and family, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martijn Boersma, Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame Australia Ten years ago, the garment industry’s worst industrial accident – the Rana Plaza collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh – killed more than 1,100 workers and highlighted the travesty of conditions for millions of garment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey University New prime minister Chris Hipkins with deputy Carmel Sepuloni.Getty Images With a cabinet reshuffle just a day after two polls showing Labour ahead again – in which he promoted more Māori MPs to the ...
What to do once the water levels recede and you’re allowed to return home. Assess the damage If you’ve safely evacuated your home from floodwaters, you’ll need to wait for Civil Defence to give you the OK to return. When you do, wear protective gear like gloves, a mask and ...
As the country’s northernmost GP, and later as the MP for the country’s northernmost Māori electorate, Bruce Gregory was the ultimate community doctor.We’re not on a road, not even a dirt road. We’re crawling through a rutted gap between sand dunes in Bruce’s ancient Land Rover. It is, to ...
The wrong tree in the right place is an ongoing conundrum for Central Otago District Council with a long-awaited compromise plan seemingly decided yesterday stalled at the 11th hour Ken Churchill has been turning up at council meetings in Alexandra with regular monotony for the past 17 months in a ...
Grant McDougall is on a literary mission Over the past 11 years, the first thing I’ve thought upon walking into a bookshop, op shop, or school fair is “Are there any orange Penguins here?” I am on a mission, which I am so near to, yet so far, from ...
The Detail's Sharon Brettkelly heads to Titirangi in west Auckland, where the damage from last Friday's record-breaking rainfall is so bad some residents don't know when they'll be able to get back into their homes. This started as a podcast about what happened when flood waters surrounded my home on ...
Greenpeace criticises a South Island university over industry-funded research. David Williams reports Canterbury’s Lincoln University took more than $1 million in research money from the fertiliser industry in 2021, a fact criticised by environmental activist group Greenpeace. The university – New Zealand’s smallest – is unapologetically a practical, land-based institution, ...
While Watercare says it will soon have the wastewater system back in working order, urban beaches are likely to be a no-go for days to come When the waters rose, Auckland’s wastewater network and treatment plants were overwhelmed by stormwater, causing numerous overflows across the city. Pump stations were flooded ...
The easy part is over for Chris Hipkins in naming his new team, now the tough policy decisions lie ahead, writes political editor Jo Moir The Prime Minister has dealt with two of his biggest and most immediate issues – the public perception of the politicians leading the local government and ...
Forestry practices need updating to meet acceptable environmental bottom linesOpinion: The cycle of environmental damage caused by plantation forestry operations must stop. It is time to reign in damaging planting and harvesting practices with a fundamental reset of the rules that govern the sector. Increasing frequencies of severe storm ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Finnigan, Leader, Complex Systems Science, CSIRO ShutterstockOne of Australia’s leading climate scientists, Professor Will Steffen, died on Sunday. Steffen has been hailed as a leading climate thinker, selfless mentor and gifted communicator. He is survived by his wife ...
New Zealand’s reputation as a country mostly free from corruption in its public service and judiciary has been reaffirmed in the 2022 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says. But Mr Boshier ...
New Zealand is ranked second equal with Finland in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, Denmark is now clearly at the top of the ranking. New Zealand’s score dropped one point to 87 while Denmark improved by 2 points scoring 90. This is only the third ...
Analysis: In juggling his cabinet, the new prime minister said he sought to balance stability with renewal, writes Toby Manhire.There were some massive shifts reflected in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced this afternoon – it’s just we knew about them already. Specifically: Mt Albert MP ...
Auckland Emergency Management has issued an Emergency Mobile Alert (EMA) warning of the potential for further extremely heavy rain to hit the Auckland region tonight. The alert asks Aucklanders to act immediately if they see rising water, due to how quickly flooding can happen. They should evacuate to high ...
Ayesha Verrall will become the minister of health and moves to the front bench, taking the portfolio over from Andrew Little. Kieran McAnulty will join cabinet and take over the local government portfolio. Meanwhile, Little drops seven spots on the list, Phil Twyford is no longer a minister, and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Graycar, Professor of Public Policy, University of Adelaide Just months after Australia legislated to establish the long-anticipated National Anti-Corruption Agency, our standing is back on the rise in Transparency International’s annual Global Corruption Perceptions Index. This is a small but important ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Ferguson, Director, Appleton Institute, CQUniversity Australia Shutterstock After a few difficult years of lockdowns and travel restrictions, people are finally winging their way across the globe again; families are being reunited and sights are being seen. Yet the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Goodwin, Lecturer, The University of Melbourne Terren Hurst on Unsplash In May, we predicted Tony Burke’s joint portfolio of workplace relations and the arts was an opportunity to address some of the challenges facing the arts and cultural sector. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danny Kingsley, Visiting Fellow, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Shutterstock Unless you’ve spent your summer on a digital detox, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT: the latest AI chatbot taking the world by storm. ...
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists welcomes former ASMS member Dr Ayesha Verrall into her new role as Minister of Health. "Dr Verrall brings significant professional experience sharpened by her time in Parliament serving as the Associate ...
Today the Prime Minister announced the appointment of Kieran McAnulty as the new Minister of Local Government. “We welcome Minister McAnulty to the role and call on him to follow the Review into the Future of Local Government’s recommendation ...
The Taxpayer’s Union has welcomed the appointment of a new Minister for Local Government and encouraged Kieran McAnulty to press pause on the Three Waters reforms. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves, said: “A new Minister for ...
COMMENTARY:By Gavin Ellis It is unlikely that the Mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown, took any lessons from the city’s devastating floods but the rest of us — and journalists in particular — could learn a thing or two. Brown’s demeanour will not be improved by a petition calling for ...
RNZ Pacific The headquarters of the Malvatumauri of National Council of Chiefs of Vanuatu has burned down. The fire broke out about 1am Monday local time. Police are investigating the cause of the fire in Port Vila. The Malvatumauri nakamal is a custom parliament for all Vanuatu’s chiefs. “This nakamal ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown is under fire for calling New Zealand journalists “drongos”, blaming them for having to cancel a round of tennis with friends on Sunday as the city dealt with the aftermath of record rainfall and flooding that left four dead. It comes after widespread criticism of ...
Sweety Pook
☘❤️🐧
Thanks Gezza
You’re welcome, mary.
I’ve now got four fluffy black baby pooklets with their cute big feet, only a few days old, just over the fence & 2m down the bank.
Pooky built a sleeping nest there & spent the night hunkered down with the four of them.
The 2 adults (both would be a year old or less, judging by their size & unscarred red head shields) don’t seem to mind me looking at their babies as long as I do it quietly & not too often, speak to them gently, & give them the occasional bread chunk to add to the seeds & plant roots they’re feeding the pooklets with.
I can remember an old theory that you could predict how big your dog was going to end up when an adult based on the size of the puppy's paws.
If that works for birds as well I don't think you have pukeko chicks there Gezza. From the size of those feet I reckon that they are Dinornis Robustus and are going to end up about 3.5 metres high.
They are certainly cute though.
.
The flapping of its little wings reminds me of the little penguins at Phillip Island near Melbourne.
A tweet from Christopher Luxon.
Could some of the grammar police on The Standard explain what the hell this means?
Christopher Luxon
Is this corporate drivel what we can expect from the Natz?
Oh dear. That’s definitely Corporate Word Salad. Probably Waldorf Word Salad.
Luxon will have folk even in the corporate world grinning at the pretentious nonsense of that one.
Even the word mojo can’t possibly rescue that from well-deserved derision.
So many mixed metaphors the mind boggles trying to picture what he’s promising to do to the country.
Somebody else is going to have to script Luxon’s words if he wants to avoid being larfed at for every Twitter utterance.
Somebody else is going to have to script Luxon’s words if he wants to avoid being larfed at for every Twitter utterance.
He doesn't seem to have seen any political comedy on screen, from "Yes Minister" to "The Thick of It" to "Veep" to dozens of other shows and movies.
Which is fine, he's been busy working, but he sure needs to hire somebody who has. They can say "Er, Chris, that's a quote from The Office. So maybe we don't use it?".
😂 Yep❗️
Luke Malpass -another 'impartial ' journo…
Already in the week since he was elected he has significantly dialled down the ‘corporatese’ that he can be inclined to slip into when he speaks for too long.
Why Christopher Luxon's first question time was a success, but also showed Jacinda Ardern's extra gears | Stuff.co.nz
Malpass’s stuff’s often not very perceptive, imo – altho he obviously thinks it IS.
I haven’t paid him much attention. You think he regularly shills for National?
Not really.
To me, he feels more like he doesn’t understand NZ politics in any detail. No sense of a depth of NZ political history.
I’d say that he either spent a lot of time in Australia or the UK growing up or as a journo. Or possibly a large academic background like Bryce Edwards (less likely).
Either way, I get a sense of a lack of reality looking at NZ politics. What he describes often doesn’t marry up with my political instincts about what is possible or feasible. But does marry up with someone awkwardly looking at NZ politics through a book-learnt or remote framework.
Mind you, having a external viewpoint is sometimes kind of useful. If only as satire.
My guess is that he is either aussie or one of the kiwi kids who grew up there and worked over there. Tastes like an aussie,
Hah… kiwi aussie
https://www.stuff.co.nz/authors/luke-malpass
👍🏼
Malpass has ties to the NZ Initiative, a right wing "think tank" that does not disclose its funders. That's why he is soft on National and Act.
If you want to cheer yourself up go back and read Ardern's attempts at asking questions during her first couple of years. She tried to table a copy of the previous days edition of the Herald once and then what appeared to be an attempt to table the whole of the latest Budget Papers.
It even reached the stage where she read out the primary question but then someone else from the Labour Party had to ask all the supplementary questions.
She then dropped out of the roster of people asking questions for a very long time. Luxon is certainly very, very good by comparison.
Alwyn,I say Alwyn….don't live in the past!
Luxon has built himself up,now he needs to…deliver.
We know he lied about turning Air NZ around…he will be found out as just another very mediocre ,happy clapper with no 'joie de vivre',no charisma at all.
Has as much personality as a boiled…egg.
"We know he lied about turning Air NZ"
Well we certainly know that you are a stranger to the truth after that remark. Luxon joined Air New Zealand in May 2011 and became CEO in June 2012. He resigned in June 2019.
In the FYs before he was CEO the profit before tax (in millions) starting from 2008 and going to 2012 was 304, 7, 123, 73, and 94. Then the numbers were as follows, running from 2013 until 2019, 256, 358, 474, 663, 527, 540 and 382.
I would say that any claim made that he had turned the company around would be justified. What makes you someone who can naysay that? When did you ever run a very large business?
The figures are all from the AIR Annual Reports. They are readily available on line.
Alwyn,I say Alwyn…comprehension…do you understand what 'turn around' means pertaining to a business?
Christopher Luxon had big shoes to fill when he became chief executive at Air New Zealand in 2013.
Out the door went "rock star CEO" Rob Fyfe, credited with turning Air New Zealand around after a taxpayer bail-out in 2001, and snaffling numerous awards for best airline in the world. It was praised for improving its financial performance while all about it other airlines were losing theirs.
In came Luxon, who'd spent 18 years at Unilever — a consumer giant with a presence in houses across the globe with its brands like Dove, Rexona, Lipton and Sunsilk'-Stuff.
You really don't think that those profit figures for the years 2009 to 2012 were acceptable do you? The total profit in those 4 years was less than any of the years in Luxon's time except his first and less than half the best one.
And for your information the vast majority of the Airline awards were after Luxon took over. That included all the significant Airline of the year wins. Why don't you look them up? They are listed on the AIR site.
You really are as ignorant as you appear from your comments, aren't you?
I don't plan to answer any more of your comments in future. They are based on total ignorance and a completely closed mind on your part.
Bye bye baby goodbye.
You don't think the high interest rates here 2008, global GFC and earthquakes may have played a part in the low profit figures in those pre Luxon years. Anyone coming in afterward was going to realise higher profits. Anyone.
If you think that these things have had a major effect then you will have to demonstrate them.
If these did cause the great boom in profits you should find the same thing happened to other airlines in the region. For example Qantas had the following profit numbers from 2008 to 2019. They were, in Australian millions, 970, 123, 116, 249, (244), 6, (2,843), 560, 1029, 853, 980, 891.
Thus, while AIR were booming from 2013 to 2015 in the Luxon years, Qantas were struggling and had an enormous loss in 2014.
Qantas finally got back to 2008 profitability in 2016 while AIR had doubled their 2008 result by then.
Why should AIR have boomed while Qantas struggled if anyone could have done well?
As for Earthquakes. Why on earth should the quakes in the South Island really affect Air NZ? If Mangere had been put out of action for years it would but not anywhere else.
I don't understand the bit about interest rates in 2008. Why would that go right through the next 4 years? If you mean interest rates during the whole period you will have to demonstrate that they really were higher, in the markets where AIR would have borrowed. I have seen no evidence of any major effect between rates in 2009 – 2012 and rates in 2013 -2018. The huge drop in rates didn't really start happening until 2018.
So no, I don't accept your throwaway lines unless you can really demonstrate they happened and also explain why they didn't show up in the same way at a comparable airline like Qantas.
The Qantas figures prove my point.
Note first that they did not decline in 2008 as ours did – we had high interest in 2007-8 causing a recession (we had finance company failures before the GFC).
Economics impact on New Zealanders travel overseas and tourists here as well.
As our economy and the world economy improved out of the GFC and the earthquakes …
I don't understand your claim. You say "Note first that they did not decline in 2008 as ours did". However Air NZ profit before tax rose in 2008 from $269 m in 2007 to $304 m in 2008.
It fell in 2009, just as did Qantas.
However although both Air New Zealand both had dreadful years from 2009 until 2012 AIR recovered in 2013 and passed their 2008 number in 2014. Qantas did not reach their 2008 result until 2016.
I would say that the comparison demonstrates that under Luxon AIR did pull out of a hole that Qantas did not manage for another couple of years.
They had $970M profit in 2008, just as good as the good years a few years ago…
Our high interest rates in 2007-8 led to a recession here, we were then hit by the GFC 2008-9, then by the earthquakes – it is to Fyfe's credit that Air NZ survived those years and bounced back – Luxon had the easy part of the job.
during her first couple of years.
That would be a good reason not to make her leader then. So they didn't.
I love how you guys jump shamelessly from "Luxon's the thrusting CEO, the leader we've been waiting for, the right man at the right time" to "oh give him a cuddle he's just a new kid at school, don't be so mean!"
It took less than a week.
Yeah. Seems pretty clear to me National have probably picked another dud,
right wingers having flexible standards, nothing new.
Thursdays the Party Leaders are usually absent from the House. So the Deputy-Leaders lead with the Questions & Answers during Question Time.
Might have a watch of the Parliamentary tv channel to see Willis does up against Robertson. Shouldn’t think he’ll have much of a problem with her. He’ll have a few quips about her abd/or National already up his sleeve, I expect.
Why do you think having quips up his sleeve is a good thing? Doesn't the juvenile nature of question time and general debate just depress you? It sure does me.
They are there to do a job and should vigorously debate each other on policy. But the majority of the time they are doing nothing more intellectually challenging than name calling.
It is complete and utter rubbish from both sides of the house, which if it happened in any kind of work environment, you'd sack the lot of them
Why do you think having quips up his sleeve is a good thing? Doesn’t the juvenile nature of question time and general debate just depress you? It sure does me.
Robertson’s a bit of a smart arse, he’s always quick with quips, but they’re often quite sophisticated & funny (even his targets probly smile) rather than nasty or straight out insulting put downs.
Yes the juvenile nature of Question Time & General Debates are irritating; as taxpayers we should all probly be annoyed. They’re a waste of their time & our money.
They are there to do a job and should vigorously debate each other on policy. But the majority of the time they are doing nothing more intellectually challenging than name calling.
Tru dat.
It is complete and utter rubbish from both sides of the house, which if it happened in any [other] kind of work environment, you’d sack the lot of them
I’d give them a warning first, & make sure I had other workers ready to join up before I gave them those that didn’t comply the boot. That’s where the big problem getting this clown behaviour addressed lies. I don’t know if the other Parliamentary democracies we typically compare ourselves to are this childishly raucus.
I gave up regularly watching Question Time & General Debates last year. Just too silly & generallybunedifying. But with new chums in the National leader & deputy leader slots it’s been worth a look.
A health visitor turned up for a home interview just before Question Time so I missed most of Willis’s performance. I could see that she went after Poto Williams with her questions, not Robertson.
Noam Chomsky has occasionally had the need to highlight, there exist some grammatically correct sentences which have no semantic meaning.
"Colorless green trees sleep furiously" being his original example.
"National: Happening to the Future"
The billboards are in production for '23.
Party conferences will henceforth be known as The Happening. Party policy will now be called Happenstance, and written accordingly.
But, maybe not. We all know that 'S**t Happens'.
@ Tony Veitch (2) Re Christopher Luxon .. hey man, Chris wants to get our mojo back. Fab baby, fab.
Can we expect him to morph into Austin Powers sometime soon?
It is what drivellers say when they don’t have any hard plans or policies. Hardly surprising as the National caucus has been lurching around like and old zombie trying to grab fireflies for some time. There is little coherence in their existing policies. Basically they wasted the entire time since Bill English departed.
It will take some time for National MPs and the party to coalesce around some centrist things that they agree on enough as a group to be convincing putting in front of the public – because that is the group that they must have to gain the treasury benches.
The problem is that they have focused far too much on the vocal nutter fringes and brought them in as their noisiest active members as they try to stem the flow to Act. It is going to be hard for National to focus back on to the people who can vote in a government.
Sounds too familiar.
the grammar police on The Standard are great, I use them.
The grammar was not so bad in that drivel – the problem was with the convoluted, garbled content. Load of poppycock.
Are you volunteering to moderate the convoluted garbled content?
National: knifing the future in the back before the future can knife them.
Watched ''The Project' last night to see if things have improved. They haven't. They interviewed Reuben Taipari of the Northland Border Control – you know, the people who secretly have been given legislative power while the rest of us smucks were told the government was still working on the border issue. The Project gave Taipari free reign. My, did the bro lap that up. However, he ran into strong headwinds in another interview with HDA. Heather had to point out the obvious to him. Something he didn't like:
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/heather-du-plessis-allan-drive/audio/reuben-taipari-te-tai-tokerau-border-control-regional-coordinator-says-they-aim-not-to-hold-people-up-for-more-than-30-minutes/
One thing that's becoming obvious to me is these roadblocks are going to be a flash point for violence. Anti vaxxers and red necks wanting a go. Jaded holiday makers just wanting get on with their long overdue holidays. Patience will be thin on the ground.
Should things turn to custard, who is going to blink first -iwi, police or the government? In fact in such a senario you could call the election… Labour are OUT!
No doubt other "check points" will spring up around the country with less Police resources to keep the peace. That will spell trouble for everyone.
Night follows day, Alan.
"Jaded holiday makers just wanting get on with their long overdue holidays"
In NZ: People leaving Auckland may have a slight delay at a checkpoint.
In England: From Monday people must work from home.
Boris Johnson is holding his press conference right now, announcing major new restrictions because Omicron is spreading so fast.
Ignore the world news if you wish. The virus never does.
We'll be having a very different conversation next week. See you then.
The world news has nothing to do with NZ check points. The English parliament hasn't legislated race based powers on the sly to control their population.
''In NZ: People leaving Auckland may have a slight delay at a checkpoint.''
You obviously didn't listen to the interview. A POSSIBLE 15-20 minute delay with cars piled up behind you is not a slight delay.
Another thing you don't seem to Comprend is the seriousness of this situation. It could be a spark to ignite things far worse. Then what? The Maori caucus has Labour by the balls. Iwi may tell the police to get stuffed. The police may retaliate.
''We'll be having a very different conversation next week. See you then.''
If by that you mean I will be proven to have fussed over nothing, I hope you are right. I will be passing the Northland checkpoint and one in Tairawhiti. The last thing I want to see is beer gutted men and screaming women fighting on the side of the road.
In my personal opinion no Aucklander should consider going north (or anywhere else for that matter) for a holiday. Northland has so many variables from poverty, low health status, low access to advanced medical care that it is just a time bomb waiting to go off.
I can understand why people from that area want to protect themselves, their families and everyone else in that area. As long as the police have oversight then I have no problem with it or who does it.
But really, on one hand a 15 minute wait, on the other a disease that can kill people or leaves them with long term illnesses – it's hard to believe it's the 15 minute wait that is the problem here.
hard to believe it's the 15 minute wait that is the problem here
Akers have been fully trained in how to survive commuter delays. The norm in recent years has been 1-2 hours each way, right? So 15 mins will be a breeze. Barely time to scan their favourite vacuous social media site…
But the wait will not be 15 minutes. Hone Harawira said this morning that they will process 10 cars at a time. If it takes 1 minute per car and cars arrive at 600/hour – no backlog. However the claim this morning was that, at peak, the road north handles 10,000 cars an hour. If this is true it will mean that after 4 hours the backlog will be some 37,600 cars, will stretch from Waipu back to Auckland and the delay will be more than 6 hours. Even if the volume is only 1000 cars per hour we have about 7km of backlog after 4 hours and a person entering the queue will crawl for a little over 2.5 hours. This exercise is unworkable and will come to grief.
Well done. I wonder if anyone else has figured out the logistics like this? If not, someone ought to spread the word re alt holiday spots…
Not only that, one talkback caller claimed one road block near his dwelling is surround by road works.
The police have said they will not be stopping every car.
And the Iwi have said they will. Where is your link.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018823605/northland-covid-border-checkpoints-set-for-uretiti-maungaturoto
Yep, I have listened to that. Iwi say all cars, police say not all cars, no one is saying what will actually happen and who has the final say. The item mirrors an interview with Reuben I heard on the radio recently. I guess we will find out in a few days. Andrew Koster seemed to be saying in an interview I heard earlier in the week that if the police did not get involved then Iwi would have taken the matter into their own hands – I assume this would mean all cars. Will be interesting to see if the rule of law can actually be applied. I hope everybody stays calm, but fear it will go very badly.
Slight decimal point problem in my calc above. A 37,600 car backlog serviced at 600 cars per hour will take over 60 hours to clear
Agree with this mpledger. Of course this sensible approach seems to be lost on many commentators. But then many are saying it is their 'right' to do this travel and 'b****r' the rest of you.
But then that is the point isn't it? Those wanting to travel do have a problem "with these 'Maaris' " It is the very obvious elephant in the room. Would there be the same uproar if a whole lot of Pakeha bach owners closed off access to others once they had all arrived? Perhaps I am being too cynical.
''As long as the police have oversight then I have no problem with it or who does it.''
Well, what if iwi disagree with police ovesight in a given situation? Iwi can legally stop a vehicle. Does a dispute then become a matter of judicial review and judgement? As if iwi will wait around for that.
Don't forget people going up North in planes and boats. I wonder if iwi will have people waiting for them? And what will those peoples legal status be regarding the right to stop travellers?
''But then many are saying it is their 'right' to do this travel and 'b****r' the rest of you.''
But of course. That's what the traffic light system is about. And don't forget this government taking $150 million off taxpayers to help Maori vaccinate themselves. Next the government will allocate another $150 million hiring teams to act as 'Grooms of the Stool ' to help Northland Maori out.
Peeni Henare in a rare moment of truth for this government, said: ''I don't know what else we can do to get Maori vaccinated. We have tried everything.'' Obviously that didn't go down well with his boss and the Maori caucus. And, Hey Presto!, soon Peeni was back on track blaming DHB for poor Maori vaccination rates. F..king disgusting.
I heard on One News at midday 1000 health care vacancies in Auckland. To me that is motivating to stay home. No one wants a Covid Christmas or a Covid New Year.
I am pleased that school will be over approx 15 December.
Will school reopen on the usual date in 2022?
Aucklanders have not been allowed to leave Auckland sine 18th of August so they may argue the wait has been longer than 15 minutes. Why should I not travel to Northland as I am double vaxed and had a negative test.
If Northlanders are concerned about the 'dirty' Aucklanders coming up….here's an idea….why don't they go and get the free vaccine? I realise they have only had around four months to do so, but if they cant get it done, please don't hold back the 90% of the country that has done the right thing.
Covid is what is dirty. Once the health system falls over emergency workers and children will be the only ones to get health care.
People need to think like that. The harsh reality of Covid.
Stay home then. But you and Labour deserve to lose the next election if you think Aucklanders will tolerate any more pernicious impositions of arbitrary rules, after they have already done everything right.
It's not a sensible public health mandate any more, it's control freakery and political theatre and I am fscken sick of these games.
If Labour continue this bullshit I will be forced to vote for change.
There is no avoiding a Covid wave through the entire country. Opening up on 15 December is a good date as schools will be closed.
Double vaxxed Aucklanders with vax passports aren't the ones spreading it. Segregation and checkpoints put the lie to the "team of 5 million". This is a horrible way to treat people after 4 months of locking down.
Well said!
Like allowing NZDF to assist police? How racist…
From the pictures I've seen of the auks migrating come xmas ,it should be possible to check them as they stop start for hours down the highway. !!
Lol..I like people who think outside the box. We could have bros on Harly's cruising the queues. They spot check motorists and ask for a supplementary koha. If a motorist gives koha they receive a large green sticker on the roof of their car. Hone will see the green sticker at the check point and say:'' Kapai, boy..you have paid your dues.The iwi thanks you. Don’t worry about that Covid nonsense.''
Crikey, Aotearoa, the land of opportunity.
Also don't forget to tell them your address and how long you'll be away for, very useful information for them to know
For Covid purposes only of course
What might they possibly do…with that information???
I couldn't possibly imagine
@ PR

😄
Yes and the size and brand of your TV would be good to know!
Of course.
They need to know that you're getting the covid messages.
It's a lethal pandemic. Get some perspective.
One seriously massive development likely to explode Wanaka into something unrecogniseable:
Resource consent approved for massive Wanaka film studio development | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)
Interesting. Might be ok in Summer, but how often does Wanaka get snowed under in Winter & early Spring?
hardly ever.
could have been a dairy farm.
To those who know it, Wanaka became unrecognisable more than 20 years ago.
more diverting of resources from building more fscken houses.
the housing crisis is only words to some people.
Minister Jackson should check out an actual Nazi likely to gain the Presidency of a country we know well, and whose father was an actual card-carrying Nazi Party member; Chile.
Chilean presidential frontrunner’s father was member of Nazi party | Chile | The Guardian
Chile was one of those South American countries with whole villages for Nazis.
Colonia Dignidad – Wikipedia
Maybe Minister Jackson should pop over to Chile and gain a bit of perspective on using the term, and see it in action in real life.
The same could be said about those fws on the right who talk about a communist tyranny in NZ. Remember the sign: 'She's a pretty communist,'? Zero understanding of what a communist is all about. Or even idiots who should know better comparing NZ with North Korea. 'Hermit kingdom . . .'
If and when an MP ever does say that, we can recommend that they visit Cuba.
Jackson is not the sharpest knife in the block.
Idiotic statements like that were a trademark of his on the Willy & John (Tamahere) show on the radio.
He hasn’t really successfully transitioned to MP & Minister.Seemingly thinks he’s still the radio & can blather out anything to fill in space. In the House, speaking off script as Minister, he’s generally so woeful it’s genuinely funny.
Speaker Trev still sighs, rolls his eyes, & has to guide him, like for all of last term, I expect.
PS: And if you think Willy was bad, check this out 😉
.https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-08-12-2021/#comment-1841108
Nobody here does, so nobody did 🙂
I was talking to Ad, not the kids here, Robert.
And it was tongue-in-cheek. As a read would quickly show.
The old time unparliamentary language was pretty tame.
"If and when"? It's hardly unprecedented.
e.g. Simon Bridges described the Greens as "communist". He was National's leader at the time.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/claire-trevett-simon-bridges-tries-to-woo-nat-supporters/FKTNZQEU6PSHOAMJIQ6GMJXYFY/
We should expect more of it in an election, and less of it inside Parliament.
And Key's classic "Devil Beast" for the Labour Party.
He was sly.
Remember the throat-slitting gesture?
I do.
How would you describe the Greens?
Diverse. Tenacious. Well-intentioned.
Robert. Happy hour starts at 5pm.
Oughtn't you to have held off till then?
I know I will.
Pretty accurate assessment of The Greens, you'll likely agree.
I'll have to delay seeing your reply: got some timber to uplift and a door to hang.
Stay safe!
Hypocritical.
Yeah, cause a farmer with a cardbord is the same as an elected official.
Mind, neither one of them know Communists and / or Nazis.
The West is O.K with Nazis running Chile….its the Socialists they abhor….like..Allende!
There is no hive mind called The West. There are a few fools who believe that moral action by any nation against oppression is not possible … but moral laziness does that.
What there is, is the following:
Germany: AfD or Alternative fur Deuschland. Dominant in some eastern states.
Spain: VOX
Austria: Freedom Party. Previously coalition partner in government.
France: National Front. High chance of gaining the Presidency this time.
Sweden: Sweden Democrats
Estonia: Conservative People's Party of Estonia
Poland: Confederation Party. Authoritarian leadership now ruling.
Hungary: Jobbik. Authoritarian leadership now ruling.
United States: Donald Trump dominant faction of the Republican Party instigating overthrow of elections this year.
There are many other smaller ones of little moment of course. But none of them are concentrating on Chile.
Very good Ad….clearly NATO and 5 EYES are figments of my….imagination.
no hive mind called The West
Interesting theory. True that diversity is the norm, but don't discount the extent of subscription into the western myth of progress. It was teetering on Luxon's tongue, he barely managed to restrain spitting it out.
Is globalisation progress? Few would argue that it's regress! Humanity seems to have something of a convergence trajectory, derived from the relation of social darwinism to regional context. That has now entered the globalising phase. Thus all those who hate control freaks are gearing up with competing conspiracy theories, all produced by in-crowd hive minds with the potential to ramp up into regional/national contexts…
.
😳
Wot?
If you're fishing for a summary, it'd be that hive mind in the west has the western myth of progress as a basis. Obviously one can identify various other strands in the basis (such as the Golden Rule).
Compared to China we lack a hive mind, as Ad implied, but my point is that it operates in tacit psychology & doesn't get enforced by rules nowadays.
Probably the obvious exception would be private property rights, which retain hegemony in western countries due to law enforcement.
Oh, my digression into the conspiracist dimension is due to mass psychology morphing into a nexus in which in-crowd group belief systems combined with identity politics drive behaviour (evident since the '90s).
Sorry, summary became longish…
It’s not so much that I was looking for a summary, Dennis. It’s just that after I had carefully read it all the way thru, as per my praxis, when I got to the end … it felt like I hadn’t. 😐
Azov Batallion in Ukraine. Possibly of more import than most at present. Especially since they have a significant slice of govt support. Dont forget the photos of John McCain with actual seig heilering nut jobs
Don’t get ahead of yourself…NZ ACT is in the tradition of the Chicago Boys that fuelled Chilean neo liberal extremism under a dictatorship if you check out their policies. ACT is pro capitalist elite with an ongoing “war on the poor” as part of their programme including Electronic Income Management.
https://www.act.org.nz/policies
Jackson used the term fascist which includes corporatism, which the authors of the Auckland Supercity, including Mr Hyde clearly were aiming for. Undemocratic CCOs which the elected Councillors actually have very little sway over.
Dictator Augusto Pinochet divided the country into 15 economic zones, his first Minister of Labour was José Piñera Echenique a Chilean economist. NZ National’s Employment Contracts Act was clearly based on Chilean union busting labour law.
ACT has fascism in its DNA via links to ideologues involved in the CIA assisted Pinochet dictatorship. Regional genocide of indigenous people, remote concentration camps, and general terror reigned thanks to the neo liberals of the Chicago School. Willie is right to call them out.
All you exhibit is the same categorical incoherence as Jackson.
That's a bit silly for two reasons:
I'd argue that you can put a moderate socialist, capitalist and conservative into a room and the three of them, if they have any competency at all, will negotiate an outcome they can all live with.
What extremists all have in common, the communists, libertarians and fascists, is an obsession with power in one form or another, and are completely unable to work with each other.
A "moderate conservative"?
Refer.
Someone just call me?
Wrong number, I suspect. A guy with the words "puckish" and "rogue" in their name doesn't sound either conservative or moderate 🙂
Hurtful
Inadvertent.
I'm a great fan of Puck and know something of his nature; not conservative nor moderate by any stretch of the imagination.
This is a better reflection of the mainstream narrative. We are stuck in the right quadrant. (And probably further right than this image depicts).
ACT want to Abolish Māori seats, which should really only happen when Māori voters say so. It is a form of voter suppression advocacy and classic tyranny of the majority tactic.
Voter suppression experts however reside in the USA. Trumpists in the wake of an attempted coup! on Jan 6 are conducting a massive gerrymandering and voter rights roll back in multiple state legislatures. Americans are a whisker away from authoritarianism if they do not save voter rights under the Biden administration.
I know my political terminology well enough thank you, too many seem in denial of what libertarianism/Freidman/Hayek is all about, let alone apply it to NZ ACT.
Interesting you mention the decline of democracy in the US TM. There seem to be parallels with the "freedom fighters" in NZ. No one can deny the necessity of protest in the face of tyranny but to call the vaccine passes apartheid and the fight against them freedom is really to make most go where the eff were you when these things were real. Similarly with the capitol rioters. No one can deny the necessity to take over the Capitol if an election really were stolen but this? Trump? An extremel interesting article on the death of US democracy due to the maximising of self interest here With comment on the farcical nature of the capitol riots here. Delusional mobs storming the Capitol are just a by product of the American way
I call that out Ad.I know exactly what he is talking about.
t
Who loves…ya…Christopher…
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.dqfUhsEy31Ai5w_aNeUqGQHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1
Kinder than the "stack of newspapers" image, at least.
its a LOL from me…
although it can seem rather pathetic targeting CML’s prominent shiny bonce… Mr Luxon’s cranium is a rather defining feature which will likely continue to be lampooned by all and sundry unfair as that may be.
Perhaps on the Standard we should lead the way and never again mention his noggin–I am willing to do that–when others stop trying to demean the PM because of her being a youthful woman, or her NZ designer wardrobe, deal?
Moral guidance on the left? Innovative. Political correctness doctrine suggests it only ever emanates accidentally from the current conformist fashion trend.
I advocated Humpty, citing an empirical observation that it had already got traction on a rightist blog. Note that it meets your criterion of not actually mentioning his cranium. Instead, it works via tacit psychology. Very pc, in other words…
Well…
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR15-UDQ26fi4nUyz80VIxwRkN39QKI6UvK5ARxbWQOuVYMuH1CuWq8tW4yolDFWsq11g8&usqp=CAU
Heard of this?
The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre | Ministry of Health NZ.
Read this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300473364/people-fixated-on-politicians-often-have-serious-and-untreated-psychotic-illness-report-says
maybe political divisiveness wasn't such a good idea after all.
oh boy, have you read it then?
Have I read it?
Certainly.
The great concern, imo, will be the fixation Qanon-inspired non-sheeples have with Jacinda Ardern and her perceived role in the Great Reset etc.
The sort of humour-focussed attention Luxon et al. receive here is not of the same quality by a long stretch.
As to political divisiveness, isn't that the system we nurture here in NZ? One "side" keeps the other in check?
The sort of humour-focussed attention Luxon et al. receive here is not of the same quality by a long stretch.
Hmmm… perhaps if one was observing said witty repartee from outside of the tent one might see it a little differently?
Perspective is all.
One might, but one would be wrong, imo.
I say that, having read and heard first-hand, examples of the anti-Ardern rhetoric.
It's of an entirely different nature to the jibes seen here.
It can be pretty vile alright, even “Mr Collins” got into it in 2020 with some “porn hub” logo’ed pictures of the PM which he was barely admonished for.
Reasonable idea.
Frankly it's the sort of coordination that should happen for people fixated on ordinary folks, too, not just public figures and politicians.
It can horribly go wrong for a person with a genuine grievance when they keep being fobbed off due to being blocked by the system. Lies told about you, incorrect facts.
Lake Alice is a good example.
There also needs to be a severe penalty for those in the system getting it so wrong.
Re Lake Alice police investigated in 1977 and from 2002 – 2010. Finally on 8 December 2021 charges against 3 people (including the sadistic Dr Leaks) and 2 of the 3 are unfit to stand trial.
The media is sometimes the only avenue available.
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/11/19/sex-offender-negative-label/
'The way sex offenders are labeled is changing in Colorado. The board that sets state standards voted today to change the term “sex offenders” to reflect so-called “person-first” language.'
https://nypost.com/2021/11/17/prof-placed-on-leave-after-saying-sexual-attraction-to-kids-not-always-immoral/
Pretty soon LGTBQA+ will be LGBTQAM+
Reminds me of former ACT leader Rodney Hides 'aquaintance'…from North American Man/boy Love Association.NAMBLA.
I think it'd be interesting to have snoop around the professors computer and see what 'research' they've (of course the pronouns are they/them) been conducting
Jeez. God luvva duck! Wokeism has now gone so far overboard it’s become a parody of itself.
Why are these people being taken seriously? Seems to me they need to be mollified for only so long as it takes to get them to a shrink. After which they should probably be be kept in hospital until their heads are on straight again.
The problem is it happens slowly and subtly so its quite easy to miss.
Please don't lump in pedos with LGBTQ folks.
Sorry about that I wasn't as clear as I could have been and its certainly not my intention to try link MAPs with the gay community.
What I meant was that there'll be some MAP activist that will try to get MAPs (the M part) included as part of the acronym so as to try to get societal acceptance of pedos
👍
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/11/17/old-dominion-professor-allyn-walker/
Its not kindness to have phrases like minor attracted persons. Its a slight of hand, and of course paedophiles will exploit any loop holes.
I think our society is getting too permissive, this is just one example but there are other
Puck, your first link connecting to a sex offender that wants to be called a 'client' because he is no longer engaged in sex offending, doesn't need any further comment, but does show how far removed we are becoming from being able to state facts.
The second link is a convoluted tale, that might shed some light on how we got to this stage.
Prof Allyn Walker has written a book: A Long, Dark Shadow – Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity and has been interviewed here on Protasia.org (a site I'm unfamiliar with, but has a strange vibe on their About Page.)
The interview looks to be authentic and accurate though.
There is the familiar conflation of conversion therapy of same-sex attraction, to the tool of therapy for "Minor Attracted People" – or MAP's as Prof Walker names them.
There is a distinction between those who have acted on their attraction and those who have not, and a worthwhile premise that there should be support for those that recognise their attraction but also who recognise the harm. But I don't feel that getting support groups of similar people together will work in terms of reducing that compulsion. I could see how this would increase preoccupation with sexual attraction to children, and do more harm than good. Individual therapy would seem more precautionary and effective.
I would think that effective therapy to reduce any compulsion that might cause harm to someone else, and limits your ability to function well in the world would be beneficial. Just therapy. Equating this to conversion therapy is a sleight of hand.
If you had a sexual attraction to open fires, the sexual attraction is not healthy for you. Therapy would be aiming to give you healthy sexual compulsions, not navigate strategies around avoiding November 5th.
I haven't read the book, but the 2017 thesis that led to it, seems to consider sexual attractions to minors as a sexual preference, and not a cause of concern. The book might delve into this more, but I had read somewhere where the book advocates for use of child pornography as a resilience strategy to avoid committing offences, ignoring the fact that the production of child pornography records an offence being committed.
For the brave of heart, and those willing to see if there is any wheat amongst the chaff, their thesis is here if anyone wants to delve into it.
Too me its just a very short, slippery slope from someone that has attraction to kids but doesn't act on it to looking at legal images of kids to looking at illegal images and then committing physical acts and by making it a preference just seems like they're trying to minimise the act itself
Sometimes I just want to get rid of the internet, move to a small town and try ignore as much of the outside world as I can
I think that approaching the topic as a sexual preference is the problem here. There is a power-dynamic that is ignored, and the objectification as children as sexual stimulants is as harmful as any sexual objectification that dehumanises and depersonalises.
Healthy sexual engagement is between consenting adults with each other's boundaries respected and adhered to.
From my perspective, any sexual objectification is one that should be treated as a compulsion you would want to change. Most particularly when the object of that compulsion is children.
Thanks Molly. Really helpful analysis.
I think the people that the Professor is talking about who are attracted to minors but don't act on it. If they are using child pornography to help them "not act on it" that kind of refutes Walkers case. That is acting on their sexual attraction to children and it is real childrent who are filmed etc to make that pornography.
It is well known that people who use porn continue to need their fix and often look for more extreme or novel porn to be able to get aroused. I can't see how it would be different for these child porn users. Again I am thinking of the Dunedin research that found good self control a good predicter of outcome in the 1000 or so participants in Dunedin.
But research on these people is very important and of course there is a vast group of potential subjects in the prison population.
By the way least we forget it was Green party member Golriz who wanted to get rid of the paedophile register. Watch this space for the potential for the Greens to support new language around paedophiles
Any effective strategy that reduces harm is worth looking at.
From a very quick look, this doesn't appear to be a strategy that would reduce harm, although some of the information may be of use for a strategy that does aim to remove the compulsion.
I have no objection to people researching this area (or most areas for that matter). Anything that can help reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse is extremely worthy. Strategies that work with addiction include avoiding places where you might access the drug e.g. alcoholic avoid pubs, and practicing good self control when faced the the situation. Practicing distraction and emotion regulation also would come into it.
And I don't particularly like the group cancellation of Dr Walker. I am more interested to know who gave the ethical approval for him to work with paedolphiles using child porn? That is really a question for the university.
But the name change makes me very, very wary of Walkers motives. If we soften the language we use for this crime, then we soften how people see the crime…and then people might start to think "oh yeah they are just minor attracted"……..
As mentioned above, I think there are serious problems with the approach Walker has taken.
I agree with you on requirement for vigilance to recognise and push back against efforts to normalise such behaviour in order to lead to societal acceptance, including creating new terms.
'By the way least we forget it was Green party member Golriz who wanted to get rid of the paedophile register. Watch this space for the potential for the Greens to support new language around paedophiles'
What was this?
Newshub article March this year:
Ex-NZ First MP Darroch Ball, advocating for victims, blasts 'out of touch' Greens for opposing child sex offender list
Thats a helluva hill to choose to die on
You'd think so, wouldn't you?
The fact that there is no evidence to support the list, doesn't mean that it is not useful, just that there is no evidence. No evidence also can mean that none was sought or collected.
I'm thinking it's more than likely members of the public have used the register when they have had concerns.
Sometimes its better to err on the side of caution, I'm surprised no one told the Greens this
“That’s a helluva hill to choose to die on”….indeed. It shows what happens when ideology gets in the way of critical thinking, imo
Golriz claim that children are rarely abused by strangers was not that smart.
I made the point when commenting on this on another blog, that children are more likely to be murdered by step parents. I think the same applies to being sexually abused. So the solo mum meets a new partner. The whanua are a bit uncomfortable with him. They may want to check out the sex offenders register. It is in that child's best interest that they do.
(Most) children are abused by adults who for some reason or other are given opportunity by their safeguarding adults. People with previous convictions on the register may have less opportunity, as safeguarding practices for letting unknown adults into your child's life includes some form of vetting.
The register is a tool for those vetting practices.
You'd be surprised (or maybe not) at the amount of family members, including kids, that visit pedos inside
You gotta wonder at the mindset of some people
Not really. Many forms of abuse – including sexual child abuse – seem to be normalised in some severely dysfunctional families.
This tweet from a thread on safeguarding which has resulted in the author being visited by the Northern Irish police, quite eloquently explains the inexplicable:
Beautiful and heartbreaking thread.
Yeah claiming that children are rarely abused by strangers maybe something that was true years ago (maybe because I don't really know or maybe because its easier for the police to track down a family member rather than a stranger)) but I do know that nowadays plenty of pedos use social media and the internet to groom and meet kids
the solo mum meets a new partner…. and despite a high level of obvious creepiness he is allowed to move in.
Luckily a neighbour down the other end of the street sees him walking past and wonders why on earth he was not still locked up after his last media publicized conviction was for sodomising a 3 year boy.
The neighbour down the street knew this predator from a previous job when he was being 'supported' after a conviction for raping 9 year old girl who was, according to him, 'asking for it.'
His MO was to befriend sad, lonely solo mums and do odd jobs and fix things. His level of obvious creepiness was very, very high…without going into graphic detail. Any one who failed to instantly see his very obvious predilections and transport their children immediately to a place of safety must have been in need of supports themselves.
Neighbour down the street called the local cop shop and they dropped this guy's name into the register…or whatever it was called back then…and a appropriately liveried vehicle just happened to be passing the house later that day and saw this predator in the front garden.
Coincidentally, the driver just happened to recognise this twice convicted child rapist and felt professionally obliged to stop and inquire as to his business at a property where children lived. Outrage from both predator and solo mum…calls of unfair harassment etc…and the cop could only inform and warn.
Luckily, the neighbour down the street had a friend who had a friend who knew the solo mum who was able to reinforce the constable's warning in a less upsetting way.
Hopefully we all saved another child from rape that day…but this 'save' hinged entirely on me recognising the predator and there having been a register of such offenders readily available to the police call taker. This was the very early nineties. My next encounter was about five years later when I saw him repeatedly hanging around the second hand shop at the local dump. There were kids. Of course. I did not hesitate for one single second to again intervene. Never saw him again. Read he died. Did a little dance.
Register? Throw away the key.
Nice (I mean not nice you had to go through it)
Because nothing could go wrong.
/
Hardline law-and-order advocates the Sensible Sentencing Trust have been labelled "negligent and cavalier" after wrongly posting an innocent man's photo next to the details of a convicted paedophile on its website.
The trust's online offender database listed the man's picture with the description of a convicted paedophile with a similar name for almost two years, leading to social media abuse and fears that the man's tarnished reputation would damage his business.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/innocent-mans-photo-wrongly-posted-next-to-paedophiles-details-by-sensible-sentencing-trust/S2TCMWUPJDKTCPR2YXLVD7UI7I/
That's not the government run register, which is only accessible to police and authorities to use when vetting during police checks for people wanting to work or volunteer with children.
Child Sex Offender (CSO) Register
Are you concerned that more people would act to create likely inaccurate databases if the official one was scrapped?
A curtain twitcher submitted a man's photo and likely ruined his life because they thought he was an offender. Innocents have been murdered because someone thought they were offenders.
Public access would give licence to vigilantes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-12/sa-greenwith-murder-trial-continues/100616650
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/28/vigilante-lee-james-life-murdering-bijan-ebrahimi
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/pair-accused-tipton-park-murder-21516816
Once again, that is not the register under discussion.
Also, public use would be via police checks during vetting processes when people are working or volunteering.
Apples and oranges.
I see where Hope and the remnants of the Round Table, are refusing to work with the Government on the Fair Work Regulations. So who has stuck a spoke in that wheel?
Jussie Smollett trial update, for those interested
Fascinating.
What a tool Smollett is. 😠
Well hes innocent until proven guilty though I'm not quite sure I believe him when he says the phone call for arranging the 'attack' was code to buy drugs but you never know
Only in…America!
Government says death to smoking.
Govt to ban young people ever purchasing tobacco in their lifetime (1news.co.nz)
I say death to Kale.
New Zealanders' kale obsession seemingly over (1news.co.nz)
My take on Kale:
Naughty judge fights back:
The commissioner didn't say the judge was naughty. Weasel words are essential in the establishment. One must call a spade an excavation implement:
So the offender reckons the govt + judiciary is incompetent to decide the issue. Can a member of the establishment defeat the establishment? Unlikely, I would have thought, but god likes a trier. And note the judiciary's usual contempt for the principle of transparent governance.
Misogynist POS uses his position on the bench to bully, harass and embarrass women. Fuck him.
A possible documentary to bookmark, for those like me who wander the internet for screen time.
Pray the Devil back to hell
IMDB reviewer:
I'd never heard of it before, just watched this morning, and it was a good story.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/127230685/cop-shooter-sentenced-to-seven-years-and-eight-months-in-jail
WTF. Why such a short sentence? He murdered a cop, I thought the sentences were higher for that.
If National are smart they'll attack Labour through crime, Act should be reminding people of the strikes law Labour will repeal
Forget Jacinda attack Labour where its weakest and where National/Act are strongest
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300374903/blake-lee-murder-siuaki-lisiate-gets-at-least-20-years-added-to-sentence
Maybe the so-called crime surge in Auckland doesn't exist, just a media beat up, according to an article in Newsroom. More to the point is why crime could be considered the only reason for voting for a right leaning alternative. How about climate change, housing, inequalties, etc.. Labour may be underperforming, but can't see why the right in NZ has any answers. NZ needs a more progressive alternative, not a step backward.
Complaints about crime serve only one purpose.
To erode civil liberties and legal protection (ie due process) and to give police powers to simply gun down people like dogs in the street
Why do you hate the poor Millsy?
Why do you hate due process Puck?
I know you think Derek Chauvin should have got off, and that you condone police brutality.
'Why do you hate due process Puck?'
– Link, evidence or apology please
'I know you think Derek Chauvin should have got off, and that you condone police brutality.'
– Link, evidence or apology please
You are also on record as thinking abortion should be outlawed, which is a totally repugnant assertion.
Link, evidence or apology Millsy
I do admire your persistence Pucky. Apologies are certainly not something that one can hope for from the left-wing zealots on this site. The may be wrong but they never ever admit it.
By the way, do you mind the abbreviation to Pucky? Using Puckish Rogue whenever I refer to you seems so clumsy somehow.
Well Mr and Mrs Rogue named their baby boy Puckish but I don't mind names based around it
Oh for sure.
National/Act could attack Labour on Housing, Child Poverty but because the media wants to sell advertising they've decided to highlight crime
Koff, I guess people have all sorts of reason for voting for who they do. Crime has always an issue that will determine some voters. I am not saying I agree with it,. But I certainly will read the article from Newsroom you posted.
"Maybe the so-called crime surge in Auckland doesn't exist"
Try telling that to the people living in Glen Eden and New Lynn.
Do you think Derek Chauvin should have got off?
I know for a fact that bleating on about "crime" opens the door for a repressive police state where due process is thrown out the window.
I know people like you will love to live in a society where people are gunned down in the streets like dogs by cops.
Milsy or in this case a policeman gunned done in the street like a dog.
Yeah, well, turning this country into a police state where due process is suspended is not going to help anyone.
This is another sign of this blogs rightward drift, where privatisation, transphobia, police brutality and racism is openly encouraged and endorsed.
Ahh Millsy I do enjoy reading your posts, keep on fighting the good fight brother
I don't think Derek Chauvin got a fair trial, not with the city on edge the way it was: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/17/us/derek-chauvin-trial-verdict-us-cities/index.html
Not with politicians trying to sway the jury: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/19/maxine-waters-minneapolis-remarks-kevin-mccarthy-marjorie-taylor-greene
So was it a fair trial, I don't know. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the appeal.
'I know people like you will love to live in a society where people are gunned down in the streets like dogs by cops.'
– Link, evidence or apology please
Seems you think Derek Chauvin was justified in killing George Floyd.
Is this true?
'Seems you think Derek Chauvin was justified in killing George Floyd.'
When did I say that Millsy (and your imagination doesn't count)
If National are smart
From a false premise like this, anything follows – better to use If National were smart…
That sentence is way too short. Henry will be out and about shooting some other poor bastard in 7 years or less.
They finally tracked down and vaccinated those final 8 people on the West Coast.
Vaccine Tracker: How many Kiwis have been vaccinated? – NZ Herald
Just 3 more DHB's to go now.
An Archbishop in France is no more because of a relationship with a woman, despite his claim no sex took place (only that they did touch).
The Pope accepted his resignation, and talks about lesser sins of the flesh and draws the dots towards loss of celibacy and the adultery commandment.
This reminds me a little of the death of John Paul 1 – it took years for it to be revealed that a woman had access to his room and was the one who found him dead.
Without sex, there is no loss of celibacy, and loss of celibacy is only adultery if the woman is married.
The Americans witnessing SCOTUS drawing dots to enable states to overturn Roe Wade will later note that this path has no end – fertility treatment itself would be proscribed (because of the lack of use of all fertilised eggs) and any woman planning to leave a red state for a purpose unlawful in that state would be incarcerated to term and beyond.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/pope-francis-says-extramarital-sex-sins-arent-that-serious/KMBCHHBKBKOT3HOXPIK6YEU2X4/
Maybe Roe v Wade should be overturned and something better put in place
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/us/ruth-bader-ginsburg-roe-v-wade.html
If there was something better ready to put in place. Pretty sure that the current supreme court does not have that intention.
Maybe you did not read the link?
And the same red states seeking to further limit voting rights (this is a nation that requires people to vote on a working day), have their MW at the federal minimum of 7.25 an hour, block public funding to groups such as Family Planning are the ones that would do this better?
It's the definition pf patriarchy. The priestly celibacy mandate is unbiblical and unethical, leading to all kinds of distorted views of women and human sexuality.
Not that modern libertine celebrations and public parades of all sorts of kinky fringe stuff are much better.
I watched Luxon's media scrum this arvo. I am actually worried about the next election. The guy oozes charisma and confidence. And he is is as smooth as Key. Talking to a working class friend yesterday, he is impressed and wavering towards National because he is sick of Jacinda's "obnoxious lockdown rules" making life difficult.
And I agree with Luxon's critiques of the current Covid response. It stopped making sense when we got to 90% vaccinated.
But I am shit scared if the old guard gets back in power that there will be absolutely no hope for 30% of NZ stuck in permanent renting penury. And they will continue Labour's callous indifference to child poverty and unliveable benefits. It will be the revenge of the property investors and slave wage employers.
old guard
Why not take his stance at face value? Intent to reinvent National is a good thing. If he was serious about retaining the old guard Judith would have clocked in at #4 & McLay would still be in the top ten. Give the guy a chance to show some cred!
It would be good to close the Dirty Politics chapter for good. But blue-blooded privilege and hatred of the poor is in National's DNA.
National will shift the Overton window to valorise business "leaders" and try to sell us a vision of NZ that does not exist for 80% of us. Their focus groups are based on the Koru lounge, not nurses and teachers who can't get by
Those are good points but he has the capacity to combine conservatism & liberalism with kindliness (which after all is an attitude from Jesus).
I suspect he's sophisticated enough to know his task isn't just team-building – it's brand revitalising too. How he goes about that will be a stylistic thing. Too early to assume style over substance though. I'll reserve judgment.
I am having flashbacks to the "brighter future" and all that bullshit.
Same old National underneath.
Exactly …just another replay….9 years of stagnation.
The brighter future was not quite as ironic as ….'the cusp of something…special'…
National=meaningless ..platitudes.
Yeah but what really dismays me is that Labour is just as bad, if not worse because they betray their left wing roots while mouthing the same platitudes. Sitting on their fat arses using Covid as a distraction from the child poverty tragedy, climate inaction, and skyrocketing house prices.
We are led by children playing political popularity games and not caring about the lives they wreck.
From recent analyses posted here of the poll stats, Luxon has to wean lotsa female voters away from Ardern. I don’t see him being able to do that. He’s coming across to me as pretty plastic & doesn’t have the same ability to project himself as an “ordinary bloke” that Sir John did.
Many middle class women will imo have an instinctive preference to stick with Ardern becos she’s female, says warm & cuddly things, seems to relate well to children, & is basically “nice”. But she needs to get her Ministers cranking up to do something to fix child povidy, low wages, unaffordable rents & house purchases, violent crime & gang recruitment, horrid tenants in state houses & emergency accommodation making everybody’snlives miserable, policing (we don’t have enuf police out in the community), health service deficiencies & the mental health service gross inadequacy.
If Labour doesn’t address these soon & produce meaningful stats showing improved outcomes, Luxon has the opportunity to exploit some at least of these quite serious Labour weaknesses. Just chucking money at them & crowing about it is giving ammo to the opposition if they can’t show the money’s been efficiently & effectivelt used to produce ACTUAL improvements in outcomes.
Agree Gezza… Labour is actually making glacial improvements but not the desperately needed basic reforms as recommended by the Tax Working Group and WEAG
.
roblogic
By the same token … Financial & Power Privilege (camouflaged by ostentatious moral posturing) … together with hatred + systematic scapegoating of the non-Māori Poor (for Colonisation) … lies deep in the heart of Wokedom's DNA.
Nacissistic, Self-Entitled Users & Abusers playing the role of the unusually morally good.
If they do get in I hope that it's at acts expense, imagine a government with act on 16% or more!!!
One area of Auckland is at 89% double vaxxed.
And waiting till Auckland lowers its daily infection rate down before ending borders is the wise move.
The level of nationwide spread, with it 50 a day in Auckland rather than 200 day, is going to be way less.
Sensible it may be, but politically and socially tenable is it not. The traffic light system and endless onerous mandates are a big vote loser for Labour.
I'd want more common sense than otherwise from government. When that is not possible in a democratic system, then we have real problems.
Common sense to some, traumatising injustice to others who have been locked up for 4 months and just want to be with family
The same sense of injustice is also felt by Mike Hosking that he is not able to have the lifestyle that he is so entitled to.
Useless arbitrary rules
If only Labour showed the same commitment to authoritarian power moves by fixing some longer term issues with their huge majority. Instead of pissing on everyone with QE for the bankers and speculators.
Restricting the rate of spread of illness, while the public health system is underfunded is neither useless, nor arbitrary. Sure, it is your friend who is thinking of voting National?
One of the great paradoxes is that debate entrenches positions and they can finally become so entrenched a person changes their party allegiance over one issue. They are called wedge issues (often ones of identity).
PS QE decisions are made by the RBG, and his were informed by inaccurate advice from Treasury.
It is indeed paradoxical that parts of Australia have lower infection rates than Auckland but we still force double vaccinated and tested travellers to spend 10 days in isolation
Are you really unaware of the different policies of WA/SA and Queensland and the spread states Victoria and NSW?
Do you even give the slightest thought for the victims of lockdown?
These were supposed to be short sharp temporary measures not endless house arrest.
What a miserable year this has been. Hooray we dodged a bullet. Now please let my people go.
Poto Williams did well today against an onslaught of shouting from the Opposition. (Yesterday she was timid and frequently hassled into uncertainty.)
https://ondemand.parliament.nz/parliament-tv-on-demand/?itemId=222857
Nicola Willis' voice!
Aural assault!
Voice of a 1000 angels singing in unison
Raucous!
1000 angels? See Pucky @4:51 pm
Oh god judes going to be distraught that you've found a new crush.!!
Of interst auto correct turned judes into Judas, very apt I thought.
Not for any particular reason…
https://ericastanford.national.org.nz/
And what does your wife say Puckish?
She understands my love is platonic
I'm aware of her, no particular reason you say,? I smell a tricksy trap from our pet troll.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4628393207207551&set=a.325355217511393
Christopher! Nicola!
Take a good look at yourselves!
Mild exaggeration?
Yes.
But indicative of a real state.
Despite the majority of submissions to the select committee (70%) being against the Bill in its current form, our government has passed it without addressing or even acknowledging concerns. Like we knew they would.
Parliament unanimously passes bill allowing change to birth certificates – RNZ
Democracy in action. This is how you do it.
Cowards on both sides of the House. They really are desperate for some sort of Progressive looking action to cover up their neoliberal failures
Have they allowed for a person to change their sex and then change it again? And again? Because, like, it'd be discrimination and not inclusive if a person was expected to commit to being one sex or the other permanently, like.
Bugger me, we knew it was going to go through but it is still a big disappointment.
When it cools, I am going out into the garden to dig a grave and bury science.
Thanks for the smile, Rosemary. Gardening is my solace too, might join you.
AFAIK, they were aware of the possibility for multiple changes, but they intended to keep an eye out for it to see if it was a problem. (Like you can’t anticipate that being a problem with self-id that requires no transition of any kind).
Birth certificates are oppressive! Doctors are liars! I should be able to change my date of birth and place of birth as well as sex "assigned" at birth.
nah, burn it on the stake like it should.:)
"dig a grave and bury science".
Too late Rosemary. The Royal Society of New Zealand have done it for you.
I do see a light at the tunnel, sure the light is extremely dim and the tunnel is extremely long but I do think the fightback is beginning
Not enough non male prisoners have been raped and inseminated for that at the moment. like really, just a few pregnancies, who cares. It is important though that Lady Dicks get to shower, piss and live in an environment of their choosing, lest they feel like they are actually in prison.
So lets keep in mind that Lady Dicks are good dicks. Lady Dicks will harm no one, ever, and any Lady Dick that does harm a non male is surely a mistaken Lady Dick and most likely the non male is some sort of bigot/terf/unproductive uterus bearing 'human' or similar and taunted the Lady Dick into being a proper Lady Dick.
Good times. Good good times.
I don't know about Lady Dicks (or do I…) but this seems slightly appropriate:
Kara Dansky is amazing. A must watch. Thanks Kara.
Carlson is no fool – he gets quite a lot of left leaning people on his show, and this was no exception.
Personally I suspect that if he was to stand for President he'd stand a good chance.
The seems to derive out of the born that way argument to legitimise same sex activity – equal human right of citizenship, regardless of difference (race, sex, sexuality, religion …). But which evolved into personal choice over sexuality (and now sex as identifying) validated as a birthright to citizens.
Conservatives once argued that marriage bed was a basis of family nurture of the next generation and thus should be for male and female partners only – and thus, at most, other couples should only have civil unions.
Now objective realists, and women concerned about safe spaces for those born female sex hold the conservative ground on who can identity as female sex/women and how/when (here the alternative is not civil unions, but identity certificates).
The consequences of the path chosen will be assumptions about people based on how they appear (were they really born …), fair competition in sport and another reason for concern about the safety of women.
PS – the idea that parents do not have the right to smack, or to decide … is yet to be determined.
Not many laws get unanimous support in parliament.
Perhaps this place can get back to discussing labour movement politics.
What did you have in mind?
This is political. Self-id legislation has an impact on other groups, most particularly women's sex based rights.
The persistent refusal to have a public discussion on this, has resulted in this outcome that still has not addressed the concerns raised with any solutions.
You may rejoice, but don't think the topic will be dropped.
Maybe you can set up another website focused on that topic.
Scroll past.
It stops people coming here at all.
Really?
Ask in other places like Twitter. Bigotry does tend to put people off.
Link to bigoted statements I have made on this platform, or apologise.
It's not all about you.
Once again, for the twitterfan.
Link to bigoted statements I have made on this platform, or apologise.
Interesting how some people assume a statement is about them.
Interesting how you follow the tactic of immature people by throwing around statements like bigotry in a back and forth conversation, and then pretend it was a generality.
So, one more time. Link to bigoted statements I have made on this platform, or apologise.
alternatively
Link to bigoted statements I have made on this platform, or I will recognise your bad faith discussions are only just that and nothing more.
For the last time, I have not accused you personally of bigotry. I said bigotry stops people coming here. There are more than a few examples of that here this year. Learn to read.
I recognise your bad faith discussions are only just that and nothing more. Done.
Tiresome. As if anyone cares about your opinion of them.
Twitter is a hangout of millennials and Gen Z. But it's only used by ~6% of the population. Maybe it is you who needs to get out more.
Keep telling yourself that. Look at all the MPs who just supported your position. #fringe
Political elites engage arse covering manoeuvre.
It would be nice to have data to back your assertions.
I'm not making assertions about the UK. Feel free to move there if you like it so much.
yes, fringe indeed.
It is going to be an interesting year, 2023.
@stew_rachel is on fire at the moment…can't wait to see how she reacts to this.
Spontaneous combustion was quite a thing in the 70s.
Also earlier, Sacha…
Is that from twitter Rosemary? Canyou post?
You link to a 2009 article to evidence that 5-6% of people use Twitter today?
My bad, it's up to 12%. Crazy times indeed.
We know the way of it, oldies discover Facebook – the young move to Insta. Oldies use Insta the young have Tik Tok.
Modern liberals have Twitter, old fashioned conservatives still use Telegram.
Yes, it does indeed.
Maybe you can set up another website focused on that topic.
Why? Why should a topic of relevance to fifty percent of the world's population not be discussed on a political website?
Because they are Non Male, and they should be seen but not heard. 🙂 Or some other bullshit like that, but in 'progressive'.
You weren't able to convince a single MP to vote against it, isn't it time to give it a rest?
Solkta at 23.2.2. "time to give it a rest?". ?put up and shut up?
No things are just getting started.
OK, but i for one will go back to ignoring it.
The MPs demonstrated very early on they 'were not for turning'. Behaviour during select committee, and disregards for the concerns raised in 73% of the submissions solidified that.
They could have drafted legislation that provided official documentation to transgender people while addressing concerns about the impact self-id might have on a number of places. They chose not to.
Open discussion has still not taken place. It is likely we will see the consequences similar to other countries that have passed similar laws under similar approaches.
Yeah, nah. This is just one piece of the ID-politics ideological project to self-destruct the left (also known as, handing over moderate voters to David Seymour).
The next thing will be "hate speech" legislation so that the woke can make false accusations more easily.
Then there's the "conversion therapy" bill so that the woke can politicise medical treatment with "affirmation only" mandates rather than exploratory therapy.
Transparent authoritarian bullshit that will backfire in more ways than one.
Seymour voted for it.
He would, the slimy weasel
oh, and all his minions voted for it, too.
Not sure where all the "moderate" voters will go. Tamaki's party, maybe?
Reality tends to assert itself sooner or later. Shame about women's rights, but oh well
Well, that's always the point of difference in this argument (it no longer really deserves the title "debate").
I'm not sure it has been a debate at all on TS. My memory of first talking with you about gender critical views was that you assumed my views were founded in transphobia rather than being left wing feminist perspectives. Similar to how some left wing men have viewed feminist objections to pornography as being about prudery rather than based in an analysis of power within the patriarchal system.
In my naivety it took me a while to realise that you actually believed that somehow despite all my other progressive views, on this one I was suddenly regressive and conservative. I'm not sure there is anywhere to go when one is talking with someone who has such a fundamental and willful misinterpretation of the other's position.
[deleted]
never mind, can’t be bothered and I’m happy tonight anyway.
There are 58 women in Parliament or 48%. I'm sure at least some of them support women's rights.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/28634/women-in-parliament
Define Women, and then define rights.
Oh, how many of the women in Parliament do you think are not women?
I honestly have no clue.
Have they given their pronouns and declared themselves to be so? Unless they do, i would be careful assuming and am taking no guesses.
@Sabine 🔥🔥🔥
Priceless comment below Sabine…."have they declared their pro nouns"
I love your work
women aren't a hive mind and have a wide range of views.We know from international experience that many women are afraid of speaking out gender identity ideology, I can't see any reason why NZ would be different.
If there's so much widespread support, why was there so much objection to having a wide debate that let women across NZ know what the issues were and have a say?
58 women from 5 political parties. And you think the problem was that there were none brave enough to stand up?
it's definitely one of the problems. The Green Party blocked debate within the party. Stop and think about that and what it means.
The only reason the Bill got delayed was because Tracey Martin had the political power to put it on hold for while. This was after the introduction of self-ID to the Bill without due process. They tried to sneak it in the back door.
Again, if it's such a popular change to society, why is there such resistance to it being discussed widely?
In the UK women have lost their jobs and careers over this, for speaking out. There are whole websites devoted to publishing women's views anonymously because they're afraid to say anything.
I don't know where you've been in the past five years, but none of that is secret. Irrespective of who is right and wrong on the issues, there is no doubt that No Debate has been a thing, and that it's anti-democratic.
https://www.gcacademianetwork.org/
No Debate is also lefties telling women to shut up on a political blog or just go away somewhere else.
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09-12-2021/#comment-1841455
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09-12-2021/#comment-1841373
On reading about the unanimous passage of this Bill today I've been feeling peculiarly flat. The oppressive Brisbane humidity probably hasn't helped, but frankly the fact of our Parliament having no-one with the guts to even speak against it leaves me more depressed more than I would have expected.
As Orwell famously wrote, “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” This is why people voted for Trump – middle finger to the fucking lot of them.
Well just goes to show that between L, G, N, A and there is very little difference. 🙂
Maybe it is going to be the tamaki/conservative/others votes. Who knows, 2023 is a long way to go. Keep the popcorn ready, cause we shall be entertained.
undemocratic anti women and girls. Labour and the Greens have been captured by an ideology that makes no sense
Makes as much sense as the Wizard of Oz
"Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself,
I am a womanthere's no place like home."."Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking."
The whole of Parliament unanimously voted for it. Close-to unheard-of.
Not a single person from hard left to hard right had a murmur of dissent.
Greens in particular put out their own supporting media release.
And in the end, they will be responsible for everything now that happens in regards to this law, the good, the bad and the very ugly all at their footstep. Time will tell who was on the right side of history.
What a waste.
Someones waste might be someone elses treasure.